Chapter Forty-Three, Part Two

An hour later, as Mateo was putting a new record on the record player, he leaned in close to Sophie. “I have a present for you,” he said. “But I don’t want anyone to see it.”

Sophie had been holding up an album to read the print on the back cover. Now she lowered it. “I don’t need a present. And why don’t you want anyone to see?”

“Will you just put that down and come?” He took her by the sleeve, and after glancing around to make sure everyone else was too busy with the eggnog and cookies to see them leave, he pulled her in the direction of the coat room. There, lying on a bench and covered by his jacket, was an item wrapped in newspaper and tied with a red ribbon. “I’m sorry I had no wrapping paper,” Mateo said. “I told my mom to get some but she just bought more beans instead.”

Sophie took the gift hesitantly. “It’s more important to eat than wrap presents,” she said. “But you really didn’t need to do anything for me. Just having a friend is the best gift of all.”

Mateo looked away, embarrassed. “Well, I got it for you, so you better open it.”

“Shouldn’t I wait until Christmas?”

“And me not get to see the look on your face? No way.”

She loosened the ribbon with her fingernails, then ripped open the paper. It was a book. Sophie brushed away the last scraps of newsprint and read the title. “Civil War Babylon: The Rumors, Gossip, and Tall Tales Behind the Key Players in the USS Civil War.”

“Well?” Mateo’s black eyes were snapping with excitement.

Sophie opened the book and flipped to the table of contents. The chapter titles were intriguing, but offered few clues.

“Go to the index at the back,” Mateo suggested.

She did as he instructed and sucked in her breath at all the familiar names, both real and code names. Scarcely daring to breathe, she read down the list. Grandpa Miguel was there, of course. And yes, further down was her father’s name. And her mother’s.

“What do you think?”

“I—” Having no words, Sophie flung her arms around Mateo’s neck instead.

Mateo held her close for a moment, but then she pulled away. To cover for any feelings that might be visible on his face, he said, “It wasn’t easy to get a hold of that.”

“I bet.” Sophie was bent over the book again, flipping through the pages. “It must’ve been expensive.” She looked up. “You have to let me pay you back.”

Mateo shook his head, slightly horrified. “You don’t pay somebody for a gift. That’s bad manners. Besides,” he looked away, “I didn’t exactly buy it.”

“Is it a loan, then? How long can I keep it?”

“It’s not quite a loan, either.” Mateo hesitated. “I took it. From one of my delivery customers. She has so many books, she won’t even notice.”

“But that’s stealing. Stealing is a whole lot worse than trying to pay someone for a gift.”

They locked eyes and Sophie turned away first. “Right. She has a lot of books and won’t even notice.”

“Don’t be mad at me.” Mateo put a hand on her arm. “I did it because you said you wanted to know things. And you deserve to know.”

Something in his tone caused a faint gleam of suspicion to enter her mind. “Have you read this already? Are there things in here I won’t like?”

The boy gave a shrug and didn’t answer. “We better get back to the party,” was all he said. “They’ll miss us.”