Song of the Mockingbird: My Journey with Josefina

The cooks have made a huge stack of tortillas and Señora Sanchez’s house is tidy as a mouse’s hold. We eat a quick meal of stew and then Tía Dolores announces it’s time to return home for a siesta.

The sun is hot overhead and bores into my skull as we trudge back to the rancho. The morning’s freshness is gone, and even the bushes along the path look dusty. Sleeping through the hot part of the day sounds pretty good in a world without air conditioning.

Then my thoughts turn from sleep to my stomach. I feel queasy, and it gets worse as we walk in the blazing sun. I think back to the stew and almost groan out loud. Josefina notices and takes my arm, asking if I’m okay. I just shake my head.

When we reach the Montoyas’ house, I head straight for the sleeping sala and collapse on a bedroll. The other girls lie down too, and soon the room fills with peaceful breathing as everyone naps. But I can’t sleep, my stomach rolling with nausea.

When Francisca sings that it’s time for us to wake up, she jumps from her bed and searches through layers of folded clothes for a skirt to lend me. But when she looks at me, she stops. Another wave of nausea rolls through me. Josefina leans over and feels my head and my palms, saying my hands are clammy and I’m pale.

Francisca ignores my sickness and unfolds the blue-green skirt, insisting I’ll be up in a moment. Josefina nudges her sisters aside and refolds it. I can’t go to the fandango feeling this ill. She disappears through the doorway and returns with a steaming bowl of tansy mustard broth, the remedy Tía Magdalena always recommends for upset stomachs.

I sniff it and wrinkle my nose, backing away. Unlike the chamomile tea, this one smells like burnt rubber. I want to take it and I don’t, both at once. The brew is scary, even though Josefina is learning to heal, but I’m dying to go to the party and won’t get better in time without it. I want to trust her. She’s my friend. Then the sun sinks below the window, throwing the room into sudden darkness and chilling the air. I long for home, yet I want to stay with Josefina, and my stomach still feels awful.