Kino's Mistake

Kino edged like a slow lizard down the smooth rock shoulder. He could see the faint outline of the trackers that were dark shapes against the moonlit sky. Kino noticed each breath he took, noticed each step he made. His sounds echoed in his mind; the songs of his movement, of danger rang out. Against his bare back, Kino felt the coolness of the knife that hung from a string around his neck. The tracker on watch took another smoke from his cigarette, and Kino could see him clearer now. As he edged closer, he removed the big knife from its string, and crouched even closer to the ground. Getting nearer to the lookout, his body became one with the land. He moved slowly and precisely, like a stalking snake, remaining deathly silent.
Before Kino
She knew what this meant, for her and her baby. She knew that Kino was killed, and that she and Coyotito would have to return to La Paz alone. The baby was silent, as if he knew how critical his silence was. Devoid of emotion, Juana laid down on the cave’s rocky floor, and using her shawl, she created a blanket for her and Coyotito. The baby gurgled quietly, and his mother murmured reassuring words to the most precious thing she
She rose from her spot on the ground quietly, making sure that her baby was still sound asleep. Moving a few quiet steps down the mountain and crouching low, she saw the trackers packing up their camp and getting their horse ready for their trip back. She searched for Kino’s body, but if it was there, it was disguised amid the bushes. Juana watched the trackers get their final drink from the spring and eat their last meal. She watched them leave, the men that killed her partner and their future, and could only feel anger and disgust towards men that were strangers to her. Long after the trackers were gone, Juana was still huddled behind the brush until Coyotito let out a cry. She turned back and picked him up in silence, wrapping her shawl around them. They made their way down the mountain silently, beads of sweat forming on Juana’s forehead. They hiked through the forest, and after hours the small town of La Paz came into view. With Coyotito on her back, and her clothes more dirty and ragged than ever, Juana entered the town in weary. Her neighbors crowded around her, their faces covered with anxiety and hundreds of questions forming in their