Sitting in the car didn’t seem to me safe, either. Through the window, trees zoomed by, while in front of us, the road twisted itself like a gigantic snake ready to swallow us. Still, somehow my uncle managed to stay on the winding path by moving a black wheel he was holding in his hands.
Tío looked at me, and the car swayed slightly to the right. “Are you listening, Andrea?”
I swallowed. “Yes. No. I mean . . .” I couldn’t just give up. Besides, why was he the only one allowed to move between both worlds? The only one to—But he wasn’t. Tío was not the only one. Not according to the legend, not according to Don Alfonso.
“Tío, your world must know about mine. After all, the founders of our Houses came from here.”
My uncle shook his head. “No, Andrea. Although I personally believe your legend is true, only the first part, the story of King Roderic’s defeat at the hands of the Arabs, is known in my world. According to the history of this world, it happened in a country we called Spain almost thirteen centuries ago. But there is no record anywhere of your ancestors leaving for another world.”
I sulked. “But they did. You know they did. So why can’t I stay?”
“Because . . . because it’s dangerous. Do you remember the story of the Xarens? They lived in your world when your ancestors arrived from Spain. The Xarens were more civilized in a cultural sense than King Roderic’s men, but they were peaceful people. In the clash of cultures, theirs was destroyed. That is why your world must remain unknown to mine. Do you understand?”
“Yes,Tío. Of course I do. Your civilization wouldn’t stand a chance if my people would learn you are here, waiting to be conquered.”
My uncle laughed. “That’s one way of looking at it.” Then, again his grumpy self, he continued, “I’m glad you understand. Do you see now why you cannot talk with Kelsey? Why you must return to your world as soon as possible?”
“No, I don’t. I am not an army. And I have no intention of bringing one to conquer anybody. All I want is to stay here for a moon time. Please,Tío. Let me stay with Kelsey. I promise I will never mention my world to her.”
It was not easy, but I wanted it so badly I begged and whined and compromised, and by the time the car stopped in its allotted place in front of the gigantic cubic rock Tío called “the mall,” he had agreed to my request.
I left the car then and followed Tío through an amazing glass door into an enchanted place right out of a dream. All around us the walls were glass, and through them I saw rooms full of clothes and shoes and all sort of things, most of which I didn’t recognize.
My surprise was beyond words when, after we had entered one of the rooms, I saw the same dress I had chosen in the window in different sizes. So instead of waiting for someone to take my measurements and make the dress, I tried several on. When I found the one that fit me, a lady put it in a colorful bag, and that very same moment, I walked out of the store with it. Of course, I thought it a waste of time to sew all those dresses for me to pick just one, but Tío said it didn’t work like that here, and that he would explain later.
My uncle bought me several outfits and comfortable white shoes with laces to replace my leather boots. Then, when I couldn’t think of anything I could possibly need for the next five years, we sat at a little table in a big hall and I ate some cold sweet cream that melted in my mouth.
Just before leaving, we walked into a library. Tío called it a bookstore. It was a friendly place, not at all dark and gloomy like the one at my father’s castle, but bright from lights hanging from the ceiling. My uncle took me to the back of the room and picked lots of books for me. Books, he said, would teach me how to speak this language.
On the way home, as I sat in the car surrounded by my wonderful presents,Tío Ramiro pushed one of the little books into a black hole, and it started talking. I listened carefully to the magical words, and when we reached Tio’s house, I was able to repeat them to him.
Tío seemed surprised. “Do you remember every single thing you’ve heard?”
“Of course I do,Tío. Why should I forget?”
“Never mind. Why don’t you watch these now,” he said, giving me some very thin books.
“Watch them?”
Tío smiled. “I keep forgetting. Come, I’ll show you how to use the DVD player and the TV.”
I went through all the English DVDs that evening and fell asleep reading the English books. The following day in the car, I listened to more English CDs, and by the time we arrived at Davis, the university town where my cousin lived, I could understand English well enough to carry on a conversation. I had also learned the strange symbols that represent numbers in Tio’s world. Apparently our numbers—Roman numerals Tío had called them—were no longer fashionable and hadn’t been for centuries.
“I am impressed with you, Andrea. Really impressed,” my uncle told me as we walked through the garden he called the “campus.”
“Your mother kept telling me all these years that your people had an amazing memory. But I never believed she meant it so literally,” Tío said. “Unless . . . are you sure she didn’t teach you English when you were a child, and it’s coming back to you now?”
I laughed. “Querido Tío, dear Uncle, as you must be the first to know, Mother has tried to teach me many things over the years without much success. But English, I assure you, was not one of them.”
Tío smiled. “All right. I believe you.” He stopped, and pointing to a big building looming four stories tall in front of us, he added, “Here we are. This is where Kelsey lives.”
Kelsey’s house was big—much bigger than my uncle’s. When I asked him whether my cousin lived there all by herself, Tío laughed. “No, of course not. Kelsey lives in one of the rooms. You’ll see. Now remember your story. You grew up in Spain where your mother is a doctor. You’ve come to live in the States for a month to practice your English. And do not forget, please, that you’re seventeen years old.”
“Yes, I know. I am seventeen because the months in your world are shorter—five or six days shorter than in ours. That means our year has fourteen of your months.”
Tío nodded. “You’ll do fine,” he said and, holding the glass door open, motioned me forward. We walked down a long hall flanked by many doors and up two flights of stairs onto another floor that was an exact replica of the one below. There he turned right and knocked on the second door to the left.
After a short wait, the door opened, and the girl I had seen at the beach appeared in the doorway. She was still angry—I could tell by the way her pale blue eyes were flashing, eyes the exact same color as my sister Rosa’s.
“Kelsey, this is your cousin Andrea,” my uncle said.
I extended my hand, as Tío had instructed me to do. Kelsey did not take it, but stared at me with contempt. I returned her stare without blinking. I had not come this far to be intimidated by a girl my own age. Finally Kelsey looked away. “Hi,” she said and, turning her back on us, moved inside.
I looked at my uncle. What kind of welcome was this? But Tío only shrugged his shoulders and signaled me to follow.
“Kelsey,” my uncle said once the door had closed behind us, “as I told you on the phone,Andrea will be staying at the dorms for the next month. I’ll bring her bags to her room while you get acquainted. Then I have to go. I would appreciate it if you would show her around the campus today.”
From the bed where she was sitting, the girl stared at us, her lips set in a thin line, and gave no answer. Tío Ramiro did not seem to have expected one, because with a nod in my direction, he started back to the door. Before I could say anything, he was gone.
As soon as Tío left, Kelsey stretched her long legs over the side of the bed and came over.