When I woke up the following day, I was both really excited and terrified, which was my usual mood on these missions, but this morning, things felt more personal, maybe because people who had served me a meal in their home were involved.
But there was also the exciting background that Antonio had given me the night before. We had indeed found one of the original—or as original as oral tradition gets—of the Chullachaqui legend. He’d told me the story was common all over South America but that the version in our book aligned with most Peruvian versions.
“Have you ever seen him?” I had asked as we wrapped up our conversation, and Hildy and I started toward the door.
“Now, would I know if I had?” Antonio had said. “But at least he hasn’t led me so far into the forest that I couldn’t find my
