Worth The Shot

The Alphabet

All three candles had no flame.

Crunch.

A footstep on the ancient carpet snapped you out of the stupor. You dove underneath a low-hanging table and held your breath.

You watched two legs stroll around the room, pausing to check the drawer where you had found the candles. They weren't lanky enough to be the snake man's legs. You tilted your head up, praying the person wouldn't investigate the entire room.

A flash of bright, new paper caught your eyes. Someone wrote this recently. There was a list of letters taped to the bottom of the table, arranged alphabetically.

A. B. C. D. I. J. L. P.

A bright, red pen had circled the letter L. You frowned. Who wrote this? What do the letters mean?

The person clomped up the stairs, and you didn't waste the opportunity to escape. You crept out from under the table, snatching the paper, and raced out the door. You didn't stop running until you flung yourself into your own house and up the stairs to your room.

When night finally fell, you felt jittery, unable to relax until you could tell Camilo what you had found.

"Hey, Mariposa," Camilo finally announced his arrival by lazily knocking his knuckles against the side of the window.

"Camilo." You intensely began, yanking him into the room by his ruana.

Camilo flopped onto the floor and picked himself up with a confused expression. "I'm happy to see you, too...?"

"Have you seen this list before?" You thrust the letters into his hands.

Camilo raised his eyebrows, still confused. "The alphabet?"

"What? No." You shook your head. "The alphabet has more letters than that."

"Oh. Yeah, that's right," Camilo looked closely at the paper. "Do you want me to fix it?"

"It's not the alphabet!"

"Okay, okay. It's not the alphabet." Camilo raised his hands in surrender. "What is it?"

"I don't know," you said, desperation rising in your voice. "But I found it in the same house where I found three other miracle candles."

That got his attention. Camilo sprawled on your bed like he owned it, which was both annoying and cute, and focused on you. "Tell me everything."

And you did. When you had finished, Camilo's eyebrows were carefully furrowed. "What do you think your father's friends were doing?"

"Your guess is as good as mine. And what was with the candles and the list?"

Camilo's head shot up with an idea and he grinned. "I know who we can ask." He catapulted out of your bed and disappeared out the window. "You coming?"

"I already told you, they were writing! Dolores wouldn't have heard them!" You protested, but you followed Camilo down the ladder.

"But how careful can they really be? Can you write all the time?" Camilo pointed out. "If good-old-dad's criminal book club ever slipped up, Dolores would know."

You reluctantly trailed after Camilo toward casita. Hopefully Dolores didn't hate you, too. "How do we even know that she'll be awake?"

"I grew up surrounded by all girls," He defensively explained, turning red. "I've always gone along with their ideas, you know?"

"What?" You laughed, unsure how this related. "What does that have to do with Dolores?"

"I know she'll be awake because..." Camilo trailed off, embarrassed.

"It's sleepover night."