Kitsune Matsuri: The Open Gateway Page 14

  I sighed and closed my eyes.

  I can’t worry about that now. I’ll figure it out in the morning.

  The next day dawned bright through the shades of my window. A warm scent of something wonderful wafted up into my room from downstairs. Getting out of bed, I stretched my arms and looked out the sliding door. The sky was blue and clear.

  Being careful of my leg, I hopped outside, the coarse texture of the balcony still wet beneath my bare feet.

  It must have rained more last night.

  The distant hills radiated with electrifying pink and white blossoms. The air smelled of honeysuckle growing up the garden wall. Sparrows spun through the sky filling it with their lovely song.

  Everything looked washed and clean against vibrant natural colors. I suddenly remembered Michiko’s words. “With the new rain grows new life.”

  I wondered if the spirits had a part in this. I limped back into the hallway, but there was no sign of John. Peering inside his room, I found it empty. Downstairs Jomei and Aoki sat at the table.

  “Good morning, Tobias-san!” Aoki greeted me cheerfully. Jomei didn’t look up from his paper, but he acknowledged me with a polite nod.

  “Where’s John?”

  “Oh, I am sorry, dear. He’s already gone. He left early this morning for Osaka with all his things. I hardly had time to fix him a proper breakfast.”

  “Gone, already?” I felt a slight pang in my gut.

  “I’m sorry you didn’t get to say goodbye, dear. Jomei and I are still here, and I’m cooking your favorite … bacon and eggs!”

  My favorite?

  I stared at the goopy mixture in the pan behind her and felt a cringe in my gut, but I managed to smile.

  “Sure, that sounds good.” A somewhat convincing lie since I had no stomach for eggs that morning, but I wouldn’t disappoint Aoki. Besides, she made decent eggs.

  I sat down at the table but felt something in my back pants pocket. Puzzled, I reached back and felt a smooth oblong surface, bringing it out where I could see it just under the table. It was the weird little jewel I’d picked up yesterday.

  How did it end up in my pocket? I swore I’d put it in the drawer of my nightstand.

  I brought it out and laid it on the tabletop. “Jomei-san, do you have any idea what this is? I found it in the street at Fushimi.”

  He bent his paper halfway down. For a moment I saw a keen interest in the stone, then it was gone. “I can’t say I do.” He folded up his paper. “It’s a lovely stone, but I think you should take that back where you found it.”

  I frowned, closing my fingers again. That’s what that fox said to do, so it must be important. I can’t just put it back on the street. What if it gets lost again?

  Then I glanced up at the kitchen clock. “Crud, I don’t want to be late!” The “jewel” was forgotten as I began to shovel the eggs in my mouth.

  Aoki put a hand on my shoulder, shaking her head. “You need to eat more slowly, Tobias-san! You’ll have stomach aches at that pace!”

  “Sorry, Aoki-san.” I turned to her, offering the gem. “Would you keep this thing here? I don’t want to lose it.”

  She stared at it intently, then after a moment she nodded and took it in her palm. “I’ll just put this away for now, dear.” She handed me my lunch.

  I didn’t need any second reminder. I just barely caught the train to work. Michiko wasn’t where she usually waited at the station entrance when I arrived in Yamashina. Instead, I found Chikako standing there in her place, her little yellow hat perched on her head for traveling to school.

  “Ohayōgozaimasu, Tobias-Sensei!”[62] She giggled padding up to me. “Good morning, Tobias-Sensei.”

  “Ah, hello Chikako-chan. Been practicing your English, I see.” I got out my little pocket translator. “Michiko-san wa dokodesu ka?”[63] I hoped I said it right.

  “Sick,” she replied, mimicking my tone in English. She shifted her arms in a very bright pink blazer. “She say wait for you.”

  I fumbled through a few more pages, stumbling over my words. “Sore wa — wa shinko-kudesu ka?”[64]

  She shook her head no and pouted with her lower lip. “She very sorry.”

  This could not be the best start to my day. Not only was I without my translator, I’d lost John as an advisor. I patted the child on the shoulder. “Well, I guess you’re my responsibility today. Come on. We don’t want to be late.”

  We reached school a little later than normal making our way up the steps to the muffled sounds of a band playing somewhere inside. I peered down the hall. A group of children were gathered in an open classroom, their arms clasped around various tubas, trumpets and other wind instruments. The result was a jumbled caterwaul.

  Thank God I never explored a life of teaching music.

  Chikako clasped her hands as tightly as she could over her ears. “They sound pretty bad, huh, Chikako-chan?” I laughed. “Well, practice makes perfect, I suppose.”

  The classroom was a sanctuary from most of the noise, but the band’s music echoed even in those upper hallways, and I had to keep the door closed. I immediately put Chikako to work with a coloring book while I finished preparing.

  I watched her sitting there humming to herself as she kicked her feet in the open air beneath the seat. Every now and then, she’d carefully choose a different crayon, inspecting the colors as if she were picking a flavor of ice cream.

  When the bell rang, she dutifully went to her seat while the other children filed inside followed by a gaunt young Japanese man with blonde tinted hair who introduced himself as my substitute translator.

  He couldn’t have been any older than I was, and from the moment he took his place at the head of the classroom, I could sense that he was none too pleased to be in a secondary position.

  He was a nice enough fellow but would continually pause, going over my words as if I had said all the wrong things. When the children asked a question, he would pause between words as if calculating each one. It was very different from Michiko’s nearly instantaneous and flawless syntax.

  I’m crippled in more ways than one now. First my leg, now this.

  At lunch, I was left to eat alone with Chikako. I reached into my bag feeling for my apple and instead felt a round foreign object. Sure enough, the onion-shaped stone was in my lunch bag. The ball warmed in my grasp, and I watched awestruck as the same soft, blue aura that I’d seen the previous evening crept along the smooth surface.

  How did this end up here?

  I felt prying eyes upon me. Chikako was standing there peering over the surface of my desk at the jewel. “What you have, Tobias-Sensei?”

  I quickly shoved the ball into my pocket. “Nothing, Chikako. Go ahead and eat.”

  “I want see, please?”

  “All right,” I sighed. What can it hurt? Reaching back into my jacket, my fingers felt around the smooth surface of the oversized pearl and brought it out in my open palm. “See, it’s just a little stone I found.”

  A strange expression crossed her face. Her eyes widened. “Hoshi-no-tama!”

  “What?”

  “Hoshi-no-tama,” she repeated. “Hoshi-no-tama!” She hopped up and down pointing at the gem.

  Hoshi-no-tama?

  I flipped through my translation book, but could find no entry. “I don’t understand, Chikako-chan.”

  Turning on her heel, she hurried over to her desk and brought out a small comic book. She flipped through the colorful pages then pointed her finger.

  A fox sat upon a landscape of green and blue. At its feet sat a small, round stone very much like my own.

  “Hoshi-no-tama,” she said. “Fox Jewel, Tobias-Sensei! Is powerful magic!”

  Fox Jewel!

  I felt like an idiot. I’d seen foxes with stones at Fushimi, and the fox in my dream was another sign.

  This jewel must belong to Matsuri.

  The stone was obviously magical, and if it belonged to my kitsune friend, could be very powerful. But how
could I possibly find her to give the thing back? Up until now, Matsuri was the one finding me. The solution came quickly.

  I have to go to Fushimi, but I can’t let on that this is a real fox jewel.

  I stared at Chikako. She still looked very concerned. “Tobias-Sensei shouldn’t keep fox jewel. Always cause mischief.”

  “You have a very vivid imagination, little one,” I said, smiling down at Chikako. I felt bad for patronizing her, but I didn’t want to let on about what I knew.

  She stared up at me with a bewildered expression. “Eh?”

  “Do you like magic tricks, Chikako?” She nodded at me. “Do you want see one?”

  “Hai?” She looked confused like she didn’t know where I was going with this.

  I smiled and closed my fingers around the gem, waving my free hand over and using sleight of hand to slip it down into my other hand. I opened up an empty palm. “See? Poof, gone!”

  “Hei! Sore wa doko ni itta?”[65] She gawked at me, mouth wide open. “Where it go?”

  I chuckled and opened up my other hand. “In my other hand, see?”

  It took her a minute to grasp what I’d just done. She stared at me warily but gave me a slight smile. “Tobias-Sensei good magician but should be careful with magic.”

  I nodded, “I shall be. Don’t worry. I intend to return it where it belongs.”

  That pleased her enough and she settled back down. The day went on, and when the bell finally rang, I noticed Chikako was still there collecting her things. “Do you need help home, Chikako-chan?”

  She smiled up at me. “Īe, anata wa, Tobias-Sensei arigatō!”[66] She shook her head. “I OK.”

  “All right. You have a good night, little one.”

  “Sayōnara, Tobias-Sensei!”[67]

  I sat back down to the usual routine of grading papers, but I couldn’t focus. My mind kept wandering to Chikako out there by herself.

  What if something happens to her? I can’t just let her go home alone!

  I grabbed my crutches.

  I have to go after her!

  It wasn’t easy, but I caught up with her on the train just managing to squeeze myself inside as we took off. She was too busy listening to music to notice me when I tried to get her attention, perfectly happy to mouth the words to whatever song was playing. I sighed and stood, waiting as I jostled back and forth within the cramped space.

  When we arrived at Fushimi, she got off ahead and made an immediate beeline up the hill to the temple along a main thoroughfare I hadn’t taken before. Right outside was a bronze fox, frozen in full leap, a golden grain within its mouth. Balanced on its tail was a jewel just like the one I had.

  So I was right. But where’s Chikako?

  I’d almost lost her in the crowd, and I struggled to pursue her using the pink she wore to track her through the crowd. She stopped and removed her ear-buds before cleansing herself at the spring and entered through the structure.

  I was about to follow when a large cluster of tourists emerged from the gate and blocked my passage. I tried to push my way through, but somewhere in between I suddenly lost sight of the little girl. Panicking, I shoved through into the courtyard and stopped dead still. Chikako was gone!

  OK, no need to panic right away. It’s not like Chikako is easy to lose with that bright pink blazer she wore today.

  Maybe she slipped away somewhere close by. But there were so many places to hide here.

  I hobbled through the gate on my crutches and emerged into a large courtyard. The whole complex stretched ahead of me. I had no idea what lay beyond this courtyard. Michiko had said there were miles of trails, and if Chikako went up one of those she’d be gone.

  I have to find her or find someone to help me.

  Everything was in Japanese kanji, and my portable translator would take too long to decipher each phrase. What was worse, I had no idea what to ask or even where to begin.

  Wait a minute! I’m at the Fushimi Shrine. There should be good kitsune here, but how do I contact one?

  My knowledge of Shinto shrines was limited, but if memory served, there would be a prayer area with bells. After a little searching, I found a building where long cords of rope connected to acorn shaped bells. As I watched, people approached and tossed a few coins into the donation box before summoning the god with the bell and clapping twice.

  When it was my turn, I stepped up to one of the ropes and gazed a moment into the cool dark inside of the shrine. Reaching into my pocket, I felt for the jewel. Glancing on either side of me, I saw people standing with eyes closed, hands clasped in front of them in silent prayer. Trying to be as inconspicuous as I could, I lobbed it forward.

  There was a moment’s pause as the thing hung in the air, the light catching and reflecting on the round surface. Then it clunked heavily into the bin, echoing against the timber roof. A few people glared at me. I gritted my teeth, eyes moving from side to side, quickly grasped the rope bell and pulled lightly. The bells clanged, and I clapped twice then bowed my head in prayer.

  Please, let this jewel be returned to Matsuri, and please help me find Chikako and see her home safely.

  I opened my eyes and looked down into the tray. The ball was still there, and I felt my gut drop.

  Did I make a mistake?

  I couldn’t exactly retrieve it. That would be very disrespectful—like making change out of the collection box at church.

  So much for that.

  I turned and almost immediately stumbled against a smaller form kneeling on the ground.

  “Oh, sorry,” I glanced down. It was Chikako bent over to tie her sneakers!

  She peered up at me, her hands sweeping back the orange and white sash that now draped on the ground behind her. “Tobias-Sensei?”

  “Hai, Chikako-chan. I wanted to make sure you got home safely. I was worried about you.” I cast a quick glance at the offering box. The gem was gone.

  Thank you, Matsuri! I hope I did the right thing.

  “You not have to do that, Tobias-Sensei.”

  “That’s my job, Chikako-chan. I’d like to see you safely home and say hello to Michiko-san if I may?”

  She thought about it a moment. “Hai!” She hopped up onto her toes. “I show you the way.”

  “All right, but easy does it. I’m still a little slow on these crutches.”

  We made our way down from the temple and followed a street along the side of the mountain almost parallel to the shrine. The dwellings here were older, clustered together as in all the other neighborhoods.

  The houses broke away amid retaining walls and narrow alleys that gave the area a gentler look—different from in town. Flowering trees and bushes leant sparks of color to old, cracked walls and wooden gates strung with ivy.

  The street ended, and the stone turned to a softer dirt road. Smaller houses gave way to larger ones surrounded by thick groves of bamboo as tall as a two story building in some places. A very old torii gate stood at one end, its weathered surface stripped of any paint leaving it austerely gray.

  Chikako pointed up a set of stone stairs. “Home there, Tobias-Sensei.”

  The stone steps were slippery with the wet remnant of rain. I took my time as we made our way up the hillside.

  We emerged into a small clearing with a cleanly swept path lined with stone lanterns on either side. Their rough-hewn surfaces mottled with moss and lichen. Dew-speckled spider webs fluttered in the breeze between them.

  Beyond all this stood a simple two story wooden house with a steeply pitched roof that sloped down over worn cedar plank walls. White curtains fluttered from wide opened windows framed by dark red shutters.

  Poppies, geraniums, iris and roses bloomed in the large garden with buds as big as my fist. There were vegetables too: squash, lettuce, turnips and some more foreign looking items like dasho and ginger.

  At the far side on a hill grew a huge cedar. The canopy was easily as big as the house itself, a mass of deep green that shaded everything around it. A thi
ck length of straw rope straddled the girth of the tree with paper talismans hanging from it.

  “You live here, Chikako-chan?”

  “Hai, where else?” She came to halt at the garden gate. “You wait here, Tobias-Sensei!”

  Alone once more, I wandered toward the fragrant cedar. It must have been a good thirty feet tall with low hanging branches perfect for climbing. A small shrine sat at its base with a freshly lit brazier letting off a small haze of jasmine scented smoke.

  Incredible. This must be a sacred tree!

  I reached out to touch it, feeling the texture of the bark beneath my fingers.

  What a place! I’d live here if I could.

  A voice suddenly came from behind. “Tobias-san?”

  I turned and saw Michiko standing there smiling at me. She looked a bit worse for wear in a shabby plaid kimono and her feet planted firmly into old green Wellingtons. Her hair was disheveled, her eyes red and she had dark circles under them like she hadn’t slept. She was still beautiful even then.

  “Good to see you, Michiko.”

  She sniffed. “Please excuse me. I didn’t know you were coming over. Thank you for bringing Chikako-chan home.”

  “Oh, it was my pleasure. I hope you don’t mind me stopping by.”

  “No, not at all. I see you like our cedar tree, Tobias-san.”

  “Yes, it’s beautiful.”

  “My ancestors planted this tree many decades ago. I used to love climbing up in the lower branches when I was a little girl. Chikako still does, but I suppose I’m too big to join her.” She smiled, running her fingers along the thick surface of the tree. “I hope work today was not too hard.”

  “It wasn’t too bad. I don’t know what I would do without you, Michiko. I’ve come to rely on you as a friend as much as a translator.”

  That’s not what I want to say! Come on, Tobias! I summoned my courage.

  “I missed you.”

  Now it was her turn to blush. “Thank you, Tobias-san.” She ducked behind the trunk hiding from view. “I had better go back inside and rest. Do you want help back down to the street?”