The Gold Eaters

The Gold Eaters by Ronald Wright Read Free Book Online

Book: The Gold Eaters by Ronald Wright Read Free Book Online
Authors: Ronald Wright
and riveted. They have stacks of white leaves between leather covers, the leaves painted with marks like rows of black ants, which the captain can read as easily as the Emperor’s men read quipu strings. On the walls of the wooden deckhouse hang strange gods or spirits: a dead man nailed to a scaffold, a lady in blue with a baby, another dead man porcupined with arrows. One morning they all gathered at the stern and listened to words read from the white leaves, after which they knelt and shut their eyes and sang. They brought Waman to listen, showing him their gods and gesturing that he should do as they did, kneeling, shutting his eyes, tracing the four quarters of the Earth with a finger in the air.
    They are teaching him words or names. The nailed god is Tius or perhaps Hisús. The skipper who runs the ship is called Luwis. Thesmall panther who prowls the ship is Ilqatu. The oldest barbarian, who Waman can see is more feared than trusted by the others, has several names or titles, as leaders often do. Waman can say Pisaru with some difficulty, but he dubs this one Machu. The Old One.
    Several times the boy has tapped his lips and told them his own name, but they shake their heads and laugh and stab their fingers at his chest, saying
Pilipillu
. Whenever they want him, they yell out
Pilipillu!
    â€”
    The Empire is far behind, and Waman fears he will never see home again. By his reckoning tied on a loose thread of his shirt, six more days and nights go by before the ship makes landfall and the lookout begins scanning the shore, as if watching for a port or anchorage. The winds have been contrary, and the barbarian craft tacks badly because it has no centreboards. Strange, he thinks, that a ship so cleverly made should be lacking in this way. It is mainly a strong current that carries them against the wind.

    Pilot Ruiz’s noon sighting reveals he is near the second parallel above the equator. Aside from the unhelpful wind, the weather is fair. A white jaw of great peaks gnaws the eastern sky, and the skirts of the land below are verdant in the sun—dark forest broken by lighter green wherever the Indians have their fields and towns. Savages we deem these natives, Ruiz reflects, yet they’ve bested us too many times. Even when we fought on horseback.
    At least one town that was whole when he left has been burnt to the ground during the month the
Santa Elena
has been gone. Wondering if this is the work of Pizarro’s partner and deputy, Almagro,the Pilot keeps within sight of land in case the Christians have moved camp.
    Ruiz thanks God for the current bearing the
Santa Elena
northward like a river. He also gives thanks for the gift of the Indian ship. Were it not for that prize well stocked with food—worth more to him just now than all her gold—he might have lost some men. He looks with satisfaction at the improvement in everyone’s health, not least his own. Mouth sores are healing, breath is no longer quite so foul. Though there’s nothing to be done for teeth lost to scurvy.
    The captive boy has proved an able fishermen, casting a small net they took from the Indian ship. The Pilot orders the last of the salt horse, alive with grubs, heaved over the side. Not even sharks will touch it.
    On the following day the lookout spies a ship’s masts by a small island with a comb of trees. This is the one they named Gallo, the Cock. But is that a caravel, or another Indian ship? Before they get near enough to settle the matter, a dandelion of smoke lifts from the crest. The bark of a cannon follows. Almagro and the men are still here.

    Waman is taken ashore in the ship’s boat by the Old One and four men pulling on long oars. How oddly the barbarians paddle: sitting backwards so they can’t see where they’re going.
    He has become used to the men on the ship, has begun to think of them as individuals. But here he beholds many more—perhaps eighty—waiting on the

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