I recalled the curious characters he had introduced me to, and a laugh escaped me. “I think I’ve never been to a more lively place. Even the city I grew up in didn’t have this much fun.” I leaned away and admired him. “Maybe it’s like you said. The company makes all the difference.”
His sharp eyes looked me over. “But you still miss home.”
I gripped the railing a little tighter. “It’s hard to hide anything from you, isn’t it?”
Ramaro scoffed. “Not even if you hid it in your shirt.”
“Especially if she hid it in her shirt,” Marc added as he pushed off from the railing. “But are you ready for the concert?”
I hopped back and clasped my hands behind my back. “Definitely.”
He offered me his arm. “Shall we?” I accepted the arm, and we made our way up the path.
Ramaro rolled his eyes as he followed us.
The concert hall stood not far from the tower that had so caught my attention on my first walk through the city. I couldn’t help but pause and stare up at the tower. There was something so entrancing about that imperious structure. Something seemed to call to me from behind those smooth walls.
I couldn’t tear my eyes away, but still asked my question to Marc. “What’s inside?”
He chuckled. “A lot of stairs.”
“Is that it?”
He cocked his head to one side. “Were you expecting something else?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I. . .I just feel there’s something in there calling to me.”
“Probably all the wind that blows through the cracks,” Ramaro piped up as he sauntered closer to the structure. “It hasn’t been fixed in a century, and is full of enough holes to make a mine jealous.”
A shiver ran down me as I imagined the whole thing toppling over. “Is it safe to stand here?”
Marc admired the tower. “There’s nothing to worry about. The tower will outlast us all. Now let’s get going and see if those scamps bought us some good seats.”
My gaze fell on his coat as we continued. “Don’t the tickets say where we sit?”
“They have numbers, but I’ve never been to one of these.”
I blinked at him. “You’ve never been to a show?”
Ramaro choked on a laugh. “He’s been to plenty of shows, but nothing this fancy.”
“And you won’t be going to this one unless you figure out how you’re going to get in,” Marc pointed out.
Ramaro’s eyes darted over to me and my heavy coat. “Why not the usual way? You were so eager to do it when we arrived.”
“Can you stay under there and keep your mouth shut for a whole concert?”
Ramaro lifted his chin. “Of course.”
Marc caught my eye. “If you don’t mind.”
“The more the merrier,” I mused as I stopped and opened my coat. “I doubt we’ll know anybody there.”
The sun was almost completely behind the horizon by the time we reached the majestic concert hall. The structure was square and completely enclosed, with thick timbers holding up the wings. A dome stood over the central body, and its capped peak pierced the darkening sky. White mortar and stone, smoothed by many hands, made up the walls, and a grand porch covered the head of the long line that wound its way from the two pairs of doors and around the block.
My feet ached just looking at the crowd. “That’s a really long line.”
My ‘belly’ moved. “That’s for the people who haven’t bought a ticket yet. We get to go to the doors and turn ours in.”
