Looking at Mark Ch. 02
Keywords: 02, Looking, at, Mark, Ch.,
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But he coughed, regained his composure, and found Summer's eyes.
"Dr. Newcomb has stabilized," the translator reported. "I didn't get to talk to Dr. Szalinsky myself, because they have made better than they expected. But Dr. Szalinksy left a message with Senor Castillo at the post office."
As Otoniel made his report, Apotequil waded into the water, towards the blonde girl. Summer paid him little attention, even has he bent down behind her and began to remove the belly-chain once again. It was odd, she thought to herself, that he keeps putting it on me, and then taking it off. But she didn't bother fixating on it, more concerned with what the translator had to say. "What else did he say?"
"Not much," Otoniel continued as Apotequil sloshed away from them with the pendant in his hand. "Punchau and he have been applying more of that salve to the bite, and Doctor Newcomb is in better condition than they could have hoped for. Anqas is speeding like a maniac towards Guayaramerin. And the hospital there has been alerted to the fact that they are coming in sometime soon."
"They should already be there by now," Summer added. She wasn't wearing a watch - she wasn't wearing anything - but the sun had just set, and therefore she guessed it to be sometime around seven.
Otoniel nodded. "The message was from seven o'clock this morning."
Twelve hours ago.
If Russ turned around as soon as Walter was safely in the care of the people in the hospital, he could be back in Hanan Pacha by late afternoon the following day. She might only have to suffer this humiliation for another twenty-plus hours. The thought of Russ returning to Hanan Pacha, and finding Summer naked and chained up wasn't terribly appealing, but the thought of remaining naked and chained up for much longer was even less so.
"Anything about me?"
Otoniel nodded again. "Doctor Szalinski expressed his sympathy for having to leave you behind, and said that he hoped Pachacamac was treating you well."
"Fat chance of that," the biologist quipped as she fingered the chain around her leg.
"He said that he thinks they should be back for you by Thursday morning."
Summer's heart sank. Not tomorrow. But the next day. Two more nights of her naked body on exhibit for the Huaca.
"Well," she stated glumly, "I guess that means I get another full day to work on my tan."
Otoniel ventured a weak smile, but he knew how disappointed the American girl was. Still, Summer told herself, at least Walter was doing better. His life and death situation was more important for Russ than Summer's uncomfortable captivity in Hanan Pacha. She took a deep breath, sighed, and decided to not let the frustration show.
Otoniel had picked up a varied assemblage of clothes, equipment, and other items from the Ambrosia camp that day, carrying it back with him in a newly repaired jeep. Summer wasn't going to get her shirt back from Kulli, but Otoniel made sure that she wasn't going to leave Hanan Pacha in just her bra. As Otoniel described the clothes that he had brought for her, Summer couldn't help but wish for this ordeal to be over, for the opportunity to put clothes back on.
Otoniel had also brought equipment to trade with, expendable items like extra flashlights and gas-lamps. He was planning to sleep in the jeep that night, but he made sure that there were enough items to secure something from the Huaca if he needed to. And though the mestizo didn't tell Summer, there was a twenty-two-caliber pistol in the glove compartment, an insurance policy against things taking a bad turn for the outsiders here in Hanan Pacha.
But Otoniel had brought two things that interested Summer the most. The first was a hair elastic, and the biologist immediately pulled her wet hair back into a ponytail. The second was a bottle of chicha, a Bolivian liquor made from corn. Summer and Walter, together, had discovered the joys of chicha in La Paz - before Hanan Pacha, before Valle de los Reyes, before the trek out to the Oriente. It was strong, and Otoniel figured that, given the way Summer had imbibed aqha the previous night, she'd want to again get a little buzzed, and allow herself to be little less self-conscious. He figured correctly.
Summer took a shot of chicha right away, eliciting smiles and laughter from two old men smoking their pipes not far from where Summer and Otoniel were sitting. Obviously, they'd never seen a woman drink that way before, swallowing down hard alcohol straight from the bottle. And, given that the woman was a young, pale-skinned, naked American blonde, Summer was sure the sight was only that much funnier.
Dinner came a short while later, though it was much more formal than it had been the night before. Pachacamac sat with Apotequil, Mancocapac, Otoniel, and a good-looking young man introduced as Pariacaca, while Summer was seated with a handful of women twenty feet away. Judging by the looks shared between Pariacaca and Yana, Summer guess that the man was Yana's boyfriend, or suitor, or fiancé, or whatever the Huaca equivalent was.
Kulli, still wearing Summer's polo shirt, was seated to the blonde's right, and she was joined by Chasca, Yana, and others. A girl named Puka, probably Yana's age, couldn't keep her eyes off of Summer's body, and Summer began to wonder if Puka might be gay. Summer heard three words repeated throughout dinner: calato, sumaq, and yuraq. She made a note to ask Otoniel what they meant after dinner. Yuraq seemed to cause the most laughs whenever it was spoken, and Summer was sure that they were laughing at her. She combated her sense of awkwardness, however, by taking a few more gulps of chicha. The warm feeling brought forth by the alcohol helped fight the fact that she actually felt somewhat chilly, given her wet hair and still damp skin.
Dinner was a fish, called surubi, served with potatoes, or choqllo. Not nearly as spicy as the tacu tacu had been the night before, Summer was able to eat without fear of burning her tongue. She smiled and laughed along with the women around her, not having the slightest idea of what they were talking about. Her limited vocabulary allowed her to understand certain words, like "yaku" for "water," but she had no clue as to what the context was, or why the Huaca women were discussing water.
As it had the night before, dinner ended with Summer a bit tipsier than she had intended. Pachacamac's dinner guests began to depart, Mancocapac soaking up as much of Summer's body as he could before leaving. As Chasca and Yana cleaned and put the food away, Summer got up and walked towards Otoniel and the chief, cringing as she heard the chain dragging in the dirt behind her.
Summer sat down on the dirt Indian-style, without even thinking about how visible that made her pussy. She quickly changed her position, stretching her legs and crossing them out in front of her. But Otoniel had noticed Summer's new haircut in that time, and was obviously shocked by it. He locked eyes with Summer, desperately trying to hide both his stupefaction and his lust. His nervousness and obvious attempts at self-control again got under Summer's skin, and she felt better looking at the chief than her translator.
It wasn't that Pachacamac didn't look at Summer's body. He eyes ran over her legs, her stomach, and her tits even as they were sitting there. But he did so in such a casual manner that it made Summer feel like nothing was odd. Pachacamac would have looked at her like this if she were wearing clothes or if she wasn't. While Summer certainly appreciated this (especially in contrast to the edgy mestizo across from her), deep down, Summer wanted Pachacamac to be turned on. She wanted him to be excited. She didn't want him to look at her and treat her as if her lack of clothing was a mundane thing.
Despite the conflicting emotions, Summer felt comfortable around Pachacamac, the same way that she did around Apotequil. Even with all that the chief had put her through, he still generated a feeling of safety, and Summer knew that he would never do anything to hurt her. Humiliate her, maybe, but nothing that would cause her harm.
Fire flickering a few feet away, Otoniel shared a conversation with Summer and Pachacamac, allowing Summer to ask the questions that had been building up in her mind all day.
"They're waiting for the curse to be lifted," Otoniel translated, after Summer had inquired about Yana and Pariacaca. "Marriage for the Huaca is about more than just the man and woman - it's viewed as the seed from which families grow. Until they believe that Sipusiki's curse has been lifted, they will hold on their marriage."
"So they haven't even tried to have children?" Summer asked. "Whatever is causing the infertility in these people might not be afflicting Yana or Pariacaca. I mean, what about that little boy, Oqe? Surely there must be exceptions?"
Summer waited for Otoniel as the translator communicated the question to Pachacamac. Behind Otoniel, fireflies were blinking against the dark black backdrop of the jungle.
"You are right," Otoniel translated once the chief stopped talking. "Oqe is an exception. Pachacamac believes that these cases are rare, however. Years ago, the village was overrunning with children. But today, Oqe is one of a very few. Married couples, without children, are viewed with a stigma in the Huaca culture."
"So they're just going to hold off, without even trying?" Summer shook her head in disbelief. Whatever it was in the Huaca environment that was causing the impotency in the first place, there was no way to be sure that it was affecting Pariacaca or Yana, not without trying. "How many other couples are holding off marriage?"
"All of them," Otoniel translated after asking the chief. "There hasn't been a single wedding ceremony in Hanan Pacha for years now."
"So what you're saying," Summer began to say, putting the pieces together in her head, "is that no one, in the past however many years, has even tried to have a child? What about all the couples that were married before the curse began? Haven't they been able to have children?"
"That's where the exceptions like Oqe have sprung from.
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Keywords: 02, Looking, at, Mark, Ch.,