Chapter 6
Mirabel
3:45pm
Mirabel and Abuela didn't find Luisa, but they did find Señor Rendon attempting to corner a donkey. He made a leap and grab for the donkey's neck, missed, and fell flat on his face on the cobblestone street. The donkey ran. Mirabel winced. "Are you okay?"
"Of course not!" he shouted. "How could I be?" He scraped himself into a sitting position. "Luisa won't help me with my donkeys, and she says it's your fault!"
Mirabel frowned and gripped the strap of her bag tightly, shoulders tensing. "Hey. Don't talk to my abuela that way, and don't assume you have a right to monopolize Luisa's powers for things you should be handling by yourself."
Señor Rendon grabbed his hat where it had fallen, got to his feet with a grunt, and stared her and Abuela down, angrier than Mirabel had ever seen him before. He had an abrasion on the bridge of his nose from falling and a split lip. "All the workers who agreed to help me keep an eye on my donkeys while your family was recovering from losing your magic quit, because we all saw Luisa regain her powers last night."
"You should not have assumed that equated to Luisa doing your job for you," Abuela said coolly.
Mirabel was impressed. I expected you to try to placate him.
"Why wouldn't we believe that Luisa would help me?" he shouted.
Abuela raised her eyebrows. "Either lower your voice, or prepare for me to walk away."
Senor Rendon slowly took off his hat, and his expression changed, as if he finally recalled whom he was speaking to. "Doña Madrigal, I –" He cut himself off.
"Yes?" Abuela asked in a withering tone.
Mirabel felt shaky inside at seeing her least favorite side of Abuela, but it was aimed at someone else, which was a strange sensation. She did want to see Abuela handle the situation. At the same time, Abuela could be cruel.
"I will tell you what you feel," Abuela said quietly. "I have a new Gift: the Gift of magical empathy. I know exactly what you are feeling right now. You are not in pain. You are not hurt. You are angry and entitled. I feel your arrogance. And I do not appreciate your proprietary attitude toward my nieta. You have been pampered ever since Luisa was 9 years old. For ten years, you have had someone to herd your donkeys and collect them for you instead of you being responsible for your decisions in life. Your entitlement made my nieta weep. She lost her strength because you abused it. Apologize."
"Lo siento."
"To Luisa."
"She isn't here."
"And whose fault is that?"
He sunk in on himself like a little boy. "Mine?"
Abuela glanced around. "And doubtless also the fault of all the other people who took advantage of her today, when she was supposed to be inspecting buildings for me."
They had drawn a shamefaced crowd.
"Luisa said she was going home," a woman volunteered.
"I don't blame her in the slightest," Abuela said. She turned away, walked a couple steps, and then glanced at the crowd, including Señor Rendon. "I expect everyone who asked Luisa to do a frivolous chore to come by the house this evening and apologize to her." Then she faced forward and kept walking.
Mirabel walked alongside her, awed, and had to force herself not to look back. "That was incredible," she whispered.
"I wish it were not necessary," Abuela murmured. "However, there are times when you must take control of a situation and allow no dissention. Remember this."
Mirabel nodded. "I'll try." How am I supposed to ever learn to be that commanding? Isabela's attitude made more sense now. She was trained by Abuela to be that way. And in moderation…I don't think it's bad to be assertive. The cracks in Casita flashed through her mind, racing toward the candle. But the last time I was assertive…I demanded a Miracle. And all this happened. It ultimately turned out to be good, but I thought I'd made a horrible mistake. I'm so confused. I got what I wanted in the end, but getting here was so scary that I just assumed I never should have asked. "Do you ever feel like you're making mistakes?" she whispered.
Abuela looked startled. Then her expression softened. "Mi vida, I live with the doubts every day. They threaten to consume me. I have so many horrible fears, it is difficult to sleep. I speak with Pedro every night before bed to try to calm myself."
Mirabel's stomach twisted. "Then how do you keep going?"
Abuela sighed. "Pride. Anger. I'm afraid I have no good answers for you. I hope that you will find a more serene life than I have. My pride and anger ultimately threatened to destroy our family. And I hurt everyone because I relied on pride and anger to keep going each day."
Mirabel looked away, thinking hard. So I need a source of strength that isn't pride or anger. And selflessness isn't it either. That's how I broke apart on Antonio's birthday. Love all by itself isn't enough. If it were, then loving my family would have helped keep me strong.
They had gone a block when Abuela's steps slowed down.
"What is it?" Mirabel asked.
Abuela placed one hand on her chest. "Pain. Fear. Anger. Shame." She turned and looked at the church. "From there."
"Padre Agudelo can handle it," Mirabel said.
Abuela shook her head. "I'll go in and make sure that everything is under control. Go on to Casita and speak to Luisa for me."
"Okay…" Mirabel watched Abuela walk up to and into the church. You're not known for your diplomacy. You'll probably just scare whoever it is more. But it was no good telling Abuela that. She sighed and walked home. As she passed through the front door, she murmured, "Hola, Casita."
Casita's tiles rippled and tapped. Where is Alma?
"She's checking on someone who needs help at the church, even though I said Padre could handle it," Mirabel said. "Instead, she told me to speak to Luisa. Where is she?"
In her room. But give her some more time. Have lunch, Casita replied with tapping floor tiles.
Mirabel walked into the kitchen, got a hug from her má, and some fresh arepas to go with leftover beans and rice. Tía Pepa and Antonio were back from the fields, and still eating. Camilo and Tío Bruno had come and gone back to their rooms, according to Casita, Dolores was sitting at the small table reading a book, presumably on medicine, and Pá and Tío Félix were chatting.
Mamá asked, "How was the meeting?"
"It went fine," Mirabel said after another bite of arepa. "I learned a lot. I can tell I've got a lot more to study, too."
"I learned a lot, too!" Antonio piped up. He beamed at Tía Pepa and then at Mirabel. "I'm named after Tío Antonio and he is a great explorer and he's somewhere in the Encanto right now exploring new places!"
Tío Felix gave Tía Pepa a look that Mirabel was glad flew over Antonio's head. "Ah, yes, my little hermano. He was named after our tío, who was named after our abuelo. Antonio is a Rubio family name that we passed down to you." He ruffled his son's hair.
So there's a catch to this story, Mirabel noted. She continued eating. Her guess was that Tío Felix's brother was actually dead, and Tía Pepa hadn't figured out how to tactfully break that fact to Antonio.
Parce bounded in from the outdoors and greeted Antonio by bumping his head against Antonio's shoulder and making a low, terrifying sound that would have been a purr in a housecat. Antonio giggled and hugged his neck. "Hola."
"You can play with Parce outside, but not in the kitchen," Tía Pepa said.
"Okay! I'm done eating anyway. Later, I want to tell you all about my tío," Antonio said to Mirabel.
She smiled in return. "I'm excited to hear about it. But I can wait. Parce needs someone to play with."
Antonio got onto Parce's back and rode his jaguar friend out of the kitchen, into the courtyard, and out of Casita altogether.
"Stay close to Casita!" Tía Pepa called belatedly.
"You were telling us about the meeting," Mamá said.
Pá wrapped an arm around Mama's shoulders and gently leaned on her, smiling at Mirabel. "Yes, we're all ears."
"Where is Mamá?" Tía Pepa asked.
"Using her new Gift," Mirabel said. "She can feel if someone isn't having a good day, and if it's severe enough, she can't resist going to look, just in case she can help. It's better than her ignoring it, I guess. But whoever it is, they were in the church. She'll probably be coming in the door soon."
"Did the topic of people preparing to leave the Encanto come up?" Tío Felix asked.
"How did you know?" Mirabel asked.
He grinned. "I heard it through the grapevine. Now, what did the elders say?"
"They approved it," Mirabel said.
"That worries me so much," Mamá murmured. "I'd hoped that the construction of Casita would give them time to reconsider."
"I think it's important," Pá said with a frown.
Mirabel was confused to see Pa arguing with her. She couldn't remember a time when he'd ever done that. "I know it's dangerous to go, and I want to think of ways to make it less dangerous, but they have a right to go. They have a right to leave. They aren't prisoners, are they?"
"Well, no," Mamá said, looking perplexed.
"Then they can go if they want to," Mirabel said. She finished her lunch and washed up her plate. Casita rolled it into the draining rack with the other freshly plates. Mirabel turned to face her parents. "I wish I could convince Luisa to go with them, but I know she'd never leave the Encanto."
"Luisa?"
"She could beat up whatever dangerous people they encounter, and she can't be hurt. Think about it." Mirabel spread her hands. "Luisa would be the perfect person to go with them." She sighed. "In theory." She dropped her hands.
"I can't actually see our Luisa beating anyone up, despite some threats she's had to make over the years," Pá said.
Dolores squeaked, signaling that she'd been listening to the conversation the entire time. "If it's a bodyguard you want, Mirabel, ask Isabela."
"That's a good point." Mirabel brightened. "Isa has already proven her plants can be dangerous. She can punch people with them, tie them up, attack with pollen, oh, and make carnivorous and poisonous plants grow, too."
"And I already know she wants to see the world outside the Encanto," Dolores said. "I heard her."
"Mamá would never let her go," Mamá said, folding her arms over her chest. "But I admit that that's a shame. I wouldn't worry about her ability to take care of herself, and I do think traveling would be good for her. She's felt stifled by us. By the Encanto. Some real freedom would help her to appreciate that we aren't trying to trap her here, and she can always come home."
"Where is Isa?" Mirabel asked.
Casita waved her cupboard doors. I haven't seen her since breakfast.
Mirabel frowned. "Casita says Isa hasn't come back for lunch yet."
"I assumed she'd been back early," Mamá said.
"Well, she's got to be hungry soon if she isn't now," Pá said.
Abuela and Isabela entered the kitchen. Isabela's eyes were puffy and her nose was red.
Mamá came over immediately and hugged her. "You've been crying."
Abuela sighed. "It is that Zapata boy. He harassed her. She never did get to speak to Señor Castillo about her idea for a temporary bridge made of vines and other natural materials. She didn't know if he was waiting for her, so she stayed within the church."
"Of all the nerve," Pá complained. "We told that boy no. Isa isn't interested. He knows not to bother her."
"But he sees the broken engagement to Mariano as a chance," Mirabel groaned.
Isabela's hands clenched at her sides, and her eyes flashed. Little thorny succulents popped up in her hair. "He was angry when I told him that I wasn't courting anyone. He accused me of lying to him. And then he started demanding to know who 'he' is. There is no 'him'!"
Mamá covered her mouth with one hand.
"Okay, that's way over the line," Mirabel said. "Let me talk to him."
"What can you do?" Pá demanded.
"Well…" Mirabel looked to Abuela. Then she met her pá's gaze. "I kind of, sort of, became Abuela's heir today in front of the elders. So…I'm hoping that makes a difference to Thiago?"
Everyone except Abuela stared at her in apparent shock.
"I wasn't thinking," Mamá whispered, breaking the silence first. "When you put the doorknob in the front door and Casita came back to life – because the magic of the Miracle went to you –"
"When the Miracle was restored because of Mirabel, I knew that God was telling me that he had appointed Mirabel as my successor," Abuela said.
Mirabel smiled nervously. "I know this is a big surprise."
"We will talk about this more over supper," Abuela said. She squeezed Mirabel's shoulder. "But as you can well imagine, this means I must begin training Mirabel right away."
"Honestly, I think we all assumed you would keep Isabela as your successor anyway," Tío Felix said. "After all, she doesn't need the Miracle to be a good leader."
"Now that I know I have no choice in choosing who to pass the Miracle to, I strongly feel that this is a sign that I need to give up control over this process and allow padre de dios to guide us," Abuela said.
Isabela put on a painful smile and hugged Mirabel. "No, it's okay. I want you to. I'm proud of you. You definitely earned this, and you deserve a chance to shine." As she leaned in close, she whispered in Mirabel's ear, "My room, later. We have to talk about this." She released Mirabel with a redoubled smile. "We should celebrate tonight."
"I'm still hungover from celebrating the return of the Miracle," Tío Felix said.
"Let's hold off on that celebration," Mirabel said. "I mean, it's a big surprise, but it's not such a big deal…I mean, yeah, the town needs to know, and so does everyone in the family. But it's not like I'm taking over or anything. I've got a lot of work to do for a long time before I'm ready, and I want Abuela to stay with us a long time."
Dolores watched Mirabel with a dry and knowing expression. "Hm. Yes. We should wait until you feel ready to celebrate."
"Has anyone checked on Tío Bruno?" Mirabel asked. "I'm worried that he has a migraine."
"I'll do it," Dolores promised. She rose from the table. "I'll make something for him to drink that will help him." She took her book and left, presumably upstairs to her room to begin working on the medicine for Tío Bruno.
Pá said, "Mirabel, I appreciate you wanting to handle this, but your má and I are the people who need to handle Thiago. We need to speak to him, and his parents."
Mamá looked worried. "Yes, let's be tactful." She glanced at Isabela. "But not soft. I promise you, we want this sorted out so that he never does anything like this again."
"You're not an object to be fought over," Pá said to Isabela firmly.
Isabela hugged Má and Pá. "If no one minds, I want to go to my room for a little bit."
"Of course no one minds," Má said, seeming concerned.
"Thank you." Isabela left the kitchen.
Abuela sighed. "I cannot help but feel that this is my fault."
"How is it your fault?" Mirabel asked, skeptical.
"I should have intervened long before this moment," Abuela said.
"Well, that may be true, but we'll do the best we can now," Má said.
Má and Pá left for the Zapata bookmaking shop, the second story of which was the Zapata home.
Abuela looked old and frail. "What of Luisa, Mirabel? Have you spoken with her?"
Mirabel shook her head. "Not yet. Casita told me to wait. She thinks Luisa needs room."
"I'll go speak with Señor Castillo about how long the new bridge will take myself." Abuela departed for town after she ate lunch.
Tía Pepa nervously twisted the end of her braid in her hands. "Thiago had better leave Isabela alone from now on."
Mirabel folded her arms over her stomach and looked at her feet. "Today's not exactly going how I wanted," she muttered.
