The Bells of Balangiga

“I was shaking with both anger and fear, but my mother was thinking. She looked determined, and she started to go over our cabinet where we had our titles, jewelry, and money. She quickly packed them in cloth sacks, along with a few clothes. “When our servant, Marta, arrived from visiting her sick niece, I wrote a message for you. “‘Bring this message to John,’ I told her. “It took her a while to come back and make a report. ‘Dolfo is watching the house. I pretended to go back to my sick niece to bring medicine. I left John’s message with the guard, because John has been called to the next town. He will be back in the morning.’ “My mother decided that when Dolfo leaves his post, we will slip out, go to your camp, and get refuge. She also decided to bring our papers, money and jewelry. We waited as our maid, Marta, watched for Dolfo to leave. It was an agony of waiting until before dawn, when she signaled us to come out. “We quickly left and went to your camp. The guard said you had not yet returned, so we hid in the shadows of a nearby tree. The sun was just beginning to rise when there was a sudden commotion in the camp gate. “An army vehicle had arrived in a rush; the noise from its screeching tires startled us. Then groups of soldiers were gathering and talking excitedly. We went there to see what it was about. “‘Stewart was ambushed! He’s dead!’ We heard it repeated from one soldier to another. “I was stunned. I felt like I died too, but my mother held me close and made a decision. “‘There’s nothing more for us in this town,’ she said. ‘Dolfo will terrorize us and make you marry him, or your reputation will be destroyed.’” Clara was crying. John was already at her side and embraced her. “My darling,” he said, kissing her tenderly, then with a passion that she returned. “Oh, John!” she cried. After a while, holding on to him, she continued. “We took the first bus that came, and continued until we got to Catbalogan. From there we went by boat, then bus, until we reached Manila. We traveled continuously until we reached my mother’s hometown in San Nicholas, Gapan (Nueva Ecija). Her brother Felipe was good to us. Later on, my cousin Celestino would take care of our properties in Balangiga. My mother helped in the family business of grinding palay for the farmers. I went to college in UST to finish pharmacy.” Clara looked at the ring that John had given her. “My happiest memories are with this ring, it has given me strength to go on with life.” John held her hand with his right as he kept his other arm around her. He told his part of the story. “After I left you that evening, I arrived at camp and found the other soldiers getting ready. There was news of a possible pirate raid in the next town. I was among those sent to reinforce the garrison there. It turned out that it was possibly a false alarm, but we stayed there until dawn just to be sure. When we returned, our army vehicle was ambushed by gunfire. Without seeing our attackers, we returned fire. I was seriously wounded, one soldier died. When I regained consciousness at the hospital, I asked about you, but nobody could tell me what happened. The two gunmen were Dolfo and Tonyo, and they were dead too. “I went to your house when I recovered, but Dolfo’s mother was there and hostile toward me, blaming me for the death of her son. For five years, I visited the Philippines every free time I had, looking for you. In the end, I thought Dolfo killed you and your mother, and nobody knew. My dad and aunt were anxious for me to marry and forget. They thought Doris was very suitable, and I just went along. She had been a good mother to my children.” “In Manila, I met Carlos, who was studying medicine,” Clara said. “I told him that I had loved once before, and I did not want to be courted anymore. He persisted for ten years, and finally, I married him. He’s from Cabanatuan, so we moved here. He is a good, decent man.” Then, as though realizing the present, she moved away from John and wiped her tears. “We each have our own families now. Good-bye John,” she said sadly and left. John could not move for a while, he felt weak with the revelation. That past was so fresh in his mind, and he could not let Clara go; but he knew he must. He sat on his chair, shaken, as tears rolled down his cheeks. It took a while, but with a sigh, he knew he had to give an order. Mr. Mifune’s store would have to be searched. For Clara, there was no surprise the next day when soldiers searched Mr. Mifune’s store and found boxes of weapons. The whole town thought it was a long time coming, but nobody knew how it finally became real. The Mifune father and son were sent to prison.