Spirits of Ash and Foam (37 page)

But First Shaman knew the method for killing demons. And First Chief had the courage. Together, they dragged First Murderer to the First Fire, eternally burning in its great pit. Again the boy laughed, saying, “You have not the courage…”

And so First Chief and First Shaman consigned the child to the pit, to the fire, to a true demon's death. But First Murderer had fooled them both. For although the flames consumed him, his ashes rose into the air and became the First Mosquitoes.

And the plague of death continued worse than before.

And Guanayoa blamed Aycayia for Jurupari's rampage. Guanayoa lied with truth, saying Aycayia had lain with First Demon to conceive First Murderer. Then Guanayoa lied with a lie, saying Aycayia was First Witch.

And Aycayia the Cursed was so beautiful that this lie was believed by all—for they believed that none but a witch could possess such beauty. And Aycayia was banished to Punta Majagua to serve Guanayoa. But Aycayia's Six Sisters refused to abandon her. And in her way, Aycayia refused to abandon Jurupari.

Fourteen Warriors were placed in seven canoes. They were blindfolded, so they could not look upon Aycayia. And their nostrils were plugged with rubber gum, so they could not revel in her scent. Aycayia was led to the First Canoe. She was bound so she could touch no one. And she was gagged so her voice could make no appeal. For Aycayia's beauty was so potent, all the senses must be thwarted, lest someone take pity upon her.

Aycayia's Six Sisters sat in the six other canoes. Guanayoa sat beside Aycayia and guided the blind warriors far away to Punta Majagua. There, Aycayia, her Sisters and Guanayoa were abandoned. The Fourteen Warriors were instructed to row toward the heat of the setting sun with their blindfolds in place. Only when night had fallen could they remove them and find their way home.

But there was no peace for Aycayia. She and her Sisters were forced to build a new
bohio
for Guanayoa. And they served the old crone as her slaves.

And Guanayoa was cruel to Aycayia in many small ways. But Aycayia would not be brought to anger. It seemed nothing Guanayoa did could harm Aycayia more than her own grief.

For First Shaman had called upon First Bat to honor his vow and become a spirit-god for the tribe. First Shaman carved a flute from driftwood in the shape of First Bat and tied it to a spear with a spearhead also carved in Bat's likeness. And First Bat entered this flute and spear, and it became his own
zemi.
And when the
zemi
played, all of First Bat's little brown children answered its song, and they fell upon the First Mosquitoes and consumed them.

As Jurupari's swarm shrank under this attack, he fled to his mother at Punta Majagua. Aycayia had created a jar from a gourd and had carved the image of First Bat nine times around it. She sang a lullaby to her son, and Jurupari flew inside the jar to sleep in his mother's arms once more, safe from the bats, which remained outside the gourd. And the Taíno were now safe from him.

And so the Six Sisters sent First Hummingbird to tell the
cacicazgo
of Aycayia's sacrifice. Hummingbird flitted to each of the Fourteen Warriors, and each and every one answered the Six Sisters' call. They sat in their canoes and put blindfolds on again. And they remembered their First Journey and crossed through the darkness in the same manner.

The Fourteen Warriors found the
bohio
of Guanayoa on Punta Majagua. They found Aycayia and her Sisters bathing Guanayoa. But Guanayoa saw the Warriors first and knew they had come to bring Aycayia back.

And this infuriated First Witch beyond all measure. She cast a spell upon the Fourteen and told them only the strongest might have Aycayia. Thus enthralled, each Warrior did battle against friend and brother. And by nightfall, all Fourteen lay dead on Punta Majagua.

Aycayia was one of only ten witnesses to the crime. She threatened to tell First Chief and First Shaman of First Witch's evil. But Guanayoa warned, “There is no land safe from my magicks, Aycayia! And if no land is safe from me, then you will never be safe on land.”

Frightened, Aycayia and her Sisters fled to First Ocean, hoping to escape Guanayoa's wrath. They stumbled through the water, trying to reach the canoes of the Fourteen Warriors. But Guanayoa's curse reached them first. The Six Sisters were transformed into dolphins. And the First Witch transformed Aycayia into a hideous manatee.

But here Guanayoa betrayed her own interests. For in her haste and fury, she cursed Aycayia and her sisters with all her magicks—even her own immortality. And so Aycayia the Cursed became immortal, and ancient Guanayoa was now fated to die …

But even Death himself could never bring an end to the magicks or the dark desires of First Witch. Nor could Guanayoa's curse ever taint the beauty of Aycayia or the beauty of her song …

Aycayia fell silent, her song now ended.

Tears streaked Miranda's face, and even Charlie wiped his eyes. 'Bastian held the spear in one hand and felt guilty about it. Cash decided he was in love.

Rain still held Aycayia's gaze. After a long pause to absorb all she had heard, Rain said, “Guanayoa, First Witch … she's Julia, isn't she? The Hurricane-Woman?”

Aycayia nodded solemnly.

“And she's dead now?”

Aycayia nodded again.

“But it hasn't stopped her?”

This time Aycayia didn't feel the need to nod.

“And she still hates you. And you … still love your son.” As it wasn't a question, Aycayia saw no need to respond, so Rain continued. “But you have to see that this can't go on. Every few centuries…” Here, Rain glanced back at Cash. “Someone will set Jurupari free. And what if the
zemi
can't be found? How many people will die? Or what if it is found and the gourd's lost?”

Aycayia didn't answer.

“We need a more permanent solution.”

Aycayia looked from Rain to Charlie to Miranda, all still marked and marred by her son. She glanced at the spear in 'Bastian's hand, and then, for a moment, she even seemed to stare at Cash, Jurupari's most recent fatality. Then she turned back to Rain and spoke clearly. “Only I can stop this cycle.”

For some reason, Rain didn't like the sound of that. “What … does that mean?”

“It must be. I am the only one who cares for him. And I cannot leave my child alone in this jar for eternity. Not alone.”

Quietly but with determination, Charlie said, “You can't let him out.”

Rain understood, though. Not the method, exactly, but the means.

Aycayia said, “I cannot let him out. And I will not leave him alone. I know what he is. I know what he's done. But I am still his mother.” Her voice was a testament to sadness and grief, but her eyes shed no pearls. She had no pearls left to shed.

Lightning clashed just outside the cave, but
Hura-hupia
—Guanayoa—was powerless to interfere. Just in case she thought otherwise, Maq and I had “borrowed” an old dinghy and were currently en route to Sycorax. We wouldn't have to row even halfway there. Merely the threat of Maq's approach was enough to keep First Witch at bay. She would play by the rules of the game, as established so very long ago.

Aycayia held the jar to her breast like a baby. She rocked it and sang once more:

The day is long.

The night is longer,

But here in your mother's arms,

You are safe.

Stay, my pretty child,

Stay and sleep.

Stay my love, my child,

Stay and sleep …

Then Aycayia stepped forward and with what seemed like great effort, handed the gourd to Rain.

“I don't…” Rain began, but there was no need to finish.

Aycayia returned to the pool. She knelt down and reached into the water, removing her manatee skin. She said, “I have already said good-bye to my Sisters.” And with her back to all assembled, she rent the garment in two. She dropped the pieces on either side of the pool and stepped into the water—or rather
onto
the water. She almost stood upon it as she turned to face Rain.

She smiled then.

And dissolved.

Miranda gasped audibly, but there was no other sound, except a faint bubbling. Before their eyes, from the bottom up, Aycayia the Cursed dissolved into seafoam. The process seemed painless—or at least it seemed to cause her no more pain than her long life and Guanayoa's fury had already inflicted. Her smile never dimmed as her body sank down and down without actually sinking, until all that remained amid a few strands of seaweed was a thick layer of foam coating the surface of the pool.

Rain approached the pool, gourd in hand. She nodded to 'Bastian, who began to twirl the
zemi,
bringing forth its protective tone. Above, in the shadows, the children of First Bat stirred but did not descend. Rain opened the jar and scooped a handful of foam into it, reuniting Aycayia with her child for eternity.

Then Rain sealed the jar again.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

STICK-UP

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18

Rain, Charlie and Miranda emerged from the bat cave to face a fading storm. Julia (a.k.a. Guanayoa, a.k.a.
Hura-hupia
) knew she had one chance left to keep the
zemi
out of Rain's clutches, and it wouldn't depend on the weather.

“Right. Hand it over.”

Rain looked up. A soaking-wet Callahan, his blond hair plastered down over his forehead, stood before the three teenagers with a gun in his hand, which he used to gesture at the gourd Rain cradled in her arm.

'Bastian and Cash had been a few paces behind the teens but were still just inside the mouth of the cave. Raising up the bat-spear-
zemi
—which was shadowed from Callahan's view—'Bastian was more than ready to use the pointy end against the man threatening his granddaughter. He thought about throwing it but didn't trust his arm. Better to run the Aussie clean through what passed for his heart. There was only one problem. Rain was currently in the way.

Her glance moved from the huge, looming weapon in Callahan's hand to the bat-jar in her right arm and then over to the snake charm on her left. The golden glow of the Healer snake was still at work, helping her recover from the
Hupia
's attack, but the Searcher snake was dormant. There was no blue glow surrounding either the snake or the jar. The gourd was significant, maybe even a
zemi—
but it was not “the”
zemi
. There was no place for it in the Cache, and she didn't need it.
Still, don't want to make that too obvious.

“This?” she asked, nodding down at it.

“Of course,
this
!” Callahan said with extreme irritation. He had already searched the cave himself and couldn't understand how the girl had found the dingus when he had not.
But that doesn't matter. It's mine now.

“And you'll shoot me if I don't give it to you?”

A number of verbal comebacks came to mind, but they all sounded clichéd, so Callahan settled for visual eloquence, raising the gun to aim it between her eyes.

Rain nodded and, as solemnly as she could manage, handed the jar to her opponent.

Charlie said, “I wouldn't open it if I were you.”

Callahan flashed him a contemptuous look, which hid a certain amount of uncertainty over the oddness of the boy's warning. He shook it off.
Nothing these kids say matters.
He gripped the gourd in his free hand like a rugger ball and started to back away into the jungle. For a few lovely seconds—lovely in his mind anyway—he fantasized about shooting them all. But that would bring more trouble than it was worth. He'd heard about the manhunt for those tourist kids and knew that three more missing brats—
Where had this third one come from, anyway?—
would probably bring a tidal wave of authorities to the Keys. He didn't need that.
Not with more
zemis
to find.
He settled for leaving them with an implied threat. “Don't follow me.”

“Don't worry,” Rain responded.

“I'm following him,” Cash said.

Rain's eyes went wide, but she didn't dare speak or look back toward the cave.

'Bastian said, “What are you talking about?”

“I'm gonna follow him,” Cash repeated. “I'm gonna
haunt
the bastard.”

“Why?”

“Well, for starters, he's the one that sent me after that
zemi.
He's the one who got me killed. So I owe him a little payback. Besides,
I haven't done anything yet!
I mean, why am I still here? I didn't stop the evil-demon-mosquito-thing. I didn't save the girl or even help save her, really. And I still don't see any light or tunnel to walk into. So maybe I can hang with my old buddy Callahan. Figure out his next move. And report back to you guys.”

'Bastian nodded.

Rain did her best not to reveal her smile as a scowling Callahan disappeared into the jungle with Cash right behind him. Just before disappearing from view, Cash flashed a goofy grin and said, “See ya!”

And above, Julia raged over Callahan walking off—with the wrong
zemi
!
Fool,
roared the thunder!
Idiot,
shrieked the wind! She had half a mind to wait until he boarded the
Bootstrap
and then sink the whole glorified canoe with one massive bolt of lightning But she would resist the murderous urge much as Callahan had. There were still more
zemis
to find, and at least a chance that, eventually, Callahan might get lucky enough to claim one for Guanayoa's team—and perhaps a slightly better chance that, eventually, he might get angry enough to take Rain out of the game permanently.