Song of the Mockingbird: My Journey with Josefina

I whisper to Josefina to throw the rock. Her eyes are steely. The mountain lion leaps, and Josefina slings the rock at him. He twists in midair, and the rock catches him on the shoulder. He stumbles, hesitates, and with a glance over her shoulder, lopes away, disappearing over the rise.

We both breathe a sigh of relief. Before we can say a word, Miguel comes running up. Josefina explains what happened, and once he sees we’re both unharmed, he tracks the cat down the hill to make sure he’s really gone.

Josefina scoops up the goat, and we stand for a long moment while her heartbeat settles. Finally, Josefina’s eyes meet mine, and we burst into giggles. She sets Sombrita on the ground and tells her not to wander off again. The goat gazes up with yellow eyes, and I wonder if she knows how much danger she was just in.

Josefina asks if we should go back to the house to rest. As the adrenaline ebbs away, I realize how exhausted I am, and I think longingly of the sheepskin bedroll in Josefina’s room. But we’ve barely started our collecting trip, and I don’t want to let Josefina down by not finishing what we set out to do.