Madge Makes Up Her Mind - 8

By the time Madge made it out to the flats, the late afternoon sun slanting sideways and brushing the rocky landscape with vivid gold, she nearly had herself convinced that Maria would be there, maybe hiding in the back at first, but then coming out into the cantina at her mother's urging to face Madge with apologies and regrets for having run off. The cantina was closed, and there was an overslept siesta quiet all around, but the youngest sister peeked out of the window when Madge knocked on the door, and opened it right away with a perplexed expression. She was prettier than the middle sister, though they all looked very much alike, waist-length black hair hanging down in a single fat braid, large obsidian eyes and high indian cheekbones in a face as brown as toast, but not a day over fifteen, Madge guessed. Facing the girl, Madge found herself unable to muster the determination that had propelled her out there, and instead, her pulse began to race and her voice came out higher, more alarmed than she would have preferred to sound when she said, "Your sister Maria didn't finish her work at the motel and I can't find her, I thought perhaps she came back here." She wasn't sure how good the girl's English was, but her expression said she understood enough to be worried, and she quickly stepped outside and closed the door, ready to go with the lady who had taken her sister away only that morning and somehow managed to lose her. Madge hadn't intended to just replace the missing girl, she hesitated in front of the cantina staring at the youngest sister and thinking to herself, Oh no, what have I gone and done... what if I lose her too?