Chapters 34-36

I read 28 pages.

Jorge flinched. "Laudanum?"

"The Aztlan police have wondered for a long time how drugs were being distributed in this country. They were extremely interested in what they found at the saltworks."

"That's a vicious lie! Someone's trying to undermine the reputation of the Keepers!" cried Carlos. "Rumors like that are spread by idiots who want orphans to lie around like pampered house cats. We know they're squalid little parasites until they're reeducated into good citizens. If any laudanum was found, it was planted by the police!"

"Fine. Then you won't mind taking a drug test," said Esperanza. She stepped aside, and suddenly the doorway swarmed with men in blue uniforms. They must have been waiting just out of sight. Jorge and Carlos looked stunned as they were led away. (pae 362)

Woohoo! The Keepers are finally caught! Someone finally showed them up, and it will only be worse for them since they lied.

Chapter 34 Summary: Matt has escaped the bone pit, and is trying to get Chacho to wake up. All of a sudden, Matt hears clanking and thinks the Keepers are coming. Turns out, it is just Ton-Ton and Fidelito driving on the shrimp harvester. Ton-Ton carefully uses the shrimp harvester to get Chacho out of the pit. I thought that was pretty awesome. He says that Chacho is in a state of shock and he needed to get fluids into him. Ton-Ton gives Chacho and Matt strawberry soda, which they were very pleased with since they were dehydrated. He says they are all going to make a run for San Luis. Apparently, the boys took over control at the factory. Ton-Ton drugged the Keepers with Laudanum, and the rest of the boys barricaded the compound with bags of salt so they couldn't leave if they woke up. The boys are now taking the shrimp harvester to San Luis. Matt notices that Chacho is hurt badly, and they will have to go to a doctor as soon as they arrive to San Luis. Since the shrimp harvester is solar powered, the boys travel until dark. Matt doesn't think Chacho can make it to morning without seeing a doctor, so he and Fidelito run ahead to go find help in San Luis. Ton-Ton tells Matt and Fidelito to be extremely careful near the Colorado River because it is very bad.

Chapter 35 Summary: Fidelito and Matt are walking to San Luis in the dark. As they near the Colorado River, Matt finds the stench is almost as bad as the eejit pens. They see a tentacle coming out of the river, and they quickly cross it. Matt has an asthma attack and passes out after they cross the river. He wakes to an inhaler being held to his face by a woman. She is with her brother, Guapo. They take Matt with them, saying that they won't tell the keepers about him because they hate the Keepers too. They had also already sent an ambulance for Chacho. Matt follows the woman, Consuela, and Guapo to a door where they enter into a cemetery. He is taken aback by this because he's not used to graves being in the ground, since the Alacrans had a mausoleum. Matt and Fidelito had arrived on El Dia De Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead, which is a popular Mexican holiday. Conseula explains that death is a part of everyone when Matt doesn't understand why people would celebrate death. He knows Celia celebrated every holiday, but he had never heard of this one. Matt smells something, and it reminds him of Felicia. He then gets homesick at the party. Conseula and Guapo say they'll take the boys to see Chacho, which is coincidentally at the Convent of Santa Clara, where Maria lives. She gives them Halloween masks to disguise themselves from the Keepers. The masks look like skulls, and Matt is uncomfortable with wearing the masks, but Conseula says it is the only way to go unnoticed. He does not like wearing the mask at all.
Chapter 36 Summary: Guapo, Matt, and Fidelito get into a hover car to go to the Convent of Santa Clara. When they arrive, Matt and Fidelito wander around until a nurse spots them and takes them to Chacho. They discover two Keepers trying to take Chacho and Ton-Ton away when they get to the room. Carlos and Jorge say they are going to take Chacho without permission, even though the Sisters say that Chacho will die if they move him. The Sisters say the Keepers will have to go through him, and Matt steps in and says they will have to go through him too. Jorge goes for Matt, and everyone begins fighting. This part would make a hilarious movie scene. A lady comes in and demands everyone to stop fighting. Turns out, she is Dona Esperanza, which is Maria's mother! She tells Ton-Ton to explain everything. He does, starting from Fidelito almost getting beaten and telling her everything. Jorge denies everything, and she acts if she believed Jorge over Ton-Ton. I was like she better not believe him! She asks the Keepers about the laudanum, and how the police were investigation where all of the drugs in the country go. Of course the Keepers lie and say that if the police were to find any laudanum it was planted. Esperanza then says that they shouldn't mind a drug test. Out of nowhere, the Keepers are taken away by men in blue uniforms. Nice job, Esperanza! She explains that she had been trying to catch the Keepers for drugs, and without Ton-Ton she wouldn't have been able to get them. This makes Ton-Ton feel special, because she actually listened to him. Maria comes in and reunites with Matt. Woohoo for good endings to chapters!