So be it on earth...

Ch.3 The Summit of the World

Note:

This fanfic, like the previous one, takes place in Michigan (United States) but in this one the protagonist is part of an ethnic minority so let's do a mental exercise and assume that the dialogues and other things that are in "Spanish" are the parts written in italics (the slanted typography).

Italics = Spanish

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From the door of the cottage, Ronalda Manzano waited patiently and silently until she lost sight of her daughter. After the slow passing of several minutes, the woman finally decided to go out in search of the girl, without saying a word to the pair of men who were behind her. Roberto, on seeing the woman go out into the field, made an attempt to get up to accompany her, but Agustín, his father, stopped him by resting a calloused hand on his shoulder.

"Those are ladies' problems" he said, sitting down without looking up from a chair next to the makeshift cardboard suitcase. "Trust me, it's better to let them sort it themselves out."

The teenager, not daring to contradict the old man's words, knelt down next to his father and between the two of them they began to pack as best they could the few belongings they thought it was convenient to put inside the cardboard box. Every few seconds, young Roberto turned towards the door, in the distance, he could barely make out the upright figure of his stepmother advancing slowly.

After walking a little more than a mile, as she passed near the small river that nourished the village fields, Ronalda heard a muffled cry. Without losing her characteristic stoic calm, she walked straight to the bank, took off her shoes and plunged into the cold stream until her knees were wet.

Although she could hear her daughter clearly, Ronalda could not see her, some of the villagers said that the spirits of the stream took care and hid the little girls who played in those waters. Finally, after looking for the little girl with her eyes, the woman caught sight of a little figure wrapped in a white dress, her daughter was curled up between two rocks on the opposite bank, if Ronalda wanted to get to her she would have to get much wetter than her knees.

Using her right hand, Ronalda tied her skirt to her body while her left one lifted her pair of shoes over her head, with a determined step and a serious face she crossed the stream.

"What are you doing here?" Because of the effort her voice came out harsh, almost dictatorial, and even though she was planning to do it, she wouldn't scold her daughter at that moment for running away from home.

"I couldn't resist the desire to feel its waters one last time, ma'am." Rosa knew, like everyone else in town, that her mother had only one tone of voice, the stern one, so she didn't resent the abrupt tone, but simply resigned herself to it and stood up from the river. "Sorry for running away, ma'am."

Perhaps it was the warm light that the sun radiated before it set over the horizon, perhaps it was the emotional charge that came with the news of the sudden move, but when Ronalda saw her daughter completely drenched, trying hard not to break down in tears, she became aware of the immense fragility that that trembling little body was trying to hide by putting on a serious face like hers.

"Do not apologize, Rosa, you did nothing wrong," The thinness and vulnerability she was just discovering in the girl in front of her finally moved the stoic woman enough to try to comfort her "... you know... I was born in a town very different from this one, I cannot remember the name very well, I only know that it was someplace in Sonora." the girl almost jumped with fright when she saw how her mother, that woman with an inscrutable face, who always looked immense in her eyes, knelt down to be at her height without worrying about taking care of her dress or keeping her shoes dry. "I know 'Sonora' sounds like a made-up name but I can swear that was the name of the place... listen little one, I know you are afraid, but I assure you that nothing bad will happen to us."