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

a mine robbery. I destroyed the entrance to the mine that will take many man-hours to clean up. I injured Guillermo. I made César leave his sickbed when his body clearly can’t handle it. I expected César, in the privacy of the walk home, to finally lay into me for my stupidity, to make clear to me the price tag of all my bad choices, like Papi would have done. I expected anger—or disappointment at least. Somehow, his quiet thanks make me feel even worse. It’s hard to be the only one hating yourself when you know you deserve to be hated.

César’s wet, racking cough precedes him up the rocky path, and Mami rushes out when we’re still meters from the door and helps me get him inside and into bed again. As she works to settle him, my eyes wander over to the little alcove where Belén and I sleep. Belén is lying there, pale and still. Abuelita is sponging her face with a damp cloth. I walk over and lean against the wall, staring down at them. I don’t reach for Belén, afraid I’ll do even more damage.

“How is she?” I whisper.

“She’s alive,” says Abuelita. “And so are you. And so is César. What more could we ask from God?”

I could think of a few things. I close my eyes.

A couple of minutes later, I feel Mami standing at my shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. I feel like I’ve said that a lot recently. I know it will never be enough.

“What happened, Ana?” Mami’s soft voice is my undoing. Tears splash the floor in front of me. I wipe my face with my hands and try to keep my voice steady.

“She snuck out to join me. I let her stay. I didn’t think it would be a big deal. But robbers came. They hurt her. I threw dynamite to scare them off, but I collapsed the entrance on Guillermo. He’s at the health center now.” I choke on the words, and soon the whole story is tumbling out of me, the horror of the night washing over me anew. I find I can’t stand any longer. I slide down the wall and curl up on the floor and cry, as if someone had shot me in the belly.

“Hush now, mi hija,” Mami says, sitting beside me on the floor and stroking my face. “You did what you had to do. We are all still alive. Where there’s life, there’s hope.”

I twist until I can lean my forehead in her lap and let her comfort me for a minute more. Then I get to my feet.

When I go outside to wash, I have to crack through a thin film of ice on the top of the bucket, but I scrub myself anyway, accepting the cold water’s punishment. When I’m clean, I head inside to change clothes. Fresh sweatpants, fresh shirt, fresh braids.

Mami makes a broth. I try to bring a bowl to César, but he insists on coming out and sitting with us.

“How is my little girl?” César asks between mouthfuls, pointing toward Belén with his chin.

“She’ll be all right,” answers Abuelita. “She just had a nasty blow and is sleeping it off. You don’t worry; get your rest.”

When César has finished his soup, he goes into his room and lies down again. Abuelita and I clean up the meal and try to pretend we can’t hear him wheezing as he tries unsuccessfully to fall asleep.

“You rest and sit with Belén,” says Mami. “We’re going to go break some rocks.”

“You’re not staying to look after them?” I ask.

Mami gives me a tired smile as she wraps her shawl around her shoulders.

“We’re out of money. If Belén doesn’t wake up soon, we may need to take her to the hospital. If César’s cough gets any worse, we’re going to need to take him to the hospital too.” She heaves a sigh, one that only poor women know.

“We still haven’t paid off the loan for the medical bills from Daniel,” Abuelita adds. “They may not treat them if we don’t have money. We have to go.”

“Do you want me to come and help?”

Mami shakes her head.

“You might as well sleep if you can,” she says gently. “You were up all night. But try not to sleep too deeply. If either of them needs something, you’ll have to help them with it. If Belén wakes up, try to get her to eat a little bread or drink some tea.”

“Okay.”

“Hey.” Abuelita pats my cheek. “Don’t be sad. Who knows? Maybe the miners will have missed a great big chunk of silver, and I’ll find it, and we’ll all eat steak tonight. Hmm?”

Her words remind me of Francisco and Guillermo’s robbery. Sometimes more silver doesn’t make things better.

“No sense hanging around when a steak dinner is on the line,” I say, hoping my smile looks more real than it feels.

Abuelita gives me a quick peck on the forehead, and she and Mami head out the door. When they’ve left, I shuffle into the alcove I share with Belén and curl up beside her. I smooth her thick black hair away from her face. Belén has lovely hair. She’s going to grow into a real beauty. But now there are traces of blood matted in that lovely hair and her face is pale in the darkness. She still hasn’t opened her eyes.

I bite my lip hard and try not to start crying again.

I thought it was bad enough in the mine when the devil guarded every exit. Now it feels like he’s loose in the world and I see his bloody handprints everywhere.

Hours later, Belén finally wakes up.

“Ana?” I hear, a whisper beside my ear.

“Belén!” I jolt upright and reach out to touch her face. “You’re awake! How do you feel?”

“My head hurts.”

“Are you hungry? Can I get you some bread?”

“I don’t really—” she starts, but I have my orders.

“You need to at least drink something. Stay here, I’ll get you some broth.”

I