Guardian of the Fountain Read Online Free PDF Page B

taking care
of me?
    “Saving
your life.” Dianne pulled Chrissie into a warm, motherly embrace.
    “The
auto will be here in five minutes.” Arturo picked up Chrissie’s suitcase from
the bed and headed noiselessly out of the house to wait for the car.
    “I
can’t do this. As much as I loved being in Venezuela—what parts I
remember—I feel like this is too much for me to handle.” Chrissie’s tears
picked up pace and slid down her face unchecked.
    “Something
happened down there.” Dianne held two fingers in front of Chrissie’s face. “You
need to find two very important things while you’re there—your missing
six months, and your health. After that phone call, I know it’s imperative that
you go back and be healed. You’ll be in good hands. A medical team has assembled
to aid your recovery.”
    “Who
was on the phone, Mom?”
    “All
he said was he was a friend with a possible cure. My gut is telling me to trust
him. If he is a friend of Arturo’s then he is a friend of mine.” Diane helped
Chrissie dress in some comfortable yoga pants, a hooded sweatshirt, and tennis
shoes. Chrissie drowned in her normal clothes.
    “I
hope that the next time I see you, you’ll be a much healthier version of
yourself with some meat on those bones.” Dianne smiled reassuringly and guided
Chrissie to the front door, supporting her elbow, just as car lights turned
into the driveway.
    This is happening too fast. I thought I
was going to sleep, and now I’m flying back to Venezuela.
    “Mom?”
Chrissie glanced back, panicked.
    “Arturo
never left your side for two weeks. Your father and I got to know him very well
before we were able to fly you out. His wife is María—she loves you like
a daughter. I got a stack of letters from her asking how you were doing. You’ve
told me how much you love them too. Go with it, honey. I don’t have any other
ideas. They’re the only ones who have a plan, other than you wasting away.” Dianne
rubbed Chrissie’s back. “Everything will be okay. We all need to put faith in
this process.”
    The black
Cadillac with tinted windows idled as the driver loaded the suitcases. He
returned to escort Chrissie to the car while Arturo climbed in on the other
side of the backseat. The driver’s tuxedo and the smell of a new car made
sitting next to humble Arturo seem out of place. She glanced out the window to
her twelve-year-old Toyota Corolla.
    Am I stuck in some sort of twisted
nightmare? Leaving any type of normalcy for the small glimmer of a cure to only
die along the way?
    The
car backed out of the driveway as her mom waved tearfully from the porch.
Chrissie laid her head back and closed her eyes. The bass drummer in her head
began to pound. “Arturo, who is the ‘he’ you referred to?”
    “No
puedo decir, mija.”
    “I
know you can speak better English than that, Arturo.”
    “I’m
under instructions not to say. Lo siento.”
    Chrissie
sighed unhappily as she watched the landscape outside her window whiz by. She
should really be watching the road straight ahead to avoid any motion sickness.
“My time in Venezuela seems so long ago, but it has been only a month since I
got back to the States. How is María?”
    María
made the best tortillas on her hot black griddle. One day when she had her appetite
back she would like to relish María’s cooking. It will be good to see María, if I make it there alive.
    “Ella
está bien. She misses you. María is very happy you come back. You stay with us
so she can get you better pronto.”
    “I
can’t do that. I would be too much trouble.”
    “It
would break María’s heart if you didn’t stay with us. She misses you so much.”
He paused and pursed his lips as he thought. “I didn’t mean to scare you
earlier. I was sent to make sure you were okay, and I didn’t want to wake your
parents.” The cell phone buzzed in Arturo’s pocket, and he pulled it out to
answer.
    Chrissie
tried to eavesdrop to distract her from the