“Did you hear that, Churro?” Isadora cooed softly. “We’ll be safe.”
Yadra shook her head. “I’m afraid Churro cannot go with you.”
Isadora hugged the kitten. “He needs me.”
Yadra’s eyes were tender. “I am sorry. But if he is discovered, the conductor will put him off along the way and then he would be all alone in the world. That’s not fair to him. And you cannot afford to draw attention to yourself or your sister.”
Isadora’s body crumpled.
Max cringed. He never should have allowed her to bring the kitten in the first place.
“I’ll hide him. I won’t let anyone see him!” Isadora’s big eyes begged Max for help.
He knelt in front of her. “Why don’t I take Churro home with me? Buelo and Papá would love him, and so will my aunties and Tío. You know how Churro loves Lola. We will be his family. And someday when things are safer, you could come back and visit and see how he’s grown.”
Tears ran down Isadora’s cheeks. “You know that won’t happen. Nobody ever comes back!” She hugged Churro.
Rosalina put a hand on Isadora’s shoulder. “Isa, we’ve come this far and don’t want to get caught now, do we?”
“No …” she whimpered.
Max took her hand. “This is the best for Churro. It doesn’t mean you don’t love him.” Gently, he took the kitten and handed him to Yadra. “It means you do love him and want him safe with people who will care for him and protect him always.” As he said the words, he wondered if that was what his mother had done for him. Had she saved him from a dangerous and unpredictable life?
“You will take good care of him?” she whimpered. “And let him sleep inside?”
Max choked out his words. “Of course. I will rock him in my arms like you do, and accept his gifts of lizard tails and remember what a good mother you’ve been and how brave you were. He will remind me every day of you.”
Her tears turned to sobs and hiccups.
Max hugged her and then leaned back. “Papá and Buelo always say, ‘favor con favor se paga.’ It means if you do something nice for someone, like give them your most precious kitten, then they should give you something in return.” He slipped the compass from around his neck and put it on Isadora. “So you’ll always know the way.”
She closed her fingers around the small glass globe and looked up at him. “But it was your mother’s. You must find her and give it back.”
Max shook his head. “I can’t go any farther. So I’m counting on you to keep this safe and always wear it. My mother is somewhere in Mañanaland. Maybe someday you will be a famous seamstress and own a shop and meet a brave woman with leche quemada eyes, and she’ll mention that she once had a beautiful compass just like yours. Then you can tell her about me. And she’ll know I am her son. And that I am safe and loved. And that I would very much like to meet her one day. Then, who knows what tomorrow might bring?”
Isadora threw her arms around Max and buried her head in his neck.
He felt her tears and whispered, “Arrorró … Arrorró …”
Yadra patted Max on the shoulder to let him know it was time.
Rosalina helped Isadora slip out of the sling and handed it to Max. She took Isadora’s hand and gently guided her away into the car. Isadora pressed her face and hands on the car window, looking at Max as Señorita Villa started the motor and drove away.
Max watched the car ride the hills like a roller coaster until it disappeared. He imagined what lay beyond the horizon for Isadora and Rosalina. Mañanaland.
He hoped it all came to pass—sunshine, blue skies, flowers and fruit trees, waterfalls and rainbows. A different tomorrow, one without fear and filled with kindness, safety, and hope.
Yadra rowed while Max sat on the bottom boards with Churro buried in the sling. The sky wavered between blue patches and menacing clouds. By midday, it rained. Yadra handed Max a hooded slicker.
“There’s always a bit of melancholy when handing someone over,” she said.
Max’s body felt too heavy to speak.
Yadra comforted him. “You are tired from rowing and from feeling. Rest, Maximiliano. Close your eyes.”
It was easy to obey. Max crossed his arms over the thwart and lay his head upon them. His lids dropped. A smothering exhaustion wrapped around him. The rhythmic click of the oarlocks and the slurp of the water sent him into a dense web at the edge of sleep.
Yadra’s voice followed him. “Drag your hand in the river. Scoop up the water but keep your fingers pressed tight like a cup. Tomorrow is there.”
From the caverns of his mind, Max saw himself slowly sit up, ladle the water, and stare into the tiny lake in his palm.
It didn’t feel warm and syrupy like Buelo had said. The water formed a large, solid bubble, wet and slippery, like the yolk of a fresh egg. It glowed, brightening the world around him until Max was surrounded by spaciousness. There was no horizon—no above or below. He floated within an illuminated cloud.
He could no longer see Yadra, but he could hear her humming somewhere on the periphery of his thoughts.
What worries you, Maximiliano?
His mind drifted and his voice slurred. Boys throwing rocks, people’s hatred when they find out my mother was a hidden one. Being spit upon … treated less than human.
You will witness the best and the worst in people. Embrace the best and dismiss the worst. You are not doomed to live beneath other people’s misguided notions. Rise above their narrowness. Pity them. And create your own noble worth.
But how?
Your father’s and grandfather’s love is woven tightly around you and will not unravel easily. Lean on their love. Remember you don’t have to struggle alone. There will always be someone who sees you and lifts you from darkness.
Will I ever meet my mother?
It’s not impossible …
The bubble in Max’s hand glimmered and trembled.
In his mind’s eye, the rowboat was somewhere on the meandering river made by the serpent with the indecisive spirit. The current took him one way and then the other. He tried to reconcile the mystery of his mother, but no matter which way he turned, there were no answers or satisfaction.
Unanswered questions don’t always mean a closed door. The challenge is to find an opening …
The uncertainty didn’t feel as heavy as it once had. It felt oddly weightless and bright. The unknown was a sliver of light streaming through a crack and beyond … to all the possibilities he could not yet see.
He might meet his mother someday.
He could make the village team.
Hopefully, he and Chuy would always be best friends.
And sooner or later Papá might shed the seriousness and worry he carried.
A strange peacefulness enveloped Max.
The bubble in his hand grew flatter, and the luster that surrounded him slowly faded.
The orb burst and, drop by drop, the water leaked through his fingers and was gone.
“Maximiliano,” whispered Yadra.
Max pushed through his drowsiness and opened his eyes.
It was already late in the day. Yadra stood on the bank, holding Churro. “Maximiliano,” she said again. “We are back now.”
In a daze, he slowly climbed from the boat to the bank. How long had he slept?
Lola sprang to him and licked his face. The day washed a feeling of urgency over him. “I … I have to get home.”
Yadra looked at the sky and nodded. “The rain has stopped and there are a few hours of light left. If you leave soon, you can make it to one of the resting places. Come. You’ll have to exit the way you came. Find your backpack and I’ll gather some provisions for you and the animals.” She waved him into the cavern.
As Max watched Yadra stuff his backpack with a blanket and food, his heart filled with gratitude, not only for what she’d done to help Rosalina and Isadora, but for her kindness to Max, too. He wasn’t sure how, but talking to her had lightened h
is spirit. Buelo had been right about her great wisdom and mesmerizing aura.
As he stood beneath the bridge, ready to set out for home, he hugged her. “Thank you, Yadra. For everything. I hope we meet again.”
“We will,” she said, patting him on the back. “Sooner or later, there will be someone who needs a guardian. We will have many more tomorrows. Of that I am certain.” She held him at arm’s length and winked. “Did I mention that I love visitors?”
Max laughed. “Yes, you did. And dogs and cats, too.”
Max set out, never questioning that the path he was on was leading to a place he wanted to go.
He retraced the same route, this time walking all the way across the Bridge of a Thousand Mallards. Churro was snug against his chest in the sling, and Lola sensed they were headed home. She pulled on the leash, and Max let himself be led.
Yadra had warned him to stay hidden as much as possible. If anyone questioned him about the girl with a price on her head, he was to say she’d run away.
That first night, after he spread out the blanket, Churro walked all around it, sniffing and meowing. “I know,” said Max. “I miss her, too.” He pulled a sandwich from his backpack and fed every other pinch to Churro or Lola. Then he put Churro on his chest, scooted closer to Lola, and pulled a blanket over the three of them. He slept lightly, woke early, and the next day walked until almost dark.
On the morning of the third day, he sat on the bank of the river, studying the map while Lola and Churro played nearby. He was covering ground quickly. If he kept going, he might make it home by evening.
What would Papá say when he saw him? Would he be angry that Max had disobeyed him? Or would he be proud of what Max had done, as Yadra had said?
As he continued walking the river’s path, the warm summer air enveloped him. The sunlight began to fade. He rounded a bend, and his breath caught. There, on a boulder only a few feet away, sat the peregrine!
Lola barked, sending the falcon into the sky before she settled in a tree farther downriver. When Max caught up to her, she lifted and circled to another tree. Each time Max thought she had flown away for good, she reappeared.
“Pilgrim bird, whose spirit do you carry beneath your wings?” He thought of Isadora. Was she sending Max a message that she was safe? Or was it his mother’s spirit watching over him and guiding him home?
By the time Max reached the citrus orchards and grape fields on the outskirts of Santa Maria, it was dusk. The peregrine careened and dived above him, then headed straight for the horizon, where the merlons and crenels of La Reina Gigante peeked above the treetops and beckoned.
Max startled as a shadow moved toward him. Lola raised her head and growled. Max pulled her toward him and crouched behind a boulder, his heart pounding.
Footsteps thudded closer. Lola leaped forward, barking. She was straining so hard on the leash, he had to let go.
“Max?”
Relief washed over him.
“Papá?”
Papá ran toward him and Max fell into his arms.
Lola yelped and ran circles around them.
Papá held him at arm’s length. His eyes were dark, worried hollows. “I arrived home this afternoon and set out immediately. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Max said, and then his words spilled. “I’m sorry, Papá. I shouldn’t have gone to the ruins alone, or disobeyed Buelo, or lied to Father Romero. Everyone was probably worried. I thought I could find her and—”
“Slow down,” said Papá. “Start from the beginning. Buelo said you took someone to the secret bridge … ?”
Max nodded and told Papá all about Isadora and how she was safe with her sister now.
Papá patted him on the back and shook his head as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Max … why would you volunteer to do something so dangerous?”
“It didn’t seem dangerous in the beginning. But then …”
Papá nodded. “A young girl’s life was at stake. And yours was, too. It must have been scary.”
“Yes, Papá,” Max said, feeling the seriousness of what he’d done. “But I thought if I went, I could find my mother … and she’d want to come home … and you could believe in happy endings again … and you would see that I can do things … that I’m capable.”
Papá shook his head. “Oh, Max, I do believe in happy endings because you are back safe and sound. I could never bear to lose you.” He pulled Max to his chest and held him for a long time.
When he finally let go, Max said, “I have so many questions. And you promised you’d tell me everything when you returned.”
Papá nodded solemnly. He led Max along the riverbank, and they slowly walked toward home hand-in-hand. “I should have told you before. But I wanted to protect you as long as I could. You see, your mother—”
“Was a hidden one. I know, Papá. I found the stone rubbing in your papers and went to the tower and figured it out. I’m sorry I snooped and disobeyed you, but I needed to know more about her, and me.”
“I’m sorry it came to that.” Papa sighed. “I don’t know where to start.”
“Start at the beginning,” said Max.
Papá squeezed his hand. “I was home between seasons on the national team when a guardian arrived at the cottage. He had just escorted a group of women, including your mother, to the tower. As quickly as we could, Buelo, Tío, Mariana, Amelia, and I helped move the women a few at a time to the next safe place. Except your mother. She had fallen and sprained her ankle. We couldn’t bring her to the village because someone might report her or us. We all agreed that she should hide in the tower until she was strong enough to travel. In the meantime, Buelo made her a crutch so she could move around the ruins.”
“She must have been scared and lonely at the tower by herself.”
“I came every day. Your aunties, and Buelo or Tío often brought food and supplies.” Papá smiled. “Even in those conditions, she was always humming or singing. I would walk through the clearing and before I even caught sight of her, I’d hear that beautiful voice. She sang while washing, picking berries, or sitting in the sun and mending. She was so happy to be anywhere besides Abismo and so grateful for the smallest kindness.”
“What happened to her in Abismo?” asked Max.
Papá sighed. “She wouldn’t say. She never talked about her life before.”
Max thought about Isadora and Rosalina, and the awful man they had finally escaped. Had something similar happened to his mother?
“My heart broke just knowing she’d come from such horrible circumstances. I was very young and I wanted to save her. I asked her to marry me. I thought I was doing such a good thing and that it was the answer to all her problems. Anyway, she said yes and—”
“You got married at Our Lady of Sorrows?” asked Max.
Papá shook his head. “You’ve heard how villagers talk about people from Abismo. We had to keep our relationship secret, at least in the beginning. And I couldn’t admit to being a guardian.”
“Then how—?”
“Buelo was asked to build a bridge in San Clemente that would take over a year to complete. I took the job instead and secretly brought her with me. While we were gone, Buelo told people that I’d met someone there, married, and was going to be a father. After the bridge was finished, you were born and we moved back to Santa Maria and lived in an apartment in the village. As far as anyone knew, or knows even now, your mother was from San Clemente.”
“Is that why you quit fútbol?”
“In part, yes. But there were other reasons, too. My own mother had died a few years earlier, and Buelo was struggling with the business. He needed me. You and your mother needed me. It was a difficult choice, but I don’t regret it.”
Ortiz had mocked, Some love story, huh? But it was romantic to Max, like a fairy tale. “Then why did she leave?”
Papá shook his head. “We thought she was happy. We were a family, doing all the things people who love one another do.
Sunday dinners with the family. Picnics at the river. All of us reveling in the delight a baby brings. And then …”
“What happened?”
“I needed to repair a bridge in a remote area. While I was gone, a guardian brought two young women to the tower. For the few nights they were there, your mother helped them. Then one morning she brought you to Buelo’s and asked if he could watch you. She gave some excuse about errands and said she’d be back later in the day. But instead, she went to the ruins and escorted the two women to the next safe place and … never returned.”
“How did she know the way?”
“She’d heard us all talk about the route and the secret bridge enough times. She’d seen the map … When she didn’t return, Buelo went to the apartment and found that everything had been left in perfect order. She had cleaned, done the laundry, stocked the cupboards, and had sewn clothes for you in different sizes. They were all laid out in neat stacks on the table. She must have been working on them for months. Maybe it was in anticipation that she might someday have to leave suddenly. Or maybe she had been planning to leave and had been waiting for just the right moment. She took all of her things, every photograph she was in, and any paper with her name on it. I suppose so there was no trace left of her.”
“Yadra said the fear of being discovered runs very deep.”
“She’s right,” said Papá. “Your mother did leave a note …”
“I saw it.” Sadness and hurt squeezed Max all over again. “So all that time you thought we were a happy family, she was planning to leave?”
Papá put his arm around Max. “I don’t know. I know she loved us. I suspect someone found out she was a hidden one and confronted her. Or maybe she was afraid that someone from her past life would eventually catch up to her, and if she was caught, we would all be in danger. I even wondered if the two women she helped had brought some threatening news from Abismo. I just don’t know.” He blew out a long breath.
“Why didn’t she take me with her?”
“It would have been too risky to travel with a baby. Here with us, you had a safe and loving home, a community. Her future and safety were unknown. And I am so thankful she didn’t take you. I cannot imagine my life without you.” Papá pulled him closer. “I would have been heartbroken to lose my boy. You gave me a reason to get on with my life. Over time, I had to start accepting that she was gone.”
Mañanaland Page 11