Maung Tun Thu - Tisha

Although the sun had just risen, the villagers of Egae were already watching the pack animals leave. Counting the Indians who had come from their fishing camps the night before to dance, it was estimated that there were at least a hundred of them. Among the spectators were women and children.

In a few minutes I would be entering the forest. I felt a sense of panic in my heart. My face seemed to show it. Mrs. Rooney, the teacher from Egae, looked at me and asked, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, madam,” I replied. “I didn’t expect there to be so many people.”

Mrs. Rooney waved her hand to the crowd. "There's never been so many people in the town," she said. "You only have ninety miles to go. Mr. Strong will take care of you and take you there."

Actually, it wasn't the crowd that was bothering me. It was the horse I was going to ride for the next four days. The horse's name was "Flower," but it wasn't like a flower. The horse was so big and beautiful that I couldn't see the other side of the saddle until I stood on tiptoe.

The horse was covered in scars and had a wild appearance. I had ridden one on my grandmother's farm in Missouri when I was a child. That horse was so gentle that you could even lie on its back. This horse was not at all friendly. As Mr. Strong handed me the reins, he turned to me and squinted his eyes... and sniffed.

I could see Mr. Strong walking toward me from beside the horses and mules tied together with ropes. The animals, next to the US mail and parcels, were already loaded with washboards, bean bags, rolls of canvas... I could even see window panes among the items already loaded.

I prayed in my heart that I would not be the only traveler. In a moment, I would be on my horse. Then I would be the object of much interest.

Mr. Strong came to my side. He was a tall, slender man. He had come to Alabang about twenty years of age with the idea of ​​prospecting for gold. He had been in the Forty-Mines area for twenty years.

His strange behavior was out of place in this very harsh region. I asked him yesterday if he could take me to Chit Keng, and he replied, “Yes, madam, I can take you.” “My pack animals go out on the fourth, fourteenth, and twenty-fourth of every month. So tomorrow is the day of departure. I will leave at eight o’clock sharp.”

"I want to go," she told him.

"The horse will cost ten dollars a day. That ten dollars will include food and bedding. The journey will take four days. I hope you will be satisfied."

I said I was satisfied and resolved the matter amicably.

Mr. Strong came closer to me.

"Are you ready... Madam?"

He asked.

"I'll put you on a horse."

He took the reins and placed them over the horse's head. He clasped his hands together like a hinge. I reached out and grabbed the top of the saddle, stepped on his hands, and climbed onto the horse. He pushed my legs up accordingly.

As soon as I sat on the saddle, the ground beneath me became much farther away. The horse moved and turned a circle or two. Some of the people standing by were laughing. They were laughing at my legs. The saddle was so wide that my legs were spreading out like wings on either side.

"Hey... Walter, you can get his feet used to it."

"Should I go?" someone in the crowd shouted.

"If you don't do this, you'll end up crashing into trees when you get to the Forty Mile area and getting into trouble."

Mr. Strong shortened the long strap of the sandals until my feet reached them. But even then, my feet still did not reach the sandals... He looked at my clothes with unsuspecting eyes.

"Madam... are you not thinking about the coat?"

Earlier, he had said he would lend me a coat for a while. He had said he thought I might need it, as the weather had been so changeable. But I said I didn't think I would need it. Now

"Really, I don't think it's necessary. I'm fine with what I'm wearing now."

He even said..

If I were in the United States, the way I'm dressed would probably be funny. However, in a place like this where I'm at now, I don't think anyone would care what I'm wearing.

I am now wearing a jacket and an Easter pink dress. My trousers are denim trousers, which are worn around the knees. I have a hat with flowers that I bought in Portland, which I am afraid will be distorted if I put it on the shelves. My outfit will end with a revolver that a man I met at the dance last night gave me. Because I have the revolver tied around my waist.

Mr. Strong went out to the front of the pack animals. I looked around me. For the first time, I saw the whole audience. Some old men were sitting on the iron railings in front of the school.

This school is the only substantial building in this part of the town, apart from the stables. As Lester Henderson, the district's chief education officer, told me during my interview in June, I hope the school building I am going to now is as good as the one I went to.

Some people were inspecting the goods loaded on the pack animals, but most were talking casually. The Indians stood apart from the white men. Their behavior was different when compared to the white men. The white men were talking, laughing, and joking, but the Indians said nothing, standing silently, watching the action.

"What's the weather like over there...Teacher?"

Owner of a "cabaret" restaurant that offers singing, dancing and entertainment

"'Cabaret Jackson' looked at me and asked. He boasted that he had worked in every cabaret restaurant from Dawson City to the Bahrain Sea. He smiled at me and said, 'I don't want to see you leave here.'"

"You're not going to do what I said last night... You're not going to change your mind... are you?"

“Thanks, Cab, but I don’t think it’s possible for me to do that.”

It was he who had given me the revolver last night. He told me that he thought it was not right to go into the wilds unprotected at that time. Then (before he got too drunk and got into a fight) he asked me to marry him. He promised that everything would be as I wished.

In fact, Cabrera Jackson was a real gentleman before he got drunk, but once he got drunk he became a bad guy. He was not the kind of person I should associate with.

"Okay... okay"

He said.

"When the cold wears off, we'll have to come back to Chit-king ourselves and try again."

I heard a voice calling me "Teacher." A girl with a sweet smile and her husband came to me... I didn't remember her name, but her appearance and manner had a kind air, and I had become close to her since I met her yesterday. She was about to give birth.

“Teacher, help me with something.”

He said.

"I got it"

I replied.

Everyone called me "Teacher," and that call was sweet to me.

"My mother's name is Maggie Karu. She runs a roadside shop in Chit King. Please tell me I'm due in mid-December."

"And tell me if I'm born, I'll be a boy."

Her husband said.

"If you tell your mother, just tell her it's a girl. I know."