He was so consumed by anger that he barely heard Joséphine explaining her idea. She was offering to replace Le Simple. For one month she would go up and be the shepherd. She was prepared to devote herself to taking care of the ewes; at least that way they would see if they continued to disappear. And it would liberate Le Simple. He could come back down to the village and help in the fields; the hay mower had broken and they needed his strength here, especially as the harvest would soon be upon them.

The women exchanged looks, and, without having to say anything, they all had the same thought. Since it had been established that Joséphine attracted misfortune, that she was a magnet for lightning, if she were up there she would act as a lightning conductor. Since it was she that misfortune sought, once she was up there, the rest of them down below would be safe.

They knew that Joséphine was reliable and that she would know what to do to prevent the sheep from disappearing. Everyone agreed to the idea, except for La Bûche whose jealousy was now even more intense. If Joséphine went up there, she wouldn’t even have to hide the fact that she was going to be with the lion tamer. In his view, the only reason Joséphine was offering to look after the sheep was so that she could be with him without anyone seeing or knowing. But the worst thing was that if she lived up there, she would quickly understand what sort of predators were preying on the ewes, the beautiful Joséphine being much cleverer than the simple shepherd. She would soon work out what the shadowy figures poaching the sheep were.

August 2017

August 2017