Chapter 31TSHUI AND THE TEENAGE girls led JP to the far end of the village, stopping several feet away from where Pwanchir stood, watching a pot boil. As soon as he saw JP, he shyly grinned and motioned them over.
‘Dinner?’ asked JP.
‘Food for my dead relatives’ souls.’
‘Ah, I see.’
JP looked in the pot but could not see anything through the vapor and bubbling liquid.
‘Apach man,’ said Pwanchir.
JP nodded, understanding that it was one of the soldiers’ and not one of the miners’ heads that was boiling. Apach was the Shuar word for a Spanish-speaking person.
Pempeyo walked up, grinning, and nodded to JP.
Pwanchir said, ‘Pempeyo took the skulls to have the ants clean.’
They talked over the boiling pot for a while. The villagers seemed proud as Pwanchir explained the ancient Tsantsa
