by India Millar
“So your companions have said,” I replied neutrally.
He nodded seriously. It was like watching a wave break on the beach. “Yes. You need to be careful of them. Big and Bigger are not good enemies to have.”
I coughed to hide a giggle. The guards were really called Big and Bigger? They were tall, certainly, but next to Abi, they were insignificant.
“I have never heard their names before; it amused me,” I explained. “Why do they have such silly names? They sound like characters out of a kabuki play.”
“If you were one of Hana’s geisha, you would know how they came by their names. They are Hana-san’s enforcers. If any of the patrons get out of order, they sort them out. If any of the geisha cross Hana in any way, she sets them onto them. It never happens twice. I have seen them in the bath, Hotaru-san. I am a big man, for sure, but their trees of flesh make mine look like a wilted twig. I have heard it said that no woman could take either of them into her body without screaming with pain. I believe that.”
I recalled the way the elder of the two had looked at me and I shuddered.
“Thank you for telling me, Abi-san,” I said politely. “I will take great care not to annoy either of them.”
By now, I was intensely curious. It was kind of Abi to come and warn me about the guards, but surely that was not enough to tempt him into my prison cell. He was nervous, glancing around constantly.
“Hana-san is not here,” he said finally. “She has gone to negotiate an event that many of the geisha from the Green Teahouse are to attend. Her boys have gone to the kabuki, leaving me to guard you.” I raised my eyebrows in amazement. I would never have thought of my guards as “boys,” although I thought that next to Abi any man would appear diminished. He paused, and I nodded encouragingly. His nervousness was contagious; I had to resist the temptation to fidget.
“I see. So why have you come to talk with me, Abi-san? I think Hana would not be pleased to find you here.”
“She would not.” He nodded gravely and then took a deep breath that parted the front of his robe. “One has spoken to me.”
He fell silent again. I watched his anxious face and chose my words with care.
“And what has this person said to you, Abi?”
“He has told me that Hana-san will never release Machi to me. He says that I’m too valuable for her ever to lose her power over me. Do you think that’s so?”
“Yes,” I said simply. “Who has spoken to you, Abi?”
“I don’t know his name. He came to me a few days ago and told me he was your friend. That he wanted to release you, to take you away from here. When I told him that I couldn’t talk to him, that I wanted to know nothing about any plans he had, he told me about Machi. Explained to me that we would never be together. I didn’t want to believe him, but if even a stranger like you can see it, I think it must be so.”
Yo. It had to be Yo. He had found me, then. My spirits soared.
“Thank you for telling me this, Abi. You have made me very happy. Will you see this man again?”
“Oh, yes. He told me I was to speak to you and he would come to me again tonight to hear your answer. What shall I tell him you said?”
“Tell him…” How could I possibly explain to this stranger? I gave in and simply said what was in my heart. “Please, Abi. Tell him…” I spoke in a rush. “Tell him I love him. But tell him as well that Hana has the power to destroy my family if she wants to. That I can’t see any way I can escape without her taking her revenge on me. Tell him that. He’ll understand.”
“He said you would say that. He said that I was to tell you that Hana is lying to you.” He paused, his massive brow wrinkling in thought. “He said that I had to tell you that Emiko married Soji-san last month. Soji-san knows everything and has forgiven her. Does that make sense to you, Hotaru-san?” I licked my lips and nodded. Words were fighting to get past my lips, but only a foolish bleating sound came from my mouth. “He said that if I helped you escape, he would take Machi from the Green Teahouse and make sure we both got away from Edo. He said that sumo wrestlers were much in demand in Kyoto and that he would have a patron waiting there for me. Is he telling the truth, Hotaru-san? Can he do it?”
“His name is Yo,” I whispered. “He is shinobi. He will keep his word to you, Abi. I promise you.”
The great man’s face cleared like a child whose thoughts flit with every heartbeat.
“Then I will help you, Hotaru-san. But not just yet. I will see your shinobi tonight and tell him I have spoken to you. When I hear his plan and am sure Hana will never suspect I was involved, then I will help you leave this place. It has to be done quickly. I heard Hana saying that the final bids for you will be opened soon. She’s arranged a ceremony where the three men who are still bidding will be present. She’s delighted about it. She’s gloating about them knowing they’re competing against each other for you.”
“We have a little time, then.” I sighed with relief.
Abi shook his great head and frowned. “No. You don’t understand. You don’t have much time at all. The surgeon is going to attend to you tomorrow. Hana wants to be sure that your surgery is healed before you go to your danna.”
Twenty-Seven
There is sorrow in
Parting. But far greater joy
In reunion
I had expected the surgeon to be an old man. He was not. Barely middle-aged, I thought, but crouched about the shoulders, no doubt from spending so much time bent over his patients. He put two furoshiki—the traditional large, silk squares used to bundle anything and everything—on the tatami and unwrapped the knot of one of them with a practiced flick. I stared at the array of needles and odd-looking implements it contained in horrified fascination. Behind the surgeon, Big and Bigger exchanged a glance, and I saw the flicker of excitement in their expressions.
“I think that’s all in order,” the surgeon said crisply. His voice was rather low-pitched and extremely reassuring. If I had been facing any routine surgery, I would have found it comforting. “Now, gentlemen. I need only one more thing. A large pot of freshly boiled water, if you please.”
“What? What do you want that for? Hana said we were to keep an eye on you. She never mentioned bringing you water.” Bigger frowned, his beautifully plucked brows arching suspiciously. The surgeon raised his head and stared at Bigger until he dropped his gaze resentfully.
“I can’t help that, young man. Hana-san has told me that it is vital that this operation is carried out successfully. I have no wish to disappoint her.”
Big grinned, nudging Bigger gleefully in the ribs. But Bigger was not to be distracted.
“What do you want water for? She’s clean enough, isn’t she?” he said.
The surgeon sighed. He stabbed his finger in the air fiercely, as if he was addressing a room full of students rather than the two feared enforcers.
“Young man, I have been a successful surgeon for many years. And I have been successful because I take great care to adhere to the teachings of Buddha. The Lord Buddha teaches us that all life is sacred, from the largest to the very smallest. You are surely aware that of the five precepts of the Buddha’s teaching. By far the most important is the first precept—one must commit to never killing a living being.” I could see my guards’ eyes beginning to glaze with boredom. But the surgeon had not finished with them yet. “As a surgeon, it is perhaps even more important to me than others. I do not know why it is so, but over the years I have seen many patients die, not from the pain of their operation, but because the wound was infected for some reason and poisoned their whole body. Many surgeons say that the open wound has enticed an evil spirit to feast on it and their breath has contaminated the patient. I do not know the truth of it. But I do know that before I operate, if I take care to wash the patient in water as hot as they can stand and steep my instruments and thread in boiling water before I use it, then I do not cause Buddha grief by inadvertently killing my patient. Or at least, not often.”
Bigger rolled his eyes and sighed theatrically.
The surgeon shrugged. “Very well. I will operate without my cauldron of hot water. But be sure, I will explain to Hanna-san that you refused my wishes. If the girl dies, I will not have her death on my conscience.”
The boys glanced at each other. Eventually, Bigger shuffled his feet and grimaced.
“You’ll have to wait,” he said sulkily. “If you really want the biggest pot the kitchen can provide, it’s going to take a while to heat it up. It’ll take both of us to carry it. You don’t want to be taken in by her innocent face. If we leave you alone with her, she’s likely to go for you.”
“Really?” The surgeon pursed his lips. “Well, given that I’m about to cause her a great deal of pain, I can’t say I would blame the poor girl. But I have a solution for that.” He took a small vial from the furoshiki and shook it vigorously. The contents stirred slowly, as if they resented being disturbed. “Would one of you big, strong gentlemen hold her down for me? In my experience, it’s always the smallest dogs that want to bite. This will have her asleep before you can both leave the room.”
Big moved toward me quickly. I managed to land a good, hard kick on his shin before his arms were around me. He kneeled on my legs, leaning away from me so I couldn’t reach him to bite.
“Quickly, man,” he instructed the surgeon. “She’s a wild cat, and no mistake.”
The surgeon held my nose and poured the pearlescent liquid down my throat. I held it there for as long as I could, but when he put his palm firmly over my mouth, I was forced to swallow it so I could take a breath. It tasted delicious, like melon. A heartbeat later, I slumped to the tatami gracelessly.
“By the gods, but that was quick! How long will it last for?” Big demanded.
“Long enough for you to obtain my boiling water for me. If the girl is fortunate, it may keep her asleep until after I have stitched her up. On your way, gentlemen. The sooner I get my boiling water, the sooner I can restore this one’s maidenhood to her. I can’t believe she’ll wake up before you two get back. But even if she does, if she’s trouble, I can always shout for help from the honorable sumo wrestler you’ve left in the corridor. I doubt any woman ever born would cause him a problem.” The men shuffled out. The slap of their zori died away before the surgeon spoke again. “Unless, of course, her name happens to be Machi. Come on, Keiko. We must move fast.”
I tried to get up so quickly, my feet tangled in my robe and I sprawled on the floor again. Abi had pattered in on silent feet and scooped me up and stood me on my feet with as much care as if I was precious to him. I stared at the surgeon and wondered why his figure seemed to be misty. The potion he had given to me, perhaps?
“It was nothing more than melon juice.” He wiped the tears from my eyes very gently with the back of his first finger. “Do you really think I would risk hurting you?” We stole a moment to stare at each other, and then Yo was brisk again. “Come on. We must be quick. Here, Abi. Drink this.” He handed a large flask to Abi. The sumo wrestler took it and downed the contents at a gulp. “Keiko. Put these on.”
He was untying the second furoshiki as he spoke, handing a threadbare robe and a pair of peasants’ straw waraji sandals to me along with a deep straw hat. I tossed off my silken kimono and wrapped the cotton robe and greasy obi around me quickly, tugging the straw hat well down over my face. By the time I had changed my clothes, Yo had exchanged his sober surgeon’s robe for a merchant’s well-cut kimono and a silk obi. He straightened and I understood at once that it was less the clothes that had changed him as his bearing and expression. He was smiling and looked at least fifteen years younger than the serious man who had prepared to operate on me.
“Just one more thing.” He reached back into the furoshiki and pulled out a strip of dirty cotton. “Bind your eyes with this when we get outside and then take my staff. Once we leave here, you are an anma.”
“Abi!” The big man slumped to the floor before I could speak, his eyes glazed and unseeing. “Is he all right?”
“He will be.” Yo took my arm and tugged me to the screen door. “I’ve given him an immensely powerful sleeping draught. He won’t wake up until tomorrow morning. When he does wake up, he’ll tell Hana that the honorable surgeon told him he looked a little yellow around the eyes and kindly gave him some medicine to drink. A moment later, and he knew nothing. He’ll wait for a while until Hana forgets to be suspicious. On a certain day, Machi will go out shopping. Her maid will be grabbed by a couple of thugs and Machi will disappear into thin air. Abi, of course, will be beside himself with grief. He will search the whole of the Floating World for her, but he’ll find no trace. Eventually, he’ll be so heartbroken that he’ll tell Hana he’s going to leave the Floating World. That’s the last anybody in Edo will hear of either of them, but in due course, Kyoto will discover it has acquired a very talented sumo wrestler who has moved there with his wife.”
Yo spoke very softly, pulling me down the corridor as he spoke. He had chosen his time well, early afternoon, when even the servants were allowed to take a rest before the surge of customers later in the day. We stopped dead as a bedroom door opened. A geisha stared out at us, her eyes huge with amazement. She glanced down the corridor at my open screen door. Yo took a step toward her, but the girl shook her head and put all her fingers to her mouth and then threw her hands open. She had no need to speak; her gesture said as clearly as words that she would stay silent. As she turned and moved away from us, I realized that one of her legs must be much shorter than the other; she lurched fiercely to one side, almost losing her balance. The arm that caught at the doorframe for balance was badly withered as well. One of Hana’s flawed gems, I had no doubt.
“What happened to the real surgeon?” I whispered.
“Nothing.” Yo smiled reassuringly. “He was happy for me to take his place. It discharged a substantial debt he owed me. When Hana asks him how a strange man came to take his place, he will be astonished. He will insist that he sent her a message explaining he had been taken with a particularly virulent fever and could not attend her. Being a skilled surgeon, he will have no problem in appearing to have all the necessary symptoms.”
I nodded and spoke urgently. “How do we get out of here?”
“We walk out.” Yo hustled me forward, his hand on my elbow. “Down here. This door leads into the garden.”
We slid through silently. In a few steps, we had crossed the raked gravel and he was pushing at another door so faded by the weather a casual glance would never have noticed it. The alley outside was quiet and almost secluded for the Floating World.
“We need to separate,” Yo said quickly. “Hana will be looking for a man and woman together, so we have a better chance this way. There’s a ryokan two buildings down from the brothel Isamu showed you. Go there. Take a room. I’ll join you as soon as I can. And listen, this is important. If you’re found, don’t fight. Not unless it’s that or risk death.” He pushed a slender purse into my obi and wrapped my fingers around his staff. I fastened the bandage around my eyes and turned and walked away. I had to. At that moment, I was more woman than onna-bugeisha. If I had lingered, I would have hung on to him, refusing to let him go. He was right; we had a far better chance separated. But the pain of finding my lover only to lose him at once was very great.
The bandage gave me no problem at all. In fact, I closed my eyes beneath it, the better to allow my other senses to see for me. I had been so long in near-silent captivity that the roar of voices and traffic hurt my ears. All to the good; I found myself walking carefully, my shoulders hunched, as if I expected a blow at any moment.
“You’ve got money, anma?” The innkeeper was only interested in whether I was going to be able to pay. I fished in my purse, handing him two coins. I had no idea if it would be enough, but I realized instantly that I had been generous when he snatched them off me. “Business must have been good. That’ll do for a room to yourself and some supper. Follow me. Min
d the stairs,” he added grudgingly. I followed him, taking care to tap with my staff.
I had no need to take off my bandage to know my room was filthy. It stank of sweat and old food and the remains of sex. No doubt my host rented out his rooms to any yujo who had a customer who wanted to rut in privacy and could afford the price of a futon for an hour or two. In spite of that, I sank onto the futon with relief. Something ran over my hand and I snatched it away with disgust. I sat very still, listening to the sounds of the street, the clatter of pans from the kitchen below, the enticements of the whores captive in the lattice brothel. My visit there with Isamu felt slightly unreal, rather like a very vivid dream. I tensed as I heard footsteps in the corridor.
“Here you are, then. Supper. I’ve put it on the table for you.” I heard his breath quicken. His voice was suddenly sly. “I don’t suppose you’ve got that much money, anma. And the days are turning cold now. I daresay you might want somewhere to stay for a while. I’ve got this dreadful backache. If you could do something about it for me, I daresay I might see fit to let you stay here for a while in return for your services.”
I heard the rustle of his robes and then the sound of flesh on flesh. He had pulled his tree out and was playing with it. I lowered my head humbly, as much to hide my expression as anything.
“The master is most kind,” I said respectfully.
“We’ll see, then. I’ve heard tales about you anma. I’ve been told that you make up for being blind by concentrating on all your other senses. If that’s right, I’m sure we can come to some sort of agreement.”
He walked over to me and thrust his hips out, waggling his tree a hand’s breadth away from my face. I kept my head down, wondering about the sort of man who could expose himself to a blind woman.