‘Here it is, then,’ said Hugh. He turned to the girls. ‘In the meantime, what would you three like to do until dinner?’
‘Can we play a game?’ Alice-Miranda asked.
‘I can explain how to play one of the Japanese board games,’ Aki suggested. ‘You could take it up to your room.’
Alice-Miranda and Jacinta nodded.
‘That would be great,’ Millie said, ‘except I’ll have to get changed first. I don’t think squirrel paws will be very helpful at moving board pieces.’
Cecelia nodded. ‘That sounds absolutely perfect. I think your father and I might have a rest, Alice-Miranda – I’m afraid we oldies don’t have as much energy as you girls.’
‘And I’m going to get a start on today’s article,’ Ambrosia said. ‘How about we meet here at six-thirty for dinner?’
It was agreed. The adults wandered off, and Millie and Jacinta set about choosing a board game with Aki’s help. Alice-Miranda was happy to let them decide – she was too distracted thinking about the boy next door.
In the girls’ room, Millie scratched at her fur, eager to get out of the squirrel costume. She pulled off the head and took a deep breath.
‘Remind me that I never want to get a job as a character at Disneyland,’ she sighed.
‘What did that boy next door do when I looked away?’ Jacinta asked as she unfurled her futon.
‘Um, he shook his fist,’ Millie lied. She glanced over at Alice-Miranda, who nodded.
‘So why do you think they have a surveillance camera over there?’ Jacinta plonked down on the floor and took the lid off the game box.
‘Who knows?’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘Maybe they have a lot of money from the Itoshii Squirrel shop.’
‘Yes, that’s probably it,’ Jacinta agreed as she set up the board.
Alice-Miranda wondered too. She had a strange feeling about that boy and the house across the alleyway.
The next morning, Kiko hovered in the kitchen, hoping that Obaasan would send her to the market. She had already served breakfast and finished the washing up. She’d decided she had to prove how reliable she was, so that the old woman would return her backpack and let her out to run errands. Then she would make her escape and find her grandparents’ house.
Kiko noticed that the old woman’s face was more contorted than usual and she was muttering something under her breath. ‘Are, are you all right, Obaasan?’
‘Does it look like I am all right?’ the woman snapped.
‘Is there something I can do?’ Kiko asked. ‘The shopping, perhaps?’
‘No!’ Obaasan growled. ‘You can do your work and leave me alone.’
Kiko drew in a deep breath. ‘But you are upset and I am only trying to help.’
‘Okay, boy. If you are so happy to help, you can clean the room upstairs.’
That wasn’t what Kiko was hoping for.
‘Which one?’
‘First on the left. Where Tanaka-san used to be.’
Kiko was silent, wondering what the old woman meant.
Obaasan turned and walked closer. ‘Don’t be surprised. Old people die all the time.’
Kiko wanted to retract her offer and stay in the kitchen or, better still, go to the laundry.
As she was thinking, the kitchen door flew open and Obaasan’s son, Tatsu, entered.
‘I need to open the shop,’ he grumbled.
‘You need to make some arrangements first,’ Obaasan tsked. ‘Sit down and I will get you some tea, then you can make the call.’
The man looked at Kiko and sneered. ‘What’s your name, boy?’
Kiko kept her eyes low. ‘Yoshi.’
‘Where did you come from?’ he asked, walking closer.
‘The alley,’ Kiko said quietly.
‘Don’t get smart with me!’ The man grabbed her chin and held her face high. ‘You don’t look like a street child.’
His breath stank like rancid fish and Kiko had to stop herself from gagging.
‘Show me your hands.’ He pulled Kiko’s arms forward. ‘So soft and smooth. You’re a runaway. Where are you from?’
Kiko pulled her arms back and clenched her fists beside her. ‘Nowhere.’
‘Well, Yoshi from nowhere, just remember: you see nothing and you hear nothing in this house.’
Kiko fixed her gaze on his pockmarked face. ‘Hai,’ she whispered.
The man turned and walked back to the table where Obaasan set a teacup in front of him.
‘What are you waiting for, boy? Take this.’ Obaasan handed her a small bucket with cleaning cloths and a broom.
Kiko walked out of the kitchen towards the stairs. She would do as she was told, for now.
Charlotte, Lawrence and Lucas arrived at the ryokan just after breakfast. As always, Alice-Miranda greeted her aunt with a peppering of kisses, although she insisted that Charlotte not pick her up this time, because the woman was six months pregnant with twins.
Cecelia had been concerned that her sister might not want to fly but Charlotte had declared she was feeling better than ever, apart from being tired, and her doctor had given his permission.
The adults had some tea and the girls showed Lucas upstairs to his room. He was next door to them and his father and stepmother were on the other side.
‘This place is mad,’ Lucas said.
Millie winked. ‘Wait until you use the toilet.’
The girls made a great show of explaining their new-found knowledge of Japanese customs.
‘There’s a communal bathhouse downstairs at the end of the corridor,’ Jacinta said.
‘Communal?’ Lucas asked. ‘Doesn’t that mean all in together?’
Jacinta grinned and raised her eyebrows. ‘Yes.’
Lucas gulped. ‘Can you wear your swimmers?’
‘Na-ah.’ Jacinta shook her head. ‘Birthday suits only.’
‘Yeah, we’re going later on,’ Millie teased. ‘If you stay in the inn, you have to go. It’s one of the rules.’
Lucas blushed. The three girls exchanged glances – they were enjoying watching Lucas squirm.
Hugh Kennington-Jones walked towards them. ‘Were the girls telling you about the bathhouse? What do you think, Lucas – are you up for it?’
The boy shook his head. ‘I . . . I don’t think so.’
‘It’s all right, mate, it’s just us men.’ Hugh slapped him on the back.
‘Oh, really?’ Lucas said. ‘That’s not what I heard.’
Hugh looked around at the trio of giggling girls behind them. ‘You cheeky things. You know, I did see a public bathhouse down the road – with mixed baths. Perhaps you’d like to go there instead? I could give that a try.’
‘No way!’ Millie flinched and pulled a face.
‘So, you’re not keen after all, Millie. It’s all right, Lucas. We blokes will stick together.’
‘Are we going out with Ambrosia today?’ Alice-Miranda asked her father as they walked back along the hallway. The previous evening there had been talk of the girls visiting a kimono maker with her while Cecelia and Charlotte met with some suppliers.
‘Yes, if you’d like to.’
Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘What are you going to do, Daddy?’
‘I’m going to take Lucas and Lawrence for a walk around here and then we’re going to meet you and Ambrosia at the hotel where Dolly’s giving her speech. I’ve checked with the organisers and we’re welcome to sit up the back. I thought the old girl might like some moral support. It’s only for an hour or so and then we can go and see the Meiji Shrine that we missed yesterday afternoon, and maybe the Tokyo Tower too.’
The children agreed that it sounded like a great plan.
Ambrosia arrived in reception. ‘Okay, girls, we’d better get going.’
‘See you at the hotel at two,’ Hugh said.
The girls followed Jacinta’s mother outside.
‘How are we getting there?’ Millie asked.
‘We’ll walk. According to the map Aki
drew for me it’s just a couple of blocks away, towards the temple.’
Jacinta glanced at the house where they’d spotted the boy the previous evening. ‘Look at that,’ she said.
A black van was parked out the front and a gurney was being wheeled into the street. A pair of slippered feet was poking out from beneath a white sheet.
‘Is that . . . is that a body?’ Millie whispered, her eyes wide.
‘Oh, how sad.’ Alice-Miranda was looking at the two attendants. A reed-thin man followed them out the front door.
‘That’s him,’ Jacinta said. ‘The man from the squirrel shop.’
‘Yes, that’s him all right,’ Millie agreed. ‘I’ll never forget that face.’
‘So he’s the man who accused you of stealing?’ Ambrosia asked, adjusting her sunglasses. Millie and Jacinta had taken great delight in explaining everything during dinner the previous evening.
Jacinta nodded.
The woman drew herself up and flicked her silken brunette tresses over her shoulders. Before the children knew what was happening, Ambrosia Headlington-Bear marched down the road on her towering heels.
The attendants closed the door of the van and hopped in. The engine started and the vehicle pulled away from the kerb.
‘What’s your mother doing?’ Millie asked.
‘I think she’s going to speak to him.’
‘But they’ve just had a death in the family,’ Alice-Miranda said. ‘It might not be the best time.’
‘Mummy!’ Jacinta called, but Ambrosia had already reached her target.
‘Excuse me.’ Ambrosia tapped the remaining man on his shoulder.
He spun around and stared at her.
‘I believe that you wrongly accused my daughter of stealing in your shop yesterday,’ Ambrosia said.
The man caught sight of the girls racing up behind the woman.
‘Ambrosia,’ Alice-Miranda interrupted. ‘I think he might have other things on his mind.’
Ambrosia turned to face the child. ‘Yes, I’m aware of that, but I just want to let him know that I don’t appreciate him accusing Jacinta of stealing.’ She turned back to face him. ‘My daughter is not a thief and I think your son, who quite obviously set her up, owes her an apology. And you too, for that matter.’
A sneer crept onto his face.
‘What’s that look for?’ Ambrosia demanded.
The curtains moved in the window behind him and Jacinta spotted the young boy’s face peering out.
‘There he is!’ Jacinta shouted.
‘Right, I’m going to have a word with that child.’ Ambrosia stepped past the man and walked to the front door.
‘Hey! Where are you going?’ he snarled in English.
‘Oh no, Mummy, please come back.’ Jacinta had been horrified at being wrongly accused, but she was even more upset at the thought of her mother barging into someone’s home and telling off their son – especially if there’d just been a tragedy in the family.
Ambrosia pushed the door and it swung open. She marched into the foyer, her shoes clip-clopping on the timber floor.
‘Where are you, you horrid little monster?’ Ambrosia bellowed. She turned right and pushed through another door into the kitchen.
A voice screeched from the hallway and then a tiny woman shuffled through the kitchen door and stood in front of Ambrosia.
‘What are you doing in my house?’ she demanded. Then she looked down at Ambrosia’s feet. ‘You wear shoes in my house! Who are you?’
Ambrosia Headlington-Bear looked at the tiny woman with the wild eyes and began to rethink her actions.
Alice-Miranda, Millie and Jacinta had chased Ambrosia inside – but fortunately they’d all remembered to remove their shoes first. The man who’d been out the front was now at the old lady’s side.
‘Wow!’ Millie’s eyes were on stalks. ‘Look at all those squirrels,’ she gasped as she glanced around the kitchen. ‘This place is insane.’
‘No, my mother is insane,’ Jacinta whispered and shook her head.
‘I’m sorry, madam, but I want to speak to the boy in the window of that room through there.’ Ambrosia tried to retain her fury, but all the while her cheeks were alight with shame.
‘What boy?’ the old woman asked.
‘That boy.’ Jacinta pointed at the chubby lad, who was peering out from around the door.
‘Taro!’ the old woman shouted. ‘What are you doing in there?’
The boy scurried out and stopped in front of his grandmother. The old woman spoke quickly in Japanese. He shouted back at her and fled from the kitchen.
‘What are you doing in my house? He is gone. You need to go too!’ The old woman shuffled forward and waved her hands at Ambrosia.
The man with the pockmarked face narrowed his eyes. ‘You must leave now.’ He strode over to the door that Taro had come from, pulled it shut and locked it with a key.
Alice-Miranda and Millie exchanged curious looks. ‘I wonder what’s so valuable in there,’ Millie whispered.
Alice-Miranda had been thinking the same thing.
‘I . . . I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me,’ Ambrosia stuttered. ‘It’s just that your grandson did something yesterday that upset my daughter.’
‘What did fat boy do?’
‘He put something into Jacinta’s pocket at the shop, and then I believe it was you –’ Ambrosia looked at the man beside her – ‘who accused her of stealing.’
Obaasan glanced up at the man. She started speaking furiously in Japanese. His shoulders slumped and he skulked from the room. She turned to Ambrosia. ‘You need to leave. I have things to do and you are wearing shoes in my house.’
It was clear that Ambrosia wasn’t going to get anywhere with the woman.
‘Come on girls, let’s go.’ She bowed several times and turned to leave.
Millie and Jacinta followed Ambrosia. But Alice-Miranda stayed behind.
‘Sumimasen,’ the child said.
The old woman squinted and a thousand more wrinkles appeared.
‘I’m so sorry that we barged into your house and I’m very sorry for your loss.’
‘She is a crazy person,’ the old woman said, pointing towards the door. Then a puzzled look settled on her face. ‘What loss?’
‘We just saw someone being taken away in a van under a sheet.’
‘Oh, you mean the dead old man,’ the woman said, flicking her hand in the air.
‘I’m sure you must be upset,’ Alice-Miranda said.
‘Hai, of course I am upset. Now I need to find someone to sleep in his room.’
Alice-Miranda took the curious statement in. She looked around, trying to work out what this place was.
‘I’m sorry, I haven’t even introduced myself properly. My name is Alice-Miranda Highton-Smith-Kennington-Jones.’
The old woman wrinkled her nose. ‘That is nice for you. But I don’t care. You need to leave my house.’
‘What may I call you?’
‘Obaasan,’ the woman replied. ‘Hurry up. Get out. I have work to do and you talk too much.’
The old woman shuffled forward. She was only a bit taller than the child herself. Obaasan pushed open the kitchen door and Alice-Miranda walked through. She was about to leave when she noticed a stream of elderly people shuffling down the end of the hall, like a geriatric caterpillar.
‘Alice-Miranda!’ Millie called from the front porch. ‘Hurry up, we need to get going.’
Alice-Miranda bowed. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Obaasan.’
‘Well, of course it was. But I can’t say the same about you.’ The old woman ushered Alice-Miranda out. The child barely had time to collect her shoes before the door slammed in her face.
Obaasan turned and shuffled back towards the kitchen.
‘Yoshi!’ she called. Kiko scurried from the sitting room off the back hall, where she had been tidying up. ‘I need you to go to the market.’
Kiko tried to suppress her s
mile. ‘Hai, hai.’
‘Come with me and I’ll get the list.’ Obaasan walked across the hallway to the front room. She took a key from her apron and unlocked the door that her son had pulled shut. Kiko stood in the doorway and observed the row of filing cabinets lining the walls and the desk with its large screen.
‘My son is addicted to games. He spends way too much time in here,’ the old woman said, shaking her head.
Kiko stared at the screen. She flinched when she realised it was showing Taro walking down the street. It wasn’t a video game at all.
Obaasan sat down and began to scribble on a piece of paper. ‘Turn around and face the other way, boy,’ she said.
Kiko obeyed, wondering what the old woman was doing and why she wasn’t allowed to look. She heard several clicks.
Kiko couldn’t help herself. She turned quickly to snatch a peek. Obaasan was bent over with her head inside a cupboard. The old woman was pulling on something heavy – a door. Kiko realised that the clicking was the same noise she’d heard once at home, when she had been taken to see her mother’s jewels. Obaasan had her head inside a safe.
Obaasan pulled out a wad of money. She peeled off a couple of notes, returned the bundle and closed the door. Kiko turned around and pretended not to have seen a thing.
‘Take this. Go to the shop opposite Itoshii Squirrel and tell that man I want the freshest vegetables he has or I will be taking my business elsewhere. His cabbage was rotten last week.’
Kiko reached for the money. She rubbed her fingers over its surface and looked closely at the notes.
‘What are you doing now?’ Obaasan squinted through her glasses and gave Kiko a shove. ‘Haven’t you ever seen a thousand yen note before?’
Kiko smiled to herself. No, she hadn’t.
‘Well, that was awkward,’ Millie mumbled. ‘And what is that place? Squirrels, security cameras, locked rooms, dead bodies? Do you think they could be Yakuza?’
Alice-Miranda frowned. ‘Gangsters? With squirrels? I don’t think so. What do you know about the Yakuza, anyway?’
‘There was a little bit about them in my guide-book,’ Millie said. ‘Apparently they run lots of respectable businesses that cover up their criminal activities. Maybe Itoshii Squirrel is a front for a gang.’
Alice-Miranda in Japan 9 Page 9