Eduardo and Kylie were emerging from a convenience store in an off-white airport, each carrying hand luggage, and Kylie was throwing a bottle of cola down her throat as if her life depended on it.
'Still nervous, huh?' said Eduardo.
'Well, yeah,' said Kylie, 'but not so nervous that my throat is dry. Flying always does that to me – even when I don't have to land the plane myself!'
'Don't be nervous, okay? Adela's real nice.'
'It's easy to say that when you know her. I'm sure I'll be fine once I've actually met her. But then there's still the other three.'
'But you've met them.'
'I know I've met them,' said Kylie. 'But I've never been on a family vacation with them, have I? I'll bet you and Carl are a nightmare on these trips.'
'I don't think we're too bad. We'd better go find them, hadn't we?'
'I guess,' Kylie said, and they began walking. 'So remind me who exactly this woman is.'
'Just a cousin,' said Eduardo. 'Nothing complicated.'
'What kind of cousin?'
'She's my dad's first cousin. His mom and her dad were brother and sister. That specific enough?'
'Perfectly. She and your dad were close, weren't they? That's why you all like her so much.'
'Yeah well,' said Eduardo, 'he was an only child, and she's an only child, and they were about the same age. They just kind of got thrown together.'
'Uncle Eduardo – over here!' an adolescent voice called. Kevin was waving them over to the baggage claim area, and his parents were with him. Eduardo mooched over to the conveyor belt full of luggage, avoiding Carl's eye.
Beth gave Kylie a hug, and said, 'Sorry we didn't see you before the flight. We missed you at the layover as well – I was starting to worry you'd chickened out!'
'I'm no chicken, Beth,' Kylie said good-naturedly.
'Don't worry about Adela,' said Beth. 'She's always liked me.'
'Did she meet you in your Goth phase, by any chance?'
'Oh, that won't matter. Have you ever been to Mexico before, Kylie?'
'Well,' said Kylie, 'my mom took me to Cancún a couple times, but I guess that doesn't really count.'
'Why not?' said Carl. 'It's Mexico, isn't it?'
'Yeah,' said Kylie, 'but it's just a tourist trap. It's not the real Mexico, is it?'
'Cozumel is a tourist trap too,' said Kevin. 'Especially San Miguel.'
'The waterfront is, anyway,' said Eduardo, appearing at Kylie's side with a holdall on each shoulder. 'But the farther back you go, the more "real" it gets.'
'And if you go out of San Miguel altogether,' said Carl, 'there's nothing.'
'Almost nothing,' Beth added.
'I'd sort of like to see the almost nothing,' said Kylie.
'I'll show it to you,' said Eduardo, putting his arm around her as the party began to move on.
'I can carry my own luggage, you know,' said Kylie.
'The parking lot's right outside,' said Eduardo. 'It's not worth it.'
'Still too old to swim with dolphins, Kevin?' asked Beth.
'Yes,' Kevin said shortly.
'These guys never swim with the dolphins anymore,' Beth said to Kylie, distracting her from a fight with Eduardo over her holdall. 'I didn't get to try it until Eduardo learned how to swim.'
'Why not go by yourself?' asked Kylie, with a note of surprise in her voice.
'Oh, I can't do things like that by myself,' said Beth. 'And I'll never persuade Carl. Right, hon?'
'When I was a kid coming here,' said Carl, as they emerged into the airport car park, 'all I did was swim with those damn dolphins.'
'There she is!' Kevin announced, and trotted over to a middle-aged woman. She was waiting by a white people carrier with a red stripe along the side, and the word Taxi printed above this. She smothered Kevin with hugs and kisses, then greeted Carl, Beth and Eduardo in turn in the same way. Finally she turned to Kylie, and shook her hand.
'You must be Kylie,' she said. 'Welcome to Cozumel. Eduardo, ella es hermosa! You must be very special, you know, Kylie.'
'Must I?' said Kylie, now seemingly trapped in the overlong handshake.
'Well, yes. He's never brought a girl here before.'
'Oh.'
'All right, Adela, enough,' Eduardo said, beginning to load the luggage into the taxi, while Adela at last dropped Kylie's hand. 'Waiting cabs cost money, right? Gracias, señor,' he added, as the taxi driver repositioned his holdall in the boot with a reproving look.
'You know I don't mind spending money on you, querido,' said Adela.
'We can talk at home,' Eduardo said pointedly, giving her a nudge towards the taxi.
'Does she live in the tourist trap,' Kylie asked Eduardo quietly, 'or the real Mexico? Um, gracias, señor,' she said inelegantly, as the taxi driver snatched her hand luggage from her.
'Kind of in the middle,' said Eduardo. 'Probably the best place to live around here, really.'
A short while later, in Adela's house, Kylie and Eduardo were struggling to fit themselves and their luggage into a room that was entirely taken up with a double bed, one small nightstand and a chest of drawers wedged between the wall and the foot of the bed.
'Mind if I take the drawer?' asked Kylie, kneeling on the end of the bed and opening the top drawer, which was the only accessible one.
'Go ahead,' said Eduardo. 'I never unpack anyway.'
Kylie turned to him with a smile of amusement. 'You never unpack?'
'Well, you only have to pack it all up again in a few days.'
'It's two weeks, sweetie. Or does Adela normally get sick of you and throw you out?'
'Not so far. But maybe now there's a girl in my room...'
He got onto all fours and stalked across the bed towards her, but whatever he was planning had to be postponed when Kevin ran in calling 'Uncle Eduardo!', tripped over a holdall and then sprang to his feet, saying, 'You brought the books, right?'
'Um, yeah,' said Eduardo, leaning over the edge of the bed to rummage in the holdall, and finally pulling out his copy of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
'How many times have you read that?' asked Kylie. 'Just out of interest – I'm not judging.'
'I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'But we have to read them again now to get ready for The Prisoner of Azkaban – don't we, Kev?'
'I wish Adela lived in England,' said Kevin, with a heartfelt sigh. 'It's already out over there.'
'Have you ordered your copy from Amazon-dot-co-dot-uk?' asked Kylie.
'No point,' said Eduardo. 'It wouldn't get to us much before it comes out in the US in September.'
'Seriously?' said Kylie, suddenly sounding eager. 'It's out in September?'
'Yes,' said Kevin, 'which is why we need to hurry up and get these read! Chamber of Secrets is in there too, isn't it? We've almost finished the first one.'
'Yes, Kevin, Chamber of Secrets is in there too,' said Eduardo.
'Why don't you guys read some now?' said Kylie, sliding off the bed and picking her way over and around two holdalls, Kevin and the nightstand. 'I can unpack later.'
'Stay if you want,' said Eduardo. 'You need to remind yourself of the first two Harry Potter books as well – probably more than we do.'
Kevin was already settling onto the mattress beside his uncle, and just for a moment he looked put out. Kylie noticed this.
'That's okay,' she said. 'There's no point just listening to the last few chapters. I'll borrow it when you're finished.'
She made her way out of the small bedroom, and found Adela in a spacious kitchen diner, where she had several pans on the stove and was setting the table.
'Hello,' said Adela. 'I'm making everyone dinner.'
'That's very kind of you,' said Kylie. 'Is there anything I can do to help?'
'No, querida – sit down and relax,' said Adela, rather sternly, so Kylie meekly slid onto one of the dining chairs. Then there was a short silence.
'Well,' Adela said, 'this is nice... have a little talk about ladies' things. Just the two of us.'
'Yeah,' said Kylie. 'It's really nice of you to have me, Adela.'
'Well,' said Adela, busying herself at the stove, 'Beth used to come here before she and Carlos were married. I made them sleep in separate rooms, you know. It was longer ago, and their parents were here, and Eduardo was little enough to sleep in their room. But I don't have anywhere else to put you, so I have to let you live in sin. Sorry the bed is too big for the room.'
'I didn't really notice,' said Kylie. 'It's very comfortable in there.'
'You're too polite,' said Adela. 'And you know, I'm glad to have you, if you make Eduardo happy.'
'Well, I think I do.'
'I have no immediate family,' Adela went on, 'so I worry myself with Alberto's boys.'
'Does that mean I'm about to get the don't-hurt-him-or-I'll-kill-you speech?' Kylie asked, with a nervous laugh.
Adela laughed. 'Are you afraid of me, Kylie?'
'Well... no. Anyway, there's no need for you to kill me, because I won't hurt him. I love him enormously.'
'You are right to do so. Dinner is almost ready. Will you call Beth and the boys?'
'Eduardo and Kevin are reading Harry Potter,' said Kylie, in greatly serious tones.
Adela looked at her. 'Is this a sacred rite or something?'
'Well... kind of, yeah.'
'Then I will get them,' said Adela, dropping everything and turning a few dials on the stove. 'Call me if the kitchen catches fire and burns down the house.'
Kylie waited, obediently watching the pots and pans as they came dangerously close to boiling over, until Adela returned moments later with Carl, Beth, Eduardo and Kevin trailing behind her.
'Sit down, everyone, and tell me about your plans,' said Adela, as she began serving dinner. 'You'll have to amuse yourselves for a few days, because I have to work until the end of the week. In the summer, people start to want their puppies and kittens, um... esterilizados y castrados.'
'Spayed and neutered,' Eduardo supplied.
'Oh yeah,' said Kylie. 'Sterilised and castrated.'
'Spayed and neutered,' said Adela. 'I must remember that. I never hear about such things from English-speakers. And tomorrow I am seeing the cat of a good friend of mine. Bad luck. He has cáncer de boca. Can you translate that one, Kevin?'
'Um,' said Kevin, glancing uncomfortably at his father. 'Cancer...'
'...of the mouth?' Kylie finished for him, and Kevin concentrated hard on his food.
'How do you know that?' asked Eduardo.
'Well,' said Kylie, 'I happen to remember bouche from my one semester of French, and it's so similar to Spanish. Apart from maison and casa,' she added, smiling secretively at Eduardo.
'There you hear the similarities to English,' said Adela. 'Mansion, castle. It is interesting. But yes, Spanish is mostly very like French. You will be all right if you get lost here, Kylie.'
'I won't bother watching out for you, then,' Eduardo quipped.
'Here's what to say if you get lost,' said Kevin, grinning at Kylie. Then he put on a tragic expression and said, in plaintive tones, 'Por favor! Quiero doctora Gaspar, por favor!'
'You're that well known, huh?' said Kylie to Adela.
'Of course not,' said Adela. 'I wish you knew more Spanish than that, Kevin. Why don't you let the boy learn, Carlos?'
'I thought you wanted to know what our plans were,' said Carl.
'What are they, hon?' asked Beth, and Kylie gave her a strange look.
'Well...' Carl began.
'We could go to San Gervasio,' said Kevin. 'We haven't been there in years!'
'You really want to go outside of the city?' Carl asked warily.
'Why not?' asked Kevin.
'It's safer for you near the waterfront,' said Carl. 'If you got lost too far back, I don't think you'd get far with quiero doctora Gaspar.'
'You mean if we somehow lost him before we got to all the English-speaking tour guides?' said Eduardo. 'The local people are just people, Carlos. Of course they'd help a lost kid.'
Carl scowled at him. 'You don't know what people can –'
'Why are we planning for Kevin to get lost?' Beth asked loudly.
'We're not,' said Kevin. 'Anyway, you want to go to San Gervasio, Uncle Eddie, don't you?'
'Er, yeah, sure,' said Eduardo. 'But not tomorrow, Kev. I'm going somewhere with Kylie.'
'Oh,' said Kevin, and he started playing around with his food.
'We could go dolphin swimming,' said Beth.
'No!' said Carl and Kevin together.
'You guys are so mean,' said Kylie. 'I'll go dolphin swimming with you, Beth. I loved it when I did it in Cancún. We'll go the day after tomorrow, and you guys can go to San Gervasio.'
'You don't want to see San Gervasio?' asked Eduardo.
'I'll bet you saw Mayan remains in Cancún, didn't you, Kylie?' said Kevin, before she could answer for herself. 'They're all the same, really.'
'You're right, Kevin,' said Kylie. 'Whereas dolphins are living, breathing individuals. They'll be nothing like the ones in Cancún.'
Carl gave a sceptical snort. Kevin and Beth said nothing, but both looked rather pleased as they began to eat their dinners in earnest.
San Miguel was just beginning to stir the next morning as Eduardo and Kylie walked hand-in-hand along a street lined with palm trees and smooth, pastel-coloured buildings.
'I never thought you'd be waking me up as early as that,' said Kylie.
'Why not?' said Eduardo. 'I've done it before.'
'Yeah, but then we still didn't get out of bed for hours.'
'True. But we need the whole day for this.'
'For what? Where are you taking me, anyway? You know I don't like surprises.'
'This ain't a surprise,' said Eduardo. 'I'm gonna show you the island, like you wanted. Look, we're here,' and he gestured to a building just in front of them.
'Scooters and car hire,' Kylie read the lettering in the window, and then she laughed. 'Did we get up early in the hope no one's hired the car yet?'
'No,' chuckled Eduardo. 'I don't have a permit to drive a car here.'
'But you can drive a scooter?'
'Yeah, that'll be okay. It's way better than a car anyway.'
'Where will we scoot to?'
'Anywhere you want. You're in control.'
'No I'm not – you're driving.'
'Okay, well, I thought I'd take us all around the island,' said Eduardo. 'Well, as much as I can. The north-east doesn't have any road. But we can cut all across the middle to the east coast, and then all round and back up again to San Miguel. We'll go through a lot of the almost nothing that way.'
'Wow,' said Kylie. 'That sounds amazing.'
'The east coast is really beautiful. You'll love it.'
'Is it the real Mexico?'
'Well, they do rely on the tourist trade... it's the place to go if you want to buy a sombrero... but it's a lot more real than the west coast.'
'Great,' said Kylie. 'What are we waiting for? Let's do this!'
She nudged him towards the hire shop's entrance, and moments later a rickety old scooter came sputtering out onto the road. Both riders were wearing helmets, of course, and Kylie made sure of her safety by clinging tightly onto Eduardo with both arms and legs.
'When do you think they'll get back?' asked Kevin, who was lying on Adela's sofa and staring at the ceiling, swinging one arm in a gesture of idleness.
'Not for a long time, honey,' said Beth. 'I think they're hiring a scooter for the day.'
'Seriously?' said Carl. 'Those things are so dangerous – he's asking for trouble.'
'That's what your dad used to say when you took me all over the island on one,' said Beth.
'That's different. I'm not reckless and irresponsible. I spend all day driving a motorcycle at work.'
'Nice job,' said Kevin.
Carl frowned. 'Better than sitting on your butt all day. What do you want to do? I thought maybe we could hire a boat and go fishing.'
'I don't like fishing.'
'What do you mean?'
'I mean I don't like fishing,' said Kevin. 'It's boring.'
'That's crazy,' said Carl. 'You enjoyed that stupid bat watching in Philadelphia – what could be more boring than that?'
'That was totally different,' said Kevin. 'Anyway, we were watching them in their natural habitat, not forcing them out of it.'
Carl scowled. 'What are you, some kind of –?'
'We could go to the sea lion show,' said Beth. 'You used to love that when you were little, honey.'
'I'm not little anymore, Mom,' Kevin said pointedly.
'What about the museum?' said Carl. 'You could learn about Mayans and all that stuff without even leaving the city.'
'Yeah, maybe,' said Kevin.
'We'll do that, then,' said Beth, injecting all the enthusiasm she could into her voice. 'Then maybe afterward we could just hang out on the beach. I'm still kind of tired from travelling yesterday.'
'You're getting old, Mom,' Kevin laughed.
'I'm not the one who hasn't moved since breakfast,' said Beth, grabbing Kevin's arm and hauling him to his feet. 'Ooh, you're getting heavy! Do you want to bring Harry Potter for the beach?'
'Oh... no,' said Kevin. 'I'm reading that with Uncle Eduardo.'
Eduardo and Kylie were still out when it was getting dark. They sat side by side on an otherwise deserted sandy beach, and Kylie was wearing a sombrero.
'Too bad the sunset's on the other side,' said Eduardo.
'We could stay all night,' said Kylie, cuddling up to him, 'and watch the sunrise.'
'That could happen just because we have to wait. I really want you to see one.'
'How long does it take to really know you, anyway? This is just one more thing no one could ever guess about you.'
Eduardo shrugged, and said, 'It's just something I thought you'd like.'
'No big deal, huh?'
'Right.'
'What about San Gervasio?' Kylie asked.
'What about it?'
'I got the impression last night that it was kind of a big deal.'
'Not to me,' said Eduardo. 'Not really. But Kevin loves it, and Carlos wishes he didn't.'
'Why?'
'My grandmother always used to say that it was the Mayan village where Captain Gaspar settled down and got our bloodline going with some native girl.'
'Oh,' said Kylie. 'So, what, you're not interested in your family history?'
'Yeah, kinda,' Eduardo shrugged, 'but I don't really believe that about San Gervasio.'
'Then why would your grandmother say it?'
'Because it's a nice idea. But there's Gaspars all over both the Americas now – they could have started anywhere. San Gervasio's nice, though, and I like Kevin being interested in that stuff.'
'Well then,' said Kylie, 'you won't be hurt that I'm not going.'
'Well...' said Eduardo.
'You mustn't be,' said Kylie. 'Kevin wants to spend time with you. Without me.'
'Did he tell you that?'
'No, of course not – he's way too polite. But I can tell, and anyway, I want Beth to get her dolphin swim, if she really won't go alone.'
'You'd go alone, wouldn't you?'
'Of course I would, but she's not me. Hey, should we be being quiet?'
'I don't know,' said Eduardo. 'I've only ever done this by myself before.'
'That makes me feel very special, sweetie.'
'Okay, I know the answer to that one. You are – I don't believe it!'
'What?' said Kylie.
'Look over there!'
She peered through the darkness to where he was pointing. The dim shape of a sea turtle was just visible on the shoreline. Kylie stared, took off the sombrero and rose slowly onto her knees for a better look. The turtle made her way awkwardly over several yards of sand, and then began to dig with her back flippers. After a time she stopped, waited a short while (of course her spectators couldn't see in detail what she was doing), then brushed the sand back over the hole she had made. When she had quite finished, she trundled back into the Caribbean Sea.
'Wow,' breathed Kylie. 'That was amazing.'
'I knew you'd like it,' Eduardo said, a little smugly. 'Lucky we didn't have to wait too long.'
'I'd wait here with you forever,' Kylie said dreamily, putting the sombrero back on her head. Then, with an abrupt change in tone, she asked, 'Is it okay if we're sitting on a nest?'
'I think so,' said Eduardo. 'We can always move if they feel like hatching tonight.'
'Will there be some hatching already?'
'Maybe. They lay hundreds of eggs, and they keep at it for months.'
'I hope none of them will feel like hatching tonight,' said Kylie. 'I wouldn't want to see that.'
'No?'
'No, because about ninety percent of them get eaten before they even reach the water, don't they? Even now there must be things lying in wait... all around us... lurking in the darkness...'
'I never thought of that,' said Eduardo. 'This feels kind of weird now.'
'Why?' Kylie laughed as she wrapped her arms around his neck. 'They're not lying in wait for us.'
'Yeah, I guess. They're probably wishing we weren't here.'
'Then they can like it or lump it,' said Kylie, tipping back the wide brim of the sombrero as she moved in for a kiss. 'What say we, um... give them a show?'
