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Authors: K. A. Stewart
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just inclined her head a
little, that same small smile crossing her lips as her eyes swept
over the kid, but she never said a word.
“I could die in here and no one would care!”
Terrence had rolled the window down again, and we all jumped at his
grumpy shout. He fixed us with a glare from under his bushy
eyebrows, like he could kill us all with his brain.
“C’mon kid, let’s go.” I thumped Estéban in
the shoulder, and we reluctantly piled back into the bed of the
truck as Paulito made his farewells with his girlfriend. They
disappeared into the alley for a moment, where I’m sure there was
much kissy face going on, and then he returned alone, hopping
behind the wheel again. The truck started up with a jolt that
smacked my head against the back window, and I sighed, rubbing it
ruefully. Almost there. Almost there.
The drive up into the hills was rough, but
the promise of the journey’s end made up for the kidneys we were
surely damaging with all the bouncing. The trees closed around us
as we climbed our way through the foothills, bringing dusk on
early, and the lights from the small homesteads that we passed
gleamed through the leaves like fireflies.
The Perez family home was actually more of a
small compound, almost a village in and of itself. Many houses and
outbuildings, several small barns for the variety of livestock,
even their own small chapel. It was bigger than the last time I was
here, I realized, marking a few structures that were missing from
my memory. No doubt each building had been crafted by loving hands,
probably a weekend event for the family as the need arose.
As we pulled up into the big circular drive,
Paulito beeped the horn a few times, and the place exploded as
people flooded out of every doorway in sight. I felt Sveta tense up
beside me, unprepared for the sheer human tsunami that was
Estéban’s family. Her hand slipped behind her back, where I knew
she had a knife or a gun or something.
I wasn’t stupid enough to touch her when she
was like that, but I leaned close to quietly remind her, “Easy.
There are children here.” She blinked at me a few times, and I saw
her forcibly relax the tension in her shoulders. After a moment,
she nodded, and I felt safe getting out of the truck.
Dear God, there were so many of them,
and all of them were trying to get close to Estéban, mussing his
hair, giving him rough hugs, clinging to his knees when they were
too small to reach higher. So many voices in both English and
Spanish, shouting and calling greetings full of joy and welcome. I
lost sight of the kid, but I could hear his laughter, somewhere in
the middle of the throng.
I helped Terrence out of the truck and the
three of us started unloading our things, staying safely out of the
melee. We stacked the crates and piled our luggage up against it,
and then there was nothing to do but lean against the truck and
wait for someone to remember that we existed. It was likely going
to be a while.
I let my gaze wander over the clearing again,
noting how different things looked now since my…circumstances had
changed. Even through the soles of my sneakers, I could feel the
land almost pulsing under my feet, magic flowing through the dirt
like an enormous heartbeat. Every wall, every window, every door
was decorated with sigils and marks, some so new that they were
almost painful to look at, others so faint and worn that you just
knew their creators had long since forgotten them. Some of them
were precisely etched by an experienced hand, some of them looked
like the equivalent of a child’s crayon drawing. Even the youngest
Perez children were schooled in the use of magic, marking down
their first protection symbols alongside their ABCs. Seeing layers
upon layers of magic, each spell worked immediately atop the one
before it, was almost like looking at a family tree, dating back
more generations than I could imagine.
I rolled my head back and forth a little,
trying to ignore the dance of
little, that same small smile crossing her lips as her eyes swept
over the kid, but she never said a word.
“I could die in here and no one would care!”
Terrence had rolled the window down again, and we all jumped at his
grumpy shout. He fixed us with a glare from under his bushy
eyebrows, like he could kill us all with his brain.
“C’mon kid, let’s go.” I thumped Estéban in
the shoulder, and we reluctantly piled back into the bed of the
truck as Paulito made his farewells with his girlfriend. They
disappeared into the alley for a moment, where I’m sure there was
much kissy face going on, and then he returned alone, hopping
behind the wheel again. The truck started up with a jolt that
smacked my head against the back window, and I sighed, rubbing it
ruefully. Almost there. Almost there.
The drive up into the hills was rough, but
the promise of the journey’s end made up for the kidneys we were
surely damaging with all the bouncing. The trees closed around us
as we climbed our way through the foothills, bringing dusk on
early, and the lights from the small homesteads that we passed
gleamed through the leaves like fireflies.
The Perez family home was actually more of a
small compound, almost a village in and of itself. Many houses and
outbuildings, several small barns for the variety of livestock,
even their own small chapel. It was bigger than the last time I was
here, I realized, marking a few structures that were missing from
my memory. No doubt each building had been crafted by loving hands,
probably a weekend event for the family as the need arose.
As we pulled up into the big circular drive,
Paulito beeped the horn a few times, and the place exploded as
people flooded out of every doorway in sight. I felt Sveta tense up
beside me, unprepared for the sheer human tsunami that was
Estéban’s family. Her hand slipped behind her back, where I knew
she had a knife or a gun or something.
I wasn’t stupid enough to touch her when she
was like that, but I leaned close to quietly remind her, “Easy.
There are children here.” She blinked at me a few times, and I saw
her forcibly relax the tension in her shoulders. After a moment,
she nodded, and I felt safe getting out of the truck.
Dear God, there were so many of them,
and all of them were trying to get close to Estéban, mussing his
hair, giving him rough hugs, clinging to his knees when they were
too small to reach higher. So many voices in both English and
Spanish, shouting and calling greetings full of joy and welcome. I
lost sight of the kid, but I could hear his laughter, somewhere in
the middle of the throng.
I helped Terrence out of the truck and the
three of us started unloading our things, staying safely out of the
melee. We stacked the crates and piled our luggage up against it,
and then there was nothing to do but lean against the truck and
wait for someone to remember that we existed. It was likely going
to be a while.
I let my gaze wander over the clearing again,
noting how different things looked now since my…circumstances had
changed. Even through the soles of my sneakers, I could feel the
land almost pulsing under my feet, magic flowing through the dirt
like an enormous heartbeat. Every wall, every window, every door
was decorated with sigils and marks, some so new that they were
almost painful to look at, others so faint and worn that you just
knew their creators had long since forgotten them. Some of them
were precisely etched by an experienced hand, some of them looked
like the equivalent of a child’s crayon drawing. Even the youngest
Perez children were schooled in the use of magic, marking down
their first protection symbols alongside their ABCs. Seeing layers
upon layers of magic, each spell worked immediately atop the one
before it, was almost like looking at a family tree, dating back
more generations than I could imagine.
I rolled my head back and forth a little,
trying to ignore the dance of
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