Shouts in the yard.
Abuela's grip tightened on Mirabel's hands. Out the front window, Mirabel could see lanterns swinging back and forth and dark shapes moving around outside.
Panic raced through her. Now what? Another mob?
Félix burst inside, the front door crashing against the wall with a resounding bang.
"Félix—?" Pepa cried.
"Julieta!" Félix shouted. "Luisa's been shot!"
Julieta gasped and sprinted for the kitchen. In a blink, Agustín was already halfway out the door.
Abuela and Mirabel made eye contact; Abuela squeezed Mirabel's hands.
"Go," she whispered, and Mirabel ran.
Luisa was on the ground, her face as pale as the moon above them, her head now in Agustín's lap. Her skirt was dark and wet on one side. Isabela was kneeling beside her, clutching her hand, as weeds spread out around them.
Camilo was hovering by Luisa's other elbow, drenched in sweat. He was holding a lantern high, and Mirabel could see his hands were shaking. Dolores and Mariano stood beside him, hand in hand—Mariano's face was grave, and Dolores' eyes were closed.
Mirabel knelt by Isabela's side.
"What happened?" she whispered.
Before Isabela could answer, they heard their mamá cry, "Luisita?" before falling to her knees at Luisa's side, elbowing Camilo out of the way.
Luisa cracked her eyes open and gave her a small, exhausted smile. "Lo siento, Mamá," she murmured, but Julieta ran a soothing hand over Luisa's forehead, brushing back her sweaty hair.
"Hush, mi vida, just eat," she said, pressing a kiss to Luisa's cheek.
Luisa sat up a little with a grimace and took a bite of the offered arepa con queso. She shuddered as the wound on her leg healed; her face began to regain its color and she moved to sit up fully.
"Easy, amor, easy," Julieta murmured, pressing down gently on Luisa's shoulder. "Don't overdo it. You've lost a lot of blood." She peeked at the makeshift bandages under Luisa's skirt and nodded to Isabela. "Buen trabajo, Isa."
Isabela gave her a wobbly smile, still holding on tight to Luisa's hand.
"What happened?" Agustín asked in a low voice, an unreadable expression on his face.
"José Torres," Camilo spat behind them. "He was aiming for Tío Bruno."
Mirabel sucked in a breath and saw her parents glance at each other over Luisa's head.
"Ay, mi valiente hija," Julieta said, trying to smile.
She stood and Isabela and Mirabel and Agustín stood with her. Together, they eased Luisa up off the ground. Luisa stood, holding her head high, but stumbled a bit when she tried to take a step and stopped, frowning.
Julieta stroked her arm. "Your head just needs a minute to catch up," she soothed. "Come. Let's get you changed. We can exchange notes later."
Luisa nodded, and Isabela and Mirabel exchanged glances behind her back. Mirabel tried to convey with just her eyes: it's okay, everyone knows, I understand everything now—but she wasn't sure if the message was received.
Pepa's cloud was swirling as the Rojas family helped Luisa up the porch and into the house. Félix held Antonio in his arms, both wearing matching worried expressions. As they all entered the house, Luisa gave Antonio a weak smile and a thumbs up and he hesitantly returned the gesture.
She stopped in front of a pale-faced Abuela, who reached up with shaking hands to cup Luisa's face for a moment, before giving her a teary nod and a smile.
Gently, Julieta and Agustín guided Luisa upstairs and into the girls' bedroom, shutting the door behind them.
Thunder boomed.
"Everyone to the living room," Félix said quickly.
Mirabel moved to follow the rest of her family, but Dolores grabbed her arm in a firm grip and whispered in her ear, "He's thinking about leaving."
Mirabel felt the color drain from her face. "What?"
Dolores swallowed. "I can hear him, but there's still people outside, I can't pinpoint exactly—" Her eyes darted from side to side. "You have to be the one to find him. He'll listen to you."
"You gotta give me something, Lola," Mirabel said. "A–a direction, anything—"
Dolores closed her eyes. "He's close," she whispered after a moment. "And…hiding? Up a tree? Maybe?"
Mirabel nodded. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. "Got it."
"Buena suerte," Dolores whispered.
Mirabel picked up Camilo's abandoned lantern off the porch and disappeared into the orchard.
There were still small groups of villagers out and about, calling for Antonio. Mirabel stopped as many as she could, telling them Antonio had been found and was safe at home, and was met with relieved smiles and murmured prayers of thanks. Only one group asked about the monster, but all Mirabel did was shrug and say she hadn't heard of any such thing being spotted, and that it was probably just something made up in all the chaos. She had no idea if they believed her or not.
Mirabel didn't dare call out for Bruno. She held her lantern high and trudged through the orchard, squinting into the branches of the trees for any sign of movement, and her anxiety increased the longer she went without any sightings. Maybe he'd already left, maybe he'd been captured, maybe he was—
She was on the outside edge of the orchard, close to the jungle and probably half a mile away from the house before she heard, very faintly, a sniffle. She froze, backtracked several steps to squint upward into a flowering jacaranda tree, and held her lantern aloft.
She could barely make out a dark outline against the branches, and she couldn't be completely certain…but who else would be up a tree in the middle of the night?
"Tío Bruno?"
The dark shape froze but said nothing. Mirabel leaned against the tree and picked at a stray thread from her skirt.
"It's safe to come down now," she said. "Now that Antonio's home safe, all the villagers left."
A long pause. Then— "Is he okay?"
Mirabel nodded. "All healed up. Luisa too."
Another pause. Then, a bit frantically; "What-what's wrong with—Luisa was hurt?"
Mirabel winced. "Oh, um, yeah she…she got, um, she got shot—"
She heard a branch break above her and Bruno dropped out of the tree. "She got shot?"
"She's fine!" Mirabel said quickly, throwing up her hands. "Isabela and Camilo got her to Mamá crazy fast and she's all healed up and resting now."
"Luisa got shot," Bruno repeated in a whisper. He stared at the ground. "I didn't-didn't See it." He shut his eyes and his hands crept up to tear at his hair. "Es mi–es mi culpa—es mi culpa—"
Mirabel grabbed him in a tight hug, pressing her face into his chest.
"No it's not," she murmured. "No it's not."
She felt him rest his head on top of hers and exhale a shaky breath.
"Please…come back with me," she said softly. "They want to see you. More than anything."
Bruno was quiet. Mirabel pulled away to look up at his strange face. "No more hiding, Tío Bruno. Please."
He hunched his shoulders and wouldn't make eye contact. "Mirabel, I can't—I—" He shook his head. "I never Saw it," he whispered.
"Saw…what?"
"Me," Bruno said. "I never…I never come home, in any of my visions, and—and they always come true, Mirabel, always and—"
"No, no, no, no," Mirabel said. She reached for his hands and grabbed them tightly, shaking them a little in emphasis. "You are coming home with me right now even if I—I have to fight the future myself!" She looked up at him, a determined glint in her eye. "Look at your hands, Tío. And your missing tail. And–and your voice—"
Bruno's gaze snapped to hers. "How—who—?"
"The rats," Mirabel said with a shrug. "Antonio."
Bruno shook his head. "Darn things," he muttered. "Can't take 'em anywhere."
Despite herself, Mirabel snorted. "We've already done so much, Tío Bruno. Please don't give up now."
Bruno looked at her, his eyes searching her face for something. Whatever it was, he seemed to find it, because he straightened his shoulders. He nodded.
Mirabel tugged gently on his hand. "C'mon," she said. "We'll stick together."
And if his grip on her hand tightened a little, well. She squeezed him back just as tight.
The second the farmhouse was in sight, glowing golden in the dark, Bruno was a bundle of nerves. He stared straight ahead, his breathing quick and shallow, and Mirabel prayed they reached the house before he hyperventilated.
But apparently, her absence from the family was noticed. As they drew closer to the house, Mirabel spotted Pepa, holding an umbrella and raining between the trees, calling Mirabel's name.
Pepa saw them at the same time. Immediately, she dropped the umbrella and broke into a run.
"Bruno!"
Neither of them had any time to react before Bruno's hand was wrenched from Mirabel's as Pepa collided with him, bringing them both down to land in a sprawling heap. Pepa's cloud started hailing and Mirabel stepped back out of the line of fire.
"Pepa!" Bruno squeaked. "I thought—but, you hate rats—"
"Shut up, mi idiota hermanito," Pepa sobbed, clinging to him. "Just—shut up."
Bruno shut his mouth with a snap and winced as hail hit him in the face. Pepa abruptly sat up, pulling him up with her, and her face grew solemn as she looked at him for a long moment.
Bruno ducked his head, hiding behind his hair. "Lo siento," he whispered. "For-for scaring you—I didn't-didn't know, and—"
"Hush," Pepa said, cutting him off. She brushed the hair out of his eyes and gave him a watery smile. "I don't care, Bruno. I don't." Her face crumpled and she threw her arms around him again. "You made it back to us," she murmured into his ear. "That's all that matters."
Bruno let out a shuddering breath and leaned into the embrace, closing his eyes.
After a long moment, Pepa disentangled their limbs and stood, pulling Bruno to his feet. "Come on," she whispered. "Let's go find Lieta."
Bruno nodded, too overwhelmed to speak. He let his sister pull him forward.
Mirabel trailed behind them, happy tears trailing down her cheeks. "Dolores," she whispered. "If you haven't heard already, I found him. Your mamá's bringing him home. Tell the others."
Pepa refused to let go of Bruno's hand the entire walk back to the house. She dragged him up the steps to the porch and through the front door, Bruno blinking rapidly in the brighter light from the candles.
They entered the kitchen, where Agustín, Luisa, and Julieta sat around the table. When Julieta saw them she let out a cry and lurched to her feet. She stumbled toward her siblings, already weeping, her arms outstretched.
"Oh, Bruno, I'm so, so—"
Bruno shook his head and let go of Pepa's hand to grab Julieta into a tight embrace. Julieta clung to him, and he pressed his face into the crook of her neck.
"I thought we agreed," she whispered, her voice thick. "That you would be the short triplet."
Bruno let out a muffled laugh that sounded suspiciously like a sob. He pulled back a little to wipe his eyes.
A gasp behind them. Bruno looked up, toward the doorway to the rest of the house, and sucked in a breath.
Abuela stood frozen before them, staring at Bruno. Slowly, he pulled away from his sister and took a hesitant step toward her.
When she still didn't move, he stopped.
"Hola, Mamá," Bruno whispered.
Abuela flinched at the sound of his voice.
Bruno shuffled and said, "Lo siento. For-for cheating. On the math test."
To Mirabel's astonishment, Abuela began to laugh—a full belly laugh that caused her entire body to shake and tears to spring to her eyes. But the laughter quickly devolved into sobs and she started to fall to her knees. Bruno lurched forward and caught her before she could hit the floor, easing them both down. Abuela wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, stroking his hair.
"Ay, Brunito, mi bebé, lo siento, te-te fallé, lo siento, mi bebé, lo siento…"
Mirabel felt someone place their hand on her arm. She turned and saw her pá's tear-streaked face smiling down at her.
"Let's give them some privacy."
She nodded and her pá gently guided her out of the room.
Translations:
1. Buen trabajo - good work
2. Buena suerte - good luck
3. Es mi culpa - it's my fault
4. Idiota hermanito - idiot little brother
5. Mi bebé, lo siento, te fallé - my baby, I'm sorry, I failed you
