The Crown of Valencia by Catherine Friend

Author:Catherine Friend [Friend, Catherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Mystery & Detective, Fiction, Women Sleuths
ISBN: 9781933110967
Google: _U3nGAAACAAJ
Amazon: 1933110961
Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
Published: 2007-10-22T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

We rode hard all day, and that night we set up camp in a rocky enclave off the road. Arturo fed the fire while I fi lled our water bladders from a stream. Crickets chirped incessantly. People who thought the countryside was quiet had never spent much time there. When we started to eat, Arturo cleared his throat. “I’m sorry about Elena.”

I handed him a chunk of bread smeared with herbed goat cheese, then shrugged. I’d known I wasn’t staying here permanently, so why waste time being disappointed about my romantic life? Elena’s refusal to help galled me, but I wasn’t going to give up. There had to be some chink in her armor I could exploit, some reason why helping me would benefit her as well.

“Mom?” I looked up as I bit a date in half. “Not to change the subject, but how come one minute I feel like an adult, then like a kid, then like an adult?”

I chuckled. “Because you’re both. Adolescence is a messy time.” I finished my date and tossed one to Arturo.

“In this century fourteen-year-olds are considered men. Grimaldi called me a man. When I took out Rafael, I felt like one. When I ran from Anna and the horses, I felt like a little kid. All I wanted to do was… was fi nd you.” I blinked hard at his honesty. “Then when I pulled you and Solana from the stream I felt like a man again. When will I know I’m a man? Do I have to turn eighteen fi rst?”

I struggled for an answer that made sense. Just because I’d lived through my own adolescence didn’t mean I understood it, but it felt good to be talking this way again with Arturo. Maybe the best way to communicate with stubborn teens was to take them over nine centuries back in time. “Arturo, one of the joys of being a child is that you aren’t held totally responsible for your actions. Maybe we become adults when we take responsibility for our actions.”

Arturo chewed thoughtfully, shadows from the fire dancing across his chest. “So if I do something that affects another person, I’m a child if I say it wasn’t my fault, and an adult if I admit I’m responsible?”

“Maybe. I’m not sure. I think being an adult has less to do with sexual maturity and everything to do with emotional maturity. I think responsibility is a huge part of that.”

Arturo licked his lips, then held my gaze across the fire. “When you left Elena to come back and raise me, you were being responsible.”

I shook my head, reaching down to stir the fire. “It was more than that, honey. I wanted to be your mom.”

“I really, really like her,” he said quietly.

“Me, too,” I replied, letting a little sigh escape.

He accepted that with a nod, and we stared into the fire for awhile. “Mom?”

I lifted my gaze from the embers.

“You were right.” A faint blush rose up Arturo’s cheeks. “This whole time travel thing, while pretty exciting, has been harder than I thought it’d be.

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