pepa picked out the book 'chasing the past' which had mirabel in front of the mountains. "please don't be about mirabel running away" pepa said.
"The sharp crash of a broken tile cut through the sudden silence of the room. Silence was always loudest after a large group of people left.
The air quivered.
A sharp intake of breath and a gasp of pain and the man in the wall reached up and heaved himself up to a better vantage point. He could barely make out the top of his niece's head through the crack in the plaster.
Mirabel's whisper of "Casita?" was muffled through the wall, but Bruno could hear the concern in her voice.
Another crack cut through the air, but Bruno couldn't see what had broken. He shifted uneasily
Mirabel's breathing grew louder and faster in the stillness and then suddenly she was out of Bruno's line of sight yet again. The house shifted and settled, groaning in a way Bruno hadn't heard in years.
Without realizing he'd made a decision, Bruno began to run.
---
After Antonio's gift ceremony photo, Dolores retreated to the relative quiet of the entryway to Antonio's new room, hands cupped gently over her ears. Perhaps the sound of music and people talking would be more bearable from the other side of Antonio's new door.
She stepped outside the room and the juxtaposition of quiet after the din of the party was a relief. Dolores let out a soft breath and relaxed against the wall.
Dolores realized that out of the quiet, she was hearing the soft, rhythmic fall of footsteps over an uneven surface and the creak of hands gripping wood, lightly muffled, but nearby.
The man they did not speak of.
Although she couldn't see anything moving, her eyes tracked the sound around the corner before she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye. There was something on the wall between Luisa's room and Tía Julieta's. Dolores crossed the hall as the footsteps behind her drew closer and then stopped.
The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
She took two steps closer and leaned in slowly to examine the smudge.
She almost lost her balance when she realized what it was, reeling backwards.
The wall just across the courtyard from Antonio's door, was marred with blood.
Dolores stared blankly at the small bloody mark against the blank expanse of wall. She heard the creak of wood behind her.
"What happened?" Dolores asked.
Silence.
"I heard you running," Dolores said, voice trembling, "You saw something, didn't you? What. Happened?"
Then the crack of a rarely used voice whispered "Mirabel. She... vanished."
---
Isabela could tell her mother was drained. The fine lines around her eyes were more prominent than usual and although she was smiling and engaged in the conversation around her, there was a subtle exhaustion in her movements. Isabela could feel its echo in her own movements, as she entertained the party guests with dancing and colorful flowers.
They were all aware of what a relief it had been that little Antonio's ceremony worked. From Abuela to Antonio and everyone across the Encanto, the tension that had built up over months and years had finally dissipated all at once.
The miracle hadn't deserted them after all. Maybe Mirabel's lack of gift had been a fluke.
Isabela scanned the room as she danced, searching for her youngest sister, but Mirabel was nowhere in sight. She felt a knot grow in her stomach, annoyance and anxiety fighting for prominence, but tried to dismiss it. Mira was probably hiding somewhere feeling sorry for herself and not, as Isabela's gut wanted her to think, getting into trouble.
