The old man smiled in sudden recognition and moved his hand as Neil had done. He muttered a single word, and Neil hoped that this meant he had grasped the concept of water.
Neil covered his eyes with one hand and groped in front of him with the other. “Lost,” he said. “Lost.” The old man studied Neil’s pantomime carefully. Neil went through the motions again, this time uncovering his eyes and looking all around him worriedly. The white-haired Maya seemed to understand. He nodded vigorously, and Neil went on.
He pointed to the spear the captain held, and shook his head. The old man expressed confusion.
Neil pointed to the spear, shook his head, and then pointed to the Norse axes that hung from the belt of the Maya with the scar. He opened his palms wide, indicating that he held nothing, and grinned widely.
The old man stroked his chin thoughtfully. He lifted one of the axes from the soldier’s belt and offered it to Neil. Neil shook his head.
“No,” he said. “We are friends.”
The old man glanced down at the ax, and a smile crossed his wrinkled features. He threw the ax to the ground and stamped on it. He then took the spear from the hands of the soldier and dropped it to the ground before Neil’s feet.
Neil smiled happily and stamped on the spear.
“He understands,” Neil said to Erik. “He knows we are friends.”
Neil pointed a finger at his own chest and said, “Neil.”
The Maya shook his head and shrugged.
Neil repeated the action. “Neil,” he said. He pressed his finger against Erik’s powerful chest and said, “Erik.”
He then pointed to the old man, and spread his palms wide as he shrugged.
The old man seemed to be struggling for meaning. He touched Neil’s chest and asked, “Nee-ill?”
Neil nodded happily. “Neil.”
“Neil,” the old man repeated.
Neil pointed to Erik again. “Erik,” he said. For an amusing moment, he felt very much the way Tarzan must have with his “Boy-Tarzan-Jane” routine.
The old man understood fully now. He pointed to the bearded Norseman and repeated, “Err-ik.”
He looked quizzically at Olaf and pointed a long, thin finger at the squat Norseman’s chest.
“Olaf,” Neil said.
“O-laf,” the Maya repeated.
Then Neil pointed to the old man.
“Talu,” the Maya said. “Talu.”
“Talu,” Neil repeated.
The old man seemed to think a game of some sort was being played. He pointed to the captain with the scar across his lips and said, “Baz.”
Neil repeated this name, and one by one introduced the Maya soldiers, becoming very much amused at Neil’s repetition of each name.
When this was done, he stared at Neil, apparently waiting for something more to be said.
“Erik,” Neil said hastily, “give me something I can offer the old man. A present.”
Erik glanced down at his belt, then changed his mind when he saw the old man’s narrow waist. He touched his chest with widespread hands, wondering what he could give the old man. And then his hands went to the metal helmet that sat atop his blond head. He lifted it down with two hands, placing one under each of the metal wings, and offered it to the old man.
The old man shook his head and grinned, pointing to Erik’s head and wiggling his finger impatiently.
“He doesn’t want it, I guess,” Neil said disconsolately.
“What else can we give him?” Erik asked.
Neil was wearing his dungarees, boots, and a tee shirt. There wasn’t very much he
The old man stared curiously at the instrument, his eyes squinting down at the dial. Neil noticed that Erik, too, was looking at the watch with great interest.
The old man shrugged his shoulders.
Neil realized he’d have a difficult time trying to explain a wrist watch to an ancient Maya. But he pointed up at the sun and slowly moved his finger across the sky.
The old man seemed to grasp the concept immediately.
“Itzamna,” he said, nodding his head. “Itzamna.”
Neil didn’t know whether this meant “time” or “sun.” But he nodded his head and held out the watch again. The old man refused it a second time and turned to say something to the Maya soldiers. The soldiers nodded, touched their foreheads in salute, about-faced, and walked off into the city.
“They’re gone,” Olaf said, speaking for the first time since they’d entered the city. “Let’s run. The soldiers are gone.”
The old man seemed to sense what Olaf was suggesting so excitedly, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion.
“Silence,” Erik commanded, and Olaf caught his tongue.
Neil was wondering why the soldiers had touched their foreheads when leaving the old man. There was the remotest possibility that he was an officer, but Neil felt this was unlikely. Why then had they…?
His thoughts were cut short by the sound of a familiar voice.
“Neil! Neil, are you all right?”
It was Dave, two Maya soldiers behind him with spears. Following him, guarded by the heavily armed Mayas, was the rest of the crew.
Dave broke into a run, ignoring the spears.