Day Four: Mystery
Julieta was acting even weirder than usual, Pepa thought, as she discreetly trailed behind her sister. Julieta had closed her stall a little early and was now carrying a basket of herbs, some food and something else that Pepa had not been able to discover. Pepa had to pause as Julieta stopped and checked her basket. She turned then and appeared to be walking toward the woods.
Pepa was standing at the corner of the furthest building in town waiting for Julieta to make it to the trees when she felt someone touch her arm and say, "What are you doing Pepa?" Pepa let loose a small lightning bolt and did her best to keep a cloud from forming. She was not expecting her mother to be there. She thought she was at Casita and Pepa said quicky, "Nothing, nothing… I was just taking a break before heading to the corn fields."
Her mother tilted her head then nodded and said, "Try not to dawdle hija. The corn is an important resource for our community. You must be diligent.." Pepa could feel her eyes glazing over and started a little when her mother asked, "Have you seen Juli? She said she would have a list for the grocer for me today."
Pepa could only shake her head. Whatever Juli was doing was obviously not something that had been cleared by their mother. She needed to get out of here before her mother asked any more questions. She glanced to her left, since the corn fields were in that direction, so she took that opportunity to make her escape. "I'm gonna get going Mamá, lots of thirsty corn out there," she said with a small laugh.
Her mother said nothing for a moment then nodded and turned back toward town. Once she'd disappeared from view, Pepa heaved a sigh and looked toward the woods. There's no way I'll catch up to her now, she thought. Miffed, Pepa had a stray thought, 'Good luck explaining this to Mamá, Juli." And started walking toward the cornfield with a smile across her lips.