Mirabel was feeding the chickens behind Casa Mariano with the marginal assistance of Dolores's children- Alma, and her twin younger siblings. She was keeping an eye on Casita, and finding whatever excuse necessary to stay within view.
Bruno hadn't come out that morning, not even for breakfast when she knocked. Something was up.
Mirabel wiped the lenses of her glasses clear of condensation with the sleeve of her shirt- what remained of the mist burned away by the morning sun. The younger twin Rafael grabbed a handful of chicken feed and attempted to put it over the fence of the enclosure. He unfortunately mistimed the act of letting go, so that it fell directly in his own hair. Oh well.
"Thanks Raf," Mirabel gave him an encouraging thumbs up. He smiled absently, grabbing another round from the bucket Mirabel was carrying and dropping it immediately on himself again. Alma took her own handful and spiked it with concussive force into the pen, sending the chickens into uproarious clucking.
"Nice," she confirmed. Alma gave Rafael a supercilious look. "Could you give Elena a few pointers?"
The other twin Elena also had a handful of feed, but the confusion in her eyes revealed that she didn't know the conditions on which she should let it go.
As Mirabel lingered, she could feel Abuela's list of tasks burning a hole in her mochila. Perhaps it was selfish to put her favorite above the duties to the rest of the community- but surely one day couldn't hurt? There had been no uproar, no spontaneous fires. In fact, things had been ticking along smoothly for a while.
Just as Mirabel's excuses were wearing thin, she spotted a figure pacing with a jerky, uneven gait around Casita. He gestured, having an animated conversation with himself. Mirabel's heart leapt at the sight. Bruno.
"Hey, you guys?" Mirabel was about to ask if Dolores's children could manage themselves. As she turned, she saw Alma had grabbed Rafael by the knees and was attempting to shake the kernels from his hair into the pen. Well. "New mission: follow me, but secretly. Like hide and seek."
Mirabel put down the bucket and brushed her hands together to dislodge the last of the chicken feed. She headed up the path towards Bruno, Dolores's children hanging back, mostly due to Alma. Bruno seemed to register her approach about halfway and wrung his hands - unsure whether to flee or stay.
As she drew within a couple feet of him, she saw that the shadows under his eyes seemed deeper than usual. She scanned him head to toe, worrying that he had injured himself somehow. Nothing except the new tic Mirabel had noticed in the past few weeks- some muscle on his back that would act up when he was agitated until her mom healed it. His expression was troubled.
"You okay?" Mirabel raised her eyebrows in alarm.
"No, I mean yes! I'm fine!" Bruno took a whole fistful of salt from his pocket and threw it over his shoulder. So no, then. It occurred to Mirabel that this could be something urgent, maybe even dangerous.
"You'd tell me if something terrible was going to happen?" She tried to hide her worry.
"I don't know, I mean how to even say it, it's just-"
"Does… someone die?" Mirabel felt her blood run cold. It was too soon. She couldn't handle another one. To her relief, Bruno sobered immediately.
"No," he said, giving his head a rough shake.
"Sorry, no, I'm being ridiculous. Not like there's anything to be done anyway. I don't know why I keep getting these visions… "
The question if he would tell Mirabel what the vision was went unanswered. He clearly cared enough about what he saw to worry though. Mirabel could protect him from the blowback- she knew she could. And maybe, there was something else she could do? The silence and Mirabel's insecurities grew. Finally, she couldn't take it.
"Would you tell me?" Mirabel asked.
A wary cast clouded Bruno's expression. The question was really if he would trust her.
"Tell her what?" asked Alma. She and her two siblings wanddered up the path behind Mirabel. "We got bored."
Bruno sighed, and then seemed to make up his mind all at once.
"I don't want to say it outright, but-" he hesitated. "Something to do with bees?"
Ay, Agustin, Mirabel thought- imaging her mother's voice.
"Understood." She tried to infuse her voice with confidence. "Let me take care of it."
She made the same motion that Bruno had the night he told her about Luisa's date- finger on her lips. Bruno nodded. He looked so worn, like a child's stuffed animal that had been loved into frayed scraps. Mirabel suddenly wanted to hug him, but she quashed the impulse.
Instead, she turned to the three children who watched without comprehension.
"You three stay with Tio Bruno, okay? Be nice."
She strode purposely down the path, ignoring Bruno's protests.
"Uh, you kids like rats?" She heard him say faintly.
As she reached the outer edge of the village, her steps began to speed with a new urgency. Soon, she was in a full out sprint. Mirabel dodged a cart of barrels, hopping a small fence to get to the center of the village. A flash of orange caught her eye and she ducked between two men carrying a pile of planks over their shoulders. She stumbled forward into the wooden post of a street lamp, swinging around it while righting herself.
The orange was the colorful shirt of Felix, drinking coffee and laughing with a group of old women in bright dresses. He had his head thrown back, and by all means seemed to be having a great time.
"Where's mom?" Mirabel breathed, leaning on the post she had stumbled into.
Felix seemed to notice her for the first time and quirked an eyebrow. Mirabel took a deep breath and tried again.
"Do you know where Julieta is? There is… will be a medical emergency probably. Brns vsn..."
Mirabel mumbled at the end, not sure if Bruno wanted his involvement completely obfuscated.
"What's that?" Felix straightened up from the wall, drawing closer.
"Bruno's vision," Mirabel repeated, quiet so only he could hear. "Bad one about dad and bees."
"Ah," Felix handed his cup of coffee to the old lady in maroon. "I left them somewhere around the new house. I can take you."
"Thank you, let's go!" Mirabel remembered her manners and bobbed a rushed courtesy to the women Felix had been drinking coffee with. They nodded back, continuing their discussion more quietly without her loud uncle to be heard over.
Mirabel and Felix took off down the street- Mirabel half running. She had to double back. Felix was strolling at a pace that was frankly, short of casual.
"You don't seem very concerned?' Mirabel tried not to sound impatient. "About Bruno's vision?"
It was a serious emergency. Why were they taking their time? Felix took one look at her worried face and smiled.
"Chica," he laughed, "Tio Bruno's visions always come true."
Well, of course they do if you won't even try jogging! Mirabel forced herself to slow, even if she was tempted to sprint laps around Felix like a hyperactive dog. Bruno seemed to think there was some value in knowing, or why else would he be so torn up about them?
Julieta shimmered into view through the crowd in front of them.
"Mom! Hey!"Mirabel waved, jumping over the crowd with each word. "Bees?"
Mirabel could see the understanding dawn on her face. Julieta joined them at the edge of the street intersection and they made their way to the new house under construction.
After what felt like hours but probably elapsed in minutes, they arrived at a two story building. The second floor was still an exposed skeleton of wood waiting to be filled with straw and covered in stucco. Luisa was positioned at the back and lifted heavy objects, tools, and people between floors. The work seemed peaceful. Mirabel knew they were ahead of schedule, in fact.
But just then, there was a flurry of movement. Mirabel's eyes were drawn to the trees at the edge of the yard. Her father was for some reason at the top of a ladder, a habit that everyone tried to dissuade him from to no avail. He was trimming the branches of a tree overhanging the house - another thing he wasn't supposed to do. Tempting fate.
Sure enough- before their eyes a swarm of bees emerged from the foliage where he had disturbed their nest. They mobbed Agustin in such numbers that they could only see swipe after unsuccessful swipe of his clippers as he tried to descend the ladder.
"Ay," bemoaned Julieta, just like Mirabel had imagined she would.
About a quarter of the way down the ladder started to list backwards, and before anyone could move, the whole thing toppled over with one of the extravagant crashes that only her dad was capable of producing. Mirabel winced.
By the time the dust cleared, Agustin's face was already turning red and puffy. His arm was bent at an odd angle, and he struggled to sit up. Julieta rushed towards him, digging in her apron for a little leaf-wrapped package - bocadillo. She voiced her displeasure at Agustin's risk taking. Frivolous, she said. Should know better by now. Taking his life into his hands.
Felix walked up next to her and stood with his hands on his hips.
"I think we arrived just in time, eh?"
"What if," Mirabel already knew the answer but still felt torn about it. "What if we arrived like, three minutes earlier?"
Felix gave her a shrewd look and tapped his finger on his temple, clicking his tongue with each tap.
"Repeat it with me, Tio Bruno's visions always come true!"
Then, liner delivered, he sauntered away. Felix couldn't resist punctuating his statements with those kinds of theatrical gestures, even if Mirabel knew he had nowhere to be except gossiping with his old lady friends.
So she couldn't prevent any part of the future. She hadn't even known she was testing it.
Mirabel glanced back at her mother and father. Julieta had gotten some of the candy into Agustin and his face was rapidly deflating. She had her hand on his cheek, not caring at all how swollen it was. Screed out of the way, the two were sharing a little relieved laugh. Mirabel's heart swelled with affection, and she turned away- a little embarrassing.
Mirabel cut through the back of the new house construction, absently patting Luisa's arm as she passed.
"You okay?" Luisa called.
"Should be," Mirabel turned, shrugging to release some of the frustration and disappointment in the futility of the whole affair.
Luisa wiped her face and slammed a jug of water. "I'm done here. Walk back to Casita?"
Mirabel nodded. She needed to think, but there wasn't any reason that Luisa shouldn't be part of that.
"Why so early?" Mirabel asked. Luisa usually stayed until the sun started setting, since everyone at work tended to leave the job as soon as she did.
"I've got, um, plans this evening." Luisa replied, color in her cheeks. Despite the sweat and dust encrusted on her skirt, Mirabel thought she looked rather lovely. Lately, she had taken small pains with her hair, choosing clothing that she liked instead of the most utilitarian.
"A date!?" Mirabel wagged her eyebrows up and down, mood instantly restored. "Angelo again?"
"Yes," Luisa sighed, much put upon. Clearly everyone except Mirabel had already heard and pestered her for details.
"Where will you be meeting?" Mirabel was incredibly excited. "Is it like a dinner thing with his family or are you sneaking off alone? Oh! Did he tell you he had something important to tell you?"
Luisa grew more and more red as Mirabel continued her questions.
"Dios Mira, get your own date if you want a play by play!"
Mirabel cackled. She'd hear the gossip later.
The sun was just high enough that it made the water hurt to look at- almost a pure white with ripples barely visible along the surface. Mirabel walked along a line of stones at the crest of the levy next to the river, keeping her balance. She knew how frigid the water would be if she fell in during the rainy season. Luisa walked on the path beside her, about eye level.
''I did think there was a way to prevent Bruno's vision," Mirabel said, pensive again. "I don't know why."
Maybe she was hoping that if she could forestall this small thing, she could prevent worse ones.
"Eh, you win some, you lose some- right?" Luisa shook her head. "With Bruno's visions…"
It was true- the one with Luisa and Angelo was one vision that Mirabel wouldn't have changed.
"'Least you brought Mom."
That was also true. And maybe that was the point. No fixing the future, but maybe, dealing with the pain after? She paused at the top of the levy, watching the village span down the valley and up again to Casita.
Mirabel's immediate thought was Bruno, the one who had helped her most. She cataloged the wounds she could see through the ruana and his general please-don't-kick-me persona. He dealt with the stress of knowing the future, the responsibility of telling it. She thought about the new tic he had developed- the muscle pulling in his back.
Luisa turned at the end of the path and Mirabel jogged to catch up. She didn't have a healing gift like her mom. But maybe there was something here she could fix? She promised herself she would, and this made her feel better.