Chapter 6: The Mayans

What happened next, neither Marianna nor Tookie could say for sure. It all happened so quickly. Perhaps it happened because they were careless, or perhaps because they hadn't read the entire manuel, which cautioned against going into eras in which humans conducted sometimes-dangerous rituals. Either way, what happened was that they opened the door of the BRATT and were immediately grabbed and blindfolded by several, very strong people.

"Tookie!"

"I'm here!"

"Cheena?" She heard a whimper. "Don't hurt my dog!"

But it didn't seem as though they could understand her. Of course they couldn't. They were in South America, 8th century AD! Marianna could only guess that she was flipped over the shoulder of a large man, and she imagined Tookie was as well. Quickly, she tried to imagine what the natives could be thinking. They were a superstitious, ritualistic folk, so they probably thought Marianna and Tookie were aliens of sorts, or perhaps witches, or….was she stereotyping? Her teachers always told them not to do that.

Not too long after they were grabbed and taken away, Marianna felt herself being put down, and her blindfold was pulled off. She was inside a large building, a front hall of sorts, Tookie and Cheena with her, and a large group of Mayans staring at them, wide-eyed. One began to speak quickly to her, but she just shook her head and so did Tookie. The Mayans looked frantic, even scared.

"Tookie, what's happening? We need to talk to them. If we're going to get back to the BRATT, we need to."

"Wait, I think I still have…" And then Tookie took his iEverything out of his pocket. "Do you think this will work?"

The Mayans were staring at his small mobile, awestruck.

"It should. It's not like we use an internet connection anymore or anything."

Tookie began typing with his thumbs. "Translation…ancient Mayan translation….got it." He looked over at Marianna. "What do you want to say?"

It took them a good hour, but through careful translation and lots of images, a conversation much like this took place:

"Are you ones with jewel?"

"Jewel?"

"Violet jewel. Jewel to save the world."

"We are from the future. 2212. The world still exists."

"Yes, good. Then jewel must have been found. You have it?"

"No. But the world will not end."

"You don't understand. You are only alive because we got violet jewel."

"Marianna, Mrs. Nott's jewel. That pendant you were so darn fascinated with. It's purple."

"What did he say?"

"He said my ancestor from 2012--she has a violet jewel. But it may not be…"

"You must bring it to us. You came in ship. You will save us. You are a sign!"

"I don't think…"

"You must!"

Marianna's heat rose to her face. "Make me!"

One of the men grabbed Cheena and elf her in one arm and then held a knife to her throat. "You bring us violet jewel or this one dies."

Marianna froze. Her dog. Her pal. She couldn't let this happen. No matter how silly it sounded, she just couldn't.

"Marianna…"

"Tookie, they just want that pendant. Even if it's the wrong one they might let her go."

Tookie looked very serious now, more than ever, mostly because of his black eye and disheveled hair. "I can't believe what you've gotten us into. I just can't." He sighed loudly. "But if this is what we have to do, it's what we have to do." He looked her for a long time, his gaze penetrating. Was he going to cry?

The Mayan men led them back to the BRATT, the door of which was still open. They sat inside, feeling lonely without Cheena. Marianna was confident they would be back. They had to. She had to save Cheena. No other animal meant so much to her.

In a flash they were gone, heading back to 2012.

But waiting for them wasn't just Marianna-in-2012, but her mother, Mrs. Nott, with her purple pendant in hand.