The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos Read Online Free PDF

sandals, but Irene’s sneakers were inside the cabaña. Not to be deterred, Irene walked along
     the stone pathway to the neighboring cabaña, which was rented out by a single man. She plucked a pair of flip-flops from the
     porch and waved them triumphantly in the air before slipping her feet into them. They were a perfect fit.
    Together, the girls ran to the beach and stripped to their underwear. Wading in until the water reached their chests, they
     surveyed the distance to the island.
    “It’s not that far,” said Lily, though she was starting to have her doubts.
    “Bueno, gafa, what are we waiting for?” said Irene, throwing up the challenge.
    Both girls had joined the junior swim team at Academia Roosevelt the year Irene decided she wanted to be a professional swimmer,
     and the team was a contender for the national championships. Lily was then transferred to the convent school, which had no
     swim team, and Irene had gone on to captain the Academia Roosevelt team to victory. Lily had concentrated on riding Luna who
     was stabled at the Valencia Riding Club, taking the first prize in three equestrian events for two consecutive years. But
     her blue satin riding ribbons had no relevance in the world she had shared with Irene before they were separated, and Lily
     wanted to prove that she was also still as good a swimmer as her friend.
    They started swimming on the count of three, making rapid progress to the midpoint between the camp shore and the island,
     marked by a buoy. But it was a longer distance than it had seemed from the shore and, after a hundred and fifty meters, both
     girls began to tire, their strokes becoming uneven.
    “¡No puedo más!” Irene panted, just as Lily felt her stomach cramp. She instantly regretted the chicken sandwiches consumed
     not half an hour earlier.
    Treading water, Lily said, “I can make it.”
    “No you can’t, you ate as many sandwiches as I did,” Irene panted.
    “Yes I can.”
    “You’re lying.”
    That was how it started. There in the middle of the lake, Lily confronted Irene about the red shoes.
    “You’re the liar,” Lily screamed back. “You told me my mother’s shoes were stolen after the play, but I saw you wearing them
     when you were with your father in the study before you hid them behind the door. Además, I’m sure that charm bracelet you
     have been wearing belongs to Luz. I should never have invited such a ladrona mentirosa. I wish you were dead.” Lily turned
     around, facing the distant shore where their swim had begun. Her arms, legs, and chest were aching. A few feet away, Irene
     was swimming toward her, her face furious, her arms slapping the water. The next thing Lily knew, Irene had seized her by
     the shoulders, dunking her, climbing onto her back, locking her legs around Lily’s waist. Lily sank deeper with the weight.
     Twisting, she managed to slip from Irene’s stranglehold, come up for air, and start paddling toward the shore. But Irene ferociously
     grabbed her by the hair and pulled her backward, her other arm clamped against Lily’s windpipe. As Lily clawed at Irene’s
     arm, the charm bracelet came loose in her hand. She clutched it in her fist, beating at Irene’s arm that continued to press
     into her throat.
    “Take it back,” Irene yelled, as Lily went under again. “Take back what you said.”
    Just as Lily’s lungs began their silent scream for release, she heard her father’s voice. “Calma, mi amor. Remember what I
     taught you.”
    Summoning every reserve of strength she had left, she coiled and pushed, spun around in the water, drew her arm back, and
     hit Irene full in the face with the heel of her hand. Irene’s head snapped back and blood spurted from her nose. Then Irene
     began to sink. Lily tried to reach out to her, but exhaustion made this impossible. And she, too, began to sink.
    Lily said she remembered waking up in the hammock on the veranda of the cabaña, with Irene next to her.
    “I dreamt