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with it for a long time. He will show you how to look after it.'
'It is a wonderful thing to have in Hagi,' Mori Hiroki exclaimed when he saw
it. 'How blessed are the Three Countries!'
And Shigeko thought so too. Even Tenba seemed captivated by the kirin, running
to the bamboo fence to inspect it and touching noses gently with it. The only
sad thing was that Hiroshi was leaving. But when she remembered the moment
earlier that morning, she thought perhaps it was for the best that he was
going home.
Nineteen
When Takeo returned to the residence after the welcome of the kirin he went
straight to Kaede, concerned for her state of health, but she seemed recovered
and was seated on the veranda on the northern side of the house, where the sea
breeze brought a certain coolness, talking with Taro, the eldest son of the
carpenter Shiro, who had returned to Hagi with his father to rebuild the city
after the earthquake, and who now spent his time carving statues from wood.
Takeo greeted him cheerfully, and Taro replied without undue ceremony, for
their past history had bound them together in friendship and Takeo deeply
admired the other man's skill, unequalled in the Three Countries.
'For some time I have had an idea of how I might create a figure of the
Goddess of Mercy,' Taro said, looking at his hands as though he wished they
might speak for him. 'Lady Otori has a suggestion.'
'You know the house near the seashore,' Kaede said. 'It has been empty for
years, ever since Akane died. People say it is haunted by her spirit, that she
used spells to try to bind Lord Shigeru to her and in the end was trapped by
her own dark magic. Sailors say she lights lamps on the rocks to give false
messages to ships, for she hates all men. Let us tear the house down and have
the garden purified. Taro and his brother will build a new shrine there, for
Kannon, and the statue he makes of her will bless the seashore and the bay.'
'Chiyo told me Akane's story when I was a boy,' Takeo replied. 'But Shigeru
never spoke of her, nor of his wife.'
'Maybe the departed spirits of both women will find rest,' Taro said. T
picture a small building - we will not need to cut down the pine trees but
will build among them. A double roof, I think, with deep curves like this, and
interlocking elbow joints to support it.'
He showed Takeo the sketches he had made of the building. 'The lower roof
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balances the upper, giving it an appearance of strength and gentleness. I hope
to give the Blessed One the same attributes. I wish I could show you a sketch
of her, but she remains hidden within the wood until my hands discover her.'
'Will you carve from one tree?' Takeo asked.
'Yes, I am in the process of choosing the piece now.'
They discussed the variety of tree, the age of the wood and such matters. Then
Taro left them.
'It is a fine plan,' Takeo said to Kaede when they were alone. 'I am delighted
with it.'
'I believe I have a special reason to be thankful to the goddess,' she said
quietly. 'This morning's sickness, which has passed quickly . . .'
He grasped her meaning and felt again the familiar mixture of delight and
terror, that their deep love for each other should have created another life,
launched another being into a new cycle of birth and death. It was the thought
of death that caused the terror, awaking all the fears from the past when
twice his children had threatened her life.
'My dearest wife,' he murmured, and, since they were alone, he embraced her.
'I am embarrassed,' she said, laughing a little. 'It seems so old to be
bearing a child! Shigeko is already a woman. Yet I am so happy too. I thought
I would never conceive again, that our chances of having a son were gone.'
'I have told you many times, I am happy with our daughters,' he said. 'If we
have another girl, I will be delighted.'
'I don't want to speak the words,' Kaede whispered, 'but this one I am sure is
a boy.'
He held her against him, wondering at the miracle of the new creature already
growing inside her, and they remained in silence for some time, breathing in
each other's closeness. Then the sound of voices from the garden, the maids'
tread on the boards of the veranda drew them back to the everyday world.
'Did the kirin arrive safely?' Kaede inquired, for Takeo had already revealed
the nature of the surprise to her.
'Yes, its appearance was everything I could have hope for. Shigeko fell in
love on the spot. The entire populace was silenced in astonishment.'
'To silence the Otori is no mean feat!' Kaede replied. 'I expect they have
recovered their tongues and are already making up songs about it. I will go
and see it for myself later.'
'You must not go out in the heat,' Takeo said swiftly. 'You must not exert
yourself at all. Ishida must come and see you at once, and you must do
everything he tells you.'
'Ishida also arrived safely? I am glad. And little Chikara?'
'He was very seasick - he is ashamed about it. But very happy to see his
brother.' Takeo was silent for a moment, and then said, 'We will delay the
question of adoption until the birth of our child. I do not want to raise
expectations that cannot be met later, or to create complications for the
future.'
'This is wise,' Kaede agreed. 'Though I fear Zenko and Hana will be
disappointed.'
'It is only a delay, not an outright refusal,' Takeo pointed out.
'You have grown wise, and cautious, husband!' she said, laughing.
'Just as well,' he replied. 'I hope I have mastered the rashness and
thoughtlessness of my younger self.' He was weighing up what he should say
next and, coming to a decision, said, 'There were other passengers from Hofu.
Two of the foreigners, and a woman who interprets for them.'
'For what purpose have they come here, do you think?'
'To increase their opportunities for trade, I suppose; to see a little more of
a country that is a complete mystery to them. I haven't had a chance to speak
to Ishida yet. He may know more. We need to be able to understand them. I
hoped you might learn their language, with the help of the woman who has come
with them, but I do not want to place any extra demands on you at this time.'
'Studying, learning a language is one of the things I delight in,' Kaede
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replied. 'It seems an ideal occupation at a time when other activities must be
curtailed. I will certainly do it. But who is the woman who has come with
them? It interests me that she has mastered a foreign tongue.'
Takeo said in a distant voice, 'I do not want to shock you, but I must tell
you. She is from the East, and had lived for some time in Inuyama. She was
born in the same village I was, to the same mother. She is my sister.'
'One of the two you believed to be dead?' Kaede said in astonishment.
'Yes, the younger girl, Madaren.'
Kaede frowned. 'It is a strange name.'
'It is common enough among the Hidden. She took some other name, I believe,
after the massacre. She was sold into a brothel by the soldiers who killed her
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