I ran a hand over my belly, unsure whether the pain I felt there was the stories or my monthly cramps. “Gracias, Chavela,” I said, standing up. I did as she said, relieving myself in a small pit that opened up into the larger one. I returned to el olvidado and greeted some of the others, many of whom were readying themselves for a day of seeking work. I packed up my belongings, and Chavela was waiting for me near the northern entryway.
“There’s one of our public wells a few streets over,” she said, taking my hands in hers. “And I want you to know…” She smiled at me, dropped one of my hands, and then reached out, caressing my cheek. “… you are welcome here, Xochitl. I don’t know what sort of journey you are on, but this place will always be here for you.”
Chavela’s eyes sparkled. She meant it, Solís. She offered me a home, a place I could have as my own, and she barely knew me. What did it take to trust someone else like that? How had she maintained such goodness of heart after seeing so many terrible things?
Maybe it was a choice. Maybe we all had one.
I told Chavela that I would get water and return to wait for Emilia. Then I walked out into the sunlight, out into the crowds of Obregán. It was so easy to vanish into the flow of people, and that left me with a new sense of isolation. It didn’t matter that there were so many other souls around me. As I walked eastward, people brushed past me, never casting anything more than a quick glance, and then they continued on their way. I meant nothing to them.
El olvidado.
It made sense now, how people could become forgotten in a place this large.
I refilled my goatskin bag with cool water at the well Chavela had described, then let it pour over my head, trickle down my back. I shook it off.
You can do this, I told myself.
“Xochitl!”
I spun around, and Emilia was running toward me.
My heart flopped at the sight of her. Was that excitement? Fear?
Both?
“Chavela said you were here.” Emilia bent over slightly, trying to catch her breath. “I … I didn’t want you to leave without me.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. “Emilia, I don’t know where I’m going. I have to go with you.”
“Oh.” She traced a pattern in the dirt with her boots, both of which were now coated in a fine dust. “Right.”
The city moved around us as we stared at each other. People rushed by; a bell rang in the distance; shouts echoed off the walls. The din was overwhelming. Smothering.
“We just have to—” I said.
“I think we—” Emilia began, interrupting me, and then we both smiled, laughter spilling afterwards.
“You go first,” I said.
She grabbed my hand—my heart fluttered again—and she pulled me off to the side, closer to the red clay building and out of the way of the streaming crowd.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “This has been … a lot. A lot to deal with.”
“I know,” I said, combing my hair out of my face.
“And I didn’t expect any of this to happen. I never thought I could stand up to him, not after everything he’d done.”
She continued to run the toe of her boot in the dirt. I knew exactly what she was referring to because … well, her story was still alive inside me. It shivered deep in my stomach: Loneliness. Abandonment. Terror. She had been so afraid to act, and …
.… she felt guilty about it, didn’t she? She was convinced she could have done more, and done it earlier.
“But you did it.”
Emilia looked up at me.
“He’s gone. El sabueso is dead. You’re free.”
She nodded. “I just … I just acted. I didn’t really think about it. I grabbed the axe after you dropped it, and then got behind him and…”
Emilia gulped, and then she focused on a spot on the ground. I let the horror pass, let the reality of what she’d done sink into her. She breathed in deep, then looked back to me.
“What was it you just said?” she asked.
“Uh … well, I said that he’s gone. And you’re free.”
“I never have been,” she said. “I was stuck beneath the ground in Solado. Lied to. Trapped there. And when I was freed from that place, he kept me in his clutches.”
I squeezed her hand. “No longer.”
She let go and rubbed at her face. “So … what do I do now? What do you do when you’re free?”
I hadn’t figured that out for myself. And was I free? Was I liberated from what held me back? Not yet. I had one thing to do, one thing left to accomplish.
“You do what you want,” I said. “And it seems to me that you want to find Luz.”
“I do,” she said, breathing out in relief. “I know it’s going to be dangerous to head back, but I can’t leave her behind.”
“Vámonos,” I said. “We need supplies. And I need to know more about Solado.”
She hoisted her sack farther up on her back. “I’m sorry that I took out my frustration on you. I don’t know why I reacted that way.” She paused, then narrowed her eyes at me. “Sometimes I feel drawn to you, and I don’t know why.”
That flutter again. Did she feel it, too, as I did? It made no sense to me. I hadn’t known Emilia that long, but … was I drawn to her as well?
Heat rushed into my cheeks and I looked away. “Don’t worry about that,” I muttered, then changed the subject immediately. “Well, let’s pick up some food. How long is the journey north?”
If she wanted to talk more about what she’d just revealed to me, Emilia did not make it clear. Maybe she was thankful to discuss something else, because she jumped on the change of subject. “A few days if we don’t take long breaks,” she said. “We stopped
