Free Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan

and us.”
    Miguel came in and set down their valises, then left. Esperanza could hear Alfonso and Hortensia in the next room, talking about the camp office.
    Mama got up to unpack and began to sing.
    Esperanza felt anger crawling up her throat. “Mama, we are living like horses! How can you sing? How can you be happy? We don’t even have a room to call our own.”
    The talking suddenly stopped in the other room.
    Mama gave Esperanza a long, hard look. She calmly walked over and shut the door to the small room.
    â€œSit down,” she said.
    Esperanza sat on the tiny cot, its springs screeching.
    Mama sat on the bed opposite her, their knees almost touching. “Esperanza, if we had stayed in Mexico and I had married Tío Luis, we would have had one choice. To be apart and miserable. Here, we have two choices. To be together and miserable or to be together and happy.
Mija,
we have each other and Abuelita will come. How would she want you to behave? I choose to be happy. So which will you choose?”
    She knew what Mama wanted to hear. “Happy,” she said quietly.
    â€œDo you know how lucky we are, Esperanza? Many people come to this valley and wait months for a job. Juan went to a lot of trouble to make sure we had this cabin waiting for us when we got here. Please be grateful for the favors bestowed upon us.” Mama bent over and kissed her, then left the room.
    Esperanza laid down on the cot.
    A few minutes later, Isabel came in and sat on the bed. “Will you tell me what it was like to be so very rich?”
    She looked at Isabel, her eyes anticipating some wonderful story.
    Esperanza was quiet for a moment, clinging to one possible thought.
    Then she said, “I am still rich, Isabel. We will only be here until Abuelita is well enough to travel. Then she will come with her money and we will buy a big house. A house that Papa would have been proud for us to live in. Maybe we will buy two houses so that Hortensia, Alfonso, and Miguel can live in one and work for us again. And you can visit us, Isabel. You see, this is only temporary. We will not be here for long.”
    â€œÂ¿De veras?”
asked Isabel.
    â€œYes, it is the truth,” said Esperanza, staring at the ceiling that someone had covered with newspaper and cardboard. “My papa would never have wanted us to live in a place like this.” She closed her eyes and heard Isabel tiptoe out of the room and shut the door.
    The weariness from the days of travel flooded over her, and her mind wandered from people peeing in ditches, to Marta’s rudeness, to the horse stalls at El Rancho de las Rosas.
    How could she be happy or grateful when she had never been more miserable in her life?

    When Esperanza opened her eyes again, it was almost light and she heard Mama, Hortensia, and Alfonso talking in the next room. She had slept through dinner and the entire night. She smelled
café
and
chorizo
. The coffee and sausage made her stomach growl and she tried to remember when she had last eaten. Isabel was still asleep in the bed next to hers so Esperanza quietly pulled on a long wrinkled skirt and white blouse. She brushed her hair and went into the other room.
    â€œGood morning,” said Mama. “Sit down and eat something. You must be starved.”
    At the table, Hortensia patted her hand. “You missed going to the foreman’s office last night. We signed the papers to live here. We already have work today.”
    Mama put a plate of
tortillas,
eggs, and sausage in front of her.
    â€œWhere did all the food come from?” asked Esperanza.
    â€œJosefina,” said Hortensia. “She brought some groceries until we can go to the store this weekend.”
    â€œEsperanza,” said Mama, “you and Isabel will be watching the babies while the rest of us work. Alfonso and Juan will be picking grapes and Hortensia, Josefina, and I will be packing grapes in the sheds.”
    â€œBut I want to