Thinking a bit, he then said, “You are a good-hearted person. Can you stay for a while and chat with them so that they will let us leave quickly? The jungle road at night is not easy going but spending the night will make us breach our duty. We can give you more money.”
“You don’t have to buy me with money,” the cart owner replied briskly. “I take only my fair share as well as that of the horses. If I’m too greedy, heaven will hit me with one calamity after another. But I promise to help you, Comrades. I will sit and chat with them for half an hour. The sun will still be on the mountaintop for about one and a half rods.”
About ten minutes later, they reached the top of the hill. The soldiers immediately surrounded the horse cart, their faces excited as if they had received a gift.
“Hello, Comrades!” said the cart owner in a loud voice.
“Hello, Uncle. It has been a while since a horse cart has climbed up here,” one of the lonely soldiers replied.
“Yes; a horse coming up here just once takes a month to recuperate. I only use the whip on special occasions. Today, I carry two military comrades for a special mission.”
“Whatever the mission, there must first be a stop here for a good chat.”
An and Nong Tai jumped down, pulling out their orders for presentation. One of the soldiers seized both passes and put them in his pocket, not even caring to glance at them. Then another, wearing the insignia of a captain, said, “Please, Comrades, do come into the fort.”
The soldiers entered first, An and Nong Tai following.
As if he could see the worry on their faces, the cart owner said, “You just go in, rest, and have some tea. I will feed the horses and join you soon. Remember the two packages of cane sugar.”
“I have them here,” An said.
The defensive fort was built above a ravine, three buildings placed in a U shape in the style of Vietnamese living in the plains, with a stone patio in the middle. A small cement blockhouse sat next to the main building, definitely built under French rule. Next to it stood a wooden watchtower. Behind the building on the left, about fifty meters down the hillside, was a horse pen with about ten horses grazing grass; they were the main means of transport for the soldiers assigned to the fort.
“Tomorrow, these horses will undoubtedly chase us as we try to get away,” An reckoned. “In the worst case, we will have to send at least half a dozen of them to hell before we die.”
They entered the main building, which was quite spacious, with a large Ping-Pong — like table in the middle covered with scattered teapots, newspapers, a radio, cigarette packs, knives, flashlights…Glued up on the walls were photos cut from picture magazines of beautiful girls from performing troupes. The senior captain, obviously in command of the fort, threw out an order:
“Someone go boil water for a new pot of tea.”
A voice from the courtyard immediately said, “I am reporting that we have the fire going.”
“We will die stuck here with them. I must find a way to escape…” An thought, but he said, “Reporting to you, Comrades…”
“That’s fine. You can report after we have a drink. We are all soldiers. You are infantry; I am with the border defense guard. We get up like anyone else when we hear the horn in the morning. We don’t often meet each other. There’s no rush — even if you were to leave now, you wouldn’t have enough time. It may be sunny right now but darkness comes on very quickly. This place has lots of light during the day but at night the mountain fog comes thick like cotton.”
An began to get nervous. This “lovelorn” soldier clearly presented a danger. Luckily, just at that moment, the cart owner returned. He walked slowly into the building while singing a song about flirty girls:
“Maybe you’re married but your husband is away, come here by me,
It’s isolated and lonely here, but no one can see.…”
The senior captain turned to the cart owner with a big smile: “Why do you, old man, ask someone’s wife to come over and not fear doing wrong?”
“I am not asking anyone over. That’s a song of the old guys in the old days.”
“The old guys in the old days were quite disgraceful!”
“Those guys also had tongues to twist and two eyes to ogle girls just like we do now. But even if we wanted to criticize or straighten them out, they are sleeping soundly now under three meters of dirt. Nobody can take them by the nape anymore to ask them questions.” Saying so, he looked toward An, as if to tell him to calm down.
Seeing that, An said, “Uncle, have the horses finished eating yet?”
“How could they be finished? They take their time. And you, Comrades, have you presented your papers yet?”
“I presented both our passes but the captain’s subordinate put them in his shirt pocket.”
“Hey, a lady in a red shirt; hey, one with a pink cloth tiara…”
The driver continued to sing another verse, then turned to the senior captain: “These two comrades have to carry out their orders immediately; they can’t wait for a military bus. That is why the Thanh Vinh police recommended me. Not to make any money did I come up here with my horses. These two don’t have time to drink tea with us. But they have very good cane sugar. They gave me some pieces to suck in the cart. It tasted good, like flower pollen.”
Turning to An, he asked, “Comrade, will you offer some to these guys in the post? We will sit and drink tea to soothe our throats.”
An put the package of cane sugar on the table, then said, “Here. A gift for you, Comrades.”
He smiled and looked at the captain. “I am a first lieutenant, lower than you by one rank. It would be fun to chat if we had time. But unfortunately we must take care of urgent responsibilities.”
“Really?”
The captain stuck his head past the door frame and asked the group of soldiers gathered outside on the patio, “Who of you kept the military orders of these two comrades?”
“Me.”
“Have you checked them?”
“Yes. They are First Lieutenant Chi Van Thanh and People’s Police Master Sergeant Nong Tai. Both of them belong to the Tay ethnic minority.”
“Give them back. Bad luck that they are on an urgent mission.”
The soldier returned the passes.
The captain said, “Well, we will see you when you return. My cousin married a Tay girl. She is cute, really cute. Her skin is fair like cotton, more beautiful than that of the wives of the Russian and Czech advisers. Next life, if I am lucky, I would like to be a Tay son-in-law. OK?”
“Thank you.”
An and Nong Tai said good-bye to the soldiers then turned back to the road. The singing of the cart owner followed them:
“The panels of your dress fly up; exciting my burning heart,
As if I walk on fire, sit on charcoal…”
An said, “If we get out of here, we have to thank the cart owner a thousand times.”
The two looked toward Laos, bowed their heads, and walked away with a running gait.
They walked like that for one full hour, sweat running abundantly down their faces and wetting their backs. The sun was now hanging lightly like a bright globe to the west just above the mountain in front of them. The sunlight threw a wide blanket but the air had cooled. Slowing down their pace a bit, An felt the cold on his shoulders. Behind them, rows of hills ran to the horizon. Before them, only a patch of road before they reached the forest. Its dark border appeared along the full stretch of the valley.
Nong Tai cried out: “Here’s the forest. We made it alive.”
“Divine beings: please protect us. But we must go faster. Behind is empty space with an empty road. But if the horses of the outpost chase us, there is not much chance of escape.”