The Jaguar (38 page)

Alfredo and she were dead. Laura sensed the coming crescendo, the rolling wave that would never retreat. Then there was the face of a woman - one that had emerged through the bubbles of her hot tub - and had smoked at the entrance to Muyil. Ix-Chel cast her ancient, welcoming, motherly smile. It grew to encompass the world. There were no voices anymore, no people, no petty dramas, no time - only the fusion of she and he - another secret consciousness of the lake, staring up at David, unseen, from deep below.

David could hear Marcus calling his name. The voice was so familiar that for a moment he forgot that everything had changed. He was almost back at the platform. As he emerged from the trees into the midday sun, others looked up from their sandwiches and squinted in his direction. Marcus was clearly not happy. He berated David for wandering off without warning - it was lucky they had realised he must be walking around the rim. Anything could have happened to him. He may have put other people in danger.

David shrugged his shoulders. He no longer cared. He had done what needed to be done and now all was well. He wondered where Luis and Alfredo might be - if they even still existed.

Carlos struggled to his feet, levering himself upright using his son's shoulder, and tossed David a spare packed lunch. Cesar squealed at his father in mock discomfort then hailed a greeting in Spanish, to which David responded with newfound fluency. There was a girl amongst the familiar group whom David didn't know - a tall and leggy blond, who was pouring drinks from a thermos flask for some of the other tourists. David grew weary and suddenly sad. He sank onto a convenient patch of bare volcanic soil. Laura he would really miss.

Hannah and Lloyd were laughing over a game of cards with Dana. Dana - David couldn't help but smile as he noticed her. Newly aware of his presence, she looked up and returned the smile. Then her expression gently unfolded. Her eyes were drawn away from him. She stared in growing wonder towards the lake, and she knew. She just knew. She reached for her belly and sensed the new life within her. A jaguar roared. Some looked up in panic and surprise, but the circle was complete.

David felt again the reassuring weight of the ring in his pocket. Instinctively, he knew full well to whom it had belonged. He drew it out, intent on sharing his discovery with the children. For the first time he noticed the ornamentation along its length. One section stood proud: the head of a snake, consuming its own tail. David's eyes were drawn from the ring to the serpentine rim of the crater - then to the distant peak that marked the farthest side. He followed the curves of the hillside. He checked for the details of eye and mouth, perhaps eroded a little by time, but still unmistakeably hewn into the opposite slope. He smiled a knowing smile: the ring and volcano were in unison. He cast his eyes downward once more. The Ouroboros had changed. A gap now separated Quetzalcoatl's
head and tail. A new cycle had begun. The snake had grown restless and opened up a different trail. Tonight, David mused, the stars might light a different path for the jaguar and he to follow.

Soon he could return to Phoebe. The ring would find a new home.

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