The Guadeloupe Squadeloupe

Chapter XVI: Alice

"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." ~Abraham Lincoln

Perry throws his arm in front of Janis' and my face right before Guad digs into Bob's arm. I don't protest; watching him preform a near-surgery is not on the top of my to-do list.

While Guad is working, Perry, Janis, and I are given the difficult task of explaining everything to Diana.

"So you know the old man who was with us before?" Asks Perry. His sister nods, saying that he told her he had died. "Well that was Bob."

Diana raises an eyebrow.

"Three years ago that man who was just here abducted him and turned him into an old man, but we turned him back. And now that man wants Bob back.

"And he, Delgato, also was the one... who killed our parents."

Anger floods the previously confused face of Diana. Perry is quick to try to calm her down.

When Guad finishes, thanks to Ashton's guidance, he wipes his hands on his old shirt, and falls asleep against a tree.

"He should wake up in a few minutes," Ashton says flatly. "I think it's best you kids leave as soon as possible."

"We don't exactly have a ride," Perry says as he folds his arms. "If you really will go against Delgato, maybe you should help us."

Ashton waves his hand, gesturing at Bob. "Haven't I helped you enough?"

He walks away without another word. Great, now we have only four conscious people, one of which is still hyperventilating.

Perry turns around so he can embrace his sister, and I notice a dark spot on the back of his shirt. Probably Diana's tears, I think.

Janis makes this sign with her hand, signaling she wants to have a silent conversation. We had these a lot when we weren't supposed to be talking, or when our foster parents thought we were asleep. I still remember creating a series of faces and hand gestures for common words, and we added the tapping of morse code on the other person's leg for words not normally used.

What should we do next? My twin asks.

Get out of here. Need them to wake up, I answer.

She nods in agreement, and goes to sit beside Bob, urging him to wake up. Whatever she does clearly works, because I hear Bob moan and sit up. Perry and Diana seem to notice that's he's awake too, and we all crowd around him.

"Ow, pain," He whines, sitting up with the help of Janis. "Why is my arm bloody?"

"You-"

"Don't answer that," he cuts Janis off. "Headache."

We sit in silence for around 5 minutes, until Bob signals that it's okay for us to speak. "Explain," he coughs.

"When you slumped over, Delgato showed up," Janis says, and Bob looks like he's trying to conceal his fear.

She does an excellent job of recapping the events, and she even throws in a few minor details that I somehow missed.

"Guad did all that? Guad?" I love how the most fascinating part to Bob is that Guad kicked butt instead of, I don't know, the fact that Delgato has been watching us the whole time. "I think we need to leave...like now."

Bob rouses Guad from his sleep, which he doesn't look too thrilled to be woken up from.

I hear them talking about how they now know that it wasn't "Bob's fault the plane crashed." I have to keep myself from asking them what that means.

We pack up camp, even though no one besides Guad and Bob got any sleep, and set off in search on a car.

• • •

After about an hour of walking in what seems like circles, we find a rental place. All the cars are tiny, red sports car, which I think is out of place for Cruzeiro do Sul. All in the exception of a white van.

Bob says something in Spanish to the sales associate. She says something back, making Bob look disappointed.

"She said the doors have been locked for weeks, and there's no key."

"I can't buy that," Janis whispers. "Nothing is ever truly locked."

The group treks the short distance to the van. Guad gets there first, and tries the back door, which doesn't budge.

"Let me try," Perry says, and tries the door. One thing I hate about men is how they think they can open something like a locked door when no one else can; it's clearly locked, there's nothing you can do.

"Step aside," Bob says, and pulls on the door. It's opens with ease. Guad and Perry look more annoyed than thrilled, but I'm just glad the car is ours.

"I'll take the first shift," Perry declares, and no one objects. He tries to open the front door, but fails. Bob succeeds again. As a matter of fact, he doesn't even let me try to open the passenger's door, he just does it for me.

I'm glad I snagged the front seat; there's only two backseats, and the rest of the car is just flat. Guad volunteers to sit on the floor, and Diana follows his lead.

We ride in silence for awhile, giving me time to think. My thoughts depress me, because until now, I never realized how homesick I've been. Traveling across South America is cool and all, but the peace of Wyoming is more satisfying.

"So," Says Bob. "How is it that only I was able to open the car doors? I mean, I know I'm superior to-"

"There's clearly some sort of advanced technology behind it, but I don't have a clue to what, exactly," Perry mutters, not taking his eyes off the road. He quickly glances at me with a small smile on his face. "Want to try the radio?"

"I'll try it," Bob leans between Perry and I to play with the dials. "You probably won't be able to turn them, anyways."

I look back, and see my twin trying not to laugh. It's hard to avoid rolling my eyes at the situation, not having been exposed to people always trying to one-up each other in awhile.

It works, surprisingly, but all the radio channels are in Spanish. Bob and Janis are dancing ever-so casually in the back seat, while Perry and I can only laugh, not being able to understand Spanish music.

Even though the circumstances aren't that great, it feels good to know I've got a real collection of friends again. Most of the time, I ended up hanging out with Janis or my foster siblings, but I'm not sure if they qualify as "friends" since we're related, even if not directly.

"Check and see if there are any CDs in the CD player," Perry say with a smile. "I don't know how much more of their dancing I can take."

I turn off the radio, and flip through the different CD slots on the van. There isn't anything until the last one. I press play, and a familiar voice rings through the speakers.

"Here's your help, wise boy. From A."

Nothing plays after that. We all stay silent, not knowing what to think. How did Ashton know we were going to go that direction? Why would he help us like this? The only person who can truly answer these questions might very well be Ashton himself.

Bob turns the Brazilian-Pop music back on, and we drive like that for around two hours. Perry surely is tired of driving by now; it's been roughly three hours.

"Want to switch places?" I ask over the music.

"Yes!" Janis yells from behind me. "My butt is so sore back here. Oh, and I guess sitting with you, Alice. That's cool, too."

Perry chuckles as he pulls the car onto the side of the road. Janis takes the passenger's seat, and Perry moves into the back seat with Bob.

I grab the wheel, and we continue to drive into the unknown.