When everyone else had left the room, Lola did a little victory dance. “Can you believe how well that went? We just need to do this stupid show, collect our Jaguar Stones, and get out of here. It’s in the bag, Hoop.”
Max looked at her like she was crazy. “You’re kidding, right? You don’t seriously think that Landa will hand over his stones? And that Ah Pukuh won’t care if they’re fake? And that everybody will live happily ever after?”
Lola jutted her chin stubbornly. “The deal was to go to Cahokia and bring back the Jaguar Stones. End of story.”
Max noticed that she couldn’t look him in the eye. She was desperate to believe that their quest was over. He realized how terrifying it must have been for her to face Landa again, the person who had done so much to ruin her life. His tone softened. “Yeah. Why not? Maybe you’re right. Hey, you were right about Tzelek.”
Lola smiled weakly.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
“It was so creepy seeing him, Hoop.”
“Landa?”
Lola nodded. “But he’s not quite as scary as he used to be. I think he’s met his match.”
Max laughed. “Yeah, Lady Koo’s the scariest one. Did you see her eyes when she got mad at him?”
“They deserve each other.”
There was knock at the door and a smiling young woman entered. She was dressed in denim overalls and had a bandanna tied around her magnificently wild hair. “Hi, I’m Fay from wardrobe. I’ve come to get you ready for your big performance. Please follow me.”
As Max and Lola trotted behind her through the network of underground corridors, they passed offices filled with people piling up coins, counting banknotes, and jabbing numbers into calculators. There was a room piled up with leather goods—purses, wallets, and shoulder bags—arranged by size and color. Another room had tubs of small electronics—cell phones, tablets, laptops—all neatly labeled by brand. In yet another room, the workers were processing jewelry, sorting gold from silver, rings from nose studs, precious gems from fakes.
“What do they do with all this stuff?” asked Max.
“Lady Koo sells it online,” said Fay. “Or she has it melted down. It’s so sad. People get carried away and donate their wedding rings and family heirlooms, and they will never be able to get them back.”
“How can you bear to work here?” asked Lola.
“It’s a job. I’m an archaeology major in St. Louis and I thought it would be good for my résumé. But no one here is interested in the real facts about Cahokia. They even shut down the visitor center. Now, it’s all about costumes and special effects. No one cares about the truth.”
They went up in an elevator to a trailer and out into the stockade area behind the pyramid.
It was late afternoon. All around Cahokia, the trees were turning the color of the setting sun. Fay wove expertly around stagehands carrying pieces of scenery on their heads, actors saying their lines, and dancing girls in macaw feather headdresses practicing their high kicks.
The great pyramid loomed over them.
“Nearly there,” said Fay. “The dressing rooms are at the top.”
Max groaned. “How many steps?”
“None,” replied Fay. “We’ll take the escalator.”
And there it was.
A steep hundred-foot escalator rumbling up the back of the pyramid. And another one, next to it, rumbling down.
Fay saw the disbelief on his face. “Lady Koo calls it her Taj Mahal,” she said.
“Isn’t the Taj Mahal a palace in India?” asked Lola.
“Exactly. It was built by an emperor out of love for his wife. Lady Koo tells everyone that Great Sun built these moving stairways as a tribute to the wife who every day brings him closer to the stars.” Fay dropped her voice. “The truth is she couldn’t walk up the stairs in her high heels.”
As they neared the top of the pyramid, they looked down on Old Cahokia. The flags around the campsite fluttered in the evening breeze. Campfires sputtered. A faint smell of boiling lentils wafted up to them.
They stepped off the top of the escalator and Fay guided them into the wardrobe tent. “You’ll have to help me,” she said. “I’m not exactly sure what the Hero Twins wore.”
“Their Maya names are Xbalanque, which means Jaguar Sun, and Hunahpu, which means One Hunter, if that’s any help,” said Lola, looking through the racks of clothes. “So where do you get all this stuff?”
“The costumes? All sorts of places. Online, thrift stores, auctions. I’m always on the lookout for unusual pieces. A lot of them I make myself. Great Sun wants an ancient Maya feel, but there isn’t much to go on. No textiles have survived from that period. I study wall paintings and pots and do the best I can.”
“That black-and-white feather costume that Great Sun wore this morning was amazing. Did you make that?”
Fay didn’t think twice. “I wish! I love it! It looks so authentic.”
“So where did you get it?”
“It was the strangest thing. I just turned up to work one morning and there it was. Like someone had just taken it off and dropped it there.”
“When was this?”
“A couple of days ago.”
“And you have no idea where it came from?”
“I assumed that the local thrift store dropped it off. They’re always looking out for things for me. It probably came from a movie or a play or something.” She took a notebook out of her pocket. “Would you excuse me for a moment while I sketch a few ideas?”
Max and Lola went into a huddle at the other end of the tent.
“Tzelek is here somewhere,” said Max. “But the question is where? Who’s he picked to occupy this time?”
“Maybe Lord 6-Dog can sniff him out,” said Lola. She clapped her hand over her mouth. “Lord 6-Dog! If Tzelek’s here, Lord 6-Dog’s in danger. We have to find him!”
Lady Koo entered the room, a white coat over her evening dress, followed by a retinue of assistants carrying makeup cases, mirrors, and hairstyling tools. “I haven’t lost my old touch,” she said. “I was top of my class at beauty school.”
“I’ll be back in a moment,” said Lola, heading for the door.
Lady Koo caught her by the arm. “Where do you think you’re going?”
Lola tried to wriggle free. “I need to check on the monkey.”
“No,” said Lady Koo, dragging Lola back to a chair. “You need to sit here while I do your makeup. I’ve got a million things to take care of before the show starts. But I’ll have the monkey brought up for you. In fact, I’m writing a little part for him into the show. Everyone loves a dancing monkey.”
“He doesn’t dance,” said Lola.
“The sooner we get you ready, the sooner you can teach him,” said Lady Koo.
So Lola sat back and watched in the mirror as she and Max were transformed into Xbalanque and Hunahpu, the kids who saved the world from the Lords of Death.