Minutes later, Keith and Allura came out of the haunted house, all safe and sound. They looked in all directions and they realized that their friends had disappeared.

"What are we going to do?" she asked worriedly. "We can’t go back without them."

Keith raised his chin, and a neon sign caught his attention. "We could go to the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) exhibit," he offered. "It’s right over there."

She looked up and smiled. "Okay."

They entered the exhibit and saw a beautiful woman dressed in a black flowing gown, with a wide rimmed hat and dark veil, standing by the door. She had a black parasol, even though it was dark. She gave them a slow, enigmatic smile, which made Allura’s body shiver a little.

"Who is she?" she whispered to Keith, from the safety of his red cape.

"She’s ‘La Catrina’," he whispered back. "That’s slang for a lady who dresses elegantly. In México she represents Death."

"I always thought dead was a skeleton in a black robe, holding a scythe," she noted. "I prefer this version."

"Me too," he said.

When the young woman saw a larger group of adults and their children entering the site, she closed her parasol and said in a musical voice, "Buenas noches, amigos. Welcome to our ‘Día de Muertos’ exhibit, where you can experience this Mexican celebration. I’m La Catrina and I’ll be your host tonight. Please, follow me."

The group stopped in front of a dais that was covered with paper skeletons, white candles, Mexican candies made of coconut and milk, skull mugs filled with red, orange and yellow flowers like daisies, calendulas, dahlias and mums. Next to them was plate with a chicken leg covered in mole and red rice.

"What’s that on top of the chicken?" Allura asked, making a face. "It looks like chocolate syrup."

"It’s mole. It’s chicken broth with spices, peanuts and chocolate," Keith answered. "My mom makes it sometimes."

"And what’s that blue bottle with a long neck?" A woman inquired.

"That’s tequila," a young man replied. "It’s called ‘Mata Penas’ (Killer of Sorrows) I had some on my last visit to México."

"In my country," Lady Death began, "we celebrate the ‘Day de los Fieles Difuntos’ or ‘Day of the Dead’ by paying respects to our dead relatives by creating an ofrenda, that’s an altar. An ofrenda can include flowers, photos of the deceased, sample plates of his or her favorite dishes, liquor, candy, jewelry and other personal items. Altars can be set up in cemeteries, government buildings, schools, and museums."

Allura turned to Keith and smiled. "Kit, what do you celebrate back home, Halloween or Day of the Dead?"

He gazed at her. "We celebrate both. My cousins and I go trick-or-treating in San Diego. And then, on November 2nd, all the family meets in Tijuana and we go to mass and then visit our grandparent’s graves. My cousins and I make traditional paper skeletons and my female cousins create paper flowers and bake sweet bread. My aunts and my mom prepare their favorite dishes and drinks. My dad brings my grandpa’s favorite liquor and my uncles the music. We spend the whole morning there, talking about our grandparents, while enjoying their food and drink."

"Now, we’ll talk about the Pan de Muertos (Soul Cakes)," La Catrina announced. "Early Christians used to walk from village to village begging for soul cakes made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. Because they believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time and those prayers- even those of strangers- could expedite a soul’s passage into heaven."

Then they saw a baker in his kitchen, working with a piece of dough. He took three quarters of the dough and rolled it into a smooth ball. He pressed it out to a circle. Then he pressed around the edges to form a narrow ridge like the brim of a hat, and placed it on a greased baking sheet, covering it with plastic wrap and setting it aside.

Taking the rest of the dough, he divided it into four equal parts. He rolled one of the parts into a smooth ball. Then rolled the other three strips into strips, forming knobs as you do for the ‘bones.’ He transferred the four pieces on a sheet, covered it and put it aside.

"It will take about an hour for the dough to rise. So we prepared another batch earlier," the hostess said.

The baker carefully placed the strips of dough forming the ‘bones’ across the main part of the bread. He placed the round ball in the middle to form the ‘skull’ and pressed his finger in hard to form the eye sockets. He brushed the surface of the dough with beaten yolks and then baked it at the top of the oven.

"He will bake it about 15 to 20 minutes, until is well browned and springy. Then he will turn off the oven, open the door, and let the bread sit there for about 5 minutes. Then you brush with melted butter and sprinkle it with sugar."

At the end of the exhibit, La Catrina gave Keith and Allura a piece of Pan de Muerto in a white paper bag. "Thank you for coming, Diablito y Brujita. Enjoy the bread," she said, smiling down at them.

"Thank you," they replied.

"What did she call us?" Allura asked, when the lady was between earshot.

He chuckled softly. "Little devil and little witch."

She nodded in understanding. "You know what?"

"What?"

"I’m not afraid of her anymore."

He smiled at her. "Good." Then opening the bag, he said, "Would you like some bread, Brujita?"

"Of course, Diablito," she laughed.

Author's Note: Diablito (Dee-ah-ble-tou) Brujita (Brew-he-taah) Catrina (Cah-tree-nah)