The Crossing

Billy, Boyd, and the girl arrive at Hacienda de San Diego, an abandoned estate that the girl says is now common land. They’re given lodging for the night and fed by the Muñoz family. A bell rings, and the ejidatarios (shareholders of land) go to see a travelling opera troupe perform; Billy accompanies them. The next morning, Billy is transfixed by the “primadonna” from the troupe bathing in the stream.

Billy tells Boyd they’ll leave in two days, and the girl asks to join them. She is only 14, and she won’t tell Billy if someone is looking for her, only that she is going with them wherever they go. When they leave, the people give them a bounty of provisions and money against Billy’s protests. On the road, they encounter the opera troupe’s wagons with the primadonna camped out, and they send the girl to see about her. When Boyd correctly guesses that they’re stranded because a mule died, Billy suspects Boyd and the girl are colluding to make him look foolish.

They ride over to see if they can help; a man, Gasparito, tried to cut off the mule’s head with a machete when it wouldn’t obey. Of the mules who witnessed it, the primadonna asks, “What does one say to these animals? How does one put their minds at rest?” (226).