Tokyo Bay (20 page)

O
Kami
-
san,’ said Eden simply. ‘I risked landing against the orders of my superior officers. It’s obvious we know too little about Nippon and its people. And to act out of ignorance is always dangerous.’
‘Did you expect to return to your ship undetected?’
‘Yes.’
Tanaka smiled coldly. ‘Then your first mistake was to underestimate the people of Nippon.’
‘Perhaps
-
but am I alone in making such a mistake?’
Tanaka frowned in puzzlement. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Didn’t you underestimate the people you call “foreign barbarians”
-
when you came aboard our ship yesterday?’
‘In what way?’
‘You seemed more than a little surprised,
O
Kami-san, when your hot-headed guard was quietly disarmed
-
and nothing further was said.’
Tanaka acknowledged Eden’s point with a slight inclination of his head, but offered no comment.
‘And weren’t you practising a little deception yourself, by posing as an ordinary samurai? Nobody informed us we were receiving a nobleman of the Kago clan.’
‘I came aboard incognito to ensure no foolish action was taken,’ said Tanaka fiercely. ‘My intentions were honourable!’
‘Then that should help you understand that my intentions are honourable too,’ replied Eden evenly.
For several moments Tanaka remained silent, his face set in thoughtful lines. Then he took a pace nearer to Eden. ‘Do you think you discovered anything of value here before you were captured?’
‘What I’ve seen confirms the feelings I already had before I left my ship,’ said Eden slowly. ‘Nothing more.’
‘And what were those feelings?’
‘That
it
will be a great tragedy for both our countries if fighting breaks out. There could be a terrible loss of life on both sides. And nobody will benefit.’
Tanaka considered the answer in silence, then turned on his heel and walked a few paces towards the ladder leading down from the loft. Eden watched tensely as his sandalled feet passed within a few inches of the half-hidden pistol, but when Tanaka paused by the ladder and swung round again, he gave no sign that he had noticed the weapon.
‘Is this the message that you would carry back to your superior officers?’
‘Yes.’
Tanaka glanced round at Tokiwa and Sentaro who were watching him uneasily from beyond the circle of light cast by the lantern; but although his gaze briefly fastened on each of them in turn, he did not seem to see them. As he paced slowly back across the loft, the harsh lines in his face softened, and when he stopped in front of Eden again a new curiosity was visible in his expression.
‘What is your name?’ he demanded quietly.
‘Eden. . . Robert Eden. And I am a lieutenant in the United States Navy.’
Tanaka nodded several times in silence, as though committing the name carefully to memory then he spoke in a lowered voice.
‘You’re not like your fellow barbarians, Eden-san. You stopped one of our escorts
from
committing an act of great folly aboard your black ships
-
and you helped us to conceal
it.
You’re a trained fighting officer, yet you say you want to prevent a war. You’ve also learned our language. Why are you doing all these things?’
Faced suddenly with a demand to define his motives, Eden hesitated. He had been taking one last mental measurement of the distance between himself and the pistol; he knew that the six
-
shot weapon was fully loaded, and he decided that there was a slender chance of seizing it if he could distract the attention of his adversaries sufficiently before he threw himself on
it.
In that moment he made up his mind to create a distraction at the first opportunity, and the decision helped him focus his thoughts more clearly.
‘I suppose I’m two men in one skin,
O
Kami
-
san: he said slowly. ‘That’s one possible reasons
Tanaka’s brow furrowed in a puzzled frown. ‘I do not understand you.’
Eden shifted his position slightly, looking first at Tanaka then at Gotaro; as he did so he moved a foot or two nearer to the gun belt concealed beneath the straw
‘A brave and ancient people lived peacefully in America before new settlers began to sail there from the countries of Europe over two hundred years ago,’ he said quietly. ‘They were called “Red Indians”. These new settlers fought them for their land, and conquered them because they had far better weapons. My great-grandfather, who was one of the settlers, was kidnapped by Indians in a raid when he was still a small boy. He grew up with that Indian tribe and because he was a brave fighter
h
e became their chieftain. Later he led the tribe in many raids on the settlers. He married an Indian girl and had three
s
ons. . .‘ Eden paused, looking at Gotaro and Tanaka in turn ‘Do you understand now?’
The guard scowled, saying nothing, but Tanaka shook his head quickly to indicate that he required further explanation.
‘The Indians fought courageously for a long time in many hopeless battles,’ continued Eden after a pause. ‘Only one of those three sons
-
my grandfather
-
survived. In the end he returned to live among the Europeans. So you see I have the blood of those Indian people running in my veins as well as the blood of the settlers from Europe...’
‘And where does your loyalty lie now?’ demanded Tanaka. ‘With which side?’
‘I’ve already told you I am two men under one skin: said Eden uneasily. ‘I was raised a European Christian
-
but I love my
Indian
ancestors too. And I’ve always hated the injustice they suffered at the hands of those strangers who came from far across the sea to conquer their land and rob them of all they possessed.’
‘Just as today
you
have come across another sea to lands where you are a stranger,’ said Tanaka fiercely. ‘In a different attempt to conquer and steal and rob!’
Eden looked at the Japanese in silence. Then he shifted uncomfortably again on his feet, but in a way that moved him imperceptibly closer to the pistol.
‘What you say about our expedition unfortunately has truth in it. But you already know I feel its aims are unjust. .
‘If you were opposed to the expedition, why did you come to Nippon at all?’ demanded Tanaka, frowning suspiciously. ‘Why didn’t you stay away?’
‘While learning your language with Sentaro, I discovered that the people of Nippon and the ancient Indian peoples of America shared many things in common. Some words are very similar in both languages. . . the faces of the people, too, are often alike. I found that both our peoples worship the sun and the unseen spirits of nature. And, like you, my ancestors revered certain mountains and rivers as sacred. .
Eden paused again to make one last check on the position of the Colt, before turning his head to look out through the open grain-doors. He stared towards the distant volcano, deliberately remaining silent, while he gathered himself for the physical effort to come.
‘My Indian ancestors would have understood very well your great reverence for Fuji
-
san and the spirits of your fields and forests. Also Indian warriors rode and fought with spears and bows and arrows, as your warriors still do. Sometimes they dressed in war masks and horned helmets very like yours. And when they went into battle they shouted war cries to bewilder their enemies just as you do . .
Without warning, Eden let out an ear-splitting scream and flung himself full-length into the straw. In a single movement he tugged the pistol from its holster, took fleeting aim at the lantern in Tanaka’s hand, and fired. The roar of the firearm was deafening inside the loft, and Tanaka shouted in alarm as the lantern flew from his hand and went out.
‘Sentaro! Get down the ladder and unhitch the horses!’
Eden yelled his order to the castaway in English as he lurched to his feet and began to back away towards the ladder. He was holding the pistol at arm’s length, pointing
it
towards Tanaka and Gotaro, who were just beginning to move cautiously towards him.
‘Don’t come any nearer!’
Eden fired another deafening shot into the roof close above their heads as he shouted his warning in Japanese and Tanaka and the samurai stopped uncertainly in their tracks.
‘Hurry, Sentaro!’ shouted Eden, glancing over his shoulder to find the castaway hesitating fearfully at the top of the ladder. ‘Go quickly or we’re lost!’
A piercing scream rang out and Eden turned again to see Tokiwa struggling in the grip of the guard, who had clamped an arm around her throat from behind. He was shielding himself from the gun with her body, and Tokiwa was staring fearfully at the sword he brandished in front of her.
‘If you fire again, she will die,’ roared Gotaro. ‘Surrender the weapon at once.’
Another scream from Tokiwa was stifled as the guard tightened his grip around her throat and brought his blade ominously close to her face. Eden hesitated, then glanced towards Tanaka to find he too was withdrawing his sword from his sash.
‘Throw away the gun, as he orders!’ commanded Tanaka.
‘Don’t delay
-
if you want to save Tokiwa-san, master,’ urged Sentaro in a desperate whisper from the top of the ladder. ‘They will kill her without doubt.’
Eden looked again towards Tokiwa; she had ceased to struggle but her eyes were dilating with fear as she waited for his reaction. In the filtered moonlight her face seemed deathly pale.
‘Let her go now,’ said Eden in a dull tone, tossing the pistol to the boards at Tanaka’s feet. ‘Don’t harm her.’
Tanaka bent quickly to take possession of the gun, then rapped out an order to Gotaro to release the girl. As soon as he had relaxed his grip, she sank down into the straw and buried her face in her hands. Eden watched Tanaka walk towards him holding the pistol in one hand and his sword in the other. As he came, he barked out another crisp order, calling Gotaro to his side, The guard, whose shoulder was bloodied from the clash in the waterfall, hurried to obey, staring fixedly at Eden as if relishing the expected order to make the final strike.
‘I am ready,
O
Kami-san,’ he rasped, moving closer. ‘Just give the command!’
‘Put up your sword!’
Tanaka quietly sheathed his own blade and waited until the mystified samurai obeyed. For a second or two Tanaka looked Eden in the eye very intently, as though trying to read his innermost thoughts; then he slipped the pistol inside his
jimbaori.
‘Now draw the sword of the barbarian, Gotaro!’
After a moment of puzzled hesitation, the guard pulled Eden’s blade uncertainly from his sash.
‘You will return the weapon respectfully to its owner: said Tanaka, without taking his eyes from Eden’s face. ‘Hilt first.’
The samurai’s eyes widened in disbelief. Then, still glowering, he turned the cutlass carefully in his hands, and inclined his head in a reluctant gesture of respect as he offered it to Eden.
Uncertain of the meaning of this gesture, Eden remained watchful and made no immediate move to take the weapon.
‘Because of your action on the black ships I owe you a debt of gratitude,’ said Tanaka flatly, inclining his own topknotted head a fraction. ‘Now your sword is returned to you and the debt is repaid.’
Struggling to conceal his surprise and relief, Eden nodded formally in response and accepted the weapon. Gotaro, who had picked up the empty gun belt, handed it over wordlessly so that Eden could re
-
fasten it around his waist and tuck the cutlass away.
‘Remember, spying in Nippon is punishable by instant death: added Tanaka curtly. ‘I take personal responsibility for waiving that punishment for the time being. And I restore your sword to you on one condition
-
that you return straight away to your ship. You will be responsible for your own safety on the way there
-
and if you are captured again, there will be no escaping execution
‘I thank you for your generosity,
O
Kami-san,’ replied Eden, and inclined his head towards Tanaka and the guard in turn.
In the silence that followed, he glanced into the shadows where Tokiwa was still kneeling amongst the straw. She had straightened up and was watching and listening with a strained expression on her face. Their eyes met fleetingly, then she quickly lowered her gaze.
‘Before I begin my journey,
O
Kami
-
san said Eden, ‘I would like to request one assurance from you.,
‘You are in no position to request anything: said Tanaka brusquely. ‘You should go immediately!’
‘I ask only that Tokiwa-san should not be made a prisoner again: persisted Eden. ‘And that she should be allowed to return unhindered to her family.’
‘The safety of Tokiwa-san is my personal responsibility!’ Tanaka’s eyes hardened. ‘That matter need no longer concern you.’
Eden looked again towards Tokiwa, but she kept her eyes averted and after a moment he turned reluctantly away. At the top of the ladder Sentaro was still waiting; his face was very pale and he was trembling visibly.
‘Sentaro should return with me to the ship said Eden over his shoulder, as he grasped the top of the ladder. ‘He fears greatly for his life now. It would be better if he returned home later when matters between our two countries are peacefully resolved.’ Tanaka looked at the castaway, seemingly uncertain of how to react; then he nodded quickly. ‘Very well
-
he may return with you. But make no further requests - just go quickly.’
‘I am grateful,
O
Kami-san,’ said Eden shortly.
Sentaro prostrated himself swiftly on the boards, to express his own silent gratitude, and as Eden waited for the castaway to rise and descend the ladder ahead of him, he peered once more into the shadows. Tokiwa’s glossy kimono, now gathered more closely about her body, was reflecting the soft sheen of the moonlight and he could see that she had shifted into a formal kneeling posture amongst the straw, She had raised her eyes at last and was looking in his direction but her face was unfatho