Camouflage Chapter 3

Imelda climbed forward onto Pepita as Dante took off running into the streets, barking furiously at anyone who dared come near him. Miguel was in trouble and Dante had somehow sensed that, much to Imelda's shock. A plain old dog? she pondered. He must be loco. This was no ordinary dog, this had to be an alebrije.

"Ay, this Xolo looks like a sausage with a bad haircut, Pepita. Why mi nieta even allowed Miguel near it is beyond me." Imelda exclaimed as she gripped Pepita's back tighter than usual, causing the alebrije to yelp. "Lo siento, Pepita, I'll try to be gentler. I'm just worried about Miguel."

Giving Imelda a reassuring nuzzle, Pepita flew over buildings and skyscrapers as she trailed Dante through the Land of the Dead. Numerous people looked up as the giant alebrije flew, roaring as she scanned the streets for any sign of the wayward twelve-year-old.

Having already searched Shantytown, Pepita flew over it, as they made their way towards de la Cruz's mansion and the Arts District, a place that Imelda tried to avoid whenever possible out of fear of seeing him.

But whenever she had the opportunity, Imelda would try and visit Ceci, a friend of hers both in life and death as well as the best seamstress in the Land of the Dead. When Imelda looked in the Arts District earlier, Ceci had been busy with dress fittings when Imelda asked her where Miguel was.

"I wasn't really paying attention, Imelda," Ceci said through a mouthful of pins as she worked on a dancer's dress. "There was a kid here earlier, but he was with—well, with him."

Clenching her teeth, Imelda took a deep breath before finding her voice again and standing up from the chair she was sitting in.

"I see. Gracias, Ceci. Buena suerte con el rendimiento de esta noche." Imelda responded, kissing her friend's cheekbone in gratitude.

"De nada. Espero que encuentres a tu nieto."

Jerked out of her reverie by Pepita's deep growl, Imelda knew that they were getting close and looked down, trying to avoid getting dizzy. When she first arrived in the Land of the Dead, Imelda was terrified of falling off Pepita and clung to her alebrije like a lifeline about to be cut. But now, nearly 50 years after her death, Imelda Rivera had gotten used to riding her alebrije and learned to love the feeling of flying through the air, something that her granddaughter inherited as well.

The other members of the family though were not so sure. Pepita was not very fond of Julio, the twins or any male family member. In life, Pepita would often scratch the twins and Julio to get what she wanted. But after a while, the twins managed to win Pepita over, whilst making Julio deathly afraid of her. Imelda found out later that the twins had fed Julio's breakfast to Pepita one day, causing the alebreje to chase Julio out of the house and into the main street. Two sore skulls and a couple of choice words later, Imelda had banned the twins from taking care of Pepita and tasked herself and Victoria with the job instead.

"Are we close, Pepita? Is our boy nearby?" Imelda asked anxiously, sounding not too unlike Rosita when she accidentally burned something on the stove. "Hopefully, that man didn't do anything too stupid." Purring in agreement, Pepita flew on, following Dante as he headed for the outskirts of the main city.

Having only seen her mistress' estranged husband a few times a year, it was safe to say that Pepita did not like Héctor either. For the first several years after Imelda had crossed over, El Día del Amor y la Amistad quickly became a game for Pepita chasing away Héctor and any other lovestruck skeletons who wanted to impress her.

Suddenly Dante barked towards a cenote and skidded to stop, and leaped in the air several times, landing quite ungracefully as he hit the ground, still wearing a silly grin on his face.

Imelda approached the cenote quietly as Pepita hung back, not wanting a repeat of Miguel running away again. But as they approached, Imelda heard something different. Was it singing? Shaking her head in disbelief and anger, Imelda was tempted to run forward and tell the offending musician off, but she held back. Something didn't feel right with interrupting this.

Until you're in my arms again.

Remember me.

Petting Pepita gently on the head, Imelda was shocked when she spotted watermarks on her dress. "Here I am, acting like a silly girl over a song," She mused as she wiped her eyes with her apron. A little shaken, Imelda got back on Pepita, waiting to see if there was any sign of sound from the cenote.

After that, it went quiet, not a sound made from the cenote again. Not until loud gritos filled the night air, startling Imelda out of her reverie and causing Dante to run forward in excitement, barking like crazy as an excited cry "Dante!" cut through the air.

"We must get our boy out of there, Pepita!" Urging on the alebrije, Pepita roared into the cenote as Imelda laughed in relief upon seeing Miguel. He was soaking wet, but more importantly, still alive and breathing. As Imelda turned her gaze up, a bedraggled skeleton caught her eye and she quickly stiffened in anger. It was definitely Héctor, without a margin of doubt.

"You look good!" he cried out nervously upon seeing her. Tensing angrily, Imelda urged Pepita on. Silently, Pepita dove into the cenote, splashing water on an overjoyed Miguel and a clearly nervous Héctor as she landed. Miguel ran over to embrace Imelda as Héctor watched in the background.

"Imelda, thank you, I—"

"I don't want to hear about it, Héctor," Imelda said as she helped Miguel on to Pepita. "Nor do I want to even know how you got my tataranieto into the cenote in the first place."

Attempting to protest, Héctor stood up sharply "But it was-".

Imelda shot him a glare of pure ice, effectively silencing him as she quickly climbed up onto Pepita's back. Miguel had shrunk back in an attempt to make himself look smaller, clearly uncomfortable with how the conversation had gone.

"Mama Imelda? What about Héctor?" asked Miguel as he observed the conversation silently. "We can't just leave him here!" Wordlessly, Imelda gestured to Pepita as Héctor immediately tried to climb on. But unfortunately for him, Pepita had other plans.

The large alebrije growled, causing Héctor to scoot back fearfully until he was on Pepita's tail and on the verge of falling off. Seemingly satisfied, Pepita took off from the cenote into the night air, Héctor clinging to her tail with all his might as they flew off towards the roof of the Department of Family Reunions.

Fin

(on a side note-I really appreciate everyone's comments and devotion but I'm ready to move on to other stories. Camouflage ends where the movie picks up. Go see it! (its awesome!))