Chapter 21. Night Flight

Where two generations and a charm of hummingbirds converge upon a buried Maya pyramid

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.

Doña Victoria needed no guidance. She knew the rainforest like her own grandchildren: she knew when to harvest its fruits and when to leave them for the animals; she knew when to make her presence felt far and wide and when to pass through unseen; she could feel when it was in pain and when it hummed its strongest.

Her footsteps now fell upon the same path where hours before two pairs of smaller feet had gone. The jungle wastes no time in swallowing up the footprints of its creatures, but Doña Victoria could sense the children’s recent presence. Focusing her heart and mind on the path, she followed the energies they had left behind, those invisible, intangible tracks that all living things impress on the time and space they inhabit.

Luna flew along by her side, zipping ahead impatiently, hovering to wait for the Elder Grandmother to catch up, then zipping ahead again. It hadn’t escaped her how close Itzel and Max had grown in the space of just a few days; and now, Itzel had taken her new friend to a place most of her fellow Maya didn’t even know existed. But Doña Victoria knew better than to worry about the children’s safety or fear for her people’s cultural patrimony. Like her husband Don Rigoberto, Doña Victoria knew Itzel’s birth sign well, along with the power and responsibility it carried. Itzel had to have a reason to reveal the secret of the Cacao Tree to Max. What Doña Victoria didn’t know was what that reason was.

They reached the wild orchid tree. Luna zipped around in front of Doña Victoria, hovering insistently. The grandmother understood.

Bueno, te espero, chiquita (Okay, I’ll wait for you, little one), she thought-lined to her. They would need reinforcements; the sacred midges would not rise tonight. The moon would not wax full until tomorrow. Doña Victoria watched as Luna turned and flew into the thicket of orchids.

There, hidden among the intertwined lianas and moss-covered branches, numerous hummingbirds slept. Some perched, their heads nestled into their bodies; some hung upside down, their soft little bellies breathing quietly. But Luna was on a mission. Fluttering from one bird to the next, she woke them up one by one: the White-bellied Emerald, the Wedge-tailed Sabrewing, the Rufous-tailed, the Canivet’s Emerald, and many others. Eye after winked-open eye, wing after ruffled wing, they each slowly, unwillingly came to, still drowsy in their nighttime torpor.

Awaken and help restore breath of life of Sacred Tree, Luna repeated over and over as each one opened its eyes.

But the birds were too drowsy and too weak to undertake the trip to the Sacred Cacao Tree. Some tried valiantly to ramp up their wings, but only managed to hover briefly. They needed food. Time was short. Desperate, Luna flew over to an orchid, filled her beak with nectar, and began feeding the hummingbirds. As soon as they had a little energy, the birds were able to fly and fill up on nectar on their own.

Vengan, chiquitos. Tengo algo sabroso para todos (Come, little ones. I have something delicious for everyone), thought-lined Doña Victoria. From her mochila, she produced a small bag of cut mango and papaya. She held out her hand. Where Itzel had been mere hours before, a cloud of effervescent color fluttering all about her, her grandmother now stood, nourishing the same hummingbirds who were about to follow Luna on a critical mission.

No sooner had each hummingbird had his or her fill of energy-giving nectar and fruit pulp than they signaled their readiness by beating their wings hard, syncopating their rhythm against each other. A thunderous staccato whir arose all around the wild orchid tree, drowning out all other sounds of the rainforest and cowing even the larger animals.

We go now, said Luna, and took off at top speed in the direction of the clearing. The cloud of hummingbirds sped after her, morphing through branches and around tree trunks as it flew.

Doña Victoria gazed after the birds and placed her hands on her heart, nodding her gratitude to the power of Nature. There was indeed little time left. The remnants of the fruit she left on a branch of the orchid tree and hurried as fast as she could after the hummingbirds.

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