Mirabel tore through the trees toward Antonio's barn, ignoring Camilo's shouts behind her.
Please please please, she prayed to whatever saint might be listening. Please, let no one have seen—
Mirabel burst through the barn doors, breathing heavily.
She saw Luisa first. Her sister whirled around when Mirabel entered, spreading out her arms to stop her progress.
"Mira, stay back!" she commanded. "Isa has it cornered!"
Mirabel's eyes landed on Isabela at the back of the barn. Her oldest sister stalked toward an empty horse stall, her long hair wild and her face grim. She stretched out her hands. All at once, colorful, flowering vines exploded from nothing and snaked their way into the stall.
"Isa, stop!" Mirabel screamed. She darted forward, under Luisa's outstretched arms and threw herself at Isabela.
Isabela stumbled when Mirabel collided with her, but the vines still held.
"What the hell—"
"Isa, stop—that's—he's Tío Bruno!" Mirabel cried, yanking on Isabela's arms.
She cast a frantic glance into the stall. Bruno was curled on the floor; his head bent toward his knees and his claws digging into the hood of his ruana, pulling it down over his face. His tail was wrapped tightly around him. He gave no indication that he heard Mirabel.
"What? This thing?" Isabela snapped, her concentration broken. Her vines began to wither away and she snarled in frustration and lashed out again—
A vine wrapped tightly around Bruno's left ankle, just below the metal fetter.
His back went ramrod straight.
He screamed.
Isabela and Mirabel staggered backward as a sudden windstorm whipped through the barn. In an instant, a dome of spinning hay and dirt and sand surrounded Bruno, obscuring him from view.
Mirabel didn't think. She pushed forward, her head bent against the wind, calling Bruno's name.
He was in the very center of the dome, on his knees, his head upturned. His eyes glowed and the green light distorted his already strange features. Around her, images flickered in the wind—pale green and indecipherable.
She knelt before him. Her hands hovered, unsure whether she should touch him.
"Tío Bruno?"
He whimpered, closing his eyes and shaking his head. His hair whipped across his face. He hunched inward, his arms wrapped around his middle.
"No, no, no, no, no, I won't—" he pleaded, his voice breaking. "I won't let you—you can't–you can't make me—"
Mirabel threw her arms around him, holding on as tight as she dared.
"Tío Bruno, it's—it's okay, it's Mirabel, you're okay—"
"Mirabel?" Bruno whispered, so softly she almost didn't catch it. "Mirabel? Mirabel, Mirabel—"
"It's me, Tío," she said in his ear. "You're okay—I think you're having a vision. One of those big productions, remember? You're in the barn, with me, oof—"
Bruno lurched forward, clinging to her so tightly all the air left her lungs in a rush. She could feel him shaking.
Something warm and sturdy pressed up against Mirabel's back, and arms encircled her and extended toward Bruno. Their grip was light, but steady.
"Just breathe," Luisa said somewhere above them. "In—uno, dos, tres…and out—four, five, six…in—uno, dos, tres…out—four, five, six…"
Mirabel copied the pattern and after a few moments Bruno breathed with them, their chests rising and falling in sync.
She wasn't sure how long the three of them stayed there, kneeling on the floor, but when she looked up again the wind dome was gone and Bruno's eyes were back to normal, if a bit teary.
He shifted slightly in her grip and she released him. Luisa followed suit, sitting back on her heels and smiling.
"Hola, Tío Bruno," she said with a shy little wave. "I'm Luisa."
Bruno nodded. "Mirabel," he rasped before pausing to clear his throat. "Mirabel told me—told me all about you."
Luisa beamed at him. "My mamá told me all about you. Your Gift is awesome."
Bruno snorted, his whiskers twitching, and bowed his head.
Mirabel glanced around the barn. All the animals were gone, having fled in the commotion. But…
"Where's Isa?"
Luisa winced. "She–she left, um." She glanced at Bruno. "She was really upset. She didn't mean to…she didn't know—"
Bruno shook his head hard. "Not her—not her fault," he said. "Hm. She didn't—she couldn't've—I didn't even—" He stopped, frustrated.
Furiously, he wiped his eyes with his hands. "Lo-lo siento, sobrinas," he said miserably. "I'm a…a pretty poor excuse of a tío, I…"
"Tío Bruno, your hands!" Mirabel cried, her eyes huge behind her glasses. "Look, they're…they're…"
Bruno raised his hands and did a double-take. Gone was the dark fur, and the claws—replaced by smooth skin and rounded fingernails. He turned them over and over. He wiggled his fingers.
A giggle burst from him, on the edge of manic.
"I'm—I'm—"
He reached up, feeling his face. When his fingertips met soft fur, his glee faded.
"I'm…still…?"
Mirabel and Luisa looked at each other.
"Well…this is good news, right?" Luisa asked slowly, looking to Mirabel for confirmation.
Mirabel shrugged.
Bruno did not look convinced.
"I mean—not that this is exactly the same situation—" Luisa continued. "But…in all the stories I've read, usually there's a way to break the spell?"
"Ay, yes but in those stories usually the one who gets cursed also knows the solution themselves," Bruno said bitterly. He jabbed a finger to his chest. "I don't have such a luxury."
"The witch didn't tell you?" Mirabel asked, tilting her head.
Luisa's eyes bugged out. "A witch?"
Bruno ignored her. He looked down at his hands and wiggled his fingers again. "No, she, um. Didn't get the chance."
Mirabel frowned. Luisa glanced between the two of them.
"Oh!"
All three of them turned. Dolores stood frozen in the entrance of the horse stall, a folded blanket in her arms, her eyes very round. She quickly shook herself and held up the blanket.
"This is—this is for you," she said in her soft way, looking at Bruno. She gave him a small smile. "May I…?"
Bruno stared at her. Slowly, he nodded.
Dolores stepped into the stall and unfolded the blanket—one of the heavy quilts from the winter stash. Gently, and slowly so as not to startle him, she draped it across his shoulders. Mirabel caught one end and tucked it around Bruno, and Luisa did the same with the other, until it looked like the blanket had swallowed him.
"When I get overwhelmed sometimes, this helps me a little," Dolores said. Her head tilted, and she smiled at something only she could hear. "Camilo's found Isa, they're coming back now."
"What about Antonio?" Mirabel asked.
"I'm here!" Antonio's curly head popped up above the stall wall and he grinned down at them. "Hola, Tío Bruno!"
Bruno's mouth fell open. Antonio giggled.
"The rats told me everything," he said. "Is it true you killed a witch?"
Bruno's mouth snapped shut and he looked away, doing his best to burrow into the quilt.
Luisa and Dolores both gasped, "Toñito!"
Antonio looked contrite. He swung his legs over the wooden wall and landed on the floor next to Mirabel. "Lo siento," he whispered. He looked at his cousins and sister with big eyes. "The rats don't know what secrets are, and I forgot."
"Darn–darn things," Bruno muttered, but there was no real heat behind his words. "I didn't think they knew about that."
Mirabel's brain short-circuited.
"Everyone alive in there?"
Camilo's head appeared around the wall. His eyes widened. "Oh, shit," he said.
"Milo!" Dolores chided.
"What?" Camilo demanded. "I'm told my long-lost Tío Bruno's here and I look and suddenly he's a monster? Like what else am I supposed to say—"
"Not that!" Luisa cried and everyone started arguing at once.
Bruno shrunk down into the heavy quilt, his ears pressed against his head and his eyes darting between each person. He reached out a hand and grasped the edge of Mirabel's sleeve. She didn't think he was even aware he did it.
"What do you need?" she softly asked him.
Bruno shook his head. His hair covered his face.
Mirabel took a deep breath. "Okay, OKAY—" she shouted and winced when she saw Bruno flinch out of the corner of her eye. The conversations sputtered to a halt and suddenly all eyes were on her.
"Look, I realize this is all, you know, a lot, but we need to move the party out," she continued, making a shooing motion with one hand. When Camilo looked like he was about to protest she added, "I'll explain everything, Milo, I promise, just not in here. Let's go, let's go."
Camilo rolled his eyes but complied, turning quickly on his heel. Dolores took Antonio's hand and led him out, looking back once before disappearing around the corner. Luisa stood, offering Mirabel a hand to help her up.
But Mirabel shook her head. "Stall for me? I'll be right behind you."
Luisa's gaze flicked to Bruno. She nodded. "On it." She strode out of the stall.
Mirabel could still hear her family bickering out in the main area of the barn, but at least they weren't crowded around Bruno anymore.
"Tío Bruno?" she asked softly, prying his hand from her sleeve and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "They're gone."
Bruno let out a shuddering breath. "Lo siento," he whispered.
"Hey, no, you have nothing to be sorry for," Mirabel said firmly. "If anyone should be apologizing it's–it's me." She swallowed, her eyes burning. "I—I promised nothing would happen to you and then—and then I didn't get here in time to explain and–and stop Isa, and instead I stopped to talk to everyone and Abuela, and—"
"It's not–not your fault either," Bruno interrupted gently, squeezing her hand this time. "It's not like–like we both didn't expect a—expect a reaction like this. And I'm not…not exactly…functional, right now, you know? Probably—probably haven't been in a—a long, long time." He knocked on the floor twice with his free hand.
Mirabel shook her head. There would be time to agonize over her own guilt later. "What do you need?" she repeated. "Do you…want me to go?"
Bruno clenched her hand so tightly his knuckles went white.
"Okay, it's okay, I'm not leaving," Mirabel said. Ow. "We'll just sit here a minute, no problem."
She let him hold her hand and collect himself as she tried to listen to her family across the barn. But she was no Dolores, and could only hear impressions of conversation. It seemed Luisa was successful in keeping them at bay for now.
"Oh!" Mirabel reached with her free hand into her skirt pocket. "I almost forgot. Here, dinner. You must be starving."
Bruno finally looked up, his nose twitching, as she pulled out a napkin and unceremoniously dumped six empanadas into his lap.
"Sorry they're cold. And, uh. Fuzzy?" She winced.
Bruno picked one up with a shaking hand. In two bites, it was gone. "They—they're amazing. Just like—"
He cut himself off and glanced at her from behind his curtain of hair. "Mirabel. Um. How…how old is your—is your mamá?"
Mirabel's face fell, and she took a deep breath before letting it out again in a rush.
Madre de Dios, her heart couldn't handle many more tragedies today.
She gave Bruno a wobbly smile and squeezed his hand. "Forty-seven," she said. "You're forty-seven."
Bruno picked up another empanada and nibbled around its edge. "Forty-seven, huh? Hmm…I think I look—I'm looking pretty good, eh?"
Mirabel spluttered out a laugh. "Sure, Tío."
Knock, knock.
They both looked up as Antonio poked his head around the corner. He smiled shyly at them. "Mirabel? Can I come say hi?"
Mirabel glanced at Bruno. He seemed better, and had finished his second empanada and was working on a third. He nodded.
"Sure, Toñito, c'mere."
Antonio's face brightened and he skipped up to them. He promptly sat in Mirabel's lap and she gave him a little hug and rested her head on his curls for a second. He giggled, shrugging her off.
"Hola, Tío Bruno!" he said with a little wave. "I'm Antonio! I'm your sobrino."
Bruno huffed out a laugh. His eyes crinkled in the corners. "I–I know, niño. It's nice to meet–to meet you."
"Your rats were really scared," Antonio said. He pointed up to the hayloft. "They went up there, but I can ask them to come down, if you want."
"That's–that's okay," Bruno said, sitting up straighter and letting the quilt fall off his shoulders a little. "They–they'll come back when they're—when they're ready."
Antonio nodded. He looked up at Mirabel. "How come you guys weren't at dinner? Tío Agustín was really worried."
"Because our bus didn't get here until after." She pursed her lips at the empanadas in Bruno's lap. "But we got some food anyway, see?"
"Oooh." Antonio smiled at Bruno. "Can you sit next to me at dinner tomorrow?"
Bruno turned panicked eyes to Mirabel.
She bit her lip. "I…I think Tío Bruno needs more time before we tell the rest of the family, Toñito."
"Oh," Antonio said with a frown. "But…Mami will be so happy to see him?"
Mirabel's heart ached.
"I…I know," she said, unsure.
Before she could say anything else, Antonio scooted up in her lap to whisper in her ear, "Is it sad?" His big, brown eyes were somber.
"Yeah," Mirabel said softly. She gave him a little squeeze. "Yeah, it's sad, buddy. But I'm working on it, lo prometo."
"Oye!" Camilo called from somewhere out in the barn. "Are you gonna hog Tío Bruno all night or what?"
Antonio giggled.
Mirabel turned to Bruno and raised an eyebrow. He took a deep breath and shoved the last empanada into his mouth. He nodded.
"Alright, hombrecito," Mirabel said to Antonio, nudging him so she could get up.
She helped Bruno get to his feet and smiled at him. "You can do this. We'll stick together."
Bruno swallowed but didn't say anything. He brushed some stray crumbs off his ruana and ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to smooth his curls and ears. His tail twitched and he leaned over to knock a few times on the wall.
Antonio ducked behind them to grab Bruno's other hand, tugging him toward the door. "You can sit next to me!"
Bruno stumbled a little under Antonio's exuberance, but caught himself and allowed his youngest sobrino to guide him out of the stall, still holding on tight to Mirabel's hand.
Translations:
1. Uno, dos, tres - one, two, three
2. Niño - kid
3. Oye - literally "hear," a way to get someone's attention
4. Madre de Dios - Mother of God
5. Hombrecito - little man
