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    A Step Back
    A Step Back
    A Step Back
    Ebook102 pages1 hour

    A Step Back

    By Barbara A. Johnson and Peter J. Wetzelaer

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    About this ebook

    The life of the inhabitants of the Yucatan Peninsula has always been one lived on the edge of survival. Unknown forces once drove the ancient people from their lands, and the reasons for that mass exodus remain the topic of debate to this day. Now, their once-peaceful existence is threatened again, this time by a thoroughly modern menace: the violent and unpredictable predators of the drug cartels that exert ruthless control over the region.

    These powerful drug lords have enslaved the Maya in a new war, and they are forced to submit to the will of these new, violent masters. They are given a choice: work for the cartel or face brutal consequences. A proud people who honor their heritage above all, they choose to endure the temporary indignities as the cost that must be paid for their very survival.

    The Mexican government is frustrated at every turn in their attempts to quell the violence and stop the flow of drugs through their country. They enlist the aid of special agents from America, whose efforts produce mixed results. The lone survivor of an American task force is given a veracruz, a gift from the Maya. It has strange capabilitiesand many believe that the veracruz is of extraterrestrial origin. The agent returns home and takes a job as a homicide investigator in Polk County, Floridawhere he begins to use his mysterious gift to fight crime.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisheriUniverse
    Release dateJul 29, 2011
    ISBN9781462040414
    A Step Back
    Author

    Barbara A. Johnson

    Peter J. Wetzelaer was born in Rhode Island. He graduated from the New England Institute of Technology and worked for Bose for thirty years. He was married for forty-four years and lost his first wife to ovarian cancer in 2007. They had three children together. In 2011, he married his co-author, Barbara, a fellow native Rhode Islander. Barbara Johnson moved to California as an adult. After her first husband died in 2000, she retired from a career in finance and insurance. She has three sons and nine grandchildren and lives in both Florida and Massachusetts with her husband and co-author.

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      Book preview

      A Step Back - Barbara A. Johnson

      A Step Back

      Peter J. Wetzelaer and

      Barbara A. Johnson

      iUniverse, Inc.

      Bloomington
      A Step Back

      Copyright © 2011 by Peter J. Wetzelaer and Barbara A. Johnson.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

      This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

      iUniverse books may be ordered through booksellers or by contacting:

      iUniverse

      1663 Liberty Drive

      Bloomington, IN 47403

      www.iuniverse.com

      1-800-Authors (1-800-288-4677)

      Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

      Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

      Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-3893-0 (sc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-3892-3 (hc)

      ISBN: 978-1-4620-4041-4 (ebk)

      Library of Congress Control Number: 2011912171

      Printed in the United States of America

      iUniverse rev. date: 07/22/2011

      Contents

      Dedication

      Acknowledgments

      Chapter 2

      Chapter 3

      Chapter 4

      Chapter 5

      Chapter 6

      Chapter 7

      Chapter 8

      Chapter 9

      Chapter 10

      Chapter 11

      Chapter 12

      Chapter 13

      Chapter 14

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 15

      Chapter 16

      Chapter 17

      Chapter 18

      Chapter 19

      Chapter 20

      Chapter 21

      Chapter 22

      Chapter 23

      Chapter 24

      Chapter 25

      Chapter 26

      References

      About the Authors

      Dedication

      Barbara A. Johnson and Peter J. Wetzelaer would like

      to dedicate this novel to our deceased spouses.

      Judith Wetzelaer and Richard Johnson.

      Acknowledgments

      We would like to thank Donna Lozy, Bob Bibeau,

      and Linda Bird for reading our manuscript and

      offering meaningful suggestions.

      A violent thunderstorm ripped through the Yucatan Peninsula. A clap of thunder spooked a flock of keel-billed toucans, and without warning, a bolt of lightning struck and shattered the branch of a pink trumpet tree. A frightening black hue filled the skies as heavy rain soaked the region and strong winds forced the trees to bend to the near-breaking point as animals and birds scrambled for shelter. The deluge continued for fifteen minutes and then slowly came to a drizzle before stopping.

      Gradually, the skies cleared and the sun enlightened the small Mayan village of Kukucan. In Mayan mythology, Kukucan means the wind god. More than three thousand years earlier, the Olmec and their descendents, the Mayans, lived in all parts of Mexico, Central and South America—known as Mesoamerica. The residents of Kukucan are direct descendants of these proud, ancient civilizations.

      The early Mayans were primitive by today’s standards, but they understood mathematics, physics, and astronomy. They knew the number zero was an important component in the science of numbers and arithmetic.

      Present-day Kukucan had an area of five square miles surrounded by a forest and fields for growing crops; flowing to the east was the Maya river. The village was near the gulf, which generated a gentle breeze that kept the village at a comfortable temperature. Except for the occasional downpours or coastal storms, the sunshine was ceaseless. The several villages situated within Kukucan had a total population of 2,122.

      A crowd of people, mostly women and children, were gathered outside the clinic, hoping to see a doctor. They had limited resources, and volunteer doctors looked after the medical needs of the people.

      Kukucan’s streets, except the main street, were dirt. A short distance from the center of the village, there was a structure they called the sanctuary, or meetinghouse, which was half the size of a football field. It had a thatched roof supported by long poles and a three-foot hay-and-reed wall surrounding the perimeter. There were openings in the wall for entering.

      They observed special events, weddings, and funerals inside the meetinghouse. In the center, an altar was covered by a bright red cloth, various sized candles, and ancient ornaments. Open on all sides, a nice breeze kept the interior at a comfortable temperature.

      A stone temple built hundreds of years earlier was situated fifty yards from the meetinghouse. It was eighty feet long by forty feet wide and rose to forty-seven feet. It was a testament to past Mayan construction projects and was the only evidence of ancient existence in the village.

      Away from the center of the village, Anna Maria, aged eight, was sprinting, trying to avoid the puddles left from the thunderstorm. Hanging vines, vegetation, and brush covered both sides of the path.

      She wore a rose-pink blouse and plaid red skirt with black sandals. She had long black hair, brown eyes, and a garland of flowers around her neck. Her pet donkey, Amigo, was moving at a quick gallop, trying to catch up.

      Several years earlier, Maria had been picking flowers in the forest. A ground mist had been slowly dissipating into the atmosphere. While moving the brush, she noticed a baby donkey on a bed of leaves. The donkey did not move while he stared at Maria. He was thin and appeared to be sick and very drowsy.

      She looked for his mother, but the little animal appeared to be alone. The colt was dun-grey with a white stripe between his eyes and stretching to his nose. She helped him to his feet, but his legs were weak and unstable. She cautiously led him home. The donkey was too weak to offer any resistance.

      Maria was an expert and convinced her parents to keep the donkey. She took good care of her new friend and nursed him back to health. He grew quickly and, after several years, he weighed over four hundred pounds. She named him Amigo, and they became inseparable. Acting like a dog, he would follow her wherever she went.

      As Maria rounded a curve in the pathway, a hand grabbed her arm.

      Ouch! That hurt, she said as she examined the bruise on her upper limb.

      Where is your father? a stern voice asked.

      Terrified, Anna Maria noticed that three men had come out of the bushes.

      Why do you want to see him? she

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