EXCERPT FROM SARA’S JOURNALJanuary 6, 1999
Huerta Santa Maria
Near Galaroza
Wifred pushes the door open and lays his castle book on the edge of the
bed. The book is wealthy with illustrations, including one of Beaumaris, drawn as
if it had been completed. Beaumaris is a perfect castle.
Javier has invited some friends for lunch. Jill is English, and has
been living in Spain with her six year old son, Julius for a little over a year. Jill has
a friend, a dutch woman, who she met in Andalucia. The dutch woman is traveling in Spain,
but lives permanently in Tel Aviv. Both women speak English and Spanish. So does Julius,
who Javier calls Julio.
Julio and Wilfredhold hands in the garden. They are instant friends.
The boys collect wood and find marbles and play with toys belonging to Javier’s ten
grandchildren. Santa Maria is a cornucopia of microcosms: a forest, a sheep
pattock, a fish pond, a greenhouse.
Wilf wears a batman costume. In his suitcase is a Superman costume.
Angela takes Julio to the suitcase and he emerges from the bedroom as Superman. Edwin
changes, too, into a smaller version of Batman. Now the three of them run through the yard
and hang from the trees.
Jill makes a map. It has a route with walking trails and bridges,
leading to her house, which is over two hills and beyond Galaroza, to the west. She says I
can find her at Julio’s school. Jill tells me that there are hundreds of walks in the
area, all the old donkey tracks, but that the ordinance maps are poor and outdated. Today
she and her friend and Javier will walk to the highest hill in the Sierra de Aracena.
Rich and I drive to Fuenteheridos to call my parents. I find it hard to
keep the secret about Angela and the boys. I’ve always had trouble keeping secrets.
It’s like lying. It’s like having a power of someone. It’s like having an
unfair advantage.
