City of the Beasts

When Alex arrives at the New York City airport, he finds that his grandmother Kate is not waiting for him as he had expected. While waiting for Kate, Alex remembers the frightening and exciting encounters he has had with her in the past, from the pranks she played on him and his sisters, to her terrifying stories of her adventures around the world, to her teaching him how to swim by pushing him into a pool. After waiting for several hours, Alex becomes angry and decides to “act like a man” (20); he resolves to get to Kate’s apartment without her help. 

While waiting for a bus at the airport, Alex meets a pretty, somewhat bedraggled girl a bit older than himself, who introduces herself as Morgana and offers to help him find Kate’s apartment. Alex accepts her help but it quickly becomes clear that Morgana can’t pay for her bus fare, so Alex pays it for her. During the bus ride, she offers him drugs, which he declines, thinking about his past experiences mountain climbing and how he prefers the controlled power of conquering huge obstacles to the loss of control that comes from using substances. Alex also remembers how, when Kate caught him smoking years earlier, she made him smoke four cigars until he “vomited his guts out” (29) and resolved never to smoke again. 

When he and Morgana arrive in New York City, Alex observes the cold, chaotic streets and feels that he is “trapped in a sci-fi nightmare” (32). Morgana insists on stopping for food and, while Alex is using the restroom, she steals his backpack and vanishes into the night with all of his possessions and money, including his beloved flute. Struggling not to panic, Alex is left with only his passport.

After calming down somewhat, Alex asks for directions and begins walking toward his grandmother’s address. He finds that he is many blocks away, but thinks back to his previous successes and reflects that “if he could rock climb for six hours, like a fly, he could certainly walk a few blocks on level ground” (37). Alex arrives at Kate’s apartment after midnight and she greets him gruffly, saying that he shouldn’t expect to be pampered. Nonetheless, Kate serves Alex his favorite food and draws him a warm bath, showing that she hides some measure of tenderness beneath her fierce exterior. 

Kate is sixty-four years old and very strong and self-sufficient, with an apartment full of fascinating artifacts from around the world. Alex recalls how he and his sisters have always been somewhat proud of Kate and her adventures, even when they were “embarrassed to introduce her to their friends” (40) due to her wild appearance and eccentric habits. When Kate learns that Alex lost his flute on the way to the apartment, she presents him with the flute that belonged to his grandfather, the renowned flutist Joseph Cold. Alex is delighted by the gift and finds that it sounds even more beautiful than the flute he lost. 

Before Alex goes to bed, Kate explains to him that the next day they’ll be leaving for a region of the Amazon at the border of Brazil and Venezuela, where she’ll be traveling on assignment forInternational Geographic magazine. The assignment, she tells him, is to research a mysterious creature known as the Beast, which witnesses say walks on two feet, is extremely tall, and leaves a horrible scent wherever it goes. The Beast is rumored to have killed several people in the region. Kate informs Alex that an anthropologist named Ludovic Leblanc and a Brazilian guide named César Santos will be joining them on the expedition. Kate orders Alex to go to sleep so that he’s ready to begin working for her the next day.