Mann gave a small nod and a smile of thanks. Here in the gloom, Run Run seemed to Mann to strike a tragically defiant figure, fragile looking and yet strong, like a reed that bends and is flattened by the storm only to rise again with the sunshine.

‘Your English is very good.’ Mann smiled at her.

‘Thank you,’ she answered and bowed again. ‘I was a teacher in the Shan State before the Burmese came.’

‘Have you been in the camp long?’

‘Five years.’

‘Can you tell me what happened the day the camp was attacked?’

She gestured for them to sit. Mann looked at the baby, swaddled in muslin; it had begun to stir a little. Run Run patted its back as they talked.

‘We had no warning. They came in at sunset, in army trucks.’ Her eyes drifted towards the hut’s entrance as she spoke, as if she feared for her life all over again. ‘They were wild looking—bare at the chest, painted. They were mad like animals. Everywhere there were fires starting. People were begging them to stop. People were running. Behind them came the men like dogs, whooping, barking like howling wolves. People were trying to get out of their houses. I saw Mongkut. He shouted to me to run and hide. I heard them call his name.’

‘Mongkut was one of the elders here,’ Riley explained. ‘He was a great fighter in the KNLA once but was too old to fight any longer.’

‘They shouted his name. I heard Mongkut calling them dogs, animals. I picked up the baby and ran. I ran away down the road and I hid beneath the new school.’ She stopped for a minute to calm herself. Her sentences had become short and breathless. Her face was flushed as she looked once more towards the door as if at any second her attackers would burst through once again. She took a deep breath and looked up at Mann. ‘I had to bury myself amongst the dirt and pray that the fire did not reach us. It was choking us and the baby was coughing but all around was so much noise that they did not hear us. For an hour I listened to the screams and I heard people dying. When I came out I found Mongkut dead, his head on a pole, his body beneath.’

The hut was silent except for the sound of the baby grizzling. Run Run picked it up and held it over her shoulder as she soothed it.

‘Do you have any idea who they were?’

Her eyes flicked towards Riley before she answered. She shook her head.

‘I have said to Riley that I am not certain, but they were not Burmese army. They were wild men without uniforms. There are some here who might know them. They spoke the dialect of the Shan people. And someone bribed the guards to leave that evening.’

‘Did you see the five volunteers?’

She shook her head. ‘No, but when they were shouting for Mongkut I heard them calling to each other to look for the five and to bring them alive.’

‘Do you remember what the five were doing when you last saw them that afternoon?’

Run Run looked at Riley. She seemed suddenly flustered or confused, Mann didn’t know which.

‘They were waiting.’

‘Waiting for what?’ asked Mann.

Run Run tried to recall. ‘I asked Anna, one of the girls, what are you doing still here? She told me they were still waiting for their lift, it was late.’

Mann turned to Riley. ‘You said they had their own transport.’

‘Not these kids. They got a lift with me. That’s what I mean about NAP—they just expected me to do everything for them.’

‘But who gave them a lift that day if you were ill?’

‘Some other volunteers staying at Mary’s offered.’

The baby had started grizzling in earnest and Run Run could not placate him.

‘They will kill many more if they are not stopped,’ she said. ‘I want to help you in the search for the volunteers. But we will need money if we want people to help us. We need supplies.’

‘I have money,’ answered Mann.

‘Bring it later. I will buy what you need with it.’ She turned to address Riley. ‘Can you get me a pass to leave the camp tonight?’

‘Shouldn’t be a problem. I will say I need you to help with some translation.’

She stood and picked up the baby. He was no more than three months old. His cry was quivery, his mouth like a young bird’s as he turned and searched for food at her breast. She stood, kissed the baby’s head and handed him to Riley.

‘Please give him to Dao. He wants something I do not have it in me to give him. You will find her across from here. She will feed him. I will see you later.’ She said, bowing again, ‘Tonight I will take you to meet the last of the great KNLA leaders. His name is Alak.’

56

With a look of disgust, Shrimp walked past the armed men on the door and exited the police station. He headed down the road to the Thai boxing stadium. Posters were pinned all over the entrance and the outside walls.

El Supremo remains unbeaten. Thursday evening free-for-all challenge to win the thousand dollars.

Inside the place all was quiet except for six youngsters and their trainer sparring with one another.

‘Hey.’ Shrimp nodded in the direction of the trainer. ‘Mind if I watch?’

‘You are welcome.’ The trainer walked towards him. ‘My name is Pan.’ He reminded Shrimp of the man who had taught him Taekwondo when he was a boy. He had been a dedicated kind man and a wise person. Someone who the children could aspire to be like, certainly not a bully.

‘And mine is Li. It’s a great place you have here.’ Shrimp scanned the large auditorium. It could easily seat three hundred people.

‘It’s not mine,’ Pan smiled. He left the boys sparring. ‘I wish it was.’

‘Who owns it? El Supremo and the coach?’

‘Ha! No…They wish they did too. They just run it for the owner. They’re from overseas.’

‘Can you teach me the basics?’

The boys started laughing.

‘Shush…’ Pan admonished. ‘Don’t be rude.’ He turned back to Shrimp. ‘I see by the way that you move that you know martial arts.’

Shrimp nodded. The boys’ stares became more respectful.

‘I have had some success, yes. But I know nothing about this particular discipline.’

‘I will teach you the basics—it will be good for the boys to see how others fight. Thai boxing is all about hands, knees, elbows, kicks and punches. Here.’ He called two of the boys forward. ‘Show Mr Li how it works.’

The young boys began sparring. There came a voice from behind Shrimp.

‘We’ll show Mr Li how it works.’

El Supremo, Coach and the two policemen Shrimp had just seen at the station had entered the boxing stadium and were now closing the doors behind them.

Pan stepped closer to Shrimp and bowed respectfully to the men at the door. ‘He is having instruction, that’s all. There is no need to threaten him.’

‘Get the children out. Lessons are over for today. This man is causing civil unrest here. Thailand is full of political activists causing trouble—he is just one more.’

‘I am sorry, my friend, you are on your own,’ Pan whispered under his breath as he bowed again and backed away. ‘I cannot help you now.’

Shrimp looked at the policemen. They looked like they were dying for an excuse to try out their guns. Pan started to back away. ‘I suggest you allow yourself to take the beating and try and survive it. You fight back…they will kill you.’

57

‘Alak is the number one suspect at the moment,’ Mann mused as he and Riley left Run Run’s hut. ‘Can we trust him? Can we trust Run Run?’

They crossed the lane with the grizzling baby to interrupt Dao from her weaving. Her own baby was sleeping soundly in a basket beside her. Dao took the infant from Riley and lifted her top to allow him to suckle as she carried on weaving one handed. Riley led Mann onwards through the camp. Mann said, ‘If it goes wrong tonight this could turn out to be a very short trip for me.’