Chapter 7 — A Promise At The Cable Car Station

Tu walked first, each step placing exactly on the dry stones. The old road starts from behind the station, passes through a row of pine trees and then descends to the North side with a narrow strip of land. The rain is not heavy but enough to make the road surface shiny. On the left is a cliff, on the right is a dark space where the bottom cannot be seen.

Duy went last, holding an anemometer and walkie-talkie. Linh is in the middle, wearing a waterproof bag containing a map taken in the warehouse. She didn't like this position: in front of her was someone she didn't trust, behind her was someone who could decide to stop the trip at any time. But at least both are in sight.

“How far is it to the village?” Linh asked.

“Fifteen minutes if going straight,” Tu replied.

“Where is the straight line?”

"It's collapsed. Let's go around to the rest hut."

“How far is the rest hut from Mai's house?”

“Twenty minutes.”

Duy looked at the meter. "The wind is changing direction. If the rain increases, we turn back."

Tu did not turn around. “You keep saying that every five minutes.”

“Because the terrain changes every five minutes.”

Linh placed her foot on a stone slab. It missed by half an inch, but luckily she was able to hold on to the tree roots. Duy immediately stepped forward and held her elbow.

"Thank."

“Don't look at your phone while walking.”

“I'm looking at the map.”

“A map won't save you from slippery rocks.”

Tu stopped in front, pointing at the mud on a slope. “Someone passed through here before us.”

The footprints are not like those of a worker's shoes. The sole has a V-shaped groove, one side of the heel is worn. The mud was still wet, but the edge of the mark had begun to shrink.

“The one with the red string?” Linh asked.

“Maybe,” Duy said. “Not conclusive enough.”

Tu sat down and took a small stick to measure the distance between the two footprints. "This person is walking fast, carrying heavy objects. The mark on the right is deeper."

“How long have you been a tour guide?” Linh asked.

“Ten years.”

“So you don't just know the way.”

“I know how people walk when they want to get in front of others.”

Those words made Linh feel uncomfortable. She remembered the box in the closet, the message about the person who wanted to take it down the mountain. If Tu knows how to deduce footprints, he can also erase his own.

The trail narrows. The cable above appears between the trees. Cabin number 17 was stationary at the upper station, but a small maintenance cabin hung a few pillars away. It had no lights, just a black mass suspended in mist.

“Is that cabin available?” Linh asked.

“There is no operator,” Duy replied.

“But the red signal just now?”

“It could be the indicator light on the pillar.”

Tu looked up. “The indicator light does not click three times.”

Duy didn't speak anymore. He took the walkie-talkie and called the station. No one answered for the first ten seconds. The second time, the captain's voice rang out very softly: "The upper station is fine. Don't come back. There are people in the warehouse area below."

"Who?" Duy asked.

"Undetermined. The back door was opened."

Tu stopped walking. “We should go back.”

“Mai is in the village,” Duy said.

“If the warehouse had been broken into, the box could have been taken.”

“The box is still in the cupboard.”

“Are you sure?”

Duy looked at Linh. “We have no way to check from here.”

Linh took out her phone to call Mai. The phone rings but no one hears. She called back a second time, a third time. Finally a message appeared: "I'm at Hanh's house. There's someone standing outside my gate."

Duy read, his face tightened. “Go quickly.”

Tu led them off the main trail. The shortcut goes under an old cable bridge, where abandoned steel wires lie across like tree roots. Each step causes rocks to fall into the crevice. Duy asked them to go one by one.

“Tu, this way is still usable Are not?" he asked.

“Maintenance team road. People still go.”

“The warning panel has been removed.”

“Because of the index.”

“It's not because the roads are safe.”

Tu did not reply. Linh saw on the left tree trunk a red painted mark in the shape of a triangle, similar to the mark on cabinet number 17. She held up the flashlight. The mark is old, but in the middle there is a new mark.

“Where does this sign lead?”

Tu said: "Let's rest."

“Who marked it?”

“Old team.”

“Who is the old team?”

“My father, Duy's mother, Mr. Khang, your father... and Vinh.”

Duy is back. “I never said Vinh had ever taken this route.”

“I don't think that's important information.”

“With the box, every piece of information is important.”

Tu continued walking. Linh saw his shoulders stiffen. Duy didn't argue anymore, but his hand was already on the wire cutter in his pocket.

The rest hut appears behind a cluster of bamboo. It's just a low wooden house with a moss-covered corrugated iron roof, with a long table and two chairs inside. A piece of the wall was chiseled to reveal an old cable. There is still sign number 04 on the door.

Tu opened the door with a wooden latch. The air in the hut smelled of damp paper and dry leaves. Under the table is a plastic bin, and on the wall is a yellowing maintenance schedule.

Duy checked the four corners. “There is no sign of new people.”

Linh touched the table top. The dust layer in one place was wiped clean into a rectangular shape. Someone once placed heavy objects there.

“The box used to be here,” she said.

Tu looked around. “Not recently.”

“The dust is still fresh.”

Duy shines the light on the floor. A streak of water stretched from the back door to under the table, carrying white stone powder with it. Same type of rock in the cabin.

“The other guy brought the box over here,” he said.

Linh searched in a plastic bin. Inside were lanyards, old maintenance records and an opened envelope. She didn't take it out but called Duy. He wore gloves and took a photo of the outside of the envelope.

Recipient's name: "The team in charge of replacing the wire — Van Lo".

Date stamped: August 14, 2009.

Inside is a receipt for purchasing equipment, worth 86 million VND, the payer is "Nguyen Khai". The recipient part says "Vo Minh Vinh".

Linh sat down on the chair. “My father paid for the equipment for Vinh.”

Duy read the last line. “No need to pay. Advance.”

“Advance but no settlement.”

“And the debt was transferred to my father.”

The receipt has the signatures of two people. Nguyen Khai's signature is a familiar slant. Vo Minh Vinh's signature has only two zigzags, completely different from the words on bank papers that Duy has seen.

Tu looked at the receipt. “Vinh said the device was lost in the landslide. He said he couldn't deliver enough so he signed for an advance."

"Afterward?" Linh asked.

“Then he was fired.”

“If there is a receipt, why is the bank still asking for my father?”

“Because this is not a loan contract.”

Duy turned over to the back. There is a line written in pencil: “If there are not enough supplies, the last signer is responsible.”

Linh read it again and again. “My father was the last to sign?”

"Maybe."

“But you didn't accept the goods.”

“You need a delivery note.”

Tu walked to the table. “That record is in the box.”

Linh looked up. “You know?”

“Vinh once said that if the box was opened, everyone would see that he was not the final recipient.”

“Why didn't you say anything from the beginning?”

Tu looked at Duy. “Because your mother also knew but chose to stay silent.”

Duy stepped forward and grabbed Tu's collar. Linh stood up.

“Duy, let go.”

“You know my mother was forced to pay the debt and still keep quiet?”

“I didn't know she was forced to return it. I only know that adults tell children not to ask questions.”

Duy released his hand. Tu fixed his collar, not looking at him.

“Vinh Maybe there's still a contact person," Linh said. "The map and receipt all point to the box. We must protect it, we cannot let anyone keep it for themselves.”

A noise echoed outside the hut. Bamboo leaves scraped against the corrugated iron roof, but the footsteps below were clearer. Duy turned off the light. Tu pushed Linh behind the wooden wall, and he pressed himself close to the door.

There were people walking around the hut. Small mud fell from the shoes onto the steps. The ball passed through the high gap in the door and stopped right at sign number 04.

“They know we're here,” Linh whispered.

Duy put his finger to his lips.

People outside don't knock. A piece of rock was thrown into the corrugated iron roof, then footsteps were heard running towards the back of the hut. Tu opened the door to chase, but Duy held him back.

“Do not chase in the mist.”

“What if it was the one who took the box?”

“We have receipts. That's something they didn't know we found.”

Linh stored the photos on two phones. She wrapped the receipt in a tissue and put it back in the correct envelope. While working, a small object fell from under the table: an old plastic card with the name "Pham Khang".

On the back of the card is an address in the above village and the words: “Meet when the cable stops.”

Duy read. “Mr. Khang is not dead. He is where one can find him.”

“The hospital is just fake news,” Linh said.

Tu stood in front of the door, looking at the mist. “If Mr. Khang is not at the hospital, he is waiting for us.”

“Or being held,” Duy replied.

Duy's phone vibrates. Mai's message appeared: "The person outside the gate has left. But there was a truck parked near Ms. Hanh's house. I see the license plate resembles the car that came to ask to buy a house."

Linh looked at the receipt, then looked at the address on the card. “Mr. Khang's house is in the village above?”

“Right behind Mai's house.”

Tu pointed out the small path along the stream. “If we go fast, we'll get there before the truck.”

Duy checked the anemometer. The index is falling, but the rain is starting to fall heavily.

“Let's go,” he said. “Do not separate groups.”

They left the hut through the back door. On the wooden steps, Linh saw a new line of words outlined in white stone:

“Half a piece of paper can only save someone whose name has not been called.”

She took the photo. Duy did not ask. He just pulled the seat belt connecting three people in a row before going down the slope.

Below, the upper village has just turned on the lights. A silver truck stood still next to Mai's fence. On the roof of the car, a man was looking at the rest hut with binoculars.

When he saw three figures appear on the trail, he put away his binoculars and started the engine.

Tu recognized the license plate before Duy.

“Vinh's car.”

The car backed out, its wheels crushed the bamboo fence and then crashed down the slope. Duy pulled Linh aside, but Tu followed for a while.

“Don't chase!” Duy shouted.

Tu stopped and looked at the car's taillights getting smaller. In his hand, Mr. Khang's name tag trembled slightly.

“If Vinh were here,” Linh said, “then Mr. Khang would know more than everyone tells him.”

Duy looked at the dark house ahead. “And we have to find him before someone else does.”