THE day of the Autumn Equinox was upon them. Festivals and ritual dancing had been going on for days, and now it was time to bring in food for the winter ahead. The corn harvest had been poor, and the corn tribute from the outlying farms had been lower than expected. Now the focus was on meat. Because the forests around Center Place had been thinned, the larger game had vanished.
Dawn saw the entire population gathered at the western end of the canyon, where the dry riverbed fanned out onto a plain. High on the mesa above, Lord Jakál sat upon his throne flanked by Chief Physician Nagual, Captain Xikli, High Minister Moquihix, Lady White Orchid, and her father, Tenoch, a robe hiding his wooden legs. The rest of the nobles and officials of Center Place were lined up on the ridge, to observe the great hunt below.
The People of the Sun spread out and proceeded in an orderly if excited fashion, in anticipation of the feast to come.
A line of children went first, beating bushes and burrows with sticks, screaming and shouting and stamping their feet. Behind them came the line of young men bearing spears and bows and arrows, to shoot the game that the children had scared into the open. These were followed by older men with digging sticks and axes, and lastly came the women with baskets, bending and moving with great exertion.
An enormous, organized mass of humanity made slow progress across the plain, growing louder and more animated as they took every living thing in their path—rabbits, gophers, snakes, prairie dogs, and lizards of every kind. Nothing escaped; even birds were brought down with stones and arrows. The kills were left where they lay for the women who brought up the rear to scoop every little bloody carcass into their baskets.
Later, the sun dipping in the west, the carcasses were skinned, flesh was roasted, and entrails were boiled. Everything that was not eaten became the center of industry as women cured leftover meat for the coming winter. Bones were fashioned into tools and weapons, new bowstrings were made from animal sinew, feathers and fur became new clothes and blankets, while beaks, teeth, talons, and claws were turned into amulets, talismans, and jewelry. Not a scrap was wasted as the populace of Center Place busied itself with preparations for the coming cold months.
In all this industry, no one dared whisper the dark fear that was forming in their hearts: that this year’s hunt had produced less than last year’s, and that last year’s had produced less than the year before. Already the people were thinking: Next year there will not be enough.