Tokyo Bay (9 page)

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continued to move closer. Seeing this, the Japanese official waved his fan more frantically, and repeated his order:
‘U
m
ike e kaere! Umike e kaere!’
At that instant Daizo Yakamochi, who was standing a few feet behind the vice-governor, straightened up fully for the first time since boarding the
Susquehanna.
He took two quick paces forward, his eyes fixed on the unprotected back of the American flag lieutenant, who was still staring out over the rail. His left hand groped into the opposite sleeve of his kimono and he was in the act of withdrawing it when Robert Eden clamped an arm silently around his neck from behind.
Thrusting his own left hand into the sleeve of the kimono, Eden encountered the fingers of the Japanese encircling the hilt of a short sword. Tightening his strangulating grip on Yakamochi’s throat, Eden wrenched hard with his other hand, and tore the sword free. It fell to the deck and, on looking round, Eden saw Prince Tanaka bend quickly to retrieve it. Tanaka’s face was flushed with anger but, to Eden’s surprise, it was focused entirely on the samurai still struggling helplessly in his grasp.
‘Baka me!
You fool!’ breathed Tanaka.
‘Baka na koto o shita suro na!
That was an act of great foolishness!’
Still staring f
u
riously at Yakamochi, Tanaka thrust the fallen sword safely into his sash beside his own weapons; then he raised his eyes to gaze wordlessly at Eden.
‘Hanto ni baka dana,’
said the American officer very quietly, pronouncing the recently learned Japanese words slowly and carefully. ‘It
w
as indeed very foolish!’
Glancing up quickly, Eden saw that all the other men around them had their backs turned. Oblivious to what had happened just a few feet away, they were watching intently as one of the
Susquehanna’s
cutters swung down towards the water below. The boat, carrying a dozen armed marines, also had a brass eight-inch howitzer mounted in its bows, and as soon as
it
settled on the water the oarsmen dipped their blades and brought the cannon to bear on its nearest target. This manoeuvre drove off the remaining guard-boats within seconds and a loud cheer rang out from the marines and gun crews lining the bulwarks above.
‘I release him into your trust,’ continued Eden quietly in Japanese, loosening his grip on Daizo Yakamochi and pushing him towards Tanaka. As he spoke, Eden unbuttoned his holster and eased the butt of his Colt pistol into view. ‘We have no wish to shed blood, but we’ll protect ourselves as necessary if we are attacked!’
For a second or two Tanaka stared uncertainly at Eden, as though taken aback by the American officer’s puzzling actions. Then he moved quickly to place himself in front of the glowering son of Lord Daizo. Glancing round to check that they were still unobserved, Eden moved a step closer to Tanaka.
‘You need say nothing of this! he said in an undertone. ‘Just make sure there’s no more foolishness!’
‘That action was not authorized,’ murmured Tanaka, still staring straight ahead. ‘It was an unfortunate act of impulse . .
The roar of the cutter’s howitzer exploding broke in on his words and new cries of outrage rose from the retreating guard
-
boats, ami
d
st renewed cheering from the
Susquehanna.
Stepping closer to the entry port, Eden looked out and saw that smoke was drifting lazily from the howitzer’s
m
uzzle,
but
there was no sign of any stricken Japanese boat on the flat waters of the bay, and he guessed that a warning shot had been fired across somebody’s bows. Most of the guard-boats were heading rapidly towards the shore, though a select fe
w
retreated a safe distance to keep a discreet watch on the American warships.
The faces of the vice-
governor
and Haniwara Tokuma had turned pale and after a whispered exchange, the interpreter motioned with his fan to show that they wished to descend the gang-ladder immediately.
‘It is appropriate for us to leave now,’ he said in Dutch, eyeing Rice and Armstrong uncomfortably. As he spoke he signalled towards the chief boatman below, indicating he should prepare to take them ashore at once. ‘The vice
-
governor wishes to inform you that an official of higher rank will come out for further discussions with you tomorrow morning. But for a full answer he says you must wait at least three days.’
They hurried away down the gang-ladder without waiting for any response, followed by their three samurai escorts. Eden watched warily as Yakamochi approached the entry port; but his dark, sharp- featured face was sullenly impassive, and he avoided Eden’s gaze as he climbed down into the waiting guard-boat.
Tanaka was the last to leave, and as he passed in front of Eden he paused for the briefest of moments.
‘Taihen on ni na
ru
,’
he said quietly, looking Eden directly in the eye.
‘Sumimasen!’
Because the words were uttered very softly for his ears only, Eden was not able immediately to construe a clear meaning from them. He mulled over in his mind what he thought he had heard, as he watched Tanaka descend into the waiting boat; but the samurai did not speak further or look back, and Eden had to content himself with trying to commit the words to memory.
As the boat pulled away, he heard Lieutenant Rice heave a deep sigh of relief. A warlike clamour still rose from the cliffs and beaches, and some guard
boats were still keeping watch from a respectful distance; but a broad expanse of empty water had been established around the warships, and only the movement of the envoy’s guard-boat pulling towards the shore now broke its mirror calm.
‘Do you think we’ve avoided a war,
Mr.
Armstrong?’ asked Rice. ‘It seemed a close run thing there at times.’
Samuel Armstrong nodded, then re-lit his pipe, puffing a cloud of fragrant tobacco smoke into the warm evening air. ‘I think we have, Lieutenant
-
at least for the moment.’
None of the Japanese occupants of the guard- boat raised their heads to look back at the watching Americans as they retreated from the flagship, except for the disguised Prince Tanaka. From time to time he stared towards the entry port where Robert Eden was standing and his demeanour suggested he was still trying to come to terms with all that had happened on board. As the departing boat grew smaller, Eden in his turn found he was constantly replaying in his mind the words the young samurai had uttered before disembarking. But they continued to defeat his attempts at translation, and he watched the tasselled boat fade into the evening, still puzzling over their meaning.

A
S
DUSK CLOSED
in around the modest village inn where she was being held under guard, Matsumura Tokiwa paced restlessly back and forth across her bare room. Dressed only in a light under-kimono of white gauze, she held her slender arms clenched agitatedly about her own waist and her beautiful face was pale and distraught.
The tramp of feet on the road through the village had lessened, but from time to ti
m
e she stopped pacing to listen to the closer night sounds of the two-storeyed inn, which was filled to capacity with anxious travellers. In the next room a male voice was chanting a Buddhist prayer in a high, desperate
sounding monotone; from not far away she recognized the jangle of an inexpertly plucked
samisen;
more distantly cymbals clashed and drums were being beaten over snatches of discordant song, and a story-teller’s voice sometimes raised itself excitedly above the clamour. Every so often running feet pounded along the corridor beyond her
shoji,
startling her, and she could hear shrieks and splashing sounds coming from an unseen bathhouse.
When she paused to peer out through the spyhole she had torn in the rice-paper- screen overlooking the courtyard, she saw the last rays of the setting sun suffusing the pale peak of Mount Fuji with a soft halo of pink light. The sky beyond was already a deep, dark blue, and as always
the
mood of the sacred mountain seemed to be subtly changing with the advancing hours. In the twilight she imagined that, from the dizzying heights of the summit, its mysterious
kami
were silently watching and waiting for events in the regions below to clarify themselves.
Despite the deepening gloo
m
around the inn, her eyes confirmed what her ears had already told her
-
that the flow of men and animals along the winding tracks had become less frantic in both directions. Civilians were more evident among the dwindling crowds, and she watched a group of horses, richly caparisoned in scarlet cloth and fringed leather, pass the gates of the courtyard, travelling westward, escorted by livened riders and footservants. From the flanks of the horses large open panniers were suspended, and inside the baskets a number of aristocratic children were visible; un
d
er the light of the paper lanterns suspended from the gates of the inn, their tiny innocent faces peered ever the basket rims, looking strangely composed, and Tokiwa found herself envying the evident comfort and security which surrounded them as they travelled.
As she watched them jog on confidently into the darkness a vague, unconscious desire that had been growing gradually inside her for an hour or two suddenly became a firm decision: she was not prepared to remain a helpless captive at the inn against her will! Perhaps she
was
in danger from enemies of Prince Tanaka
-
but how could she be certain? And how could she be sure that the inn itself was a safe haven? In this confused and bewildering situation she knew instinctively that she was in some danger from Gotaro, the chief guard. So many people were on the move, so many were afraid and at a loss; amidst so much turmoil and frenzied excitement she could not bear to remain isolated at the inn, cut off from all contact with what was happening beyond its walls. She felt confident suddenly that she could protect herself more effectively if she understood better what was happening: she would rather, she decided finally, accept whatever risks were involved and try to escape. If the sacred
ka
m
i
of Mount Fuji were truly waiting and watching to see how events would clarify themselves below, she would show them that she at least could act decisively!
The long balcony outside her r
o
om, she could see, was already in deep shadow
.
At
its far corner there was a fixed ladder leading down into the yard. A guard was posted below, but she calculated that if he dozed off she might be able to get out onto the shadowy balcony unseen and slip a
w
ay
-
especially if she could find some disguise. In that moment she wanted more than anything to follow the example of those livened aristocrats’ horses, and disappear quietly into the unknown darkness. Whether she would return to Yedo and the Yoshiwara or travel off in another direction to begin a new life, she did not yet know.
But the very thought that she might somehow be able to begin a new life filled her heart with an unfamiliar feeling of excitement. Of one thing she was quite certain
-
an irresistible urge was moving her to do what she had yearne1 for more and more since becoming a geisha: to rebel in some way against the suffocating tradition of unquestioning female obedience under which she had been raised, and which had subsequently pervaded every moment of her life . . . Perhaps, she reflected, she had inherited more of her samurai father’s impetuosity and restlessness than was expected in a compliant elder daughter. . Perhaps it was impossible in reality to
fulfill
such wild, unspoken desires; but, amid the panic and upheaval that had so suddenly affected everybody in the land, she sensed that seemingly impossible things might now become attainable.
The sound of the corridor
shoji
being slid apart behind her interrupted these thoughts, and she turned to see the peasant maidservant entering. She was carrying a
zen,
a small table with short legs, which bore a bowl of rice, some eggs, a flask of tea and a copper basin of water. The girl closed the screen carefully behind her and bowed her head once towards Tokiwa before advancing to place the table on the tatami in the middle of
the
room.
‘Here is some food,
O
Tokiwa-san she intoned quietly. ‘The guards require you to eat now. You’ve had nothing since morning:
Before replying, Tokiwa hurried over to the little red lacquered box wrapped in oilskin in which she had carried her money from Yedo. She took out five silver
ich
i
bus,
concealed them in one hand inside the sleeve of her kimono, and motioned the maid towards the side of the room furthest from the corridor. Pressing an index finger against her own lips, she cautioned her to speak softly.
‘What is your name?’ Tokiwa whispered.
‘My name is Eiko replied the maid in an anxious undertone. ‘Why are we behaving like this?’
‘I need your help, Eiko,’ whispered Tokiwa urgently, puffing her hand from her sleeve and opening it to reveal the five
ichibus
nestling in her palm. ‘This can be yours if you wi
ll
help me escape from here.’
The peasant girl’s eyes grew wide in alarm as she gazed down at more money than she had ever seen in her young life. Then she peered fearfully round the room, checking that all the paper screens remained closed, and that they could not be overheard.
‘I am, . . afraid, Tokiwa-san’ she stammered, torn between an evident desire to take the money and her fear of the guards. ‘They may kill me if I help you.’
‘They need never know breathed Tokiwa. ‘Don’t be afraid. After I’ve gone, say you know nothing about it.’
‘But they won’t believe me, Tokiwa-san,’ replied the maid in an agitated whisper.
‘There’s no need for them to suspect anything, if you stay calm,’ said Tokiwa soothingly. ‘Now, listen to me. With some of this money I want you to obtain a horse and some peasant clothes.’
“What sort of clothes?’ whispered the maid, her expression still indecisive.
Tokiwa smiled encouragingly. ‘First a broad hat of plaited bamboo. Then a blue scarf for my head, some loose blue trousers, some wooden clogs
-
and a working shirt.’
Eiko looked at the money, rubbing her own cheek distractedly with one hand, and started to shake her head.
‘I will give you ten
ichibus
whispered Tokiwa imploringly, adding more silver coins from the red lacquered box. ‘Now will you please try to help me?’
She fixed her gaze on the peasant girl, who she estimated was no more than seventeen or eighteen years old. Her dark eyes were downcast, avoiding Tokiwa’s searching scrutiny, and she continued to rub her cheek indecisively. With a feeling of panic Tokiwa realized that the maid could simply take the money and flee into the darkness, never to return
-
or just as easily report everything to the guards, hand over some of the coins as proof and keep the rest for herself. But as she waited for a reply she realized there was no alternative to trusting her, and again she held out the money.
‘If you bring me the clothes hidden under your own, Eiko, I will be able to put them on here and steal down into the courtyard after dark,’ she said beseechingly. ‘Even if a guard sees me then, he won’t recognize me as a geisha from the Yoshiwara.. . But I can’t do
it
without your help!’
The maid’s eyes shone with fearful excitement as she listened, and she nodded once, indicating that she understood. ‘It will be very dangerous, Tokiwa-san. When do you want the clothes?’
‘As soon as possible
-
tonight if you are able.’
‘Wouldn’t
it
be better to wait until tomorrow evening? I could bring some clothes when I come in from my home in the morning.’
‘Do your best,’ urged Tokiwa. ‘But come as soon as you can. I will be waiting.’
‘What sort of horse do you want?’
‘An old, slow one
-
and make sure
it
is equipped with big straw panniers. Fill one of the baskets with rice, so that I can pass for a peasant travelling to market.’
‘And what shall I do with the horse?’
‘Tie it to the first tree you come to west of the inn.’ Tokiwa paused to pluck two ribbons of fine blue silk from her toilet box, and banded them to the maid. ‘Tie one of these to its mane
-
then I will be sure that the horse is mine. The other is a gift for yourself Wear it in your hair when you wish to look your prettiest:
‘Thank you,
O
Tokiwa-san.’ Eiko accepted the ribbons with a hesitant smile. Her simple face was still shadowed by doubt but, after running the glossy silk back and forth between her fingers, she reached out suddenly to pick up the ten silver coins and tucked them into the folds of her homespun kimono. ‘I will try to do all the things you ask.’
The maid hurried out into the corridor, closing the screens quietly behind her. Left standing alone in the middle of the room, Tokiwa found that she was trembling as she listened fearfully for the approaching feet of the chief guard. If the maid reported to him all that had passed between them, he would come thundering
into
, the room at once to confront her. Where that might lead, she could not begin to guess. She suddenly- regretted her rashness, but realized it was far too late to have regrets.
For two or three minutes Tokiwa remained standing in the middle of the room, contemplating the boldness of her action with some astonishment; then, still trembling slightly, she began pacing back and forth across the soft tatami once more.