It was almost finished. The groove encircled the rim and Dr. Smith had bored a round hole through the middle of the wood, both sides of which he beveled on the corner of the stone bench. He put his forefinger through the hole to check the smoothness and then spun it with the other hand. It rotated freely and was well-balanced. He took it off his finger and looked at it with a certain pride. He had never made a pulley-wheel before.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGWGFSFoR3
He became aware of being watched and looked up. Zuma was standing a few yards away. He stood up and she came over to him.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BeS63YY9S
"I have spoken to Tetzal and he went to see Nenetl," she said.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRRVH2URxPj
"Thank you, my dear," Dr. Smith replied.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9joEqa2vR
Zuma looked at the pulley-wheel. "Is it finished?" she asked.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpFfQ8WXkZn
"Almost."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hosKjATIG
"As is our time together, beloved." Tentatively she touched the pulley-wheel. "I do not understand its purpose but I have always known that it would take you away from me."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY1ToRNUGDm
Dr. Smith put it in his pocket and took her hands in his. "I am very sorry, my dear," was all he could say, and to ignore it would be to deny that which I was; the High Priest of Knowledge."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7TcEmY2Kg
Zuma looked at him sharply. "You are no longer that?" she asked.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyoDeTlbR2z
He shook his head. "I have lost faith in Huitzilopochtli and in our traditions."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeKiJh032C
"Then your tragedy is far greater than mind," Zuma said. "Your whole life has been devoted to the temple. Mine has encompassed but a few days." They walked along the path leading to the garden door.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygFdUF0sNa
"We have known each other in trust for many years and I have sought your counsel frequently, Zuma," he admitted. "Maybe in another nation you would have been the High Priest of Knowledge and I, a seller of vegetables."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzUVtxwUHZl
She smiled at the concept.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2c8mPtISs5
"Now, I with you to do something for me to assist them," he continued and took a gold medallion and chain from around his neck. "Behold, the title to my dwelling-place and all I own therein." He put it in her hand. "Tomorrow, while Yaotl prepares the Perfect Victim for sacrifice, the handmaiden and the warrior, Don, will be brought together under guard before they are escorted to the temple for their punishment." 423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2ceGtNu8R
He squeezed the medallion in her hand. "Give that to the guard so that he turns his head away while you conduct the girl, as if for punishment, to the temple.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTYtlDysQB
"And Don, the warrior?" Zuma asked.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFKPfDgYZL
Tetzal smiled. "I am sure he will accompany you," he said.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vae68UG0o
"I shall do it," Zuma relied, and then asked Tetzal about himself.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ClyUZNGHa
"You have nothing. What will you do? Where will you go?"423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5nIfRYuvog
"Into the wilderness, Zuma," he said. "There I will seek the truth of Quetzalcoatl."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPYVxmoWncj
"When?"423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaCbc81LxF
"Now," he replied. "What better time?" He laid his posy of flowers on a bench and walked out of the garden.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwHjHDbFc3
Zuma thought to return to Dr. Smith and tell him about the medallion but decided that had that been Tetzal's wish, he would have spoken to her in Dr. Smith's presence. So she picked up Tetzal's posy as a memento and went home.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBhQilC7r0
With the dawn came tension as the Aztecs watched the sun begin the journey across the clear blue sky to its zenith, when all knew day would become night. In their minds was one question, would Huitzilopochtli accept the sacrifice of the Perfect Victim and give them back his light, which was their life, or would they be left to die in eternal darkness? Families stayed in their homes until the appointed hour when they would be summoned to the temple square to pay reverence to the Perfect Victim and, in fear and trembling, worship their sun god.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡruWU2exPsq
The door of Don's dark, cramped barracks cell was opened by an armed warrior and the daylight flooded in. Don blinked several times when went outside where a second warrior pointed with his cudgel towards the Chosen Warrior's courtyard. Don walked through the passageway and wondered if this would be his final encounter with Yaotl, if he would have a small red circle painted over his heart and have a javelin hurled at it as if he were a life-size clay model. To his shock he was directed to his old quarters where two warriors stood at either side of the entrance. He went inside and Penny, guarded by another warrior, threw herself into his arms.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLqhrlUkpCT
"What's going to happen to us, Don?" she asked in desperation.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYNAOdiXgcX
"They're going to take us to the temple,' Don replied, "and you know what that means, don't you?"423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTQW7qwpNw
"Horrible things!" She sounded terrified.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvoSLuOpyGy
"No, the four of us will be together again," Don said reassuringly, "and thinking about it overnight I've come to the conclusion that Ollin and his friends are no match for Dr. Smith."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRaaV2WUAVM
Across the courtyard in Yaotl's quarters the Perfect Victim waited in impatient, drugged euphoria for his deification. His body had been washed and perfumed, his garments were radiantly white, his plumed helmet extravagantly colorful and in his hands he held an exotic posy of flowers and a fly-swatter.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Wp00eWmx1
Yaotl came from his bedroom wearing the Chosen Warrior's full ceremonial dress. "It will be my privilege as leader of our armies to escort you, O' Perfect Victim, to your glory," he intoned.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ALOnUd8Vy
The Perfect Victim smiled. "May victory always sit upon your shoulders," he replied.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCSiGImxQQF
Tlaqui waddled in. "Let the procession begin," he said. "The avenues are lined."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjSW7aTZHj
Yaotl looked at Tlaqui sharply. "And what of the girl and my challenger?" he asked.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpeIkK18DCg
"They shall follow at a distance and by another way so that the Perfect Victim's path to the temple is not defiled before the sacrifice," Tlaqui replied.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1nKqQrqtH
"They should go first," Yaotl argued.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifECyUZaRe
"The High Priest of Sacrifice does not wish it," Tlaqui said. "They follow the Perfect Victim, but will be punished first. I shall instruct the guard," he added and made his way across the courtyard to give explicit instructions to the warrior accompanying Penny and Don about the route he should take to the temple. Then Tlaqui hurried away so as not to miss his moment of reflected glory.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTUIEwSQ1pc
The Aztecs watched in awed silence as the Perfect Victim walked slowly along the broad, warrior-lined avenue towards the pyramid and the temple. On one side of him was Tlaqui, supposedly gazing intently at his posy but his eyes flicked from side to side at the crowd as he tried to gauge the impression that he was making. On the other side of the Perfect Victim was Yaotl, proudly carrying a gold-studded cudgel, the insignia of the commander of the Aztec armies. But despite the solemnity of the moment, every few seconds someone in the crowd would shield their eyes and look up apprehensively at the sun blazing down on them.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBotCpM4Npb
Zuma hurried across the deserted barracks courtyard and went through the passageway. The two warriors outside Don's quarters saluted her as she passed them as did the third one inside.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ78cjEo4b7I
"What brings you here, Zuma?" he asked.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHZipDuDZH3
"I have been instructed by the High Priests to escort Nenetl's handmaiden to the temple," she answered.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXAkDen4ZSP
The warrior glanced at Don. "What of him?"423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx7qBUnwKEM
"You, alone, will escort him. So dismiss the others," she replied.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzz1Q5dPiR6
"That I cannot do," the warrior said warily. "It would exceed my authority."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5L1PfJIaOv
Zuma explained that on the day of a perfect sacrifice the High Priests wanted as little attention as possible drawn to them on the streets. The warrior conceded that 423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvcNZND8Zx5
Tlaqui had ordered him to take a different route to the temple. Zuma held up the medallion.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8hh400CLxy
"Tetzal himself told me to give you this proof that I express his wishes."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdn1sSt95j
The warrior took it from her and studied both sides.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLzAMMaVIm
"It is the title to his dwelling and all his possessions," he exclaimed.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Fjx9bQsal
"Who holds it, owns them," Zuma hesitated and then pointed at Don. "Well, until you deliver him to the temple."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX9QeQfmShC
The warrior chuckled, went outside and sent the other two warriors off to watch the sacrifice. Don gave Zuma a thumbs-up sign and had the impression that she understood.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjx44eLxSNg
"Mine until we reach the temple," the warrior repeated, shaking his head in amusement as he came back inside. It was the final coherent thought he was to have for some considerable time, as Don laid him out cold with a devastating chop on the base of his neck.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH2xL1IPlCQ
"I shall escort you to the temple," Don said. He went into the bedroom, took a warrior's half-masks and put it on his head. "We overheard the route to take, didn't we, Penny?" he added as he came back to them.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWH00lqJTlk
Penny picked up the medallion. "We must take this back to Tetzal."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxYeI44cDVd
"Leave it," said Zuma. "Tetzal has gone."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQtGg0beUIT
Dr. Smith had placed his pulley-wheel beside the strip of silk behind the curtain and made Ann stand on the throne, her arms stretched up above her head with the coiled snake bracelet held between her hands. He made a few mental calculations.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSyu8k2O1Nr
"Exemplary, my dear," he said. "You may come down now."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB74y4cjMWC
Ann, with less than godlike grace, clambered off the throne, though in the final stages Dr. Smith did offer her his hand. "As soon as Don and Penny are here," he said, "you must insist that Tetzal has them released."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCA2zuZQpWa
"Dr. Smith, this temple will soon be lined with warriors and Ollin will be present," Ann replied. "Do you believe Tetzal will be on our side?"423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ20iKEmfEjU
"I'm not a bad judge of character," Dr. Smith said haughtily, "and Tetzal will do all he can to help us. I will do the rest."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtsk5ZfiIEP
"But your plan can't work," Ann protested. "We won't escape. They'll stop us."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOlikHCVfIb
Dr. Smith was aggrieved. "My dear Miss MacGregor, the Aztecs will be preoccupied with their God, their human sacrifice, and an eclipse," he said. "What we do will be of no consequence to them."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj8EN3S8dZJ
"I'll keep my fingers crossed," Ann replied without conviction.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjtQiukFdXh
They heard footsteps coming up the stairs.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0rPfIjL2Me
"Hide!" said Ann and Dr. Smith ducked behind the brocade curtain of the alcove.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPPgLR7DrtB
Ollin limped into the temple, a razor-sharp obsidian knife in his hand. Behind him came twenty warriors armed with javelins. Ann watched them from the throne as they took up their positions along the walls. Olln sidled over to her.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0VXywJR1m
"The procession has started," he snarled. "The sacrifice awaits you."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAFyUglIcE
"Where is the High Priest of Knowledge," Ann asked.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwCwFdrKCd
"He is gone." Ollin spat out the sentence.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICu3iHf9O3
"Where to?" Ann snapped back.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡofWBh1YxUr
"Who can say?" Ollin waved his arms. "Into the wilderness, perhaps."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfspFBXtlKt
"You've killed him." Ann's voice was cold and accusing.423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiTYkqDsfpp
Olln shok his head. "I did no such thing," he hissed. "You destroyed his faith in Huitzilopochtli. Tetzal will never return."423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5z5U6lEtG8
423Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwKDvGHXWBF
