Treasure of the World Tara Sullivan (inspirational books for women TXT) 📖

sudden hush they bring with them makes me snap my head up. Doña Arenal has entered the kitchen and is staring straight at me.

Doña Arenal is a tall woman with a serious face. She wears modern clothes, and her silver-streaked hair is styled expensively around her face. Her eyes are piercing.

Nervously, I wipe my hands down the front of my borrowed clothes and stand up.

“Sit down,” she snaps. “You look as if you’re going to tip over in the first breeze.” Part of me feels like I shouldn’t be sitting in front of her, but I can tell she’s not used to being contradicted. I sit.

“Thank you, Doña,” I manage, though I’m not really sure what I’m thanking her for. For letting me come in the door, though I’m a dirty miner’s kid? For letting me have some soup? I leave it at a simple thank-you and stick with a safe “God will bless you for your kindness.”

Doña Arenal humphs and waves her hand dismissively as if God’s blessing is no concern of hers.

“Now, tell me where you come from and how you came to be in my kitchen.”

“My name is Ana Águilar Montaño,” I say. Doña Arenal watches me with bright eyes. In the background, I can hear the rhythm of the dishwashing change, and I know that the maids are curious to hear my story too. “I lived with my mother, father, brother, and grandmother on the Mountain That Eats Men.” There’s a pause in the kitchen noise when I say this, quickly covered up by a fresh wash of activity. I try not to let their judgment sting. I know how cruel the city kids are to mining kids. “Dust-suckers,” they call the boys whenever we come into town for church or the market, and “rocks for brains.” I meet Yenni’s eyes and she gives me a small, encouraging smile. I’m glad Yenni, at least, doesn’t think less of me. She’s a mountain girl too. “There was a mine disaster about a week ago. My father died and my brother disappeared.” I wish I knew what was going on inside Doña Arenal’s head, but I have no idea how the rich think. If she doesn’t believe me, will she kick me out? I know I’m not strong enough to walk up the mountain now. I need her to let me stay the night with Yenni.

I swallow and go on with my story. “My brother just vanished, Doña. Everyone thought he was dead even though we didn’t have a body to bury.” I leave out the fact that everyone blames me for the disaster, and I feel dirty for it. “I went into the mine to look for my brother.” I decide to also skip the mystery men in the tunnels because I have no explanation for why they were there at midnight using dynamite. “My tunnel collapsed, my light went out, and I lost my way in the darkness. I was down there for two days. Finally, I found myself in a cave with no way out, ready to die . . . and then . . . then Yenni’s brother, Santiago, heard me calling out, and threw me a rope, and they pulled me up and brought me here.” Tears are choking my voice, but my story is finished anyway, so I stop talking.

There’s a long pause where no one says anything. Doña Arenal’s piercing gaze rests on me. A lifetime of being seen as lesser makes me wilt a little inside, but I keep my shoulders back and my head up. You faced down the devil in the mines, I tell myself. She can’t be worse than that.

“Well,” says Doña Arenal, breaking the silence. “Well.” She smooths the front of her severe black dress and seems to change what she was about to say. “You can stay in the maids’ quarters tonight, but then you must leave. Say your prayers and thank God you’re alive, child. The rest of you, get back to work.” With that, she turns and sails out of the kitchen like a giant warship in a time of peace.

I hear the collective sigh as the maids and I let out a breath. Then Yenni giggles.

“What a story, eh?” she asks me, eyes sparkling. “You went down into the mines to search for your brother. Really? That’s why you were in there?”

“Yeah.”

“Well?” She pulls over a basket of laundry to fold and sits across from me at the table. “Did you find him?”

I glance from her to the three maids behind her, all openly curious. I reach into my borrowed pocket and pull out Daniel’s clay angel. It’s the worse for wear after all it’s been through, with the tips gone off both of the wings and chips out of the hem of its dress.

“No,” I say, putting the clay figurine on the table between us. “But I found this little angel he had with him.” I feel the hot prickling of tears behind my eyes and take another spoonful of broth to cover it. Having spent two days lost in the mine, I realize just how impossible it is that Daniel could still be alive after—what would it be now? Six? Seven days?

Across the table from me, Yenni is folding small squares of black cloth into fancy shapes, lining them up on the table between us. I appreciate Doña Arenal allowing me to stay here, but Mami will be terribly worried about me. Now that I’m her only child, I need to get home to her as quickly as possible.

But just then, the dishwashing girl speaks up. Her voice is so soft we would never have heard it if anyone else had been talking.

“My brother said there’s a mining boy who showed up in town a few days ago who’s fighting for cash. Do you think that might be him?” she asks the room.

“What?” I ask, my heart pounding in my chest. I can’t imagine Daniel fighting for money . . . He was never very strong. But still . . . a