Twenty ewes lost in one month: the endless debate about the shepherd went on. In the countryside it was often thought better to have the sheep watched over by a woman rather than a man. As the saying went, ‘What makes a good shepherd? A shepherdess.’ To watch over animals outdoors all day long took care and consideration, and above all the ability to sense the onset of illness or fear in the animals, to detect the smallest wound or dangerous chill in the air. To make sure that Le Simple was really up to it Fernand and Couderc decided to go up again themselves. Towards midday, the mayor once more harnessed up the rickety old carriage, and he and Couderc got in, taking care to put up the hood. It was the schoolmaster’s idea to take eight paraffin lamps with them, so that Le Simple could have light at night. ‘If it’s wolves that are stealing from us, it will stop them coming. Wolves don’t like dancing flames. Flaming torches are even used by Masai shepherds to scare off lions.’ Despite the midday heat they climbed right up to the summer pastures with bread and cheese for Le Simple. For the dogs they had brought dead chickens and giblets they had crammed into a barrel; it stank but that didn’t matter, they had to get to the bottom of the mystery. It took them two hours to reach the flock. When Le Simple saw them, he thought the end of summer had already come and that it was time to go back down again. His joy was short-lived.

The mayor and schoolmaster inspected the pasture. There was no trace of blood, and not even the smallest piece of carcass, no remains and no guts. Nothing could be found, not even any wool caught on the thistles. They searched in the nearby woods, watched by the jays at the top of the trees and by crows which, like good birds of prey, were on the lookout for signs of a sacrifice or an orgy. Only the birds knew what was going on up there.

At the end of the afternoon, Fernand and Couderc set off back down to the village. It was even trickier to get down with the cabriolet than it had been to come up. From the seat, the two men saw the horse trapped between the two shafts of the cart, the weight of which pushed the horse downwards. The brake rubbed against the worn-out wheel and when they saw that the horse couldn’t go on they decided to stop at the lion tamer’s house to give the brave animal a drink before tackling the end of the slope. But the horse baulked. The scent of the lions was so strong in its nostrils that it refused to turn off towards the little house. So they had to continue down towards the village with the thirsty horse and the burnt-out brake.