The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster (4 page)

She smiled at Grace. "Thanks again for bringing Felix and Amy back safely. We were so worried about them."

"It was my pleasure," Grace said. "This child, your daughter, was a delight for me to meet. You are lucky to have her."

Mom hugged me. "Felix is very entertaining," she said. "I hope she didn't talk your ear off."

"Everything she said was of interest," Grace assured Mom, and I held my breath, hoping she wouldn't repeat any of our conversation. "I found her most congenial, polite, and friendly," she added, sparing Mom the details.

Mom smiled and nodded, but I thought she looked a little surprised to hear Grace praising me. Usually Amy was the one singled out for compliments, not me.

"Let's go, kids," Don said, summoning Amy and Phillip who were keeping their distance from Grace.

"Remember the view from the river," Grace told Mom. "You must not miss it. You look up and there is the castle high above the trees on its rock, a place of magic, not of the real world but of the air."

Then Grace was gone, vanishing into the crowd as quickly as if she herself were of the air—a woman of magic unlike the tourists milling around, posing for pictures, getting in between Grace and me.

"Where did she go?" I stared at Mom. "I wanted to invite her to have dinner with us."

Mom looked around, as puzzled as I was, but there was no sign of her, not even on the crowded stairs.

***

Unhappy because I'd lost Grace again, I followed Mom out of the castle. Ahead of us, Amy was walking with Don, clinging to his hand while Phillip ran toward a souvenir stand. Amy's long hair swirled out as a gust of warm wind caught it, and Mom gave me a little squeeze.

"Are you and Amy getting along any better?" she asked.

I shook my head. "She hates me."

"Oh, Felix," Mom sighed. "I know it's not all your fault, but I don't think either of you has made any effort to like the other. Couldn't you try a little harder?"

"She's stuck up," I said, "and conceited."

Mom shook her head. "She's just as lonely for her
mother as you are for your father. Can't you see that? She thinks I'm coming between her and Don, and you think Don's coming between you and me. But all Don and I want is to be parents to all three of you."

Mom looked into my eyes, but I lowered my head, refusing to meet her gaze.

"We want to be a family," Mom tried again.

I nodded, but I thought it would take a lot to make us into a family. It certainly wasn't going to happen overnight.

After we got into the car, Don drove down a winding road to the river. When we reached the place Grace had described, he parked in a deserted dirt lot, and we all piled out of the car to take pictures. Just as Grace had promised, the castle towered high above us like the figurehead of a ship carved from rock. In the afternoon sunlight, the turrets shone as if they were made of gold, and the whole building looked as if it might vanish in a puff of smoke.

As I pointed my camera upward, I heard Amy mutter, "Oh, no, not her again."

Spinning around, my picture forgotten, I saw a dusty old Citroen pull into the lot and park next to our little red car. Her long hair flying, Grace hurried toward us.

"Oh, Felix," Mom said. "Look who's here."

Grace smiled at us. "Yes, it is me again, a bad nickel you cannot lose," she said. "I have thought more of the windmills and how I would like to show them to you."

"Real windmills," Mom added. "Like the ones in
Don Quixote.
"

Grace nodded enthusiastically. "And old castle ruins too. There is so much to see for those who venture from the main roads."

Mom looked at Don before answering Grace. "It's getting late," she said reluctantly, "and we still have to line up a hotel for tonight. I don't think we can see any more sights today."

"Will you be here tomorrow?" Don asked.

Grace sighed and shook her head. "It is impossible. I can take you this one time only."

Mom hesitated, waiting for Don's opinion, and Grace added, "It is too bad, for these are very special. Not the windmills everyone knows. There will be no tourists getting in the way, ruining things, just us."

"Can we go, Mom?" I tugged at her hand, trying to get her attention. "Please?"

While I begged, Grace tapped a long, scarlet fingernail against her front teeth and frowned as if she were thinking hard. Then she smiled. "I could take the children," she offered, "while you go to the hotel and make your reservation. Then, tomorrow, they could show you the way."

"Oh, no," Mom said, "you must have other things to do. We couldn't let you inconvenience yourself like that."

Grace tossed her hair and shrugged. "No trouble, none at all. I would love to show the children the true
España.
"

Suddenly Grace's arm hooked around me and drew me to her side. Considering how thin she was, she was surprisingly strong.

"You would like to see my Spain, Felix?" Grace's face
was close to mine, and I could see the pores in her skin, her freckles, and the sun lines around her eyes.

I nodded my head so hard I could feel my big gold earrings swing. More than anything in the world I wanted to see Grace's Spain, to ride in her little car, to talk to her some more. This time, I wouldn't tell her any lies. Just the truth.

"Well, then, you shall." Grace smiled at me as if everything were settled. "I can bring them back to this place at seven-thirty," she said to Mom and Don. "That will give you plenty of time to make the reservation, and perhaps have a glass of wine in a romantic place, just the two of you. Segovia is a city for lovers, you know. A place of beautiful sunsets and ancient things. It would be a shame to miss this chance."

While Mom and Don hesitated, Phillip said, "Let Felix go see the dumb old windmills, if she wants to. I'd rather find a McDonald's."

Grace laughed and drew him close with her other arm. "I know where one is, señor. On the way back, we will stop there and you can eat all the burgers you want."

"All right!" For the first time since we'd left Maryland, Phillip looked truly happy.

"Well, I'm not going!" Amy folded her arms tightly across her chest and scowled at Phillip as if he'd just broken a promise. "We can see plenty of windmills tomorrow in Ávila."

But Mom and Don weren't listening to her. This was their honeymoon, and here was Grace offering them a few
hours of privacy. Tempted as they were, I had a feeling from the glance they exchanged that they were about to say no. After all, they didn't know Grace very well. How did they know they could trust her?

"Please, Mom," I said. "Grace will take good care of us. Didn't she bring us back safe and sound yesterday?"

Mom looked at Don. Slowly her frown melted into a smile. As Don hugged her, she said to Grace, "If you're sure it's no trouble, I think the children would really enjoy themselves."

"These three trouble?" Grace tightened her grip on Phillip and me and smiled at Amy. "They are splendid children, magnificent children. I will take care of them as if they were my own."

"You'll behave, won't you, Felix?" Mom asked. "You'll stay with Grace and do what she says?"

"And, you," Don said to Phillip. "No climbing on walls, no running off, no silly stunts."

As Phillip and I promised to be good, I saw Amy slip her hand into Don's. "I don't feel good," she said. "Can't I go with you to the hotel? I won't bother you, I promise. I'll go to my room and lie down. You won't even know I'm there."

Don sighed. "Oh, Amy," he said. "Don't spoil things. Go with Felix and Phillip. I'm counting on you to keep an eye on your brother."

With great reluctance, Amy let go of Don's hand and trudged toward Grace's car, pausing every few steps to look back at Don. "I don't want to go," she pleaded.

Ignoring her unhappiness, Don smiled and waved at Amy. "We'll see you soon, sweetie," he called, hugging Mom with his other arm. "Have fun."

Phillip climbed into the back seat and I chose the front, the place of honor beside my friend, the citizen of the world.

As Amy hesitated, Grace revved the Citroen's engine. "Come, Amy," she said, "we must get there before the sun sets or we will have driven in vain to see the windmills."

"Who cares?" Amy said as she got in next to her brother and slammed the door.

Although I was happy to be with Grace, I looked out the window at Mom before we left. She smiled and waved and I waved back. But, even before we were out of sight, she turned to kiss Don.

"At least we won't have to watch that stuff for a while," Phillip said as Grace headed the car away from Segovia.

Amy said nothing, but I silently agreed with Phillip—surely for the first time.

As Grace's little car bounced along the road, leaving Mom farther and farther behind, I told myself I had a new friend now, someone who thought I was "magnificent and splendid." She was taking me to see her Spain, the true Spain. Why should I care what Mom and Don were doing? At last I was with someone who appreciated me.

Focusing my attention on Grace, I noticed she was wearing a different tee-shirt today, even more faded than the one she'd worn yesterday, but her jeans were the same. I recognized the hole in the right knee. She had a new flower in her hair, a pale pink one with a red center. Staring intently through the mud-spattered windshield, she looked as beautiful and mysterious as ever.

"I was glad to see you again," I told her. "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to Segovia too?"

Grace shrugged. "It was sudden my coming, a thing of impulse. Yesterday I myself did not know."

I nodded, thinking that made sense. A free spirit had no schedule, no place to go every day like clockwork. To Grace, life must be one long vacation.

"Did you think you'd see me today?" I asked.

Grace glanced at me. "Fate is strange," she said. "I told myself perhaps you would be at the castle, perhaps not. I could not be sure."

"But you were happy I was there, right?"

"Of course," Grace agreed, but she seemed tense, worried. Without saying more, she gripped the steering wheel and leaned forward, watching the traffic and the road. Her mood had changed after we'd gotten into the car. She wasn't laughing or smiling or even talking.

As the silence lengthened, I felt my stomach tighten. Had I offended Grace? Or, worse yet, had Mom said something to make her think we weren't Dallas-style millionaires after all? Maybe she knew what a liar I was and hated me for it.

"Guess what?" I asked, trying to win Grace's approval again. "When I grow up, I'm going to be a citizen of the world just like you. I'll go wherever I want and see everything. Maybe we'll run into each other at the pyramids or someplace. That is, if fate allows it."

Grace looked at me and frowned. "I think you will not be like me, Felix."

I waited for her to say more, but, without another word, she turned off the highway on to a narrow dirt road leading toward the hills. "The windmills, they are this way," she said as we bounced over the ruts.

"What do you mean I won't be like you?" I said, trying to keep the hurt out of my voice. Did Grace think I was just an ordinary kid, an Amy whose one ambition was to be a cheerleader? "I'm going to see the whole world," I
told her. "Maybe I'll ride a bike or a motorcycle or maybe I'll hitchhike. I might even get a car just like this one."

When she heard this, Amy sighed so loudly that Grace glanced at her in the rearview mirror. Then she shook her head again. "My life is not what you imagine," she said to me. "It is not all romance and mystery and adventure, Felix."

"I bet it's a lot more exciting than staying in the same old place like my mother. This is the first time she's ever gone anywhere except Ocean City, Maryland. I don't want to end up like her."

Grace frowned at me. "Your mother is very fortunate. She has a good man to love her, a big house, pretty clothes, money for this trip. She has never known poverty or war. Her life is safe, sheltered, protected. And so is yours. Many children are not so lucky, Felix."

As she spoke, I noticed how tightly Grace was clutching the steering wheel. Her voice rose too, and she sounded angry. Worried that I was making things worse, not better, I slumped in my seat and wished I could think of a joke to tell, a funny story, something to make Grace laugh. But nothing came to mind, and I began to think nobody in the car liked me. Not Grace, not Phillip, certainly not Amy. They all hated me.

Suddenly Grace reached over and patted my knee. "I did not mean to upset you, Felix," she said. "I only intended to say your mother is lucky to have what she has. Especially you. I do not understand why you complain, that is all."

As I turned to her, Phillip leaned over the seat and
shouted in Grace's ear. "I'm starving. Couldn't you take us to McDonald's before we see the windmills?"

"How much farther is it anyway?" Amy asked. "You promised we'd be back at seven-thirty."

By then we'd been driving for at least half an hour, taking one turn after another until I had no idea which direction we were going.

"Not far now, not far," Grace said as she negotiated a sharp curve. A herd of cattle watched us jolt past, their faces bored, their jaws working hard like people chewing gum.

"Are you sure we're not lost?" Phillip asked.

Uneasily I looked out the window. The countryside was dry and desolate. Not a town or a building in sight. In fact, the cattle were the only living things we'd seen since we turned off the highway.

"It's going to be dark soon," Amy said. "How will you see the road at night?"

Suddenly Grace leaned forward and pointed. "There, there they are," she said, "the windmills, you see? Straight ahead. Like Don
Quixote.
"

Sure enough, three windmills stood above us high on a hilltop, their shapes dark against the rosy sky. From here, with a little imagination, they could be mistaken for monsters. I could almost see the man from La Mancha galloping up to them, brandishing his spear.

"Let us look at them quickly," Grace said as she parked at the bottom of the hill. "Then we shall return to Segovia."