Bongará

The wind swept across Laguna Pomacochas, rustling the reeds. Perusino sat on the pier, shoes off, his red cap placed beside him.

"Just five minutes' break," he said. "Then we can continue."

Franz poked his head into Perusino's provisions bag. "Five minutes is enough."

Then a loose board clattered behind them. Perusina spun around. A figure jumped from the pier, snatched the cap, and vanished into the bushes.

"My cap!"

Perusino raced off, with Perusina and Franz close behind. But when they reached the end of the path, the thief was gone. Only a boot print remained in the mud. A broken zigzag stripe ran across the sole.

Franz sniffed. "Sugar water."

It buzzed above their heads. A small hummingbird darted out of the bush, hovered in the air, sparkling green and blue. Behind it swung two long feathers with violet, spoon-shaped ends.

"A Spatuletail hummingbird," Perusina whispered. "It only exists in a small area of northern Peru."

The hummingbird flew two circles, almost plunging to the ground, and then darted towards the cloud forest. Then it returned and repeated exactly the same flight.

"He saw the thief," Perusina said.

"Or he's making fun of my cap," Perusino grumbled.

The hummingbird shot off. This time, they followed it.

The path led steeply upwards. Roots lay like snakes across the ground. The hummingbird waited at every turn, moving its two long tail feathers like pointers. Left. Right. Left again.

Then they heard a metallic clink.

Perusina raised her hand. A small trap hung between ferns. Beside it, drops of sweet sugar water clung to a blossom.

"Someone wants to catch hummingbirds," she said.

A branch cracked. A figure ran away above the path. A small cage hung on its back. Perusino's red cap was stretched over it.

"There it is!" Perusino cried.

The thief jumped over a fallen tree. The three chased after him. Franz took a shortcut through the bushes, came out on the other side, and bit the strap of the cage. The man lifted him up. Franz flew through the air and landed headfirst in a fern.

"Everything under control!" he cried.

The Spatuletail hummingbird swooped directly in front of the thief's face. He swatted at it, stumbled, and dropped the cage. He slid across the wet ground, hit a rock, and shot towards a deep gorge.

Perusino lunged forward. His fingers grasped the strap.

"Help!"

The cage was already hanging over the abyss. Inside, a second hummingbird flapped frantically against the bars. Perusino slipped inch by inch further.

Perusina grabbed his legs. Franz bit onto Perusina's bag.

"Pull!" Perusina shouted.

Together, they pulled Perusino and the cage back. Meanwhile, the thief jumped up, intending to flee. Perusina tore the whistle from her backpack and blew into it three times. The shrill sound echoed through the forest.

Shortly after, a second whistle responded. Two forest rangers came up the path. The thief saw them, turned around, and stepped right into his own snare. With a jerk, he was pulled up by the foot and dangled upside down between the branches.

Perusino took his cap from the cage. "That's mine."

Perusina carefully opened the small door. The trapped hummingbird shot out. The Spatuletail hummingbird flew to meet it. Together, both circled above the children before disappearing into the cloud forest.

The forest rangers collected the traps and led the thief away. Perusino put on his cap.

His finger ran through a hole above his right ear.

Slowly, he looked at Franz.

"That happened during the rescue operation," Franz explained.

"You bit through my cap!"

Franz tilted his head. "Now you'll hear the hummingbird coming sooner."

It hummed above them.

Perusino immediately put both hands on his cap.