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known as "The Children of the Sea". At the beginning of every June, when the
sea is warm after the winter and the diving begins, every person on the island
forms into a procession and we go to the Six Guardians and sing to them to
make them happy and favourable towards us.'
'And this story of the man from Kuro. Where did it come from?'
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'Who knows? It could have come from the sea or the air and thus into the minds
of the people. Where do stories like that come from? It is widely believed.'
'
Ah, so desu ka
!' said Bond, and they both laughed and got on with the work.
On the third day, when Bond was as usual eating his breakfast on the doorstep,
Kissy came to the doorway and said softly, 'Come inside, Todoroki-san.'
Mystified, he went in and she shut the door behind him.
She said in a low voice, 'I have just heard from a messenger from the
kannushi-san that there were people here yesterday in a boat from the
mainland. They brought presentos -
cigarettes and sweets. They were asking about the visit of the police boat.
They said it came with three visitors and left with only two. They wanted to
know what had happened to the third visitor. They said they were guards from
the castle and it was their duty to prevent trespassers. The elders accepted
the presentos
, but they showed shiran-kao
, which is "the face of him who knows nothing", and referred the men to the
kannushi-san who said that the third visitor was in charge of fishing
licences. He had felt sick on the way to the island and had perhaps lain down
in the boat on the way back. Then he dismissed the men and sent a boy to the
top of the High Place to see where the boat went, and the boy reported that it
went to the bay beside the castle and was put back into the boathouse that is
there. The kannusbi-san
thought that you should know these things.' She looked at him piteously.
'Todoroki-san, I have a feeling of much friendship for you. I feel that there
are secret things between you and the kannushi-san
, and that they concern the castle. I think you should tell me enough to put
me out of my unhappiness.'
Bond smiled. He went up to her and took her face in both his hands and kissed
her on the lips. He said, 'You are very beautiful and kind, Kissy. Today we
will not take the boat out because I must have some rest. Lead me up to the
High Place from which I can take a good look at this castle and I will tell
you what I can. I was going to anyway, for I shall need your help. Afterwards,
I would like to visit the Six Guardians. They interest me - as an
anthropologist.'
Kissy collected their usual lunch in a small basket, put on her brown kimono
and rope-soled shoes and they set off along a small footpath that zigzagged up
the peak behind the crouching grey cluster of the village. The time of the
camellia was almost past, but here there were occasional bushes of wild
camellias in red and white, and there was a profusion of these round a small
grove of dwarf maples, some of which already wore their flaming autumn
colours. The grove was directly above Kissy's house.
She led him in and showed him the little Shinto shrine behind a rough stone
torü
. She said, 'Behind the shrine there is a fine cave, but the people of Kuro
are afraid of it as it is full of ghosts. But I explored it once and if there
are ghosts there they are friendly ones,' She clapped her hands before the
shrine, bent her head for a moment, and clapped them again. Then they went on
up the path to the top of the thousand-foot peak. A brace of gorgeous copper
pheasants with golden tails fled squawking over the brow and down to a patch
of bushes on the southern cliff as they approached. Bond told Kissy to stay
out of sight while he went and stood behind the tall cairn of stones on the
summit and gazed circumspectly round it and across the straits.
He could see over the high fortress wall and across the park to the towering
black-and-gold donjon of the castle. It was ten o'clock. There were figures in
blue peasant dress with high boots and long staves moving busily about the
grounds. They occasionally seemed to prod into the bushes with their staves.
They wore black maskos over their mouths. It crossed Bond's mind that they
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might be doing the morning rounds looking for overnight prey. What did they do
when they found some half-
blinded creature, or a pile of clothes beside one of the fumaroles whose
little clouds of steam rose here and there in the park?
Take them to the Doctor? And, in the case of the living, what happened then?
And when he, Bond, got up that wall tonight, where was he going to hide from
the guards? Well, sufficient unto the day! At least the straits were calm and
it was cloudless weather. It looked as if he would get there all right. Bond
turned away and went back to Kissy and sat with her on the sparse turf. He
gazed across the harbour to where the Ama fleet lay sprawled across the middle
distance.
He said, 'Kissy, tonight I have to swim to the castle and climb the wall and
get inside.'
She nodded. 'I know this. And then you are going to kill this man and perhaps
his wife. You are the man who we believe was to come to Kuro from across the
sea and do these things.' She continued to gaze out to sea. She said dully,
'But why have you been chosen? Why should it not be another, a Japanese?'
'These people are gaijins
. I am a gaijin
. It will cause less trouble for the State if the whole matter is presented as
being trouble between foreigners.'
'Yes, I see. And has the kannushi-san given his approval?'
'Yes.'
'And if& And after. Will you come back and be my boatman again?'
'For a time. But then I must go back to England.'
'No. I believe that you will stay for a long time on Kuro.'
'Why do you believe that?'
'Because I prayed for it at the shrine. And I have never asked for such a big
thing before. I am sure it will be granted.' She paused. 'And I shall be
swimming with you tonight.' She held up a hand. 'You will need company in the
dark and I know the currents. You would not get there without me.'
Bond took the small dry paw in his. He looked at the childish, broken nails.
His voice was harsh. He said, 'No. This is man's
40
work.'
She looked at him. The brown eyes were calm and serious. She said, and she
used his first name, 'Taro-san, your other name may mean thunder, but I am not
frightened of thunder. I have made up my mind. And I shall come back every
night, at midnight exactly, and wait among the rocks at the bottom of the
wall. I shall wait for one hour in case you need my help in coming home. These
people may harm you. Women are much stronger in the water than men. That is
why it is the Ama girls who dive and not the Ama men. I know the waters round
Kuro as a peasant knows the fields round his farm, and I have as little fear
of them. Do not be stiff-necked in this matter. In any case, I shall hardly
sleep until you come back. To feel that I am close to you for a time and that
you may need me will give me some peace. Say yes, Taro-san.'
'Oh, all right, Kissy,' said Bond gruffly. 'I was only going to ask you to row
me to a starting point down there somewhere.'
He gestured to the left across the straits. 'But if you insist on being an
extra target for the sharks& '
'The sharks never trouble us. The Six Guardians look after that. We never come
to any harm. Years ago, 'one of the Amas caught her rope in a rock underwater,
and the people have talked of the accident ever since. The sharks just think
we are big fish like themselves.' She laughed happily. 'Now it is all settled
and we can have something to eat and then I
will take you down to see the Guardians. The tide will be low by then and they [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]