CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Elliot was beginning to come to terms with what he had done.

“I’m a criminal, I’m a criminal, I’m a criminal,” he muttered to himself as Professor Fauna knocked on Rosa’s door.

“You stole from the bad guys,” Uchenna reassured him. “They’re poisoning Havana’s water.” And then she added, “For some reason.”

“Yes,” said Elliot, “but everyone knows that two wrongs don’t make a right. They poison. I steal.” Elliot threw his head back and raised his hands to the overcast skies. “How does that make anything better?!”

“You’re being very dramatic.”

The door swung open. It was Yoenis. “¡Muchachos! You have been gone a long time. We were beginning to worry! Come in!”

They entered the shaded walkway beside the garden. Jersey immediately leapt into Elliot’s arms. He nuzzled Elliot’s chin with his soft, furry head and happily plucked Elliot’s sweater with his claws.

“I might as well just throw this sweater away,” Elliot grumbled. But he rubbed Jersey’s soft back, and that made him feel a little better about his new career as a criminal.

They walked through the garden, and into the bright kitchen, where Rosa had put out a grand spread of pastries. She handed Professor Fauna a mug. “Café con leche,” she said.

“Careful,” said Yoenis. “My mom makes it very strong and very sweet.”

Professor Fauna took a swig. Instantly, he looked like he’d received an electric shock. He began to suck the café con leche from the mug.

Rosa spread her hand out over the pastries. “Pastelitos. Here,” she said and picked up a flaky one that oozed with sticky red jam and handed it to Uchenna. “Guayaba. Buenísimo.”

“So,” said Yoenis, “did you learn anything? About unicorns? Or, more urgently, about our friend the Madre de aguas?”

“Yes, yes, and yes!” Professor Fauna said, thrusting one arm into the air. He tried to take another swig of the café con leche, but the mug was already empty. He shook it a few times. He looked at Rosa. “¿Un poquito más, por favor?”

Rosa and Yoenis exchanged a glance. But she poured him some more.

“The unicorn story can wait! We have an urgent matter on our hands! ¡Vengan, vengan, vengan!” Professor Fauna waved them over to the table. He took out the papers that Elliot had taken from the Schmoke truck.

“Oh!” Elliot moaned. “The fruit of a forbidden tree!”

Uchenna rolled her eyes. “He’s just feeling guilty that he took these.” And she told Rosa and Yoenis the story.

Rosa tut-tutted. “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” she told Elliot. “And have a pastelito de guayaba.” She turned to take one from the plate—and gasped. “Jersey!” Jersey was sitting on the pastelito platter, devouring them.

Rosa shooed him off and gave Elliot a slightly mangled pastelito. Then she cleaned off the table so they could examine the papers more closely.