Four guards dashed into the tent. The first two held submachine guns and they dramatically released the safety with a resounding click letting everyone know they meant business. Next, two rather large Mexicans came into the tent. They held twine bindings and they bent down towards Autumn and Andrews.
“Ouch,” Autumn winced as the guard grabbed her arm sharply and twisted it behind her back. The rough strands of twine cut a bit into her skin. She squinted her eyes.
Blackness enveloped Autumn as she struggled to sit up from laying down. Her hands were bound tightly behind her and she could feel the edges of the cord digging into her flesh. She groaned from the bruise that now throbbed on her cheek and felt her way up a pole to a sitting position.
“Andrews, I cannot see. Are you in here with me? Do you have any idea where we are?” Autumn spoke out to the darkness. All sorts of strange sounds were around her and she could not identify which ones came from inside where she was and which ones were outside. She had no idea how far away they were from the Pira’mide del Adivino, nor what time it was. However, the crackling of a fire and the scent of burning wood soon wafted into her nostrils giving her the idea that it was now nighttime.
“So, now what,” Autumn asked as she stood as still as she could.
Andrews crept up closer to Autumn and slowly scanned the room. He flashed his flashlight into all the corners and crevaces but did not see any visible signs of traps.
He replied, “Well, I am not sure. The room does not seem to have any visible traps. But that does not mean that we should watch where we step and be really careful. I am sure there is at least one more thing we need to pass before we are able to touch that scepter. It seems to simple for it to be sitting here alone.”
The place was called, El Loro Loco, and it was a small dive. There were two tiers of seating, all with red seats and brown card tables. Colorful and hand painted parrots hung from the ceiling as they perched on paper mache perches painted white. A young, pretty mexican girl greeted them at the door. She wore an all white cotton dress with a red and orange braided belt. Her long blackish brown hair hung straight down past her shoulders and her eyes were a very light shade of blue.
“On behalf of Aeromexico, let me welcome all our guests to flight 546, with service to Mexico City, Mexico,” a thickly accented olived skinned woman with brown hair called out. Her eyes were blue and her red lips were well hidden by the microphone she held directly to her lips. She wore a light blue shirt with a clip-on tie and a brown and orange and yellow striped sweater vest on top. Her right hand was tucked in her navy blue pants. “A this time, we would like to extend all preboarding rights to our guests who have young children under the age of twelve traveling alone, parents with children, or our senior guests who need just a little bit of extra time while boarding the plane.”
The fireplace upstairs cracked and shifted as the blackened, burnt wood collapsed under its own weight. Autumn sat on the floor carefully reading the spines of all the books. Occasionally, she would pull out one book and hold it in her hands, feeling the texture of the leather binding and the edges of the pages crinkle in her fingers. This time she had pulled out a pre-turn-of-the century bible from the lower bookshelf. Religion had never been something her parents carefully installed in her and for that she was grateful. She lkiked having the freedom to pick and chose whatever belief systems she wanted to spend time devoting energy into.
Footsteps sounded behind her and Andrews stood in the doorway with a glass full of cold mocha. He smiled at her and said, “You having fun looking over all the books?”
“I am telling you Daniel, you are wrong. There are four hundred and twenty known objects of mass destruction in the world and that is not including the bombs and the missles and the normal means to blow this planet to kingdom come,” The one with the shirt and tie said.
Daniel rolled his eyes, “If you had read The Moldy Tome, you would have realized that combining green mold found in caves with gold and bronze flecks in a beaker produce a gas that is invisible but extremely deadly, which brings the new GRAND total to to 1000 items out there that we need to find and lock up in the locker.” And to add to the effect, Daniel stuck his tongue out at the other twin.
The sun was out again the next morning and Autumn woke early. With all the sleep she got, however, she felt quite rested. Drinking her morning cup of chai, she sat next to the window and stared blankly out of the window. Her mind was clear and focused, following down imaginary paths of the two choices she could make today about the journal and the world. Autumn hated change, but she hated the idea of not existing anymore.
Bubba Gadget was still snuggled on the bed when she returned to pull her boots on. “Mom is gonna go out for a bit today, lovvie,” Autumn said while laying her head down on the small cat’s body. “You have fresh water and food in your bowls. Now be a good kitty and do not get into too much trouble.”
Autumn wiped the tears from her eyes as she stood just outside of Coffee People. She looked to the left and right, barely recognizing anything. For the first time in her life, she was now unsure of where to go and what to do. Heading to the only place that felt familiar and kind, she went back to the Page Turner. She was still crying as she opened the door. It was warm inside, the heater having been turned on when she arrived earlier. Autumn went into the back office and grabbed two sheets of paper.
She fed Bubba Gadget his can of food for the day and then grabbed another bowl from the cupboards. She bent down and opened the door to the turn-table style pantry. She stored a bag of dry cat food in there, for long vacations and emergency rations for Bubba. She loved the little siamese and while she knew she would be home later that evening, she figured that giving him a bit of extra food would not be all too bad. Bubba sat on the kitchen countertop and she picked him up gently.
