way.
Miguel is scratching his head, wondering if Tía Lola can secretly communicate with animals as well as people. Cari and Juanita troop behind Tía Lola and Víctor, who is still shaking his head in disapproval. Victoria and Mami follow.
“Can she work magic?” It’s the middle one with the musical name, Esperanza, hanging back, already glued to Miguel.
“We all can,” Miguel says before he can stop himself. Some male survival instinct kicking in.
But instead of looking impressed, Esperanza narrows her eyes at him. “So, if you can work magic, will you make my wish come true?”
Miguel shrugs. “Depends.” Oh boy, what is he getting himself into?
“Make this week more fun than Disney World.”
“Disney World?”
“That’s where we were supposed to go for vacation. But then Daddy comes home from some work trip all la-di-da about Vermont.”
Miguel has to admit that Disney World does sound like a lot more fun than a week in the middle of nowhere—even if a camp has suddenly been thrown into the bargain. But he feels he has to defend the state that’s now his home. “Vermont is great,” he says, his voice a little less confident than he’d like it to sound.
“So, prove it!” Esperanza says. Then, with a toss of her short, bouncy black hair, she heads up the stairs behind the others.
It’s going to take a lot more magic than even Tía Lola can manage to get through this week, Miguel can see that.
Day one of the Swords’ visit has begun with a stab to his confident heart.
Two
saturday night
A Nighttime Treasure Hunt
Miguel is upstairs in his temporary quarters, arranging his stuff the way he likes it. Tía Lola has been using this attic room for her sewing projects, but she has moved her machine and materials to one corner so that Miguel can spread out. Since his new room happens to be directly above Juanita’s room, Miguel can actually look through the heating vents and see the tops of the girls’ heads.
Every single sound comes up through that vent, including Valentino’s sighs of reminder that it is a beautiful, if waning, summer day in Vermont. They could all be outside getting some fresh air and exercise.
“So have you been?” Esperanza asks Juanita. She istrying to build the case that everyone in the world has gone to Disney World.
Juanita lets out a sigh. “Mami keeps saying that maybe the next time we go to the Dominican Republic, where she’s from, we can swing by on the way.”
“Wow, two cool trips in one!”
“Well, Mami hasn’t actually said yes,” Juanita explains. She might be feeling bad about getting two special trips when Essie didn’t even get one.
“They never say yes. It’s like parents take a class on how to torture their kids. ‘Let’s wait and see.’ ‘I’ll think about it.’ ‘If you get all A’s in every subject for the next zillion years, I promise I’ll take you to Disney World.’ ” Esperanza is hamming it up, but then, she has found a receptive audience. Juanita is laughing her head off.
“You’re making Papa sound terrible,” Cari says in a hurt voice.
“I know,” Victoria agrees. “And it’s not like Papa promised we’d go to Disney World.”
“He was considering it, okay?”
“But considering is different from promising,” Victoria points out. “Papa would never break a promise, you know that.”
“Then he broke his consideration!” Esperanza seems to like getting the last word in an argument.
As far as Miguel can make out, what happened was that Esperanza kept pestering their father to go to Disney World this summer. After the hundredth time, their father said they would have to wait and see. This was enough of a yesfor Esperanza, so that when their father came home from a work trip with the idea of spending a week in Vermont, she was bummed. Especially when he refused to barter that week in Vermont for a week in Disney World later in the summer. A trip to Disney World would involve the cost not just of
Miguel is scratching his head, wondering if Tía Lola can secretly communicate with animals as well as people. Cari and Juanita troop behind Tía Lola and Víctor, who is still shaking his head in disapproval. Victoria and Mami follow.
“Can she work magic?” It’s the middle one with the musical name, Esperanza, hanging back, already glued to Miguel.
“We all can,” Miguel says before he can stop himself. Some male survival instinct kicking in.
But instead of looking impressed, Esperanza narrows her eyes at him. “So, if you can work magic, will you make my wish come true?”
Miguel shrugs. “Depends.” Oh boy, what is he getting himself into?
“Make this week more fun than Disney World.”
“Disney World?”
“That’s where we were supposed to go for vacation. But then Daddy comes home from some work trip all la-di-da about Vermont.”
Miguel has to admit that Disney World does sound like a lot more fun than a week in the middle of nowhere—even if a camp has suddenly been thrown into the bargain. But he feels he has to defend the state that’s now his home. “Vermont is great,” he says, his voice a little less confident than he’d like it to sound.
“So, prove it!” Esperanza says. Then, with a toss of her short, bouncy black hair, she heads up the stairs behind the others.
It’s going to take a lot more magic than even Tía Lola can manage to get through this week, Miguel can see that.
Day one of the Swords’ visit has begun with a stab to his confident heart.
Two
saturday night
A Nighttime Treasure Hunt
Miguel is upstairs in his temporary quarters, arranging his stuff the way he likes it. Tía Lola has been using this attic room for her sewing projects, but she has moved her machine and materials to one corner so that Miguel can spread out. Since his new room happens to be directly above Juanita’s room, Miguel can actually look through the heating vents and see the tops of the girls’ heads.
Every single sound comes up through that vent, including Valentino’s sighs of reminder that it is a beautiful, if waning, summer day in Vermont. They could all be outside getting some fresh air and exercise.
“So have you been?” Esperanza asks Juanita. She istrying to build the case that everyone in the world has gone to Disney World.
Juanita lets out a sigh. “Mami keeps saying that maybe the next time we go to the Dominican Republic, where she’s from, we can swing by on the way.”
“Wow, two cool trips in one!”
“Well, Mami hasn’t actually said yes,” Juanita explains. She might be feeling bad about getting two special trips when Essie didn’t even get one.
“They never say yes. It’s like parents take a class on how to torture their kids. ‘Let’s wait and see.’ ‘I’ll think about it.’ ‘If you get all A’s in every subject for the next zillion years, I promise I’ll take you to Disney World.’ ” Esperanza is hamming it up, but then, she has found a receptive audience. Juanita is laughing her head off.
“You’re making Papa sound terrible,” Cari says in a hurt voice.
“I know,” Victoria agrees. “And it’s not like Papa promised we’d go to Disney World.”
“He was considering it, okay?”
“But considering is different from promising,” Victoria points out. “Papa would never break a promise, you know that.”
“Then he broke his consideration!” Esperanza seems to like getting the last word in an argument.
As far as Miguel can make out, what happened was that Esperanza kept pestering their father to go to Disney World this summer. After the hundredth time, their father said they would have to wait and see. This was enough of a yesfor Esperanza, so that when their father came home from a work trip with the idea of spending a week in Vermont, she was bummed. Especially when he refused to barter that week in Vermont for a week in Disney World later in the summer. A trip to Disney World would involve the cost not just of
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