“What happened after you knocked him out?” Gabriel asked as he exited the wagon Camila and Pilar shared, brushing the sweat from his brow.
“I checked his pockets of course,” Esmeralda said. “He didn’thave much to offer. A flyer for the carnival. A tin box and an officer’s badge, which I snagged.” His mother’s ring was on his pinky finger. She wasn’t so heartless that she would steal that. Although, the thought had crossed her mind. Hehadgiven it to her once upon a time.
She grabbed another dumbbell. “I found one of the ringmaster’s ratas and had them contact a jailer. I told them I found Ignacio trying to steal some golden eggs.”
Both Camila and Gabriel snorted.
“Remind me not to cross you,” Camila teased.
“He’ll be fine,” Esmeralda said, rolling her eyes. “His father is the second most powerful man in Costa Mayor.”
Gabriel gaped. “He’s the son of Comandante Olivera? The commander of the entire army? How did a thief like you meet the child of the most prestigious man in Costa Mayor?” He added a “No offense” to soften the slight.
“Offense taken,” she replied. “I’ll have you know it was the comandante’s son who pursued me. Anyway.” She flicked her hair over her shoulder to prove she didn’t care that Gabriel assumed Ignacio was too good for her. Ignacio clearly thought so too. He did betray her a year ago. And what was his excuse for breaking her heart?I can’t turn my back on my father.“I lived in the comandante’s manor from the age of ten, all the way until I ran away before my eighteenth birthday.”
“Lived there? Why?” Gabriel asked.
“Yeah, why?” Camila chimed in. “And why did you never tell us this? It’s like you talk and talk but don’t actually say anything about yourself.”
“That’s because I’d rather speak about anything in the world other than my past.”
Camila and Gabriel stopped working altogether.
“I think we’re beyond that,” Gabriel said. “You’ve already spilled most of the beans anyway. You can’t leave us hangingnow.”
Camila chimed in. “You can tell us stuff, you know. It’s kind of what friends are for.”
Esmeralda couldn’t help but feel a timid sort of warmth gathering inside her chest, but she ignored it. Her parents had given her up the second she wasn’t of use to them. Ignacio left her once she told him she wouldn’t wait for him to return from the Blackbirds. Comandante Olivera had her thrown into a cell when she no longer served as his trustworthy spy. The moment she wasn’t what someone needed or wanted or expected, the moment she didn’t offer anything of value, people were done with her.
She made Gabriel and Camila laugh. She trotted around with an arrogant grin and lackadaisical manner that put them at ease. What would happen when they saw the serious, sad side of her that didn’t offer them joy? They’d probably stay away, and she couldn’t risk that.
“We better hurry up and finish before the train leaves us. You know how much I hate running after things.” She moved to pick up one of Camila’s trunks. It didn’t budge. Camila had placed one of her sandaled feet right on top of it.
“Talk,” she commanded.
Esmeralda placed her hands on her hips. “Is the truth aboutmy wretched history more important than getting ready to depart?”
“Yes,” Camila and Gabriel said in unison.
“You’re both insufferable.”
“We learned it from you,” Gabriel said. “Now spit it out before I expire from the morning heat.”
Esmeralda breathed hard through her nostrils before saying, “When I was ten, I was caught stealing from Comandante Olivera’s home. Instead of sending me to the dungeons, he turned me into his spy. Ignacio and I became friends as I worked off my indenture.”
“And then you became more,” Camila added with a wiggle of her brows.
“Unfortunately,” Esmeralda grumbled.
Gabriel narrowed his gaze. “When you and I met inside the jailer’s wagon…”
“That was two monthsafterI ran away from Comandante Olivera. Like I said, I scuttled off before my indenture was up, but his officers found me easily enough. The comandante then left me to rot in a dark cell as punishment until he decided all us criminals would serve him better in the war. And that’s where I met you, another pitiful prisoner heading for certain death.”
“And aren’t you lucky for it,” Gabriel said. “If I remember correctly, it was I who got us free from our manacles before we reached the trenches.”
“I think that hooch you procured from the bootlegger has done something to your brain.Ifreed us from the jailer’s cart.Yougot us out of the manacles long after we escaped.”
“Youbothplayed pivotal roles in your freedom,” Camila said. “Now back to you and Ignacio falling in love.”
