‘Dead?’ He looked at me in astonishment. ‘But didn’t anyone tell you?’
‘Lord Kinoyoshi told Misaki that you had behaved honourably. We thought . . .’ I couldn’t finish the sentence.
‘The daimyo said I bore no responsibility for my uncle’s actions and the domain couldn’t afford to lose me too,’ Isamu explained. He ducked his head as if embarrassed, but I was sure I saw a glint of pride in his eyes. ‘I thought he would have told you. I came as soon as I could. I’ve been in Matsuyama with my family.’
‘And you are . . . you are definitely not dead.’ I couldn’t help but reach out to touch his arm to reassure myself.
‘I’m very much alive. Lord Kinoyoshi has agreed that I can stay here in Edo — and I’ll be allowed to continue my painting studies.’
‘You’re a brilliant painter,’ I said softly.
‘So you . . . you looked at my paintings?’ The words were spoken diffidently, but he was staring off into the distance as if he couldn’t bring himself to meet my gaze.
I lowered my head. ‘I did.’
‘And what did you think?’
I raised my eyes. ‘I thought, even before I saw them, that nothing could compare to the perfection of he who painted them.’
Now he brought his gaze down to meet mine. For several long seconds we just looked at each other. I wanted this moment to last forever.
At last he broke the silence to say, ‘You’ll be returning to Tsumago, I suppose. Is there no way you can stay?’
‘Actually . . .’ I told him of Daiki and Chika’s offer.
‘So you would leave the valley behind?’
I touched my heart. ‘I wouldn’t be leaving it behind. The forest, the mountains — I can paint them; they’re in here.’
I thought about what Chika had said about travelling. There would be other mountains, other valleys, and I would carry them inside me too.
With Isamu looking at me like that, I felt I could carry the whole world.
‘When will you leave?’
‘In a few weeks. We’ll go to Tsumago and then to Kyoto before the plum rains.’
I watched as he raised his hand to run a finger down my nose to my lips, then traced my mouth.
The feather-light touch made me shiver. ‘What are you doing?’
‘I’m drawing you, so that I’ll have you in my fingertips while you are gone.’
‘Oh.’ It was hard to think with his touch on my skin so I just stood, not thinking, just feeling.
Then he dropped his hand and looked into my eyes. ‘When will you be back?’
‘Before the next plum rains.’
It occurred to me that, if I were to be adopted by Daiki and Chika, I would be a daughter from a samurai family — there would no longer be anything to prevent Isamu and me from being together. Should I tell him? I wondered.
No, I decided. Not yet. Between last year’s rains and this year’s, my old life had ended and another had begun. And who knew what the time between the next rains would bring? We were like the plum trees themselves, our flowers blooming briefly, fruit ripening then falling. I would think not of the future but appreciate the present, this moment. We lived in a floating world, and I would grasp every minute.
Acknowledgements
Arigatō gozaimasu to:
Publisher Chren Byng, and editors Kate Burnitt and Tegan Morrison (my dream team), Jacqui Barton and Pam Dunne.
My agent Barbara Mobbs, and Helen Glad.
Claire Craig, Yvonne Edgren, Christa Munns and Jane Phillips.
My ever-supportive family: Dad and Jacqueline, Mum and Mike, and especially my dear sister Stephanie, my companion in ikebana and kabuki, along the Nakasendo and over the Torii pass.
And always, and ever, thank you to David.
About the Author
FRANCES WATTS was born in Switzerland and grew up in Australia. She has published more than twenty books for children, including picture books and books for younger readers such as Goodnight, Mice!, the winner of the 2012 Prime Minister’s Award for Children’s Fiction, and 2008 Children’s Book Council of Australia award-winner Parsley Rabbit’s Book about Books. Frances lives in Sydney.
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But Claudia soon discovers a contest of power and ambition is secretly being waged — and she is the prize. Torn between two rivals for her hand in marriage, she must choose between her duty and her heart . . . a choice that could have deadly consequences.
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Copyright
The ABC ‘Wave’ device is a trademark of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is used under licence by HarperCollinsPublishers Australia.
First published in Australia in 2015
by HarperCollinsChildren’sBooks
a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Australia Pty Limited
ABN 36 009 913 517
harpercollins.com.au
Copyright © Frances Watts 2015
The right of Frances Watts to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000.
This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced, copied, scanned, stored in a retrieval system, recorded, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
HarperCollinsPublishers
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National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:
Watts, Frances, author.
The peony lantern / Frances Watts.
ISBN 978 0 7333 3292 0 (paperback)
ISBN 978 1 4607 0176 8 (ebook)
For young adults.
Love stories.
Ladies-in-waiting—Japan—Fiction.
Samurai—Fiction.
A823.4
Cover design by Christa Moffitt, Christabella Designs
Cover images: Girl by iconics/a.collectionRF/Getty Images; all other images by shutterstock.com
The Peony Lantern Page 23