Summary

As he waited with the hope that Atal would make contact with him, Aziz spent a good deal of time in Mumtaz’s home. He learned Mumtaz’s family had been relatively wealthy before the war. He and his brother had been among the ranks of the soldiers who had fought the Russians. Mumtaz told of how he and his brother had laid a land mine in the road hoping to kill a Russian convoy said to be passing that way. The boys planned to take up the mine the following morning if the Russians hadn’t come but they never got the chance. Instead of a Russian truck, it was a civilian truck carrying lumber that was destroyed by the mine. Mumtaz’s father was ordered to pay for the truck and cargo, an amount that depleted his savings. Additionally, a relative...