The Magnificent Seven Chapter 3

Conscious now, Noog Xi turned her head to look at the window to the right.  The darkness of the night had faded away.  The moon went back to sleep and the sun came out to give light to the world.  Although the window in her room was still shut tight, she could witness sunlight creeping through the cracks of the window and traveling faster than anything else in this universe across time, space, and the walls of the house.  The light inside was bright enough that it kept her awake.  Not wanting to get up yet, she turned her whole body to the right side and stared at the window.  When she did so, Noog Xi could smell the sweet scent of freshly brewed rice coming through the cracks of the thatched-roof home.  Even this bright into the morning, she could still hear faint sounds of roosters crowing, calling for the sun to rise.  Suddenly, she did not hear the crows anymore but the sound of a sharp blade cutting through hard pieces of dry woods instead.  She knew that the sound was coming from her uncle chopping woods outside to be used for the day.  The noises helped to reassure her of her safety.    

After of few minutes of lying awake, the young woman’s back began to ache so she decided to get up.  But before stepping outside to wash her face, the dream crept back into her thoughts.  How she wished everything in the dream was just a dream like every other dream, but it was not.  Those vivid images were remnants of her past.  Even though she was safe and sound now, the experience haunted her every night in her sleep.  But in dreams, things did not occur the same way twice and they also did not stick to reality.  Sometimes, she would see things that never happened or have yet to exist in her lifetime while other times, the details and ending to her dream would often change.         

Many months have passed since her escape, and she was back trying to live a normal life in a tiny village called Zos Hav Xyoob—Bamboo Grove Village, because it was surrounded by a bamboo forest.  Since the war destroyed her home that morning, things became so chaotic that it was difficult for anyone to locate lost family members.  There were many deaths and captures that those who were part of the experience became hopeless in searching and rebuilding their family infrastructure.  But, Noog Xi’s youngest brother was unwilling to give up.  He desired to join General Vaj Pov’s CIA-backed clandestine army so that he could not only protect their land and people, but also find their dispersed family members.  She had wanted to go along with him but the journey was perilous. 

Unable to bear the thought of losing his sister again, the young brother had taken her to stay with their    maternal aunt and uncle, Niam Tais Paj and Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua.  Their village was within close proximity to the Plain of Jars but was remote and hidden deep away from the region controlled by the Red Lao soldiers.  Since the villagers were ordinary citizens, her brother figured that she would be safe with them. 

Although Noog Xi had been separated from her youngest brother before, this separation was different in that she may never see him again.  Her heart wavered and ached when he, who had now transformed into a man in this unstable time, turned his back to her and left with Niam Tais Paj and Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua’s three sons. 

Pitying the aging couple for being separated from their three unmarried sons, Noog Xi tried to help them as much as possible in terms of doing chores and talked to them during her spare time so that they would not feel so lonely.  But after living with them for a while, she found herself running out of topics to converse and things to do.  Her aunt and uncle would not let her go farm with them so she decided to pass time by teaching the village children how to read and write Latin Hmong. 

The villagers were surprised to see a Hmong female teacher, so Niam Tais Paj and Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua warned her to conceal her identity for safety reasons.  To reduce suspicion, she abandoned her prestigious clan name and took up Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua’s Yaj surname instead.  If asked, she said that she was Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua’s elder brother’s daughter.  She never told anyone that her father was a toj xeem or that of all his children, Lis Tub Yiv had secretly sent his second daughter to attend a French Lyceé in Hanoi since young.  She was careful not to show that she could communicate in English, French, Lao, and Vietnamese fluently or that at age 16, she had earned a government scholarship to complete high school in Australia and received a baccalaureate degree from the University of Sydney.  When asked how, she simply answered that she was literate because a missionary taught her.

Unlike her family’s brick house in Nong Het, Niam Tais Paj and Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua lived in a simple thatched roofing home made of elephant grass and split bamboo lashed together with ropes and sinew.  The house sat on top of hard-stomped dirt and was divided into two main sections: the large room at the front served the multipurpose of a living, dining, kitchen, and family room while two small areas at the back end made up the bedrooms.  The entrances to the two bedrooms have no doors but were covered with simple white curtains. 

Noog Xi walked up to the white cloths and pulled them up so that the ends of the curtains hung over a bamboo bar.  She grabbed a white towel and a bar soap from inside a plastic bag near her bamboo mattress bed.  She left her bedding area, a small space that was large enough for one bamboo mattress.  When she passed through the kitchen section, she did not see Niam Tais Paj. 

Outside, the weather was nice and cool like usual.  Noog Xi walked toward a big reddish-brown earthen jar filled with clear water, carried into it by a bamboo water pipe system from a nearby stream.  She used a dried white guard ladle to scoop a ladle of water out.  Dipping her right hand into the ladle of water, she splashed the cold water against her warm face.  She then took her right hand to message the bar soap to create foam, and used the foam to scrub and clean the oil that accumulated on her face throughout the night.  Afterward, the girl took a toothbrush ladled with toothpaste, which Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua had to travel to the nearest town to obtain, to brush her teeth. 

When finished brushing up for the day, Noog Xi was about to reentered the home when she bumped into Niam Tais Paj.  A petite, gregarious woman who had lived half way through life already, Niam Tais Paj’s hair had an equal mixture of ebony and silver strands.  She often wore traditional clothing of the Hmong of Xiengkhouang Province.  Sometimes, she would put on a purple turban while other times, she simply tied her hair up into a bun on the top of her head. This morning, she wore a purple turban and carried a bamboo-woven basket on her back, filled with banana tree trunk pieces. 

When Niam Tais Paj saw her niece, she smiled warmly.  “Daughter, you have awoken?  Are you well rested?”

Noog Xi smiled and nodded. 

Niam Tais Paj tried to take the bamboo basket off her back.  The niece could estimate the heaviness of the load and quickly pushed her toiletries onto her left hand to hurry to help catch back-basket with her right hand.  After firmly grasping onto the basket, Noog Xi lowered her body and placed the bamboo basket on the ground by leaning it against the thatched house wall. 

“Thank you, daughter,” Niam Tais Paj remarked with a sigh of relief.

“Niam Tais Paj, why didn’t you wait for me?” Noog Xi asked.  “I could have gone cut the pigs’ food for you.”

The woman smiled once more.  “It’s alright, daughter.  It’s dangerous out in the jungle,” she cautioned.  “You’ve been through so much already.  I don’t want you to suffer anymore.  Come.  I’ve made breakfast before I left.  You can help me set the morning meal table.”

The girl nodded and followed her aunt inside the house.  She quickly put her toiletries away, changed, and then came back out to the kitchen area. Her aunt had laid the small bamboo table on the dirt floor.  There was already a bowl of rice on top of the bamboo table. 

“Aunt, what would you like me to do?” she asked.

“I am scooping the pork and green mustards soup.  Why don’t you cut up the chicken, and then serve it on a plate?” the woman instructed.

On top of a wooden counter, Noog Xi found a whole boiled chicken inside a large red plastic bowl decorated with beautiful red and pink carnations and vines.  She grabbed a round wooden cutting board and a knife, and laid the items on the counter.  Then, she took the chicken out of the bowl and put it on top of the cutting board.  Clasping the knife firmly in her right hand, the girl swung it with all her might and cut into the chicken until it became edible pieces.  Afterward, she sprinkled the chicken meat with salt, a little monosaccharide glutamate, and black pepper.  She placed the chicken pieces onto a large plate, and then served the plate on the bamboo table. 

Observing that morning meal table was almost ready, Noog Xi stepped outside to find Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua.  She went straight to the wood storage area where she heard him chopped woods earlier.  However, he was no longer there.  She looked around the front and back of the house, but still did not see him.  A person with a drastically different personality from Niam Tais Paj, Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua was shy and not very chatty.  He would not have gone to visit any friends this early in the morning.  Where could he be? 

The niece decided to look for Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua beyond the house area.  After many attempts, she found her uncle at a stream, about a quarter of a mile from their home.  When she got there, Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua was holding a hand-woven black fish net and standing in the stream.  The legs of his black hemp trouser were folded above his knees and the sleeves of his black hemp shirt with Chinese buttons and blue borders were also folded above his elbows.  A red sash held his shirt and trouser together.  His small but sturdy body hovered over the water as he eyed sharply on the fishes swimming in the stream. 

When Noog Xi approached him, he had just thrown the fish net into the water and drew up a net full of small, sparkling white-scaled anchovies.  “Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua!” she called out loud.

“Daughter!” he answered and turned to look in her direction with a warm smile.

“Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua, did you get a lot of fishes?” she asked and returned his smile.

He nodded.  “It’s not a lot but it should be enough for the morning meal.”

“Don’t worry about the meal.  Niam Tais Paj prepared it already.  How about we have it for dinner?”

 “Sounds even better,” he replied.

“Come.  I’ve already helped set the breakfast table,” she told her uncle.  “Let’s go before the food gets cold.” 

He stepped out of the stream, carrying the net full of anchovies.  Once he reached shore, he dumped the anchovies into a Lao jar-like bamboo basket, designed to keep fish inside.  Noog Xi then grabbed the basket while he held onto the black fish net, and they both returned home.

The trio had their morning meal.  Afterward, Niam Tais Paj busily prepared food for the pigs from the banana trunks she cut earlier while Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua retreated to an open-bamboo shelter a few feet across the main home to fix the broken lines of his fish net.  As for Noog Xi, she found herself with nothing else to do after cleaning the dishes.  She then packed up her backpack and bid farewell to Niam Tais Paj and Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua as she made her way to the village school.

***

The village school was the efforts of all the villagers, but it did not look like the university or even the French Lyceé in Hanoi that she attended.  Instead, it was a simple shack, too simple to be a school.  Four wooden poles, arranged in a square, made up the frame of the building.  The building had no walls except a wooden roof only, which was only built to protect the inside from rain and sun.  If there were no rain and sun, she was sure it would not be there either.  Inside the wooden frame, the tables and chairs were constructed from long, slender woods that were just chopped in halves to establish seating and writing furniture.  It looked exactly like the school building from the movie, Lis Ceeb.

It was already noon when Noog Xi approached the school building.  The scorching sun was half-way through the sky, and the chatting and giggling sounds of blithe children were present too.  Most of her students were young boys ranging from ages 5 through 13.  She did not have any older ones as they were either drafted to serve in the war or needed at home.  She also did not have many girls since parents needed their daughters to help out with farm work.  Ever since she began teaching the village children many moons ago, she had attempted to ask parents to let their daughters come to school and while many girls wanted to be taught, their parents could not afford to spare them.  Therefore, if she was lucky to get any female students, it was only the very young ones. 

Unlike the French Lyceé that she attended where students were required to dress in uniforms and everyone had similar haircuts, her students wore their traditional outfits to school.  She did not have any funding to enforce a strict uniform policy and the village parents were too poor to afford anything.  Despite this, she was fortunate that the village chief was able to offer papers and pencils for the students.  She, however, was glad to receive any student who was enthusiastic to learn.  She had hoped that one day her students would relay their knowledge to other Hmong children so that the Hmong would attain educational wealth and prosperity.

If home with Niam Tais Paj and Yawm Txiv Txooj Sua, Noog Xi usually wore traditional clothing.  However, when coming out to teach the students, she needed to earn the respect of her students so she would change into clothes like the Lao Loum.  Today, she had on a clean short-sleeve, white dressed-shirt and black knee-length Lao skirt.  Her hair was loosened down and she used a black hair band to separate her bangs from the rest of her shoulder-length hair.  She finished her uniform with a pair of flat, black dressed shoes. 

She had stayed up late the night prior to finish writing her lesson plans, so her backpack was fully packed with notes and activities for her students.  When she stepped into the school building, she smiled at the children.  “Good morning, students,” the young teacher greeted while walking toward the center of the classroom.

Her students got up from their seats.  “Good morning, Xib Fwb Yaj—Teacher Yaj,” they spoke simultaneously like a harmonious choir.

She took off her backpack and laid it on her desk, which was a wooden oak table that stood near the right corner of the classroom.  Then, she unzipped the backpack and pulled out a notebook.  She walked back toward the front center of the classroom.  A black chalk board, held into its position by a wooden frame, stood at the center front.  She pulled a long chalk out of a chalk box that she had carried from home.  Before writing anything, the teacher looked at her students once more. 

“Children, please pull your homework assignment out and leave it at the upper right hand corner of your desk.  After I teach today’s lesson, I will be coming by to pick up your homework,” she instructed.

The children were studious so after hearing their teacher’s instructions, they nosily dug through their notes to find their homework assignment.  Once found, all the students left the assignment at the upper right hand corner of their desks.  Noog Xi turned her body sideways so that she was facing both the students and the chalk board. 

“Last week, we’ve learned the double consonants already.  Today, we will be learning the triple consonants.”  She quickly wrote out all the triple consonants on the board.  “Triple consonants are just the merge of some of the double consonants with a single consonant.  Based on the rule that I taught you all to use to sound out a consonant, who can give a try as to how these triple consonants sound like?”

No one raised their hands.  The children, even the young ones who were typically very inquisitive, were suddenly quiet like mice.  They stared at their teacher with blank looks. 

“Okay,” she said.  “Since no one volunteered, and I really want to know who has been studying—I guess I’ll have to pick on someone.” 

She scanned the classroom for a student.  In the back corner of the classroom, she eyed a boy who had on a Manchu hat and who looked older than the rest of the students.  When her eyes met him, he was resting his head on his left fist, and his head was slightly turned toward the outside.  He seemed like he was daydreaming. 

The teacher decided to pick him as he stood out from the crowd.  “Xwm!” she called his name.

He did not answer.  His head and eyes were unmoved. 

“XWM!” she called him again, but louder.

Her second call snapped him out of his daydreaming, and he lost his head balance on his fist.  “I like Maiv Xis!” the boy blurted out and stood up. 

The students giggled at his silliness.  When he heard the laughs, he realized that he said something wrong.  “Sorry, Xib Fwb Yaj,” he quickly said, lowering his head. 

The teacher chuckled a little too.  “I’m sure Maiv Xis likes you too.” 

“Don’t say that, Xib Fwb.  It’s embarrassing.”

“I’m glad you know that.  I’m assuming that you won’t daydream in class anymore?”

“No,” he said and shook his head.

“Pronounce these triple consonants for me?” she demanded of him, pointing to the consonants on the chalk board with a bamboo stick.

He lifted his head up to glance at the chalk board.  “But…Xib Fwb, you haven’t taught us those consonants yet?” he asked with a perplex look.

“Exactly,” she answered.  “Although I haven’t taught anyone how to say these consonants—you should be able to sound it out using the simple rule of pronouncing one letter at a time.  Give it a try.”

The boy stared at the chalk board for a few seconds.  He then took a deep breath and swiftly and correctly sounded out all the triple consonants without stuttering even once.  He impressed his teacher very much.

“Good!” she applauded him.  “You have been studying hard.  Students!  I hope you will all take Xwm as a role model and work hard like him.  Just don’t sleep in class.”  The students giggled softly.  Feeling embarrassed, Xwm sat down. 

Still holding onto her bamboo stick, Noog Xi pointed to the three letters, HNY.  “Everyone, repeat after me!” she instructed.  “H…N…Y…HNY.”  The teacher sounded each letter slowly, and then merged the letters into one consonant.

“H…N…Y…HNY,” the students repeated.

Noog Xi continued down the list of triple consonants until she went through all 14.  “Now, we will use the triple consonants with vowels and tone markers.”  Choosing a few examples to writer on the board, the teacher reminded the students how to merge a consonant, vowel, and tone marker together to produce a single word.  “Does anyone have any questions?”  She asked the group after going through all the examples with them.

Again, silence. 

Instead, they were diligently copying down what she had written on the chalk board.  “If no one has a question then I want you all to write me a story using the consonants we’ve learned so far,” she instructed.

So, while the students did their in-class assignment, their teacher went down the aisle to pick up homework papers.  As she grabbed the yellow lined papers from her students’ desks, she realized that she was short one student today.  She needed to take attendance. 

After collecting the papers, she went back to her desk and pulled out a roster.  She began to take roll until she stumbled upon one name.  “Teeb!” she called out.

No answer. 

“Teeb!” she shouted once more.  Still—no answer. 

She quickly looked around the classroom.  “Teeb?” she repeated. 

Once more, no one raised a hand or an answer.  “Does anyone know where Teeb is today?” she asked the class.

The students glanced at their teacher, and then stared at each other with perplex looks.  They whispered loudly to one another.  “So, does anyone know?” she asked them again.

No one said anything.  After a few seconds of silence, the boy wearing the Manchu hat slowly raised his hand.  “I…I might know, Xib Fwb Yaj,” he said softly.

“Go ahead.”

“I saw him earlier, wondering into the wood.  He was chasing dragon flies from the stream.  I was about to ask him to come to school, but I also saw some adults with him so I left him alone.”

Xwm’s comment gave relief to the teacher.  However, just as she was about to relax her shoulders, she heard a thunder roaring noise from the nearby wood.  It sounded like a bomb exploded and the students jumped out of their seats, hugging each other tightly for protection.  Even the teacher was startled as well.  But being the only adult, she had to remain calm in order to not frighten the students even further. 

Suddenly, everyone could smell a burning scent, like wood burning.  The teacher glanced at the wood and saw black smoke rushing out of the thick bush-like green tops of the jungle trees.  And then, every second later, the size of the smoke multiplied. 

She turned toward the frightened students, whose eyes were shut tight while attempting to cover their heads in their friends’ bosoms.  “Children!” she called.  “Look at me!”

“Xib Fwb Yaj, we’re afraid!” some of the students shouted nervously.  “What do we do?”

The teacher was baffled at their question and pondered on what should be done.  Just then, a parent charged into the classroom.  The woman was petite, and wore a traditional outfit like Niam Tais Paj.  Her stomach was round and fuller than most women and, her face was filled with fear and tears. 

“Xib Fwb Yaj!” she shouted.  “Xib Fwb Yaj!”  She rushed over and grabbed the teacher’s arms.

“Nyab, are you alright?” Noog Xi asked.  She tried to provide the woman with support so that the woman could stand straight.  “What’s the matter?”

“Xib Fwb Yaj!  My son!  Teeb!  I know he hasn’t come to class, but I don’t know where he is!  Please help me find him!” the mother cried.  “How am I going to explain things to his father if he is gone?”

“Nyab, calm down,” Noog Xi comforted her.  “I will try to see what I can do.”

“You must help me find him!  How will I live if he is gone?”  The mother continued to cry beseechingly and fell on her knees.  Tears rolled nonstop down her eyes.

The teacher’s heart ached for the poor woman.  Her husband, who had the same Yaj surname as Noog Xi’s alias, was drafted to fight in the war.  She was left to take care of his aging parents and raise her young children alone.  Now, she had a fifth one coming.  She seemed like she was about six months pregnant, and she would probably have to give birth without her husband’s presence. 

Noog Xi bent down to help lift the woman.  “Nyab, don’t be too stressed.  I will go look for your son,” the teacher told the woman.  “You are pregnant, so be careful.  Go home.  When I find him, I will bring him straight to you.”

The woman nodded.  She wiped her tears and paced unwillingly and dully home. 

Noog Xi turned her attention toward the students.  They still looked as alarmed as before.  “Everyone, listen me!” she demanded.  “I am ending instructions here.  Please finish writing your story for homework and we’ll go through them tomorrow.  I want all of you to not worry too much about the sound we heard a few minutes ago.  Go home as fast as you can, and stay home.  Do you all understand?”

“Yes, Xib Fwb Yaj,” her students stood up and echoed together to show respect, even when their hearts quivered.

After she dismissed them, the students began to mingle while grabbing their papers and pencils.  The quietness a few seconds earlier was replaced with the voices of chit-chatting children.  After packing their belongings, the students left in small groups.  It never slipped into the teacher’s thoughts that this was the last day she would teach these precious village children.

Before all the students dispersed away, the teacher scanned the room for the Manchu hat boy.  He was taller than most of her students, so it was easy to spot him.  “Xwm!”  she called his name.

He was about to step out of the school area, but stopped and looked in his teacher’s direction upon hearing his name called.  

Noog Xi ran up to him. 

“Xib Fwb Yaj, you need me?” he asked.

“Xwm, you said that you saw Teeb earlier?”

He nodded. 

“Would you mind accompanying me to look for Teeb.  You heard the sound from the wood.  He may be in danger.” 

Xwm agreed by nodding.  In a couple of seconds, he and his teachers have left the school ground for the wood.

***

The lush wood was dense with all kinds of vegetation, but not much sunlight could penetrate through the thick tree tops.  It was dark under the tree canopies, and creepy like a thousand pairs of eyes were staring at anyone passing through.  The wood was a place not to fool around in as one could get lost for days without meeting a single human being.  It was best to stay on the path that humans carved out. 

When the teacher and her student entered the wood, they began to call for Teeb.  Keeping close to the dirt path that was ridden of weeds, the two searched and looked in every direction for the boy.  However, the teacher knew that they were getting closer to the site of explosion as the scent of smoke became heavier and stronger.  She and Xwm began to cough now and then.  However, as they marched forth, they got to a point where they have to cover their nose with the tops of their shirts just so that they may breathe.  She started to feel a little light-headed. 

“This will not work,” Xwm said, turning to look his teacher some time later.  “Xib Fwb Yaj, we have to stray from this path if we are to have a chance of finding Teeb.  Look!”  He pointed up to the sky.  “The sun’s rays are beginning to turn orange.  It will set soon.  We have to hurry before it gets dark.”

As much as the teacher did not want to drift away from the main path, she had no choice but to follow her student’s suggestion.  They have searched for a while now, a time on the scale of a few hours for Teeb, but did not see him at all.  So she decided to comply.  “But how will we know our way back?” she asked him.

Xwm glimpsed around the surrounding swiftly.  “Look, Xib Fwb Yaj!  A pomegranate tree!” he shouted. 

He ran over to the tree and picked a few fruits.  He then ran back and cracked a pomegranate fruit in half.  “Xib Fwb Yaj, these seed-like fruits are crimson red.  We can throw them on the ground when we move away so that we can find our way back,” he said, handing his teacher a few of the fruits.

“Good thinking,” she commented, patting him on the back and accepting the fruits.  “Where do we start?”

 “This way,” he said, pointing to the right side of the path.  “I hear the sound of water clashing against rocks over there.  Maybe Teeb followed dragon flies to a waterfall.  Let’s go, Xib Fwb Yaj!”

Xwm ran ahead and his teacher followed closely behind.  On the way, she cracked many pomegranate fruits open and threw the fruits on the ground to make a trail of red seeds.  After about a thirty minute walk, the sound of rushing water became so loud as water mist fell like a March Spring shower onto her bared skin.  The two have approached a waterfall. 

In an area with so much water, the smoke’s strength lessened so the teacher stopped covering her mouth with the top of her shirt.  However, she still felt a little nausea. 

The waterfall crashed into rocks and boulders that sprouted out from a basin like sharp blades.  It was a site to not fall into as the turbulent water and spiky peaks could take away a life instantly.  With such dangers around, the teacher’s heart became heavy as she worried about the safety of her student.  She turned around to survey the waterfall scenery for a child.  “Teeb!” she shouted his name. 

“Xib Fwb Yaj!” Xwm called a few minutes later. 

 “What’s the matter?” she asked and scurried to her.

“Come over here!”

“Did you find him?” she asked, inhaling hard as she tried to catch her breath. 

Xwm nodded.  “Look!” he said, pointing his right index finger at a caved in space on the side of a granite mountain. 

The teacher followed Xwm’s index finger and moved quickly into the cave.  There, she found the boy.  He was cuddled up and his head covered between his chest and knees.  His body leaned all the way against the rock wall, scared and terrified. 

“Teeb?” she called.

The boy lifted his head.  His face was chubby, but filled with fear and dirtied with tears.  “Xib Fwb Yaj,” he answered in a trembling, husky voice.

“Teeb!” she called excitedly, and ran over to him.  “Are you okay?”

He shook his head and tears began to tumble down his face.  “Xib Fwb I…Xib Fwb…”

“Yes, Teeb.  What’s the matter?”

“Xib Fwb Yaj.  I am scare.  I want to go home…” he cried.

“Don’t worry, Teeb.  Xib Fwb is here.  I will take you home,” she assured him.

“Really?” he replied, trying hard to smile.

She nodded and smiled, wiping away his tears.  “Look who’s here with Xib Fwb?”  She said and moved aside so that Xwm could make his way forward.

“Hi, buddy,” Xwm said when he approached Teeb.

“Xwm…” Teeb answered, whimpering.

Xwm hovered near the boy.  “Xib Fwb Yaj and I were worried sick about you, buddy.  Next time, don’t go wonder off like this again.  Do you hear me?” Xwm tried to comfort the boy by rubbing his hair. 

Teeb nodded.  He was still whimpering, but he took his left arm to wipe away his tears. 

“Let’s go home,” their teacher said. 

Everyone got up.  Xwm stepped into the opened area first.  The teacher grasped tightly onto Teeb’s hand before following Xwm.  However, instead of seeing Xwm running like a horse, she saw a rifle pointed at his head instead.  Her heart dropped, and her eyes moved to observe the rifle’s owner. 

He was a man in a black tank-top and a forest-green military pants.  He wore a pair of black boots and a black bandana.  He was buffed, much taller than her, and his facial expression appeared brutal.  Three other men with similar physical exterior, although scrawnier, stood behind the man pointing his gun at Xwm’s head. 

“Oh heaven!  Not again!” the young teacher thought nervously.  She could tell from their red arm band that they were Red Lao soldiers, but were Hmong Red Lao soldiers. 

“What are you three doing here?” the man pointing the rifle at Xwm’s head shouted, his foul breath dissipating in her direction. 

Teeb pulled onto her skirt and she slightly bent down near him.  “They were the men I saw earlier,” he whispered into her left ear.  She now understood why the little boy was so terrified earlier.  It was these men, and he knew who they were.

She stood up again.  “We are passerby,” she answered.  “Sir, please let us go.”

“How can I trust you?” the man questioned fiercely.  “How do I know that you three are not spies?”

“We are not, Sir.  I am a farmer and these two are my younger brothers.  We got lost on our way home.”

“Yes!  My older sister, we got lost!  We are just regular citizens, Sir!” Xwm reiterated his teacher’s words.

“LIARS!” the man shouted.  “How could farmers get lost when they walk the same path every day?  I am not a fool!”  He turned his head slightly to his right.  “Men!” he called.

“Yes, Captain!” the three men answered from behind him. 

“Tied these spies up and take them with us!”

Upon hearing the Captain’s command, the three men approached us.  The Captain then lowered his rifle.  The three men seized the trio and tied Xwm’s and the teacher’s hands first.  When they tried to tie Teeb’s hands, the little boy began to cry.  “Let me go!” he screamed.  “I don’t want to die!  I want to go home!  Please, let me go!”

The teacher’s heart sunk when she heard Teeb’s pleads.  Such a little kid, and he had to suffer through this already.  She wished there was something that she could do to help him, but her hands were already tied.  She could not even move at will. 

The men pulled out a tape and taped Teeb’s mouth.  Then, they forced him to the ground and tied his hands.  Teeb’s tears dripped nonstop from his eyes and his chubby red cheeks turned a pale yellow. 

“Teeb, look at me” his teacher insisted.  “Look at me now!”

Teeb slightly turned his head toward her, but he was still sobbing.  “We won’t die,” she assured him.  “We are innocent and will be free soon.”  Then she looked at Xwm.  “Am I right?”

Xwm nodded.  “Be brave, Teeb.  Trust  Xib...” Xwm stopped and glanced at the soldiers who focused their attention on the three without a blink.  “Trust older sister, Teeb.  We will be alright.”

“Take them with us!” the Captain ordered his fellow soldiers.  The men grabbed the trio’s arms and pushed them forward.

The sun was setting when they left the waterfall.  The singing of cicadas became clear and loud as they made their way through the dense, dark jungle.  If listened carefully, the young teacher could even hear the chirpings of squirrels and the songs of female birds calling for their husbands return.  But the one thing that she heard most evidently was that of their footsteps stepping on and crushing dried twigs, vines, and leaves.  She did not know what was ahead, but the sounds and darkness of the jungle was beautiful, yet eerie and unpredictable.

By nightfall, the scent of the smoke in the wood had dispersed and its strength reduced significantly.  The young teacher nausea’s feeling disappeared.  She looked up toward the sky and it had become too dark to even see what they were stepping on.  With only the light from the twinkling stars guiding them, the world they stood on was darker than before. 

The Captain, who walked in front, quickly grabbed some dried twigs from the ground and shaped them into a torch.  He lit it with a match from his pocket matchbox.  Soon, a bright fire blazed on the tip of the torch.  It was the only light that guided them to the gang’s destination.

After walking for some time, they approached an area where a bonfire burnt in the distance.  There were silhouettes of men dancing, singing, and fooling around the fire.  Some indulged themselves in bottles of alcohol.  But before reaching these men, the Captain signaled his three underlings to stop.  “Guard them here!” he commanded.  “I will go talk to the Colonel first and see what he wants us to do with them!”

“Yes, sir!” the three answered in unison.

The Captain then left for the group ahead.  The three men pushed the trio to the ground and stood in a triangle to guard the captives.  “Sit down there and be quiet!” one of the men shouted fiercely. 

Even a distance away from the bonfire, the teacher could feel its strength.  The convection of air from the bonfire made the air around them warm, so Teeb soon fell asleep.  She and Xwm soon became drowsy as well and yawned together when the Captain returned. 

Feeling his presence, she lifted her head.  When the Captain’s eyes met hers, he smiled with malice intention.  Then at the corner of her eyes, she saw a shadow crept behind him.  Frightened, she quickly lowered her head in between her arms, legs, and bosom and did not dare to look up.  Nonetheless, her ear was wide opened so she could still hear the men’s conversation.

“Where are the captives?” asked a young male’s voice. 

It was not her first time being captured, so she was rather calmed the entire trip.  But the young man’s words made her heart trembled.  His voice was familiar.  She could not tell what his presence would bring. 

“Colonel!  Here they are!” the Captain shouted.

The young man stared at the group of captives and saw that the older of the captives, the girl, squeezed her head tighter in between her legs and bosom.  “Who are you?” he demanded.

Silence.  He knew they were frightened.

“Who are you?” he asked again.

“She’s my sister!  Are you happy now?” Xwm answered angrily.

The young man smirked, and lowered his head near the girl.  “Hey!  You!  You’re really not going to look at my face?”  

Even without looking at him, the teacher knew that the young man was talking to her.  Should she look up or keep her head down?  But she could not feign deaf.  Must she confront that scary shadow?

Her heart raced and she decided to lift her head.  When she opened her eyes, she saw a pair of round, sparkling black eyes staring at her.  They were the only things brighter than the stars.

At first, his eyes were fierce like a tiger but after examining her for a few seconds, his tiger eyes became kitty eyes.  He immediately drew himself away. 

 “It’s him…” Noog Xi thought and was all she could think of at the moment.  She froze and even the hair strands on her head did not wiggle once, despite the gentle breeze brushing against her skin.

            With the absence of the moon that night, the clouds covered half the sky so the stars were seen blinking dimly only.  The breeze began to blow a bit faster than before, and Noog Xi felt her bared arms and legs turned cold.  She shivered every time the wind blew past her face.

            Teeb still slept like a baby, undisturbed by the noise caused by the soldiers.  Xwm, on the other hand, was wide awake and focused his attention closely on the soldiers as if there was a loophole, he would definitely try to escape. 

The young teacher, however, continued to stare into an open space.  Somehow, she felt like she was on the brink of falling into weakness again.

The young man looked startled like he knew who she was.  After straightening his body, he distanced himself from her.  He dared not look in her direction again.

“Colonel, are you alright?” the Captain asked.

            The young man was speechless.  “Colonel, are you not well?” the question was repeated.  “You said that you would come out to judge the sentence of these spies.  Now that you’ve seen them, what do you want us to do?”

Silence again, except for the faint laughter of the men from the bonfire.  “He must have fallen for the girl?” joked and giggled one of the soldiers. 

“Colonel, you are still single.  Now that she’s our captive, why don’t you just make her your wife?  She’s very pretty too!” another remarked.

Noog Xi felt insulted and a rage of anger spread throughout her heart.  Her right hand clutched into a fist and her emotional weakness suddenly vanished.  She got up and turned her head to look at the soldiers.  “Watch your mouth!” she shouted daringly, not caring that she had just carved a path to hell for herself.  “I won’t let anyone offend me like this, including this so called, Colonel!  If death is my fate, then kill me right now!”

“You ill-mannered girl!  How dare you speak up in the presence of our Colonel!” the Captained yelled.  “Don’t regret dying then!”

Noog Xi smiled.  “If it’s my wish, do you think I’m scared?” she retorted audaciously.

“Red mouth girl!  You really want to die, hug?” the Captain yelled, and swung his right hand into the air about to slap her face.

“Enough!” the young man shouted, grabbing the Captain’s hand and halting him from touching the girl.  Frustrated by his superior’s act, the Captain angrily stepped to the side.

The young man then turned around and glared at the girl.  “You all should be punished for capturing the wrong people!” he yelled at his underlings.  “We only kill those who obstruct our path.  They are innocent villagers! Not spies.  Send them back safely to their village!”

“But, Sir!” the Captain exclaimed.

“What else did you not understand, Captain!” the young man asked irritably.  “If I hear that something bad happens to these three on the way back, I will definitely not let the four of you alone!”

“Yes, Sir,” the Captain answered hesitantly.  “Untie them!” he demanded of his three followers.

The trio was quickly untied.  When her hands were freed, the teacher swung them forward and touched her wrists.  Her hands were tied so tightly that the wrists were red, itchy, and painful.  However, she had no time to waste on thinking about these petty things.  She needed to get her two students home quickly. 

The teacher looked to Xwm and he was already stretching his hand muscles.  She then glanced at Teeb, who was still deep asleep, but he too was strapped-free.  She was about to wake Teeb up when a pair of firm and soft hands stopped her.  She looked up.  The pair of hands belonged to the young colonel.  He shook his head to signal her not to wake the boy up.  Observing his gesture, she pulled her hands back.

“Thoj Zoov Ntxhw!” he called.  “Carry the boy on your back.”

“Yes, sir!” the soldier answered.  He gave his rifle to one of his colleagues and picked the boy up on his back.  “I’m ready.”  He said after gripping tightly onto Teeb’s small body.

“Let’s go!” the Captain called and led the way. 

With Teeb on his back, Thoj Zoov Ntxhw followed the Captain.  Xwm stood up and ran after, walking side by side with Thoj Zoov Ntxhw.  It was Noog Xi, who was the last one to leave with the group.  Before she followed Xwm, she decided to stop and turned to glance one last time at the face of the young colonel who saved her and her students’ lives.  While she stared at him, he was gazing somewhere else. 

To her, he appeared different.  His hair had grown a bit longer, and his cheeks blushed more than before.  But his skin color was still pale.  She watched him without a thought, without any emotions now.  She simply stared at him.  That was all. 

When he sensed that someone was taking a peek at him, he turned around.  But at that moment, she looked away and followed Xwm.  Then, without glancing back, she heard the footsteps of the other two soldiers moving behind her.  As she walked on, she never once looked back.

Far away from the warmth and light of the bonfire, the teacher suddenly felt a tap on her shoulder.  Her heart pounded hastily, because a tiny part of her had hope that it was him.  But when she turned around, she was disappointed to see the face of one of the two soldiers following her.  He offered her a jacket. 

Even in the dark, she knew that the jacket was part of a military uniform.  It was a forest-green jacket.  “No thank you,” she said and shook her head.

“Take it, Miss!” the soldier replied.  “The Young Colonel gave it to me to give it to you.  He said that you were shivering earlier so you must be cold.”

“Oh, thank you.”  She was surprised, and grabbed the jacket from the soldier.    

“You must wear it,” the soldier insisted when he saw that she kept holding onto the jacket only.  “He will punish me if he finds out that you didn’t wear it, Miss…”

She stared at the soldier and saw fear in his eyes.  Even though he was one of the captors, she reasoned that he too was just a human being who perhaps was forced to follow orders.  Pitying him, she decided to put the jacket on.  Afterward, she folded her arms into a cross.  The jacket was warm and the familiar fragrance she once knew still lingered on it.

She smiled at the soldier and he smiled back with a sigh of relief.