Flipping through them, I landed on an advertisement. My heart came to a screeching halt.
There, in the back of the book, was a photo of a huge rock formation in the shape of an arch sticking out of the sea. Big gold words were printed across the bottom:
EL ARCO, THE GATEWAY TO ANOTHER WORLD.
COME SEE LAND’S END.
“Rosie!” My palms began to sweat. “The Red Queen told me to go to Land’s End, where two worlds meet. This looks pretty much like an entrance, doesn’t it?”
She studied the picture, sniffing it suspiciously.
Quickly, I scanned the small print. The tour company was closed for the day. I picked up the outdoor phone and dialed the concierge, hoping someone from the hotel could tell me how to get to Land’s End. But the señora who answered told me El Arco was only accessible by boat, and none would run again until the morning. Luckily, it was only a few minutes’ cruise from the resort. I could get there myself, as long as I could find a boat or a surfboard or an inner tube or anything that floated.
Rosie whined and danced on her paws impatiently. I knew she wanted to swim me to Land’s End. “I can’t let you take me,” I said, glancing inside the casita. “You need to protect Ren. It’s a big job, Rosie. You have to promise me you won’t let anything happen to her. I’ll hurry back.” She blinked slowly like she understood, her soft brown eyes shining in the firelight, and for half a second, I saw the old Rosie. My heart melted. “That’s my good girl.”
* * *
The shore was empty and, you guessed it, there were no boats (or surfboards or inner tubes) anywhere. Maybe I could use a chunk of wood or…Just then, I heard a familiar cry-howl-growl in the palm tree above.
Slowly, I looked up.
A banana peel fell onto my face.
The monkey was back. I tossed the stinky peel back at the beast. “You dropped something!”
The monkey flashed its long fangs in a half sneer, half smile. Then he motioned for me to follow him as he leaped to the next tree, using his long tail as a fifth limb.
“Seriously?” I tightened my fingers around Fuego. “You expect me to follow you? I don’t even know you!” Maybe hallucinations were a side effect of the death magic.
An old couple walked up, eyeing me like I was some wack kid talking to trees.
“Hey, uh…” I said as they were passing, “do you see that monkey up there?”
The couple glanced up, and just when I thought they might shake their heads and call me loco, they smiled, pointed, and said something in French. They snapped a quick picture with their phone and left.
Okay, so I wasn’t crazy.
Once they were out of earshot, I looked back at the hairy rascal. “How do I know you’re not an evil monkey demon trying to lead me into some awful trap?”
The primate rolled his eyes, palm-smacked his forehead, and threw another banana peel at me. Where in the heck was he getting all these? Did he have a hidden pocket or something?
“Hey!” I held up Fuego. “I’ve got a killer spear, and I’m not afraid to use it!”
He grunted, climbed down from the tree, and raced out to the darkened shore. I glanced over my shoulder, half expecting an army of apes to be waiting for me. But all was clear, so I followed him to the beach, where a dinghy was waiting. The monkey climbed inside, grabbed the oars (which looked like long bones I really hoped weren’t human), and howled at me like I was taking too long. Man, he had big teeth.
“You think I’m going to get in a rowboat with a…?”
When I saw his arm go to his side, I thought he might attack me with another banana, but instead he pulled out a postcard of El Arco and tossed it toward me with an annoyed grunt.
“You’re going to Land’s End?”
He smacked his lips together and peeled them back, showing all his choppers. Eee-eee-eee.
I took that as a yes and climbed into the boat. The monkey scratched his head and began rowing like a champ (he’d for sure done this before). Once we were past the breakers, he stood. Here it was. He was going to pull out a dagger and stab me to death.
I readied Fuego. In a flash of pale blue light, the monkey tr
ansformed into a human. The dude had curly black hair that sparkled like each strand was laced with stardust. He was tall, skinny, and wore wire-rimmed glasses with mirrored lenses, so I couldn’t see his eyes. Even his long blue robe shimmered, and I thought maybe Ren was right about aliens. This guy looked like he’d come from the moon.