THE WATERFRONT, TOWN OF URAGA
The waterfront had been deserted by the usual crowd of ferryboat men, travelers, and fishermen and was instead a chaotic scene of armed samurai police and soldiers who had been sent to protect the country. None of them noticed the two dusty and ragged boys who kept to the lengthening shadows of the pines.
It was a warm, humid evening. The scent of the sea lay heavy in the air, and the smoke of sentry fires and gunpowder hung like mist over the water. There was something else, too, Yoshi thought. Maybe the smell of the ships, carrying the scent of far-off places, frightening places, places he couldn’t even imagine.
In the gathering darkness, the Black Ships were almost invisible. Still, Yoshi could sense them there, lurking in the bay like malevolent dragons. The air of mystery surrounding them was almost unbearable. Both boys shivered a little, despite the warmth of the evening.
“At least we’re safe,” Yoshi said, settling down in a spot among the trees.
“Maybe from Kitsune,” Jun said. “I’m not so sure we’re safe from them! Do you think they can see us?”
“No. How?” Yoshi said.
“It is said the hairy ones can see in the dark,” Jun said. “Like cats.”
“They are too far away. We can’t see them; they can’t see us.” Yoshi stared at the vague black shapes.
Without taking his eyes off the ships, Jun sat down next to him.
“Do you ever wish you could sail far away out into the ocean?” Yoshi asked.
“No!” Jun said. “Why would I want to do that? There is nothing good there. Barbarians. Monsters. The sea priest who lures fishermen to their deaths. Would you want to go there?”
Yoshi lay back. “I don’t know. I’m too tired to think,” he said, but his nerves buzzed.
“How will we ever sleep?” Jun said. “I’m so hungry!”
“Oh!” Yoshi sat up, remembering the rice ball tucked into the fold of his sleeve. Ah, but Hideki was now wearing that garment. Well, Hideki would probably have gotten hungry, too, he supposed.
How, Yoshi wondered, had he managed to bungle things so badly? Now he was hungry, without a job; his life wasn’t worth a copper penny; and the barbarians were about to invade the country. There was no use feeling sorry for himself. He had wished for things to change, he reminded himself, and they had.
Jun was already snoring when Yoshi lay back again and stared up into the darkness. The sky was like a deep, vast ocean, dotted with shimmering islands. What would it be like to be up there, steering a boat from one bright star to the next? The world where these ships had come from, Yoshi wondered—what was it like? Had they come from some island as bright as a star?
Yoshi fell asleep imagining swimming from star to star, though he didn’t know how to swim very well. But in his dream he struck off with bold strokes across a black ocean, aiming for the brightest star he could see.