Ash Return of the Beast

CHAPTER 52



The sun was straight up when Ravenwood and Tocho reached San Cristobal, a small, ancient city situated some 7,000 feet above sea level. The streets were narrow, dusty and loosely paved with cobbled stones. As far as Ravenwood could tell, there appeared to be no logic to the layout of the streets but Tocho navigated his way through the confusing maze from memory.

They arrived at the city square, the main marketplace for the surrounding area. Tocho pulled the car over to the side of the road.

The place was a colorful hive of activity. Indians from several of the surrounding villages were mulling around, trading goods amidst a cacophony of different languages and dialects.

Tocho could tell the tribal identity of several of the natives by their traditional dress. He pointed out two men engaged in an animated conversation near an open fruit stand. “The one on the left, wearing the tan calf-length pants and black tunic. He’s Chamula. That other guy, the one that looks like he’s wearing a long white sheet? Lacandon. But they call themselves Hach Winik.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning ‘Real People’. They’re the last of the Maya, still holding onto the old ways and worshipping the ancient gods of their ancestors deep in the jungle.” He made a sweeping gesture with his hand. “Chamula, Lacandon, Huistecos, Zincantecan, you name it. They’re all here every day to trade wares, food, whatever.”

Watching this strange and exotic scene out the front window of their borrowed Mercury, Ravenwood gave a quiet chuckle. “Reminds me of the bar scene in Star Wars where the alien creatures from the surrounding galaxies are all gathered in one place.”

Tocho laughed. “Yeah, kinda. Except right now we’re the aliens.”

“Yeah, I guess we are.” She sat up straight. “Well, I’d love to play tourist and do some shopping but we’re running out of time. How do we get to where ever it is we’re going?”

Tocho backed the car into an open space between two small white stucco buildings and parked it. “We’ll have to go on foot from here.”

“Is it far?”

“About an hour if we keep up a decent pace.”

Ravenwood noticed their presence had drawn the attention of several of the natives. She could see they were talking amongst each other and nodding toward them with curiosity.

“What about the car?” she asked. “Will it be safe here?”

“Yeah… I think so… I’m pretty sure.”

“Your confidence is overwhelming.”

They changed into their hiking shoes and grabbed their backpacks and the one machete Tocho had remembered to purchase when they went into town to rent the Nissan.

“It’s not going to be easy,” he said, adjusting his backpack. “We’ll pass through some light jungle terrain and through a couple of small villages. Then the jungle will get thicker and at the same time we’ll be climbing to a higher elevation. Not steep, but long.”

“Paths?”

“Some. Sort of. If they’re not overgrown.”

Ravenwood nodded. “Great.”

Tocho led the way to a hole that had been cut in a wire fence behind a grove of rugged trees in a small clearing about fifty yards from the car.

“What the hell is this?” Ravenwood asked, squeezing through the hole after Tocho. “An escape route?”

Tocho laughed as he continued through the brush. “No. It’s a shortcut to one of the villages.” He turned around to see she had come to a dead stop, several paces behind him.

“Oh, good,” she said. “Another one of your shortcuts.”

“Trust me. I’ll get you there.”

Ravenwood took a deep breath, knowing she had no choice, and continued to trudge along behind her friend.