Although she had smilingly agreed with Florence, she realized that it would be more difficult to carry out her plan with Felipe along. His keen eyes saw everything.
“Felipe reminds me of a faithful watchdog,” she remarked as they started down the stairs. “I’m glad he can’t understand English—there’s some consolation in that.”
This would complicate matters considerably, having Felipe along; still, she could not say more about leaving him at home.
“He’s just eager to be of service, that’s all,” explained Florence.
“You should’ve seen him yesterday when he caught me slipping up the stairs. You’d have thought he was a contortionist or something, from all the motions he went through in trying to tell me the sun was bad for my head.”
“I can easily imagine how he looked,” smiled Florence. “He is comical when he gets excited. I hope you girls don’t mind walking,” she added as they reached the street.
“No, we don’t mind, only I won’t be responsible for my appetite when we get back,” replied Peggy lightly.
“I think it’ll be wonderful to walk this morning,” put in Jo Ann. “It’s so cool and pleasant, and we can see more when we walk—not that I don’t like to ride, of course.”
Although the sun was painting the tops of the buildings with gold, the narrow tunnel of a street still held the cool freshness of the night. As Jo Ann drew in deep breaths of the invigorating morning air, she wondered what Florence would say if she knew her real reason for wanting to walk.
Chatting gaily, they strolled arm in arm, while Felipe followed a short distance behind.