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In theory, Manuel Gomez was supposed to be instructing Jacob Sullivan on the local flora and fauna, but Manuel had been distracted by a particularly pretty piece of the local fauna by the name of Ines, and Jacob had been able to escape while Manuel devoted his attention to the young senorita. That meant he was at a loose end. He could always head for home, but Mom or Dad would just find some chore for him to do. So, he decided to explore the land around the hacienda on his own.
He was among olive trees, not too far from the main house, when he stumbled across something he hadn't expected to see in Spain. What the heck? It was a real up-time Barbie. Not one of the new wood, porcelain, or cellulose plastic copies. The hair was the clue. It had nylon hair, whereas the copies tended to used real human hair. What it was doing just lying around? Jacob didn't know, but it was something to relieve the boredom until Manuel came to find him.
A quick search of his pockets yielded a pocket knife-which might be useful-a large handkerchief, and the string he'd been looking for. However, rather than suspend the doll from a tree limb as a target, as he'd originally planed, he decided to try something else. Using the handkerchief and some of the string, in a few minutes he had a four point parachute attached to the doll.
Jacob moved from under the trees as he folded the parachute. With clear sky around him, he threw the doll into the air. On the way down, the parachute deployed, and the Barbie floated down to the ground. Jacob hurried over to the doll and folded the parachute for another flight.
A dozen flights later Jacob was starting to get bored with the game. He folded the parachute for one last flight and threw it into the air.
"What are you doing to Ana?" a young voice demanded.
Jacob barely had time to turn before he was attacked by a little terror. He managed to grab the young girl's hands and clamp them to her body, then held her securely while they both watched Ana slowly drift to the ground.
"What is that on Ana?" the girl asked.
Jacob looked down at the no longer struggling girl. "A parachute."
"Can I try it?"
"Only if there's no hitting."
The long considering look she sent his way told Jacob it was a struggle of one desire over the other, but eventually she nodded. "No hitting."
Jacob gratefully released his hold on the girl and together they walked over to where the doll had landed. He folded the parachute and demonstrated to the girl how to hold the doll and throw it.
Her first attempt wasn't very good. The girl dared him to say anything while she ran over and recovered the doll, then, to Jacob's surprise, she folded the parachute properly without asking for assistance. Her next throw wasn't much better than the first. The doll wasn't getting enough height for the parachute to deploy before it hit the ground. Her lips quivered a bit, and Jacob had the distinct impression that she was on the edge of bursting into tears-something he didn't want to have to deal with. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and discovered a possible solution. He pulled out the spare handkerchief his mother always insisted he carry and gestured to the girl to bring over the doll. "If we use this as a sling, then we should be able to send Ana much higher."
Jacob whipped his arm around, releasing one end of the handkerchief-sling at about the right time, to send Ana skyward. He allowed himself a smile of satisfaction as she soared into the air, until the parachute opened, stopping her assent, and then she floated to the ground.
The girl pounced on the doll, and after refolding the parachute removed her hair scarf to use as a sling. She sent Jacob a smug look before using both arms to swing the sling. The launch was successful, and the doll floated gently to the ground. The girl giggled and ran for her doll to try again. She got more than enough height, but her direction was bad. The doll floated into the branches of a tree.
Jacob didn't need her to turn and look hopefully at him to know what he had to do. He approached the tree and looked for handholds to climb it, but there was noting within reach. He took a few steps back and ran at the tree in an attempt to jump up to the first branch, but he couldn't quite reach.
"Allow me to be of assistance."
Jacob swung around. It was Don Antonio, his parent's patron.
"Grandpapa," the girl squealed before launching herself at the old man. "Ana's stuck in the tree," she said, tugging at his hand and pointing up into the tree.
"I can see that, and this young man needs a helping hand so he can rescue the intrepid aviatrix. Come on, boy; use my hands as a step up."
Jacob did as he was told, and was soon up on the limb and edging his way toward the parachute. With a little judicious shaking of branches, he was able to shake the parachute free and it floated to the ground. Then he looked down.
"If you hang from the limb, I should be able to lower you to the ground," Don Antonio said.
Jacob wasn't sure he should be this up-close and personal with his parent's boss, but he had offered, and it did look a long way down. He backed down until he was hanging, and two strong hands lifted him under the ribs. "Thank you, Don Antonio," Jacob said when he was safely on the ground.
Antonio waved Jacob's thanks away. "No, I should thank you for entertaining Isabel. Now, what is this thing attached to Ana?"
"It's a parachute. He made it," she said pointing at Jacob.
"He is Jacob Sullivan," Antonio said.
"One of the up-timers?" Isabel asked.
Antonio nodded. Then he turned to Jacob and rested a hand on Isabel's shoulder. "And this, as I'm sure you must have guessed, is my granddaughter, Isabel. Now, young lady, what have you done with your maid?"
Jacob had an idea where the maid might be, but he wasn't looking to get anybody into trouble, so he kept quiet. Isabel seemed similarly inclined. She looked around as if she was shocked her maid wasn't within view.
Antonio then turned his attention to Jacob. "Shouldn't you be with your tutor?"
"Yes, Don Antonio, but he got distracted by a boring piece of fauna, and I just wandered off." He saw a familiar face just entering the olive grove. "There's Manuel now." He hurried over to the approaching tutor. "I said I wandered off while you were distracted by some fauna," he whispered.
"Thanks," Manuel muttered before he approached Don Antonio. "I hope the boy hasn't been bothering you, Don Antonio. I came across Ines looking for Isabel while I was looking for Jacob, and we decided to look for our charges together."
"Jacob has been entertaining Isabel, and I'd like to talk to him. Why don't you and Ines take Isabel home?"
With only a little protest from Isabel, who was permitted to keep Ana and her parachute, the three of them set off for home. They were barely out of earshot when Don Antonio turned to Jacob. "A boring piece of fauna? How old did you say you were?"
"Twelve."
"Twelve? Maybe that explains it. Now, back to more important things. You made Ana's parachute out of a simple piece of linen?"
"A handkerchief," Jacob said, pulling out the spare he'd used to launch Ana. "And some string."
Antonio accepted the string and handkerchief. "And how do you turn this into a parachute?"
"You take four pieces of string of equal length, and tie one to each corner. Then, you attach the other ends to a weight." He saw Don Antonio start tying strings to corners, and hunted around for a suitable weight. He couldn't find anything, so, when Don Antonio was ready to attach a weight, he handed over his pocket knife.
Antonio hefted the knife and looked at Jacob. "Isn't this a bit valuable to risk?"
Jacob shook his head. "There's not much chance it'll break, and the weight will mean you can get some real height."
Antonio tied the makeshift parachute to the pocket knife. "Now what do I do?"