I see you, Bruno

Chapter Eight

Strangely enough, the Madrigals didn't seem to notice that Bruno kept disappearing for hours without saying a word. Disappearance is perhaps a bit of an exaggeration, after all, he was only in the wall, but still, neither his sisters nor his Mamá questioned his absence.

Bruno didn't deal with this fact very often, he was already used to the fact that he could leave even for weeks and hardly anyone would notice. At least that's what he thought, because of course his family noticed that he wasn't there, they just didn't say anything.

But he was far too busy to worry about that. He had resolved that he would build a bridge over the hole so that Lucia could walk over it without fear. He had lain awake all night thinking about it with his rats. He had built little models out of matches and thread, where he then had Amigo walk over to see how exactly he had to do it.

Now he had quite a good picture in front of him. He had gone back to the room and even found a hammer and nails there, which seemed more than useful to him. From then on, he didn't hesitate for a second.

The boards he had put there on the first visit were still doing a good job, so Bruno just kept using them. He decided that he would nail the ends to the floor to keep them from sliding back and forth. And he managed to do that without accidentally nailing himself.

After that, he decided that he would have to make the bridge wider, after all, they will have to carry big things over it someday without them falling off. So he fixed two more boards per side in the same way and went over it again for a test. Everything held perfectly.

Scratching his head, Bruno then stood in front of his work and thought about how best to build a railing. On his model, he had made a kind of floating railing with threads, but now that he looked around, it was probably not so easy to do. He turned around and looked at the things he had brought with him. There were still two long beams that he had originally wanted to use for the railing, which he still intended to do, but all he had to do now was find four sturdy branches that he could use as supports for the beams.

He sighed. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to get out and look for them in the forest. He put the tools aside and went back to the entrance. Carefully he climbed up - if he had time afterwards, he would have to build some kind of ramp so they didn't always have to use the ladder - and peeked around the corner to make sure he could get out unseen. He closed the painting behind him and hurried outside.

Once in the forest, he tensely searched for four suitable branches. He wanted to get it over with quickly so that he would not be seen. What could he say if someone asked him why he was looking for branches in the forest? Firewood for Julieta? No, he might as well take the thin branches here. Gifts for Pepa or Mamá? People would think he was pathetic and crazy. Maybe he would just say it had to do with a vision of him because then most of them would change the subject immediately and disappear.

His gift might not have been the one people liked the most, but it was always a good excuse to leave him alone. Of course, he was never allowed to tell Mamá that; after all, he had sworn at the age of five that he would always use his gift for Encanto and the good of the people. And if she found out that he was using it to hide from the people, she would give him hell.

There! Bruno had found a suitable branch, it went up to his elbows and was thick enough to hold one of the beams, and if he now found three more of the same size, everything was perfect.

As if he had been talking about the devil! Not two metres away lay another branch. And next to it another one! And another!

He could hardly believe his luck! But then he realised that it wasn't exactly easy to carry four big branches, let alone be inconspicuous.