Horses in the forest

In the backyard of our house in the deep forest, I laugh with Baby Tofu who has just picked his own first carrot. Fighter looks on with pride glowing in his eyes, leaning against his hoe. Meanwhile I sit under the shade of the apricot trees he planted for me, mending Baby Tofu's clothes.

In the neighbouring house, I watch Gentle Whiskers walk with his polished staff and medical box, followed by Fluttering Bird and Keen Eyes. They have a long way to walk to go to work. Fluttering Bird pauses a moment to give instructions to her eldest daughter, Little Swallow, and give all her children a hug.

In the yard of the next house, Swaying Blossoms waves and then turns to tend to unruly children. She watches over all the children of our three houses together with Teacher. He and Fighter teach the children their lessons everyday. Sometimes he goes away to tutor and to earn money too, but not recently. Swaying Blossoms needs his help with managing so many children and Fighter needs help in the fields so that we will have food to eat.

"One carrot," Baby Tofu counts, putting the carrot into the little basket by his feet. He grasps another carrot top and braces himself. Pulling with a grunt, the carrot suddenly pops out of the soil so that he falls backwards onto his bottom. "Ouch. Two carrots." He shakes the dirt off himself and brushes the new carrot down before placing it in his basket. "Look, Daddy," he shouts, holding the basket up for Fighter to see. "Look how big my carrots are!"

"Good work, son," Fighter nods and smiles. "Those are big carrots. You looked after them well."

Baby Tofu continues pulling carrots and Little Swallow soon comes to join in.

"Big Brother," she swings her body side to side in a shy manner, "do you need any help? I'll help you pull your carrots today and you can help me with my radishes another day. What do you think?"

"Sure!" Baby Tofu says.

The two children work together, helping each other pull the ones that just won't seem to budge.

"Pull the radish. Pull the radish. Heyo, heyo, pull the radish," they sing.

There's a commotion from Swaying Blossoms' yard and children start crying.

"Little Swallow!" Swaying Blossoms calls. "Your brother needs you!"

"Coming!" Little Swallow shouts and then pats Baby Tofu on the arm. "Sorry, Big Brother. I've got to go. I'll be back to help you later."

"All right," Baby Tofu says. "Call me if you need me to help you with your brother and sister."

"I will," Little Swallow nods and runs toward her crying brother. "Aunty Blossom, I'm coming!"

Baby Tofu goes back to pulling his carrots and I watch Little Swallow squat beside her crying brother and stroke his back. She pulls him into her arms and gathers the other younger children to her, seeming to be scolding them. They pout and some start crying, but Little Swallow wipes their tears away with her sleeve and sits them down to direct a game. The game and the sweet voices singing the game song drifts over to me, making me smile.

My attention returns to Baby Tofu's trousers in my hand when I accidentally prick myself with my needle. My boy is very hard on the seat and knees of his trousers. There's one hole in the seat that will need patching. I rummage in the sewing basket for a cloth scrap that might fit.

When I glance up, Baby Tofu has left his carrots to play with some of the other children closer to the road. Little Swallow is carrying her baby sister in her arms, while telling Swaying Blossom's oldest boy, Deep Waves, to stop his younger sibling from trying to eat grass. It looks like both Baby Tofu and Little Swallow have everything under control.

I carefully attach a patch to the hole and sew even stitches to keep it in place. In one side and out the other. Back to the front and pull the string again. In and out. In and out.

"Mummy, Mummy," Baby Tofu pats me with a firm hand, pointing at the mountain path. "Horses."

Fighter and I are immediately on guard. I sniff the air and smell them. Horses. The scent is followed by the fragrance of melting snow and foreign fresh green buds from a land far, far away. I hear the jangle of tackle and armour. The smell stirs a memory deep and I cut it off before it can emerge.

"Baby Tofu," I tell him with a smile, "run to Aunty Blossom. Tell her to take everyone and hide in the caves. We will play hide and seek. I will start counting when you've told her. Go on."

"Hide and seek!" Baby Tofu shrieks with excitement and runs, while Fighter gestures to Swaying Blossoms a pre-arranged signal for them to go.

Gentle Whiskers, Fluttering Bird and Keen Eyes come running back with frightened eyes and Fighter gestures to them.

"Go," he commands.

"Come, my Lady," Fluttering Bird beckons to me, but I shake my head.

"Tofu," says Fighter, pulling me to my feet and pushing me, "you must go."

"No," I tell him. "You must go. I think they have met Tofu before. I recognise the scent. You, they will kill. You go hide."

"I am Fighter," he reminds me. "I will not hide."

"Then go into the house and make some tea," I say. "They may be old friends. Just let me speak to them first. I don't want killing at first sight."

Fighter frowns at me, but does as I say. Very reluctantly. Very, very reluctantly.

"Trust," I smile, giving him my sewing to take inside. "Peace."

He doesn't smile back and he doesn't look at peace. I rub my rumbling tummy and look up into my apricot trees for ripe fruit. They are still too small and green. A pity. I am always hungry these days. There is little to eat even with our hard earned garden produce.