Your Excellency, before the happenings of 1917, apart from the ties of relationship that united us, no other particular affection led me to prefer the companionship of Jacinta and Francisco to that of any other child. On the contrary, I sometimes found Jacinta’s company quite disagreeable, on account of her oversensitive temperament. The slightest quarrel which arose among the children was enough to send her pouting into a corner—“tethering the donkey” as we used to say. Even the coaxing and caressing that the children knew so well how to give on such occasions, were still not enough to bring her back to play; she, herself had to choose the game, and her partner as well.
Her heart, however, was well disposed. God has endowed her with a sweet and gentle character which made her at once lovable and attractive. I don’t know why but Jacinta and Francisco had a special liking for me, and almost always came in search for me when they wanted to play. They did not enjoy the company of the other children, and they used to ask me to go with them to the well down at the bottom of the garden belonging to my parents. Once we arrived there, Jacinta chose which games we were to play.
The ones she liked best were usually “Pebbles” and “Buttons,” which we played as we sat on the stone slabs covering the well, in the shade of an olive tree and two plum trees. Playing Buttons often left me in great distress, because when they called us in for our meals, I used to find myself minus buttons. More often than not, Jacinta won them all, and this was enough to make my mother scold me. I had to sew them on again in a hurry. But how could I persuade Jacinta to give them back to me, since besides her pouty ways she had another little defect, she was possessive! She wanted to keep all the buttons for the next game, so as to avoid taking off her own! It was only by threatening never to play with her again that I succeeded getting them back! Not a few times, I found myself unable to do what my little friend wanted.
One of my older sisters was a weaver and the other a seamstress, and both were at home all day. The neighbors, therefore, used to ask my mother if they could leave their children in my parents’ yard, while they themselves went out to work, in the fields. The children stayed with me and played, while my sisters kept an eye on us. My mother was always willing to do this, although it meant considerable waste of time for my sisters. I was, therefore, charged with amusing the children and watching to see that they did not fall into the pool in the yard.
Three large fig trees sheltered us from the scorching sun. We used their branches for swings, and an old threshing floor a dining room. On days like these, when Jacinta came with her brother to invite me to go with them to our favorite nook, I used to tell them that I could not go, because my mother had ordered to stay where I was. Then, disappointed but resigned, the two little ones joined in our games.
At siesta time, especially when Lent was drawing near, she said: “I don’t want to be ashamed of you when the priest questions you on your catechism at Easter time.” All the other children, therefore, were present at our catechism lessons and Jacinta was there as well.