The Chupacabra (7 page)

It was Carmen who answered. “Is it? I'd love to visit Ireland. I'd love to see Europe: Paris, Rome, Barcelona,” she said with longing. “I'm going to go to university in Spain, if Mama will let me.”

“What will you study?” Vanessa looked at Carmen's slim hands and perfectly groomed nails and compared them to her own short, bitten ones.

“I have no idea. I just want to live in Europe,” Carmen answered honestly. “Mama will probably not let me go, though.”

“Oh, difficult parents can be won over if you want something enough,” Vanessa tried to reassure her. Her dad was not a pushover, but Frida was much tougher. Vanessa secretly wondered about the possibility of
changing Frida's mind about anything at all.

At noon, as arranged, they met Armado at the corner of the square.

“Why don't we show them
Callejon del Beso
, Armado?” Carmen suggested.

“
Calle
what?” said Vanessa. “An alleyway?”

“Alley of the kiss,” said Carmen, kissing the air. “It brings good luck to kiss your beloved there. Maybe you could try it out, Vanessa—you and Armado.”

“Shut up, Carmen,” muttered Armado. Vanessa's face was on fire.

“But we always bring guests there, Armado,” Carmen blundered on. “It's very famous.”

Nikki giggled at the idea of a street for kissing in, but Vanessa just wished they would all shut up about it.

“I think Vanessa and Nikki might prefer to go to the museum, Carmen.”

A museum? The girls had quite fancied finding a market and doing a bit of shopping.

“No, Mado,
por favor, no me gusta
,” Carmen pleaded. “I hate that place.”

Vanessa looked at her in surprise. What kind of a museum would be that bad?

The Mummy Museum is a famous attraction in Guanajuato. Fifty-nine mummies that were dug up in the late 1800s are on display there. There are men, women and children, some of them still in original dress with their hair and teeth intact. It is the largest collection of mummies anywhere in the Western Hemisphere.

“
Museo de las Momias
is so interesting,” Armado argued. “They are real mummies, Vanessa. I think you would love it.”

“I thought you only got mummies in Egypt,”
Vanessa said.

“Well, they are a different kind of mummy, perhaps; not man-made. They are natural, so to speak. Two hundred years ago there was not enough room for all the dead bodies, you see, so they dug up the old ones to make space. But the bodies had not become skeletons. They still have their hair, teeth, clothes …”

“How come?” asked Vanessa.

“Some people think it is witchcraft.” Armado shrugged.

“And others?” Vanessa prompted him.

“Others think it is maybe strange soil conditions here. Maybe the arsenic that is naturally in the ground of the silver mines preserves the bodies.”

“A lot more likely,” Vanessa said. “It sounds like fun to me.” And it was certainly better than standing, mortified, in the kissing alley!

••

Carmen grabbed hold of Nikki's hand as they joined the queue outside the museum. There were street sellers everywhere. Women and children crouching on the ground held up boxes of chewing gum, trays with carved wooden turtles, fake Ralph
Lauren sunglasses and Rolex watches.

A young girl about her own age approached Vanessa and smiled eagerly at her.

“
Ochenta pesos
,” she said brightly, showing a small turtle sitting in the center of her small palm. She had brilliant white teeth and a mischievous face, and Vanessa liked her instantly.

Eighty pesos was roughly five euro, she calculated. The turtle was perfect for Ronan. But before she could hand the money over, Carmen began a heated discussion with the young girl. Try as she might, Vanessa could not understand a word being said. They argued for what seemed like an age before Carmen stepped back again.

“Thirty pesos.”

Vanessa, slightly stunned, handed over a hundred peso note. “Maybe I'll take two, then.
Dos
?” she said meekly to the girl, who rewarded her with a huge smile.

“You are expected to bargain here, Vanessa. You must never accept the first price.” Carmen explained as they walked away.

“What language did you speak to her, Carmen? It wasn't Spanish, was it?”

“An old language, Nahuatl. It was what they spoke before the Spanish came. Some people still speak it. Like Izel and Mama. Armado and I learned a little when we were growing up.”

“Wow. Impressive!”

“Not really. Most of our Nahua words are related to cooking. Luckily turtle soup is one of Izel's favorite recipes,” Carmen said with a smile.

••

At first Vanessa was delighted with the displays of mummified bodies. She smiled to herself, thinking of the small shrunken head that she carried in her backpack.

Armado translated a plaque: “The first mummy was found in 1865; his name was Dr. Remigio Leroy, a French doctor.”

Vanessa looked at the dead man, still in his overcoat, his mouth stretched in a gargoyle-style grin.

“There was also a woman buried alive,” Armado said, and they moved to the next display. She was lying down with her hands clutched in front of her, horror etched in the sinewy remains. Vanessa swallowed hard. The backlighting made the bodies look
really eerie. She heard Nikki's sharp intake of breath.

“Oh, the poor thing,” Nikki murmured. “What a way to die.”

Vanessa noticed that Carmen stared off into the distance to avoid looking directly at any of the mummies.

As the others moved ahead through the crowded museum, Vanessa began to feel a growing sense of unease. Somewhere in the middle of the second room, her heart took off and she found it harder and harder to look at the mummies' faces. The empty eye sockets were really freaky. In front of her she saw Nikki's blonde head and Carmen's dark one bobbing in and out of the crowd. She should catch up to them.

She looked around for Armado. He was standing in front of a mummy of a young child. As Vanessa approached it, avoiding its eyes, she saw, to her horror, the child's bony foot slowly turning into an animal's paw. It was as if a two-ton weight had landed on her chest. The air that was expelled from her came out as a loud groan.

Vanessa moved away quickly, but she came face to face with another mummy. This time the wizened,
gaping mouth became the mouth of a snake, and she saw a black tongue that whipped from side to side.

Vanessa's scream was small and choked, and she clamped her hands to her mouth. Trembling, she felt tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. She had to get out of here. Where was the exit? She pushed her way toward Nikki and Carmen.

“Look at this one, Vanessa,” Nikki said as she came up to her. “It's so sad. A tiny baby who was buried with her mother.”

Vanessa couldn't bear to look. She just didn't know what she might see.

“Vanessa, you're not looking,” Nikki persisted.

If no one else was seeing these things, it must be all in her imagination—and then she could control it, couldn't she? She forced herself to look.

Before her eyes, the baby mummy became a tiny monkey clinging to its mother's arm.

Vanessa backed away hurriedly. Her legs felt weak, and she dropped down onto one knee. She could hear people talking but not the words. Were they talking about her? She tried to calm herself as she retied her shoelace.

Somebody touched her shoulder.

“Are you coming, Vanessa?” Armado had joined them and wanted to move on.

“Yeah, with you in a minute. You go on.”

Vanessa's voice sounded wobbly, and she prayed that he wouldn't notice. She knelt on her other knee and retied that lace slowly. The shaman's house had been bad enough; what would he think if she freaked out again?

Vanessa waited till they had gone ahead and then stood up carefully. Her jelly legs appeared to be holding her weight, although she couldn't imagine how. Looking neither right nor left, she made her way outside somehow. It was all she could do to lower herself without collapsing on the side of the pavement. She covered her eyes with her hands, but the tears kept coming. After a bit she felt her panic begin to subside. She would have to get her act together before the others came out.

A slight pressure on one of her hands made her jump, and she jerked upright. Vanessa found herself staring into the face of the young girl who had sold her the turtles not half an hour earlier.

“Naguaaaaal,” she hissed, pushing something into Vanessa's hand.

The girl ran off quickly.

Vanessa stared at the long, gray … tooth that had been pressed into the palm of her hand. What was that word?
Nagwaal
? Was it the word for tooth in the girl's language or something? And what on earth was she supposed to do with it?

Vanessa wiped her tears with the back of her other hand to get a better look at the tooth. It looked like an animal's canine, certainly way too big to be a human tooth. Maybe she should ask the girl. Vanessa hopped to her feet and looked around for her, but she had long since disappeared into the crowd.

Nagual
comes from the Nahuatl word for “disguise.” Naguals are people who can shapeshift at night into small animals—typically a dog, coyote, bat or turkey—and suck the blood of their victims.

Vanessa sat in the back of the jeep fidgeting, her palms and the back of her neck damp with sweat. She hoped that the others would appear soon. She had told Joseph that, like Carmen, she had found the mummies a bit freaky and that was why she had left
the museum before the others. Luckily he hadn't seen her bawling her eyes out on the pavement.

“Is there an Internet café in Guanajuato?” Vanessa asked now.

Joseph was in the process of downing a can of Coke in one swallow. He finished it before answering.

“Yup. Do you need to use it?”

“That would be great. I promised to send an email to Dad and the boys when I spoke to them the other evening. You don't have Internet at the ranch?” Vanessa knew the answer already.

“Not Frida's thing, really,” Joseph replied breezily.

“Oh, look, here come the others now.”

The Internet café was absolutely tiny with no windows. Instead of a door there was just a curtain of beaded strings. How did they lock the shop up at night? Vanessa wondered.

Luckily there were plenty of terminals available, and the three girls took their seats. Armado had decided to go to the bar with Joseph and meet them back at the truck later.

The first word she typed into the search engine was
nagwaal
.

Above the results list, the question “Do you mean
nagual?” prompted her. So that was how you spelled it. She opened up the first item.

A nagual is a type of brujo, or witch. It is a shape-shifter who can take on the body of an animal. They are the powerful ones in a community, usually evil and greatly feared. Ordinary people can't necessarily identify naguals in their community, but naguals can recognize each other.

Vanessa froze. Shapeshifters? Someone turning into something else? Hadn't she just seen dead bodies turn into animals at the museum? And what about the woman who turned into a bird at the airport?

And what about naguals being able to recognize each other? Did that mean the young girl was one and thought Vanessa was one too? Could she be one without knowing it? Maybe that was why she was having all these strange visions. Except she wasn't the one turning into an animal—she was seeing others shapeshifting. That was different. Wasn't it?

Carmen had said that the turtle girl spoke the local language. Maybe it had something to do with that Mexican tribe, the one that Izel belonged to.

Nahwha, wasn't it?

Once again the computer corrected her. Nahua.

The Nahua people in Mexico date back to pre-Columbian times and are considered the direct descendants of the Aztecs. They mostly live in central Mexico, and it is estimated that 1.4 million people speak the language Nahuatl. They are amongst the many tribes in Mexico that practice shamanism. The traditional Mexican shaman is a powerful individual within the community who has magical and spiritual powers that come directly from supernatural beings through spirit possession, visions, and dreams.

The shaman. The shaman just kept on coming up somehow. Was there a connection?

“We have about ten minutes before we meet Mado and Papa.”

Vanessa was concentrating so hard on the screen that Carmen's words barely registered. She had one last word to look up. Izel had given her the correct spelling.

The xolo (pronounced sholo) is a rare hairless dog native to Mexico. As a breed these dogs have been around for three
thousand years and were considered sacred by the Aztecs, who used to eat their meat. In some parts of rural Mexico the meat is still sold, although it is against the law.

Vanessa stared at the screen, her heart quickening beneath her breastbone. Yuck! How could people eat a dog? No wonder Xolo was wary of people.

The xolo is known to be an excellent watchdog, but it is also thought to have curative powers, curing rheumatism and fevers as well as protecting against evil spirits …

Vanessa stopped reading. She saw from the corner of her eye that Carmen had stood up and gone over to Nikki's computer.

If Vanessa was going to email Lee, she would have to do it quickly. Her father's girlfriend was the only person in the world whom Vanessa could tell about her visions. Maybe Lee might be able to help her understand what was going on at the ranch.

Vanessa's fingers hovered above the keys. How would she start? Best just to ask it straight out. She glanced at Carmen who was leaning over Nikki's shoulder, laughing at some pictures on Facebook.

Hi Lee. Hope Finland is cool. Having a great time and will tell you all soon but first I have a question for you. A strange one. Since Loch Ness, have you ever had hallucinations? Well, I have. Three times in Mexico
—
first at the airport a woman changed into a bird. The second time it happened in an old house that belonged to a local shaman who has disappeared. Too weird to explain. But the third time and THE WORST happened just now at the mummy museum. These really dead people changed before my eyes into animals
—
well, bits of them. There is no one else I can tell. Am I going mad? Is it
—