… After almost a half hour of slashing and cursing, Quint had helped clear a wide swath along the overgrown road, all the while battling flies and mosquitoes and some kind of biting gnat that came in clouds of kamikaze raids. At one point, he’d stumbled head-first into a thick, huge spiderweb. Damned eight-legged bastard! Thank the Maya gods nobody was watching while he was tripping the light fantastic with some wild monkey punches thrown in for good measure.
Soaked to the skin with sweat and lathered with grit and bugs, Quint was ready to head back to camp. Hell, he’d be fine with walking all the way to the Calakmul ranger station, where he could request a helicopter flight back to Cancun. He’d even offer Pedrothree times the usual rate to play knight in shining armor and come to his rescue.
Unfortunately, his girlfriend had grand aspirations about long-dead people with fancy teeth.
Sheathing his machete, he lifted his shirt and wiped his face. He could hear the others still slashing and crashing all around, along with an occasional laugh behind him from Raul, who was being entertained by Juan’s stories of past adventures under the jungle canopy.
If only there were a clear, cool cenote close by to dive into. Where was that damnedaguadaRaul had been talking about? How many alligators did it take to make a waterhole unsafe for swimming anyway? He sighed. With his luck, the pool probably came stocked with some ancient breed of piranhas raised by whatever nutbirds left the pile of skulls as outdoor yard art.
Angélica joined him at the side of the old road, looking tickled pink. Although that might partly be because of the heat making her cheeks rosier than usual. She plucked a piece of spider web from his hair and then flicked something off his sleeve—probably another tick. He must have brushed past a swarm of the bloodsuckers after getting groovy with the spiderweb. This place was one big booby trap.
“How are you doing over here, Parker?” she asked for his ears only.
He matched her low volume. “Just dandy and itchy.” He uncapped his canteen, smiling in spite of what felt like a centipede crawling up his spine. “This place checks all the ‘fun’ boxes. I’m going to give it five stars. I think I’ll title my review, ‘Thrills Await with Every Swing of the Machete.’ What do you think?”
She patted his chest, mooning up at him with happy eyes. “I think you deserve an extra reward for all of this hard work.”
“In addition to the hat and whip?”
“Yes.”
He took a swallow of warm water that tasted a bit stale, but still delicious in this heat. “Like what kind of a reward are we talking here?”
Her smile positively smoldered. “Your favorite kind.”
“A cold beer and a hot woman?”
She nodded. “On the beach in the moonlight.”
“I’ll take it. So, what’s the babe’s name?” he teased.
Her gaze narrowed playfully. She held up her fist, shaking it. “Why I oughta …”
“You know what, you’re right. Names don’t matter if she’s in her birthday suit.”
“Cheeky man.” Grinning, she stole his canteen and took a drink. “Keep talking about other hot women and I’ll use my machete to pluck the feathers off your littleparrot.”
“Kinky, boss lady.” He took his canteen back. “Please, tell me more, and don’t leave out the feather-tickling part.”
As he downed another swig, a long-legged pheasant-like bird about the size of a small turkey with a black curly crest and a big bump on its yellow beak strutted up to them. The bird pecked at the ground a few times next to Quint’s boot before tiptoeing off through the brush with its black tail feathers pointing skyward.
He capped the canteen. “Did you just see a big bird cross our path or am I hallucinating from the heat?” Before she could answer, he added, “And please don’t tell me seeing that bird is another sign in the Maya world of Underworld gods coming topside for a visit, or I’ll hang up my machete for good and go swim with the frogs in theaguada.”
“I don’t adviseaguadaswimming, unless you don’t mind having your bits and pieces fair game for sharp-toothed critters while you’re paddling around. Not to mention the jaguars, cougars, rats, and whatever else elbows up to the bar for a drink.”
He shook his head at her. “You sure know how to pick a vacation spot, woman.”
She lowered her gaze before looking away. “Yeah, about that,” she started, licking her lips. “We need to—”
Raul hurried up to them, interrupting her before she could finish. “Did you see that male great curassow just walk past?” His eyes were wide and round with wonder as he looked toward the trees where it had disappeared. “It’s probably heading for theaguada. I’ve never seen one so calm around people. It must not be used to seeing humans around here.”
Quint wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not, but he was more interested in what Angélica had been about to say than anybold birds.
Bronko let out a shrill whistle from the front of the pack that sent the eavesdropping spider monkeys into a barking frenzy.
“Sounds like a cat just ran through the dog pound,” Quint told Angélica over the racket, tucking away his canteen while searching the canopy. “How many monkeys do you think are up there?”
“Who cares about the damned monkeys, Parker?” Angélica grabbed his hand and tugged. “Let’s go see if Bronko found KuTu’s wall.”
