Chapter 8
I did lead the elephants to the center of the island. No need to draw attention to myself. After leaving Miss Pretty and Hannibal, I ran to the closest edge of the island. I'm an okay swimmer, good enough that I could get across the river pretty fast. I was just grateful that it wasn't as high or fast as it could be, or I'd be in real trouble. If it was that bad, I'd get swept away by the river.
It took me less than five minutes to get across the river and find Nick's, Mya's, and Hilltop's tracks. I followed at them at a slower sprint, being careful to keep the tracks in sight but staying on patches of ground where I couldn't leave my own footprints. It became harder as the ground became swampier, but I managed.
Pretty soon, I was on the very outskirts of the village. I shimmied up a tree and looked out into the main square of the village. I had to admit, I had the perfect view. Hilltop, Mya, and Nick stood in the empty square, behind a house. Mya had a huge bowl of rice, and Nick a huge bag, most likely filled with food. The villagers must have given it to them, since Hilltop would never steal or let Nick and Mya steal, but I didn't see any other people than my three companions.
Seconds after I noticed Hilltop and his "novices", I heard a jeep screech. I snapped my head towards the noise and watched as a jeep with tiger skins stretched over the chairs came into the square. A Japanese captain leapt out of the jeep as it stopped. He looked around the village, and I didn't have to be so far away to know he had his eyes narrowed in anger.
"VILLAGERS!" he shouted. "GET OUT HERE!" Slowly, the villagers crept out of everywhere that anyone could hide. The captain narrowed his eyes when an old man got too close. He raised the baton he was holding and hit the old man across the cheek. The old man fell to the ground, clutching his face. I ground my teeth together so hard that it hurt. There was no doubt in my mind; it had to be Captain Moto, the arrogant jerk from the book. I just wished I could use a stronger word for him.
"TODAY IS A GREAT DAY FOR YOU, THE BURMESE!" Captain Moto continued to roar. It made it easy enough for me to hear what he was saying. Though why he needed to scream, I didn't know. "TODAY, YOU HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY FREED FROM THE ENGLISH!" There was some timid cheering from the villagers. They had wanted for years to be free from the English. But I knew the catch. Hilltop, Mya, and Nick didn't cheer either. Even if they hadn't known that there was a catch, they wouldn't have cheered. They already knew how the Japanese treated the Burmese.
"TODAY, YOU HAVE BECOME THE STATE OF BURMA, PART OF THE JAPANESE EMPIRE!" Captain Moto screamed.
There was dead silence for about two seconds. Then the villagers started shouting out in their rage. This was never what they had wanted. They had wanted the Japanese to come and free Burma from the United Kingdom or England or whatever it was called then, not turn them into part of their empire. I watched as Captain Moto's face broke into a cold grin. He was enjoying this, the sick jerk.
I noticed that Mya's face had gone white, Hilltop was shaking his head with an actually angry look to his eyes, and Nick's face betrayed his disgust for Captain Moto and what was happening. A man seemed to pop up out of nowhere. He crept up behind Hilltop, tapping him on the shoulder. Hilltop turned around, and began talking to him. I wondered if that was Kya Lei, the notorious thief and rebel against the Japanese.
I climbed down from my tree. I had seen enough. Quickly, I went back along the way I had come.