Another loud roar frightened the parrot. It flew away, landing in the trees on the other side of the city.
"Do jaguars know how to climb? We can always climb up to the top of that pyramid over there," Elspet said.
"If that jaguar is one of our traps, it will just wait down here until we come back down. We are going to have to face it. I'll have to figure out a way to get rid of it. Come on," let's go into those ruins over there. We can hide and think this out." Fiona hurried behind the limestone wall.
"I think there are more than one jaguar," Elspet said. "They roars are coming from different places." She ran behind Fiona.
They saw a shadow spread across the entrance of the room they hid in. A face peeked around the corner. It was a small boy.
The boy turned and ran away. "Let's follow him," Elspet said.
"Wait a minute. You can't go out there. Remember the jaguars. They're looking for us," Callum said, reminding her of the danger.
"The boy thinks it's safe enough," Elspet said. She ran after him.
"Wait for us," Callum shouted.
"Boy! Wait, boy. Wait for us," Elspet called.
"He's leading us back into the cloud forest. We won't be able to see anything if we keep going," Callum said.
They stopped when they saw him leaning against a tree, wearing only a leather skirt that hung from his waist to his knees. It was decorated with tiny turquoise beads. His dark brown hair hung around his ears and around his neck he worse a strip of leather with a carving of stone dangling from it. They were afraid if they approached any closer, he'd run again.
"Ya'axche," Tlaloc said, pounding the tall tree trunk with his fist.
"Look how high that tree goes. It's part of the canopy. The roots are big too," Callum said.
They all looked up. "Speak to him in Spanish, Fiona," Elspet said.
"We're from a country far away. Wow! You have pretty brown eyes. They're big and they sparkle. Why are you hitting the tree?" Fiona scratched the top of her head.
"We are here to look for a special piece of amber. It is something sacred to us. Long ago someone came to this land and buried it here in these ruins. Can you help us find it?" Elspet and Callum had no idea what Fiona and Tlaloc were saying.
"No. I will help you as long as you are sure it wasn't Cortez," Tlaloc said.
"What's that he's wearing around his neck? It looks like a jaguar head. Can he help save us from the jaguars?" Callum urged Fiona to ask.
"Can't you hear the jaguars, Tlaloc? They're after us. We need your help. Can you hide us from it or take us somewhere safe?" Fiona smiled at the boy.
"Follow me." Tlaloc ran into the bushes.
"Come on. He'll help us hide from the jaguars," Fiona said. She ran after the boy. Elspet and Callum followed.
The sound from the fluttering wings sound like bees buzzing. "They're just birds," Callum said.
"Chaac," Tlaloc said. He held up his hand and one of the hummingbirds flew over and landed on it. "Chaac." The boy smiled.
"He's got a pet hummingbird named Chaac? How old is Tlaloc? Ask him, Fiona," Elspet said.
"How many summers have you seen?" Fiona remembered Johnny and the others didn't know the year of their birth, but only knew how many summers they'd lived through.
"Say that again, but much slower," Fiona said.
"Cam-ax-pot-ichli," he said, talking very slowly.
"Wow! That's cool." Elspet smiled at Tlaloc.
The jaguars roared and sounded much closer. "They're going to get us, Fiona. Please have Tlaloc help us hide from them," Callum said.
Fiona peeled back the wrapper and gave it to Tlaloc. He bit into it. "Cacao. Cacao." A grin spread across his face and he gobbled it down. "Follow me. I will show you some more." He led them to a tree. Long fat pods hung from the trunk and lower branches. "Cacao." He pulled a pod off and broke it open. He bit into it. "Cacao." He handed it to Fiona to taste.
She bit into it. "It's a bit bitter, but not that bad. Try some." She handed it to Elspet and then Callum.
"I don't like it," Callum said, pushing it away.
"It's all right, but I like the chocolate we get at home much better," Elspet said.
Elspet, Fiona and Tlaloc turned. The cat was huge, covered with glossy black fur and its eyes were black and full of hatred. It snarled, showing its teeth. "What are we going to do?" Another one appeared and stood next to the first. One more showed up. The three of them looked ready to pounce.
Tlaloc put his hands to his mouth and let out a howl. He did it over and over. The jaguars, confused with the noise, stood still. The sound of rustling in the trees caught their attention and it looked up. Ear piercing howls, long and high pitched erupted in a cacophony of noise. "Monkeys come to help," Tlaloc said to Fiona.
The jaguars ran off, their long tails disappearing into the bushes. Several howler monkeys swung from the vines and dropped to the ground in front of them. "Uh, are those monkeys friendly?" Callum noticed they had sharp teeth too.
"The monkeys are my friends, as are the hummingbirds, parrots, kinkajous and all other animals, except the jaguars. He is friend to nobody. Do not touch the monkeys. They will bite." Tlaloc spoke fast.
"Yes, Callum. The monkeys are friendly, but don't try to pet them," Fiona warned.
"That's funny. It looks like you've made a friend," Elspet said.
Callum stroked its fur. "He doesn't mind me touching him." It busied itself exploring Callum's hair, ears and nostrils.
"Tlaloc, we're looking for a large stone head. It's probably this big," Fiona said, holding her arms out.
"Inside it? How will we get it out? We could never break it. It's been here for two thousand years and it's too big," Elspet said.
"Callum, stop it. He said you'll anger the gods," Fiona said.
"Gods? What gods?" Callum asked.
"They will ask for a sacrifice," Tlaloc told Fiona.
"It's a tapir," Callum said, dropping the stone. He stared at the animals as they ran around, circling the toppled stones. He noticed a mist creeping towards them from the other side of the ruins.
Tlaloc noticed it too. "We must go. When Callum hit the sacred head, he angered the gods. They will send warriors to perform a sacrifice, his sacrifice." Tlaloc pointed at Callum, turned, and ran back into the rainforest.
"Oh Callum. You've messed everything up. Come on. We've got to get out of here." Fiona grabbed their hands and they ran. Tlaloc was far ahead of him. "Stop, Tlaloc. We can't see you. Wait for us." She didn't see the hole and the three of them fell.