The House in the Meadow

Chapter 11 Enemies For A Day

  "Let's choose teams." Feeldog sat on a fallen log with the rest of the cousins crowded around him.
"I'm tired of playing. The teams are always the same, and we never win." Euijin complained. "You and I always end up as captains. No one else ever has a chance because of how the voting goes."
They'd finished their third game of capture the flag the evening before, and team Feeldog had won again. Somehow, every time they chose teams, Euijin ended up with Daewon, Hansol, and Jun while Feeldog ended up with Marco, Hojung, and Chan. Kijoong was traded back and forth during the games. When they flipped a coin to decide who had first pick of what side of the clearing that they wanted as their home base, Feeldog's team had won two out of three times. They always chose the eastern wood side which had the stream in it. Marco knew that side like the back of his hand.
"Who else feels that way," the cousin's leader asked.
The rest of Euijin's team and Chan raised their hands.
Surprised, Feeldog blurted out, "You too Chan?"
"I never get to be with Jun," Chan complained.
Feeldog sighed, "I guess that's true."
Hansol spoke up, "If we made the teams random, then it would be fair."
"How would we do that?" Euijin asked.
"We could draw straws," Hojung suggested. "Shortest straws are the captains. They can draw names to form their teams."
"Okay," Euijin nodded in agreement, "Let's decide the captains and teams tonight after dinner. We can start the game tomorrow after breakfast." 

"We'll have the Captains pick which side of the meadow they want," Feeldog added.
They set about gathering twigs that were all about the same length and width. Then used a knife to cut two twigs down till they were shorter than the remaining six. Everyone wrote their names down on small rectangles of paper that they folded and put in a bowl.
Feeldog painted a small dot of color on four similarly sized rocks: blue for the north woods, red for the south, yellow for the east, and white for the west. "That way everything will be random," he declared.
They put the twigs in a short, dark drinking-glass and passed it around drawing lots with their eyes closed. Hojung was the first to draw a short stick followed by Marco.
Hojung went first and, closing his eyes, he picked up a piece of paper. He unfolded the scrap and read, "Chan."
Chan, apparently surprised, went to stand by Hojung.
Marco was next. He copied Hojung's actions, only the name he picked was, "Euijin."
Euijin smiled and did a wave dance and a little spin that landed him beside Marco. "Okay!" He had a huge smile on his face. "I have a good feeling about this team."
Hojung chose another teammate, "Jun."
Marco pursed his lips and mixed the remaining scraps, taking his time, before he chose one. "Hansol." He read aloud.
There were two names left. The captain's eyes kept darting to Feeldog's direction and avoiding Daewon's. Daewon had a tendency to be unlucky during games. Feeldog liked to win and usually did.
Swallowing, Hojung carefully drew his last teammate. He still had hope that, with Feeldog's help, they could win even if they had both of the two little kids. Slowly, he unfolded the paper, "Daewon." He quietly read aloud.
Daewon raised a fist in the air and excitedly exclaimed, "yes!"
Chan looked at Jun who returned his look. They were both unsure if they were supposed to be happy or disappointed with their last member.
"That means we have Feeldog," Marco crowed. He unfolded the last piece of paper and showed Hojung Feeldog's name then laughed in his face. Feeldog ran over to Euijin and Hansol, leaping. He hugged the other two boys with a whoop.
Hojung frowned. "We still have one thing left to choose."
Feeldog put the pebbles into the same bowl they used for the paper slips. He stirred the stones around while the two captains had their eyes closed and backs turned. "Okay."
First, Hojung turned around and, with his eyes still closed, chose one. He closed his fist around the rock before anyone could see it. Next, Marco blindly picked his own stone.
"Look" Feeldog ordered.
Hojung opened his fist, and there was a large red dot on the pebble. Hojung smiled and showed it off. His team celebrated happily.
Marco, with a feeling of dread, opened his own fist and saw a blue dot. Feeldog sank to his knees. Euijin bent down and patted him on the back. All the cousins avoided the north woods when they could. They were steep, rocky, and denser than the east or west woods. Plus, the cousins believed they were haunted. Marco wasn't sure he even believed in ghosts, but he was confident a haunted forest wasn't going to be an advantage in tomorrow's game.
"Let's agree beforehand that the winning team's captain gets to decide a penalty for the losing team captain," Marco suggested.
Hojung hesitantly agreed.

At breakfast time, Hojung and Marco ate quietly staring each other down. Marco tried to hide it, but the cuffs of his jeans were wet making it evident that he'd snuck out before everyone was awake and scouted for a team base.
Hojung, on the other hand, had slept in.
The tension between them affected the other cousins. Jun sat between Chan and Daewon rather than next to Hansol or Feeldog. Even Kijoong seemed to feel the tension. He curled up next to Daewon with his head on the teen's shoulder, slowly picking at his foo
As soon as the last dish was washed and set in the rack to dry, they were out the door, running through the long meadow grass.

Hojung's team followed Daewon, "are you sure you know a good place?"
"I was watching the deer one day, and I found this natural fort." Daewon excitedly explained. He lead them to a serpentine bend in the stream that had a fallen tree to cross it. He helped lift Chan as Jun was already climbing up on the log on his own. They were right at the boundary where the east woods met the south. "Careful it might be slippery."
With deliberate, slow steps, the younger boys crossed. Daewon followed, leading Kijoong step-by-step, and holding tightly to his hand. Hojung was last. Smiling widely, he sprinted across, Hojung jumped off and landed like a graceful cat. The roots of the fallen tree formed a twisting curling mass at the end of the natural bridge. There was a small slope and, after climbing the hill, there was a tall tree that towered over the other with low hanging branches that made it easy to climb. With a lookout in that tree, it would be easy to see anyone crossing the stream. There were smaller trees that would one day grow as tall and be as old as the giant growing close to it. With the help of the younger kids, Daewon and Hojung bent the young trees and tied them to make a type of tent or hut. In the middle, they hung their 'flag,' a striped dish towel that was worn so thin it was almost see through. Hojung started climbing the tree. On his back, he had a backpack. He was a nimble and quick climber.
"This is the best fort." Jun declared, "no one will see us."
"I bet that the other's won't find one this good." Chan gloated.

Marco's team headed straight north until he was sure that the other side couldn't see them, then they veered a sharp northwest. He lead them uphill until they found a gnarled old pine tree with two large boulders to the left of the tree. One boulder, it was a little further up the hill, leaned on top of the second slab of granite. This would be their base. The flag, a long strip of a bright yellow tee shirt of Feeldog's, was tied to one of the pine tree's branches. Marco had to balance on top of the first boulder to tie it, but technically, he claimed when Hansol said something, it was easy to see and get to.
"So, what's your strategy?" Feeldog asked as he lay out a mat that they could sit on.
The most tedious part of the game was waiting at the base for the other team to find you. The south woods was thickest where it met the west woods and thinnest in the middle. Beyond its edges, lay a large farm with acres of cabbages filling a graceful slope down to a house on a dirt road. On the other side of the road, lay still more fields filled with an assortment of crops. The hard part of being captain was knowing who to send out as a scout and who to leave guarding the fort.
"Feeldog and Hansol, you two start out as scouts. Euijin, you guard the fort. Call out as loud as you can if you see them coming. I'm going to gather ammunition." Marco ordered.
Euijin groaned.
"You brought a book? Didn't you?" Feeldog asked him.
Euijin didn't answer. He grumbled under his breath. No one liked being stuck at the fort.
They all went their separate ways, except for Euijin who settled in with his book.

Marco walked softly through the dense trees, his feet at an angle to compensate for the sloping hillside. The sunlight filtered through the trees leaving patches of light and dark on the ground. The ground flattened, and trees suddenly thinned, before him lay a blackened ruin. All that remained of a much older, traditional style house was a few walls and a foundation. Weeds, grass, and even a few young trees grew within its four walls. At night, when the cousins made up ghost stories, this house always played a key role. They'd visited the ruin only a handful of times.
Marco swallowed and quickly walked to the base of towering pine and began gathering pine cones in a bag.

Feeldog and Hansol separated. Hansol went to the west in the southern woods. There wasn't a trace of the other team in the thin section or the cabbage fields. Feeldog started out feeling confident that he'd find them in a few minutes but they weren't any of the places that quickly came to mind. When, before him, he saw movement in the brush. Stealthily, he walked forward, crouching low in the hope that he wouldn't be seen. A bucket of cold water splashed down over his head and shoulders. Standing up sputtering, Feeldog suddenly was tackled down to the ground by two quick shadows that it took a minute for him to register as Chan and Daewon. Jun quickly pulled the shoes off his feet. His attackers were gone as fast as they appeared. He could hear them laughing and crowing about their success.
He was halfway back to the house, walking gingerly and cursing Hojung's team with every step when he ran into Hansol.
Wide-eyed the younger boy asked, "What happened to your shoes?"
"They're playing dirty." Feeldog fumed "I was ambushed."
At the house, he found a pair of flip-flops, but he knew that he was basically out of the game except for guarding their base. Scowling, Feeldog slipped into his new footwear. "I think you should find Marco and pair up with him."
Dispirited, they returned to their base.
Euijin laughed so hard at Feeldog's pathetic wet and angry state that he almost ended up rolling around on their mat.
Marco, who'd returned with plastic bags full of pinecones, dropped the bag. "This means war." He declared. "You're sure that they're in the south-east corner?"
"Almost certain," Feeldog replied. "They wouldn't have hauled water all the way from the house. Their base must be close to the stream."
"I bet if you follow the stream, you'll find them." Euijin pointed out.
Marco who'd had almost the exact same thought nodded in agreement.
"Don't let your guard down," Feeldog warned.

"We've got to be getting close," Marco whispered to Hansol.
Hansol, eyes wide, carefully took a step forward.
Somewhere in the distance, they heard a bird-like sound call out two times.
They both froze.
"I don't think that was a real bird," Hansol whispered.
"Me either," Marco agreed. "Come on. They can't take down both of us."
Suddenly, they were under attack. Daewon tackled Marco. Together, they rolled down the spring's bank ending up wet and covered in grassy mud. Hansol had Jun on his back while Chan grabbed onto one of his legs. Wiggling and kicking, Hansol managed to dislodge Chan and loosen Jun's hold for a second. Marco started to scramble up the bank when, Daewon in an attempt to restrain him, accidentally pulled down his pants and underwear.
"Hey, that's going too far," Marco yelled, pulling his clothes up.
Abashed, Daewon let go, and Marco ran free. He helped Hansol dislodge Jun before making a hasty retreat.
"Someone's following us. I think they're hoping we'll lead them to our flag." Marco spit out between breaths as he gulped for air.
By the time they'd reached their base, they'd lost their tail.
"I was terrified that I was going to lose my shoes." A winded Hansol collapsed on the porch. "Should we go back to base?"
"I don't know. If we have Euijin, then there's no way they can get all three of us, but that leaves Feeldog to guard the base."
"I don't even think they're trying to find our base. I think they're only defending their own flag."
"Let's get Euijin then."

Feeldog wasn't happy to be left alone at the base, but one look at Marco's sorry state made him keep his thoughts to himself.
"They're scary," Hansol warned the oldest cousin. "Watch out for Daewon. He's the worst."
The scouting team had changed to a raiding party. Marco had given them each a small plastic bag filled with pinecones. Hansol found a long branch that could do double-duty as a staff and walking stick. Marco lead them along a different route, hoping that maybe the lookout wouldn't see them. Close to their ambush location, they heard the bird noise call out three times.
Marco pushed Hansol forward while he and Euijin backed him up.
"I think that bird was Hojung," Euijin whispered.
"The stream gets deeper a little bit south of here. If we're going to cross, we should cross now." Marco ordered.
"You go first," Euijin suggested.
Marco made an ugly face at the older boy but still carefully crossed. Euijin was next; Marco lent him a hand to help him up the stream's bank. Hansol was about to take a step down the sloping bank when three figures moved in the shadows to his left and right.
"Hansol, look behind you," Marco shouted.
Hansol's staff came down hard on Daewon's shoulder, but that didn't deter him. He reached out and grabbed onto the branch, attempting to disarm Hansol. The other boy tried to shake him off but he couldn't. Jun and Chan came out from the sides, each grabbing one of Hansol's arms. Euijin rushed back into the stream to help his teammate. Marco started throwing pinecone grenades at Daewon. The tables turned in Marco's team's favor as Daewon was now the one taking the most damage. They were sure they had him when Hansol let out a yelp of pain. The fighting stopped.
"I think I sprained my ankle," Hansol admitted.
"Truce." Daewon offered. "We'll help you take him as far as the house."

Taking turns, they supported Hansol till they reached the house's front steps.
Daewon cut what remained of the old yellow t-shirt into strips and wrapped up Hansol's ankle the best he could.
"Will you really be okay being here by yourself?" Jun worried.
"I'll be fine." Hansol comforted him.

Euijin and Marco watched as the other three made their way back south across the meadow.
The oldest cousin sighed and kicked a rock in the yard. "I don't feel like going back to Feeldog and explaining that we're losing."
"The game's not over," Marco grumbled.
Euijin raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side and shrugged. "All we need to do is to get their flag and bring it back to the house, but we can't even get close enough to find their base."
Marco couldn't argue with that. He changed tactics. "Let's follow them."

Marco's heart pounded in his chest as they reached the edge of the south wood. They'd lost sight of the other three boys so he'd decided that they'd head straight south-east. He expected to hear Hojung's weird bird call, but the forest was mostly silent. Up ahead, the stream curved and he spotted Hojung climbing up a large tree.
"He hasn't seen us yet," Euijin whispered and rushed forward.
Marco reached to grab his shoulder to warn him that the stream pooled and deepened to waist height. The banks were high and steep. But Euijin was too quick, and he ended up with a handful of air. This wasn't good, Marco thought to himself. The tree Hojung was in one of the oldest and tallest in the woods surrounding the meadow. No wonder he'd been able to see when them approaching.
Euijin reached the fallen tree and started crossing. He was hit by a barrage of well-aimed pinecones. Almost slipping and falling off, he caught himself and crawled the rest of the way.
Hojung, safely back up in the lower branches, waited for Euijin to be almost directly below him and dumped a whole bucket of water on his opponent's head.
Euijin sputtered and didn't bother to brush the wet hair out of his eyes as he climbed the rest of the way up towards their flag. The second bucket of water splashed down over him, and Euijin was grabbed from behind. They forced him down to his knees, binding his hands and feet. He was the enemy's captive now.

Marco trudged his way back to their base where Feeldog waited, aware that either Jun or Chan followed, but they were sneaky enough to hide when he turned around.
"Where are the other's?" The cousin's leader demanded.
"Hansol is out with a sprained ankle, and Euijin's been captured." Marco lifelessly explained. He described their opponent's base: that the terrain made defense easy, how they'd used ropes to haul buckets of water up into the tree, and planted sharpened sticks around the tree's foot.
Feeldog cursed.
"I'd give them twenty minutes, and they'll be here." Marco sighed. "We need to think of a plan."

Their enemy attempted a sneak attack from the side. When that failed, Jun and Chan worked together to get Marco and Feeldog's attention while Hojung in a beautiful feat of agility managed to climb onto of their boulder, untie the flag, and leap off. He landed in a crouch and started running. He zigzagged down the steep hillside, dodging trees.
Hojung had to take the flag to the house to count as a win. If they stopped him and retrieved their flag, then the game wouldn't be over.
Not wanting to lose this badly, Feeldog, dodging Jun, started after him. He was so close he could almost grab the other boy's tee when he tripped and fell to his knees hard, skinning one. He palms stung. When he lifted one, he'd realized that he'd skinned that as well and it bleed from a small cut. The younger kids fled past him.
Marco helped him to stand. "Let's just give them this win. They worked hard for it."
At first, Feeldog was speechless but then he burst out laughing. "I want to check on Hansol."
Marco packed up their meager belongings.

Back at the house, Hansol pouted while Hojung lounged on the porch, smiling like a contented cat.
Jun sitting beside Hansol and, as soon as he saw Feeldog and Marco approach, he shouted out. "We won!"
A little while later, Chan arrived with Daewon and Euijin carrying Kijoong on his back.
"You all never stood a chance. We knew we'd won as soon as Daewon showed us the tree." Chan gloated.
"Marco and Euijin never would've made it close to the base if Hojung hadn't had to pee. He could see everything." Jun bragged.

"How did you get that scratch by your hairline?" Feeldog asked Euijin.
"PInecone," Euijin answered. "What happened to your hand?"
"Flip-flops." Feeldog let out a long sigh and shook his head back and forth slowly, "I tripped. Scrapped it up pretty good."
"Daewon has your shoes in his bag. They had them tied and hanging from the tree like a trophy." Euijin paused, "I'm worried about Daewon's shoulder." Euijin explained about the fight and Hansol hitting him with his stick. "I think it's going to be a giant bruise by tomorrow morning."
Feeldog suddenly remembered, "Tomorrow's market day."
Euijin nodded, lips pursed together. "There's no way Hansol can dance with that ankle, and we'll have to adjust your part."
"Daewon should rest his shoulder. That means no tumbling tomorrow." Feeldog felt responsibility crashing down on his shoulders.
Hojung called them all to gather at the porch. "Now, for Marco's penalty."
Marco unhappily glared at the winning captain.
Hojung smile took up most of his face. "Tonight, at midnight, Marco has to visit the ghost house and count to fifty before he leaves."
"Midnight is too late. We have to get up early tomorrow." Euijin reminded Hojung.
The winning captain amended the penalty, "Then, at nightfall, Marco has to visit the ghost house and remain inside for the count of fifty."
Everyone, even a reluctant Marco, agreed.

That night, Marco holding a small flashlight, said goodbye to everyone who gathered on the porch to send him off. As soon as he was near the north woods, Daewon and Hansol put the younger kids to bed. Euijin and Feeldog sat watching on the porch. Hojung slipped outside and pulled a ball cap down over his eyes. The other flashlight stuck up from his back pant's pocket.
"Where are you going?" Euijin asked, but he already had an idea where Hojung was headed.
"To pretend to be a ghost," Hojung answered.
"Wait. And I'll go with you." Feeldog stood and found his shoes. They'd finally dried out.
"What about me?" Euijin questioned, not wanting to be left out.
"Someone has to keep an eye on the house." Feeldog reminded him.

Slowly, Feeldog and Hojung crept across the meadow. When they reached the tire tracks, Hojung lead Feeldog along a different path the house than Marco had taken. They entered the clearing surrounding the ruins and hid behind a low wall. They only had to wait a few minutes before Marco appeared.
The pranksters tried hard not to laugh as he talked himself into walking into the house. There he started to count to fifty as fast he could.
Hojung threw a stick and caused a crashing sound.
Marco jumped and lost track of what number he'd reached.
Hojung threw another stick and Feeldog, holding his hand over the top part of the flashlight causing strange shadows to dance across his face, slowly stood up from behind the wall.
Seeing him, Marco let out a small scream and stumbled backward, almost falling. His eyes were wide with fright.
Feeldog started laughing, and then Hojung popped up with a boo.
Marco took another step back and then, as his flashlight revealed who the haunts were, cursed them loudly.
On the way back to the house, the others teased him relentlessly. They'd taken Hojung's route and walked along the tire tracks.
Suddenly, Marco turned off his flashlight and snatched the other from Feeldog's hand. "Quiet," Marco whispered. His voice was one hundred percent serious. "Someone is standing there by that tree watching the house."
"What?" Hojung asked.
"I think I saw it too." Feeldog's voice trembled slightly.
Hojung grabbed onto the back of Feeldog's shirt. They silently walked towards where the trees thinned, and the house came into view. Marco handed Feeldog back his flashlight. The leader mimicked the younger boy and left it off.
Marco walked over to a large tree and, after looking around carefully, knelt down by the foot of a tree. He picked something up. "They're gone now. Whoever it was must've heard us coming." He turned his light on and turned a circle, trying to see if he spotted anyone.
Feeldog did the same thing.
Neither teen found anything.
"I think you imagined it," Hojung mumbled, fear causing him to clench his fist tight.
"Maybe." Marco agreed.
"It's easy to think you see things in the woods at night." Feeldog shrugged.
Marco played along, "It was probably the moonlight making a weird shadow."
When they were a few steps away from the courtyard, Marco discreetly passed something to Feeldog who carefully put it in his pocket.

Euijin had music playing softly as he dozed with a book resting on his stomach. He was carefully folded up in the corner of the sofa.
It was so easy, Feeldog thought, to walk into the house without the others waking or knowing that they were there. Despite what he said, Feeldog was sure that he'd seen the tall silhouette of a man by the tree. He was convinced that Marco had seen the same thing.
When the other two climbed the ladder to go to sleep in the loft, Feeldog leaned over and shook Euijin awake.
"You're home?" The oldest cousin asked in a voice slurred by sleep.
"We need to make some new rules. The first one is the front door gets locked every night." Feeldog dug into his pocket and pulled out the thing Marco had given him.
Euijin, suddenly wide awake, sat up. "What happened?"
"Someone's watching the house. Remember the bikes?" Feeldog opened his palm and showed Euijin a fresh cigarette butt. "All I saw was a shadow, but it was definitely a man, and he was tall."
Euijin stretched, "at least, we know he's watching us now."
Feeldog locked the door and sat on the other end of the sofa "I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight."
"I'll stay up with you." Euijin offered.
Ten minutes later, they were both asleep. The game had tired everyone out.

Marco woke them in the morning with a box filled with foodstuffs similar to what the church handed out. He'd hardly slept the night before and, at the crack of dawn, gone out to see if the watcher had left any other clues. "This was waiting by the tree. Whoever it is, knows we saw him. Why else would he leave it there?" He handed a piece of paper to Feeldog, "there was a note."
Feeldog read aloud: "Some supplies to help you out." Instead of a signature, there was a simple drawing of an angel.
"I think we should keep this just between the three of us for now." Feeldog folded the paper and shoved it in his pocket. "Let's put this food away before the other kids see it."