The townspeople were stunned silent for a moment. Then they cheered.
Manolo turned to find La Muerte, Xibalba, and the Candle Maker all watching from the church tower. They looked very regal, powerful, and godly.
“It is the Day of the Dead, Manolo,” La Muerte told him.
“And on our day we have a certain amount of . . .” Xibalba opened his wings.
“. . . leeway,” La Muerte said with a wink.
“Good luck!” the Candle Maker said.
“Thank you!” Manolo was grateful.
The ancient gods smiled and disappeared.
The ancestors surveyed them carefully. “The odds are against us,” Jorge said.
Luis just smiled. “Just like we like it.”
Joaquin and Maria, each with a sword, stood to the side of Manolo. The three amigos, united again, smiled at each other.
Maria raised her head and asked the boys, “No retreat?”
Manolo and Joaquin answered together, “No surrender.”
The bandidos shrunk back, leaving Chakal on his own.
“He gonna do it now!” Grandma said.
“Familia Sanchez . . .” Luis led the charge. “Al ataque!”
Manolo, Joaquin, and Maria rushed toward Chakal. Chakal was so big, he easily took Manolo down and held Joaquin back.
Off to one side of the cemetery, Jorge sang opera as he conquered his own small group of Chakal’s men. As he finished, he jumped away from the bandits, landing on his own tombstone with grace. He took a theatrical bow. It was a fabulous show.
The bandits dropped their weapons and armor—even their mustaches fell to the ground. One of them started clapping, hoping for an encore.
“Now your turn!” Jorge shouted at Carmelo. Carmelo fought his way through the crowd, spinning and leaping in time to the opera song Jorge sang. As he landed, the Medal of Everlasting Life flew through the air . . .
. . . and landed at the feet of the Adelita twins, who were fighting like warriors. They chattered as they took out bandit after bandit. “I was like, ‘I think you look good, I like your hair.’ And he was like, ‘I like your hair—’ ”
The fighting stopped, as did the twin’s chatter when the other sister noticed something important. “Are you wearing my boots?!” she asked in horror.
“They look better on me,” the other said, looking guilty.
The girls ran off, chasing another bandido. “Come here, lover boy!” one said as her skirt knocked the medal away.
The medal hit Cuchillo square in the face. He smiled a devilish grin before a skeleton hand tapped him on the shoulder. Luis used his detachable head to distract the bandit while sneaking in some heavy punches from his detached body. His mustache got in some powerful strikes as well. The medal flew out of Cuchillo’s hands, soaring above Carmelo and Grandma.
“Medal!” Carmelo said, launching Grandma into the air like a football. She caught it just in time and tossed it down to Father Domingo.
“C’mon! Go get ’em!” Sister Ana said as the nuns launched a masked Father Domingo. He body-slammed a bandit, causing the medal to fly back into the air again.
The medal at last landed in the hands of a cowardly soldier, who dropped it and ran away when Chato and his bandidos moved toward them.
“Chakal!” he cried. “We found the medal!” Chato did a little victory dance.
But then Chuy rose up from a tombstone behind him. Chuy called his pig friends, who came charging in with orphans riding their backs. “My comrades, unleash the fury,” he oinked.
“Qué?” Chato didn’t speak pig.
The stampede of orphans riding pigs trampled Chato and the bandits. The Medal of Everlasting Life disappeared into the cloud of dust.
“I’m done playing!” Chakal shouted as he launched into the air at Manolo and Joaquin.
“I got this,” Joaquin said to Manolo.
“No, I got this!” Manolo shot back.
Taking advantage of the moment, Maria ran between her friends and managed a double kick to Chakal’s face. “Did I tell you I also studied Wushu?” Maria smiled as Chakal groaned.
Manolo and Joaquin were impressed, but Chakal was furious. “Enough!” he said, lashing out.
“Look out!” Maria shouted, pushing the boys out of the way just in time, but Chakal grabbed Maria and carried her away.
“Never mind, you guys, I got this,” Maria panted sarcastically.
Chakal had her firmly in his grip, but she wasn’t scared. She looked at him, annoyed. “Let go of me!”
“Get me the medal or your girl will pay!” Chakal threatened Joaquin and Manolo as he marched through the cemetery toward the church bell tower.
“Go find the medal,” Manolo told Joaquin.
“But Maria—” Joaquin started.
“Find the medal. I’ll handle this.” Manolo took off after Maria.
“Got it.” Joaquin cheered himself on. “Joaquin!”
Manolo chased after Chakal, stepping on fallen bandits as he ran. He climbed an outer wall of the church bell tower but he wasn’t fast enough. Chakal was already near the top with Maria.
Finding a place to grip was difficult. Manolo slipped and fell several feet before Carmelo reached out of one of the church’s tower windows and grabbed him.
“I save you, little Sanchez!” Carmelo spun Manolo around and tossed him like a shot put to the next window, where Jorge grabbed him.
“Good luck, Manolo,” Jorge said before throwing him up one window to Luis.
“Kick his butt, grandson!” Luis tossed him past the next window, but no one was there.
Suddenly, Manolo began to fall. “Whoaaaa!”
Carlos reached out a window to catch him on his way down. “Epa! Where do you think you’re going?”
“I have to get up there.” Manolo looked at the very top of the tower.
“I was right. You have become the greatest Sanchez ever.” Carlos tossed his son upward with all his skeleton strength. Manolo soared to the top of the spire where Chakal was with Maria.
Manolo slammed Chakal in the jaw. The giant dropped Maria and staggered back, hitting his head on the bell. Manolo caught Maria before she hit the ground. “Come on!” she said. “I had him exactly where I wanted!”
Chakal fell back, but managed to grab the edge of the tower, crushing the brick under his fingers to dust. Chakal had a barrel of TNT. The barrel fell from the tower and slammed into a wooden cart on the street below.
BOOOM! The base of the tower cracked from the explosion.
Everyone looked up to find Manolo and Maria fighting with Chakal. “Care to dance, señorita?” Manolo asked.
“I thought you’d never ask,” she said with a smile.
Bricks fell to the ground below as they fought. The tower tipped to one side. Maria and Manolo were sliding down—into the arms of their enemy. “Pretty good, guitarrista,” she said to Manolo. “Now how about this!” She spun Manolo toward Chakal, knocking him off the edge as the tower came toppling down.
On the ground below, Joaquin was looking for the Medal of Everlasting Life when he saw that the tower above was about to fall on the nuns! “Watch out, sisters! Save yourselves!” he shouted, pushing the nuns out of the way. The tower landed all around them in a pile of dust and debris.
Maria was thrown from the tower, but Carmelo, standing atop a pyramid of Manolo’s ancestors, caught her just in time. “Hi, Maria!” the ancestors chorused.
Chakal burst from the rubble, but his massive arm was stuck underneath the debris. Furious, he grabbed a torch and lit the sticks of dynamite that were strapped to his chest. “I’m taking this whole town with me!” he roared.
Manolo and Joaquin heard Chakal’s threat, but they were tired from the fighting, and their swords were gone. Manolo was so weak from the fall, he could barely raise his head. How could they finish the fight?
Joaquin turned to look at the statue of his father nearby and smiled slowly. He grabbed Manolo and pulled him close. “
No retreat?” he asked, putting an arm around his friend.
Manolo nodded. “No surrender.” The friends gathered every ounce of strength they had left—and attacked.
Manolo and Joaquin hurled themselves at Chakal, knocking him sideways from the rubble and into the space beneath the giant church bell.
“No . . . ,” Maria cried as she watched her friends struggle to hold back the bandit king.
Under the bell, Manolo turned to Joaquin. “Don’t stop fighting for what’s right,” Manolo said, sadly.
“What?” Joaquin began, but before he could say any more, Manolo shoved him from the bell with all his might. Joaquin went staggering over a barrel and fell a safe distance away from Manolo and Chakal.
Chakal, realizing the dynamite was about to blow, tried his hardest to escape, but Manolo held him back. “Don’t forget me,” Manolo said, locking eyes with Maria. And with that, Manolo kicked the last remaining support beam that held the bell to the tower. The bell fell with a loud clang, trapping Manolo, Chakal, and the dynamite inside it.
“Nooo!” Maria screamed.
BOOM! The dynamite inside the bell exploded, sending Joaquin flying across the cemetery. The muffled explosion shook the ground like a nuclear blast, but the heavy bell contained it. The bell toppled to one side as smoke billowed out.
The bandits knew that it was the end of their leader. “Chakal is defeated. Retreat!” they cried.
But Maria . . . she waited for the billowing smoke from the blast to clear away.
When she could see again, there was no sign of Manolo. Not at first, anyway, but moments later he quietly slipped out of a hole in the ground made by the explosion.
“Manolo?” Maria threw herself into his arms.
“It’s me, mi amor,” he said.
“But how did you survive?” She wondered, touching him again and again to make sure he was really safe and alive.
Manolo looked over to find La Muerte nearby. Xibalba and the Candle Maker were also there.
“Don’t look at me,” La Muerte said with a surprised smile.
Maria took the Medal of Everlasting Life off Manolo’s back and showed it to Manolo. “Joaquin!”
Manolo turned. Joaquin’s mustache was completely burned off, and he was wrapping a strip of cloth around his head to cover his left eye.
“You gave me the medal . . . ,” Manolo said.
Joaquin stumbled over into his friend’s arms. “I couldn’t . . . let you pay for my mistakes,” he said with a smile. The three friends hugged.
“You . . . ,” began Manolo. “You were going to sacrifice yourself for me.”
“The hero of San Angel,” Maria added. She turned to Joaquin, touching his face lightly. “Are you all right?”
Joaquin stared at the medal for a moment with his good eye. “I have never seen more clearly,” he said, throwing the magical medal to Xibalba—he didn’t want it anymore. Xibalba caught it and nodded.
Joaquin turned to Manolo. “Time to cast our own shadows.”
“And write our own stories,” Manolo said.
Maria just rolled her eyes, giggling at the boys being so dramatic. “You guys,” she said, laughing.
*****
Back in the museum, Mary Beth said, “And so Joaquin learned that to be a true hero, one must be selfless.”
*****
General Posada, Carlos, and Carmen made their way through the rubble toward the three friends.
“There is one more thing we need to do, son,” Maria’s father told Manolo.
*****
That day, the living and the dead of San Angel joined together to celebrate the wedding of Maria and Manolo. The church was packed to standing room only. Everyone was there to see Father Domingo perform the ceremony.
Carmen and Carlos looked on with great joy, while the Candle Maker and the Book of Life helped officiate.
“Do you take Manolo as your husband?” Father Domingo asked Maria.
“I do,” Maria said with all her heart.
“By the power vested in us by the Book of Life . . . ,” the Candle Maker started.
“We now pronounce you, husband and wife. You may kiss—” Father Domingo hadn’t finished when Maria leaned in and kissed Manolo.
“—the groom?” Father Domingo finished with a chuckle.
The townsfolk and their skeleton ancestors gave a joyful shout and threw sombreros in the air.
Skeleton Carmen said, “She’s going to be a great Sanchez.” Carlos was nodding with tears in his eyes.
“And today was a good Day of the Dead.” The Candle Maker raised his arms in triumph. “Ay-ay-ay!”
*****
High above the cemetery in the remains of the church tower, Xibalba and La Muerte looked on.
“Ah, well. I believe you’ve won the wager, mi amor. Along with my heart, all over again.” Xibalba turned to face La Muerte.
“Ay, Balby.” She faced him. It was like it had been when they were younger. Time faded and their love rekindled.
“I am so sorry, my love. You deserve better than me. I know that now. Will you ever forgive me?” Xibalba took La Muerte’s hand.
“I do,” she said.
Xibalba kissed her hand, then feeling empowered by the moment, swept her into his arms for a grand, romantic kiss.
*****
Outside the church Maria and Manolo were celebrating with the living and the dead.
“Husband, may I request a song?” Maria asked, a glimmer in her eye.
“As you wish, Mrs. Sanchez.” He pulled out his guitar and began to play a beautiful song.
Everyone gathered around them, but instead of a circle, they formed a giant heart.
When the song was over, Manolo touched his forehead to Maria’s, and they kissed.
*****
In the museum, Mary Beth finished telling the children the story.
“And the world kept spinning and the tales kept turning, and new life was born and people passed away, but they were never forgotten. And the one truth we know, held true one more time: Love, true love, the really, really good kind of love, never dies.”
The secret room at the museum flickered with candlelight. The children looked at Mary Beth, not wanting the story to end.
The museum guard wiped tears from his eyes. “Caramba. It gets me every time.”
Mary Beth gathered the kids together. “Okay, kids, closing time.” She pointed toward the exit. “Your bus should be outside waiting for you.”
The kids left the room quietly, but by the time they got outside, they were talking excitedly about the story and Mary Beth and their time in the museum.
“A-may-zing,” the goth kid said, rushing to the bus.
Through the bus window, Sasha waved at Mary Beth.
“Adiós, pretty lady!”
Mary Beth transformed into La Muerte, her true self. “Adiós, Sasha.” She waved.
“La Muerte?” Sasha couldn’t believe her eyes.
The kids ran to the bus window and stared out.
“La Muerte,” Sasha confirmed.
The goth kid was so happy, he fainted!
The museum guard came to stand near his love. “You never cease to amaze me, mi amor.” He transformed into Xibalba and took her by the arm. “Such passion.”
“Anyone can die,” she said. “These kids . . . they will have the courage to live.”
Xibalba said, “I’ll wager you are right.” He pulled her into a passionate embrace.
The Book of Life closed its pages. “Hey!” the Candle Maker said. “Write your own story.”
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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
First Simon Spotlight edition September 2014
THE BOOK OF LIFE ©2014 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Reel FX Productions II, LLC. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON SPOTLIGHT and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Designed by Nicholas Sciacca
The text of this book was set in ITC Goudy Sans Std.
ISBN 978-1-4814-2351-9 (pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4814-2352-6 (eBook)
The Book of Life Movie Novelization Page 8
