by Anthony Grey
‘Why didn’t you stay with them at the inn?’
‘I became frightened of my guards. The man you fought at the waterfall was their chief. I didn’t know what they intended to do with me if Prince Tanaka should be killed or not return. So I bribed a peasant maid to bring me clothes and find me a horse.’
‘You are brave,’ whispered Eden, ‘as well as very beautiful.’
Tokiwa looked gravely at him. ‘My father was a samurai. Many like him were made destitute after the clan wars ended. He became a merchant - but sadly he was too fond of gambling.’
‘What happened?’ prompted Eden gently.
‘He lost everything he owned in just one night in the pleasure district of Yedo. To save him from ruin, I agreed to be sold to a geisha house there. The daughters of samurai, as well as their sons, are brought up to face life without flinching.’
Eden took both her hands in. his, and held them against his lips. Looking again into her dark, upswept eyes, he felt a new rush of desire stir deep inside him. The dark silk, dusted with stars, seemed to enhance the allure of her now half-naked body, and he bent his head to kiss her fiercely on the mouth. When they drew apart again, both were breathing unevenly.
‘Fate is strange,’ whispered Tokiwa. ‘We both saw the fantastic light in the sky - and we both became fugitives in peasant clothes on the same night.’
‘Yes, it is very curious,’ said Eden huskily.
‘I made a silent promise when I prayed at the yadoya,’ continued Tokiwa. ‘I promised I’d give my love to any man the kami deemed worthy, if my prayers were answered.’ She hesitated, looking over his shoulder once more towards Mount Fuji. ‘That’s why I unfastened my sash so readily for you. . . and gave you my kimono of stars to wear. It seemed as though the kami wished it.’ She turned away from the mountain and searched his face. ‘Do you believe it was fate that caused our paths to cross?’
Eden did not answer at once. ‘Since that terrible night in the forest I haven’t believed in anything,’ he murmured at last. ‘Often during that time I haven’t cared whether I lived or died. . But I don’t feel like that anymore.’
The words faded in his throat and he moved against her suddenly, glorying once more in the sensation of her warm nakedness pressed along the length of his body. With a sigh, Tokiwa wound herself more tightly against him, and he was bending his head to kiss her again when a sudden rush of feet on the loft ladder broke the silence inside the barn. Moonlight falling through the broken roof flashed on Gotaro’s drawn sword as he leapt from the top of the ladder with a loud cry; in the same instant Eden rolled desperately sideways, to snatch up his own sword and scramble to his feet.
Tokiwa screamed loudly as the samurai’s first blow, delivered with great speed and force, was only half parried by Eden’s hastily raised blade. The cutlass flew from his hand and Eden staggered backwards off-balance, until he fell to his knees beside the open grain-doors. The samurai bore in on him, lifting his sword high for another disabling strike and Tokiwa screamed a second time as she shrank back against the wooden wall in terror.
‘Tomemas!. . Stop!’
The commanding voice of Prince Tanaka rose above the geisha’s scream as he forced Sentaro up the ladder and clambered swiftly into the loft behind him. Gotaro froze, with his sword arm raised high, then took two steps backwards to pick up Eden’s fallen blade. When he had tucked it safely in his sash, he dropped into a half-crouch, glowering at the kneeling American.
‘Watch him carefully!’
The guard flourished his sword threateningly, while Tanaka moved to the lantern and took it down from its hook. Lifting his arm he let its glow fall on Tokiwa, who was still backed up against the wall, watching him with apprehensive eyes. For a long moment he looked at her in silence, then stepped closer.
‘Why are you here alone with the barbarian spy?’ he asked in a voice which quivered with anger. ‘How did you come together?’
‘I was bathing at a waterfall after my long dusty journey, O Kami-san,’ replied Tokiwa in little more than a whisper. ‘I had not seen him. But he caught sight of Gotaro running to seize me. He rushed out of the trees and came to my aid, without any request on my part.’
‘That doesn’t explain what made you come to this place with him,’ snapped Tanaka. ‘Why are you here alone with an enemy of your country?’
‘Many horsemen were approaching from all directions, O Kami-san...’ began Tokiwa, but Eden’s voice cut across her suddenly.
‘I brought her here by force. She had no choice! I snatched her up on my horse!’
Tanaka’s eyes glittered with controlled fury in his otherwise impassive face, but he did not turn to look at Eden. ‘And did the barbarian spy force you to lie in the straw with him?’
Tokiwa dropped her gaze under the ferocity of his scrutiny, but said nothing. For another long moment the horses shifting in the straw below the loft provided the only sound in the silent barn.
‘I kept her here against her will,’ said Eden sharply. ‘It was my wish to talk with her!’
‘Is what he says true?’ demanded Tanaka.
Tokiwa hesitated, then nodded. ‘Yes, but the foreign barbarian told me that he did not come ashore as a spy. Perhaps you misjudge him.’
‘By coming ashore in the dark without per- mission, he is committing the crimes of a spy, whatever his intentions!’
‘He says he landed secretly because he wants to prevent a war. .
Tanaka’s eyes narrowed in thought, and he turned round slowly in Eden’s direction. But before he could speak he was interrupted by a shout from Sentaro.
‘I was taken by surprise in the temple, master!’ called the castaway desperately in English. ‘I was forced on pain of death to tell them everything and show them the way here. This is Prince Tanaka of the greatly esteemed Kago clan!’
‘Shut up!’ yelled the samurai guard, swinging round to glare furiously at him. ‘Or you will be silenced permanently!’
Sentaro bowed his head by way of apology and shrank back shamefacedly into the shadows by the ladder, avoiding Eden’s gaze.
‘Say nothing more, Sentaro,’ advised Eden quietly in English, rising slowly to his feet. ‘Don’t endanger yourself in any way
‘Silence! And stay where you are!’ Tanaka barked out his order and strode across the loft, holding up the lantern as he approached so that Eden’s face was fully illuminated. Tanaka’s eyes opened wide in surprise as recognition dawned, and in the same instant Eden also realized he was looking at the senior escort to the Vice-Governor of Uraga, whom he had encountered only hours before aboard the Susquehanna.
‘You are the barbarian officer ‘who disarmed our rash swordsman on board the black ship!’ exclaimed Tanaka. ‘We have met before.’
‘Yes, O Kami-san,’ replied Eden in formal Japanese. ‘You remember correctly’
Tanaka’s narrow eyes again registered surprise. ‘And you seem to know our language well!’
‘I’ve been able to learn some Nipponese said Eden evenly.. ‘Sentaro here has been a good teacher.’
Tanaka’s face remained a blank mask as he continued to scrutinize Eden by the light of the lamp. Staring back at him, Eden noticed how still the Japanese stood, never moving a muscle. Only his burning eyes hinted that he was struggling to subdue a turmoil of conflicting emotions.
‘You’ve dared to land secretly among us at night, while your black ships threaten us with war,’ he said in a controlled voice. ‘Those are the actions of a spy
- and spying against Nippon is a crime instantly punishable by death!’
‘Let me finish him now, O Kami-san,’ cried Gotaro, stepping forward impulsively, sword in hand. ‘He deserves to die!’
‘Wait! Not yet!’
Tanaka motioned the guard back with a dismissive gesture. He had not taken his eyes from Eden’s face, and he moved a step nearer to him, dropping a precautionary hand onto the hilt of his own sword.
‘If you had been hunted down by others you w
ould no longer be alive,’ he continued in the same icy tone. ‘When news of your capture spreads there will be demands for your immediate execution.’
Eden returned the gaze of the Japanese steadily, but said nothing. From the corner of his eye he had just caught sight of the gun belt which he had removed earlier, when stretching out in the straw. The belt and the holster containing his Colt pistol lay partly concealed by straw on the floorboards of the loft only six feet away, at the edge of the circle of light cast by the lantern. Knowing that a direct glance might draw attention to the weapon, he kept his eyes averted while calculating whether he could lunge to grab it before the hovering samurai guard struck him down.
‘You claim you’re not a spy,’ continued Tanaka stonily. ‘You say you came ashore to seek some way of avoiding war. But a spy always lies. Why should we believe you?’
‘Because I tell the truth, O Kami-san,’ said Eden simply. ‘I risked landing against the orders of my superior officers. It’s obvious we know too little about Nippon and its people. And to act out of ignorance is always dangerous.’
‘Did you expect to return to your ship undetected?’
‘Yes.’
Tanaka smiled coldly. ‘Then your first mistake was to underestimate the people of Nippon.’
‘Perhaps - but am I alone in making such a mistake?’
Tanaka frowned in puzzlement. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Didn’t you underestimate the people you call “foreign barbarians” - when you came aboard our ship yesterday?’
‘In what way?’
‘You seemed more than a little surprised, O Kami-san, when your hot-headed guard was quietly disarmed - and nothing further was said.’
Tanaka acknowledged Eden’s point with a slight inclination of his head, but offered no comment.
‘And weren’t you practising a little deception yourself, by posing as an ordinary samurai? Nobody informed us we were receiving a nobleman of the Kago clan.’
‘I came aboard incognito to ensure no foolish action was taken,’ said Tanaka fiercely. ‘My intentions were honourable!’
‘Then that should help you understand that my intentions are honourable too,’ replied Eden evenly.
For several moments Tanaka remained silent, his face set in thoughtful lines. Then he took a pace nearer to Eden. ‘Do you think you discovered anything of value here before you were captured?’
‘What I’ve seen confirms the feelings I already had before I left my ship,’ said Eden slowly. ‘Nothing more.’
‘And what were those feelings?’
‘That it will be a great tragedy for both our countries if fighting breaks out. There could be a terrible loss of life on both sides. And nobody will benefit.’
Tanaka considered the answer in silence, then turned on his heel and walked a few paces towards the ladder leading down from the loft. Eden watched tensely as his sandalled feet passed within a few inches of the half-hidden pistol, but when Tanaka paused by the ladder and swung round again, he gave no sign that he had noticed the weapon.
‘Is this the message that you would carry back to your superior officers?’
‘Yes.’
Tanaka glanced round at Tokiwa and Sentaro who were watching him uneasily from beyond the circle of light cast by the lantern; but although his gaze briefly fastened on each of them in turn, he did not seem to see them. As he paced slowly back across the loft, the harsh lines in his face softened, and when he stopped in front of Eden again a new curiosity was visible in his expression.
‘What is your name?’ he demanded quietly.
‘Eden. . . Robert Eden. And I am a lieutenant in the United States Navy.’
Tanaka nodded several times in silence, as though committing the name carefully to memory then he spoke in a lowered voice.
‘You’re not like your fellow barbarians, Eden-san. You stopped one of our escorts from committing an act of great folly aboard your black ships - and you helped us to conceal it. You’re a trained fighting officer, yet you say you want to prevent a war. You’ve also learned our language. Why are you doing all these things?’
Faced suddenly with a demand to define his motives, Eden hesitated. He had been taking one last mental measurement of the distance between himself and the pistol; he knew that the six-shot weapon was fully loaded, and he decided that there was a slender chance of seizing it if he could distract the attention of his adversaries sufficiently before he threw himself on it. In that moment he made up his mind to create a distraction at the first opportunity, and the decision helped him focus his thoughts more clearly.
‘I suppose I’m two men in one skin, O Kami-san: he said slowly. ‘That’s one possible reasons
Tanaka’s brow furrowed in a puzzled frown. ‘I do not understand you.’
Eden shifted his position slightly, looking first at Tanaka then at Gotaro; as he did so he moved a foot or two nearer to the gun belt concealed beneath the straw
‘A brave and ancient people lived peacefully in America before new settlers began to sail there from the countries of Europe over two hundred years ago,’ he said quietly. ‘They were called “Red Indians”. These new settlers fought them for their land, and conquered them because they had far better weapons. My great-grandfather, who was one of the settlers, was kidnapped by Indians in a raid when he was still a small boy. He grew up with that Indian tribe and because he was a brave fighter he became their chieftain. Later he led the tribe in many raids on the settlers. He married an Indian girl and had three sons. . .‘ Eden paused, looking at Gotaro and Tanaka in turn ‘Do you understand now?’
The guard scowled, saying nothing, but Tanaka shook his head quickly to indicate that he required further explanation.
‘The Indians fought courageously for a long time in many hopeless battles,’ continued Eden after a pause. ‘Only one of those three sons - my grandfather - survived. In the end he returned to live among the Europeans. So you see I have the blood of those Indian people running in my veins as well as the blood of the settlers from Europe...’
‘And where does your loyalty lie now?’ demanded Tanaka. ‘With which side?’
‘I’ve already told you I am two men under one skin: said Eden uneasily. ‘I was raised a European Christian - but I love my Indian ancestors too. And I’ve always hated the injustice they suffered at the hands of those strangers who came from far across the sea to conquer their land and rob them of all they possessed.’
‘Just as today you have come across another sea to lands where you are a stranger,’ said Tanaka fiercely. ‘In a different attempt to conquer and steal and rob!’
Eden looked at the Japanese in silence. Then he shifted uncomfortably again on his feet, but in a way that moved him imperceptibly closer to the pistol.
‘What you say about our expedition unfortunately has truth in it. But you already know I feel its aims are unjust. .
‘If you were opposed to the expedition, why did you come to Nippon at all?’ demanded Tanaka, frowning suspiciously. ‘Why didn’t you stay away?’
‘While learning your language with Sentaro, I discovered that the people of Nippon and the ancient Indian peoples of America shared many things in common. Some words are very similar in both languages. . . the faces of the people, too, are often alike. I found that both our peoples worship the sun and the unseen spirits of nature. And, like you, my ancestors revered certain mountains and rivers as sacred. .
Eden paused again to make one last check on the position of the Colt, before turning his head to look out through the open grain-doors. He stared towards the distant volcano, deliberately remaining silent, while he gathered himself for the physical effort to come.
‘My Indian ancestors would have understood very well your great reverence for Fuji-san and the spirits of your fields and forests. Also Indian warriors rode and fought with spears and bows and arrows, as your warriors still do. Sometimes they dressed in war masks and horned helmets very like yours. And when they went into battle they s
houted war cries to bewilder their enemies just as you do . .
Without warning, Eden let out an ear-splitting scream and flung himself full-length into the straw. In a single movement he tugged the pistol from its holster, took fleeting aim at the lantern in Tanaka’s hand, and fired. The roar of the firearm was deafening inside the loft, and Tanaka shouted in alarm as the lantern flew from his hand and went out.
‘Sentaro! Get down the ladder and unhitch the horses!’
Eden yelled his order to the castaway in English as he lurched to his feet and began to back away towards the ladder. He was holding the pistol at arm’s length, pointing it towards Tanaka and Gotaro, who were just beginning to move cautiously towards him.
‘Don’t come any nearer!’
Eden fired another deafening shot into the roof close above their heads as he shouted his warning in Japanese and Tanaka and the samurai stopped uncertainly in their tracks.
‘Hurry, Sentaro!’ shouted Eden, glancing over his shoulder to find the castaway hesitating fearfully at the top of the ladder. ‘Go quickly or we’re lost!’
A piercing scream rang out and Eden turned again to see Tokiwa struggling in the grip of the guard, who had clamped an arm around her throat from behind. He was shielding himself from the gun with her body, and Tokiwa was staring fearfully at the sword he brandished in front of her.
‘If you fire again, she will die,’ roared Gotaro. ‘Surrender the weapon at once.’
Another scream from Tokiwa was stifled as the guard tightened his grip around her throat and brought his blade ominously close to her face. Eden hesitated, then glanced towards Tanaka to find he too was withdrawing his sword from his sash.
‘Throw away the gun, as he orders!’ commanded Tanaka.
‘Don’t delay - if you want to save Tokiwa-san, master,’ urged Sentaro in a desperate whisper from the top of the ladder. ‘They will kill her without doubt.’
Eden looked again towards Tokiwa; she had ceased to struggle but her eyes were dilating with fear as she waited for his reaction. In the filtered moonlight her face seemed deathly pale.
‘Let her go now,’ said Eden in a dull tone, tossing the pistol to the boards at Tanaka’s feet. ‘Don’t harm her.’
