And he went straight to where they kept the old records.
The same employee looked at her in surprise.
—I thought she would have already left that house…
“I’m still here,” she replied. “But I need to know something.”
Hours later… he found a name.
And then another one.
And then an incomplete story.
The woman in the letter had existed.
She had had children.
But they disappeared from the registry.
“They probably went far away…” the employee explained. “A lot of people did that.”
That meant one thing.
It wouldn’t be easy to find them.
But Esperanza did not give up.
He used some silver coins.
Only the necessary ones.
He sent letters. He asked questions. He looked for clues in different places.
The answers were slow.
Sometimes they didn’t arrive.
But she continued.
Meanwhile… her life went on.
The pregnancy progressed.
And one day… the moment arrived.
Alone.
In the silence of the mountains.
No doctors. No help.
Just her… and her faith.
The pain was intense.
The endless hours.
But in the midst of the effort… he felt something strange.
She was not alone.
I didn’t know how to explain it… but I wasn’t alone.
“Come with me…” he whispered to the air.
And at dawn… the cry of a little girl filled the house.
Esperanza hugged her with tears in her eyes.
—Your name will be Josefina…
Like the woman in the letter.
The months passed.
The house changed.
It was no longer a dead place.
There was laughter. There was life.
Esperanza planted seeds, raised chickens, fixed the roof, and put in windows.
And every night… he would look at the picture on the wall.
Remembering how it all began.
The treasure remained untouched.
Expecting.
Almost a year later…
A letter arrived.
He came from far away.
Her hands trembled as she opened it.
And when she read it… she cried.
I had found someone.
Someone who had that last name.
Someone who knew the story.
Weeks later… a woman arrived at the house.
Her eyes filled with tears when she saw the place.
—It’s just as my father described it…
They hugged each other as if they had known each other all their lives.
No explanations were needed.
There was something stronger than words.
Esperanza gave him everything.
The coins.
The jewelry.
The letter.
The medallion.
