Fourteen-year-old Peter Collins cannot help but wonder if it was all just a dream. Even though it has been two years since he traveled back in time to ancient Mexico with his friend, Rosa Guzman, two questions continue to haunt him: Why hasn't Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent who guided Rosa and him through their time travels, returned as he had promised? Who is his real father? Peter knows the secret will be revealed once he passes his final test. When Quetzalcoatl finally shows up, the boy cannot help but feel a little anxious about his most important mission to date. After Peter and Rosa travel back in time once more to the last days of the Aztec Empire, they are taken to Lord Montezuma, who declares that Topiltzin, the incarnation of Quetzalcoatl, is returning to reclaim his throne. When he hears hostile warriors are advancing toward the capital, Montezuma is convinced their leader is Topiltzin and decides to welcome him to avoid a war of all the gods. But unfortunately, Montezuma could not be more wrong. In the exciting conclusion to the Tollan Trilogy, two teenage adventurers must create peace between the conquerors and the people of ancient Mexico-before the future of America is changed forever and Peter's past is finally revealed.

The Halls of Montezuma

Book Three of the Tollan TrilogyBy Michael Cantwell

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Michael Cantwell
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-5847-8

Chapter One

Was it all a dream? Peter Collins, teaching himself to shave, looked hard in the mirror and wondered. It had been two years since he'd traveled in time to ancient Mexico—that is, if it hadn't been just a dream. Yet, dream or no dream, those travels had changed his life. He was no longer a nerd, a wimp shunned by his schoolmates. He was captain of his high school freshman soccer team, getting good grades in his classes, and making friends.

Yet, aside from the question of whether it all had been a dream, two questions continued to haunt him. First, if all those things that had happened to him and Rosa in ancient Mexico had indeed been real, why hadn't Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent who had guided them through their time travels, returned as he had promised? It had been two years ago today, at the appearance of the morning star, that Quetzalcoatl had last come for them. Whenever the planet Venus appeared as the morning star, Peter was out of bed, looking through his telescope, hoping to see a sign of the flying serpent flitting across the moon and skidding down a ray of starlight aimed at Peter's bedroom window.

And the big question, the one that had gnawed at Peter's heart for as long as he could remember, the question that had led him to take his chances with Quetzalcoatl in the first place, remained unanswered. Who was his real father? Peter would be fourteen tomorrow, and he still didn't know. His mother had yet to tell him, and the serpent had given no hints. Okay, the serpent had said the secret would be revealed after Peter passed all three tests laid out for him. Well, he had passed two of them. On their first visit to ancient Mexico, he had solved the secret of the Smoking Mirror, thereby defeating the evil lords of Tollan I. On their next trip, six weeks later, he'd won the sacred ball game in Tollan II. Rosa passed her tests, bringing her the confidence and the respect of fellow students in school. One test remained. Peter was eager to take it, but he'd been waiting two years.

Standing now in front of his bathroom mirror, Peter thought about how he and Rosa had discussed their adventures in ancient Mexico together many times and in great detail, Rosa sometimes reminding him of things he'd forgotten. If their time travels had happened only in dreams, it was hard to believe they had just happened to have the same dreams. But how did you explain two years with no sign of Quetzalcoatl?

With all these questions hanging over his head, Peter went downstairs for breakfast. He found his mother sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee and smiling up at him. Yes, she was still as beautiful as the great goddess of Tollan I.

"Good morning, birthday boy," she said. "You'll be fourteen years old at exactly five-thirty tomorrow morning. What a lovely young man you are growing up to be! I'm so proud of you!" She got up to pour coffee into his waiting cup. His breakfast of sliced fruit and yogurt was set beside it. "Yes, tomorrow will be a big day," she went on. "I have a big surprise for you—something very special just for your birthday."

Peter was stunned. Something special just for his birthday? Was she going to tell him who his real father was at last? He had never summoned the courage to ask her straight-out, fearing it might embarrass her. But she had to know it was on his mind.

His mother sat down, folding her hands over her stomach and smiling. "Ben is coming home tomorrow!"

"Ben?" Peter shuddered.

"Yes, Ben is coming home from the mental asylum. He's coming home for good. Isn't that wonderful?"

"Wonderful?" Peter wanted to cry out in protest. But he knew his mother would be offended. One of the reasons he'd been feeling better about himself lately was that his stepfather had been away. He'd been a patient in Back to Reality Hospital for two years. It was Ben who had made him feel so bad about himself, telling him time and time again that he was a wimp, afraid of his own shadow, not made of the right stuff. And it was Ben who had wanted Peter put away in the hospital.

His wife had agreed on the condition that the whole family would be given examinations. As it turned out, Peter had passed his with flying colors while Ben had been found to be in dire need of mental treatment. Having been exposed to her husband's wild mood swings, Peter's mother had signed a paper to have him put away. Peter knew she was unhappy about it and feared that Ben would never recover and that the home life she'd once shared with him was gone forever. Not that it had been much of a happy home life the last few years. But looking back, it seemed to Peter his mother's marriage with Ben had been a fairly good one years ago. The trouble really had begun with his own coming of age, the problems he had started to have at school, trying to grow up—problems that had led Ben to decide he wasn't born with the right stuff.

Whatever the cause, Peter dreaded the thought of having to live with Ben again. Whenever his mother dragged Peter to the hospital on visiting days, he was exposed to the same old insults. Luckily, he had avoided going to the hospital for over six months now, inventing one excuse or another: soccer practice, special events. No, he couldn't live with Ben again, even to please his mother.

His only hope lay in a potential birthday present from Quetzalcoatl, a visit in the morning. Last time, Rosa had received a sign of his coming. He decided to ask her if she knew anything.

Chapter Two

Peter and Rosa were both in high school now. Although they were still friends, they no longer shared classes. In fact, recently, Peter had found himself avoiding her again. Back in middle school, Rosa had been a skinny, obnoxious pain in the butt. She had been a sourpuss most of the time and hadn't been able to get through a single day without arguing with somebody. But now, Rosa was in possession of poise and confidence. And she was doing well in her classes. All these things won her the approval of teachers and fellow students.

And she had blossomed physically as well. Her figure was filling out with curves that made Peter's heart turn upside down whenever they met. He could not understand the new feelings he was having for her and had no control over them.

For this reason, he found himself avoiding her more often than he had when she was a mere pain in the butt. So it was with mixed feelings that he approached her now in the schoolyard.

"Rosa, I need to talk to you," he said.

"I think I know why." Rosa smiled her stunning smile. Then it struck Peter. Her smile was more evidence that it couldn't have been all just a dream. Her front teeth had been crooked until two years ago when a quetzal bird had straightened them for her. No one received dental work in dreams.

"Rosa, I find myself wondering—"

"Peter, I have news for you. A little bird came to visit me last night, the same bird who straightened my teeth. `Pack your things,' he told me. `Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, needs you. Big things are happening in old Mexico, things that will change the world forever. He wants you to help him set things right. Be ready when the morning star arrives tomorrow. It should appear in the sky just before dawn.' So get ready, Peter. And by the way, happy birthday!"

Chapter Three

When Peter woke up the next morning, rays of light were streaming through his window. The clock on his dresser read five o'clock. He knew the sun wasn't expected to rise until seven. Peter jumped out of bed and looked out the window. There it was: Venus, the morning star, ablaze in the night sky. Then he saw the feathered serpent flying over the old pear tree in his yard. Rosa was sitting on his back, holding tight to the feathered coat as she bounced up and down. Her dark hair was braided. She wore a Mexican embroidered blouse and tan shorts. Peter stepped back as girl and serpent sailed through the window without breaking any glass. They landed next to Peter's desk. The god Quetzalcoatl, in his snakelike form, sat on his coils. His head almost touched the ceiling. Stretched from head to tail, he was at least sixteen feet long. Rosa slid off the feathered coat and laughed while Peter looked on, trembling with anticipation. He was also a little chilly and threw on an overshirt. He was otherwise dressed in a T-shirt and shorts. He only needed to slip on his sneakers.

"Good morning, sleepyhead." Rosa beamed.

Quetzalcoatl smiled, baring his fangs and fixing his bottle-green eyes on Peter. "Are you ready for your big test, Peter?"

"Yes, I'm packed and all set to go," he exclaimed, pulling his knapsack over his shoulders. "Where in space-time are we going on this trip?"

The serpent's expression turned serious as he knitted his brow in thought. "In many ways, this is the most dangerous mission I will have sent you on. And the most important. You are going to a time and place where great civilizations are about to clash. The gods themselves are at war with one another. The future of Mexico and of all the world depends on the outcome. You must play your part in preventing catastrophe. Are you ready?"

"At your service," Peter said. Rosa smiled and nodded in agreement.

"I'm sending you to the city of the Aztecs, Tenochtitlan. It was once the greatest and most beautiful city in the world. Yet it was to become the scene of the greatest violence the world had ever known. The mission I'm sending you on is actually two missions, but they are tied together.

If you want to back out, I won't blame you. What do you say?"

"I say let's go," Peter said.

"You know I want to go," Rosa said.

"Very well." The serpent smiled, showing his clawlike fangs. "You met Topiltzin on your last trip. As you discovered, he was my incarnation in Tollan II. You saw him leave Mexico in disgrace, embarking on a raft of snakes into what is now known as the Gulf of Mexico. And just as the raft rose from the sea in a blaze of light, you heard him announce that he would return in one coil of time to reclaim his throne. A coil of time is five hundred years as I have told you. When you arrive in Mexico, it will be the year 1519, just about the time Quetzalcoatl was to return according to prophecy. So are we ready?"

"Let's get started," Rosa and Peter assented.

"All right, then. Take this feather from my coat, the one that just lit up. As you know, my feathered suit is a genetic code of all space-time. Take the feather, hold hands, close your eyes, and off you go!"

Chapter Four

The room shook violently, and suddenly the children found themselves racing through a blur of space-time. At last, streaks of all colors resolved themselves into a starlit sky. Then the stars were gone, and the sun appeared in a blue morning sky. An embankment of clouds lay below them. As they descended, the children caught their first glimpse of the famous Aztec city. Now they were falling at terrifying speeds, faster and faster with each passing second.

"Open your feathered parachute, quick," Peter called out to Rosa. They pulled the parachutes that had been given to them on their first trip out of their knapsacks.

Each of them pulled on cords that opened the chutes. The time travelers passed through clouds and looked down on what appeared to them to be an earthly paradise.

"Que bonita!" Rosa gasped.

"Fabulous!" Peter cried.

Below them lay a glittering blue lake at least thirty miles long and almost as wide. Towns with beautifully decorated houses and palaces stood on the shores of the lake. There were islands in the lake. One island was a field of flowers, lily ponds, and human-made bathing pools. All points on the lake were connected by causeways and bridges. Canoes plied the waters. Then Peter and Rosa saw a large city of palaces and temples rising from an island in the middle of the lake.

"Those must be the halls of Montezuma!" Peter exclaimed.

"Then that's the city of the Aztecs, just where Quetzie wants us to go," Rosa said.

With a wind blowing behind them, the children pulled at the cords of their chutes and sailed over the lake toward the fabled city of Tenochtitlan.

Gently, easily, they completed their descent and landed at the foot of a grand pyramid. The few steps leading to the plaza on which the pyramid stood seemed to be painted with dark red stripes.

Peter and Rosa wondered if the stripes had been newly painted. They appeared to be dripping. As the travelers climbed the stairs to the plaza, they were overcome by a nasty stench.

"That's not paint!" Rosa was gagging from the smell. "Peter, that's blood! I bet it's human blood!" She pointed. "That slab—it's dripping from looks like an altar!"

Peter found his own voice, gagging. "Human sacrifice! Smoking Mirror must be very much in favor here."

"How awful! He must have become the honcho god in Mexico after he drove Topiltzin away."

"The first thing we have to do is find out what's going on. Look, I see a marketplace just below the end of this plaza."

"I hear voices and I smell food," Rosa said. "Let's check it out."

The children stepped off the plaza by way of a small staircase and entered the marketplace. All manner of fruits and vegetables, such as mangoes, corn, squash, avocados, and beans, were displayed on stone tables. Live turkeys, their feet bound by ropes, hung from obsidian hooks on wooden stalls. Bowls of posole, a kind of corn soup, were set on other tables along with chocolate candies and big cigars.

Most of the vendors wore long, white tunics. The men who roamed from booth to booth wore tall feathered headdresses. Peter and Rosa were sure that the men with the tall headdresses were high officials. They were bare-breasted and wore short kilts of various colors that dropped from their waists and fell to their knees. Leather sandals covered their feet, and obsidian daggers hung from their rope belts.

The women wore star-studded blouses, long black skirts, and no shoes. Some wore jade or obsidian necklaces and bracelets. Red cotton shopping bags filled with fruit, vegetables, and other goods were balanced on their heads.

Suddenly, two burly young men confronted Rosa and Peter. They were dressed like the others, except that they wore smoking mirrors over their stomachs.

The young time travelers managed to look away from the mirrors, but the curling smoke caused them to cough. They recognized the mirrors, which were like the ones they had encountered in Tollan I, designed to confuse and humiliate anybody who looked into them. Peter and Rosa stepped back to avoid the smoke. As they did, the two men nodded to one another. Then they fixed their eyes on the children. Both men wore stern expressions on their faces.

"It looks like we are about to become prisoners," Peter said glumly to Rosa.

"We've been prisoners before. Quetzie always sent quetzal birds or something to rescue us," Rosa said.

Peter looked up at the sky. "There isn't a bird in sight. Quetzalcoatl warned us this is the most dangerous mission he's sent us on."

The taller of the two men addressed them in a commanding tone. "Who are you? We've never seen anyone dressed like you before. You are children but—Who sent you here?"

Peter did not understand what the man was saying at first, as he hadn't used the language decoder Quetzalcoatl had implanted in his brain for over two years. He heard buzzing sounds for a few seconds, and finally what it was the Aztecs were saying sounded in his ears like spoken English. He knew then that whatever he said to them would reach their ears in Nahuatl.

But Rosa, who had learned some Nahuatl from her father, understood everything right away. "We were sent here by Quetzalcoatl," she answered, smiling with pride.

The would-be captors looked at one another in astonishment.

Looking back at the children, the tall man spoke again, this time with a nervous tremor in his voice.

"Quetzalcoatl Topiltzin?"

"Topiltzin is the incarnation of Quetzalcoatl, the plumed serpent who sent us here," Rosa said.

"Topiltzin is our friend. He was chased out of Mexico by Smoking Mirror, but he sailed away on a raft with some snakes, vowing to come back some day to claim his throne," Peter explained.

"Claim his throne?" the two men exclaimed in unison. They turned to one another, aghast. "Can it be? Is it true what all the signs seem to be telling us? What will the king say?" the taller man said to his companion. Their faces turned ashen, and they shuddered.

"We must take these children to our lord, Montezuma." They bowed respectfully to Peter and Rosa and gestured for them to accompany them. The children were escorted to the towering pyramid and were told to climb the long staircase. The steps were steep. Both Peter and Rosa were out of breath when they reached the platform on which twin temples stood. There, they saw an old man dressed in a long, white robe. He had a wrinkled face and long dark hair from which long feathers trailed down his back. The old man held a bloodied knife in his hand. When Peter and Rosa approached, they saw two other white-robed men, somewhat younger, wrapping what appeared to be the body of a butchered boy in a sheet and carrying him away. Blood was dripping everywhere. It seemed the boy had been dragged up from the altar below.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from The Halls of Montezumaby Michael Cantwell Copyright © 2012 by Michael Cantwell. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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