The Trial for Matteo was first thing in the morning, and Alma hoped to have it done by the end of the day. Just so that they can get this dreadful thing over with and focus on helping Mirabel heal.
So far the trial was going just as she had predicted. The Defense was that there was no evidence besides Mirabel's testimony, that Matteo had been in the nursery. She didn't like the Man and was trying to stir up trouble.
Alma did not want to have to argue with them, they had enough friends who had been paid off to sing their praises to him to drag this trial long. No one wanted that.
Matteo was on the stand answering questions. Alma had to admit, he was a convincing liar. She almost believed him that he wasn't near the nursery.
He finally stepped down from the stand, and Alma stood up glancing around the room before saying loudly, "I call to the stand Senor Bruno Madrigal."
A loud murmur filled the room. Everyone was surprised to hear that Bruno was back and that he was testifying. For him to be back… after all these years, and to be supporting his niece… there had to be more to the story. Would he curse Matteo?
Bruno took the stand, nervously fingering his rauna as he glanced around the room. Most of the town had shown up for this. He swallowed, before taking a deep breath, and pulled his hood over his head, before starting to speak.
He kept speaking in the third person, before correcting himself, as he explained how he had been living in the walls and how his pet rats had, upon seeing the men in the nursery and hearing Mirabel yelling for help, fetch him. He explained that he had been able to hear the whole thing, and had been able to catch a glimpse of it through a crack in the wall. He explained how he saw Matteo and Juan leave the nursery, and how he saw Hugo enter it.
There was a clumsy cross-examination, they hadn't been expecting Mirabel to be able to produce an eyewitness, then another witness was called.
Alma had to smile when Antonio came in with his animals and Bruno's rats. The council talked to him for a moment to determine that he had no real knowledge of what had happened to Mirabel and that he would translate what the animals had to say honestly. The animals wouldn't lie either, because apparently lying was a human invention, and they didn't see the point.
Their testimonies were hilarious because apparently Matteo stunk to them and all the animals called him a stinky human, every single time they mentioned him.
By the time they called a recess for lunch, the council had already come to a verdict, Guilty, death by gallows.
…
Mirabel slumped down in her chair, "Whoa that was hard," she admitted.
"And we have to do it again tomorrow," Luisa groaned, "For Juan's trial."
"Tomorrow should be easier," Julieta insisted, "All they will be hearing is the same things as today, with the addition of Mariano defending Dolores from him. I mean he was with Matteo, we've already established that. Matteo got guilty, and so will Juan."
"Tia, Mariano saved me from Matteo, we just never used that because Tio and the animals' testimonies were so strong that the council gave their verdict early. We didn't really need to argue about character."
"Oh," Julieta said, "You're right, there are just so many to keep track of I have a hard time keeping them straight."
"If you let Parce and I at them, you will have nothing to worry about," Isabela muttered.
"I will not allow you to commit Murder," Alma snapped.
Parce let out a low growl, causing Antonio to nod sympathetically, "Parce says we're being silly, they're a threat to your cub, and you need to kill them."
Alma chuckled, "Parce is right, but it's not that simple, we have to prove that they are guilty first…"
"Humans are confusing," Parce announced, getting up, stretching, "The Man's scent is on the cub, he is guilty. He must die," he stalked away, "If you will not protect your cub, I will."
"He says that if you can't protect your cubs he will," Antonio announced.
Dolores let out a gasp, "The Velez brothers aren't all together, right?" she asked.
Alma shook her head, "There wasn't room for all four of them in the jail, so Hugo and Diego are under house arrest because their crimes aren't violent ones, they are heavily guarded and can't escape why?"
"Just wondering," Dolores said with a shrug, "I'm tired, so I'm going to head to bed."
"She heard something," Camilo announced, "But what?"
"If it's important, she'll tell us," Pepa insisted.
"Dolores has the right idea," Alma insisted, "It's late, and we have a big day tomorrow."
…
The family was determined to keep Mirabel away from the nursery, to the point that Abuela entered the room to grab the clothes that she needed for the trial. Last night the three older girls invited her to have a sleepover in Dolores's room, which had ended abruptly when Luisa kicked out the main support beam of the blanket fort they were in. Tonight apparently there was no sleepover planned, but Isabela insisted that she had to sleep with her in her room.
…
Isabela's room smelled like roses, like over powerful, eye-watering scent of roses. Her bed was as soft as a cloud, Mirabel sank into it, tossing and turning to try to get comfortable. The blanket was fuzzy, not scratchy, but different. Isabela was snoring loudly beside her.
Mirabel sighed, sitting up, before pulling her robe off the foot of the bed and slipping outside.
Outside of the heavily perfumed room, the air was cool and crisp, with a hint of rain that had been constant for the past few days. Mirabel sighed, glancing around the glowing doors, before turning to the stairs.
Casita clicked a couple of tiles at her, but Mirabel shushed her, before creeping down the stairs. She was halfway across the courtyard on her way to the kitchen when she heard someone start to pound on the door.
She froze and stared at it. The past few days Abuela had been the only one allowed to answer the door to anyone as she wanted to filter out any complaints or false accusations without stressing Mirabel or the rest of the family out.
Mirabel wasn't sure that she could handle answering the door on her own. Especially in the middle of the night. Why in the world would someone come to Casita in the middle of the night.
The person knocked again, louder, and she could hear a male's voice say, "Casita let me in, it's an emergency."
Casita didn't budge the door, instead using her tiles to send Mirabel upstairs to Abuela's door.
"I can't wake Abuela up," Mirabel hissed as Casita cheerfully swung the door open, turned on the lights, and threw Mirabel into the room.
…
Alma had been having a nightmare, the same one that she had been having for the past couple of nights when she was suddenly woken by the lights in her room turning on, the door opening and Mirabel tumbling in.
"Mirabel, Mariposa, what's wrong?" she cried out in surprise, jumping out of bed quicker than anyone would think a woman of her age would be able to, throwing on her shawl as she rushed to the door, grabbing Mirabel by the shoulder, "Are you okay?" she demanded.
Mirabel nodded, shaking slightly, "I couldn't sleep," she admitted, pulling herself off the ground and hugging herself, "When I went downstairs, someone was knocking on the door, they said it was an emergency and then Casita sent me up to you… I'm sorry I woke you."
"No, don't you dare apologize for this," Alma insisted, leading her to the bed, "You just lay down and get comfortable, and I'll see what this so-called emergency is."
"Will the trial tomorrow be postponed because the family will be busy elsewhere?" Mirabel asked, allowing Alma to pretty much push her down onto the bed.
"No, we told everyone that we won't be helping anyone until after the trial."
Mirabel yawned, her abuela's bed was more comfortable than her own in the nursery, and she didn't have the sticky scent of a billion roses hanging in the room like Isabela's. Alma pulled the blankets over her, "But what if people are in danger? You can't just sit back and let others get hurt just because you are mad at a couple of them, right?" Mirabel yawned again, wondering why Abuela's pillow was so warm and soft under her head.
"I'll go check and see what's going on," Alma insisted, pressing a kiss on her forehead, "Don't worry," she insisted, "If they want to hurt us, Casita will wake the whole house, won't you?" she asked.
Casita clicked her tiles in an affirmative before Alma left the room, her shawl over her own nightgown and gray hair in a single braid down her back, closing the door behind her.
…
Senor Castillo pounded harder on the door, trying to wake someone up. Usually, Casita would have allowed him into the house to wake Alma up, but apparently entering Casita wasn't an option anymore. Not that he could blame them, he was at the trial that morning. The Velez Brothers had taken full advantage of the open-door policy that the Madrigals had practiced for the first fifty years of the Encanto.
Finally, the door creaked open and a tired-looking Alma stepped out, dressed as if she had just got out of bed, which, he figured, she probably did.
"This better be important," she snapped, "Not only did you disturb our rest, but you upset Mirabel, and that girl is going through enough without having people trying to break down the front door."
"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to disturb her," he insisted, "Something came up," he insisted.
"Is anyone dying?" Alma asked.
"No, but…" he trailed off, thinking for a second before admitting, "You know that Jaguar that Antonio befriended?"
"What about Parce?" Alma asked.
"He somehow, I don't know how, but he got into the holding cell…" he trailed off nervously.
Alma pinched the bridge of her nose, "How bad is it?" she asked.
"Both Matteo and Juan have been killed," Senor Castillo announced, "Probably would have taken the other two as well if it wasn't for the fact that they're locked up in their house."
"What exactly do you want me to do?" Alma asked, "They're already dead, and Parce is a wild animal. He doesn't understand why we haven't done just what he had done. There's nothing that I can do about this, you've woken me up for no good reason, good night."
The door slammed in his confused face, shouldn't Alma Madrigal be concerned that her grandson's pet broke into a holding cell and killed two men?