Chapter 14. The story of Lord Cacao and 13 Jaguar

Where jaguars and children sleep side by side

Note: Author commentary at the end of the chapter. This commentary is exclusive to the Cacao Muse; you won’t see it on Amazon, my author site, or printed inside the wrappers of my favorite chocolate bars.

Not too long after leaving the wild orchid tree, Itzel, Max, and Luna reached a clearing in the rainforest. A large, steep mound overgrown with grass had prevented the larger trees from occupying the space—but there was one, growing at the very top of the mound.

“Estamos aquí,” said Itzel, pausing at the base of the mound. (We’re here.)

His heart beating in anticipation, Max looked up but couldn’t tell what he was supposed to be seeing.

“Come on,” whispered Itzel. Taking him by the hand, she led Max up the mound. He faltered a few times on the steep incline, but held his own.

With the sun’s brilliant light flooding the clearing, Max could see everything crystal clear as he clambered up the mound. At the top the view took his breath away: they were almost at the level of the treetops, and could see far, far into the horizon all around them. The rainforest was an emerald sea, millions of leaves shimmering in the sunlight, betraying a deep bosom of life below, the way the rippling surface of the ocean belies unfathomable diversity miles beneath the surface.

Itzel pulled on Max’s hand to turn him around. “Max. This is the Sacred Cacao Tree.”

A single tree stretched from the top of the mound. But this cacao tree was different than those he’d seen in the cacao grove. It was far taller, its trunk thicker and wider and more overgrown with mosses, its leaves shinier and a deeper emerald green, its flower clusters more numerous, its pods larger and more colorful. Luna spread her wings and fluttered off into the branches, looking for open flowers to dip her beak into. Max walked around the tree, running his hand along its trunk, his fingers lightly skipping across the tiny bromelias and vines winding their way up into the crown.

“I’ve never seen a cacao tree this big. All the others in the grove yesterday were a lot shorter.”

“Well, this tree is a lot older than the others.”

“How old?”

“Very old,” said Itzel, watching Luna dart from cluster to cluster of cacao flowers. “Maybe one thousand years, maybe even more.”

“One thousand years??”

But yes, it was plausible. Max remembered a giant sequoia tree he’d seen in the Sequoia National Park, in his home state of California, that supposedly dated back 2,500 years. Ever since that day he looked at trees differently. The Sacred Cacao Tree was the second long-living tree he’d seen in his life so far; but compared to the giant sequoia, the Cacao Tree was much more alive with its countless clusters of cacao blossoms, the mosses, little bromeliads, vines, and other epiphytes, and all the insects scurrying about everywhere. Max reflected on his age, that of his parents, and that of his grandfather. Grandpa never even reached 100, he thought. This tree saw at least ten times that much time. Max looked around the forest, imagining what incredible secrets the jungle was hiding beneath its verdant canopy, and perhaps beneath its rich soils.

Itzel’s gaze was still fixated on Luna.

“Qué raro,” she said, more to herself. “Los colibrís no suelen tomar el nectar de los árboles de cacao.” (How strange. Usually hummingbirds don’t drink the nectar of cacao trees.)

Max looked up into the tree. There, perched on one of the main branches, Luna was attempting to sip from an open cacao blossom. For a hummingbird, she was on the larger side, but she did manage to get a few sips.

Beautiful tree, blessed tree, Max could feel Luna say. Only one, only one, seeded in ancient time.

“Umm… Itzel? Luna’s saying something about, there’s only one, and something about a seed from ancient times. I’m not really sure I understand, do you?”

Itzel’s blood ran hot. This was no hummingbird. This had to be another deity speaking to them. Itzel sat down at the base of the tree and gently pulled on Max’s hand to sit down with her. They were much too far away from K'aax Itzà for anyone to hear them; nevertheless, this was a secret that simply could not be spoken out loud, anywhere.

“Will you promise never to tell anyone?”

Max nodded solemnly. Luna came fluttering back and perched on his shoulder. She wasn’t about to miss a storytelling, even if it was a story she had known since she cracked her eggshell.