Free Kingdom of the Golden Dragon by Isabel Allende Page B

Nadia to the Kingdom of the Golden Dragon was a stupendous idea; she wanted the girl to see more of the world. She bought Nadia warm clothing and proper footwear; and for Borobá, a baby-size snowsuit and a special travel tote for pets, a black bag with mesh that allowed air to circulate and the pet to see out. It was lined with soft lambskin and had little ports for water and food. She also bought diapers. It wasn’t easy to get the monkey to wear them, even with Nadia’s long explanations in the language she shared with the animal. For the first time in his placid lifetime, Borobá bit a human. Kate went around with a bandaged arm for a week, but the monkey learned to wear the diapers, an indispensable step in preparing for a trip as long as the one they were planning.
    Kate had not told Nadia that Alexander would be meeting them at the airport. She wanted it to be a surprise for both of them.
    Soon Timothy Bruce and Joel González joined them in the airline’s clubroom. The photographers hadn’t seen the writer or the young people since their trip to the Amazon. They hugged each other warmly as Borobá jumped from one head to another, excited at seeing his old friends.
    Joel proudly lifted his shirt to show them the marks of the Amazon anaconda’s ferocious embrace. Several of his ribs had been broken, and his chest would always be slightly sunken. As for Timothy, he looked almost handsome despite his long horse-face, and, when questioned by the relentless Kate, he confessed that he had had his teeth straightened. In place ofthe big, crooked, yellow teeth of old, and the overbite that had made it difficult for him to close his mouth, he now displayed the resplendent smile of a movie actor.
    At eight o’clock that evening their party boarded the plane for India. The flight lasted hours and hours, but for Alexander and Nadia it seemed short: they had a lot to talk about. They kept checking, and were relieved to find that Borobá was quite content, cuddled deep in his lambskin. While the rest of the passengers tried to sleep in their narrow seats, the two young people entertained themselves talking and watching movies.
    Timothy Bruce could barely fit his long limbs into the small space of his seat, and every so often he got up to do his yoga exercises in the aisle, to avoid cramping. Joel González was more comfortable, because he was short and slim. Kate had her own system for long flights: she took two sleeping pills with several swallows of vodka. The effect was like being clubbed.
    â€œEven if there’s a terrorist on board with a bomb, don’t wake me,” she instructed them before covering herself to her forehead with a blanket and curling up like a shrimp in her seat.
    Three rows behind Nadia and Alexander sat a man with long hair combed into dozens of small braids that were in turn tied back with a leather thong. He had a bead necklace around his neck, and a suede pouch tied with a black cord rested on his chest. He was wearing stained jeans, worn cowboy boots, and a Stetson that sat low on his forehead; they learned later that it was never removed, not even when he slept. Alexander and Nadia thought that he was a little old to be dressed like that.
    â€œHe must be a rock star,” Alexander noted.
    Nadia didn’t know what a rock star was, and Alexander decided that it would be very difficult toexplain. He promised that the first chance he had he would outline the basics of movies and popular music to his friend, something any self-respecting teenager should know.
    Judging by the wrinkles around the strange hippie’s eyes and mouth, and the deep furrows in his tanned face, they calculated that he had to be over forty. What they could see of the hair tied back in the ponytail was steely gray. In any case, whatever his age, the man seemed to be in good physical shape. They had first seen him in the New York airport, carrying two pieces of luggage: a canvas tote