The Island With No Parallel

The Ancient Ones

Yunara returned to her room and poured through the pages of the book for hours. Every drawing was done with painstaking precision. She kept flipping back over to the cover. She just couldn't believe that Manuel wrote it. Was it possible?

A knock came at the door. Maria entered. She said something in Spanish and gestured to someone behind her. Manuel came in behind her. Startled, Yunara slammed close the book.

Manuel said, "I apologize, I did not mean to disturb you. I just wanted to see how you were..." he saw the book in her hand. "Oh, you found that."

He came closer and Yunara wasn't sure what to think. All she kept doing was going from looking in his deep eyes to looking at her webbed fingers, wondering if he could see them. He picked up the book and flipped through the pages. He shook his head. "I've looked through every page of this book and I still don't understand it. My father wrote this."

Yunara frowned in confusion. She pointed at the author's name on the back. "But it says Baron Manuel Suarez de la Costa IV."

Manuel nodded. "That was his name. I am Manuel Suarez de la Costa V. My father was the IV. He wrote this book when I was younger. He dedicated all his time to it. But I have no idea what it meant to him. It took him years to complete it. Completing this book was the last thing he did before he died."

"Wow," Yunara said, staring at the book in his hands. What was Cadri trying to tell her with this information? Just what kind of person was Manuel's father? Was it possible he had the ability to see Caorfians? And how was it that Yunara just happened to appear here at this very house?

Manuel shook his head. "I never understood why he worked on it so much." He closed it and handed it back to her. "But if you enjoy looking at the pictures, please enjoy. How are you doing?"

"Very well, thank you so much for helping me."

Maria said something to Manuel in Spanish. Manuel said, "She says she doesn't think you are ready to leave here yet. She thinks you are still in danger of infection if you leave here too soon. Do you have someplace to go?"

Yunara shook her head. She had nothing anymore. In one night she had lost everything. The reality of that started to sink in for the first time, tears welling up in her eyes. Manuel sat down at her bedside. Without touching where she was injured, he put his hands on her shoulder and let her weep into his.

What options did Yunara have at this point? She had nowhere to go, nowhere to work.

Manuel let her stay there a few moments. Then he pulled her away to look her in the eye. "You can work here," he said suddenly.

Yunara was so startled, she wasn't quite sure she heard him right. "B-But, I don't speak Spanish."

"Then you will learn. I can teach you to speak it. Once your back is healed you can start working for me immediately. What do you say?"

"Yes," Yunara said at once, relief washing over her.

Manuel said, "Great. Have you walked around the house?"

"Yes, it's gorgeous."

Manuel looked at her puzzled. Yunara realized that he may not have understood the word "gorgeous". "It's a very beautiful home," she tried again.

"Ah, thank you. I must apologize, but I have some business that I must attend to now. Please, rest."

Manuel left the room with Maria. Yunara took a couple of breaths of relief. She had a place to stay for now at least.

The next morning found Yunara walking around the fields she had appeared in. Manuel was in his office working and said he wanted to talk to her later in the afternoon to talk about what her responsibilities around the house would be.