Tokyo Bay Page 17

  ‘The American who wishes to help you is a good man continued Sentaro gently. ‘I’ve known him for many months, and he’s been a true’ friend to me.’ The Japanese turned and motioned silently for Eden to come and kneel beside him. ‘You can take a closer look at a shu-i for yourself now, O Tokiwa-san. Then you will know I tell the truth.’

  Sentaro took the paper lantern from her and held it up at arm’s length so that its subdued glow illuminated Eden’s face. Squatting on his haunches, the American removed his battered straw hat - and waited, ‘When at last Tokiwa raised her head to look at him, her wide almond eyes betrayed her alarm.

  ‘Don’t be afraid: said Eden in Japanese. ‘I’m your friend too’

  Tokiwa’s long black hair, still gleamingly damp from the waterfall, half covered her face and she lifted both hands to her cheeks in a sudden, nervous gesture, to draw the strands aside. For a long time she stared at Eden in a wondering silence.

  ‘I have no fangs and no horns,’ smiled Eden. ‘We “foreign barbarians” are just ordinary human beings after all.’

  ‘Your eyes are very blue - like the ocean: whispered Tokiwa at last. ‘And your hair is brown like the leaves in autumn.’

  Eden nodded and smiled again. ‘That’s not unusual in my country:’

  ‘Do all “barbarians” . . .‘ she began impulsively, then broke off, still gazing wide-eyed at him. ‘I mean... do all people who live in America look like you?’

  ‘No.’ Eden shook his head. ‘People of many races from all over the world have come to live in my country. Many have different coloured hair - brown, black, yellow, even red. Their eyes are sometimes blue. But they may also be green, or brown, or grey.

  While he spoke, Eden found himself wondering in his turn at the beguiling face of the girl kneeling in bewilderment before him on the earth floor of the barn. Although her hair was wet and unkempt, there was no disguising her rare natural beauty, which was enhanced by the soft light of the lamp held in Sentaro’s hand. Her wet peasant shirt, wide open at the throat, clung darkly to the slenderness of her upper body, outlining the soft curve of her breasts and, as they continued to stare at one another, Eden felt himself drawn powerfully to her delicate and apparently unconscious sensuality:

  ‘I’ve never before in my life seen a man with blue eyes: murmured Tokiwa, dropping her gaze to begin searching busily in her baskets once more. ‘Please excuse me for staring at you.’

  Sentaro lowered the lantern and placed it on the ground. Looking at Eden, he smiled. ‘Tokiwa has informed me that she isn’t truly a peasant girl from the fields. She had to disguise herself for her escape. Normally she lives in Yedo, where she’s an honoured and notable geisha. She has studied music, poetry and dance and entertains noblemen of the highest rank.’

  ‘Thank you, Sentaro,’ said Eden, still gazing at the Japanese girl. ‘Now I understand.’ He paused and bowed his head chivalrously in her direction. ‘I’m very honoured to know you, O Tokiwa-san. And I’m sorry this “palace” is so humble compared with what you must be accustomed to in Yedo.’

  Standing up, Eden crossed into the shadows at the other side of the barn. After unfastening his waist pouch he peeled off his own wet shirt and threw it across an overhead rafter to dry in the warm night air. He saw Tokiwa pull a dark garment and a towel from one of the panniers, and retreat in the other direction to the darkness beneath the loft. Turning his back on her, Eden moved to the door of the barn and stood quietly listening for sounds of pursuit.

  ‘Master, come and look: called Sentaro in a low voice a few moments later. ‘Up here!’

  Eden saw that the castaway had climbed the rickety ladder to the loft, and was squatting beside an opening through which sacks of grain had once been swung into the upper level of the barn. Clambering cautiously up the ladder, Eden hurried over to crouch beside him.

  ‘What is it, Sentaro?’ he demanded in an urgent whisper. ‘Is somebody approaching?’

  ‘No, master: he whispered. ‘But look!’

  The Japanese raised his arm and pointed out through the nearby opening. Following the direction of his finger, Eden saw the same extraordinary image that he had first seen from the deck of the Susquehanna at midnight.

  ‘Fuji-san again!’ exclaimed Sentaro. ‘And looking more beautiful from here than I have ever seen it. Now I know, master, I have truly come home.’

  Framed in the open grain-port of the barn, the snow-topped volcano loomed large in the heavens. The crescent moon and a scattering of stars hung like muted chandeliers above its peak, shedding sufficient light to beautify the mountain, but not enough to destroy the illusion that its darker base had melted away into the shadows of the lower regions. Eden stared out into the night in silence, his hand resting on Sentaro’s shoulder, and in that moment the impulsive desire to climb to its summit, which he had first felt on board the flagship, became a firm resolve.

  ‘I’m quite sure now, Sentaro, that some time I will climb your sacred mountain,’ he said quietly. ‘I know no barbarian has yet set foot on its summit - but one day I will stand at the very top.’

  ‘If it ever becomes possible, master, for you to climb Fuji-san, I hope I’ll come with you,’ murmured Sentaro.

  ‘I hope so, too.’

  Lost in thought, Eden continued to stare towards the spectacular volcano. Light swirls of night mist were beginning to drift above the nearer fields and forests, softening the contours, and a profound stillness seemed to have settled like a cloak over the abandoned barn and its surrounding countryside.

  ‘I have noticed that there’s a little temple on the hill above us, master: whispered Sentaro, gesturing out through the grain-port again. ‘I would like to go there now to thank the ancestral gods for guiding me back to my homeland. May I leave you for a little while?’

  ‘Of course, but be careful’

  ‘I won’t be long, master The castaway grinned his thanks and headed quickly towards the ladder. ‘I’ll pray to the kami for our safety and protection. .

  In the deep silence Eden was able to hear Sentaro’s soft footfalls as he crept away up the wooded hillside. When the sounds had faded, he selected a spot from which he could still see the moonlit peak of Fuji framed in the open grain-port and settled himself on a mound of straw with his back against a wooden partition. Puffing his sword free from his gun belt, he laid it beside him and closed his eyes for a moment, intent on reviewing the frantic events of the past few hours - but instead he fell instantly into an exhausted sleep.

  He did not stir again until a faint rustling at his back woke him with a start, a few minutes later. On instinct he snatched up his sword and stumbled to his feet - only to find Tokiwa standing quietly by the top of the ladder, holding the paper lantern in her hand.

  ‘I’m sorry he gasped in Japanese, throwing the sword down into the straw and rubbing his face with both hands. ‘I must have fallen asleep...’

  The Japanese girl’s alarmed expression relaxed, but she did not move from her position by the head of the ladder. She was barefoot and had brushed and dried her hair as best she could, leaving it flowing loose over her shoulders. She had wrapped about herself the kimono of midnight-blue silk splashed with silver stars, but it was drawn together only casually around her slender waist with a simple sash of braided cord. In the incongruous setting of the lamp lit barn, the soft fall of its silken lines against her limbs gave a new, dramatic emphasis to her femininity.

  ‘It was so quiet she said in a faltering voice, ‘I came to see if you had run away too...’

  ‘Don’t worry; Sentaro has only gone to pray in the temple.’ Eden shook his head to clear away the blurring effects of sleep. ‘I apologise - I should have realized you would be puzzled.’

  ‘I found some cold rice in my baskets,’ she said hesitantly after an awkward pause. ‘I’ve brought some for you to eat - if you are hungry’

  ‘Yes, thank you. I am very hungry.’

  She began to move tentatively towards him and he saw that she w
as carrying in her free hand a small wooden bowl bearing balls of cold rice wrapped peasant-style in palm leaves. As she drew nearer, he became aware for the first time that her kimono was the colour of the night heavens, and that it was emblazoned with hosts of gleaming stars. She put down the lantern and held out the rice bowl gracefully towards him, using both hands, but he ignored it and continued to gaze in amazement at the image of the starlit heavens embroidered and printed so vividly into the rich silk of the garment.

  ‘Is anything wrong?’ she asked disconcertedly, still holding out the rice to him. ‘Are you no longer hungry?’

  Eden shook his head in mystification. ‘I’m sorry.

  Last night I had a dream. . . We had just seen Mount Fuji for the first time, from the sea. It was an extraordinary sight. I went to sleep soon afterwards and dreamed I climbed alone to the top of the mountain. It was very vivid - not like a normal dream.’

  He broke off and peered over his shoulder towards the distant volcano. Wisps of mist were beginning to rise around the peak, giving it a blurred, ghostly appearance, and Eden continued to stare at it, lost in thought, until he felt the lightest touch of her fingers against his bare forearm.

  ‘What else happened in your dream?’ asked Tokiwa diffidently. ‘Will you please tell me...’

  ‘At the peak it became very strange,’ he said, turning back to look at her. ‘I reached up above the summit and began puffing down the stuff of the heavens - with all the stars in it. I wrapped the darkness and the stars around my body like a magic cloak. It felt soft and very comforting.. .‘ He broke off and touched the smooth silk of her kimono very lightly with his fingertips, all the time looking wonderingly into her face. ‘Then a great mirror of ice appeared, and I went to look at my cloak of stars. But when I peered into the mirror I found I couldn’t see my reflection . .

  His voice died away and for a long moment they stood facing each other in silence.

  ‘Did you see anything else in the mirror?’ asked Tokiwa at last. ‘Anything at all?’

  Eden nodded slowly. ‘Yes. In the mirror I saw a very beautiful girl of Nippon looking back at me. And she was wearing the cloak of the heavens.’ He hesitated, and again touched the silken kimono lightly at the shoulder. ‘Now, in sight of the real Mount Fuji, you appear suddenly to wake me - wearing the very stuff of my dream.’

  She gazed into his face in silence, the earlier expression of awe returning to her eyes. Neither moved nor spoke but they continued to look searchingly at each other while, beyond the open grain doors, fine tendrils of mist swirled more thickly about the distant volcano.

  ‘The girl in the mirror was beautiful,’ continued Eden, his voice failing to an emotional half-whisper. ‘But she was not as beautiful as you.’

  Lowering her eyes, Tokiwa moved away and set down the wooden rice bowl on a ledge. Then she returned to stand uncertainly in front of him.

  ‘Thank you for telling me of your dream,’ she said softly. ‘I too have something I would like to tell you about. It wasn’t a dream, but now it seems like one...’

  “1hat was it?’

  ‘Before I escaped from that samurai guard you fought, I was badly frightened. I could see Fuji-san from my room, so I prayed very hard to the kami of our sacred mountain to save me. . .‘ She hesitated, looking up directly into his blue eyes. ‘I promised that if my prayers were answered and the kami helped me, I would follow their wishes always in future.’

  ‘And do you think they have helped you?’

  Tokiwa nodded once. ‘Soon after I had prayed, I fell asleep. But I was awakened by a miraculous light in the sky, which shone very brightly into my room. I had never seen anything like it before. It made me more frightened at first. But all my guards had run out to stare at it - and I thought then it might be a sign from the kami, their way of helping me. So I decided to escape at once . .

  ‘I saw that same light in the sky!’ said Eden quickly. ‘It made me feel I shouldn’t hesitate any longer. As soon as it disappeared I slipped overboard from my ship to swim ashore.’

  Tokiwa’s eyes grew wide as she absorbed what he had said. ‘I think the kami helped you too: she said in an awed whisper. ‘And made it possible for you to help me

  ‘Perhaps,’ said Eden, smiling amusedly. ‘Perhaps it was your sacred kami who sent my dream. Who can tell?’

  She frowned, unsure whether he was laughing at her; then, lifting one hand, she drew her fingers slowly across his bare chest, lingering curiously amongst the fine whorls of curled hair. Taken by surprise, Eden caught his breath arid shivered at the delicacy of her touch.

  ‘You are very different to the men of Nippon: she said in a voice that trembled slightly. ‘Your eyes are the colour of the sea. . . And you are much taller...

  Your shoulders are broader too - yet you seem far gentler.’

  She fell silent as though reflecting for a final moment on her intended actions; then she untied the tasselled sash of braided cord securing the front of her kimono and laid it aside on the straw. Without any sign of self-consciousness, she opened the silken garment and removed it, holding it in one hand. She wore nothing underneath and, when she looked up at Eden, the expression in her eyes reflected a quiet pride in the natural beauty of her unadorned body.

  ‘You seemed like a vision when I first saw you under the waterfall,’ said Eden unsteadily, gazing down at her. ‘But now you look even lovelier than before - I’ve never seen anybody more beautiful in my life

  Tokiwa said nothing, but lifted the kimono with both hands and draped it gently about Eden’s shoulders.

  ‘Now your dream is complete,’ she whispered, still looking into his eyes. ‘Now you know what it feels like to wear your cloak of stars.’

  The kimono was tantalizingly soft against Eden’s shoulders, and he felt his senses stirred by the warmth of her body which he could detect on the silk. Very gently she drew the edges of the garment together and ran her hands lightly over its surface, touching the hard muscles of his chest and shoulders here and there through the silk.

  ‘I think Fuji-san has cast its spell over us she said softly, looking past him towards the moonlit mountain. ‘Only a short while ago I felt very frightened - of you and all the other foreign barbarians in the world. But now I no longer feel afraid.’

  Eden reached out and gently touched her hair. As she looked up into his face he let his hand slowly follow the fall of the long dark tresses, caressing in turn her shoulders, her upper arms and the gentle swell of her naked breasts. She closed her eyes as an involuntary shudder of pleasure rail through her, and Eden leaned down to brush his lips against each of her closed eyelids in turn. She remained motionless, her eyes shut and her head raised towards him, and after gazing at her for a moment longer, Eden removed the silken kimono from his shoulders. Bending quickly he spread it across the pile of rice straw at their feet.

  ‘Lie down with me,’ he whispered, taking her by the hand. ‘Here - where we can see the mountain.’

  He removed his wet cotton trousers and his pistol belt and, when he was naked too, he knelt and took her gently into his arms on the silk-covered straw. Looking towards the mountain, they moved closer, their breath quickening as their limbs touched and entwined.

  ‘There’s something else I want to tell you,’ said Eden suddenly, his voice taking on a haunted note. ‘Some years ago I had a wife.. . She was only sixteen. I loved her. . . One night during a storm there was a tragic accident in a forest just like this one. and she died in my arms.’

  His voice faded away and he stared out into the night in a tortured silence. Tokiwa waited, saying nothing. Suddenly Eden tightened his arms around her, his embrace fierce and tender in the same moment.

  ‘Since that night I have never been with any other woman. I’ve never wanted to. But now...’ He pulled away and looked hotly into her eyes, touching her hair again. With his fingertips he slowly traced the curve of her cheek; then he drew a quick breath, preparing to speak further.

  ‘Don’t
say anything more.’ Tokiwa whispered her admonition firmly, and placed the fingers of one hand against his lips. She felt herself tremble inwardly as she stared into his face, marvelling once more at his extraordinary blue eyes and his reddish brown hair. The closeness of his strong, muscular body was spreading a strange melting sensation through her limbs, and she was seized suddenly by a faint feeling of dizziness.

  ‘Are you frightened?’ asked Eden softly. ‘You’re shivering again

  ‘Yes, a little . .

  ‘What are you frightened of?’

  She touched his chest lightly with both hands then her eyes strayed downward. ‘You are so strong and so big... I’m so very small...’

  ‘You needn’t be afraid.’

  Moved to great tenderness by her fears, Eden bore her very gently backwards into the pile of straw and bent to kiss her on the mouth. In turn he pressed his lips against her cheeks, her slender neck, the dark tips of her breasts, her belly, her thighs, all the time murmuring quiet sounds of reassurance. When he took her in his arms again, her eyes were open very wide and she gazed unwaveringly at him as he shifted his body above her.

  Beyond the open grain-doors the mists around the peak of Mount Fuji had evaporated almost as quickly as they had arisen. The snow on the peak gleamed bright again in the moonlight, and the stars were etched with a triumphant sharpness on the deep blue of the night sky. Eden’s eyes were fixed on the mountain at the moment they cried aloud together with the pleasure of entering and receiving one another. The hush cloaking the forest beyond the abandoned barn swallowed up their muffled cries in an instant, but Eden moaned more loudly as his desire quickened and his starved senses exploded joyously into life.

  Her glowing, almond-shaped eyes, still wide open in wonder and never leaving his face, seemed to swim before him, merging into the flaring whiteness of Fuji’s distant summit whenever be raised his head. Her long black hair spreading across the rice straw beneath them also spun itself like dark silk around the shining cone of the volcano, drawing it into the voluptuousness of their lovemaking. Fired by the beauty of both these images, Eden s passion became swiftly incandescent: desire, dormant for so long, surged like boiling lava through his veins.