Raul seemed agitated. “Did you get to the generator?” he asked. Then he took in their scratches and smoke-stained clothes. “What happened to you?”
“Let’s just say,” said Hermanjilio, “it’s a jungle out there tonight.”
Max slid to the floor, relieved to be safe.
“I need to tell you—” began Raul.
THUD! THUD! THUD! The bats were throwing themselves at the doors and window screens.
Max jumped to his feet. “They can’t get in, can they?”
“We must close all the shutters,” said Raul.
“And barricade the doors,” added Hermanjilio.
“Wait!” Lady Coco hobbled painfully toward them. “My 6-Dog is still out there. He went to get firewood.”
Max stared at the little brown howler monkey. “Your leg—it’s all bandaged. What happened?”
“I was about to tell you,” said Raul. “We have a bigger problem than the bats.”
Hermanjilio paused from dragging a heavy wooden trunk across the tiles. “What do you mean?”
“Lady Coco and I. We were set upon by centipedes.”
“Centipedes?”
“In the cellar.”
Hermanjilio relaxed. “Is that all? Damp, dark places often attract centipedes. Just call the exterminators. They’ll soon get rid of them.”
“These were not ordinary centipedes,” Raul insisted. “One of them was six feet tall.”
“And it had two heads,” added Lady Coco. “One at each end.”
“What?”
“It seems we’re under attack from the inside as well,” said Raul grimly.
Hermanjilio sat down on the trunk. “Tell me everything.”
“We were looking for the dive lights and batteries,” began Raul. “You know what it’s like down there, a maze of tunnels and dead ends. And the first thing we saw was that the whole place was squirming with”—he shuddered at the memory—“Scolopendra gigantea.”
“Otherwise known as giant centipedes,” translated Lady Coco. “I’ve seen them in caves before, hanging off the roof to catch bats, but I’ve never seen them as big as this.”
“Luckily, the flashlight kept them at bay,” continued Raul, “so we carried on to the dive room. Then, just as we found the lights, this huge thing appeared out of a side tunnel.…”
“Thing?” Hermanjilio was trying, and not succeeding, to keep his voice calm.
“I told you,” said Lady Coco impatiently. “It was six feet tall with two heads.”
“I can only describe it as a monster,” agreed Raul. “When it reared up, it was as tall as the tunnel. It stood there … just … undulating.”
“Undulating?” repeated Hermanjilio.
Raul nodded. “It was waving its legs at us. It had legs everywhere. And big pincers like a lobster.”
“It was Eek’ Chapaat,” said Lady Coco flatly. “I’m sure of it. I’ve seen it many times in paintings.”
“Eek’ Chapaat?” Hermanjilio stopped trying to sound calm. “The mythical, man-eating centipede? Did it attack you?”
“We didn’t give it a chance,” said Lady Coco. “It has weak eyesight from living in caves, so we shone our flashlights into its eyes—”
“All four of them,” added Raul.
“—and backed away as quickly as we could.”
“But in my haste to get away, I dropped one of the dive lights and it smashed and Lady Coco gashed her leg on some glass,” explained Raul. He turned to Lady Coco. “I am so sorry.”
“Not at all,” said Lady Coco. “You rescued me. You’re a hero.”
Raul shook his head. “I am no hero. For one thing, I only managed to salvage one light and one battery. For another, I am no match for Eek’ Chapaat. If that creature had wanted to kill us, it could easily have done so. I had the distinct feeling that it was looking for someone else.”
“It’s like we’re trapped in a Maya horror story,” said Max, bug-eyed with terror. “Whatever we do, we have to stay together. I’ve seen the movies. They pick you off, one by one.”
Lady Coco bit her lip. “I wish my 6-Dog would come home.”
“Is Eek’ Chapaat still down there?” asked Hermanjilio.
“As far as I know,” replied Raul. “I used the flood defense system to seal off the main tunnel. If it got through that, it would have to climb the spiral staircase up to Mr. Murphy’s office, break through the trapdoor, smash through the secret bookcase, and knock down the office door.”
They all stared anxiously at the door.
“Even if it could do all that,” reasoned Raul, “it’s a centipede. It likes the dark. Why would it come up here?”
“Still,” said Max, “let’s not take any chances.”
They heaved a chest of drawers in front of the office door, then upturned an antique desk and piled that on top for good measure.
“Round up every candle you can find,” Hermanjilio ordered. “It’s getting dark early tonight.”
“It’s the bats,” said Raul, looking through a shutter slat. “They’re all over the windows. They’re coating the house like shingles.”
Max took a peek. Layer after layer of bats clung to the window screens, crawling over one another and trying to chew through the wire. The bats squeaked in protest as the house was shaken by a loud banging on the front door.
“Open up!” came Lord 6-Dog’s voice.
Hermanjilio ran to unbolt the door. “Enter quickly, your majesty,” he called through the oak. “We are besieged.”
“Wait—” called Lady Coco.
But she was too late. As Raul switched on the dive light and Hermanjilio inched open the door, a black monkey arm shot through the gap.
Quick as a flash, Lady Coco sank her teeth into it.
There was a cry of pain and the arm withdrew.
“Shut the door!” shouted Lady Coco. “I command you!”
Shocked by her newfound assertiveness, Hermanjilio obeyed but cast a worried glance at Max and Raul.
“Lady Coco,” said Raul gently, “I think you may have a concussion. Do you remember that your son is a howler monkey?”
Lady Coco rolled her eyes. “Of course I do. Bring me the pineapple cake.”
“But—”
“Bring it! Now!”
Shocked into action by her bossy tone, Raul did as she asked.
Outside, Lord 6-Dog banged again.
“Lady Coco, this is madness,” Hermanjilio argued. “I have to let him in. I can’t leave him out there with all the bats.”
“Just a moment.” Lady Coco took the cake from Raul. “Now you can open the door.”
“Hey, that’s my cake,” joked Max. “Don’t give it to him.” His expression of welcome turned to horror as he realized that the black howler monkey on the doorstep had flaming red eyes. “That’s not Lord 6-Dog,” he cried.
“Take that, alux!” shouted Lady Coco, hurling the pineapple cake at the visitor.
Instantly distracted, the howler uttered a cry of delight. As soon as his hairy hands caught the cake, he transformed into an ugly little gnome, spattered with mango frosting. So engrossed was he in eating the cake and licking off the frosting that they easily pushed him away and closed the door.
“Sorry, Lady Coco,” said Hermanjilio. “We should have listened to you.”
“I knew he’d reveal his true self in the face of a cake,” said Lady Coco. “The alux has a very sweet tooth.”
“Can someone tell me what just happened?” asked Max.
“We had a visit from an alux,” Lady Coco told him.
“What’s an aloosh?”
“It’s a shape-shifter, a mischievous sprite,” explained Hermanjilio. “You’re half Irish, aren’t you, Max? Think of it as a Maya leprechaun.”
“But why did it come here? What did it want?”
“I wish I knew,” said Hermanjilio. “Why did Mesa-hol appear? Why did Ixt’abay pretend to be Lola? Why did Che’ Winik block our way? Why did the bats follow us home?”
“And what’s with the giant centipedes?” added Lady Coco.
“Indeed,” mused Hermanjilio. “It’s as if someone is playing a very elaborate and unfunny joke on us.”
“The Death Lords like playing jokes,” said Max in a small voice.
Lady Coco shook her head. “What happened in the cellar was not a joke. Eek’ Chapaat was deadly serious. He was out for blood. I could sense it.”
Raul shuddered. “Let us hope we will have no more uninvited guests.”
WHOOSH!
In a cloud of soot and ash, a black howler monkey shot out of the chimney into the hearth.
They all froze, waiting to see Lady Coco’s reaction.
“It’s him!” she cried. “This time it’s really him!” She brushed flakes of ash off her son’s fur. “I’m so glad you’re safe, 6-Dog. Did you see the alux out there?”
“Aye, Mother. The waayoob are massing around this house.”
“What are waayoob?” asked Max, his voice wavering.
“Spooks and demons, the creatures of the night,” explained Lady Coco. “But why have they come? Why here? Why tonight?”
“Thy guess is as good as mine, Mother. But let us not waste time talking. We must build a fire to keep the bats from following me down the chimney.” Lord 6-Dog looked disparagingly at the decorative pyramid of logs arranged in the grate of Uncle Ted’s massive fireplace. “We will need more wood. Much more wood.”
Hermanjilio brought the machetes.
Uncle Ted’s chairs were first to be chopped up, then his tables, his cabinets, his couches, his bookcases, and every piece of furniture that wasn’t being used as a barricade.
Only when a bonfire was blazing in the hearth and every flammable antique had been reduced to kindling did they sit down on the floor to discuss their situation. On the other side of the window shutters, the bats still dive-bombed the house.
“Whomever they seek is inside this house,” said Lord 6-Dog.
Without a moment’s hesitation they all looked at Max.
“Hey! It could be one of you,” he protested.
“Ixt’abay called to you,” Hermanjilio pointed out. “Che’ Winik captured you. The vampire bats followed you—”
“Stop! I get it!” Max swallowed nervously.
“We’ll protect you,” Lady Coco assured him.
“Protect me from what?” asked Max miserably. “What’s happening?” He followed Hermanjilio’s eyes to a crumpled piece of card that lay on the floor where the coffee table had been. “Is this about my funeral? Is this how it starts?”
“Calm down, Max.” Hermanjilio picked up the invitation and threw it into the fireplace. “The creatures of the underworld are scary, but they’re stupid.”
“I concur,” said Lord 6-Dog. “Whatever is happening out there, we are more than a match for it.”
Lady Coco stuck out her chin. “Bring it on,” she said, trying to sound tough.
There was a distant booming like giant footsteps.
Max jumped. “What is that?”
“My guess is Che’ Winik,” said Hermanjilio. “And he’s heading this way.”
Lord 6-Dog listened carefully. “Thou art mistaken.”
Max looked at him hopefully.
“Those are the steps of at least two ogres,” concluded Lord 6-Dog.
“Please don’t let them take me,” whimpered Max.
“Fear not, young lord. We shall easily defeat them. For we know their weak spot.”
“We do?” Max was shaking.
Lord 6-Dog nodded confidently. “Do you remember the old saying, Mother?’
Lady Coco thought for a moment, then she burst out: “The creatures of the night fear courage and light!” She clapped her hairy hands. “You are a genius, 6-Dog. Courage we have in abundance. Light we can make.”
“No we can’t,” said Max. “The generator exploded.”
“And the dive light won’t last much longer,” added Raul.
“Then we will fight by firelight,” announced Hermanjilio. He sounded defeated already.
“What is the matter with you three?” Lady Coco demanded. “Pull yourselves together! I am injured and you don’t hear me whining. Where is your fighting spirit?”
“It would be a tight fit, but we could hide under the stairs till they’ve gone,” suggested Raul.
“A king does not hide,” barked Lord 6-Dog.
Lady Coco stood to attention and saluted him. “What are your orders, your majesty?”
“I will take charge of courage, Mother; thou art in charge of light.”
Lady Coco chuckled. “If there’s one thing a Maya queen can do, it’s bring light to the jungle night. Raul, I need your help.”
“More candles?” said Raul, wearily.
“Candles? No! Think bigger! I need woven rags, coconut oil, and some sturdy bamboo canes. As many as you can find.”
Raul looked at her blankly as the footsteps outside grew ever louder.
“Jump to it, Raul! Don’t worry about what’s out there, just listen to my voice. It will be like we’re cooking in the kitchen—except, instead of cakes, we’re making my famous flaming torches. Come on, now, follow the recipe. Rags! Oil! Canes!”
Raul jumped into action. “Yes, Lady Coco!” He considered her list. “How about dish towels, barbecue lighter fluid, and broom handles?”
“Perfect!” Lady Coco tried to smile brightly, but her smile dissolved into a wince.
“What am I thinking?” said Raul. “You are wounded. You must take the weight off your leg.” He found some pillows that had not been burned and arranged them into a monkey-size mattress near the fireplace. “Rest while you can. Tell us what to do and we’ll follow your instructions.”
For once, Lady Coco didn’t argue.
She lay back on the pillows and supervised as Raul, Max, and Hermanjilio assembled an impressive stash of homemade torches.
“I hope we have made them to your satisfaction,” said Raul.
Lady Coco nodded weakly.
“Light alone will not repel them,” said Lord 6-Dog. “We must arm ourselves for combat.”
Max surveyed the collection of conquistador weaponry that lined his uncle’s walls. He wondered if antique Spanish steel would be effective against the creatures of the Maya underworld.
Raul, still fragile after his encounter with the centipede, chose a full suit of armor. He could hardly move and wouldn’t be much use in a battle, but maybe, Max thought, the sight of an entirely metal man would be terrifying enough in its own right to a primitive ogre.
Lord 6-Dog took a dagger to use as a short sword. Max and Hermanjilio settled on swords, pikes, and breastplates. From her bed on the pillows, Lady Coco requested a slingshot.
All the while, the beating of bat wings outside the windows and the scratching of bat claws against the doors intensified into a rhythm like the drums of war.
Lord 6-Dog sniffed the air. “And so it begins,” he said. He pointed up to the ceiling. “The Ookol Pixan have arrived.”
“Ock-ole pee-shan?” Max directed his flashlight up to the rafters. There, in the shadows where the wall met the ceiling, sat a tiny, almost transparent man. He was bald with long, pointed ears and a sharp nose. Max ran the flashlight over the rest of the beams. More little men squatted like toads at the ends of every one.
“Who are they?” he demanded. “How did they get in?”
“They enter where they please,” explained Lord 6-Dog. “They are the soul stealers. They appear when a human is about to die.”
