Treasure of the World by Tara Sullivan (free ebook reader txt) 📕

we found Daniel behind it. He had run, the day of the disaster, away from the blast zone and deeper into the mine, trying to get clear once he realized that the explosions were wrong.”

“Why didn’t he come back up when the blasting settled?” I ask. “Where has he been all this time? Why did no one find him?”

César looks down at his hands.

“He didn’t come back because he fell down a shaft in the darkness and wasn’t able to climb out. We didn’t find him because of how far he’d run: he was in a section we weren’t working in anymore. There had been reports of bad air.”

I stare at César, horror written on my face. In my mind I’m back in the dark and I can feel the cloud of poison dust wrap around me, making my voice tight. I swallow. “He was trapped there the whole time?”

César nods. “He had his lunch sack with him still, and your papi’s. The food and water in them kept him alive, but he was alone in the dark for over four days.” César’s face tightens when he says this, as if thinking about it physically pains him.

“Where is he now?”

“At the hospital,” Mami says when César doesn’t answer right away.

The hospital! We never go to the hospital if we can avoid it—it’s far too expensive, for one thing. Though our government’s socialism means that the bed and the doctor’s time is free, you still have to pay for all the medicine and supplies they use. By the time anyone we know finally has no choice but to go there, they usually die soon after. It’s not a happy place.

“Oh no . . .” I manage. “How . . . What . . .” I don’t even know what I need to ask, but César comes to my rescue.

“He had only sprained an ankle running from the first blast. Maybe a concussion too, but nothing too bad. But that second tunnel failure dumped rubble over him.” I can tell by the tight lines bracketing his mouth that César considers it a personal failure he didn’t find Daniel before this happened. “The rocks collapsed his rib cage. We just got him to the hospital in time for the doctors to save his life.”

Tears leak down my face. I know how frightening it is to be hurt and lost in those tunnels. But to be crushed . . . I shudder. Poor Daniel.

“Will he be okay?”

“Yes,” says Mami quickly, hugging me to her again. “The doctors have fixed him up. They’re releasing him tomorrow. That’s why we’re packing up here.”

I frown at the reminder of what’s been confusing me ever since I walked in the door.

“Yeah . . . why exactly are you doing that?”

I feel Mami freeze where she’s holding me.

“Well, just because you’ve been gone doesn’t mean that everyone else’s stories stopped.” Abuelita chuckles.

I pull away from Mami and stare at Abuelita. “What?”

Abuelita snickers again and pats my cheek.

“Ask your mother,” she says, and returns to her folding, smiling secretively to herself. I flick a glance over to César. Is he blushing? Now I’m really curious.

“Mami?”

Mami clears her throat, not meeting my eyes.

“Well,” she says, “César and I are married now.”

“César?” I ask, stunned. Then, in a show of deep insight, I add, “You?”

Mami smacks me gently on the side of the head.

“Yes, rocks for brains! Aren’t you listening?” She finally meets my eyes and takes my hand in hers. “After they found Daniel, César asked me to marry him. I’ve stayed at the hospital with Daniel for the past five days, but now that they’re releasing him, we’re moving our stuff out of this house and into César’s, over by El Rosario.”

I think my jaw may be hanging open. I can’t believe we’re having this conversation. I mean, I suppose I noticed how comfortable she was talking with César when he came to our house in the evenings to report on the search for Daniel. And Mami was beautiful in her youth, with shiny hair and thick-lashed eyes, a face wide and flat like the moon, and a round figure that showed she had grown up with enough to eat. Even now, thinner, and with silver in her hair and worry lines on her face, she’s beautiful. She even still has most of her teeth. But marriage? Again? It’s only been a week since Papi’s death.

I realize that there is a silence in the room and everyone is waiting for me to respond. I snap my mouth shut. What is there to say, really? What’s done is done. I don’t know if César drinks, but at least he’s kind when he’s sober.

“Congratulations,” I say, my voice stiff. “I hope you’ll be very happy together.”

I feel a little of the tension go out of Mami’s fingers.

“Thank you,” she says. “Now, tell us about you. Where have you been? Are you okay?”

Mami and Abuelita settle themselves on the edge of the pushcart, close enough that they can both reach for me every few seconds, like they need to remind themselves that I’m still there and not a ghost who visits and then leaves. César leans against the wall, arms crossed in front of his wide chest as if he’s bracing to hear more things he can blame himself for.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I tell them everything. I tell them about deciding to go into the mine. I tell them about hearing mystery men and choosing a different route. César scowls at that information but doesn’t interrupt me. I tell them about climbing down into zone seven and finding Daniel’s angel. I realize, with a start, that I was close to Daniel when I found it. He had probably been the voice just around the corner that I heard before the tunnel collapsed. Had I kept walking, instead of turning around, I might have found him. Then again, I tell myself, if I had continued down the tunnel, the blast that crushed Daniel would have caught me too, and Mami would have two kids in