Page 10 of Vistaria Has Fallen
Chapter Three
“You’re not paying attention, are you?” Minnie said, looking over the top of the shimmering dress she held for Calli’s inspection.
Calli blinked away the sense memory of last night’s persistent dream images one more time and forced herself back to reality. She looked at the bright patterns, the predominance of red in the abstract swirls of the dress. “Not my color at all.”
“Not you. Me.” Minnie held it against herself.
“You, certainly,” Calli agreed.
“For tonight, do you think?”
“Tonight? What’s tonight?”
Minnie rolled her eyes. “I told you. Twenty minutes ago. You agreed, don’t you remember?”
“I did? To what?”
“Tonight. The party. Duardo and his friends.”
“Duardo?” Calli’s scattered thoughts congealed into a cold whole. “You mean thesoldierDuardo? Fromlast night?” Horror filled her. “Minnie, did you give him your phone number or...or...?”
“God, relax Calli. Sometimes you treat me like I’m still eighteen and giggling about dates. He invited me last night—actually, me and a friend, because I said I wouldn’t meet him somewhere alone.”
“That sounds saner. Only, I keep hearing how little Vistarians like Americans. Do you know how close Vistariais to outright revolution? What if this Duardo is part of some rebel faction?”
Minnie gave a low peel of laughter, shoved the dress back on the rack and flipped through more hangers. “Not Duardo,” she said with complete certainty. Her voice held the same firm confidence as it had when she had explained the local use ofel colinas.
“Yes, you understand how things work, here. Only, what makesyou certain he’s not into something dire and nasty? You have no idea who he is.”
“I know he’s an admirer of the Red Leopard, so of course he’s not a rebel.”
Calli shoved the dress she had been inspecting back onto the rack. “Who the hell is the Red Leopard?”
“Why are you getting angry?”
Calli cast about for a reasonable answer to Minnie’s reasonable question. She had to dig hard. “I don’tlike not knowing what’s going on,” she muttered.
Minnie smiled. “You’ve been buried too long on your campus. You’re out of your comfort zone. It’ll do you good.”
“I like my comfort zone.”
“Dull, boring. Deadly.”
“Shut up.” Calli’s demand was a token one. She couldn’t think of a better answer.
Minnie laughed again. She moved around the dress rack and tucked her hand under Calli’s elbow. “Youneed a long, cool margarita under a shady patio with a view of the ocean.”
“I need sleep,” Calli countered.
“Siesta. I can arrange that, too. First, the drink.” Minnie tugged on her arm. “Come on.”
* * * * *
The patiowasshady and faced the deep, blue Pacific Ocean. A cool breeze, ladened with salt, flapped the spice-colored tablecloth. Calli turned her face into it, enjoying the moist wind.They had climbed a dozen stairs to reach the patio. The patio was higher than the buildings across the road. The ocean was visible over the top of their roofs. The ground sloped toward the sea.
“The ocean looks wonderful,” Calli confessed. “I wish we were going down there afterwards. It feels as though we’ve done nothing but climb, today.”
“The city is right next to mountains. What else didyou expect?”
