"Thank God. I was beginning to worry that you might piss off the tree gods, and we'd never get out of here."
"There aren't really any tree gods are there?"
"There definitely are. In the Mayan culture, there are gods for just about everything."
"Well, right now, I wouldn't mind if the lightning god struck down some of these trees so we could get some light and see where the hell we're going."
"Please, don't call down the lightning god. I've seen enough rain for a while." He held up the last water bottle. It was a quarter full. "Want a sip?"
"I'm fine. You can finish it."
He knew better than to waste any water unless they were desperate. "I'll hang on to it then. It's getting hot. The climate definitely feels more tropical, which means we're getting close."
"You've been calling us close for days, Jake, but I do agree on the heat. I'm already sweating and wishing I wasn't wearing a sweater, jeans, and boots."
"They were helpful a couple of days ago," he reminded her.
"We have to be near the village, don't we, Jake? We've been walking for hours. I thought the bus was dropping us a few miles from Nic Té Há. We've walked twenty miles since then."
Which was why he was worried. They should have been at the village long before now. They could be walking in completely the wrong direction.
"I don't like that look on your face," she said with a frown. "What are you thinking?"
"I've never gone into the town from this direction. I've always landed at the airport on the west side of the village."
"But you've explored some of the ruins around the area, so…"
"I wish I could say any of this looks familiar, but I can't. So let's keep walking."
"In circles?"
"What's our alternative?"
"We have none," she said, sighing at the end of that statement. "Let's go."
They didn't speak for the next half hour. He was as tired of the trees as Katherine was, but the last thing he wanted to do was spend another night outside. Being with Katherine had been amazing, but the cement ground had been another story. They had to find better shelter today.
Finally, the thickness of the trees began to diminish. There were patches of grass, rocks, an abandoned home that at first gave them hope, then quickly turned to disappointment when they realized most of the roof was gone and the house was falling apart.
"It's possible it could provide some shelter," Jake said, giving the structure a critical eye.
"No," Katherine said with a definitive shake of her head. "It's too early to stop and look for shelter. If this house is here, then maybe others are nearby."
"I agree."
They passed by another crumbling stone structure, walked through a grassy meadow and made their way onto what appeared to be a dirt road.
"Tire tracks," Katherine said, a gleam of hope in her eyes. "This road has to go somewhere."
"Let's keep heading south," he said, taking a look at where the sun was in the sky. "I feel like I've seen this road before."
"Really? You've seen this particular dirt road before?" she asked dryly. "That sounds optimistic."
"It's a gut feeling." As they moved around the bend, a small house came into view. "I've seen that house, too," he said with excitement coursing through his body. "It belongs to my great-grandmother's friend. We went there to visit her."
They ran down the road and up the steps. Unfortunately, their knock was not answered, and the door was locked.
"They're not home," Katherine said with disappointment, looking around. "Damn. We can't catch a break."
"I can see furniture inside. Do you want to wait?"
"Do you?" she asked, meeting his gaze.
He shook his head. "The village is down this road, maybe another mile or two."
She groaned. "Every mile turns into five."
"Look, if we don't find it in the next hour, we'll come back."
"All right." As they started walking again, she said, "Tell me more about the village again. How big is it? How many people live there?"
"Last time I was here, the population was around fifteen hundred. It might have grown since then."
"So, not that small."
"Or that big," he countered. "Not everyone lives in town. Many people have farms around the area. The commercial part of the community is about six blocks long and four blocks wide. There's one building that serves as a post office, a bank, and a police station all at the same time. There are other small businesses: a market, a café and bar, an inn, a shop with crafts, furniture and clothes. There is some tourist traffic because of the Mayan ruins nearby. So, while it's isolated, it's not completely cut off from civilization. I might have exaggerated when I used to tell you and TJ about it. Of course, when I visited as a teenager, I did feel like I'd gone to the end of the earth."
"Having walked through miles of wilderness to get here, I can see why you'd think that. Has your great-grandmother ever wanted to live anywhere else?" Katherine asked. "Did she never consider moving to America with her husband?"
"Never. She loves the land, the people and the culture. She's the town wise woman, the teacher, the herbalist and the seer."
"That's a lot of jobs."
"All interrelated. She preserves the traditions of the past but also teaches the young children to dream big, to think about the bigger world outside the village. She's very well respected, although I doubt you'd appreciate her reliance on herbal medicine, but she seems to have some success with the pharmacy of herbs in her backyard."
"I have no problem with herbs. A lot of medicines are rooted in plants."
"You should keep that thought when she recommends some vile-tasting herb for whatever ails you."
"I think I'm safe. Nothing is ailing me, although I do have some blisters on my feet."
"I'm sure she has the perfect salve. It might stink, though. Last time I was here, she made me get into a bath that she filled with yellow tea water. I had to sit there for thirty minutes."
"Why? What was wrong with you?"
As soon as Katherine asked the question, he realized he'd made a mistake to share that piece of information. "I forget. I think it was a headache or something," he said vaguely.
Katherine shot him a speculative look. "You came here after we broke up and after your father died. She tried to help you through your grief, didn't she?"
He didn't want to tell her that his great-grandmother had told him she could cure his broken heart, so he shrugged. "Something like that. The Mayan people believe that the mind and the body are intensely connected. Emotions play a big part in health issues."
"Stress can weaken the immune system. Maybe after we find TJ, I can spend some time with her and learn more about her herb garden."
"I'm sure she'd be happy to share."
They walked around another bend and then stopped abruptly as a cluster of buildings came into view about a half a mile away.
"Oh, my God," Katherine murmured. "Tell me that's not a mirage. Tell me that's
the
village or at least
a
village."
"That's it. That's Nic Té Há. We're here. We've arrived." He threw out his arms. "Ta-da!"
She laughed. "That ta-da would have worked better if we hadn't spent three days trying to get here."
He grinned. "Well, we're here—finally. Come on." He grabbed her hand and they ran down the street.
* * *
As they walked toward the town, the area reminded Katherine of rural Texas. The weather was hot and sticky, and the small homes were spaced apart with lots of land in between. There were chicken coops next to houses, the occasional horse or cow grazing in a small pasture. And there were people; kids kicking a ball across a yard, an old woman planting flowers in front of her home, and a man putting red tiles on a roof.
"If TJ came here, where would he go?" she asked Jake.
"He might stay at the inn, or if he wanted to lay low, he could be camping out somewhere nearby and coming into town for food. That would probably make more sense. I don't see him just sitting in a hotel room."
"I can't really imagine what he's doing. He's a smart guy. He has to know he can't hide out forever. If he's in trouble, he can't just run; he has to figure out a way to fix the problem."
Jake shot her a smile.
"What?" she asked.
"I just don't know if TJ thinks the way you do."
"He might. He's an engineer. He's logical, super intelligent, and used to finding solutions. He would analyze his situation and from there figure out his next move." She paused. "Maybe he's not even here anymore. It's been four days since I spoke to him. He could have moved on. He could have called me again and didn't know why I didn't answer my phone."
"Hopefully, you'll find out very soon whether he's here or not. But I have a suggestion. Instead of knocking on doors, let's start with my great-grandmother. She's the heart of this town. She knows everyone and everything that's going on. If TJ has been in the village, she'll know."
"Okay, let's go there first. Do you remember where her house is?"
"I do."
They walked another quarter mile, passing by a fairly magnificent-looking church. Katherine had to stop for one second to take a look at it. "What beautiful architecture."
"It's very, very old," Jake said. "It's been rebuilt several times, but there's one wall inside that still has Mayan carvings on it. If we have time when this is over, I'll take you inside."
She nodded as they walked toward a home surrounded by a multitude of trees. Tucked inside all the greenery was a white adobe-style house with red roof tiles and arched windows.
"That's Mamich's house," Jake said, excitement in his voice.
They jogged the rest of the way, both eager to finally get to their destination.
Jake knocked on the door and a young woman answered. She wore white, cropped pants and a colorful gauzy top, and her long, dark hair hung in a thick braid halfway down her back. Her eyes widened when she saw Jake, and she muttered something to herself in Spanish.
"
Hola
," Jake said. "I'm Jake Monroe, Sylvia's great-grandson."
"
Sí
. She said you were coming." She waved them inside and motioned for them to follow her down the hall.
Katherine caught a glimpse of the interior of the house, red tiled floors, white stucco walls, colorful throw rugs and paintings on every wall, but there was no time to really look around as the woman took them out the back door.
The yard was large and heavily planted with vegetables and flowers. At the far corner was a wooden shed. The woman opened the door for them and said, "Sylvia. He's here."
As they stepped into the shed, Katherine saw tables covered with small pots of herbs, and in the middle of the tables was a dark-haired, dark-eyed woman who stood about five feet tall. Her long hair was also pulled back in a thick braid. Her skin was a dark brown and there were a multitude of age lines around her eyes and mouth, but when she smiled, it was very clear that her heart was still young.
"Jake. My boy." She opened her arms, and he walked into her embrace.
"Mamich," he said, giving her a loving smile. "It's good to see you."
Her gaze swept his face. "You are all right? You have many bruises."
"I'm okay." He glanced back at Katherine, and she stepped forward. "Mamich, I'd like you to meet Katherine. This is Sylvia, my great-grandmother."
"
Hola
," Katherine said.
"The girl with the golden hair," Sylvia said, her eyes gleaming. "I thought you were an angel watching over Jake, but you are real." She opened her arms once again, and this time Katherine stepped into a hug that was far stronger than she would have expected coming from this thin, somewhat fragile-looking woman.
As they broke apart, Sylvia turned to the young woman. "Will you make us tea, Carmen? We'll be in soon."
The young woman nodded and left them alone in the shed.
"I can't quite believe you're actually here," Sylvia said to Jake. "I've been worried the last few days. I dreamed of you both. You were running and scared. I hoped you would find your way here, but I was afraid someone might stop you."
Sylvia's words sent a shiver down Katherine's spine. How could this woman have known they were coming? How could she have dreamed about them? Jake had said his great-grandmother was a seer, but she hadn't really believed it. "Did Alicia tell you we were coming?" she asked, thinking that had to be the explanation.
"No. She didn't mention it in her last letter."
Sylvia studied Katherine with an intensity that made her want to shuffle her feet or look away or something.
"So this is
your
Katherine," Sylvia said, her gaze finally moving from Katherine to Jake.
Jake licked his lips. "Katherine and I are looking for her brother TJ. We think he may have come here or be on his way based on some things I told him about the village a long time ago."
Katherine noticed that Jake didn't answer his great-grandmother's comment. It certainly seemed that Sylvia knew something about her from Jake's visit ten years ago. If that were true, Sylvia probably wasn't going to like her very much. On the other hand, the woman didn't appear to have any animosity toward her. She was smiling even now as her gaze kept moving between them.
"TJ is about six feet tall with brown hair, and I think he has a beard now, or he might have shaved it off," Katherine said. "Has anyone been around town who looks like that?"
"We will have to find out. I am recovering from a cold. I haven't been out in the village much the past few days."
"Are you better now?" Jake asked.
"Of course." She waved her hand toward the plants surrounding her. "The earth provides the best medicine." She paused. "Did you become a doctor, Katherine?"
"Yes, I did," she said. "How did you know that?"
"Jake told me that was your plan, your heart's desire."
She nodded. "I just finished my training." She paused. "Jake told me that you're a healer. Do you use these plants?"
Sylvia nodded. "These herbs, those in the garden and the fruit of the trees that surround me. This area is rich in natural healing elements."