More than Magic: Semester Aboard (41 page)

TS only laughed. A few minutes later we were
on our way. Thomas and TS both seemed to be in good moods. We ate
breakfast and soon we were flying along past mountains and rope
bridges. I lay back when I was done eating and the motion of the
train nearly lulled me to sleep. It looked like most of the people
on the train were sleeping.

"How's your stomach?" I asked softly.

Instead of answering Thomas lifted his shirt.
My jaw nearly dropped. The horrible, gaping wound was gone. There
was nothing left but a small scar that looked like it was several
years old.

"Will the scar fade too?" I gasped in
awe.

Thomas nodded. "It'll probably be gone by
tonight."

"Wow."

He leaned back with a yawn. "Excuse me. This
train is making me sleepy."

"Me too," I agreed.

"Well, we've got three hours," TS said. He
stretched out and closed his eyes.

I spent a few more minutes looking out the
window, but soon I fell asleep too. When I woke up we were rumbling
into the station. The mountain with Machu Picchu at the top loomed
over us and we climbed onto a bus for the final leg of the trip. It
was the most harrowing ride of my life.

"I'm gonna hurl," TS groaned as the bus
whipped around a tiny corner.

Out of the window I could see all the way
down the mountain. The tiny, twisting road we had come up peeked in
and out of the trees. The bus swerved, narrowly missing a bus
coming down the mountain and everyone screamed.

TS slid out of his seat and practically
curled up on the floor with a groan.

"It was only supposed to take an hour to walk
up, right?" Thomas asked. "I really wish I'd opted for that."

I peered nervously out of the window as the
bus went along a straight section of road. "I think I can see the
bottom."

"Bloody hell, don't say that," TS
whimpered.

After what seemed like hours the bus pulled
onto a wider road and then came to a stop.

"That was something I never want to
experience again," Thomas said. He nudged TS with his foot. "Get
up, we lived."

As we got off the bus I spotted a few people
jokingly kissing the ground. We joined the group walking up to the
main gates. It wasn't a very steep hike, but by the time I reached
the top I felt a little out of breath from the altitude. Then I
found myself looking out over Machu Picchu.

"Oh, wow," I breathed.

"This is fantastic," Thomas agreed.

"Brilliant...can we sit down now?" TS panted.
I noticed he had a hand pressed to his ribs and the reminder of
what waited for us on the ship dimmed my enthusiasm a bit. He
didn't wait for an answer, but sat right down where he was. His
tongue lolled out happily. "Much better."

While we waited for the rest of our group to
gather I knelt down next to TS. "Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine. Still a bit sore and the
altitude isn't helping."

Thomas patted him on the head. It probably
looked to other people like he was just messing around, but I could
tell it made TS feel better. Soon our tour guide met us and we
spent the next hour on a guided tour. It was fairly slow going,
which seemed to annoy a lot of people, but I was glad that it was
easier on TS. At last, we were free to explore on our own. Most of
the group headed for the large terraces and spread out on the
grass. The moment we found a place TS sprawled out on his back and
closed his eyes. Even though clouds mostly hid the sun, he reminded
me of a happy dog in a warm, sunny spot. I settled in near him with
my legs dangling over the huge step below us and Thomas sat next to
me.

"Great view, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah."

We sat quietly for a while, just relaxing and
taking it all in.

"What is that?" TS said suddenly.

"What?" I asked, turning.

He pointed up into the sky. "That."

I looked up and saw a bird circling. It was
huge. "I think it's a condor!" I said eagerly.

"Looks too big to be a condor," TS answered.
"I think it's a roc."

"A what?"

"A roc."

Thomas looked up, then immediately squeezed
his eyes shut and winced in pain. "Oh, that was stupid," he
groaned. He rubbed his eyes and blinked them open. To my surprise
they were watering. "I didn't realize the sun was out."

"I thought the sun didn't bother you," I said
softly.

"It doesn't exactly bother me. I mean,
obviously I've got no problems being out in it. But unlike some
lucky people," he inclined his head in TS’ direction as he spoke,
"my eyes don't change during the day, so they're pretty sensitive
to light. I like a good, sunny day as much as the next guy, but
only if I've got sunglasses. Cloudy days like this are great,
unless I look into the sky like an idiot." He shaded his eyes and
squinted up into the sky. "I think you're right though, that is a
roc."

A few facts from a mostly forgotten mythology
class clicked into place. "Wait, a roc? The giant bird that eats
elephants? That's a myth, isn't it?"

"The witch is asking the vampire and a
werewolf if a big bird is real?" TS asked.

I blushed. "Well...I mean..."

"Yes," Thomas said with a chuckle. "It is
real. Although the elephant eater is the African Roc, which I'd
love to see some day." He put a hand above his eyes again and
looked back up. "That's a South American Roc. They're smaller."

"But still neat to see," TS said.

"Yeah," Thomas agreed. "I bet he's checking
out the llamas."

I looked back up at the circling bird. "He's
big enough to eat a llama?"

"Absolutely."

A couple of people nearby had their
binoculars trained on the sky. "Don't non-magics see him? Wouldn't
they notice an enormous bird catching a llama?"

Thomas shook his head. "Most magical beings
have a few defense mechanisms to keep non-magics from noticing.
Right now all they see is a large bird, they can't tell how
large."

"But wouldn't they still see a large bird
pick up a llama and fly away with it?"

"From what I understand the illusion only
works so well. If the roc gets too close, even non-magics will be
able to see it. But, most magical animals are a lot smarter than
non-magic ones. That roc knows there are non-magics down here, it
won't come too close. But if it does...well, legends have to start
somewhere."

The roc circled for a few more minutes and
then glided away and out of sight. Not long after that our group
went to go get lunch, risked our lives to take the bus back down
the mountain, and then had free time to shop. We wandered the
market and I bought a few souvenirs and postcards. As the day wore
on I started to worry about TS. He'd started limping earlier in the
afternoon and by the time we were ready to get back on the train he
was obviously in pain again. When we boarded the train he sat
heavily down in the first booth he came to.

"My leg is killing me," he groaned. "I can't
wait until sunset."

"Just a few more minutes," Thomas said.

TS’ mood noticeably improved after the sun
went down. So did his leg. By the time we were walking from the
train to the next bus it looked like he had completely healed.
After stopping at the hotel the three of us decided to explore the
city. TS didn't seem to be in pain at all anymore. I still couldn't
believe how quickly he had recovered. A non-magic with the same
injury would probably have never walked again. TS had been up and
moving the very next day, and was totally fine less than
forty-eight hours later! Every time I thought I was getting used to
being magic I'd get a reminder of just how strange it all was.

Once again, just to be safe, I stayed in
their room. At least spending the night with them had stopped being
unusual. It was a bit different to be alone with just TS and
Thomas, but I had gotten used to it. Thomas went out to feed again
and this time TS went with him. I was worried the entire time they
were gone, but I was glad for the privacy too. Sharing a room with
five other people, not to mention being on a ship with hundreds,
was a bit much. It was nice to get a little solitude. Even so, I
was relieved when they returned safely. TS curled up contently on
the blankets between the beds. We made sure to set our alarms and
then fell asleep.

We joined the rest of our group for breakfast
and then piled onto the bus and headed back to the airport. I was
excited to get to see two completely different sides of Peru. The
moment we landed it was hard to believe we were in the same
country. We had boarded the plane in a large city airport and now
we were in a very tiny one with only two gates. Our guides met us
and led us through the town to a boat. It took over four hours to
motor up the river to our destination. Everyone cheered as we
pulled up to a rickety dock. The bank was so high that I couldn't
see over it. As I climbed the stairs on the dock I got my first
look at where we'd be staying. It was incredible. A raised wooden
path led from the stairs to a large, screened-in building with long
tables inside. It was obviously where we'd eat meals. Pavilions
with hammocks lined the riverbank and I couldn't wait to lay in
one. We all left our bags in a stack by some of the hammocks and
raced for the tables for lunch. After everyone had finished eating
our guides gave us an introduction to the lodge, some safety
lessons, and assigned cabins. There was only one key per cabin, so
we all joined up with our roommates and then went to find our
cabins. The dining building was in the middle of a clearing.
Although it wasn't much of a clearing, considering that it was full
of huge, towering trees that the wooden path had to zigzag around.
The path itself was only about two feet off of the ground and
protected by a low roof. When I had first arrived I had assumed
that it was to keep us off of the very muddy ground and out of the
rain. The latter was true; we were in a rainforest after all. But
during our orientation the guides had emphasized just how dangerous
it could be to wander alone and had hinted that the raised path was
extra protection against wandering caiman and venomous snakes.

The dining building was surrounded by tiny
cabins, just at the edge of the tree line. Our entire group had
left the dining hall together, but people started veering off down
smaller paths as they spotted their assigned cabins. At last,
Kaitlyn pointed and I saw a cabin with the word Tapir painted above
the door. She held up our key so that I could see the same word
written on our keychain.

"That's us!" she said happily.

We hurried down our own private wooden path
toward our cabin. I studied it as we got closer. It had a steep,
pitched roof and the entire front was just a framed screen with a
door. We went up a few stairs to a tiny porch by our door. We
unlocked it and stepped inside. Kaitlyn rattled the door after it
was shut.

"Doesn't look like it'll keep jaguars out,"
she said with a laugh.

"No, it doesn't."

It would keep vampires out though, assuming I
could sleep here for a night. We were standing on a tiny porch with
hardly enough room for us, not to mention the two chairs crammed
in. The wall between the rest of the cabin and the porch only went
up about eight feet. I stepped through the open doorway and onto
the other side of the half-wall. Two tiny beds. If I could make it
this far I'd be safe from any uninvited vampires. I looked back at
the half-wall and the screen. This was pretty open for a bedroom.
Then again, if our balcony counted as a sleeping space, I was sure
that this would too. The cabin didn't have a ceiling and I could
see all the way up to the sharp peak where both sides of the
thatched roof came together. There was another half-wall in the
middle of the cabin and I started to walk past it to the other side
before realizing that it was a bathroom. A very narrow bathroom. I
stepped in to examine it.

"Whoa! Check it out!" Kaitlyn cried. "I'm
sleeping here tonight!"

The bathroom was so narrow I had to back out
of it. I continued past it to see what Kaitlyn was talking about.
Then, I was just as excited as she was. There were two hammocks,
strung between the bathroom wall and the back wall of the cabin.
The back wall was another short one. It turned into a screen just a
few feet above my head.

"We can look up at the sky while we fall
asleep," I said. Even as I spoke a bunch of brightly colored birds
flew right by.

That was the only time we had to see the
cabin. We had been given a few minutes to put our suitcases away,
and then we were meeting back at the dock. Once there, we split
into groups. TS and I were together, but I was disappointed that
Thomas ended up in a different group. We met our guides and all
went our separate ways. Our group took the boat over to a small
island in the middle of the river. Monkeys inhabited it and we saw
tons of them as we hiked around. It was another oddly normal,
non-magic thing to do. But, as always, I was reminded of my new
world when TS casually mentioned that he really wanted to chase the
monkeys. After the island we took the boat down river to an
Amazonian village that had supposedly been the same for hundreds of
years.

We returned to the lodge right after sunset.
Tiny candles had been lit all along the wooden path. Even with the
candlelight, it was incredibly dark. We met up with Thomas and ate
dinner, then everyone was free for the evening. Most people hung
around the lodge, talking and playing cards. The power at the
entire lodge shut off promptly at nine, plunging everything into
darkness. We'd all been warned, but nobody had realized just how
dark it would actually get. The only light was from the candles,
the stars, and the nearly full moon. Walking back to our cabin in
the near dark was creepy, but really neat. Kaitlyn and I had to use
our cell phones for light as we got ready for bed. We both climbed
into hammocks. It wasn't even ten yet, but without any source of
light we had nothing else to do.