Author's Note:
Sorry for the delay I was having trouble writing this chapter. There were a lot of events I wanted to cover and was struggling to come up with the correct way to convey it all. I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you for your continued support.
Nicki0423
Chapter 25:
(Isabella POV)
I waited a moment as I watched them head out of view and the trees rustling further away before I came down and went over to Caleb. He looked at me, "What are you doing here? I was supposed to find you, what if they saw you?" I shook my head, "I was hidden in the tree up there, and they are out of view. I waited until they were. No one is going to see us."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that..." I turned and saw Tío Felix standing there. "What are you doing here?" He looked at both of us, "Oh you thought that with a family as big as ours that people wouldn't notice if you just disappeared. What are you two doing? Who were you talking to?" He looked down at our bags and at me, "Are you running away with him Isabella?" I shook my head, "No Tío it is nothing like that. We just have to take care of something, but we will be back soon."
I was looking over at Caleb for some support or for him to follow my leave when he looked between the two of us before looking at my Tío, "I'm sorry Isabella but, I am going to tell him." "Caleb," I started and it was the first time I had called him by his name in a while. It fazed me but, it didn't seem to affect him, "Felix, I work for a General who wants to invade Encanto and pretty much destroy everything. When I first came I thought you were a community of criminals and that the people there were linked to the death of my parents. When I started to figure out the truth I tried to figure out the right thing to do and I told Isabella and now we are..."
I stepped in front of him, "Are handling it." Tío Felix looked at us both, "Why didn't you tell anyone else?" I shook my head, "You can't tell anyone, Tío. They will get hurt and I can't let them." He looked at me shaking his head, "Isabella..." I cut him off, "We are already prepped and ready to go, all we need to do is follow the trail. If you tell everyone where we are, then you need to gather everyone, get supplies and figure out your plan. By that time, we will already be there. So the question is do you want to cause mass panic and hysteria in town when in fact it might not amount to anything?"
(Caleb POV)
Isabella was angrily glaring at me as I told Felix everything, but as she spoke I hated how much sense she made. There was so much going on that I hadn't thought about the fact that her plan was so perfectly crafted that now me telling someone else what was going on now wouldn't even affect what we do next. Felix looked at both of us, "I'm coming with you." Isabella immediately shook her head, "No, you have a wife, kids, and grandkids who need you back in Encanto. You are not doing this." He crossed his arms, "What kind of padrino would I be if I let you do something this stupid?" Isabella walked closer to him, "A Padrino who hasn't planned, prepared for, or is able to defend himself with what we have to do." He crossed his arms, "You are not playing the gift card, are you?" "I'm playing whatever card I have to, to get you home safe" she said.
"Isabella what was the plan if for whatever reason we failed," I asked. She looked at me, "I told you that was none of your concern." I nodded my head, "I know, but what was it?" She rolled her eyes, "There's a note in my room. They were going to be able to find it eventually." I looked at both of them, "So why don't we modify the plan. Felix do you think that people are going to notice if you aren't in town tomorrow?" He shook his head, "My granddaughter got her gift tonight. People will probably think that I am at home and Pepa is going to sleep in and think I went to town." I nodded my head, "Alright, so he travels with us tonight and when we arrive at where they are he will head back and give us 3 days. If we are not back by 3 days he gets the note and shows it to everyone."
Neither Felix nor Isabella seemed keen on the plan, "Look the longer we wait, the more likely we are going to lose their trail." This seemed to be Isabella's tipping point, "Fine come on." Felix nodded his head and we began to make our way through the woods following the footprints and tracks that the General and his men left along the path. We were all quiet none of us really wanting to talk to each other. We travelled all night not stopping until daybreak. We still weren't talking but, I looked over at both of them and took out my canteen and handed it to Felix, "Take a drink and then hand it over to Isabella." He nodded his head and took a swig and then went over to Isabella and she took a sip as well, nodding her head towards me. I focused on the trail and finding where they were.
I stopped and ushered them over to the side when I saw the line dug out in the ground. We were taught to dig a circle around our campsite by the General and I knew that he would follow this rule too. Isabella looked at us, "I'm going to see if I can get a better view." She began to climb up one of the trees and I was right behind her. We sat up in the tree and got a view of everyone that was there. She looked over at me, "Why did you follow me up?" I looked ahead, "I know these people I can help you evaluate how many people we need to worry about." She nodded her head and I began to count the tents and the size of the camp.
(Isabella POV)
Caleb was looking out and figuring out the number of people we had to deal with as we sat along branches on the tree that were next to each other. He looked over at me, "The entire army isn't here but they do have at least 1 unit here." I nodded my head, "How many people would you say that is?" He looked at me, "At least 50, maybe a little more." I nodded my head, "The General. Where is his tent?" He pointed to the slightly bigger tent to the side, "Oh, I thought it was like a food tent or something." He let out a breath, "Trust me, that is where the General is." I nodded my head, "Alright." We continued to survey everyone, "I'm going to head down." I said. He looked at me nodding his head, "I'm just going to stay up a little longer. I want to see who else I recognize before we go in there to better figure out what to do."
I climbed down and knew that it was time to send Tío back to Encanto, "Tío it's time for you to head back." I said before I reached the ground. I turned and saw Tío Felix tied up against the tree. "What happened?" I asked going over to him. I felt something cold against my back, "I wouldn't go any closer if I were you." I thought about growing a vine to take whatever was in his hand out, but then someone held a knife to Tío and I knew that I couldn't do anything here. "What are you doing here? Who told you about us?" The questions quickly came, but I didn't say anything. "I think the General is going to want to see these 2." 2? They haven't found Caleb yet. He must still be in the tree. This could work. This could work, "Move it," the man behind me began to yell. I started to walk forward into the camp, to the General. I don't think that they knew how much of a mistake that was going to be.
(Caleb POV)
I was watching everything from a distance. I saw a few people that I had seen when I was training. The General had always kept me away from others and kept me isolated. I was a special operative and he was more focused on that aspect of my training than introducing me to the other soldiers. Still I knew some of them from general weapons training and the barracks. I heard something from below and started to work my way down but hid in the branches as I saw 2 of the general's soldiers down there. I watched Isabella and I knew what she could do and I knew that she wasn't using her gift for a reason. "I think the General is going to want to see these 2," she was getting a direct path to the General. I knew once she entered the camp what we planned to do next. I had to go in right behind them. I watched as they walked away and climbed down.
I looked around and grabbed my bag. I pulled out my cloak and fastened the clasp. If I was going into that camp without them, I was going in as the Lieutenant. That would be the fastest way to get to the General and to Isabella and Felix. I looked at the line circling around the camp and saw that think, tough vines were beginning to grow. "She's locking them in," I whispered to myself. I knew that the General was going to have questions about how I was able to get away sooner that I said I would be able to, and I was going to have to figure it out, but I knew the plan and I knew that once Isabella saw the General there was no turning back, and I wasn't going to let her go without back-up.