There was no path. Or, at least, there was no path they followed that Daniella D'Annunzio recognized as such. Growing up in the southern reaches of the Green Mountains, Dani had done her share of hiking before. Well-worn trails, blazes painted on trees to mark the way, bootprints in the dirt -- there was none of that here. In fact, Dani could find no evidence that any human being had ever been along their path before. But, whether they were following the occasional broken twig, or a constellation of specific trees, or other subtle cues that Dani was unable to pick out, the Huaca moved with purpose through the Bolivian swampland.
Two of the younger men -- one of them "Achaku," Dani recalled, though she hadn't been introduced to the other -- led the way, silently scanning the jungle for their path. Taksa Kuchu was next, followed by Dani herself, with Benitez walking just behind her. There were two more young Indians, Qarachupa and Rukuku, and then a stark-naked Summer Monroe walking and talking alongside the elderly Qaray Puka. Asna Charapa and another man followed behind.
What had she been thinking? Dani felt the bounce of her bare breasts as she walked through the jungle. How could she have made such a rash decision? Here she was, in the back country of South America, with people she'd met only the night before, walking topless into an Indian village. Her clothes were behind her, locked away in Benitez's abandoned Land Rover. Who was she, exactly? Because this was not the Dani D'Annunzio she'd come to know. This wasn't the Dani D'Annunzio who'd refused to go skinny dipping with her friends down at the Harriman Reservoir in high school. This wasn't the Dani D'Annunzio who'd held onto her virginity late into Freshman year of college. This wasn't the Dani D'Annunzio who'd spent the past two years covering her body with long, ankle-length skirts in tropical heat. This was someone else.
But, as time passed, Dani stopped thinking about her naked breasts. She stopped processing Taksa Kuchu's bare chest the more she saw it, the Indian girl fitting right in with the other half-naked (mostly naked?) Huaca that were accompanying them to Aya Pampa. Benitez paid little attention to her bare skin, almost to the point that Dani wished he would -- she wanted him to make a joke about her being topless, or maybe say something about bringing along a spare sports bra, or something. But any tension about the Italian girl's toplessness was entirely Dani's own, and after a while, it began to lift.
There were mosquitoes, dragonflies, and other assorted insects circling around them in the air, but the sapumpa fern necklace dutifully performed as promised, keeping Dani bug-free on the hike. She watched the ground beneath her feet, careful to avoid snarled roots and mud puddles. She did occasionally scan the trees around her, fearing that they'd stumble across a band of camera-wielding tourists waiting to capture her in all her glory. Or for a rival tribe of Indians who'd fall upon them with arrows and spears, have their way with the women, and feast on human flesh that night. Or wild animals, waiting to pounce upon them and tear them apart.
They picked their way through the swamps, avoiding the mud and bogs as much as possible. The Huaca seemed to know exactly which direction to take, but Dani's feet and ankles were soon caked in dark, oily mud in any event. They moved steadily through the jungle, the heat and humidity taxing Dani more than she would have liked to admit. Benitez, behind her, was wearing more clothes than anyone else present, and was clearly sweating through them.
They kept well hydrated, Benitez regularly sharing the water from his canteen with the three women. "Suya!" Summer called at one point. "Hold on!" Dani glanced back, and watched the naked blonde step just slightly off the path into a small patch of undergrowth. With the entire party watching, the woman squatted and relieved herself. Dani was aghast. Benitez awkwardly scratched the back of his neck and looked away. The Indians themselves chuckled. And Summer, though clearly unembarrassed by going to the bathroom in front of an audience, made a show of offering a sheepish grin, almost as if she was play-acting some sense of shame for Dani's benefit.
But it was Dani's turn soon enough. They'd been in the car for three hours, and hiking for another two, and it was only a matter of time before Dani started to feel the pressure begin to build in her bladder. Still, she held off as long as she could, hoping that they'd make it to Aya Pampa before she absolutely had to use to the bathroom. What she was expecting there, Dani didn't quite know; it wasn't as if the Huaca would have running water this far out, but maybe there would be some sort of clearly delineated "ladies' room" somewhere away from the village. But another quick water break provided Dani with some sort of emotional cover -- three of the Indian men turned their back to the rest of the group and began pissing into the swamp, and Taksa Kuchu stepped away to do the same. Dani followed the priestess's lead, carefully choosing her footing off of the trail. She was hoping to at least duck behind some sort of tree, but was quickly admonished by Benitez.
"Don't go too far," he warned her. "Greensnakes."
Dani shuddered, and opted for the lesser of two evils. She was still in plain sight of the rest of the group, and she was sure that she was being watched by the Huaca men. But she kept her back to them, slid her thong and loincloth down her thighs in one motion, and squatted in the jungle a few feet from where Taksa Kuchu was doing the same. When she stood, she needed to re-tie and tighten the loincloth, doing so red-faced as she rejoined the rest of the party.
Dani slowly lost track of time, the jungle becoming repetitive green background on her hike. Two, maybe three hours into the walk, the heavens opened and a cloudburst sent wave after wave of warm, tropical rain down upon them. The Huaca seemed to pay the rain no mind, their pace slowing but not altogether stopping. For them, a torrential downpour was a way of life, something they'd simply grown accustomed to. It felt good on Dani's bare skin, washing away the mud and sweat and grime she'd built up over the course of the trip. But her hair was soaked, and she dreaded the inevitable frizzy bird's nest it would become in the humid aftermath. And even more of a concern was the fact that while her animal-skin loincloth resisted the precipitation quite well, the same couldn't be said of the thong that Dani was wearing beneath it.
The rain passed, the clouds cleared, and the sun returned in minutes, the only evidence of the rainfall the rivulets of water that now trickled down Taksa Kuchu's back in front of Dani. Benitez was drenched, and Dani now suffered from wet pair of panties beneath her loincloth, but the rest of the party was no worse for wear, and they plugged on without much comment.
Dani smiled as she listened to Achaku laugh and joke with the other man at the front of the line -- his name was Kusillu, Dani had learned. The two men were happy and giddy as they picked their way through swampland, no doubt buoyed by the guests that they were leading back to Aya Pampa. To hear Taksa Kuchu explain it, the t'ojsiy ritual was part of a larger "phancha" festival, a celebration of blossoming and summer that was already underway. There would be food and drinks and partying throughout the night, all centered around the sacrifice that Summer was making of herself. And though Dani was still squeamish and uncomfortable with what she'd be witnessing, she couldn't help but derive some sense of vicarious happiness and excitement from the tones and facial expressions of Indians around her.
Summer chatted with Qaray Puka, Taksa Kuchu joked and flirted with the other Huaca men. Benitez was occasionally pulled into conversations taking place in the Indian tongue around him, but for the most part, he was Dani's only link to the rest of group. Going back-and-forth in Spanish, Benitez offered the girl a quick tutorial on Huaca culture and etiquette, and started instilling in her a few quick phrases.
"Imataq sutiyaki?" he asked.
"Daniella sutiymi," Dani practiced. "My name is Daniella."
