Hunter, Rattlesnake’s deputy, was still here. He stood by himself, on the far side of the cage from the grinning man. I could not see his face because he was looking at the floor.
‘Now, once again,’ Rattlesnake said. ‘I want to know what Mother of Light said to you.’
‘I told you, I didn’t see her.’
A long silence followed, during which all I could hear were the sounds of breathing and the crackle of the torch. Then the man holding it spoke for the first time. ‘This has gone on long enough, Rattlesnake. Which one do we do next, him or the woman?’
He took a step towards the cage.
‘No!’ I cried, aghast. ‘Wait! You can’t! This has nothing to do with Lily!’
‘I should think it has everything to do with her,’ Rattlesnake observed.
‘All right! I did see the woman! But she couldn’t tell me anything useful!’
‘Well, why don’t you tell us exactly what she said and then we can judge that for ourselves.’
I looked at the cage. Its occupant was staring mutely at us, but it was too far away and too dark for me to see whether her look was defiant or imploring. I was going to have to make up my own mind what to do, but then, I realized, I had done that the moment the man with the torch had opened his mouth.
Rattlesnake summoned Hunter to come and listen and drew us both away from the other two. I recounted, as accurately as I could, everything that had passed between me and Mother of Light, leaving out just one detail: the missing ring that both she and Lily had insisted must not be allowed to fall into the Wrong hands. I clung to the hope that Rattlesnake and Hunter had not discovered it.
When I finished, I looked at them both as though seeking their approval, like a small boy who has just skinned his first rabbit showing off his handiwork to his father.
‘Interesting,’ Rattlesnake mused.
‘Is he telling the truth?’ muttered Hunter sceptically.
‘Don’t know. Well, he can tell us himself. How do we check this story of yours?’
‘I don’t understand you!’ I cried incredulously. For all the danger I was in and the terror I felt, this latest question struck me as ludicrous. ‘Why can’t you just find Mother of Light and talk to her?’
‘Do you think we don’t want to?’ Hunter replied in a slighdy petulant tone. ‘But we can’t find her, you see. She disappears.’
‘But she’s in and out of the palace all the time! I saw her outside the marketplace only yesterday!’ Then, realizing I had already said too much, I volunteered an account of my first meeting with the woman, before Rattlesnake or Hunter could tell me what would happen if I did not.
‘We know about that old man. They’ve been seen together before,’ Rattlesnake told me. ‘But he’s as slippery as she is. Don’t even know for sure if he is her father.’ He paused, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Then, to my astonishment and alarm, he suddenly leaned forward and slapped my arm playfully. ‘You know, Yaotl, I’m beginning to like you! You’re quite helpful when you want to be.’
I stared at him.
‘Still don’t think he’s telling us everything,’ Hunter rumbled unhappily.
‘He probably isn’t,’ Ratdesnake conceded. ‘But there’s time yet.’
‘D-does this mean…?’ I stammered.
‘That we’re going to let you go? Why, yes, I think so… Tell you what. You can find Mother of Light again for us, since you seem to have so much more luck than we do!’
‘But you said yourself — she disappeared . .
‘That’s your problem,’ he said dismissively. ‘Oh, and you can take Hunter with you.’
‘Chief!’ his deputy protested. He was ignored.
‘You two can look after each other. You’ll find the woman and bring her back to the palace. I’m not having her give me the slip again! And if it helps concentrate your mind, just remember…’
I did not see any signal pass between them, but I was suddenly aware of quick footsteps crossing the floor. I twisted around just in time to see the man with the torch kneeling over Lily’s cage. Then he thrust the burning end of it through the bars.
Lily shrieked.
‘No!’ I shouted, starting to run, but before I had taken a step I was on the ground with Hunter on top of me, twisting both my arms around my back and over my head. I could only stare impotently at the cage, with the torch flame poised just outside it, ready to strike again, its glow falling on a pale, tormented face inside.
‘Again?’ the torchbearer hissed.
‘Well, Yaotl?’
I lowered my face to the floor. ‘All right,’ I muttered. You’ve made your point. I’ll find the bloody woman!’
So where do we start?’
Hunter threw the words at me over one shoulder. The handle of a sword, slung over his back, projected over the other, a reminder that the business he was engaged in might prove murderous.
I trudged along the passageways of the palace in his foot- steps, content to let him lead me wherever he felt inclined to go and quite indifferent to my surroundings.
