Chapter Twenty Two
Andy saw the danger and ran from his hiding place like a sprinter out of the blocks. He hurdled over a table without breaking his stride and joined the fleeing crowd. He could see Käpu’n already at the door, yelling to him.
“To me Andy, run!”
Andy was one of the last out of the room. He could hear the Priest screaming in rage and the footsteps of the guards pursuing them. As he ran through the doors, two of Käpu’n’s men slammed them shut and ran two spears through the handles on the other side.
“That will slow them down, but not for long,” one of them said as they turned and ran.
The twenty to thirty survivors were challenged by a few guards who died where they stood. Andy thought his lungs would explode as he struggled to keep up in the maze of corridors and passageways. The few minutes that they took to escape the palace seemed like hours.
They burst out a side door into a cool dark street then slowed a little as they put some distance between themselves and the palace.
“It does not look like we are being pursued,” Käpu’n said to Acan who was running next to him.
“No, the priest has very few guards who are not poisoned, wounded or dead. He will not venture out into the city until the numbers favour him. We must escape with the boy and the two halves of the Talisman while we can.”
The group ran on for a few more minutes, and then stopped in a dark alleyway. Käpu’n spoke briefly with Acan and another man. He gave one half of the Talisman to Acan and then divided the group between the three of them. The other two men led their groups off in different directions.
“Come with me Andy,” Käpu’n said. “I have your Talisman with me. We split them up so they will not be captured together as we escape the city.”
“Why did you split into three groups?” Andy asked. “Wouldn’t it be better to have more men with you?”
“No, Acan’s group and I will escape by stealth. The other group will draw the guards away from us. We will meet outside the city.”
“That sounds dangerous,” Andy thought out loud.
“Yes,” Käpu’n replied. “I fear we will not see many of them again.”
They moved on with a great deal of caution. On a number of occasions they had to duck into doorways or alleys to avoid guards patrolling the city.
“How are we going to get out of the city with all of these guards around?” asked Andy. “They’re obviously looking for us. We can’t just walk out the gate can we?”
He could see Käpu’n grinning in the shadows.
“We are not going out the gate. We take another road.”
“Where is it?”
“You have asked at a good time. Here it is.”
No sooner had Käpu’n finished speaking than they stopped walking. Directly in front of them was something that looked like a riverbed. The stream at the bottom flowed past where they were standing and disappeared under the large wall not more than a hundred metres away. It had a disturbing odour coming from it.
“It’s not a road Käpu’n, it’s a river.”
Käpu’n gave Andy a wry smile.
“It is no river, Andy. It was made by our fathers who built the city long ago. It drains the city and takes our waste away for us.”
Suddenly the odour hanging in the air made sense to Andy. He looked at Käpu’n with a mixture of horror and disgust.
“You mean it’s a sewer and you want us to walk into it?!”
“If the word sewer is what I think, yes. We will walk into it and go under the wall.”
“You might, but I’m not going,” Andy replied firmly.
Käpu’n fixed a steady gaze on Andy.
“Would you rather risk the guards tonight and the Priest’s blade tomorrow?”
Faced with Käpu’n’s logic, Andy’s resistance crumbled.
“Alright then, let’s go.”
Käpu’n led them down the bank. Fortunately the stream was only ankle deep but the stench had Andy and a few of the others gagging. Just near the entrance to the tunnel, one of them actually fell into the slimy water. The others giggled as he struggled to his feet.
“Quiet!” Käpu’n hissed at them as loudly as he dared. “Guards are near.”
Almost as one, the group went silent and crouched down trying to look as small as possible amongst the stones and rocks of the sewer. They heard footsteps on the road and the silhouette of two guards appeared at the top of the bank above them. They stopped walking and stood looking at the river, but not paying much attention.
“It’s dark and it stinks here,” said one to the other. “Who are we supposed to be looking for anyway?”
“I don’t know,” said the other. The orders just said the palace was attacked and there is a curfew in effect. Anyone seen is to be arrested and brought to the palace for interrogation.”
The two stopped talking and looked around with little real interest. Andy and the others lay still in the sewer drain below. Lying so close to the ground, the stench was almost unbearable. Andy tried to block his nose and breath through his mouth, but the foul air still made him feel sick. Finally, one of the guards above them spoke.
“There is nothing here apart from a smell that will live longer than the gods. Let’s go.”
The two turned and walked away. One of Käpu’n’s men waited a few seconds then climbed cautiously up the bank and peered over the top. After watching for a minute or so he scrambled back down.
“They have gone,” he said. “We are lucky to cross our path with two of the laziest guards in the service of the priest.”
Käpu’n nodded in agreement.
“Then let us be gone before any return. Follow me through the tunnel.”
Käpu’n led the group forward the last dozen or so metres to the foot of the city wall where the stream flowed into a tunnel.
“We escape the city through here,” Käpu’n said.
Andy looked at the black hole and shuddered.
“How far is it?” he asked Käpu’n.
“About twenty times my height,” Käpu’n replied. “But it is small tunnel. You will have to crawl and hold head high as you go.”
“Through that muck? You must be joking!”
Käpu’n glared at Andy.
“I never make fun of such things. I crawled through last night when I was planning your rescue. The stream was deeper then.”
Andy looked around the group. They were all staring at him. They couldn’t understand what was being said, but he was sure they had the gist of it and they weren’t happy.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful,” he said. “Let’s go, I guess.”
The group walked forward and waded into the pool at the mouth of the tunnel. Andy had difficulty negotiating the slippery rocks, but it was the slimy feeling of the water itself that repulsed him. It seemed reluctant to move out of his way and clung to his legs as he waded through. The situation did not improve as they reached the tunnel. Despite its appearance it was only about a metre high, so they all had to get down and crawl. Only a short way into the tunnel, the moonlight disappeared. Confronted with total darkness Andy had to grope his way along by feel alone. Crammed in without any light or fresh air and a dozen other bodies Andy had to fight hard to control the waves of panic that were rising within him.
“It’s only about thirty or forty metres. It won’t take long,” he told himself again and again.
Andy felt the floor of the tunnel starting to slope gently downwards and the water level rising towards his face. He tried to lift his head up a little to avoid the filth, but in doing so banged it on the ceiling.
“Oww!” he cried out. “Why is it always my head?”
Käpu’n’s voice behind him was the only thing that stopped him completely loosing his composure.
“The tunnel goes down a little, but rise again. Walk like a sea creature with your face near top of the tunnel.”
“Like a crab you mean?” asked Andy.
&
nbsp; “Yes, if ‘crab’ is it. There is head-space between the water and the tunnel.”
“This is truly disgusting Käpu’n,” Andy replied.
“You are lucky water is low. It was full last night. I had to put my head under water.”
Andy spent the next few minutes shuffling along, trying desperately to keep his face clear of the water. On several occasions he banged it on the ceiling of the tunnel. He tried hard to find a balance between the foul water below and the hard stone above. The last thing he wanted to do was cut himself in this filth. The effort in doing so was extreme and left him panting. Listening to the puffing and groaning around him, he knew he wasn’t alone in his discomfort.
Andy was trying to guess how far they’d come when he realized that they were starting to slowly climb again. The water, which had been lapping around him at chest height, had receded and was now only occasionally touching his back. He reached up to gauge the height of the ceiling. It was well clear of his head so he turned back over onto his hands and knees. He could hear those immediately around him doing the same. A few minutes later he heard an excited voice in front of him say something in Mayan. Andy didn’t need to know what the message was, its tone and the fact that the pace in front of him picked up told him the end of the tunnel was near.
Struggling to keep up with the man in front Andy nearly fell out of the end of the tunnel. In front of him men were sucking in fresh air and patting each other on the back. Käpu’n followed Andy out and sat back against a rock gasping for air. They waited quietly for the last few stragglers to appear and gather their breath, then one by one they continued along the open drain which disappeared into the jungle about a hundred metres further on.
“Come,” Käpu’n said to Andy. “We go into forest to fresh water pool nearby. Our people wait for us there.”
Andy followed Käpu’n along the drain until they were well into the jungle. When they reached a clearing they found Acan and his group waiting for them. After a brief discussion they headed off again further into the jungle. They walked for about an hour before stopping at a clearing where some more of Käpu’n’s people were waiting.
“Go to pool over there and wash yourself.” Käpu’n said. “When you clean you can return for food.”
“What about my clothes?”
“Throw the clothes away. We have Spanish clothes for you.”
Andy did as he was told and went down to the pool and set to cleaning himself as thoroughly as he could, using the fine sand in the riverbed as a rough soap. A short time later he was back on the waters edge and putting on the new clothes that had been given to him.
When he had finished, Käpu’n came over to him.
“Tell me how you have half of the Talisman Andy,” Käpu’n asked.
“It’s a long story.” said Andy.
“We have time,” Käpu’n said.