In a Cat's Eye by Kelly A Harmon & Vonnie Winslow Crist

Author:Kelly A Harmon & Vonnie Winslow Crist [Harmon, Kelly A & Crist, Vonnie Winslow]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: General Fiction
ISBN: 9781941559154
Publisher: Pole to Pole Publishing
Published: 2016-05-15T04:00:00+00:00

§

Jaguars, pitch-black giant anacondas, and huge caiman haunted Maya’s sleep, leaving her more wound up than when she lay down to rest. She rolled out of her hammock at first light onto trembling legs, drenched in sweat. Charo and Quade slept peacefully, ignorant of the fears she and her mother held. They were too young to remember when their father had been sacrificed. But the sight of Salix ripping her father’s beating heart from his chest was something Maya would never forget. The air had tasted slick and oily, as it did at each subsequent sacrifice.

Her mother pressed a small cloth pouch containing the powder into her hand. “Remember, don’t look away during the sacrifice. The priests will be looking for non-believers. Say your prayers to the others silently and be careful when you use the powder. Don’t swallow any.”

“Yes, mother,” she said as she tucked the pouch into the secret pocket in her dress.

Thinking about four days in a hut with the other new young women in the village made her insides twist with dread. Swallowing neston powder and hallucinating was just one of the many things that could go wrong.

“My beautiful girl,” said her mother, when she had finished braiding feathers and yellow seeds into her hair. “You are Ixchel’s handmaiden. The goddess of the moon will watch over you.”

The words did little to help Maya’s nerves. Ixchel’s marks felt more like a curse than a gift. At least her sun-kissed bronze skin was otherwise unmarred, though few called her beautiful, with her overly round face and short, stocky body.

“You should have this.” Her mother placed a necklace with a single citron bead over her head. Maya’s throat tightened. It was the only thing of true value they owned. “This belonged to my mother, and her mother before her, passed down for their moon ceremonies.”

The moon ceremony was supposed to be a coming of age celebration, but Maya felt only doom as she walked toward the temple. Each step felt like a death knell. Ixchel should have been predominant at this ceremony, not Ah-Puch. Death had no place in a woman’s womb. It seemed strange that Salix even allowed the ceremony to continue.

Four other girls knelt at the base of the temple. Unlike Maya, they were laden with many strands of colored stones. Conda had the most. Her family was wealthy enough that she was in no danger of being chosen to appease Ah-Puch.

“Look who decided to finally show up,” said Conda. “Did you get lost on the way to the temple or just trip over your clumsy feet?”

Heat rose on Maya’s face as the girls snickered. She fingered the stone around her neck and kept her head turned down as she joined them on the woven red ground cloth. This citron had far more meaning to her than all the stones the others wore.

A gong signaled the beginning of the assembly. Maya saw Conda’s body stiffen and a muscle twitch on her cheek. It was hard to imagine Conda being nervous.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.