Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl (Fiction - Middle Grade) by Julie Kagawa

Author:Julie Kagawa [Kagawa, Julie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2022-04-25T18:30:00+00:00

Well, that was enlightening,” Oliver announced as they left the National Museum of Anthropology and walked back across the parking lot. “And we get to hike through a dark, unexplored part of the jungle, full of snakes and monkeys and mosquitoes the size of tennis balls. And we need to do it soon before Shinji starts seeing giant blue flying pigs.” He gave Shinji a sympathetic grin. “Hallucinations can be fun, but not when they’re about spiders.” He shuddered and shook his head. “Spiders are never fun, real or imagined.”

“I didn’t imagine it,” Shinji muttered. “I really did see a big spider.” But he wasn’t certain anymore—of anything. He didn’t know if anything he’d seen or remembered was real.

Lucy nudged his arm. “I believe you,” she whispered. He gave her a grateful smile, glad that one person at least thought that he wasn’t going crazy. “Did you see how dusty that place was?” she went on. “No wonder there were bugs living there. Probably mice and roaches, too. Ugh.” She shuddered, then glanced down at her pocket, where a faint squeaking could be heard. “No, I’d never think that about you, Tinker.”

Oliver yawned. “Well, real or hallucination, we’re not going into the jungle tonight,” he announced, glancing at the horizon, where the sun was starting to set. “And, like all the best cities, Mexico City really is better when the sun goes down. And I hear the street vendors calling my name. So…” He rubbed his hands together. “Who wants tlacoyos?”

Shinji frowned. “What’s a tlacoyo?”

“Only the best Mexican street food ever made,” Oliver replied with a grin. “C’mon. I’m starving.”

After another quick taxi ride, Oliver led the way to an outdoor food court filled with small tables and delicious smells, where a roaming guitarist serenaded customers wandering through the dozen steaming food stalls. The sounds of sizzling meat and veggies filled the air. Shinji and Lucy sat on a rickety wooden bench, Lucy having draped a towel over it first, while Oliver approached a stall and returned with two paper plates. Tlacoyos turned out to be blue corn tortillas stuffed with beans and meat and cooked on a grill. They were shaped slightly like a football, which Shinji would’ve found amusing if he wasn’t starving. They were also delicious, and he wolfed down three before he thought about stopping.

“Whoa, slow down, kid,” Oliver warned as Shinji shoved a fourth tlacoyo into his mouth, barely stopping to chew. Professor Carrero and Maya had wandered to different parts of the food court, one to get pastries and the other to get beer, so it was just Shinji, Lucy, and Oliver. “Keep eating like that and you’ll get heartburn. Save room for churros later, eh?”

Shinji had never had a churro, either, but he wasn’t a picky eater. In his travels with Aunt Yui, he’d had to eat a lot of different stuff. His aunt would often tell him: “Try anything once. If you don’t like it, that’s fine, now you know. But if you don’t try it, you might miss out on something amazing.

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