I knotted the end of the tether firmly to the coconut tree, then followed the line back to my favourite water buffalo. It was much bigger than me, but I was not afraid of it's leathery body and wide horns, it was a gentle soft eyed creature. It was grazing, and I stroked the soft hair on its ear as it chewed the course grass. It nudged me aside to wrap its tongue around a tuft near my foot. I felt a rasping on my leg and brushed off the trail of saliva and grass. "Ouch! That hurt." I playfully slapped the beast's shaggy flank. It flicked its tail as though a fly had landed, and sidestepped to more tempting tufts.
"Come and keep an eye on the baby." My mother's shrill voice carried easily in the clear air of North East Thailand. I moved with the carefree abandon of my nine years, hitched up my sarong and skipped home. The house was built of rough timber with the bark still on. It was a simple structure of one room and a balcony, built on stilts, with a palm thatch roof. The low space under the house was fenced to contain livestock. Our house was one of four in a clearing hacked from the wilderness. A footpath led through the undergrowth to five more similar clearings with more extended families. The six clearings made up a village. Our clearing was the one nearest the dirt road that led to the town that was about 15 minutes walk away, five at a fast run. The town had a paved road with houses and shop either side. There was a school and a clinic with a nurse, and a temple. Rich farmers who owned a lot of land, shopkeepers and agents lived in the town, and were aloof from those who lived in clearings. Some people in town were poor, but not as poor as the people in the village.
CHAPTER ONE