The Scent of Sake (14 page)

Kinzaemon rubbed his chin. “That’s what we’ve always believed. Yes, we could raise it five, maybe ten percent.”

“Perhaps as much as fifteen, or twenty,” Kin said.

They heard someone running toward the door and looked up. Kinnosuke, as Shin’ichi was now called since he had become Kin’s apprentice, entered out of breath and bowed twice.

“There’s a messenger from the shipping contractor in the outer office. He’s very agitated,” he blurted out. He bowed twice.

Rie backed out of sight, but strained to hear. She moved down the hall toward the outer office. “Have him come in,” Kinzaemon said. “No, let’s go, Kin and Jihei.” Kinzaemon struggled up from the tatami and the three walked quickly to the outer office. “
Ah,
Hayami-san,” Kinzaemon said to the bowing official.

“What brings you here?”

Hayami bowed again. “Very sorry to say, Sir. There has been

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a shipwreck on the way to Edo. One of the ships with part of your shipment has been lost.” He bowed again. “It was that dangerous shoal near Nagoya.” He wiped perspiration from his face with a towel from his sleeve and sighed.

“Oh! Oh!” Kinzaemon groaned. He pulled at his ear and glanced at Kin.

“It wasn’t our whole consignment, was it?” Kin asked, frowning. “We were using five ships.”

“Yes, I think one fifth of your total,” Hayami agreed.

“How will we repay our loans this year?” Jihei asked, rubbing his eyebrows.

“We’ll give you a discount on your next year’s shipment,” Hayami said. “Fifteen percent. We have no words to apologize adequately.” He bowed continuously.

“Yes, we’ll need a discount for next year,” said Kin. “Let’s look at the figures.” Kin and Kinnosuke moved to the section of the office where Kin kept the ledgers. Hayami followed them.

Kinzaemon and Jihei walked back to the inner office. Kinzaemon sat heavily and sighed.

“What a disaster,” Jihei said, pulling at his eyebrows. Listening, Rie frowned, pondering what she could do or suggest. She bit her lip, tapped her chin with her fan.

“Brewing is a risky enterprise, as we all know,” Kinzaemon sighed. “This is why we need an equal business in moneylending and gold-and-silver exchange. Without that cushion we might be out of business this year, relying on the two-year wait for the return from our brewing investment.” He ran his hand through his hair.

Rie’s voice came from the hallway, and she hurried into the office. “This is terrible!” She moved a hand up and down her arm. “What do we do now, Father?”

“We haven’t lost our whole shipment, Rie. Please ask for some tea for us.”

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Kin came back into the room with Kinnosuke and stood facing Kinzaemon and Rie.

“It’s a loss of one-fifth of the year’s shipment,” he said in a thin voice. “I’m making arrangements to increase our gold-and- silver exchange ten percent over last year. It will be a struggle to make it till next fall.”

Jihei rubbed his hands over his eyebrows. “Other brewers must have lost too,” he said.

Rie turned to Hayami. “What about Yamaguchi? Was he using this ship too?”

“I don’t believe so, no,” Hayami replied.

“Then I wonder,” Rie said, “was it really an accident, or another case of Yamaguchi’s treachery?”

They sat in fraught silence around the table. Monsoon rains pelted against the roof and added to the gloom inside.

With the death of Hana, the atmosphere and relationships in the house altered. Rie and her father spent more time together, especially in the evenings when Jihei was away. Rie, still protective of her father and wishing to spare him the disappointment of Jihei’s lack of commitment, often made excuses for her absent husband as she sat companionably with her father after dinner. They had weathered the storm of the lost shipments, but only through careful planning and tight control of their finances, no thanks to Jihei who once again was out spending her father’s money.

“Father, I believe Jihei said he was going to a gathering of other brewers, trying to keep up with the latest news, especially now that you are no longer attending the Brewers Association meetings.” Of course Rie doubted Jihei was doing any such thing. More likely, he was spending time at the Sawaraya with that geisha. “I also need to know what is happening with the

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business, Father. We don’t want Yamaguchi to take advantage of us, now that it’s known you may retire soon.”

Kinzaemon sighed. “Yes, that’s so, Rie. And of course Kin is almost my age, so he may retire soon too. It would be a problem if we both retired at once, a big problem.”

Rie sorrowed to see her father looking older, seeming less resilient after his wife’s passing.

“Kin told me that he would be able to continue for a while even after you retire. And you know Shin’ichi is doing exceptionally well. Kin says we are fortunate to have him. I believe Kin feels Kinnosuke may be able to succeed him one day.” Rie smiled and poured sake as her father held out his cup. “I think Kinnosuke is about fifteen now.”

“You did well, Ri-chan, to recognize his ability even as a young boy.”

Rie nodded and bowed slightly at her father’s compliment. She relished the increased opportunity for her father’s companionship, time he had normally spent with Hana while she was alive.

Early one morning several weeks later, as Rie dressed before going down to breakfast, she sat before the mirror on her mother’s paulownia dressing cabinet. Her thoughts turned to Yoshitaro, now walking and making his way into the office. More than once Rie heard Kinnosuke giving him bits of information about the business. Rie did not think this inappropriate. Still, the reality of the geisha’s bloodline in the house rankled, never leaving her consciousness for long. What could she do? There was no altering the fact that Yoshitaro was heir, that after Jihei he would become Kinzaemon XI.

This morning as she sat before the mirror she thought of Saburo Kato and their meeting at the ikebana exhibit the morning before her mother died. The tragedy had pushed all thought

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of their discussion from her mind. Earlier in the week, Rie had received a note of remembrance from Saburo on the anniversary of her mother’s death. He had reiterated a desire to work together to prevent Yamaguchi’s reelection, and their mutual hope to meet again. Something in the way he’d penned his note had made her think that perhaps he had more in mind.

Was Saburo’s talk of working together against Yamaguchi perhaps just his way of forming a bond with her? She hoped so, even though they both wanted to defeat Yamaguchi. She pictured in her imagination meeting Saburo at night, alone. She would make it happen, make it possible to be with him so that she might bear his child, a child growing of love, a child without the blood of a geisha. A child that might someday make it possible to expel the geisha bloodline from the Omura House. She had always felt she belonged with Saburo, not with her dolt of a husband. She would do it.

The idea she hadn’t dared let surface so many months ago now blossomed. She pictured his caring brown eyes and pondered for several minutes. Then with a tingle of anticipation and renewed excitement in her step, she went to a tansu and opened a secret drawer where she kept some cash. She took out several coins and placed them in a pouch of finest silk. She inserted the pouch into the sleeve of her kimono and hurried down to breakfast. O-Natsu and others would notice if she delayed too long.

She ate a perfunctory breakfast alone. Her father and Jihei were already in the office, and it was not often they spent time together at this busy hour. She hurried back upstairs, took a brush and inkstone from a tansu drawer, added a bit of water to the inkstone, and quickly rubbed the inkstick back and forth until the ink was of proper consistency. She knew her calligraphy was not highly skilled, but she carefully wrote a few lines on the best rice paper, folded the note, sealed it with wax, and thrust it into her sleeve. She was proud that she could write and use the abacus,

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skills not common to every woman in brewing families. She went back to the secret drawer, took out a few more coins, and placed them in another small silk pouch. She touched her kimono sleeve to make certain the pouches and note would not slip out, and went downstairs.

In the corridor Rie asked one of the maids to send O-Natsu to her room with tea.

A few minutes later O-Natsu entered on her knees with a tea tray and set it on the tatami in front of Rie. She looked at Rie expectantly.

“Thank you, O-Natsu. I have a very big task for you. It is a great responsibility for the house.”

O-Natsu’s eyes widened. She bowed. “Whatever O-Josama requires.”

She knew she could trust O-Natsu. Discretion was paramount. “Well, O-Natsu, I wonder if you have some relatives in a nice house not too far away who may be having financial difficulties, and who are completely trustworthy?”

O-Natsu paused, biting her lip. “Yes, O-Josama, they live not far from here.”

“What I want you to do is to go to your relatives tonight. Ask them if they would make their house available two nights from tonight from midnight until dawn. If they agree, give them this money.” Rie handed the larger pouch to O-Natsu with both hands. “But tell them they must remain absolutely silent about this, on pain of death. And they must not be there those hours from midnight until dawn.” Rie studied O-Natsu closely as she spoke.

O-Natsu gasped. “Are you . . . do you intend to go out at night alone?”

“Yes, O-Natsu, but you must tell no one. This is between us.

And do you know the chief servant at the Kato residence?” “I do, yes.”

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“And is she completely trustworthy?” “She is my good friend, and I trust her.”

“All right, O-Natsu. Then give your friend this packet of money for her help, and ask that she give this note to the Kato third son, Saburo, to no one else in the house. Tell her she must speak to no one, or there may be consequences. This is a very big responsibility, O-Natsu. Do you understand you must also speak to no one about it?”