"You want to do what!" Pepa demanded, her green eyes flashing in alarm at the notion of her seventy five year old mother traveling on foot over the mountain, "Mama, are you crazy?"
"More like desperate," Camilo muttered.
"Camilo!"
"It's true Mama, she's trying to make this grand gesture in an attempt to have us forgive her for everything she's done to us," Camilo shot his Abuela a dark look, "It's not going to work," he insisted.
"Someone has to go," Abuela insisted, "and it might as well be me, I know the town on the other side of the mountain, I know how to get there."
"Why do we have to go?" Pepa demanded.
"Mirabel needs a wheelchair," Abuela insisted, "We don't have one here in the Encanto, so I'm volunteering to go to the next town and find one," she honestly hadn't thought that her children would protest at the thought of her making the journey.
"How long will it take to get to the next town?" Julieta asked, her brown eyes narrowed with concern. Honestly Abuela was surprised that she was there, seeing as Mirabel still hadn't woke up yet. Agustin was with her, so it wasn't like she was alone.
"About two hours," Abuela confessed.
"And it will take a while to find a wheelchair," Julieta pointed out, "Then you will have to come back, Mama, there is no way that you can make the trip in one day. Senora Silva and Mirabel always did the trip in two."
"Well then I'll just spend the night there," Abuela insisted.
"You shouldn't go alone," Pepa insisted.
"I'll go with," the three adults and one teenager turned around to find Luisa standing behind them, a plate of food in one hand, and a deep blush on her cheeks for realizing that she was eavesdropping.
"Luisa?" Julieta questioned.
"Someone needs to go with her," Luisa pointed out, "I'll go with, even without my gift I'm stronger then most people, besides, anyone who might cause Abuela trouble on her own would think twice about it if they see me with her. We should ask Osvaldo if we can borrow his donkey and cart."
…
Apparently having Luisa and the donkey cart going with had eased Pepa and Julieta's minds. They gave up arguing and Julieta packed them a picnic lunch to go with them. It had been a long two hours of walking before they saw the next town.
"Is this the place?" Luisa asked, staring at the tall buildings on either side of her, "Is this where Mama was born?"
"Si," Abuela said, "Maybe after we have eaten and rest a little bit, I'll show you where I use to live… If it's still standing," she shuddered, rubbing her arms together slightly before smoothing her dress and straightening her shawl.
Suddenly something shiny and bright red flew past them on the road, "What was that!" Luisa demanded.
"I… I don't know, some form of automobile probably," Abuela confessed, "They were becoming quite popular right before… everything happened."
"An automobile?" Luisa asked, "I've read about those, I didn't think that they went so fast."
By now they were between the two rows of tall buildings and Luisa couldn't believe on how many people were out and about, there were people everywhere, and automobiles as Abuela called them, were parked along the side of the street and everyone was staring at them. Some were even pointing and whispering at each other.
Finally a man who had to be around Abuela's age stepped forward, dressed similarly to Rev. Perez.
"Hola," he said, "I am Rev. Cruz, you are not from around here, is there something I can do to help you?"
"Hola," Abuela said, "I'm Alma Madrigal, and this is mi nieta, Luisa, we're from a small village northeast of here."
Rev. Cruz eyes lit up as if with understanding, "The Earthquake, they believe that the epicenter was about seven or eight miles northeast of here. Was your Village hit bad."
Alma glanced at Luisa, she really didn't want to explain just how vulnerable their village was. Luisa spoke up, "You can say that, I don't think there's a house that hasn't been damaged. What about you, any damage here?"
"Just minor structural damage, nothing major, and only a few minor injuries," Rev. Cruz announced, "Anyway, what brings you here?"
"We're looking for a wheelchair for my hermanita," Luisa explained.
"My nieta was crushed by a tree during the eathquake," Abuela explained, "Thankfully she appears to be the only one who was injured."
"I'm sorry to hear that," he said, "There isn't really any place to keep your donkey and cart here in town, but I know a farmer just on the outskirt of town that probably has room for them. Come, I'll introduce you, and then I'll show you where you can probably find a wheelchair," the Reverend paused for a second, "I also know a contractor that specializes in home modifications for wheelchair accessibility, if you are interested, I can introduce you, the boss is in my congregation."
"We might just look into that, Gracias."
…
Abuela nervously sat down on the bus that the Reverend had insisted was the fastest way to the medical supplier. She had never rode one of these before and she wasn't sure, after seeing that red automobile zoom past them, she didn't know if she wanted to ride the bus.
"Abuela, do you think this thing is safe?" Luisa asked, squeezing into the seat next to her.
Abuela smiled at her, "I don't know either, but what an adventure we will have to tell the others."
"We should have invited Isabela to come with us, this is something she would have loved to do," Luisa confessed, "She's always dreams on going on crazy adventures."
"She has?" Abuela asked, surprised, she hadn't known that, maybe it wasn't just Mirabel that she hasn't bothered to get to know.
"Oh yeah," Luisa said nodding her head, "Don't you notice that she reads adventure novels, well, whenever she gets the chance she does. Actually, no, you wouldn't notice that, she usually hides them behind one of Dolores's books of poetry. Which is probably why you thought that Mariano was right for her."
Abuela paused, remembering the few times she had walked in on Isabela reading the book of poetry, and her random outbursts that didn't make sense, "No you moron, don't go in there!" hadn't seemed like something you would comment about with a book of love poems.
"That explains so much," she confessed, "Maybe next time we come we'll bring her with us."
The two slipped into a silence as the bus pulled away from the bus stop, merging into the traffic.
"What about you?" Abuela asked, she really needed to make up to all of her children and grandchildren, not just Mirabel, "What's your big dream?"
"A vacation," Luisa confessed, not even pausing to think about it, "I don't care where, so long as it's relaxing."
Abuela blinked, Isabela dreamed of adventures, Luisa of vacations, Mirabel of going to Fashion school. What did Camilo and Dolores want in life? What did Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno? What about Antonio?
Luisa glanced out the window as the bus slowed to a stop at a bus stop, "Hey, is that a zoo?" she asked, "Antonio would love that."
Abuela peered out of the window as well, "Yes, it is a zoo, maybe we can bring Antonio with us next time we come, you can have your vacation, Isabela can have her adventure, and we can take Antonio to the zoo, it won't make up for his lost animal friends, but…"
"He'll enjoy it," Luisa assured her.
"We might as well make it a family trip," Abuela said with a sigh, "If we're bring Isabela and Antonio… I wonder if they're still doing plays, Brunito will enjoy one of them."
"So will Camilo," Luisa said, "And if it's a romance so will Dolores, and Tia."
By now the bus was pulling up at the next stop, which was the one that they wanted. Luisa and Abuela dismounted.
"You know Abuela," Luisa said softly as she helped her down the last step, "I like this side of you a lot better than the side that you show in Encanto."
"What do you mean?"
"You're nicer," Luisa pointed out with a shrug, "You didn't try to dissuade me from going on vacation. Which would never have happened even yesterday."
Abuela frowned, was she different, maybe, "I guess I've finally opened my eyes," she confessed, "The miracle was important to me, yes, very important, but the true miracle was the fact that I was able to raise three amazing kids and enjoy six amazing grandchildren. I held on so tight because I was afraid of losing everything again, losing my home for a second time. Now…"
"Now you have nothing to fear," Luisa suggested.
"Exactly."
The two women crossed the street and entered a store that was advertising that they carried medical supplies.
A man standing by the front door greeted them, "Hola, how may I help you?"
"We're looking for a wheelchair," Luisa informed him.
"A wheelchair?" he repeated, "What type are you interested in?"
"Type?" Abuela asked, perplexed, "What do you mean type?"
"Well, there are multiple styles of wheelchairs, do you want an electric or a manual wheelchair?"
Abuela blinked, turning to Luisa, maybe she knew what would work best.
"Which one do you recommend?" she asked.
"Well, it depends, on the age and personality of the person, where they'll be using it and the reason they need it. A little kid with spinal bifida will need a different type of wheelchair than an Abuelo that had a stroke."
Alma nodded, "Well, she's fifteen, extremely independent, don't you think, Luisa?"
"That's putting it lightly," Luisa insisted, "She's stubborn, is more like it."
"Hmm, and where do you live?"
"Pretty rural," Abuela confessed, "We had to travel a long way to get here."
"Well, I'm just going to say that we can rule out electric wheelchairs then, manual work better out in the more rural parts. Now is this long term or short term?"
"Long term."
"Well for long term, I suggest doing a custom one, we have the papers here to fill in an order. It's a bit more expensive, but it will be more comfortable in the long run."
"How much more is the custom one?" Abuela asked.
The man explained the price range, explaining that it would be about twice to four times as expensive as the ones they had in stock but that it would last longer, be easier to manuver, and be more comfortable for the user.
"You really believe that a custom Wheelchair is the best way to go?" Abuela asked.
"Yes, I do, would you like to see the forms?"
…
Abuela glanced at the forms, most of it was about different measurements of the person the wheelchair was for, she was going to need to take it back and have Julieta fill it out. Then she would have to come back and send it in. Then the wheelchair would be ready for pick up at the store in a couple of weeks after sending it in. That meant that she was going to have to do two more trips back here.
She glanced up from the forms, "I think we'll talk to Senor Gracia and then we'll head home."
"I thought that we were spending the night?" Luisa questioned.
"I don't see any reason we can't be home by cena," Abuela insisted, "It's hardly one o clock and we already have the wheelchair taken care of and our meeting with Senor Gracia is only an hour long, so we will be done by two. Two hours home, be home by four."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely."