For as small as their town was, the Encanto itself was fairly large, and although Bruno had never been to one, he knew that there were other towns and small settlements hidden in the valley between the mountains. Some of them were even founded by the same refugees who'd crossed the river with the Madrigals all those years ago.
The FamiÍia EchevarrÍa made travel and trade to those far distances easier and faster. They were even in charge of delivering mail between the town, as rare an occurrence as that was.
They raised horses, powerful and large creatures that Alma claimed were bigger than any horses she'd seen growing up outside the valley.
Their strength and speed made the Echevarría Herd more desirable than a donkey for transporting people… and they were a bit less stubborn to handle.
And so, Señor Echevarría had claimed a decent amount of relatively flat land away from the town to raise his herd. It was even further than the farms and fields Pepa frequented every other day.
By the time Bruno turned onto the last little road to the rancho, it was closer to lunchtime and he wanted nothing more than a nap. Even the trip up and down his stairs wasn't as taxing as a trip to the Echevarría rancho.
Bruno looked at the treeline wistfully and wondered if Señor Echevarría would come looking for him if he took a detour for a nap.
He made a face at the thought. If only his mother wouldn't be waiting for a status report when he returned home!
Bruno groaned and continued his journey up the gently inclining hill.
Maybe a horse would run him over and put him out of his misery.
But the rancho drew ever closer like an oasis in the desert, beckoning its visitor in with the promise of shade, water and decent company.
Bruno had only visited the rancho a handful of times, the most memorable being Cecilia's quinceañera. Their teens seemed forever ago now.
Back then, the Madrigal triplets had all been plagued with horrible acne and whiplash-like mood swings from their raging hormones. The pictures from the event would suggest that they had all been mature for their ages, but that had been the last time in Bruno's life where he was taller than his sisters. Even Cecilia, despite the small gap between their ages, had towered over him during their brief dance together, the (then) girl all long, gangly limbs and piles of off-white lace.
Bruno remembered having fun, even if he and his sisters were only filling in as Cecilia's Court because she didn't have cousins or siblings of her own to fill the role.
Cecilia had always been good at making people feel happy around her and even Bruno hadn't been immune to her charms back then.
A thundering of hoofbeats brought Bruno back into focus, his vague memories of years past quickly evolving into frantic thoughts of terror when he saw a horse crest over the top of the hill and come barreling towards him.
The unlucky prophet gave a strangled yell as he threw himself off of the road and into the bushes.
It was a wasted effort.
The rider pulled their horse to a stop a few feet away from where he'd been standing and there was a moment of silence as they surveyed the scene.
"You really think I'd run you over, pequeño Madrigal?" a woman laughed, her voice deeper than the girl's he remembered, but still carrying that teasing tone he had heard through their years at school together.
Bruno peeked through his bush and jumped in terror when he found himself practically nose to nose with Cecilia.
She laughed uproariously at the expression on his face, her hand shooting out to catch his wrist before he could fall over entirely. She pulled him to his feet like he weighed nothing and grinned at him.
"Señorita Echevarría," Bruno wheezed, quickly putting some space between them as soon as she let him go. "It- It's been a while…"
She made a face. "It certainly has been for you to be so formal. If you don't call me Cecilia - or even better yet, just Cece - I'll ignore anything you say… or maybe run you over with Liberata, here." Cecilia's tone suggested that she was joking, but her expression was serious when she spoke about calling her by her childhood nickname still. Behind her, her horse - the mentioned Liberata, it appeared - snorted pointedly.
"Cece," Bruno corrected quickly, not willing to push his luck. He didn't have much to begin with. "I was just on my way to see your father."
"I know." she said easily, taking her horse by the reins and bringing her to stand before her visitor. "I came to get you."
Bruno only stared at her as she grinned at him, wondering what she was looking so expectant for. After a long moment, he was sure he had missed some unspoken cue and began to twist the hem of his shirt anxiously. Cece's grin slipped slightly.
"Um, lead the way?" he said uncertainly, trying to shuffle around the woman and her horse.
Cece and Liberata exchanged a bemused look. "Wouldn't you rather ride the rest of the way? It's faster."
Bruno felt his stomach flip at the thought. His hands felt clammy as he held them up defensively.
"Oh no!" he yelped, scurrying away. He winced at his tone. "I- I mean, I couldn't - it's your horse and all! I mean, I've never-"
"Have you never ridden a horse?" Cece asked incredulously, her brows creeping towards her hairline.
"It's not that odd!" Bruno said defensively, moving around the horse. Maybe if he walked away quickly, he could get out of the conversation. "I'm not exactly the adventuring type. And lots of people in town haven't been on a horse!"
"No, they haven't." Cece agreed, not exactly chasing after him, but not letting him escape her so easily either. "But you've been to the rancho before - more than once, I think. I really never dragged you out riding with me when we were younger?"
"That was Pepa." Bruno insisted, speed walking now. The same feeling he got just before a vision came upon him, making the hair on the back of his neck stand at attention. It was his sense of self-preservation kicking in.
"Huh, you're right." Cece said thoughtfully. She came to a halt, bringing Liberata to a stop with her, and grinned. Bruno made the mistake of looking back over his shoulder at her. His heart jumped with fear. "We should fix that."
Bruno began running. He suddenly remembered why Pepa had liked Cecilia so much.
They both got that same glint in their eye just before doing their best to give him a heart attack.
He barely had the time to register the sound of her laugh before she was back on her horse and running him down again, and he suddenly felt himself being dragged up into the saddle behind Cecilia.
Bruno screamed in her ear.
"Oh, come on!" Cece rolled her eyes. "This is fun! And be grateful I'm on Liberata today instead of Hugo - if you fall off, the distance won't be as high."
"How is that supposed to make me feel any better?" Bruno demanded, scrambling to right himself in the saddle and clutching at Cecilia's shoulders. "I'm still going to fall off!"
"You will if you hold on like that." Cecilia rolled her eyes. She let go of the reins with one hand to reach behind her to reposition Bruno's grip. "Put your arms around my waist. I'll make sure you don't fall off."
Bruno eyed her waist warily. Cece had tied her red-button up to sit just above her stomach, baring the section of skin down to the waistband of her trousers. "I'd rather not." he said weakly.
Cecilia huffed, starting to sound a little annoyed and jerked his arms securely around her stomach.
While it gave him relief from bouncing around on the horse so much, Bruno was now plagued with the feeling of her skin beneath his hands, what felt like miles of warm, tan flesh soft beneath his calloused palms.
He bit back a groan of frustration - frustration of more than one kind.
Bruno mumbled frantically to himself, unable to fidget with his hands. "Sana, sana, colita de rana…"
Cecilia turned her head towards him, wondering if he was speaking to her, and her brow furrowed when she recognized the words.
She slowed Liberata down to a walk and some of the tension left Bruno's shoulders.
"Are you alright?" she asked quietly as they passed the main house on the rancho. It wasn't terribly large, but it was well-built and had weathered the years well. It looked just like how Bruno remembered.
"I'll be fine once we stop." he said shortly.
Cecilia looked guilty. "I am sorry that I scared you. I just thought… I did the same thing with Pepa before. She was nervous too, but once we actually started to ride she had the time of her life. I thought the same thing would work for you, too."
Great, now Bruno felt bad for not meeting her expectations.
"... she didn't shoot you with a lightning bolt for scaring the hell out of her?" Bruno offered a question in lieu of an apology and was rewarded with the return of Cecilia's grin. Tension he didn't realize she was holding as well left her body and she relaxed against him, making him flush as he got a faceful of her long, dark blonde hair.
"Rubber soles, ey?" Cecilia held a boot to the side of Liberata, wiggling her foot at him. "More comfortable and totally the way of the future."
"If you can see the future too, what am I doing here?" Bruno snorted before he could stop himself.
Cecilia's good humor continued as she turned them down the road to the stables. "Because my Papá wants to play it safe - and I could use a sneak peek at the future, too."
Bruno's tentative smile died. Oh. So that was why she was trying to stay on his good side.
"I don't know if you really want that." he mumbled nervously. "I don't always see the best things, y'know?"
Cecilia shrugged. "I'm looking for a solution to my problem, not the life of my dreams. I'll handle that bit on my own." She looked at him slyly from the corner of her eyes, that teasing glint making his heart skip. "And whatever you see, I'm sure I'll handle it better than the padre and his bald spot."
"What exactly is it that you're hoping to see?" Bruno asked warily,
"Oh, I just want to get an idea of what kind of man - if any - might become a permanent fixture in my life."
"You want a marriage prediction." Bruno sighed flatly.
"Wrong!" Cecilia held up a finger and grinned over her shoulder at him. "I want the exact opposite - I want you to confirm that I will never, in this lifetime or any lifetime, agree to marry Amaro Gomez so that when he tries to propose he'll take me seriously when I say Hell. No."
Bruno stared at her.
It seemed like he wasn't the only one who didn't live up to the expectations of others.
He offered her a tentative smile.
"Well… that's a first." he mumbled to himself. "Never been asked to break up a relationship before.
Cecilia snorted darkly. "Trust me - the only relationship that man needs is with his hand. I pity any girl who's talked into marrying him."
Bruno flushed scarlet at her crude implication. "O-oh, so he's not your boyfriend, then?"
"Why? You interested?" she grinned cheekily at him and Bruno felt his stomach flop with horror at the idea.
He wouldn't dare make a move on Cecilia Echevarría Valiente - she would eat him alive.