Chapter 13

The following new characters appear in this chapter:

Kelii

Clan leader, 5’-4’’ tall, 120 pounds, 50 years old, gray hair, brown eyes

Haimi

Cook, 5’-2’’ tall, 110 pounds, 20 years old, long black hair, brown eyes, rather cute

Mike still has the Narrative

The Chap Houma Valley is located between two mountain ranges in the Muang Sing District. It is located some 16 km (10 miles) from Sing town. Its usable area is about 24 km (15 miles) long. That area varies in width from 2 km to 4 km (1 to 2.5 miles) wide. The ends vary from 2 km wide down to less than 500 meters (1600 feet) wide and the soil in those areas becomes very rocky as it narrows. There is a stream that runs the length of the valley and eventually turns into a waterfall as it exits with a drop of over 50 feet (16 meters). The wider parts of the valley are planted in rice and other crops. The lower slopes of the mountains are planted in fruit trees and some other crops.

The main village, Ban Chap Houma, is located near the upper end of the valley. Down the length of the valley there are four other small subsidiary villages where the people live near their fields and other crops. They are numbered Ban Chap Houma 1 through 4.

The road down from the pass wasn’t as long or as steep as the road up to it had been. On reaching the floor of the valley, we turned right to go to the main village. As we approached it, many people came out to the road to see us. Most of them appeared to be rather upset or frightened. Captain Vanh got out of the cab of the first lorry when we stopped, and a group of older men from the village marched up to him.

“What have you done? The spirits have been disturbed,” the man in the lead demanded in a loud and upset voice.

“Done?” Vanh asked in confusion.

“Where have these things come from and how did they appear in our village over night? No one heard or saw anything, yet they are here this morning,” he shouted, still not explaining what he was talking about.

“What has appeared here? What are you talking about that has you so upset?” Vanh demanded in turn in just as upset a voice.

“The buildings,” the older man said to a confused look from Vanh.

“What buildings? We have no buildings,” Vanh demanded in still a loud upset voice.

“The ones that appeared on the other side of the trees, just past our village. They do not belong here,” the older man finally told him.

“We know nothing about any buildings,” Vanh told him in a more restrained but confused voice.

“Go and look at them. We will not go near them. They should not be here. Who or what could create such buildings overnight?” the older man said in a frightened voice. Vanh turned to me and Sergeant Ai. We had exited my truck while he talked with the older man.

“This is Mr. Kelii, the leader of these villages. Let’s go and see what he is talking about,” Vanh told us after introducing the older man he had been talking to.

“Sergeant Ai take charge of the men and guard the vehicles while we are gone,” Vanh ordered, as the other officers joined us, and we went to see what had upset the villagers.

It was a walk of only a few minutes to where the problem was located, as the village wasn’t that large. They didn’t have a Wat here, and while some of the Akha are Buddhist, most of them practice a form of Animism which is directly linked to their culture. They believe that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. We had passed through their ’Spirit Gate’ in the mountain pass. It is intended to keep bad or harmful ’spirits’ out of the valley. There are similar ‘Gates’ near each of the villages or gatherings of dwellings.

After passing the trees, we could see what the problem was that had created such unrest in those living here. There were five buildings where previously I was sure there had been none. Three of them appeared to be large barracks type buildings that would hold a platoon of thirty men or so. There was a smaller building for the headquarters personnel and a very secure-looking building for an armory.

These buildings were not built like the houses in the village, which were constructed of logs, bamboo, and thatch. Many of the houses were built on stilts or piles. These buildings were constructed of sawn lumber and had tin roofs. They were very similar to the traditional barracks that the Thai Army built. Captain Vanh and the other officers were as startled by their appearance here as the local people had been.

“Where did all of this come from?” I heard Captain Vanh ask in an amazed whisper, as he stared at the buildings. As if by Magic, Chanthra appeared in front of the buildings startling everyone. The locals had moved back on her appearance. After a number of seconds, Captain Vanh spoke to them.

“This is the ‘Holy Woman’ who is visiting Sing town,” he told the others. “She is the wife of Sergeant Barnett,” he added pointing to me.

“Yes, we felt the power of her ’Spirit’ when she appeared. We also felt the power of his ’Spirit’,” Kelii told him. All of the local people had moved up again to be nearer to Chanthra. She had moved forward to join us also. She gave everyone the usual Thai greetings, which all of the locals returned, before speaking to them and us.

“These buildings are a gift from the Amulets. They are here for Captain Vanh’s men while they are in training. They will be removed when that training is finished,” she told those assembled there.

“When they are no longer needed, the Amulets will be removing them just as they brought them here,” she added much to everyone’s surprise.

“The Amulets are indeed powerful ’Spirits’ to be able to do such things,” Mr. Kelii said, and the other locals agreed with him. It appeared that Chanthra’s sudden appearance and her status as a ‘Holy Woman’ had convinced the locals that it was alright for the buildings to be here. Following speaking to the locals, Chanthra moved over to me while everyone was examining the new buildings.

“Don’t be too long here. I have missed you the past couple of nights,” she whispered in English, which I was fairly sure none of those present understood, as we had been speaking Thai and Lao. As she had moved toward me, I noticed that she was showing that she was pregnant by the way that she had dressed. Many of the locals, especially the women, had smiled on seeing that.

After whispering to me, she returned to the spot where she had appeared and without a word vanished as the Amulets returned her to our house in Sing. Everyone was again amazed by this, and the leader of the village, Mr. Kelii, came over to speak to me.

“Your wife, ‘the Holy Woman’, has many strong ’Spirits’,” he told me which confused me for a time.

“Yes, she does,” I told him, but I was wondering exactly how many ’Spirits’ he had sensed. Were we having twins, or was it just the presence of the Amulets that he had sensed? I would need to wait until I could ask Chanthra.

Shortly, the locals tired of looking at the new buildings, and they returned to their daily routines leaving us to discuss the buildings and their use.

“The three large buildings will hold most of the men,” Captain Vanh told us. “What are the small buildings for?” he asked following that.

“The three large buildings are for the platoons. They should easily hold thirty men each. The first smaller building is for the headquarters and the Reconnaissance Squad. The officers will be billeted there as well as the headquarters personnel. The last building is the arms building. We will be able to store all of the weapons in there,” I told them. Several of the men looked at me questioningly on hearing this.

“Are you sure of that?” Lt. Souk asked.

“Yes, that is what the Amulets told me,” I assured them.

“We need to inspect these buildings to be sure they will fit our needs and that they are safe after being moved here from someplace else,” the Captain directed, and each of the Lieutenants took one of the barracks, while the Captain and I inspected the headquarters building. The other NCOs guarded the trucks and the weapons that they carried. No one found any problems with the building that they inspected, but Lt. Kham did find some paperwork and a sign in his building. He brought both with him when the officers gathered at the headquarters building.

“Look at these!” Lt. Kham said in an upset voice while holding up the papers and the sign. “These are in Vietnamese. How could we have buildings with Vietnamese signs and paperwork? Where could they have come from?” he demanded. I just smiled while the others looked confused.

“These buildings are from the North Vietnamese camp at Attapu in Southern Laos. The Amulets have destroyed parts of the camp several times over the past couple of years. The North Vietnamese keep rebuilding the camp and shipping more equipment and men there. The rebuilding gives them something to do besides trying to move more people and equipment into South Vietnam,” I told them.

“How can you know that? Have you been there?” Lt Keo asked in a doubtful voice.

“That is something that the Amulets told me. Since they are the ones who moved the buildings here, they know exactly where they came from,” I told him and the others. (see Amulets II for more details on Attapu.)

“It doesn’t matter where they came from. With them, we can move up our schedule and start recruiting men,” Captain Vanh told us happily. He had forgotten one important item.

“There is still the problem of feeding those whom we recruit,” I reminded all of them.

“OH,” came from their mouths just as a dozen large 50 kilo (110 pound) sacks of rice appeared on the ground by our building startling everyone including me.

“It would appear that the food problem has been partially solved,” I told them on looking over at the sacks.

“But that is not going to be enough to feed your men,” I continued. “They will also need vegetables plus herbs and spices. Additionally, they will also need fruit and, at least, some meat or fish,” I told them.

“Yes, he is right. We will also need pots to cook the rice in as well as the other things. The barracks are empty. The men will need to bring their own bedding and clothes. All we really have is weapons and ammunition. That is not enough,” Sergeant Ai told the officers in a loud voice.

“Yes, you are correct. We have a good start, but it will take much more to have a functional unit,” Vanh admitted in a distraught voice.

“Here,” I said to him. “Take this and see what help we can obtain from those here in Ban Chap Houma,” I added, holding out the small bag that had just appeared in my hands.

“What is it?” Vanh asked, eyeing it suspiciously.

“Open it and see,” I told him, handing it to him. Vanh carefully untied the knot in the drawstring of the bag and opened it. Shock appeared on his face on seeing what was inside.

“GOLD! Gold coins,” he said in surprise.

“The Akha will value gold more than paper money. See what help you can arrange with it,” I told him.

“Keo, go with me. The rest of you secure the rice and begin unloading the weapons and ammunition. The trucks are not secure enough to leave them on them,” Vanh told the remainder of his men, as he and Lt. Keo moved out to confer with Mr. Kelii and the elders of the village.

“Do you think the weapons building will be secure enough and will it hold all of the weapons and ammunition?” Lt. Kham asked, as we moved to check on the arms building which we hadn’t looked at yet.

The arms building was of masonry construction unlike the barracks which were constructed of wood. The heavy wooden doors on it were already branded with the images of the six Amulets of Power. There were three of them on each of the double doors. On seeing this, the three sergeants and the drivers all backed up in fear. So did Lt. Kham. Lt. Souk smiled on seeing this.