Mirabel heads downstairs on the morning of the sixth day, excited to be spending more time with her mom and abuela. She stops at the entrance to the kitchen, hearing whispering. She hides behind the wall to listen in on what they were saying. She can hear three voices: Abuela, Julieta, and… Pepa?
"He came home soaking wet. Apparently they went out to the creek and decided it was a good idea to get in the water even though they both know he's sick."
Nervous shuffling.
"I'm worried, what if I leave and he gets worse, mamá? I won't be there to take care of him. Maybe you should just go without me."
A soft scoffing from Abuela.
"Nonsense, hija. You need to get out of the house every now and then or you'll eventually get sick of your home too. Pepa?"
A soft squeaking from Pepa as she's addressed.
"Could you keep an eye on Bruno today? He may not be all that sick anymore, maybe even recover completely. But, if it'll soothe Julieta's worries, then I'd like you to do that."
Pepa hums.
"Okay, I'll take care of Brunito. There's probably nothing to worry about anyway. He's gotten over it for the most part, just some sniffles and coughs."
She laughs light-heartedly.
As the conversation ends, Mirabel walks away from the door frame to pretend like she hadn't been spying on them.
"Ah, nieta. Are you all ready to go?" Abuela asks, an arm around her daughter Julieta.
"Yup! All good to go! Let's go have some fun!" She gently grabs Abuela's other arm and leads the way out of the house, saying goodbye to Casita as she does. She walks into town with the two older ladies, looking around at things they could do. "So what do you guys wanna do?" She eventually asks them. Abuela hums for a moment, stepping over to one of the festival stands.
"How about a little shopping? It helps the townspeople and you also get nice little charms and other creations." Mirabel grins, pulling her mom over to the stand.
"That sounds like a great idea! I never actually thought to check the stands and see if there's anything I wanna buy."
As the other two look at various rings and bracelets, Mirabel looks at the necklaces. Something about them fascinates her, all the different designs and plates of metal with pictures embedded in them. Eventually, she picks up one of the necklaces. A little hourglass with a green outline was attached to the necklace.
It reminds her of Bruno.
"Excuse me, how much for this necklace?" She asks the seller, who turns to her with a smile. As he rattles off the price, she pulls some pesos from her pocket, counting them up and handing them over to him.
"Enjoy, my dear!" He bows as he counts up the money himself, before turning to serve Abuela and Julieta. Mirabel smiles down at the necklace, wrapping it around her hand. As they get their things, they turn to her and smile.
"What have you got there, hija?" Julieta asks sweetly, looking down at the necklace wrapped around her fingers.
"I got this necklace to give to Bruno. It reminded me of him."
Julieta ruffles her daughter's hair. "That's very thoughtful of you, dear. I'm sure he'll love it."
While walking with Abuela and Julieta, Mirabel notices that the wind is starting to pick up a bit. The clouds overhead are slightly darker than usual. Abuela seems to notice as well, her silvery grey brows furrowing.
"That's odd. I don't think it was supposed to rain today." Julieta remarks, staring worriedly at the sky. A huge gust of wind buffets their hair and skirts around, almost knocking Abuela over. "Mamá! Are you okay?" Julieta grabs her arm so she isn't taken out by the wind, fear settling onto the three of them.
As rain starts to drip down from the sky, starting off as a light sprinkle before quickly turning into a torrent, the three stare at each other in alarm. "Pepa! Something must be horribly wrong at the house, we have to go back!" Julieta yells despairingly over the howling wind. "You take your abuela back to the house, I have to go check on Bruno!" She lets Mirabel get in her place as Abuela's support as she runs off back to the house.
Through the torrents and whipping wind, Mirabel helps Abuela move quickly through the town, making it to the plaza. The tiled floor around them starts uprooting one tile at a time, swirling in the horrid wind.
"We have to hurry!" Mirabel yells over the storm around them, causing Abuela to start running as fast as she can. She stays with her to make sure she doesn't fall as they approach the house. "Casita! Let us in, quickly!" Mirabel pleads, and the house quickly complies. The doors fly open and they tumble through the open archway.
She helps her abuela stand up and they hurry to Julieta's room, assuming that they were already in there. Once stepping inside, they notice Pepa and Julieta are in here already. Pepa is sitting in a chair as her son Camilo tries to calm her down. Mirabel feels her heart twist as she hears Bruno groaning in pain, struggling to breathe. She hurries to the side of the bed. "Mamá? How bad is it?" She asks in a panic, looking down at her tío.
His body convulses painfully as he tries his best to look at her. Her heart feels heavy and painful as she looks at him, feeling warm tears begin to stream down her face.
"Bruno… Bruno please fight it. Fight the illness. Don't let it win, please… you've come so far, don't give up now…" He grabs desperately at her hand, his whole body shivering with the effort. His skin felt like fire.
"Mirabel…" She turns at the sound of her mother's voice, feeling a soft hand on her cheek. "Please, try to go get some sleep. I promise he will be okay. I'm not going to give up on trying to heal him." She quickly administers more herbs to try and calm the symptoms of whatever illness he has. Bruno's body slowly begins to calm down as Julieta works her magic. Mirabel feels her heart ease a little.
"Okay, mamá, I'll go to bed…" She wipes her tears away. Slowly turning to leave the room. Abuela accompanies her on her walk back to her room. "Abuela… do you think he's gonna be okay?" She asks, looking up at her. Abuela's eyes hold a torrent of emotions that leave her expression unreadable.
"I don't know…" Is all she can say before heading to her room. "Goodnight, Mirabel. Try to sleep well…" She half whispers, closing the door.
