Jungle Crossing by Sydney Salter Page B

and still. Then he lowered his eyes as though ashamed. Why didn't he do something? Attack! Rescue her!
    The merchant with the braid whistled and motioned with his hand toward the captives, so the guards took them away. Parrot Nose's brother paused, glancing back at Muluc, but a guard jabbed him with a spear. Muluc watched the blood trickle down his back, like tears.
    The man returned to Snake. "All royals," he said. "We may have rain yet." He looked at Muluc and the other girl. "Slaves?"
    "Strong girls. They walked all the way from the island," Snake said.
    "We've had a lot of female slaves come in from the raids," he said. "We need more strong men." The man lifted the other girl's chin. "This one looks ill—not fit for work or the gods."
    "Just tired," Snake said. "And hungry."
    "I'll give you a bag of cocoa beans, some obsidian, feathers—"
    "I also want some of the jade for my trouble."
    "What about her?" The merchant gestured to Muluc. "So pretty. She almost looks—"
    "I'm taking her for my household," Snake said. "You said you didn't need more female slaves."
    "You'll never get away with having such a pretty house slave." The man laughed. "Not with your fierce woman."
    Snake's boy gathered the goods while Snake took the beans and a small piece of jade, clasped Muluc by the shoulder, and walked away. Muluc squirmed under the firm pressure of his hand.
    The sky had darkened when Snake and Muluc walked back through the market. The sellers packed up their goods, taking the exotic fragrances with them. Some carried bundles across the plaza toward the road Muluc had traveled, but this time Snake and Muluc walked in the opposite direction, winding through groups of small temples. The woody smell of copal incense lingered in the air, so that at night the city smelled like Cobá. Muluc closed her eyes for a moment and thought of home, even though it made her throat tighten. Small fires burned in family compounds as she and Snake walked farther from the plaza. She imagined her mother playing with the baby by the hearth fire. Could wishing it make it true?
    Snake walked through a short rock wall into a garden where children swarmed him, grabbing his legs, swinging from his arms, hugging his neck.
    "My children." He stopped to embrace them and handed them each a piece of dried fruit. "You are growing straight and tall like the Lords' corn."
    He continued to walk toward a stone house with a thatched roof. As they entered, Muluc's feet felt dirty on the cool stone floors and her hair felt greasy and tangled as she smoothed it with her hand. Across the room a plump woman reclined on a reed mat, sipping from a clay bowl. Oil burning in little clay pots provided some light, although copal smoke choked the room. A colorful weaving of a battle scene hung on the wall behind the woman—Snake standing over a captive, surrounded by his warriors.
    Snake walked to the woman and kneeled before her.
    "I have returned, dear one," he said.
    He reached into his satchel and brought out the piece of jade. "From the yellow men who travel across the sea." He put the jade up against her skin. "We can carve it with your favorite god, or it would make a good sacrifice."
    The woman snatched the jade with her soft, plump hand. "I'll have it for myself," she said. She looked behind Snake. "What is
that?
"
    "A slave to make you more comfortable," he said. "She can rub your feet with cocoa butter and help you paint your face."
    The woman smiled. "Bring her to me."
    Muluc walked to the woman and kneeled as Snake had done. The woman wrinkled her nose. "Do all girls from Cobá stink so? Must be a miserable place." She snorted a laugh, but her smile faded as she touched Muluc's forehead, ran her finger down the jade stone in her nose, and tapped her fat finger on Muluc's lip plug.
    "Her forehead is longer than mine—and look at these jewels," she said. "She's obviously elite born and more beautiful than I, even if she is unclean." The woman