It goes without saying that Bruno had certainly been hoping that Mirabel would drop it and let him handle it. Of course it also goes without saying that Mirabel would be her own true self and do exactly what Bruno didn't want her to do. That was the kind of person that she was. She would do what she felt to be right and no one could tell her differently. After all, she had wound up finding Bruno after a decade of hiding. She was a strong girl with a strong personality and an even stronger moral code. There had been a short period of time where she had felt horrible about everything that had happened and she became angry with herself the more the guilt weighed her down.
"Everything has to break before you can fix it." Is what Bruno had told her and it had put some things into perspective and had taken that guilt away in a single sentence.
How he managed to casually spit out perfectly targeted advice or some piece of wisdom that was so simple that everyone had missed it she had no idea. The worst part is that he had no clue. He'd always vehemently deny that it had anything to do with what he'd said or that it was a rare stroke of luck but she knew better. The man had no sense of self worth and his instinct was to just stay away from any and every situation that he felt he could mess up and ruin. Whenever anything went wrong Bruno was convinced that it was his fault. It made her so angry. It would do no good getting angry at him though. He'd just run away and most likely take the path of most resistance to make it harder for people to follow him.
It was difficult to try and figure out how to deal with Bruno. Everyone's methods were different, had to be different, because what worked for one person did not work for everyone. The family had a small but secret grudge against Felix for how easy he made it look. Bruno and Pepa's relationship was a disaster to say the least. Their personalities clashed so greatly and he panicked far too easily. It would always be an emotional confrontation and Bruno was terrified of another "it looks like rain" moment and would flail, and stutter his way through the situation while trying to find the best way to word things. The more Pepa cared the more aggressive she became and Bruno didn't do well with aggression. There would be yelling alongside Bruno's hushed words but it would always lead to tears for her later because Bruno didn't so much as flinch at her thunder or lightning. He didn't care nor was he intimidated about how her emotions manifested which was always a subject of upset with her.
It made her angry that he was such a humble and forgiving person. It made her angrier when he blamed himself for things that went wrong. It made her angry every time he'd talk about ruining something. Ruin, she hated that word when it came to Bruno. Whether it fell from his lips or someone else's it never failed to make her angry. Felix was also making her angry as of late.
Bruno was telling him things, important things and he would not tell her what was going on though it seemed to weigh heavily on Felix. It would start arguments but she couldn't argue with his reasoning. He'd apologize profusely, reminding her how much he loved her and that he would never keep secrets from her but he'd promised Bruno.
"Mi amor." He would say. "I made a promise. He's starting to trust me and if I say anything then he won't trust me anymore."
He'd hug her tight and make a promise to her that Bruno's secrets would only go so far and, if need be, Felix would tell the family everything and then he'd beg her to make sure that Bruno didn't know that. He was as honest with her as he could be given the situation. Others might not have actually told their spouses that they were keeping secrets from them but Felix just couldn't do that. He told her as much as he was able. Pepa might be frustrated at Bruno or angry or upset or hurt but she loved him dearly and it was painful trying to reestablish a bond that never should have been broken and, worse yet, one she hadn't realized was as bad as it was. All of those feelings just swirled around and came together in a massive cacophony of too much. It was hard to deal with on any given day but this was especially difficult.
He seemed less intimidated by his cuñados than any of the other adults. Adults was the key word. He did well enough around kids. Bruno loved kids and when it came to kids his insecurities and anxiety would almost vanish. Even his fears of the villagers took a backseat to children. He'd be terrified to go to town for so much as buying a single apple in fear that someone would be mad about a prophecy and blame him for whatever went wrong. Despite that one could still find him carrying a crying child home to their parents when they scraped their knees or got picked on by other kids. He'd hand off the tearful child to their parents and vanish as quickly as he could lest they blame him for their child's current condition. Teasing and bullying were things Bruno never stood for and he'd lectured a few kids on it already only for him to bolt at any sign of their parents.
To be entirely honest it was beyond adorable. It was especially adorable because a few kids had taken a liking to Bruno and people started calling them his ducklings. He wasn't so sure how to feel about that.
One of the most surprising recent events with Bruno was when he'd gotten into a legitimate argument with someone because they'd made a kid cry. Bruno had gone to a dark, dark place that day and Felix had never once felt the need to pry Bruno apart from the situation lest violence occur, but that day had been eventful to say the least. Felix had watched the dust solidify into stone around Bruno's feet as his eyes turned a more vibrant shade of green and Felix had nearly panicked. Of course, Bruno's anger faded to embarrassment and fear before they even reached the house. Although he had enjoyed listening to Bruno's, rather creative, threat and found himself wanting to see more.
Suffice to say watching Bruno tell someone that if they ever did something like that again he'd "dress them as lettuce and feed them to the snails" and that it would "be a slow death" was something he didn't realize needed to be on his bucket list. An angry Bruno was a three part mix of scary, hilarious, and adorable. It had only happened once and hadn't lasted long but it was memorable. Felix found himself wondering what other kinds of threats lurked in Bruno's repertoire.
Of course, it did occur to Felix the possibilities of what could happen if Bruno got honestly angry. The kind of anger that stuck. Watching the dust harden beneath Bruno reminded him of Pepa a bit and Bruno was far more powerful than anyone knew. What would happen if Bruno lost control over what he could do, everything he could do? It was concerning to say the least and a thought that felt so foreign when focused on Bruno of all people. Bruno wasn't wrong in the sense that his powers worried Felix a little. He wondered if Bruno had considered exactly what he could do with the powers he had and how dangerous he could be if he wanted.
It would be so much easier if he'd just tell people things. Fear is a great motivator though and it motivated him into secrecy, but there's another thing that people say about fear and that saying weighed heavily on Felix's mind.
Fear makes killers of us all.
He worried for the day that Bruno found his courage. There were a lot of different ways that could go and a lot of ways it could go bad. He idly thought if it'd be a good idea for someone to always be with him when he went into town? A body guard of sorts? Felix was almost certain he was overreacting and that's another good reason to keep this from Pepa for now. These secrets wouldn't stay secrets for long if Felix had anything to say about it. Bruno just needed the right kind of nudge at the exact right time. Felix just needed to be patient.
Patience was a wonderful, wonderful thing that Mirabel had none of. Bruno was certain that she felt no fear especially after watching her tear into his mamá. He could see the future and he had not seen that coming. Mirabel dedicated herself to the cause every time. Tío Bruno have a vision. Done. Isabela relax and let loose. Done. Abuela you're destroying the family knock it off. Done. Tío Bruno when I mean come home I mean it and I don't care if the whole village is there. Done. So when she said she was going to change the future and avoid yet another bad prophecy she meant it and from the moment of Bruno's exit she began to plot and this time she had a good and proper accomplice, age difference aside.
"He at least could have left it behind." Was the first thing she'd said as she watched her tío vanish into the foliage.
Leandro just laughed.
"So, this is the life of a Madrigal huh?"
"Yup." She responded.
"Hrm. Well, at least it's not boring." He shrugged. "So, what are we doing? I know for a fact you will not listen to your tío."
"And you would be right." She nodded. "I forget what direction is Liam's ranch?"
"South."
"Alright! I want to get a look at the place. You know, I've never actually seen Liam's ranch." She said as they began to walk.
"He's a man who values his privacy."
"Like tío Bruno."
"Well I think it's more like he wants a bolt hole but that too yeah."
"Yeah, he's pretty good at hiding. Did anyone tell you about that day we couldn't find him? We looked everywhere. Spent the whole day scouring Casita…..he was on the couch the whole time and no one saw him."
Leandro just laughed and laughed and laughed.
"He wasn't even trying to hide! When we asked him why he didn't say anything he said he thought it was funny and wanted to see how long it would take us to notice him."
"He's a little different behind closed doors huh?"
"Very. Needless to say my tío is very weird but very fun to be around."
"Yeah, he gets himself into enough trouble that he's a great source of entertainment if you're bored. Your mamá tell you about how I found him fighting a jaguarundi with his bare hands?"
"He didn't!" She gasped and Leandro nodded, looking rather exasperated. "It was one of his rats wasn't it?"
"Yeah, the silvery grey one."
"Frida? It tried to eat Frida? Oh tío Bruno would not have handled that well. We're not supposed to say this but she is definitely his favorite. Never goes anywhere without her. Only time they're separated is when he's sleeping. He doesn't want to roll over on any of them."
"Why aren't you supposed to say that?" He asked, raising a brow.
"He says the others will overhear and get upset."
Leandro gave a huff of laughter.
It took a fair amount of time to get to Liam's ranch and the walk was filled with conversation, mostly about Bruno. Leandro was more than a little curious of the man everyone had misjudged so greatly. There was just something about Bruno that made Leandro want to know him, to understand him. He was an enigma, a puzzle that begged to be solved. Poor guy. There was more to him and Leandro knew that from the moment he'd pulled himself up out of the dirt to watch Bruno ride away on a stallion that had very nearly done the farmer in. He'd been less afraid of Bruno and more afraid that the man was going to die. Imagine his surprise to see three people on the back of that unruly beast and then finding him nuzzling the side of the prophet's face. Even the horse knew something was up with Bruno and he wondered if maybe the creature was just as curious as he was. Perhaps he should ask Antonio about that and see what exactly was going through that thing's head.
Bruno was certainly making friends. They just weren't human friends.
Liam's farm centered in a small valley that was perfect for raising cattle so they found a good vantage point to get the layout of the place. Leandro had been there many times so he gave a verbal tour to Mirabel.
"The bull pen is on the far side of the house there." He pointed. "He has his own space but he's kept away from the cows. Often times he's let out when they're in their stalls. Just to be sure."
"There's forest bordering three fourths of his land. Why did anyone think that was a good idea?"
"Well we haven't exactly had much of a problem with large predators until now. Maybe once before I think but it wasn't a jaguar. It was a small caiman. Got a couple chickens but really wasn't much trouble. Too small to kick up much of a fuss." He turned to look at her. "That was before you were born."
"Oh it has been a while."
Liam nodded and turned back to the ranch.
"The herd's unsettled." He said with a hushed voice. "It might already be close by." He laid a protective hand over Mirabel's shoulder. "Look at how they're grouping together like that. They know something's up they just don't know if they need to be afraid yet. Don't know what the danger is."
"It'll probably come out at the far side and take a straight shot. You think?"
"Maybe. Animals are unpredictable. Especially the wild ones." He worked to keep his voice down.
"Look at the size of that thing." She could barely see the bull from where she stood.
"This is one crazy cat to do that."
"I've never heard of a jaguar going after something that big."
"Me neither but like I said animals are unpredictable. For all we know this attempt might kill it."
"True, but I'm sure we can find a way to save that bull."
"We'll figure that out. Worse comes to worse we tell Liam but I'd rather not. I will fight Liam though, no joke."
"Liam's huge."
"I said I'd fight him. I never said anything about winning."
Okay, maybe Bruno was making human friends. He just didn't know it.
Hope everyone enjoyed this chapter. I'll see you in the next one! I'll have you know that the "I'll fight him" line came direct from my sister who got in an argument with one of my friends and threatened to fight her. I told her that said friend had a black belt. Her response was "I said I'd start a fight. I didn't say I'd win it".
