The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster Read Free

the street above. The houses on either side were so close you could stretch out your arms and touch them, and the steps were worn down in the middle by the feet of all the thousands of people who had climbed them. Like everything in Toledo, they were old and romantic and mysterious.
    At the top, Grace paused to readjust her backpack. We had reached a narrow street, partly shaded by tall buildings. The sunlight slanted down a wall, glinting on Grace's hair and etching tiny lines around her eyes.
    "Where do you go next, Felix?" she asked. "After you leave Toledo?"
    "Tomorow we're driving to Segovia," I told her, "and after that Ávila."
    Grace smiled. "Ah, the castle in Segovia is the loveliest in Spain, and you will see windmills on the way to Ávila. Old ones on the hilltops, the very same that Don Quixote mistook for his enemies."
    "Right now all I want to see is the Alcázar," Amy said.
    Ignoring Amy's bad manners, Grace took her arm and said, "Look, there it is." She pointed at a sunlit square opening out of the shadows at the end of the street. At one end was the Alcázar, towering over the shops huddling at its feet.
    "I see Daddy!" Without even thanking Grace, Amy broke away and ran toward Don.
    "That is your mother? The blonde woman?" Grace stared with some interest at Mom as she hurried toward us.
    "Would you like to meet her? I'm sure she'll be very grateful to you for bringing me back." I grabbed Grace's hand, thinking how impressed Mom would be to meet a citizen of the world.
    But Grace shook her head. "No, not now, Felix," she said. "I have an appointment and I am already late."
    "Wait," I cried as she turned away. "Will I ever see you again?"
    Grace paused and looked over her shoulder at me. "Perhaps," she called. "One never knows what fate holds."
    "Come back!" I tried to run after her, but a gang of teenagers burst out of an alleyway and surged between us. Standing on tiptoe, I searched for Grace, but all I saw was a flash of red hair in the sunlight. Then she was gone, and I was alone in a crowd of tourists pointing their cameras at everything.

4

    As I tried to push my way past a man wielding a huge video camera, I felt someone seize my shoulder.
    "Felix," Mom cried. She threw her arms around me and hugged me so hard I thought my ribs would crack. "Where have you been? I've been so worried!"
    "We got lost." For a moment I snuggled close, enjoying the attention and the feel of her arms around me. Then I remembered Grace. Pulling back from Mom, I searched for a glimpse of red hair in the crowd. "The nicest woman brought us here. I wanted you to meet her."
    "But the Alcázar is less than a five-minute walk from where we left you," Mom said, "and you've been gone almost fifteen minutes. What took you so long?"
    "Amy and I must have walked the wrong way before we met Grace," I said. "But she was wonderful, Mom, and really beautiful too. She said she was a citizen of the world. Can you imagine?"
    I looked at Mom, expecting to see her eyes light with pleasure, but she wasn't really listening to me. All she said was, "Thank goodness, you're safe. We were just about
to go to the police. Don't ever disappear like that again!"
    The anger in her voice upset me, and I shrugged her arm away from my shoulder. "I'm surprised you noticed I was gone."
    Mom stared at me. "What are you talking about?"
    "We've been in Spain a week," I said, "and you've hardly looked at me once. The only person you see is Don, Don, Don."
    "Felicia," Mom said, "how can you say such a thing?"
    "It's true," I said. "Now that you have him, you don't care about me anymore."
    "Don't be silly." Mom tried to hug me but I wouldn't let her.
    Then Don joined us, and Mom forgot all about me. Letting him take her hand, she strolled toward the shops in the square. With Phillip and Amy, I was left to trail along behind.
    "It's about time you all showed up." Phillip scowled at Amy and me. "Dad wouldn't even let me look at swords, he was so worried