“It looks like he’s pretty hungry. How about offering him food and water? Then, after reassuring him, shoot him.”
It’s amazing what my thirteen-year-old son says.
But it wasn’t entirely wrong.
Soon the sun will set and night will come.
Rather than carrying the cause of the trouble behind you, it would be a good idea to get rid of it.
But what if it fails?
The other person is alone, and you have a family to protect.
It is too risky to launch a preemptive strike.
James patted his son’s head.
“I can’t communicate with Asians anyway. I’ll join the Oregon Trail soon, so let’s just wait and see until then.”
When a large rock mountain appears in the middle of the meadow.
The carriage wheels were rattling and there was trouble.
A thin sheet of metal wrapped around a tree was sticking out and needed to be repaired.
It was common for carriage wheels to break down.
However, I was concerned about the attacks from the Orientals and Indians behind me. Now was the time to become prey.
“Why is there trouble now?”
“You focus on fixing it, I’ll keep an eye on him.”
The woman clutched the rifle with a determined expression.
The carriage soon stopped.
Imaksan’s eyes narrowed when he saw that.
‘Is the wheel broken?’
If you try to approach, it’s obvious that unnecessary misunderstandings will arise.
Yi Mak-san grabbed the horse’s reins and stopped it.
It just so happened that my hip bone was hurting.
After getting off his horse, Imaksan twisted his body this way and that and did some simple stretching.
My son, who was watching this through the telescope, gulped and said.
“Ku, Coolie… are you loosening up? Are you ready to attack!?”
“How is your expression?”
“He’s just expressionless, like a mindless monkey.”
“Oh, my······.”
The woman had a serious expression on her face, and James, who was fixing the wheel, opened his mouth nonchalantly.
“If you’ve been riding for a long time, that’s what can happen. If you had other intentions, you would have pretended to pass by and attacked.”
“You are so positive about everything.”
The wife pouts from the side.
Her husband’s personality was impeccable, but he was not suited to the rugged West.
Perhaps that is why the wife became more cautious about small things than her husband.
The same goes for my son.
Meanwhile, after finishing his stretching, Lee Mak-san walked around and looked around the area.
But then suddenly I noticed a cloud of dust rising in the distance.
‘Are you herding buffalo?’
Imaksan, mounted on a horse, climbed to a relatively high altitude and looked around the place where the dust was rising.
And then he got scared and changed direction.
“Ouch! Mom, Coolie is coming here!”
The son shouted and fussed.
As he said, Imaksan was running towards the carriage at a fast speed.
The anxious husband was unable to properly attach the iron plate that was supposed to be wrapped around the wooden wheel.
Although the distance was far, the woman cocked the hammer of the rifle she was holding and aimed at Mt. Imaksan.
But at this time.
“They are Indians!”
Imaksan’s voice echoed across the plains.
“!”
A woman with a pale complexion looks at her husband.
“honey···?”
“Now, it’s almost done. Damn it!”
I was struggling to fit the plate in, but it just wouldn’t fit, and I was getting annoyed.
“Honey! What about the author?”
“Don’t shoot, just aim!”
The son used his telescope to check the Indian’s location, and the wife kept her eyes on Imaksan.
As the distance grew closer, Imaksan raised both his hands to reassure them.
“A group of Indians are coming this way!”
“uh···?”
The wife’s eyes widened. Her husband James also stopped his hands and looked at Mt. Imaksan.
“Can you speak our language?”
“Does that matter now?”
Yi Mak-san looked at the iron wheel that James was holding. The thin, round iron plate, like a roller, served to secure the wooden wheel so that it would not come off.
“Let me help you.”
The startled woman’s eyes waver.
The gun was still pointed at Imaksan, but he dismounted without paying attention.
“What should I do?”
“Just press this side…”
The task was simple.
It was something that could be done by forcing it in.
But what strength would this already malnourished and emaciated Lee Mak-san have?
James and his son combined their strength and worked so hard that they were on the verge of taking a shit that they were barely able to succeed.
It seems a little bit out of place…
‘It was almost dangerous.’
Imaksan pretended not to care and took out a bottle of whiskey from the small bag that was hanging on his horse.
The woman’s eyes widen.
‘My God, you’re drinking alcohol in this situation!?’
The eyes of the woman, who was frowning, and Lee Mak-san met.
She flinched and adjusted her grip on the rifle.
“Do you have any oil?”
“oil···?”
“We need it to deal with Indians.”
“If it’s oil, it’s here!”
The son, who had been rummaging through something in the carriage, held out his hand. In his hand was a can of oil.
Either they lost their sense of security, or they were desperate because of the Indians. The latter seems more likely.
Yi Mak-san said as he poured alcohol and oil into the remaining whiskey bottle and stirred it.
“You go first. I’ll stop the Indians.”
“I, will you stop me?”
James and his wife, who were putting their equipment into the carriage, looked at Mt. Imak with bewildered expressions.
Oriental coolies who speak their own language
It was difficult to accept the situation where even the Indians had to be dealt with.
“I don’t think this is the time to just watch.”
After checking behind them, James and his wife hurriedly climbed onto the carriage. The Indians had come close enough to see them with their own eyes.
“Come on! Move quickly!”
As if responding to an urgent crack of the whip, four horses galloped forward, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The opening of the bottle was wrapped with cloth, and a long piece of cloth, like a bandage, was soaked in oil and made into a wick.
A Molotov cocktail made in a short period of time.
Although it was weak in power, it was the best weapon that could be created at the time.
The problem was the floor. If you threw a Molotov cocktail on the soft, sandy ground, there was a high chance of failure.
The only fortunate thing is that the area surrounding the rock mountain you see in front of you is a terrain with many small rocks.
‘The match will be decided there.’
Yi Mak-san got on his horse, glanced behind him, and then walked forward.
“Hey!”
A carriage galloping across the great plain,
Imaksan follows behind.
At 4 o’clock, seven Indians followed at a fast pace.
My name is Max Joe.
Imaksan ran while examining the terrain.
When the distance between us and the Indians had narrowed to about two hundred meters.
Swish.
Empty.
“Ow, shit!”
The arrow feathers stuck in the chariot vibrated,
Bang! Bang!
Gunshots can also be heard.
“Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh!”
As they drove their prey like they were hunting, and even added threatening shots, my hair stood on end.
In order to secure a suitable location, Yi Mak-san increased the speed of his horse and overtook the carriage.
I can feel my wife’s absurd gaze on the back of my head.
As expected, she shouted.
“I said I would leave you alone!”
“Give me the oil, you monkey!”
The son also joined in. The closer they got to the Indian, the more the mother and son cursed each other.
Whatever.
Lee Mak-san let the sound escape through one ear and took out a match made of white phosphorus from his bosom.
A running horse. Wind resistance.
Yi Mak-san successfully created a fire in his coat using a so-called stick match that can be scratched anywhere and then transferred it to the wick.
It was the effect of several days of practice on horseback.
As the wick burned out, Yi Mak-san drastically slowed down the speed of the running horse.
The distance to the carriage is closing again.
The white family’s gaze turned to the burning bottle that Yi Mak-san was holding.
‘What is that?’
They all have blank expressions.
As the carriage passed by.
Lee Mak-san glanced at his family and threw the bottle behind them.
The distance from the Indians is only 30 meters.
Their pursuing gazes simultaneously turned to the burning bottle of whiskey that had fallen to the ground.
‘?’
pop!
Hurrrrr!
There were many rocks on the floor, so the bottle broke easily.
Although the power was not great, the oil and alcohol spread and flames rose up in front of the horses.
What Imaksan was after was the Indians’ language.
The timing was perfect.
Heeeeeeling!
The horses roared and some even fell off their horses.
The Molotov cocktail was somewhat successful.
Bang, bang!
Running behind the carriage, Yi Mak-san turned his body and fired a gun. The sound of a gunshot is effective in instilling fear in panicked enemies.
At this moment, one of the Indians came chasing after them with glaring eyes and a fierce attitude.
He was a man with a puma’s head on his head.
‘Are you a leader?’
When Imaksan looks at it closely.
Gunshots could also be heard inside the carriage.
It was his wife’s support.
bang!
She takes out her rifle, then her pistol and starts shooting.
When the situation became unfavorable, the puma that had been following began to slow down.
The man who was glaring at Mt. Imak shouted something, then gave up the chase and turned his horse around.
‘I don’t have any ill feelings towards you guys.’
Indians who were exploited by white people for many things.
No matter what their pain was, I had no intention of just sitting back and taking it.
‘If you attack, we’ll counterattack.’
The distinction between good and evil is meaningless in it.
In an age of irrationality, there are only two things: life or death.
Imaksan took his gaze away from the Indian and looked at the carriage.
The wife coughed in vain, and the son avoided eye contact.
Perhaps because of the memory of the insult, both of their faces were flushed red.
*
Yi Mak-san followed closely behind the carriage driven by the white family.
At one point, the horses that had been galloping at full speed began to tremble in pain as if they were exhausted.
‘I guess I need a break.’
The speed slowed down, and the boy with his arms around the back of the carriage spoke. His expression seemed a little more relaxed.
“Why do you speak Korean so well?”
“Why, is it weird when a monkey speaks?”
The blond boy nodded with bright eyes.
The woman next to him watched to see if Lee Mak-san would shoot the gun in anger.
Although he was out of sight of the carriage, he still had not put down his rifle.
“Actually, this guy can speak five languages other than English.”
“Wow, really!?”
“Ha. Es gracioso (It’s funny).”
The wife snorts.
Yi Mak-san also responded with a laugh.
“Haha. Not trusting people is also a disease.”
“oh!”
The woman’s eyes widened.
Content aside, Imaksan’s Spanish was as fluent as his English.
‘You really speak five languages?’
I would like to test more, but unfortunately the only languages I know are English and Spanish.
The woman pouted and looked away from Yi Mak-san.
At this point, her husband James looked back and said.
“It’s getting dark and I’m tired. Should we rest now?”
Although it was unclear who he was talking to, Yimakssan responded naturally.
“I’m glad you’re as tired as I am. Let’s rest here.”
“Then, when the Indians come chasing us···.”
