Alma sighed, relaxing as she watched as Isabela was being measured for her wedding dress, only a little while more before she'll be a bisabuela, and she couldn't wait to hold a baby in her arms. Although that does mean that Julieta would start hounding her that she needed to do something about Mirabel's sleeping arrangements. They definitely were going to need the nursery for the next generation now, and Mirabel certainly should be awarded for finally figuring out how to stay out of everyone's way. She hadn't had to yell at the girl since Antonio's gift ceremony a month ago… Come to think about it, she hadn't seen the girl since then either.

For a second she paused on this thought, before choosing to ignore it, she probably has seen her, but just didn't have a reason to get after her because she was finally following the rules and staying out of trouble.

"When will the dress be ready?" Alma asked as Isabela stepped daintly down from the stool she had been on.

"I really can't tell," Senora Silva admitted, "It depends on how soon Mirabel gets better and returns to work, she's been out for the last month, I'm starting to think…" she shook her head clamping her mouth shut, she was not going to discuss this with anyone not even her apprentice's own hermana and abuela, "She's had bad spells before, been bed bound for weeks at a time. This isn't anything different. I'll let you know more precisely once I know myself."

Alma frowned, she wasn't aware that Mirabel was unwell, or that she would often get so ill that she'll be unable to get out of bed. That was concerning, but plenty of rest and some of Julieta's food will get her back up and going in no time. She'll make sure that Julieta knew. Once Mirabel was well enough to return to work, the sooner the wedding can be, and the sooner she could have her babies.

She left with Isabela, "Abuela," she said once they were out of the shop, "What did she mean about Mirabel. It sounded like she's been sick often."

"I don't know, though that does explain why I haven't seen her recently, she must be staying in bed," Alma said, "Well, I must talk to Senora Guzman about this. Apparently Mirabel being sick might hamper our wedding preparations."

"Is it okay if I head back to Casita," Isabela asked, "I promised Mama that I'll go over the menu with her."

"An excellent idea, I'll meet up with you there."

As soon as Isabela made it to Casita she headed straight for the nursery, determined to check on her younger sister. Had she really have some form of a chronic illness that kept her bedridden for weeks at a time? What kind of hermana was she for not noticing?

She knocked on the closed door, "Mirabel, you in there?" she asked nervously, "I know we don't get along well, but I heard you weren't feeling…" she trailed off, glancing around the room, nobody was in sight, and it wasn't just because Mirabel was getting a drink or something, no, her bed was made up nicely and there was a layer of dust on the blankets.

Isabela frowned, stepping into the room, leaving a trail of footsteps through the layer of dust on the floor. The whole room was covered in dust, and there were cobwebs in the corners, and in other places that wouldn't have cobwebs if they had been used frequently, like on the wardrobe doors and chest of drawers. She shivered, what was wrong with this place? Where was Mirabel?

Julieta was working her food stand when she saw Alejandra and Jauncho rush over to her and start to fight, "I'm going to talk to her!" "No I am!"

Cecilia, who had followed them, rolled her eyes, snatched up the papers that they had both dropped and handed them to Julieta before explaining, "We made Mirabel get well cards."

"Oh?" Julieta said, she hadn't been aware that Mirabel was ill, she saw her just… when was the last time she saw her? At breakfast, Yesterday? Come to think about it, she couldn't remember the last time she saw her. That was odd. It wasn't like Mirabel to avoid her. What kind of mother was she, not to know if her daughter was sick?

"She hasn't played with us since before Antonio got his gift," Alejandra insisted.

"Mami told us that she was probably sick," Jauncho added.

"So we made her get well cards," Cecilia finished, pointing to the cards that Julieta now held in her hand.

Julieta mentally shook herself, smiling at the little kids, "Gracias, I'm sure Mirabel would appreciate you thinking of her."

Mariano surged forward and scooped Antonio off his jaguar, mentally cursing Alma Madrigal of insisting that the five year old come with them to haunt down the predator that broke into a chicken coop last night and had a feast. The sight before them was not for a little child's eyes. Mariano was sure that he was going to have nightmares about it himself.

"What is it Mariano?" Antonio asked, "What's wrong."

"No, Antonio," Mariano insisted, stopping him from peering over his shoulder, grateful that he had apparently been able to shield him from the sight before them, "There's somethings you shouldn't ever have to see," he insisted.

"Is it animals making babies?" he asked, "Because I've seen that before and Mami and Papi explained it to me."

"No," Mariano said, "It's something else, we," he gestured to a couple of men that had gone with them, just in case Antonio couldn't reason with the animal, "have to do. I need you to head back to town and get your abuela and bring her back here, understand?"

"No," Senor Castillo interjected, "Don't get your Abuela, get Senor Hernandez, from the high council, and Senor Gomez from the morgue, have him bring his wagon."

"Okay," Antonio said, mounting up on Parce, who had thankfully turned so he wouldn't notice the sight in front of them, and rode off.

Mariano turned to Senor Castillos in confusion, "Shouldn't we get Alma, she's the leader of the Encanto she would want to know about this?"

"In this case she would be too emotionally attached to do anything," Senor Castillo insisted, "I don't know if you noticed the butterfly on the shoulder, this is Mirabel Madrigal."

Senor Alverez snorted, rolling his eyes, "I don't think you have to worry about that, if you watch her around town, she never interacts with Mirabel like she does her other grandchildren. Sometimes I wonder if she even remembers that Mirabel is… was… her granddaughter. I mean, think about it," he gestured to the body, "It's obvious that she has been dead for several weeks, yet I haven't even heard that she was missing. What does that say about her family?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Senor Castillos insisted, "Perhaps Mirabel had permission to go camping and it hasn't been long enough since she left for them to notice. We will have to alert the Madrigal family about this."

Mariano winced, "I think we just did," he announced, "Or have you forgot about Dolores's gift, she probably heard the whole thing."

"That's probably the worse way to learn about a death in your family," Senor Castillo confessed, "Well, she can gather the family to Casita so that one of us can break the news to them," he suggested.

"I'll do it," Mariano offered.

Julieta closed down the stand early, she was out of food and she was concerned that the children knew that Mirabel was sick and she didn't.

She met her mother on the path that lead to Casita, who looked at her in surprise, "Done with your Food Stand already?" she asked.

Julieta shrugged, "I ran out of food," she admitted.

"Then tomorrow you should make more then you did today." Alma suggested, as they arrived at Casita.

The door threw open and Isabela rushed out, "Mama!" she exclaimed, "Something's wrong, something is really, really wrong!"

"Isabela calm down, you aren't making any sense," Alma snapped, "A lady doesn't shout so."

"Lo siento Abuela, but after hearing that Mirabel was sick I decided to check on her and make sure she didn't need anything, but she wasn't in the nursery."

"Perhaps she went to the bathroom?" Julieta suggested.

Isabela shook her head, "No," she insisted, "Her bed was made, if she had just gone to the bathroom it wouldn't have been," she pointed out, "And the nursery was covered in dust and cobwebs, even Mirabel's bed, it's like it's been abandoned for a while."

"Wait," Julieta said, "Isabela, when was the last time you talked to Mirabel?"

"I don't know, the day of Antonio's gift ceremony?" Isabela suggested, "We aren't really on talking terms."

"That's the last time I talked to her as well," Alma confessed, "To be honest, I don't think I've seen her since."

Julieta frowned, "I've been trying to remember the last time I saw her too, and for the life of me I can't remember seeing her after the gift ceremony, but that was a month ago. How in the world have I not notice that Mirabel's been missing for a full month?"

"Tia," a soft voice called out, "Abuela."

The two older woman turned to look at Dolores in confusion, "Yes," Alma asked.

"Mariano is on his way to Casita," she explained, "He says that he needs to talk to the family," she announced.

"Oh, he's going to call off the wedding," Alma groaned, "I just knew it, I noticed how strained things were between Isabela and Mariano, I had so hoped that this marriage would work out."

"It's not about the wedding," Dolores insisted, "It's about Mirabel."

"Mirabel?" Alma demanded, "What trouble did she get herself into this time?"

"I don't know," Dolores confessed, "I just know that whatever happened to Mirabel killed her…"

There was a cry of alarm as Julieta crumpled to the ground, "No, no, no, this isn't happening."

"Do you think it was an animal?" Isabela asked nervously.

Dolores shook her head, "I don't know, they haven't mentioned what killed her, only that she's been dead for a few weeks now."

"How in the world did we not notice that she was missing?" Alma asked nervously, "This is going to ruin our reputation!"

"I assumed that she was just avoiding me," Isabela admitted, "I told her to stay out of my way, and she was, I didn't think she…"

"She's gone, my baby girl is gone," Julieta wailed, "And I didn't know, I could have saved her, and I failed, I failed."

Dolores winced, knowing that things would only get louder once her mother found out, so she excused herself to go to her room. Although once things calm down, she'll have to go and find Mariano and thank him for making sure that Antonio didn't see Mirabel's body.