‘Can only be understood by somebody who knows Mayan!’ Nimble cried suddenly. ‘Is that why Hare kept her buried under his house all the time — to keep whatever she knew a secret?’ He sounded almost relieved, as if his darker suspicions about how Hare might have used the girl had been shown to be unfounded.
‘I wouldn’t bet on that being the only reason,’ I said sadly. ‘But it must have been a very important one. He was dealing with some powerful people, like Maize Ear and Black Flower, neither of whom would have had any scruples about coming and taking what he had from him if he wasn’t prepared to sell it to them.’
Kindly finally found his voice again. ‘So what? We’re no better off than we were before, are we? We still don’t know what this message is, and we’ve no way of finding out.’
‘Yes, we have.’
‘Oh, you’ve suddenly learned her dialect, have you? Well, I knew you were a clever bugger, but…’
‘Oh, shut up!’ I snapped, my patience exhausted. ‘We know for a fact that there is at least one person in this city who can interpret this message, or have it interpreted, because of what she’s prepared to pay for it.’
Nimble grinned suddenly. ‘You mean Mother of Light.’
‘Who can’t be found,’ Kindly muttered.
‘Oh, yes, she can,’ I said.
The old man turned around and stared at me. To my amazement, I saw that his eyes were glistening moistly in the firelight. I had never seen him shed a tear, but perhaps his disappointment and chagrin — the tension and frenzy of the night’s work, followed by my declaration that it had all been for nothing, seemingly dashing his last hope for his daughter — had been too much for him at last.
‘What did you say?’ he whispered hoarsely.
‘I said Mother of Light can be found. Easily. I know exactly where to look for her, and I bet when we go there we’ll track down that old man she runs around with too.’
‘Her father, you mean?’
It felt as though it had been a long time since I had laughed. Now I could not help myself, and once I started I found it impossible to stop, roaring insanely until my sides hurt and my vision went blurry for lack of breath.
‘What’s so funny?’ Kindly asked.
‘Oh, excuse me,’ I gasped. ‘I’m sorry.’ I wiped my eyes with a corner of my cloak. ‘That old man’s no more her father than I am. And he’s not as old as he looks, either!’
‘So who is he, then?’
I was going to tell them, but my sense of mischief overcame file. Kindly thought I was a clever bugger and a smartarse. Well, I thought, he could wait a little while to find out just how clever I could be.
You’ll see!’
As the eastern sky began to brighten, we went out to survey the courtyard. It was a scene of carnage: an Otomi, a Texcalan and three of Maize Ear’s men lay together in a heap, their blood staining the earth around them. I assumed that a sixth body, that of the man the captain had hurled the dart at, still lay on the roof; and it sounded as though Fox had come to grief somewhere outside the front of the house. Seven men killed in a matter of moments.
‘We could take their weapons,’ my son suggested.
‘What for?’ I asked. ‘I don’t know about you, but speaking for myself, if you put a sword in my hand, the only person I’d be likely to injure is me! Besides, it would look a bit odd, a bunch of vagabonds like us running around in Tetzcoco armed like warriors. The last thing we want to be right now is conspicuous!’
Ignoring the Otomies, I turned one of the other bodies over. I felt my teeth clench in something between a grin and a snarl when I saw the face.
‘Rattlesnake,’ I breathed.
‘Recognize him?’ Kindly asked.
‘Lily’s chief tormentor.’ I wondered what it meant, finding him here. It seemed too much to hope that the entire gang of torturers who had threatened Lily had died with him. More likely, I thought grimly, he had left her in the care of someone worse than he was, assuming she was still alive.
‘Time we were moving.’ I looked doubtfully at Nimble’s wounded leg. ‘Are you sure you’re going to be up to this?’
‘Walking as far as Tetzcoco?’ He sounded mildly offended. ‘Of course! I was only a kid when I walked across the mountains from Tzintzuntzan to Mexico, you know.’
He was not so very much more than a child now. I felt a pang as I pictured my son as an Aztec boy, running away from our mortal enemies the Tarascans, only to fall into the clutches of procurers and perverts in the marketplaces of Tenochtitlan. said nothing, merely clasping his shoulder for a few moments, until the sound of Kindly clearing his throat reminded me where I was and what I was supposed to be doing.
‘All right,’ I said. ‘Nimble, you’d better look after Little Hen. Mind she doesn’t wander off — we need her!’
I led the way through the house and along the road toward’s Tetzcoco.
By the time we found ourselves near the marketplace and the royal palace, the daily crowds had begun to gather. A deep mass of people was pressed against the entrance to the marketplace, each individual eager to get in and get his stall set up and trading as quickly as possible. We skirted around them, thankful that we did not have to fight our way through the mob. I led the way in the direction of our former lodgings.
‘Don’t worry — as far as the Otomies and Maize Ear’s men are concerned, we’re long gone!’
‘Maybe,’ Kindly mumbled grudgingly, ‘but I still wish you’d explain this brilliant idea of yours.’
I looked over my shoulder at Nimble and Little Hen. My son smiled wanly back at me, and I consciously
