Atlanta Extreme by Randy Wayne White Page B

like Tonto on the Lone Ranger.
    â€œBuenos días, señor.”
    The old man said nothing.
    â€œI have come as a friend.”
    The old man stared.
    â€œHabla Español? Habla Inglés?”
    He said finally, “For what purpose do you come to our village? You are not of these parts.” The old man spoke the slow, formal Spanish of the mountains, probably heavily accented with Mayan, though Hawker did not know the language well enough to be sure.
    â€œI have come to tell you of—” What was the Spanish word for danger? Peligro? Yes, peligro . “I have come to tell you of danger. To warn you. In the hills waiting to attack are soldiers, guerreros . You must take your people away. Peligro grande . The danger is very great.”
    The village women had collected behind the old man.
    The old man gazed up into the hills, then back at Hawker. “Do you speak of the evil white man? Do you speak of his soldiers, the ones who take heads?”
    â€œ Si . It is the evil white man of which I speak. They will be coming soon. You must leave quickly.”
    â€œWhy do you, an Americano , come to warn us?”
    â€œBecause we are not all evil ones.”
    â€œYes, that is so,” the old man said simply.
    Hawker motioned toward the chikees that disappeared into the trees. “You must go now! That way!” Hawker pointed to the far hillside and to the hill behind where Miles waited. “The soldiers are there and there. To escape you must stay hidden. Send the hijos , your sons, back out to play. They must be the last to leave. The soldiers will become suspicious if everyone disappears at once. Are your boys brave enough to do such a thing? To wait until the women are gone, then to run?”
    â€œLike all boys, they are not so brave. But like few boys, they do as they are told. It will be done.”
    â€œIs there a safe place where your village can hide?”
    â€œYes, not far, in a hidden cave, there is such a place.”
    Hawker took the old man’s hand. “Please hurry. There is not much time.”
    â€œThis evil man, the one who seeks heads, will he not now kill you?”
    â€œOnly if I do not kill him first.”
    The old man nodded his simple understanding. “Then I wish you luck, my friend. On such a quest you will need great good luck.…”
    Doug Miles blended into the jungle so well in his camouflage that Hawker jumped when the blond-haired sergeant stepped out into the path. “You all set? You warn the villagers?”
    â€œYeah,” said Hawker. “Any movement from the seven up above?”
    â€œNo, that little tongue-lashing you gave Blake really put the fear of God in them. They won’t move until they see a flare.” Miles looked across the valley where the boys had resumed their game. “Why are those kids still out there? Hell, Curtis isn’t going to wait much longer. In about five minutes, if he doesn’t see our signal, he’s going to shoot off that gun to signal us to attack. And when we don’t, he’s going to go raging in there like a brushfire. Those kids will be slaughtered.”
    â€œThe women and old men are escaping now. When they’re gone, the boys are going to run for it.”
    Miles whistled softly. “That’s cutting it awfully close, Mr. Hawker.”
    â€œThere’s no other way. If all activity in the village stops, Curtis won’t wait. He’ll go right in to see what’s wrong.”
    Miles shook his head. “I’ll tell you, between the fucking communists and Curtis, these people really get the peanutty end of the stick. Hell, all they want to do is live, work, and eat their beans at the end of the day.”
    â€œYeah, I know.” Hawker strapped on his webbed belt and picked up the M16. “We’d better get going, Miles. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover and not much time. Which way?”
    â€œStraight up the mountain, Mr.