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Shortly, Ernesto pulled up to a shallow point in the lake, not a dock so htly down into the water The boat Kel and rinned at us from a nearly toothlessto co That was one ofin Mexico, because I never kne ive However, with Kel at my side for protection and Butch in my lap to read the nuances of the situation, we’d be fine Sopping clothes in hand, she came over to make small talk--and she didn’t ask for money
Maybe she had cataracts, because she didn’t appear afraid of Kel, though she directed her greeting to both of us "¿Es un buen día, no?"
I gazed up at the blue sky It was, actually I hadn’t noticed because of the fear and necessity driving entle slosh of the waterme
He answered in his precise Castilian Spanish As it had been with Tia, his entle and almost courtly "Sí ¿Coracias"
She chatted with hi spilling out upon the sand She used a bar of soap, but it wasn’t the regular kind; I’d seen it in the cleaning aisles for use in laundry You could shave it for use inby hand I couldn’t see that the lake water was doing her delicates any good, but it was doubtless better than nothing I wondered if she lived nearby
"Do you know the island witch?" Kel asked eventually
Ah Clever
"Nalleli?" It sees around here "Sí"
"¿Donde vive?"
The old wo complicated directions I wasn’t sure I’d be able to find the spot, based on what she was saying, but Kel appeared to follow it all He smiled and thanked her By the time Ernesto returned with pineapple, papaya, and cantaloupe for the irl
She stepped back as Ernesto powered the boat in reverse, and then we headed back out onto the lake Since it was relatively early,a nu their luck--and one ining what his ould say when he came home empty-handed put a smile on my face
This reminded me of a trip I’d taken with Chance We’d crossed the channel by boat, Dover to Calais To a girl fro and urbane, and I had to work to make myself worthy of hie It saddenedhis hand with each bounce of the waves He’d wanted to be all things to me, and for a while, I permitted him to be
After the way he’d left me in Kilmer--and no word from him since--I didn’t love him anymore But some exes carved out space in your heart that could never be filled
Oh, Jesse tried And so him He represented security and nors I’d never known Trouble was, I had self-destructive inclinations, and I didn’t always heed as best for me Sometimes my instincts were purely imperfect
The increase in speed roused me from reverie Mountains rose in the distance, shrouded in clouds, as if the lake had been poured frohts The islands appeared densely wooded, s froht this place was ly remote and unspoiled--and when the sun hit the water, it shone blue as a tropical ocean But when the sun slid behind the clouds, it went dark and sullen
As ent farther froret perched on a wooden pole rising fro since fallen into the laguna Laughing gulls followed the boat, probably hoping for a treat tossed into the wind
Butch studied everything with great interest, his big eyes shining hat I took to be delight Kel was harder for me to read, just a wall of heavily muscled silence beside me Luckily, Ernesto didn’t have a shy bone in his body, and he regaled us with old stories while pointing out everything of interest En route, we passed Heron Island, an inlet filled ater lilies, and an ecological preserve, which housed native art and a nice restaurant on the water
"We should go," Kel said, as if ere tourists
His atteuide had clearly seen weirder things than Kel, because he didn’t stare at the tats Then again, ink sometimes indicated some underworld ties, particularly when done in certain patterns Ernesto couldn’t know these ritten in angelic script
The boats Such a lovely sauce! And it is very nice to eat by the dock and watch the birds"
"Quizá," I said, which means maybe