Chapter 17: Interesting Information
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I am still considering a new topic of conversation when Mayfair and Brooks enter, completing this happy band. Given their slightly damp hair, I assume their return has been recent. Still, they too have taken the time to dress for dinner.
"...should have waited for them, you half-shaved chimp."
"Like even you could talk Muwan into that jungle." Mayfair reaches for a glass of kakaw and knocks it back in two gulps. "Those perps are cat food by now, and I am not giving up my grub to worry about Aztec turf."
"Gentlemen." One word puts an end to their squabble.
"Hi Doc."
"Good evening, Doc. I see our American adventurer arrived intact."
"Regrettably. What were you thinking of to invite Jones here."
"Jones?" Mayfair's double take is theatrically comical. "Oops? Didn't see him."
"Dr. Jones was in the other helicopter, with me." Dinah strolls over, oozing blonde.
Monk beams with gallantry. "Worth it then , if we got you in the deal."
Savage ignore that exchange, turning to Brooks. "I assume Captain Muwan has control of the prisoners."
"Yes, but unfortunately to no avail." The well tailored man shrugs slightly. " They were all local hires, basically ignorant of all points of interest. Bully boys hired in Santo Thomas and Porto Chapac. One exiled Aztec brought in as a guide, but he was no one. The type of idiot anyone would loose." His face, as much as his words, expresses their insignificance. " The boss and his lady were the only smart ones, and they were gone. Headed off into the jungle just after they picked up these folks. Never returned. May have gone back to the river, may have gone inland to deal with Tepiltzin. May be kitty chow. No way for us to know."
"Likewise no profit in speculating why. At least not at this point." Brooks reaches out for a cloth bag one of the servants has just brought in. "Whatever they did, they did it fast. Didn't stop to pack. We found a few interesting toys in their luggage."
He drops a carved quartz skull on the table. Nice work. Very realistic. A bit heavy to haul around as a souvenir.
"Nice work." The first comment is from Littlejohn. "Likely modern, since there are clear variations from the Anahuac style, but......"
"Since it isn't Aztec, that doesn't mean squat." Jones leans over, striving to look less interested then he is. "African, I'd guess. Low Ivory coast. Post contact, perhaps, but not by much."
Brooks ignored both men, speaking only to Savage. "I left it to Captain Muwan to make what use of the prisoners he could. He'll leave a man or two in case the leaders return, but that far in?" The dapper man shrugs, and we understand. A futile gesture, the prize not worth the risk.
Savage nods sharply, dismissing the matter. "No hint of the blade, then."
"They were after it all right, but I guess they figured this Wayne fellow got it first."
"Unlikely. Our guest did not reach Santa Amoza until the day after the theft."
Renwick has been listening, and at that last comment looks a bit troubled. "If they were following Wayne, why did they kill the river people.?
"According to our prisoners, they didn't. Spoke to a few of them, yes. Traded for fresh meat and information. They had a guide, as I said, but sometimes he wasn't familiar with the upper stretches of the river."
Renwick refutes that with a fierce grimace. "Bull. Do they also deny burning Wayne's boat? Kidnapping his people?"
"They attacked the boat, yes." Brooks tone is as measured as his expression is serious. " But everyone involved insisted that raid was to search for the blade. When they did not find it, the woman told them to take hostages in the hopes of a trade." He sets down his glass of kakaw and straightens a cuff before continuing. " The pirates men do not deny killing some of the sailors. Still, all of the prisoners were vehement in denying more then that. They all insist that they did not kill the villagers."
"Then who did?" I ask, keeping my voice impassive. "Only the pirates were ahead of us on the river. According to what the port boss told Captain Allnut, no other boat had started for at least a week."
Brooks smile is faintly embarrassed. "They rather thought you had. That you were seeking directions to the hidden cities."
"Hidden City?" I make sure my shock echoes in my voice. "The only city I was headed for was ..."
"Oh no," Patricia Renwick hastens to reassure me. "No one is accusing you, Mr. Wayne. You just don't have a reputation for..., well."
She does not need to finish. The playboy routine has paid off once again. That I would row down a piranha infested river they will believe. That I would have some purpose in doing so? That they will not.
Littlejohn shoots a look at Jones, as if he would like to accuse him but can't quite make it stick. Even in his own mind. He settles for "There are still other possibilities."
Brooks steers the conversation back on topic. "We did ask about the other American, that Walker fellow. They never heard of him."
" Yeh?" Mayfair snorts. "I still say the chums little 'jungle hike' is suspicious."
"Perhaps," Brooks concedes. "But as he has not been seen since Ciudad de la Selva, he must have dropped out of the contest. Or perhaps was never in it. I can't see one man managing that journey overland. Not unseen."
"Then the pirates are lying," Savage decides. "Hoping to avoid punishment by blaming another. Not unexpected for that type. But they were the only one with both the opportunity and reason for the slaughters."
All the men nod, accepting his declaration.
Savage turns to me. "I assure you, Mr. Wayne. This land is not as lawless as most would believe. Your assailants will be punished."
I smile, looking reassured. "So the pirates were looking for this city. Does that mean they had the dagger all along?"
"Perhaps." Savage considers for a moment, then adds. "The leader may have taken it with him in his precipitous flight. But they clearly do not have it now."
"So you are still looking for it?"
"And we shall find it, Mr. Wayne. Wherever it is. Of that I do assure you." His lips narrow slightly. "I had only hoped this would not be so unpleasant."
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Mrs. Fiero takes that as a sign to start dinner. A direct way to put a better taste in our mouths. The delayed schedule imposed by our arrival means the company is hungry enough not to debate the point, even though I get the impression that Mayfair at least would like to continue the hostilities.
European service, very civil. Local food. Excellent, really. Habenero salad with sweet corn. Peanut coated plantains. More bitter coca and some little crunchy lizards roasted with chilies. They taste something like squab. Forget the dagger, what someone should steal here is their cook.
The wine is French and impressive. Dick will be gratified, as regrettably all his carefully selected bottles have doubtless been lost along with the River Queen. Perhaps broken, perhaps 'salvaged' - but either way vanished past reclamation. A smile at the server and a murmured work about my 'long day' gets me mineral water instead. Along with an approving smile. From the corner of my eye I note that our host has passed up the wine as well. He seems to prefer the local kakaw.
I am seated to the right of Mrs. Savage, making me tonight's guest of honor. Very proper. Alfred would approve. I wait until the general murmur of complements subsidies before easing to conversation back on topic.
With a smile at my hostess, I begin, "Forgive me for asking, but who is this Tepiltzin fellow? If he's behind all of this?" I let the question taper off.
"Behind some of it, at any rate." Mayfair grumbles.
Brooks nods at that. "It can't be all his work, or no doubt we'd be in even more trouble then we are."
Mrs. "Savage hesitates, then asks. "What do you know, Mr. Wayne, of the Jaguar's Tongue?"
I shrug. "You own it. The National Museum of Santa Amoza had it. You asked for it back. It was stolen before they could comply. Other then that?" I make a general gesture of irritated ignorance. "I know that my people are lying in your clinic and quite a few other people are dead."
"Laconic yet veracious." Littlejohn agrees. looking up from where he has been futilely trying to claim Dinah's attention while simultaneously ignoring Dr. Jones existence.
The Jaguars tongue is more then an artifact." Mrs. Savage pauses a moment, clearly moved by memory. " Think of it as you would the Swan Crown or the Stone of Blarney. It has history, yes, but it also has a current significance. It carries with it political power. It conveys legitimacy, authority."
Which would match with the other explanations I have received. And explain many of the actions. I remember enough of Selena's flirtation with the Swan Crown not to underestimate the very real danger such an icon can create. Even so...? I look at the rather impressive civil display. "You seem to be rather firmly in charge here."
"Thank you." Mrs. Savage toys with her fork a moment before continuing. " The City of Gold is currently at peace, thank the gods. But no peace is unthreatened." She pauses at that, then adds " And authority must sometimes be renewed."
"Thus your need to bring the blade back."
"Exactly." She seems gratified by my understanding. "So we sent for it, and the museums agreed. After all, to them it was only a temporary loss. We would have sent it back."
Littlejohn starts to comment, but then thinks better of it.
"But?" I ask.
My hostess sighs. "But before our representatives could reclaim the dagger, it was stolen. Apparently by a European professional, a Mr. Simon Templar. That much our people have discovered. Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately - before he could reach his employer the thief himself was robbed. A bit more roughly, I fear. Our men found him in the Santa Amoza morgue."
My attention picks up at that. "Him, but not the Jaguar's Tongue?"
"Precisely. Mr. Wayne." She pats my hand. "And therein lies the crux of the problem. Had we been able to locate the Tongue we could have retrieved it. But with so many candidates?"
"And now you know where it is?" I ask, truly curious.
"Possibly. Even likely. Because we know where is it *not*." Littlejohn nods at that but says nothing. "It is in perhaps the worse possible place, but at least if Tepiltzin has it we have the chance."
"And this Tepiltzin is?"
Littlejohn answers my question. "Ruler of Kukulkan, an Aztec city to the north. Ambitious man, much like his father."
"I gather he doesn't get along with you?"
"The Aztec do not get along with anyone." She takes a sip of her wine before adding, "This is not a new fight."
"Perhaps you should start at the beginning."
That earns me a small smile. "Twenty centuries would seem a bit much for one dinner," she says.
"I'll eat slowly."
"Tepiltzin hates us primarily because we are Mayan." Mrs. Savage thinks a moment, then adds, " Although he has no great sympathy for the Aztec cities either."
That earns a snort from Brooks and a nod from Renwick, but neither feel compelled to enter the conversation.
My hostess warms to her story. "When the flesh-eaters conquered the other cities of the people, the City of Gold was spared. Perhaps because they feared us more then the others, perhaps because the terrain is so difficult. And again, when the Spaniards came. With their allies they triumphed over the Aztec cities, but no one would even guide them to our land. Anyone fool enough to ask was sent north, into the land of the lawless men." That thought widens her smile. I get the impression that Ponce de Leon is still remembered unfondly. "The centuries have been... not untroubled. All peoples have their troubles. But certainly troubled in an unchanging way. Until the strangers came."
"The strangers?" I encourage.
"Tepiltzin's father was ambitious. He desired to conquer what no one else could, so he made an alliance with an outsider, a man called the Leader. With the guns of the outside world he believed he could take the city. They would divide the spoils - or more likely he would betray his former friends- and Tepiltzin would rule as under-king in my fathers place.
Mrs. Savage's expression darkens at the thought. "Whatever each man's plan may have been, this Leader and his men came. But they had committed crimes in their own land, so Kin Kawil Savage and his followers came behind them."
"Kin Kawil Savage? Your husband?"
"My husband now." Mona Savages's expression softens at that memory. " Then, he was just... someone who came to help us. No one had done that before. " She shakes he head and returns to the story. "There was a great battle, but in the end the outsiders were destroyed and the Aztec forced back to his own city."
"And that is how your husband came to live here?"
"He and his friends." Her glance around the room makes it clear who she refers to. "Not all at once, of course. There was work to do in the world. So I went to his world with him. But when my father died Kin Kawil returned with me to assure the peace of our land."
"Which this Tepiltzin threatens?" I ask.
"Yes!" She takes another sip of wine. "The last time, when my father had died, Tepiltzin and his father again tried to claim the city. Captain Muwan's father raised an army to stand against him, and Kin Kawil Savage defeated his champions at the ball game. We believed that would be the end of it. For the father it was. But now his son rules in Kukulkan, and the son is even more ambitious then the father."Her tone holds a deep bitterness. "If he has the Jaguar's Tongue, he could perhaps claim to rule our city." Her faces flushes. " I will not risk that! I will take this city to war before I would accept alien Gods."
Savage glances over, alerted by the rising venom in her voice."Peace, dearest. I will not let it come to that."
Her smiles is dazzling. "You have always been our champion. I believe in you." Her champion, at least. I believe I can even see the edge of tears in her eyes. "Nonetheless, dear heart, the dagger in the wrong hands could upset the balance of power throughout the entire region."
"Because whoever has it might... let me guess..." I drop my voice confidentially. "Kill the Jaguar God and rule over the City of Gold?"
END CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
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I am still considering a new topic of conversation when Mayfair and Brooks enter, completing this happy band. Given their slightly damp hair, I assume their return has been recent. Still, they too have taken the time to dress for dinner.
"...should have waited for them, you half-shaved chimp."
"Like even you could talk Muwan into that jungle." Mayfair reaches for a glass of kakaw and knocks it back in two gulps. "Those perps are cat food by now, and I am not giving up my grub to worry about Aztec turf."
"Gentlemen." One word puts an end to their squabble.
"Hi Doc."
"Good evening, Doc. I see our American adventurer arrived intact."
"Regrettably. What were you thinking of to invite Jones here."
"Jones?" Mayfair's double take is theatrically comical. "Oops? Didn't see him."
"Dr. Jones was in the other helicopter, with me." Dinah strolls over, oozing blonde.
Monk beams with gallantry. "Worth it then , if we got you in the deal."
Savage ignore that exchange, turning to Brooks. "I assume Captain Muwan has control of the prisoners."
"Yes, but unfortunately to no avail." The well tailored man shrugs slightly. " They were all local hires, basically ignorant of all points of interest. Bully boys hired in Santo Thomas and Porto Chapac. One exiled Aztec brought in as a guide, but he was no one. The type of idiot anyone would loose." His face, as much as his words, expresses their insignificance. " The boss and his lady were the only smart ones, and they were gone. Headed off into the jungle just after they picked up these folks. Never returned. May have gone back to the river, may have gone inland to deal with Tepiltzin. May be kitty chow. No way for us to know."
"Likewise no profit in speculating why. At least not at this point." Brooks reaches out for a cloth bag one of the servants has just brought in. "Whatever they did, they did it fast. Didn't stop to pack. We found a few interesting toys in their luggage."
He drops a carved quartz skull on the table. Nice work. Very realistic. A bit heavy to haul around as a souvenir.
"Nice work." The first comment is from Littlejohn. "Likely modern, since there are clear variations from the Anahuac style, but......"
"Since it isn't Aztec, that doesn't mean squat." Jones leans over, striving to look less interested then he is. "African, I'd guess. Low Ivory coast. Post contact, perhaps, but not by much."
Brooks ignored both men, speaking only to Savage. "I left it to Captain Muwan to make what use of the prisoners he could. He'll leave a man or two in case the leaders return, but that far in?" The dapper man shrugs, and we understand. A futile gesture, the prize not worth the risk.
Savage nods sharply, dismissing the matter. "No hint of the blade, then."
"They were after it all right, but I guess they figured this Wayne fellow got it first."
"Unlikely. Our guest did not reach Santa Amoza until the day after the theft."
Renwick has been listening, and at that last comment looks a bit troubled. "If they were following Wayne, why did they kill the river people.?
"According to our prisoners, they didn't. Spoke to a few of them, yes. Traded for fresh meat and information. They had a guide, as I said, but sometimes he wasn't familiar with the upper stretches of the river."
Renwick refutes that with a fierce grimace. "Bull. Do they also deny burning Wayne's boat? Kidnapping his people?"
"They attacked the boat, yes." Brooks tone is as measured as his expression is serious. " But everyone involved insisted that raid was to search for the blade. When they did not find it, the woman told them to take hostages in the hopes of a trade." He sets down his glass of kakaw and straightens a cuff before continuing. " The pirates men do not deny killing some of the sailors. Still, all of the prisoners were vehement in denying more then that. They all insist that they did not kill the villagers."
"Then who did?" I ask, keeping my voice impassive. "Only the pirates were ahead of us on the river. According to what the port boss told Captain Allnut, no other boat had started for at least a week."
Brooks smile is faintly embarrassed. "They rather thought you had. That you were seeking directions to the hidden cities."
"Hidden City?" I make sure my shock echoes in my voice. "The only city I was headed for was ..."
"Oh no," Patricia Renwick hastens to reassure me. "No one is accusing you, Mr. Wayne. You just don't have a reputation for..., well."
She does not need to finish. The playboy routine has paid off once again. That I would row down a piranha infested river they will believe. That I would have some purpose in doing so? That they will not.
Littlejohn shoots a look at Jones, as if he would like to accuse him but can't quite make it stick. Even in his own mind. He settles for "There are still other possibilities."
Brooks steers the conversation back on topic. "We did ask about the other American, that Walker fellow. They never heard of him."
" Yeh?" Mayfair snorts. "I still say the chums little 'jungle hike' is suspicious."
"Perhaps," Brooks concedes. "But as he has not been seen since Ciudad de la Selva, he must have dropped out of the contest. Or perhaps was never in it. I can't see one man managing that journey overland. Not unseen."
"Then the pirates are lying," Savage decides. "Hoping to avoid punishment by blaming another. Not unexpected for that type. But they were the only one with both the opportunity and reason for the slaughters."
All the men nod, accepting his declaration.
Savage turns to me. "I assure you, Mr. Wayne. This land is not as lawless as most would believe. Your assailants will be punished."
I smile, looking reassured. "So the pirates were looking for this city. Does that mean they had the dagger all along?"
"Perhaps." Savage considers for a moment, then adds. "The leader may have taken it with him in his precipitous flight. But they clearly do not have it now."
"So you are still looking for it?"
"And we shall find it, Mr. Wayne. Wherever it is. Of that I do assure you." His lips narrow slightly. "I had only hoped this would not be so unpleasant."
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Mrs. Fiero takes that as a sign to start dinner. A direct way to put a better taste in our mouths. The delayed schedule imposed by our arrival means the company is hungry enough not to debate the point, even though I get the impression that Mayfair at least would like to continue the hostilities.
European service, very civil. Local food. Excellent, really. Habenero salad with sweet corn. Peanut coated plantains. More bitter coca and some little crunchy lizards roasted with chilies. They taste something like squab. Forget the dagger, what someone should steal here is their cook.
The wine is French and impressive. Dick will be gratified, as regrettably all his carefully selected bottles have doubtless been lost along with the River Queen. Perhaps broken, perhaps 'salvaged' - but either way vanished past reclamation. A smile at the server and a murmured work about my 'long day' gets me mineral water instead. Along with an approving smile. From the corner of my eye I note that our host has passed up the wine as well. He seems to prefer the local kakaw.
I am seated to the right of Mrs. Savage, making me tonight's guest of honor. Very proper. Alfred would approve. I wait until the general murmur of complements subsidies before easing to conversation back on topic.
With a smile at my hostess, I begin, "Forgive me for asking, but who is this Tepiltzin fellow? If he's behind all of this?" I let the question taper off.
"Behind some of it, at any rate." Mayfair grumbles.
Brooks nods at that. "It can't be all his work, or no doubt we'd be in even more trouble then we are."
Mrs. "Savage hesitates, then asks. "What do you know, Mr. Wayne, of the Jaguar's Tongue?"
I shrug. "You own it. The National Museum of Santa Amoza had it. You asked for it back. It was stolen before they could comply. Other then that?" I make a general gesture of irritated ignorance. "I know that my people are lying in your clinic and quite a few other people are dead."
"Laconic yet veracious." Littlejohn agrees. looking up from where he has been futilely trying to claim Dinah's attention while simultaneously ignoring Dr. Jones existence.
The Jaguars tongue is more then an artifact." Mrs. Savage pauses a moment, clearly moved by memory. " Think of it as you would the Swan Crown or the Stone of Blarney. It has history, yes, but it also has a current significance. It carries with it political power. It conveys legitimacy, authority."
Which would match with the other explanations I have received. And explain many of the actions. I remember enough of Selena's flirtation with the Swan Crown not to underestimate the very real danger such an icon can create. Even so...? I look at the rather impressive civil display. "You seem to be rather firmly in charge here."
"Thank you." Mrs. Savage toys with her fork a moment before continuing. " The City of Gold is currently at peace, thank the gods. But no peace is unthreatened." She pauses at that, then adds " And authority must sometimes be renewed."
"Thus your need to bring the blade back."
"Exactly." She seems gratified by my understanding. "So we sent for it, and the museums agreed. After all, to them it was only a temporary loss. We would have sent it back."
Littlejohn starts to comment, but then thinks better of it.
"But?" I ask.
My hostess sighs. "But before our representatives could reclaim the dagger, it was stolen. Apparently by a European professional, a Mr. Simon Templar. That much our people have discovered. Unfortunately - or perhaps fortunately - before he could reach his employer the thief himself was robbed. A bit more roughly, I fear. Our men found him in the Santa Amoza morgue."
My attention picks up at that. "Him, but not the Jaguar's Tongue?"
"Precisely. Mr. Wayne." She pats my hand. "And therein lies the crux of the problem. Had we been able to locate the Tongue we could have retrieved it. But with so many candidates?"
"And now you know where it is?" I ask, truly curious.
"Possibly. Even likely. Because we know where is it *not*." Littlejohn nods at that but says nothing. "It is in perhaps the worse possible place, but at least if Tepiltzin has it we have the chance."
"And this Tepiltzin is?"
Littlejohn answers my question. "Ruler of Kukulkan, an Aztec city to the north. Ambitious man, much like his father."
"I gather he doesn't get along with you?"
"The Aztec do not get along with anyone." She takes a sip of her wine before adding, "This is not a new fight."
"Perhaps you should start at the beginning."
That earns me a small smile. "Twenty centuries would seem a bit much for one dinner," she says.
"I'll eat slowly."
"Tepiltzin hates us primarily because we are Mayan." Mrs. Savage thinks a moment, then adds, " Although he has no great sympathy for the Aztec cities either."
That earns a snort from Brooks and a nod from Renwick, but neither feel compelled to enter the conversation.
My hostess warms to her story. "When the flesh-eaters conquered the other cities of the people, the City of Gold was spared. Perhaps because they feared us more then the others, perhaps because the terrain is so difficult. And again, when the Spaniards came. With their allies they triumphed over the Aztec cities, but no one would even guide them to our land. Anyone fool enough to ask was sent north, into the land of the lawless men." That thought widens her smile. I get the impression that Ponce de Leon is still remembered unfondly. "The centuries have been... not untroubled. All peoples have their troubles. But certainly troubled in an unchanging way. Until the strangers came."
"The strangers?" I encourage.
"Tepiltzin's father was ambitious. He desired to conquer what no one else could, so he made an alliance with an outsider, a man called the Leader. With the guns of the outside world he believed he could take the city. They would divide the spoils - or more likely he would betray his former friends- and Tepiltzin would rule as under-king in my fathers place.
Mrs. Savage's expression darkens at the thought. "Whatever each man's plan may have been, this Leader and his men came. But they had committed crimes in their own land, so Kin Kawil Savage and his followers came behind them."
"Kin Kawil Savage? Your husband?"
"My husband now." Mona Savages's expression softens at that memory. " Then, he was just... someone who came to help us. No one had done that before. " She shakes he head and returns to the story. "There was a great battle, but in the end the outsiders were destroyed and the Aztec forced back to his own city."
"And that is how your husband came to live here?"
"He and his friends." Her glance around the room makes it clear who she refers to. "Not all at once, of course. There was work to do in the world. So I went to his world with him. But when my father died Kin Kawil returned with me to assure the peace of our land."
"Which this Tepiltzin threatens?" I ask.
"Yes!" She takes another sip of wine. "The last time, when my father had died, Tepiltzin and his father again tried to claim the city. Captain Muwan's father raised an army to stand against him, and Kin Kawil Savage defeated his champions at the ball game. We believed that would be the end of it. For the father it was. But now his son rules in Kukulkan, and the son is even more ambitious then the father."Her tone holds a deep bitterness. "If he has the Jaguar's Tongue, he could perhaps claim to rule our city." Her faces flushes. " I will not risk that! I will take this city to war before I would accept alien Gods."
Savage glances over, alerted by the rising venom in her voice."Peace, dearest. I will not let it come to that."
Her smiles is dazzling. "You have always been our champion. I believe in you." Her champion, at least. I believe I can even see the edge of tears in her eyes. "Nonetheless, dear heart, the dagger in the wrong hands could upset the balance of power throughout the entire region."
"Because whoever has it might... let me guess..." I drop my voice confidentially. "Kill the Jaguar God and rule over the City of Gold?"
END CHAPTER SEVENTEEN