Chapter 54. Bridges
Island of Boyuca. Bay of Honduras.
The seven travelers left the cave and squinted as they walked into the bright sun. They were on a high rocky ledge, and the ground sloped off on either side of the narrow walkway. Skip Drame looked over the edge and saw that they were pretty high up on the mountain. The walkway continued up a stone stairway. There was no other way to go, so the group trudged upward, unsure of where the path was taking them. When they got to the top of the stairway, the path went straight about fifty feet and then ended at the edge of a cliff. At the top of the cliff were three long bridges, spanning a two hundred foot chasm to ledges on the other side. The first bridge was made of wood, with wooden floor boards and wooden rails, and looked fairly sturdy. The second was green and leafy and made of vines. The third bridge looked to be the most precarious and was made of rope. Each bridge terminated into a different cave opening in the face of the mountain on the far side. John Morse told his son Zach not to get too close to the edge.
“Hey,” said Zach to his father. “This is just like the story you told us about the Xibalba. You said that after the river of blood and the river of pus and the river of scorpions, the Hero Twins had to cross bridges.”
“That’s right,” said John Morse.
“But I thought you said when we were on the yacht that there were four bridges, not three.”
“You’re right,” said Ka’-an. “The story is four bridges, so I don’t know why there would only be three.”
Mountain Man seemed happy. He liked high mountain passes and great views. From here, they could see the yacht below in the bay. They had a good view of most of the island. Pete peered over the edge of the cliff. It was hundreds of feet down to the bottom. If they tried to cross any of the bridges and the bridge failed, it would mean certain death.
Seated off to the right of the bridges behind a column of rock, was a frail old man, sitting on a mound of dirt. His face was worn with wrinkles. His gray hair, blowing wildly in the wind, blew across his face, but he didn’t seem to mind. Wearing a simple, green ceremonial garment, the old man appeared oblivious to the Americans, happy to puff on his long pipe, staring out into space with a wise but happy look. Pete decided the man looked harmless enough, and said hello. The old man turned to him and said nothing. Pete, using Ka’-an as interpreter, asked the old man if he could help advise as to the safest way to cross the bridges. The old man, speaking in K’iche’, recited something that sounded like gibberish, and Pete turned to Ka’-an for translation.
“He says, ‘The certain man will cross, but the doubtful man will live.’”
Pete looked confused. “I’m sorry, sir, what does that mean?” Ka’-an translated for Pete.
The old man repeated the same sentence again, and then pulled out a thatch basket of fruit, offering each of the group a mango. All seven were very appreciative, as they had not eaten or drunk anything in a long time, and they thanked the old man, who nodded. The old man then opened a second basket, which contained a few foul-smelling dead animals covered in flies. Pete looked in. There was a dead armadillo and four or five dead rats. The stench was terrible. Pete recoiled and thought he was going to be sick. The old man looked confused. He was obviously trying to be friendly. After a few more questions, translated by Ka’-an, it became clear that the old man was not going to offer anything more helpful. Pete walked over to the three bridges, seeing if there was anything there which could give him a clue. As he did so, he thought for a moment that he heard a low sound, like the whispering of human voices.
He inspected the wooden bridge closer. On the wooden post of the first bridge was a long, narrow, curving, cream and pink animal horn or shell with a wider opening at the top. Pete picked up the horn/shell and lifted it to his ear. He heard human voices coming from the horn, almost like a telephone. The voices were in a strange language, probably the Mayan dialect of the islanders. Startled at first, Pete dropped the horn. The voices continued from the horn as it lay in the gravel. Pete picked it up again and saw that there was a small hole in the smaller end of the horn, and connected to that was something that looked like a cross between rubber tubing and a vine. It was green and plantlike, but bendable like rubber, and it looked like it might be hollow. The rubber-like vine snaked over the edge of the cliff.
“Check this out,” said Pete, handing the horn to Drame, who listened to the voices emanating from the horn.
“Hellllooooo,” said Drame, speaking into the horn. The strange voices continued. “Hey, Ka’-an, I think we need a translation here.”
Ka’-an picked up the horn, and listened intently to the voices.
“It says, ‘Beware the great white eater, whose voracious appetite can bring down giants.’”
Skip patted Pete’s stomach, and cracked, “The Great White Eater. Hey, Pete, I think they’re talkin’ about you!”
Pete smirked, brushing off Drame’s hand from his stomach. “Come to think of it, I am pretty hungry. That mango was good. What I wouldn’t give for a good steak right now.”
“Grab the horn for the second bridge, the one with the vines,” said Drame. “What does that say?”
Ka’-an listened, putting the horn close to his ear.
“It says, ‘Beware the Queen’s angry sons, who guard the gold in the labyrinth where no man walks.’”
“What the hell does that mean? And who is the Queen?” asked Drame.
“I have no idea,” confessed Ka’-an.
Zach Morse grabbed the horn in front of the third bridge and handed it to Ka’-an. “What about this one?” Ka’-an took the horn from Zach and listened.
“It says, ‘Beware the bright colored one with the sharp bite, the creation of Tohil. He has tongues but cannot taste. He can be savior or destroyer.’” Before they could figure out what that meant, there was movement on the other side of the chasm.
“Look!” yelled Zach, peering across the gulf. At the end of the wooden bridge, walking out of the mouth of the cave opening, were three albino panthers. The three animals, with mangy white fur and disturbing bright blue eyes, walked menacingly around the mouth of the cave. On the far side of the wooden bridge, standing like gateposts at the end of the path, were two large dirt-colored pillars. One of the panthers walked between the pillars and took a few steps out onto the bridge. The animal looked around and then appeared to think better of it, apparently unsure if the bridge would hold the weight. He retreated with the two others. The three animals walked silently near the cave entrance, with their eyes locked on the travelers on the other side. One of the panthers made a loud growl which could be heard all the way across the chasm.
Moments later, six burly natives, wearing no shirts and semicircular neckpieces made of gold, came out of the second cave opening, at the far end of the vine bridge. Pete took out binoculars from his pack and looked across the chasm at the natives. Each wielded a long spear. He saw a glint of sunlight on the face of one of the natives. “What is that?” he thought. Probing closer with his binoculars, he saw what was causing the flash. The guards all had gold teeth. For now, the natives did not appear to be coming across the bridge towards them, but, on the other hand, they did not look like a particularly friendly welcoming party.
Scanning to the right, Pete looked through the binoculars to the cave opening by the end of the third bridge, the one made of rope. There was a clump of something orange or pink near the mouth of the cave. Adjusting the focus, he saw what it was. Snakes, lots of them. He gave the binoculars to Charlie. Due to his son Teddy’s fascination with snakes, Professor Winston was somewhat of an expert on snakes.
“There is only one snake in the world that looks like that,” said Charlie. “Those are copperheads. And they are poisonous.”
The six men and one tall woman looked out over the bridges. They had to get across a two hundred foot chasm, on bridges that were weak and may fail, and if they got to the other side, they were facing panthers, soldiers and snakes. This was going to require a plan.