The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster Read Online Free PDF Page A

horizon way over there are windmills."
    As Mom pointed toward the windmills, Grace threw her arms around me. "Why, it is my friend Felix from Toledo," she exclaimed. "How nice a surprise to see you again! And wearing such beautiful earrings. You look like a
gitana,
a gypsy."
    "Do you know Felix?" Mom asked Grace, obviously surprised.
    "Of course," I said, my mind racing with images of myself as a gypsy, dancing barefoot around a campfire, my
long skirt swirling gracefully, or wearing a bright scarf and reading people's fortunes in crystal balls.
    "She's the person who brought Amy and me back to the Alcázar yesterday when we were lost," I said aloud, "the one I was trying to tell you about. Don't you remember?"
    "Oh, yes," Mom said and began thanking Grace.
    "
De nada, de nada,
" Grace said. "It was nothing. No trouble."
    While Mom and Grace talked, I leaned against the parapet and stared at the distant windmills. As happy as I was to see Grace, I was puzzled. I'd told her we were going to Segovia. Why hadn't she said she was coming here, too? I wanted to ask her, but Mom was monopolizing the conversation.
    "Well, Felix," Mom said, finally remembering me. "I think we've seen enough of the castle. I'd like to go into Segovia and see the old Roman aqueduct."
    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.

7
    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