The Temple in the Sky - Fernando Herrera Jr (children's ebooks online .TXT) 📗

a wide nose, small eyes, and thick eyebrows. He wore a headband, a gray and blue knee-length tunic, a leather belt, and grass made shoes. On his shoulder, lay a strap from a leather pouch he used to keep herbs and berries he picked from the forest. Sitting on the tree branch, Apaec and Micay concentrated on the pitch black floor until, suddenly, Apaec noticed flickers of light flashing from below.
“Look Micay!” He whispered.
The flickers of light quickly turned into flames and the area was lit. Light reflected from the man’s bald head. The old man had ignited a torch made from a stick and woolen cloth. Micay leaned forward from the branch to get a better look and as she did, her hand slipped on the moss and she tumbled face down on the branch. It made a thump sound and the man was startled. He looked up pointing his torch towards the branches and yelled out in a deep, raspy, old voice: “Monkeys ahoy! Monkeys, I know you‘re there! Stop harassing me!”
“Monkeys..?” Apaec whispered.
Micay responded, “See? I told you—you look like a monkey, especially sitting up in this tree,” she said, poking fun at him.
“Very funny,” he responded sarcastically, nudging her shoulder.
“Monkeys!” the man yelled again. “Get down from there! I will share with you if you’d like. There’s enough here for a whole family!”
They both looked at each other simultaneously and loosely chuckled, but quickly silenced themselves by covering their mouths. There was a short pause.
“Leave me alone then, monkeys. If you’re not hungry… then go away!” he said making signals at them.
Micay shouted back, “We’re not monkeys!”
The man fell back on his bottom in utter shock and dropped his burning stick. Frightened and confused, he grabbed his torch again and managed to stand. Looking up at the tree he squinted his eyes and asked in a trembling voice, “Who… who’s up there?!”
“We’re lost… and we need help!” shouted Micay.
There was a long pause and then the old man shouted back, “Oh… oh, very well then, come down here!”
“All right, we’re coming!” she said as they began their descent.
“What in the name of the gods are you doing up there at this time of the night? Do you realize how dangerous it is to be here? Where did you come from?” he spoke crackly.
They made their way down and jumped to the ground once low enough. He frowned as he looked at them and aimed the torch at their direction.
“You’re only younglings, you are. Where are your parents?”
“We came up here looking for you, Kusco, but we ended up lost.” said Apaec.
The man squinted at Apaec and blinked rapidly. He studied him thoroughly for a few seconds until his eyes grew big in surprise.
“Is that you, little Apaec? What in the name of the gods? It is you! You’ve come to visit me, have you? You sure have grown into a fine young man.” He looked at them and tilted his head. “Your mothers must be worried sick! You two shouldn’t have… you are crazy for coming all the way up here. You’re very lucky I happened to be in these premises. The gods must be on your side.”
They looked at each other caught in a fit of laughter. Micay then spoke, “We’re just happy we found you. We had lost all hope.”
He studied her face for a moment and asked, “Apaec! Is this your girlfriend? My child, I knew you would do well. Your family’s reputation precedes you. Now, what is your name, young lady?” He raised his right hand up to greet her.
“Uh… it’s Micay. Pleasure to meet you, sir, but I’m not his girlfriend. I’m just his friend,” she said smiling as she shook his hand.
Apaec looked down at the floor in embarrassment and mumbled, “Yes, she is just my friend, Kusco… and well… it’s good to see you, old friend. How long has it been?”
“Too long, of course…! Now don’t change the subject! What is wrong with you, son? Do you not like pretty girls or what? What is it with you? Why, when I was your age, I had the prettiest girls in town just kneeling at my pretty toes, begging for a piece of Kusco. You hear that, son? Begging! I was definitely a ladies man in my time. I was… definitely. When I reached the age of twenty-five—my precious prime—I had eleven wives!” he remarked, as he slapped Apaec’s forehead with the exsiccated, chapped palm of his hand. Apaec felt the brittle skin shards of Kusco’s hand prickle his forehead. Some of them, actually, were left stuck to it.
Micay took her hands up and covered her mouth in surprise. She released a giggle that filtered through the space between her fingers.
“Ouch! What was that for?” Apaec rubbed his forehead to sooth it.
“To show you a lesson.... Now listen to me very well, young prince. You are going to marry this girl. You hear me?”
Apaec looked over to Micay and she looked back at him disgustedly. Apaec frowned at her and shrugged. He loudly stated, “Absolutely not! She is my friend. Besides, I am already betrothed to the daughter of Kekken of the family of Cava.”
“Well… we will find out soon enough.” He chuckled. “That girl is your cousin. Oh, and don’t forget to invite me to the wedding ceremony.” He winked at Micay and chuckled to himself. His lashes were so long and smutty, they almost served as Velcro and stuck together. This complicated the simple act of blinking for him, so he frequently twinkled his eyes in twitches. “Now, let’s get moving children.” He picked up a leather pouch he had dropped on the ground. He then looked over to Apaec and demanded, “Young prince, grab that panther’s hind legs over there and drag it over here.”
“What are you going to do with it?” Apaec asked.
Kusco looked at him, closed one eye, and said firmly, “Why… I’m going to eat it of course, and when I‘m finished, I shall make me a nice fur tunic. I will look very handsome.” He chuckled as he tried opening his eye again but it wouldn’t, so he took two fingers to spread open his aperture.
“What? You can eat these things? Are they good?” Apaec asked with a bit of skepticism.
“Eww!” added Micay.
“I don’t know. I’ve never had black-panther. I’ve only had regular panther. I suppose we will find out, won’t we? It’s a good thing I bumped into you… now there won’t be any leftovers for the vultures.”
“What is a ‘regular panther?’” asked Apaec. “And I don’t think I can eat that.”
“Yeah, me neither,” Micay added.
“Oh, you will. You see there aren’t any food markets around here and you will be hungry in the morning. To answer your question, Apaec: regular panther is not black but is… well… dammit! I forgot! My memory fails me once again. Maybe the black-panther is the regular panther. Or is it the white?” Kusco stood there confused, scratching his bald head and continued, “Oh yes, now I remember! The regular panther has black spots, and is orange…. Oh, no, no, noo…, never mind that. That is a leopard!” He chuckled. “Llamas! My mind has become muck.”
Apaec then walked over to the carcass and grabbed it by the hind legs. He pulled but it was too heavy. It didn’t budge an inch. “Ah! It’s too heavy, Kusco. I can’t, I need help. You really think we will be able to drag it all the way to… wherever it is we’re going?”
“Weakling. You have the muscles of a little monkey. When I was your age, I was as strong as two warriors. Pity, age has caught up with my brawns. Just wait here for one minute. Here, hold this.” Kusco handed over the torch to Apaec, then turned and disappeared into the darkness. The teens had no choice but to stand in the utter darkness, contemplating the mottles of stars on the apertures of the high branches above them.
“Now, where do you suppose he went to? Micay asked.
“I have no idea,” Apaec answered.
A few minutes went by without a sound from Kusco, and then, when the two were becoming a bit anxious, the faint rumbling of the branches were heard. They grew louder and Kusco appeared in the distance holding a rope. Behind him, tied to it, was a six-foot-tall, white, Peruvian llama, and a type of wooden raft apparatus on wheels was tied behind it.
“This creature here is my llama.”
Micay smiled and said, “Oh how cute… what’s his name?”
“It’s a she, and her name is Bad Ugly Llama. You can call her Bad for short. She is strong and will drag the black-panther with us, and you, Micay, can mount her if you’d like.”
“What kind of name is Bad Ugly Llama?” asked Micay as she giggled.
“Well, she’s definitely not a good, pretty llama. She kicks me sometimes and when I fall asleep she spits on me. A good llama would not do that. And look at her, she’s as pretty as my grandmother was just before she croaked. That’s not pretty at all.”
Micay and Apaec stared as he bounded the panther’s hind legs to a rope that was attached to the llama. He then lifted the animal with all his might and squealed. “Apaec, I need some help here.” Apaec went over and picked it up from the other side. They set it on the wheeled, raft apparatus.
“Micay, would you like to get up?”
Micay proceeded to mount the llama and then pet her on the neck. She said, “good-bad, that’s a good-bad-llama.” She giggled at her own silliness.
“You’re a weirdo, Micay. How far off are we?” asked Apaec.
“About a couple hours down that way. We should make it before the sun kisses the peaks of those mountains,” Kusco said while pointing to his left, which was to the east.
“But I’m so tired,” Micay complained.
“What are you worried about? You have a comfy ride,” Apaec quickly responded.
“She’s bumpy,” she answered.

They walked for a few miles while Kusco served as their personal jungle-guide, rambling on about the creatures of the feral rainforest. The sun had begun to rise as they came across a small little cabin made of wood and stone. It had been built in between a crowd of trees. Vines, branches, and leaves from the jungle foliage had naturally attached to the roof like a spider’s web. The cabin itself seemed like it was part of the jungle. “This is it, kids… my humble, little home.” He made a gesture to welcome them in and said, “Welcome children, please… make yourselves at home.” They made their way in to a living room with the floor covered in leather mats and fur carpets. There was a small wooden table in one corner, and on it was a grass made basket filled with various exotic fruits. The ceiling had been built with precisely measured wooden beams that were set across the stone base and palm leaves had been meticulously thatched to create a thick, dense layer of roof. The walls were made of stone blocks, and two large windows were on each side. They were covered with dry palm leaves which served as curtains. Kusco stood behind them as they both took a moment to study the living room. The llama then entered the room and turned her head to look at them. She spit on the floor and began to make