Chapter 4

1:30pm

Mirabel

Mirabel and Abuela set off for town to attend the meeting. The café was the elders' preferred meeting spot to drink coffee, eat pastries, and gossip when there was no official business to conduct. Unlike a formal government, they didn't meet in secret in a civic building. They always met out in the open, and anyone who had a question for the elders knew where to find them. Mirabel turned and waved to Casita as they left. "¡Hasta luego, Casita!"

Casita waved back with her brightly painted shutters, and the archway of the door tapped out an encouraging reply: You will do fine!

Mirabel smiled at that. I hope so. Casita was like another parent to her; living for a month without Casita's support had felt like someone kicked all the air out of her lungs with an iron-soled sandal. "So, Abuela…wanna tell me why I'm coming to a meeting of the elders? I mean, obviously, I'm only 15 years old." She chuckled nervously. "If it were just about telling the elders more about the magic coming back and what everyone's new Gifts are, you could do that yourself."

"Mirabel, I don't think you realize how important you are now that you are the source of the Encanto's Miracle." Abuela gestured broadly. "All this will be yours after I am gone."

"Mine? What do you mean?"

Abuela shot Mirabel a glance that was at once warm, solemn, and secretive. "It is time to tell you how the Encanto is run. The first lesson is that the rest of our fellow survivors consider the Encanto to belong to me, because I am its original creator. I may not directly rule anything in the sense of making laws all by myself, but I have special duties. And now, so will you."

Mirabel stared at her.

Abuela shook her head. "I am aware that you, my grandchildren, do not yet know, with the exception of Dolores, and partially Isabela, although I was trying to pace her so that she did not become overwhelmed by all of the details of what it means to be a Madrigal. However, now that God has chosen you as my successor, I must train you in everything I know and everything I do, so that when I am gone, the Encanto is safe, and everything can remain as it is now."

"Hold on," Mirabel protested. "I'm your successor? What about Mamá? Or Tía Pepa? Or Tío Bruno?"

"God chose you. Furthermore…no one can see this family as clearly as you do. We all have our problems, and those problems and shortcomings were all exposed when the Casita I built crumbled away into nothing. You built us a new home, Mirabel. A new life. A new Miracle sprang forth from your hand. The future of the Encanto truly is coming from you."

"No pressure," Mirabel said with a nervous laugh.

"I hope I will be around for many years to come, so that we need not rush through your training," Abuela said. She stopped Mirabel with a gentle hand and hugged her. "Mi vida, you should be proud to be the one to inherit our family's most important legacy. What is all this fear?"

Oh, yeah. She can feel my feelings now. Mirabel's smile was wobbly. "I'm just…not used to the positive attention. I don't know what to do. I wasn't told how to accept compliments like Isabela."

Abuela looked crushed. "From now on, the attention you receive will be very positive. I may never be able to redeem myself in your eyes for the way that I treated you before, and how the things I said made you feel, but I can be here now, to change things now."

Mirabel nodded quickly. "I understand. I'm not trying to dwell on the past. I want to focus on now. On the future. It's just…going to be scary for a while."

"Unexpected changes in life are scary," Abuela agreed. She released Mirabel gently. "What has gotten us – all of us – through this is being here for each other. No matter what, we are a family."

Mirabel put on a smile she didn't feel yet and did her best to imagine a future self full of confidence, an adult woman who led the Encanto. "The amazing family Madrigal."

Abuela smiled in return. "Yes."

The rest of the way to the café, Mirabel looked around her at the Encanto and the town with new eyes. All of this is going to be mine? This suddenly made sense of why Dolores had sometimes privately referred to Isabela sarcastically as Princesa. Why didn't anyone tell me that we're practically nobility? Abuela's emphasis on helping the Encanto took on a new importance. She told us to do that to keep us humble, didn't she? She didn't want our power to go to our heads. She was afraid that we would abuse the magic and abuse the people of the Encanto. She was afraid we would act just like the Spanish hacienda owners.

Mirabel also noticed a few donkeys nonchalantly wandering through the streets. Señor Rendon hasn't fixed his pasture? I thought he took care of this already. What has he been doing while we had no Gifts?

When they reached the café, the remaining eight elders besides Abuela were already there, sitting outside in front at two tables pushed together with a tablecloth over the top. Two plates of varied pastries were already on the combined table, including different flavors of cocadas, and everyone, of course, had coffee. The daughter of the café owner, who was Isabela's age, came out as Abuela and Mirabel approached, filling the one empty cup with coffee, anticipating Abuela's request.

"Bring an extra chair, please," Abuela said to her. "Mirabel will be joining us today."

"Yes, Doña." She went inside and fetched a chair from an empty table.

All the elders shifted their chairs over to make room for Mirabel.

The elders were all the adults who had originally chosen to follow Pedro away from their homes. Of course, that included Abuela. Over the years their number had dwindled, and most recently, Señor Rodriguez had been exiled in infamy for attempting to throw Bruno out of the Encanto and harm Luisa. Félix's father had died last year. The remaining nine elders who made the original crossing were Old Arturo, who was a sheep herder, Dr. Herrera, the settlement's only doctor before Julieta acquired her Gift, Constanza Rubio, Félix's mother, Diego Plácido, the head male schoolteacher, Benedicto Jiménez, a coffee farmer and head of the Encanto's tiny Coffee Growers Association, Maria Tejedor, the town's foremost textile maker, Sofia Campana, the head female schoolteacher, and Paola Vargas, a butcher who made the best chorizo in town and who had outlived two husbands.

Of the nine, Mirabel only felt comfortable with Old Arturo and Dr. Herrera. Old Arturo was an elderly Afro-Latino man with closely cut hair who wore a yellow poncho over his light brown shirt and pants and a striped farmer's hat. He was always deferential toward Abuela, and Mirabel had wondered more than once if he were in love with her. Dr. Herrera carried his black doctor's bag and wore his beaten up fedora. His suit was out of style and had been fitted for a younger him, so the shoulders were too broad. He had shrunk with age. His salt-and-pepper mustache contrasted with his iron gray hair. His features could have been fierce, but he had the kindest eyes. He always smelled a little of cigar smoke.

The other elders ranged from people Mirabel felt awkward towards to people she didn't understand to people who were so venerable in the community that she was overwhelmed. Having been educated by both Diego Plácido and Sofia Campana from age 5 through the age of 12, when school in the Encanto ended, put Mirabel on guard around them. She couldn't shake the feeling that Señora Campana was judging her posture and wondering if she could still recite her multiplication tables. While she wasn't a tall woman, she exuded tallness. Her posture was always rigidly straight, and she wore her graying hair in a low bun at the nape of her neck. Her clothing was extremely conservative. Señor Plácido was gentlemanly and reserved, and dressed even more formally than Mirabel's papá. Mirabel had hated to explain her low grades to him during bi-yearly conferences. Maria Tejedor she was in awe of, as all the Encanto's finest bolts of cloth came from the Tejedor Studio. Mirabel was careful with the precious cloth and only used it on fancy projects. Senora Tejedor always wore extremely fashionable native clothing with beautiful patterns and colors. Félix's mother Constanza Rubio was a heavyset woman with salt and pepper hair that was mostly salt at this point, but she had arms of steel and a loud laugh to match the rest of Tío Felix's family. Mirabel was intimidated by her and found her unpredictable. The head of the Coffee Growers Association, Benedicto Jiménez, she didn't know very well. He was tall like Mirabel's papá, but otherwise didn't look alike. Tía Pepa collaborated closely with him on weather conditions that benefited the coffee. Paola Vargas was no-nonsense and earthy, which Mirabel liked, but in the past, Señora Vargas hadn't liked her very much, and Mirabel didn't know why.

Abuela was greeted with hugs and kisses from her fellow female elders. The men stood and took off their hats and bowed. Everyone exchanged greetings. There was a lot of, "¡Hola, buenas tardes! ¿Cómo estás?" and "No tan bien, pero está bien." "Ah, what's wrong?" "Arthritis, nothing new. We're still here. Why complain?"

Mirabel greeted everyone politely, self-consciously on her best manners.

Diego Plácido stroked his well-trimmed mustache and goatee. He was thin and not very tall, his hair white with age. As always, he wore a suit. "Mirabel, the one who put the doorknob in the door and brought Casita back to life." His gaze shifted from Mirabel to Abuela. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"Yes," Abuela said.

Félix's mother hugged Mirabel tightly, startling her and knocking the breath out of her. "This is momentous!"

"This changes everything," Señor Plácido declared.

Abuela nodded. She gestured and everyone sat down, including Mirabel. Mirabel gathered her hands in her lap nervously, unsure of what to do or say. Abuela said, "I had hoped to discover the way to pass on the Miracle when it was time, as you know. However, it seems that God passes the Miracle on to the next family member who has proven themselves worthy in His eyes. Mirabel not only received the Miracle, but also was at last given a Gift. It is difficult to see in this light, in broad day, but those are not ordinary glasses she is wearing. In fact, those glasses are a manifestation of her Gift: the Gift of sight."

Mirabel cracked a small smile that she was sure showed how terrified she felt inside. She reached up and demonstrated by passing her hand through the glasses, showing the elders that her glasses were made out of the light of the magic. "I don't know how to use my Gift yet, but I'll learn."

"Mirabel's training to be my successor will begin at once," Abuela promised.

Señora Campana looked at Mirabel with an unreserved expression of doubt. "We have to place our faith in God."

Mirabel tightened the corners of her mouth to keep from scowling. I knew it. You still think that I got bad grades on purpose. It never occurred to you that there might be something else going on with me.

"Dios mio," Señora Vargas groaned. "All of that wasted time on training Isabela, only for the heiress to become Mirabel."

Mirabel bristled. Why is that so terrible to you? She kept her mouth shut, barely.

"You realize what this means," Señora Tejedor said. Her fellow elders looked at her expectantly. Apparently, they were not going to guess what she was referring to. She leaned back in her chair. "Mirabel has just become the most marriageable woman in the Encanto."

Mirabel cringed. What?

"You're right," Dr. Herrera exclaimed. He looked at Mirabel with an expression of wonder, then of humor. "All the young men chasing Isabela will switch their attentions to Mirabel."

"Wait, no," Mirabel protested. "Everyone was chasing Isabela because she's beautiful."

Félix's mother shook her head with a wry smile. "Ay, so naïve. If it were about beauty, my granddaughter Dolores would have warranted more attention. And there are other beauties in the town. But the only woman who counted in the young men's eyes, and the eyes of all of their mothers, was Isabela. Because Isabela held the power to become the one who owns the Encanto."

That rearranged Mirabel's thinking. "But…how did I not know this?"

"Oh, I doubt that young people do know this. Some of those young men doubtless have no idea why their parents were so set on them catching Isabela's attention," Señor Plácido said. "And, if one has no interest in politics, then one has no interest in who Isabela is – or was. She is merely a pretty girl who makes flowers. Certainly that was Mariano's impression." He sighed. "As an educator, I must say Mariano is a particularly poor student, and it is no surprise that he was unable to grasp the political power actually being offered to him. Isabela suited his ideal of a beautiful, sweet, artistic woman, and that was enough for him."

"Which is precisely why I thought they made a good match," Abuela argued, frowning. "And I am not going to allow anyone to court Mirabel for the sake of politics. If they cannot be interested in Mirabel herself, then they will never become close to her. I guarded my daughters, and I will guard my granddaughters."

Dr. Herrera chuckled. "Spoken like a true abuela."

Old Arturo broke the lighthearted atmosphere. "Doña Alma, what will happen to you now that you are not the bearer of the Miracle? Surely this is not a sign that you will leave us soon?"

Everyone, including Mirabel, looked at Abuela with horror. Did the Miracle pass to me because Abuela is dying? She strained to use her new Gift to detect any signs of illness, but Abuela looked strong and healthy. Abuela's color was good, her eyes were clear, her breathing was easy, and she was certainly as sharp-witted as usual.

Abuela waved off the suggestion with a smile and shake of her head. "It is nothing like that. It is simply time for a successor to be definitively named. And, I have received a new Gift: the gift of empathy. I feel others' emotions as my own. I am more connected to all of you in the Encanto than ever. Surrounding me, full of warmth, is the love and happiness of our people."

However, even as she finished speaking, her brow furrowed, and she turned around in her chair. "Someone approaches with a problem."

The elders exchanged glances.

The father of Mirabel's older friend Lupita Morales, Señor Morales, approached Abuela with hat in hand, a few other men with him. "Perdóneme. We know this is your meeting time. The house is finished, as we all promised. We have come to beg you to consider our request to leave the Encanto to find our families."

Abuela rose, tears in her eyes, hand over her chest. "I am so sorry that I did not listen before when you poured your hearts out to me. I have been very selfish. You must go find your families, and have everything you need to assist you."

Everyone stared at Abuela in shocked silence. The petitioners then got on their knees and wept. "Thank you," Señor Morales choked out. "I promise you that we never meant you disrespect. It is only…our families –"

"You will have food, what pesos we have saved, and medicine," Abuela promised, wiping her eyes. "And our blessing. In fact, we beg of you to carry letters for those of us who are not coming, so that we might communicate to our families that we are well."

"We will deliver those letters," Señor Morales vowed.

Mirabel was so relieved that Abuela had relented that she almost cried. Only a few weeks ago, Abuela felt that the people who wanted to leave were stabbing her in the back. Now, thanks to Abuela's new Gift allowing her to feel what Señor Morales and the others felt, she was moved to compassion.

xxx

The rest of the meeting was devoted to planning the departure of the search party. Now that they knew they would be leaving, they needed to prepare for the journey. Arrangements would be made for some family members to stay behind and mind their farms so that the crops would not spoil or get off schedule for planting. Food would be stockpiled, and supplies packed, including medicine and water. Even though the Encanto was essentially an outpost in the wilderness, ironically Colombia felt like the real frontier.

As the meeting ended, Mirabel still saw no sign of Luisa. "I wonder where Luisa is. I thought she was going to stop by the meeting and tell us how many buildings were damaged."

"Inspecting all the buildings in town might take a long time," Abuela said. "I'm not concerned."

"Let's go check on Má and Dolores. They were going to be at the plaza handing out healing remedies. We can get them to take a break and come home with us for lunch," Mirabel suggested.

Abuela squeezed her arm gently, smiling. "Good idea."

Quickly, however, Mirabel and Abuela collected a trail of children. Abuela looked confused, but Mirabel felt she should have expected this. Cecilia, Alejandra, and Juancho ran directly up to her, apparently not as intimidated of Abuela. "Mirabel!"

"Hola," Mirabel said with a grin. "We're on our way to the plaza. Que pasa?"

"Our parents made us go home early last night," Juancho said.

"Yeah, we didn't get to see your new rooms," Cecilia complained.

"Is Antonio's room still bigger on the inside?" Alejandra asked.

Mirabel was feeling mischievous. "Why don't you come by later and see for yourselves?"

"I can't wait that long," Alejandra protested.

"Can Bruno still tell the future?" Juancho asked at the top of his voice.

Abuela cringed slightly. "My, what amazing lungs you have."

"Yeah, did everyone get their Gifts back?" Cecilia asked.

"You're not gonna leave me alone, are you?" Mirabel teased.

"No," the children said in unison.

"I want to know all about the new magic," Juancho said.

"Yeah, sing us a song," Alejandra said.

"Sing us a song. Please?" another little girl begged.

Abuela looked at Mirabel curiously.

Mirabel held up her hands. "Okay, okay, okay." Making up rhymes on the spot for the children had long since become a game for her, and she enjoyed the quick thinking it required. She put on her performance face and did a dramatic twirl. "We have a new home, worthy of celebration. Once our house crumbled, we built a new foundation."

She whirled and danced. "I love my family, an ever-changing constellation. We're all stars, and we help each other shine."

Abuela took Mirabel's hand and gently led Mirabel in a twirl and sang in a steady voice, "Let's be clear, Mirabel leads the way. She made us who we are today, and every day we count our blessings that she chose to stay."

Mirabel smiled so hard that her cheeks hurt. She'd never expected Abuela to participate. Abuela's youthful self, the one who clumsily flirted with Abuelo Pedro during the Festival of Little Candles, flashed through Mirabel's mind. You loved having fun, once. She did an exuberant dance for the rapt children. "I'm proud of the family Madrigal! Together, we are the family Madrigal! We're on our way!" She danced her way down the street toward the plaza, earning laughter and clapping from passersby. "Where all the people are special and irreplaceable, I'm part of the family Madrigal!" She looped back around in a circle around Abuela, not wanting to get too far ahead.

The spectacle attracted even more children.

"¡Guau! It's Mirabel!"

Mirabel laughed. "My older sister Isabela can grow anything, especially cacti when she's mad. My older sister Luisa is super strong and not ashamed to cry when she's sad. We all need to let out our feelings. It's not wrong!"

Abuela danced with some of the children, joy suddenly suffusing her normally stern features.

They reached the edge of the plaza, where the mural of the family had been painted on the side of one of the market buildings. Mirabel ran up to the mural and turned to the children, pointing at the painted figures. "My Tía Pepa, her mind affects the weather. Whatever she imagines happens without harm. My Tío Bruno, he used to see the future. Now he's a lucky charm." Mirabel scanned the plaza, expecting to see him, but he wasn't there. Wait, where is he? Maybe he has a headache or something.

She refocused on the crowd of children. "Cousin Dolores, her herbs can heal the injured and sick. Cousin Camilo slows down time. Cousin Antonio still befriends all animals, understanding them is his trick."

Má and Dolores saw Mirabel and Abuela and the children, and Má waved.

Mirabel ran up to her and hugged her. "Oh, and my má Julieta, here's her deal: she gave up the Gift to heal. Now she can make you feel better by singing, it's for real. You can come to her for help for any ordeal!"

Má hugged her and kissed her cheek.

Mirabel smiled and exchanged the hug and kiss.

Pá and Tío Félix entered the plaza by the road that was a straight shot from Casita to the town. Mirabel guessed they had the same idea she had: collect Má and Dolores and go home for lunch. Without someone to come get her, Má would work all day without resting and just take a few bites of food and say she was fine.

Mirabel danced her way up to them, and was delighted that they each took a turn dancing with her. "Pá and Tío Félix finally got their Gifts in the family Madrigal! And now they're as magical as the rest of the family Madrigal. Tío Félix gets us to speak our minds, it's therapeutic, and my Pá is acrobatic. That's how they became magic. Now you've met the family Madrigal!"

"Wait, what's your Gift?" Cecilia asked.

"You got one this time, didn't you?" Alejandra asked.

"She sure did," Pá said proudly.

Mirabel smiled lopsidedly. "I'm still figuring it out. All I know is that it has something to do with sight." To Má she said, "Okay, time for lunch. And maybe a siesta. You're not going to work so hard anymore."

Má chuckled. "Yes, Mirabel. I promise I'm coming. Would you find Luisa for me? I don't want her to overwork either."

"That should be no problem," Mirabel said. "She's got to be around here somewhere. It's not like she's hard to find. I mean, she's head and shoulders above everyone else."

Abuela said, "I'd better go with you. I don't want her to think I disapprove of her taking a break for lunch." She smiled at the others. "You go on ahead."

Má kissed Abuela's cheek, and they waved to each other as they parted ways, with Má, Pá, Dolores, and Tío Félix walking back to the house, and Mirabel and Abuela headed toward the part of town they hadn't been through yet today.

"I understand now what you were doing the day of Antonio's birthday party," Abuela murmured.

Mirabel glanced at her. "Huh? What I was doing? What do you mean?"

Abuela sighed. "I was arranging the flowers, and Dolores was helping me to hear what was going on in town so that I would know if there were any unexpected setbacks to our preparations as quickly as possible so that we could handle it, and a massive group of children was following you around and shouting your name. It was a disturbance. I demanded to know what you were doing. And then Alejandra claimed you were going to tell them your Gift, which I knew was impossible."

"Oh. That." Mirabel felt leaden. "Yeah…they started out by demanding to know what all of our Gifts are. And it came to me. And I couldn't figure out how to tell them I didn't have one. So they…uh…chased me. They thought it was a game and I was teasing them. But I wasn't. I just didn't wanna talk about it. That sure didn't turn out well, did it?"

"I know I can never make it up to you in words, but I am so sorry," Abuela whispered.

Mirabel shrugged. "Seasons change. Now I'm your successor, and you're going to train me. Seems like God's arranged for redemption for both of us."

Author's Note: Guau is a Spanish version of wow. Que pasa means, "What's up?" It's a way friends greet each other, just like in English.