Chapter 30:
(Isabella POV)
- 1 week later -
All of the soldiers had set off to their homes. No one had too hard a time accepting the truth about the General, mostly because he terrorized them for years, and now that they were free they wanted to see their families as soon as possible. The General's files were meticulous and said which still had families, some had the deeds to their family lands and homes, others had where their closest relative lived if their parents were no longer alive, some even included bank statements to wealth that they were entitled to. I was holding onto Caleb's file, he didn't want to look at it and I understood why. We were bringing the rest of the files to Santa Marta for the soldiers who went ahead and wanted to come home.
As we road I could see the town coming into view, I turned to Caleb and saw that he had stopped, dismounted and was taking really shallow breaths. I hopped off the horse and went over to him, "What do you need?" I asked carefully looking over his face as he started tugging at his work gloves. I placed my hands on top of one of his and it seemed to snap him out of it. I gently started pulling the fabric back to show his scarred hands. I held his hand in mine and his breathing seemed to die down he looked up at me and nodded his head. I held onto his hand for the rest of the way into Santa Marta as we walked the horses closer to town.
When we entered I saw a few of the soldiers that I had seen at the camp still in their uniforms. I guess we weren't that far behind them. I saw the one from the tent look over at us and he ran over to Caleb, "Lie-Caleb." I saw him quickly correct himself. Caleb gave the man a quick nod before looking into his saddle bag and pulling out a file, "I found your file Garcia. The General had the deed to your parents' house in here so I guess it belongs to you now." The man gave Caleb a big smile, "Thank you so much. He then turned and there was a woman standing next to him, "This is my sister Talia." Caleb gave her a nod before turning back to Garcia, "Do you think that you can gather everyone here I have all their files and there might be some useful information including a few families that decided to relocate." His eyes widened, "You know where they all went." We both nodded our head, "Great I'll tell them to gather at your old place." He said running off with Talia.
I looked over at Caleb when I felt his grip tighten. I gave him a small smile, "Hey why don't you show me?" He was silent as we walked towards the edge of town and towards the docks, "We lived out here so my Papa didn't have too bad of a commute, more time with us." His voice came out weakly. I nodded my head and we continued to walk. When we got there I was surprised to see a house and judging by the look on Caleb's face he was surprised too.
(Caleb POV)
It felt so weird to be here after everything. It felt like I was that 10 year old little kid again being pulled away from this place. The only thing keeping me somewhat aware right now is Isabella's hand in mine. When Lorenzo suggested we go to where my family used to live my head was spinning, what would be there? The house burned to the ground so it's probably just an empty field now, right? My Mama's garden overgrown? Maybe there was some of the frame left of the house? My mind kept jumping back to this when I realized that Isabella and I were walking in silence and we were getting closer to it. I saw the docks and knew that it wouldn't be long now, "We lived out here so my Papa didn't have too bad of a commute, more time with us." I said trying to fill the silence she just gave me a warm smile and nodded her head.
When we got closer I saw the fence that my Mama had helped Papa build when I was little. I looked up and saw the house. Not just any house it looked exactly like my home from when I was little. Who did this sick joke? I saw the house on fire I know that it shouldn't be standing so why was it here. I looked over at Isabella, "Can I have my file please?" I asked her. She nodded her head and pulled it out of a bag. I ripped it open and saw my name at the top along with a picture of me from when I first arrived at the Compound. I flipped through the pages and saw a picture of my Mama and Papa as well along with copies of their death certificates. The deed to the land here was also in my name so who did this.
Suddenly the door burst open and an elderly couple made there way towards me. The woman had a hand over her mouth, "John." I shook my head, "Um no, my name is Caleb." Her breath hitched, "Little Caleb." She turned to the man next to her who was looking me over as well shaking his head, "It's like looking at a photo except for his eyes and..." "Smile," I interrupted with a ghost of a smile on my face thinking about what Papa used to say. He nodded his head. I swallowed hard, "How did you know my Papa and my Mama?"
The looked at each other, "We're your grandparents." I felt a lump forming in my throat, "The ones Papa was trying to..." They nodded their heads and came forward wrapping their arms around me. I stood stiffly in their hug not sure what to do. The slowly released me and I looked over at Isabella and they turned to face her as well, "Who is this?" My... Grandma asked.
I gestured my head for Isabella to come closer to me, "This is Isabella." She smiled and held out a hand, "It's nice to meet you both." My Grandpa nodded his head, "Why don't you both come inside?" I looked to Isabella and she nodded her head. I walked slightly behind them. My Grandma stopped me in the doorway, "Your wife is lovely." "Oh she's not..." I started but she was already walking inside before I could say anything else. I walked over to Isabella and placed a hand on her shoulder, "Um so we have some documents that we need to give out to some of the other sol... men who were taken. I believe that they are coming here if that is ok." I said looking up at them. They nodded their head, "Of course this is your home."
I let out a shaky breath as I looked around the room. It looked exactly like I remembered except the photos on the walls and paintings. I looked towards my grandparents, "Why does it look like this? I remember this place burning down to the ground." They both stopped moving around and looked over at me, "Um when your parents died we got a letter from a barrister here letting us know. We were able to secure passage here and well, he had a letter for us and one for you. They asked us to make sure that your home was always here waiting for you so..." I nodded my head and ran my hand over my lips. I felt the coarse skin from my burns and a pit form in my stomach.
(Isabella POV)
Caleb seemed to be absorbing everything. He took a few steps back and silently went upstairs despite all of us calling after him. I turned to his grandparents, "Um Señor and Señora..." The woman smiled at me, "Mr. and Mrs. Williams." I nodded my head, "Do you mind if I..." She nodded her head and I went after him. I went upstairs and saw him standing in a room looking towards an open window. I went over to him, "Caleb?" "This window used to be sealed shut so that they wouldn't find me, but I didn't know that. I tore the curtain and climbed out into the back garden and that's how they found out I existed," He turned to face me. He bit his bottom lip, "It is exactly the house I grew up in, but it's not. They aren't here. I keep waiting for them to come here and they don't." I wrap my arms around him, "I'm sorry." I whispered. He held onto me tightly.
I don't know how long we stood like that but I waited for Caleb to slowly pull away and I looked up at him, "What do you want to do? Do you want to stay here? We can give them the files and leave? What do you need to do?" He let out a long breath, "I think that I should talk to them. They've been waiting 25 years." I nodded my head, "Alright, so we'll go back downstairs and talk to them and then you can tell me what you want to do next." I took his hand and turned to walk downstairs when he pulled me back slightly and said, "Thank you." I nodded my head, "Of course."
We go back downstairs and I leave Caleb to talk to his Grandparents. I went outside and to the back garden. I smiled as I looked around and saw all the beds of flowers and vegetables but in the back I caught sight of a few cacti. I leaned down on my knees as I looked them over. I felt my gift pulsating against my palms as I grew a small cactus next to the others. A part of me had been scared that being this far away from Encanto would mess with my gift but, it seemed to be fine. Honestly if it weren't for the General I would have been less worried about my gift.
I don't know how long I was sitting out there before I saw Caleb sit next to me, "I gave all the soldiers their files back." I nodded my head, "That's good. How did it go with your Grandparents?" He let out a little breath, "So they said that I'm welcome to stay here as long as I'd like and would like to get to know me better. They even have some stories about my Papa and have some old photos." I smiled, "That sounds nice."
He smiled, "Yeah, they said that you are welcome to stay here as well." I nodded my head and turned to face him, "You know I have to go back in 3 weeks and with the week of travel time I have 2 weeks left here." I let out a long breath, "You know that the people in town would definitely welcome you back." He nodded his head, "You know that I technically own the house here and you are always welcome." I leaned in and placed a kiss on his cheek. He smiled at me, "That's the first time we have done that in a while." I nodded my head, "Yeah it is." He placed a hand in my hair and pulled me in closer as we shared another kiss. He whispered on my lips, "We are going to have to talk about everything aren't we." "Yeah, but not now" I said as I kissed him again.