Chapter 3: The Beggar Boy's Identity (2)
Father looked down at me and spoke.
"I die today. It will be Joseon people who kill me, but this is because my sins have touched the public indignation of the Joseon people. You must never hold a grudge against the Joseon people who kill me, do you understand?"
I didn't properly understand what death was, but realizing something bad had happened to Father, I tried to stop him from going outside while crying, and then nodded.
"Although I did not participate in the assassination of the Queen, as Prime Minister, I failed to prevent it and instead tried to resolve the situation together with those who assassinated her, but failed, so it is only right that I die."
I tried to say something, but mixed with sobs, the words wouldn't come out properly.
Quite a while after Father had gone outside, one of the household servants brought news of his death. And when they told the gruesome story of how his body was cut to pieces and dragged through the streets, Mother quietly went into her room and came out with a piece of white silk.
"No! Mom, don't! Don't kill me."
Watching Mother approach me with the white silk, my body shook and I woke up from my sleep.
It was because Mrs. Ford and Dorothy, seeing me suffering severely from a nightmare, had shaken me at the same time.
"Did you have a nightmare?"
"Having suffered such hardships at a young age, it's understandable that you'd have nightmares."
When I woke up, I was on a ship sailing toward Japan. According to Dorothy's explanation, the interpreter with the surname Seo said my life would be in danger the longer I stayed in this land, so Mr. Ford hurriedly looked for a ship, found one leaving for Japan, and immediately boarded it carrying me while I was asleep.
Although I had woken from the nightmare, I couldn't erase the memory of Mother strangling me with the white silk cloth. Perhaps guessing my fear, Mrs. Ford and Dorothy took turns holding me, patting me, and comforting me.
"It's okay, it's okay, no one will harm you now."
Hearing Mrs. Ford and Dorothy comforting me, Mr. Ford, realizing I was awake, entered the cabin.
"Oh, you're awake."
Mr. Ford sat by the bedside asking about my well-being, like how I was feeling or if there was anything I wanted to eat, before finally asking about my identity.
"Are you perhaps the son of the Prime Minister who met with misfortune this time?"
Since I hadn't heard the conversations people had while I was asleep, I was surprised when Mr. Ford suddenly asked about my identity directly. Then, thinking about it a little, I remembered the actions of the interpreter who had tried to protect me. It seemed there must have been some deep conversation between that interpreter and Mr. Ford.
I was a bit concerned about revealing my identity to a Westerner whose nature I didn't know, but considering I was on a ship bound for Japan, it was clear he had acted urgently to protect me.
"Yes, I am Kim Kyung-hee, the son of Joseon's Prime Minister Kim Hong-jip. A British gentleman who visited our house in the past gave me the Western name Henry, so you can call me Henry."
Mr. Ford smiled broadly as I politely revealed my identity.
"You truly are a polite child. That interpreter with the surname Seo told me it would be dangerous for you to remain in Joseon, so I hurriedly put you on the ship. I'm glad it wasn't a mistake."
"I apologize for not being able to greet you sooner when you saved me from danger. Thank you so much for saving me."
Seeing a little kid who, even by future standards, was only old enough to enter elementary school speaking so politely, Mr. Ford, Mrs. Ford, and even Dorothy thought that the son of a country's Prime Minister was indeed different.
Mrs. Ford and Dorothy took turns hugging me and said,
"It truly breaks my heart that such a beautiful and kind child had to go through such a terrible thing. Don't worry now. We will definitely keep you safe."
Watching Mrs. Ford and Dorothy hugging me with a smile, Mr. Ford said,
"I heard your father has many acquaintances in Japan. If you wish, I will find an acquaintance of your father in Japan who can take care of you. If you want America, I will take you to America."
No way, why would I rot in Japan when there's America?
I shook my head and said,
"I will not go to Japan. Father said that Japan pretending to be friendly to us is all just to swallow up our Joseon. He said that even his death, if you look at the cause, was because of Japan. The Japanese will definitely try to use me, the son of the Prime Minister, politically. Please, take me to America."
"Did your father tell you that too?"
"Yes, on the day he passed away, Father told me several times as he went out of the house that I must absolutely not be used by the Japanese."
Mr. Ford nodded, fell into thought for a moment, and said,
"I deeply felt during my few days in Japan that Japan is not a true friend of Joseon. Indeed, if I leave you with the Japanese, there is a high possibility they will use you politically, so it would be better for you to come with me to America. First, I will look for someone to take care of you, and if that doesn't work out, I will become your guardian."
"Thank you very much. I will never forget this grace."
Since the ship wasn't very fast, it took three days just to get to Yokohama, where we could transfer to a ship bound for the West. In the meantime, Mrs. Ford, who had become very close with me, took me off at Yokohama to buy clothes for me to wear and various other necessary items.
Mrs. Ford said she had never raised a child, but Dorothy had raised children before, so she knew well what items children needed.
"Henry is on the quiet side, but children dirty their clothes quickly, so he needs several sets of clothes."
"Let's buy a good hat too."
"Kids grow fast, so we need to buy a hat that's a bit big. Bowler hats are better bought when we arrive in Europe rather than buying them in Japan. So let's just buy a simple hunting cap made for kids and a sailor suit. Look at this, the price is too high for the quality. Even going to Singapore or India would be much better than here."
There was a department store in Yokohama targeting Westerners visiting Japan, but just as Dorothy said, the selection was lacking and the prices seemed high. Goods made in Japan didn't seem to please the visitors, and goods imported from the West were too expensive.
Eventually, we stopped at buying just a few sets of clothes to wear right away and some simple stationery to use when learning from Mr. Ford.
We unpacked at a hotel in Yokohama while waiting for a passenger ship heading west.
Mr. Ford was a financier working in the financial sector in the US, and having achieved quite a big success last year, he got a special vacation. He had visited Korea while on a round-the-world trip with his wife, Mrs. Ford.
The original plan was to tour not only Incheon but also Seoul, but just as they visited Korea, the situation became chaotic due to the Korea Royal Refuge at the Russian Legation (Agwanpacheon), so they were planning to just briefly tour around Incheon and return when they met me.
Dorothy was a maid who had worked for Mrs. Ford's family for generations, and after Mrs. Ford married Mr. Ford, she moved to the Ford household and continued working as a maid. Since she had been with Mrs. Ford and Mr. Ford for so long, she was like family and had accompanied them on this round-the-world trip as well.
After spending a few days in Yokohama, Japan like that, we boarded a massive passenger ship weighing 20,000 tons and headed west.
When traveling around the world from New York, people usually travel from New York through Europe to Asia, but Mr. Ford said he was traveling in the opposite direction, crossing the American continent by rail and then taking a ship from San Francisco to Asia. He said this wasn't because he had a special preference, but because he had some simple business to handle in San Francisco before starting the round-the-world voyage.
The ship was said to visit India via Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Singapore, then pass through the Suez Canal to the Mediterranean, making it a quite long journey as I expected.
Even in my faintly surfacing memories of my past life, there was air travel but no leisurely sea voyage like this, so I was able to fully enjoy the trip. At first, it was very painful as memories of my parents' death and Mom trying to kill me kept coming up, but thanks to Mrs. Ford and Dorothy wrapping me in such warmth, I was able to adjust to the trip relatively quickly.
Mr. Ford initially taught me writing and simple arithmetic to educate me, but seeing that I already had considerable writing skills and solved arithmetic very quickly, he gave up early.
"I can't possibly teach this with my skills. It seems the only way is to find a capable tutor separately when we arrive in America."
Thanks to that, during the sea voyage, I was able to spend my time running around the deck or reading books borrowed from the ship's library without suffering from studying.
And during that time, Mr. Ford's party and I became very close.
"Laura, Dorothy, it's a killer whale, a killer whale. Come quickly and look at that."
"Oh my, you might fall, so don't run so fast."
"Mistress Laura, look at that. It's much bigger than the dolphins we've seen so far, and the color is completely different. With that black body and those white eyes, it looks really peculiar."
"It looks like an eye, but the white part isn't all eye. The eye is attached at the end of it."
"Are dolphins and killer whales different?"
"Of course. Killer whales are much bigger and fiercer. Look at that huge fin on its back over there. It's much bigger than a shark's."
Dorothy said, looking a bit scared.
"But the name killer whale is a bit scary. Seeing that it's that big, much bigger than sharks or dolphins, does it eat people too?"
"No, they don't eat people. Killer whales absolutely do not attack humans."
Mrs. Ford, Laura, asked.
"Oh my, why is that? Do humans taste bad?"
"Nobody knows that. They call them killer whales because they are so fierce in the sea, but strangely, they say they absolutely never attack humans."
At some point, Mr. Ford, that is, John, came up beside us and asked.
"Henry, you really know a lot. Where did you learn that?"
"There were many guests visiting Father, so I heard it there. In Joseon, killer whales are called Solpi, and in Japan, Sachi, but there was a guest who told us with fascination that strangely they absolutely do not attack humans."
Since my father was a Prime Minister who formed a cabinet four times, there was no end to guests in our house, and it was good for making excuses at times like this.
John shook his head and said,
"How is it that a six-year-old knows more than I do? A regular tutor won't stand a chance."
Laura laughed and teased John.
"That's because John reads so few books, who can you blame? Just since boarding this ship, Henry has read several times more books than John."
"That's right. The Master reads too few books. Seeing how he always reads the newspaper, it's not like he hates reading, but I don't know why he doesn't read books."
Attacked simultaneously by his wife and the maid, John hurriedly hugged me and lifted me up high, saying,
"I may not read as many books as Henry, but instead, I can make Henry have fun like this."
Seeing that, Laura and Dorothy shouted at the same time.
"Don't think about throwing the child. It's too dangerous to throw him here."
"The child will be startled. Be careful."
John spun me around a few times above his head and put me down, saying,
"Of course, would I do such a dangerous thing?"
We became close enough to play such pranks on the ship, and John was already thinking of adopting me.
If I get adopted into the Ford family, I become Henry Ford. I thought having the same name as the future Automobile King wasn't bad.