Free Silver Stallion by Junghyo Ahn Page B

…”
    â€œThey’re doing it because they’re in the middle of the war,” Click Beetle retorted promptly. “You never know when you’ll die in a war, and you do a lot of unpredictable things when you know you may die today or tomorrow.”
    â€œWhere did they go then?” Father asked.
    â€œThat way. To the ferry.”
    â€œThey must have gone to the Paulownia House next,” Father said in a worried voice. “I hope the Toktuwon Woman is all right.”
    â€œShould we go to the Hwangs’ now?” Uncle asked. “If anything happened. …”
    â€œNo. You must not pay a visit to your elders or seniors late at night. And in case something terrible did happen there, the Hwangs would be embarrassed to see anybody or to discuss it.”
    â€œBut we have to report to Rich Hwang that a suspicious incident happened tonight in this village.”
    â€œWe can do that after daybreak. Bad news can wait for daylight.”
    When Kijun’s father, accompanied by his brother, hurried to the Paulownia House at daybreak, Chandol’s parents were already there, discussing something seriously with Old Hwang and Sokku. So, instead of reporting what they had gone through during the night themselves, the brothers listened to what the couple had to report to the Hwangs.
    Yesterday, Chandol’s mother had loose bowels because she had drunk sour rice wine; the farmer apparently did not know the wine had spoiled, for he had offered it with good intentions to express his gratitude to Chandol’s mother and two other neighbors who had helped him repair his tobacco-drying shed. Late at night, on her way back to her room from the outhouse, she happened to see two bengkos, helmeted and armed with rifles, come out of Click Beetle’s house and head for the Paulownia House.
    â€œThe bengkos came here to this tree,” she said, “and paused here for a moment to discuss something. Then they went over to the Chestnut House.” The soldiers decided not to enter the Hwangs’ home, Chandol’s father guessed, because they had been overawed by the house with a tiled roof. With her own two eyes Chandol’s mother saw the soldiers go over to the Chestnut House and snoop around for a while. Then one of them jumped inside, brandishing his flashlight. She was not sure what the bengkos had done to Fluffy, or to Mansik and Ollye, but she heard no barking, no screaming, no extraordinary sound at all. She went over to the log bridge for a closer look, but did not dare to cross the stream, for a bengko was on guard by the twig gate of the Chestnut House. Although she was at some distance, Chandol’s mother had a fairly clear idea what was happening to Mansik’s mother.
    â€œAnd suddenly I was so scared that I ran home and hid in the bomb shelter until morning. I’ve come with my husband, Master Hwang, to report to you what I saw last night.”
    When Chandol’s parents and Kijun’s father and uncle finished their reports and returned home, Old Hwang stood by the gate, blankly gazing at General’s Hill, his hands on his hips, confused and perplexed.
    â€œWhat are you going to do, Father?” said Sokku, standing, at a loss, a step behind his father.
    â€œAbout what?”
    â€œThe Chestnut House. Shouldn’t we go over there and find out what happened to Ollye last night?”
    Old Hwang did not respond, for he was too distracted by the turmoil of thoughts swimming in his head. Then he blurted, “Unclean.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œNothing. Forget it,” the old man said. “You go over and see if Ollye is all right.”
    The old man strode back to his room, frowning as if he was trying to repress something squalid nagging at him. Sokku stood under the paulownia tree for a while, confused, before he hesitantly went over to the Chestnut House.
    â€œMansik’s mother!” Sokku called out over the twig-woven