Imperfect (Disappeared #1)

Chapter Nineteen

The maples gave way to silvery weeping willows that plunged into the river. The water moved lazily, skirting around banks of sand and over shallow places where tiny pebbles had built up. Skeins of mist sat over the river, quivering in the light breeze. The light itself was soft and silky, as if filtered through gauze.

Ahuil looked more relaxed now that they were away from the track. He walked beside her and pointed out the names of various flowers and birds she had never seen before, probably as a way of calming them both down. She shared some of the names of English plants and they compared notes. Theodosia realized that she had finally found someone who was as obsessed with botany as she was.

After about half an hour, they came upon a platform suspended over the river, covered with an arched thatched roof but otherwise open to the air. The platform was built into old stone supports that looked like remnants of a bridge. Even more magically, a bed hung from the platform. The mattress was only a couple of meters above the river.

A woman walked off the platform and came towards them. She was muscular and tall with thick, long, blonde hair the color of wheat. Oddly, she had what looked like two sets of branches entwined in the front and back of her hair. They looked almost like antlers. 

She hurried forward, saying something in the same singsong language Ahuil used.

"Touch her, she can't understand what you're saying," Ahuil said to her. "As if you were trying to say something without words."

The woman nodded and then threw her arms around Theodosia. There was the familiar surge of energy and warmth Theodosia had felt with Ahuil, and then Xochitl's language became English in her ears.

Theodosia paused, shocked, and then hugged her back. The woman squeezed and squeezed her and then all of a sudden let go, tracing her fingers all over Theodosia's face. Xochitl had dark brown eyes that almost obscured her pupils. 

"You feel so strange!" Xochitl said. She smiled broadly. "Pretty, though. Ahuil told me you came through the baobabs. I always knew there was something about that place. It's at one of the borders of our world, so you must have hit a weak spot. Never had anyone come through before, though." 

Xochitl laughed and moved back. "It looks like I'm scaring you. Sorry. It's just you have no idea how strange it is to touch someone from a completely different world."

"I couldn't agree more," Theodosia said, perplexed and somewhat overwhelmed, though grateful for the warm welcome.

"Well, I'm glad Ahuil found you. He came here a couple of days ago and told me about some woman he'd found. At first I thought he'd gone nuts. I mean, I keep telling him to get a lady friend, but not an imaginary one." She laughed her strange, rough laugh again. "Sorry, I'm being rude. You must be tired. Please come up."

Theodosia followed her. The platform was filled with cushions in wild patterns and different shapes. At one end was a mattress covered in quilts and cushions. A little girl, about eight years old, the same age as Louisa, sat among the cushions. She had her mother's wheat hair but one eye was dark and the other blue. 

Xochitl introduced her as Yoltzin, which she said meant "little heart." Yoltzin immediately walked up to Theodosia and started chattering to her. They had to press hearts to understand each other, which resulted in a stream of questions about her shoes, hair, and dress.

"She's so sweet," Theodosia said, picking her up with a smile so that the little girl could touch her face. "She reminds me of my little sister, Louisa. Just as talkative, with a million questions about everything."

Her mother snorted. "You couldn't be more right. I swear that Yoltzi's first word was 'why.' She hasn't stopped talking since."

"Why is her hair so fancy?" the little girl asked, sticking her fingers into Theodosia's elaborate braids.