Cecelia Highton-Smith tapped on the girls’ door then slid it open and whispered, ‘Good morning.’ Alice-Miranda, Millie and Jacinta were still asleep on their futons in the middle of the tatami floor. Despite starting off in separate corners, they’d somehow wriggled to the centre and were huddled together like caterpillars in their downy cocoons.

Millie was the first to stir. She opened her eyes and stretched her arms above her head.

Cecelia knelt down beside her. ‘Hello, sleepyhead.’

‘Good morning.’ Millie sat up and yawned.

Jacinta was snoring gently: little grunts punctuated by the occasional whistling breath. Alice-Miranda rolled over and rubbed her eyes. ‘Hello Mummy. Did we sleep in?’

‘No, darling, but I thought I’d better wake you. Breakfast is ready. Why don’t you put on your robes and come downstairs,’ Cecelia suggested.

‘Don’t we have to get dressed?’ Millie asked.

‘No, we can go to breakfast in our yukatas.’ Cecelia stood up and twirled around in her pretty blue robe. ‘It’s the thing to do when staying in a ryokan.’

‘I saw them hanging in the wardrobe. They sort of look like cotton kimonos,’ said Alice-Miranda. She stood up and went to get one.

‘Jacinta.’ Cecelia gently put her hand on the girl’s arm.

‘You’ll never wake her like that. Trust me, she sleeps like a sloth,’ Millie said. She leaned over and whispered sharply in Jacinta’s ear, ‘You’re late!’

The girl sat bolt upright. ‘What? Sorry, Howie, I didn’t hear the bell.’ Jacinta scrambled out of bed onto the tatami. A few seconds later she looked around, clearly confused, and realised that she wasn’t in her dormitory bedroom at all.

Millie laughed.

‘Calm down, sweetheart. There’s plenty of time,’ Cecelia cooed. ‘Oh, Millie, that’s cruel.’

Jacinta exhaled loudly and glared at Millie. ‘Why did you do that?’

‘Do what?’ Millie replied innocently, batting her eyelashes.

‘Come on girls, I’ll be back in a few minutes. Just put on your robes and slippers and we’ll get something to eat. I don’t know about you but I could murder a cup of tea,’ Cecelia said and walked out of the room.

 

In the cosy dining room of the Sadachiyo Ryokan, Alice-Miranda, Millie and Jacinta discovered an interesting selection of food for their breakfast. There was miso soup, rice porridge and even some broiled fish.

Alice-Miranda pointed at one of the plates and smiled at the young girl who was serving them. ‘Could you tell me what this is, please?’

‘Tamagoyaki. I think you would call it an omelette,’ the girl explained. She bowed and then retreated from the room.

Jacinta used her chopsticks to pick up what looked like a pink vegetable. She sniffed it and screwed up her nose.

‘I think it’s a pickle,’ said Alice-Miranda.

‘Oh, that’s disgusting.’ Jacinta flung it back into the bowl. ‘Yuck!’

‘I’ll try it.’ Millie reached over and popped the vegetable into her mouth. ‘It’s okay.’

Alice-Miranda tucked into the omelette. ‘Oh, that’s delicious. Just like Mrs Oliver’s.’

‘Well, I’m not eating that.’ Jacinta pointed at two dried fish, whose beady eyes were staring up at her from the plate.

Millie prodded her with a chopstick. ‘I think you’re going to be starving by the end of the week.’

‘I don’t care,’ Jacinta replied. ‘Surely there are some steak restaurants around here somewhere.’

The girls sat together while Cecelia, Hugh and Ambrosia were at another small table on the other side of the room. All of the tables were low and surrounded by cushions for the guests to kneel on. A young couple sat at the far end of the room, and another table was occupied by a family of two parents and a son and daughter.

Millie took a sip of her tea. She spat it out and wiped her mouth on a napkin. ‘Yuck!’

‘What’s the matter?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

‘What sort of tea is that?’ Millie stared into the cup.

‘It’s green tea,’ Alice-Miranda said. She peered into the cup at the cloudy liquid. ‘Did you put milk in it?’

‘Yes, of course. I always have milk in my tea – and two sugars,’ Millie replied.

‘No wonder it tastes awful.’ Alice-Miranda grinned. ‘You’re supposed to drink it on its own. I guarantee you’ll like it better that way.’

‘How was I supposed to know that?’ Millie set the cup back down. ‘Why did they put milk on the tray?’

‘I think it was for the rice porridge,’ Alice-Miranda said, casting her eye over the breakfast items. ‘I only know about green tea because Mummy’s a big fan. I hated it to start with but it’s one of those things that the more you try it the more you’ll like it – I think. Wait until you have green tea ice-cream.’

Jacinta shuddered. ‘That sounds truly –’ She stopped as the little girl on the table next to her began to howl.

‘What’s this?’ The girl waved a piece of fish in the air. ‘And why can’t I have a fork? Chopsticks are stupid.’

‘Not as stupid as you,’ her brother snapped.

‘Cadence, stop playing with your food,’ her mother whispered. ‘Please.’ The woman looked over and gave Alice-Miranda and her friends an apologetic smile.

The boy was now flicking grains of rice at his sister and singing a rude song about how smelly her feet were. The father continued to read his book.

Jacinta closed her mouth and picked up her own cup of green tea.

Millie noticed Jacinta’s appalled expression and laughed. ‘It’s like looking in a mirror, isn’t it?’

‘No,’ Jacinta gulped. ‘I’ve changed, and please tell me I was never that bad. Was I?’

Millie grinned.

Hugh Kennington-Jones beckoned for the girls to join them. ‘Have you made some new friends?’ he asked, peering at the family on the other side of the room.

‘No way,’ said Jacinta. ‘Those children are revolting.’

Millie gave a sly wink. ‘Even worse than Jacinta.’

Ambrosia looked up and smiled. ‘Really, Millie? Is that possible?’

Jacinta glared at her mother.

‘I was just joking, darling. Surely you know that by now.’ Ambrosia Headlington-Bear reached out and grabbed Jacinta around the middle, pulling her onto the floor and into her lap.

Jacinta rolled her eyes.

‘We should get moving. What about you girls have a quick bath and then you can head off with your father,’ Cecelia suggested.

‘I think it will be a shower in that funny little tub of ours,’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘What are you doing today, Mummy?’

‘I’m afraid Ambrosia and I have quite a few meetings scheduled this week but we should be able to catch up for lunches, and I’ve set aside some time for a few special things.’

‘I’m looking forward to having the girls to myself,’ Hugh said.

‘Have you decided what we’re doing, Daddy?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

‘I’m pretty flexible, but I thought today we could have a look at the Senso-ji Temple, and later in the week we can go to the Imperial Palace gardens, and I thought we might visit the Tokyo Tower too.’

‘Maybe we should write a list,’ Millie suggested. ‘I saw in my guidebook that there’s a children’s museum. And what about a sumo tournament?’

‘Good plan,’ said Hugh.

‘Sumo? Yuck! Who wants to see fat men in nappies wrestling?’ Jacinta screwed up her face.

‘Come on, Jacinta, it’s not something you see every day,’ Hugh grinned. ‘And those fellows train really hard, you know. I think it would be fun.’

‘Well, you and Millie can go. I’ll sit that one out,’ Jacinta told her friends.

‘All right, girls, off you go and get dressed,’ Cecelia said.

The three children scampered upstairs, chatting about the day ahead.