Second Chances (Athena Group Novel Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

to answer, he hung up the phone and walked to the window. He watched as the occupants next door were packing a van for their day trip. It looked like he was about to take a trip.

    Chapter Four
     
    A short time later they were packed and on their way. It was a two hour drive to their destination. As they drove down the road towards the Mayan ruins, she was able to take in the scenery. She realized as they drove that this part of the Yucatan was still pretty primitive. It was untouched by the tourists of the world. The houses around were made of stucco but had no windows and as you passed by you could see into the small dwellings. From what she could see they were bare. Most of the native residents didn’t need a whole lot of furnishing because hey slept in hammocks at night.
    They passed through several small towns driving down the 180 road. The foliage was getting denser the further they went. There were lemon and lime trees along with a strange looking cactus. It had some kind of fruit she had seen previously in the market, but she didn’t know what it was.
    “Pedro.” She called up.
    “Senora?” He answered.
    “What is the cactus that we keep passing with fruit on it?” she asked.
    “That is a Hylocereus Cacti. It produces the Pitaya fruit and some call it Dragon Fruit.” he said.
    “What is it used for?” she asked.
    “It can be used in drinks, but you can eat the raw flesh of the fruit. It is a little sweet, but filled with a lot of seeds that can be hard to digest if not eaten properly.” He told her.
    “Mom, let’s get one the next time we see one in the market. We both wondered what they were.” Amanda said.
    “Alright we can do that. I must say that my curiosity is getting the better of me.” She smiled at her daughter. Pedro began to slow when she glanced up and noticed something across the road.
    “Oh my god. Is that what I think it is?” Steven asked.
    “Si, they are common around here. It’s nothing to find them across the road. If you don’t slow down to go around them they can cause your car to go off the road if you try to drive over them,” Pedro told them.
    “What kind of snake is it?” Amanda asked.
    “It is a Boa.” Pedro said.
    Shelby watched as they passed by the snake. It had a huge bulge making her wonder if it had just had dinner. It was huge and was disconcerting to think that they were in their habitat. It’s different when you see them in the zoo behind a thick pain of glass, but out here where they were able to roam free was another thing.
    After two hours of driving they arrived at the gates of Chitzen Itza mid-morning. The entrance to the Mayan ruins contained several shops and a small museum they explored while waiting for Pedro to get all of their passes. Shelby watched as visitors poured in from all around and noticed there seemed to be quite a few groups coming in from Cancun. For a moment, she could have sworn she saw Max get off the bus, but that couldn’t be. These buses were from the opposite direction of Progresso.
    Amanda tugged on her arm. “You ready mom?” she asked.
    “Sure, let’s go.” She smiled at her glancing back around looking for the mysterious man that got off the bus, but was nowhere to be seen. Amanda wrapped her visitors' band around her wrist and pulled her through the entrance.
    The minute she walked through the entrance she was transported back in time. The ancient Mayans had built Chitzen Itza around 1200 AD. The main center point of the ruins were the El Castillo temple which reflects the Mayan calendar. It was built to serve the god Kukulkan and was used for astronomical purposes. It represented the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Shelby listened as Pedro explained that on those days at 3:00PM the sun would shine down on the western balustrade and main stairway to the entrance casting a shadow down the stairs that would give an appearance of a serpent descending.
    She watched as another group of tourists came up from the right to