One year later
This time, Mirabel brought a donkey.
Several donkeys, actually, laden down with supplies. In the absence of Antonio, whom Pepa had outright forbidden from coming in this first wave, Luisa had put herself in charge of their care—a job she took very, very seriously.
As a result, their progress was much slower than if they'd just walked, but Mirabel was just glad they didn't have to carry all the tools and luggage themselves.
Just before the final hill, Isabela stopped suddenly on the trail, a funny look on her face.
"What's wrong?" Mirabel asked, concerned.
Isabela shook her head. "Nothing, it's just…we're getting close, aren't we?"
"Sí…just a few more minutes," Mirabel said slowly. "How'd you know?"
"I can feel it; here," she said, rubbing her sternum. She frowned and looked at Mirabel. "Can't you?"
Mirabel shook her head.
"I can," Camilo said, coming up next to them.
"And me," Luisa said.
Mirabel looked back at Dolores. She also nodded.
Beside her, Mariano just looked confused. Mirabel shrugged her shoulders at him as if to say: Magic family, am I right?
He laughed and shook his head, so she knew the message was received.
As they crested over the final hill, all four of the magical Madrigals let out a gasp as they crossed some invisible barrier. Mariano's arm locked around Dolores, but she shook him off with a smile and a light laugh.
"I'm fine, mi amor," she said. "Better than fine, I feel…"
"Strong," Luisa murmured. Mirabel raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes. "A different kind of strong, Mira."
Suddenly, Camilo whooped and took off running. As he ran he shifted into various people of all different shapes and sizes, too rapidly for Mirabel to place who each person was, nearly sliding down the hill in his joy and excitement.
Isabela took off after him, colorful flora blooming in her wake. Dolores grinned at Mariano and, hand in hand, they chased off after Isabela and Camilo, leaving Mirabel and Luisa behind to mind the donkeys.
Luisa sighed. "Figures."
Mirabel rolled her eyes, smiled, and gently took the donkeys' leads from Luisa's grip. She nodded down the path.
Luisa only hesitated a split second before tearing off after the others. Mirabel just laughed and started guiding the donkeys down the rest of the hill and onto the main road.
When Mirabel finally caught up, the others were standing in a row outside of Casita, staring up at the vibrating house with something close to awe on all of their faces.
They turned to Mirabel.
"Well?" Camilo prompted, impatient. "Aren't you gonna open it?"
A few days before they were supposed to leave, Bruno had given Mirabel a small, neatly wrapped package. But when she'd moved to open it, he'd stopped her.
"Not until you're in front of Casita," he'd whispered, tapping the side of his head and giving her a small smile.
With her sisters and cousins watching, Mirabel opened it now.
Inside was a small, glowing tablet, about the size of her palm. Set within its depths was the same vision she'd seen a year ago while kneeling on the floor of a broken, dusty room: an image of her, as she was now, standing outside of Casita. But this time, the image didn't change when she tilted it.
This time, Casita stayed whole.
Mirabel handed the tablet to Camilo to pass around and straightened her shoulders. They had a lot of work to do before the rest of the family arrived.
She gave the front door a gentle pat and smiled when the house waved a tile in response.
"Hola, Casita."
The End
