Each grain of sand is
Polished lovingly by the
Sea throughout each day
“You may not like what you hear,” he said. “I do not want to run the risk of having you hate me, Mi-chan.”
I was aware that I was stepping blindly into deep, dark waters. Did I want Tengen to care about me? I put the uncertainty from me. I would consider it later, when I knew all I needed to know and had time to think things through logically. When I was not still languid from our lovemaking.
“You will never know unless you tell me.” How very calm I sounded! “Go on. Did you find this man?”
Tengen hesitated and then shrugged, as if he had reached a decision.
“I did. I began the next day. It seemed to me that there would be the same sort of close companionship between sumo wrestlers as there was between men who fought together, and that somebody at one of the training heya would know what had happened to Taiho after he fled from Edo. I went to wrestling bouts at several heya, making a point of buying the triumphant wrestler sake after the contests. I found the heya I was seeking on my third attempt.
“I said casually that I had made a lot of money betting on Taiho, and it seemed a shame that he no longer wrestled. The man-giant I was sitting with downed his sake at a gulp—the bowl looked like a thimble in his gigantic fingers—and nodded.
“‘You’re right there. I trained with Taiho in this very heya. He had all the makings of a yokozuna, a grand champion, but the discipline of sumo irked him.’
“‘“I want to be able to get up in the morning when I feel like it, not when I’m told,” he used to say. “And I want to eat what I fancy, not sit down and be forced to eat chankonabe stew at every meal.”
“‘I told him he was a fool, that he should stick it out, but he wouldn’t have it.’” My companion burped and covered his lips with a hand like a plate. “‘Pardon me. One of the regulars told him he could use a good man to keep the customers in order at his brothel and offered to pay him twice what he was earning as a trainee in the heya. I told him that in a couple of years he could name his own fee as a wrestler, but he was having none of it. Taiho didn’t stick it out there, either. He moved on after a while. Not a problem for him, of course, there’s always somebody on the lookout for a good man who can throw his weight about.’
“My sumo wrestler giggled at his own wit. I smiled politely but was torn between elation and despair. I had found somebody who knew the man, but by the sound of it, they had lost contact years ago.
“‘Funny you should say that,’ I said. ‘That’s exactly why I was trying to track Taiho down while I was here in Edo. I have a nice, respectable sort of establishment myself in Kyoto. You know how it is, now and then one of the customers takes too much sake and makes a nuisance of himself. And sometimes one of the girls gets a bit above herself and needs a bit of discipline, if you get my meaning.’
“‘Oh, Taiho’s your man alright. Nobody would answer back to him, and he would never take any cheek from a woman, that’s for sure.’
“‘Shame he seems to have vanished. I heard he had had a bit of trouble recently. I thought he might be pleased to get out of Edo for a while, but it looks as if I’ve missed my chance.’
“I shrugged, standing as though I was about to take my leave.”
“‘Not so fast, my friend. I might be able to help you there.’
“My new friend looked sadly into his empty sake cup. I took the hint and signaled to the server to bring another flask as I sat down.”
“‘You know where I could find him?’
“The wrestler made an side-to-side gesture with the flat of his hand. ‘I didn’t say that. But I do know somebody who probably knows where he’s gone. His woman, a yujo called Emi.’
“I was disappointed. I knew only too well who Taiho’s woman had been, and the dead cannot speak to the living. I was angry and spoke bluntly.
“‘I think you are wasting my time, my friend. I heard Taiho had to flee from Edo after he murdered m—his woman and her son.’
“The words almost stuck in my throat. My wife. My son.
“‘That’s right, he did. But Taiho always had more than one woman on the go, although this particular yujo lasted much longer than the rest of them. Taiho complained he couldn’t get rid of her, but I think he found her useful when he was between other women. If anybody knows where he is, it’s her.’
“I held a silver ichibugin up between my thumb and finger and kept it there until he told me where I could find Emi.
“She would be easy enough to find. If his information was correct, she worked in one of the better brothels in Edo. I found my way there as soon as I left the wrestler, but I was disappointed. Emi was not there, I was told. She had worked there, but lately she had been surly and rude to clients, so she had been told to pack her bags. My trick with the silver coin worked just as well there, and I was given an address in another part of Edo, together with a discreet warning to leave my purse at home if I knew what was good for me.
“It was late and I was weary, so I decided to find Emi the next day. But fate is strange beyond the perception of man. My duties tied me to my master for a few days, and I could do nothing to search for Emi. I was woken up some days later by one of the servants, who grinned at me and said I had a visitor. I grunted and turned over. I was not expecting anybody, especially at such an hour. I had no interest in talking to a stranger.
“‘Tell him to go away,’ I muttered and rolled over.
I sensed the servant was hovering and was about to speak roughly to him when he said, ‘It’s not a he, it’s a she. She said to tell you her name is Emi and that you would be pleased to see her.’”
I blinked at Tengen in amazement and asked, “How had she come to find you?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I imagine my sumo wrestler got word to her. I was amazed she had come to me. I would have expected her to leave Edo when she heard someone was searching for her. I fully expected her to lie to me, so I was wary. I was also very surprised when I saw her.
“She was a yujo, so I had expected a woman raddled by her profession, a woman with a painted face and a hard heart. What I saw was a young woman, probably in her early twenties. She wore no makeup at all, and her clothes were subdued. She might have been an ordinary housewife, except that she was extraordinarily pretty.
“I welcomed her and offered her tea, which she declined. Before I could ask her anything, she plucked the questions from my mind and spoke bluntly.
“‘You’re Tengen. You’re searching for my Taiho.’
“‘That is so.’ I was cautious, still suspicious as to why she had come to me.
“‘I heard you’re looking for him. I suppose somebody will tell you where to find him if you give them enough money. I know where he is, but before I tell you, you have to promise that you won’t hurt him.’
“Grief blazed so hard in my body that the muscles in my jaw clenched and I could barely speak. I took a deep breath and managed to grind out, ‘He murdered my wife and my son. A defenseless woman and a child. And you ask me not to hurt him?’
“‘You don’t know what she did to him, your precious wife!’
“My mouth dropped open in disbelief. Before I could find words, Emi carried on relentlessly.
“‘He was my man before she came along. Oh, I know he had other women sometimes. A giant of a man like Taiho has the appetites of two men. But always he came back to me, until she smiled at him and hid behind her fan, pretending to be all sweet and innocent. She sucked him in. Made him fall in love with her. She took him away from me!’
“‘Enough!’ I snapped. ‘You don’t know what you’re talking about. Either tell me where Taiho is or get out.’
“She was panting with emotion, staring at me with eyes that were almost mad. But she did not rise, and with an effort that was more than human, I reined in my temper and waited for her to speak.
“‘I will tell you where he is. But only if you promise you won’t hurt him when you find him. Promise, on the memory of your wife and son.’
“‘Get out.’
“The words were wrenched from me. I could not believe that the gods could be so cruel. Here was my chance to find Taiho, but I could not take it. If—when—I found him, he would be a dead man. And I could no more give Emi the promise she wanted than fly to the moon.
“‘You must promise,’ she persisted.
“‘He killed my family!’ My voice rose to a howl. ‘How can you ask me to leave him unpunished?’
“‘And your wife killed me the day she took a fancy to him!’
“Emi’s words were full of pain. We stared at each other silently. I could not believe what she was saying. She could not understand my agony. She broke the silence first, speaking in a whisper so low, it was as if she was speaking to herself.
“‘You’ll find him eventually. I had hoped that you would give up, but now that I’ve met you, I know you’ll keep going no matter how long it takes. And it doesn’t matter what I tell you about your wife. I don’t suppose you’ll ever believe me.’ She shook her head violently, as if shaking off her own thoughts. When she spoke, her voice was firm. ‘Very well. I will tell you where he is. But first you must promise me on your honor that you will tell him who you are and allow him to face you in a fair fight.’
“In spite of the seriousness of our conversation, I almost laughed. Everybody said Taiho was a giant of a man. A man who possessed enormous strength. What chance would I have of beating him in a fair contest? Not that I cared. If I died trying to avenge my family, I would depart this world a happy man.
“Sorrow consumed me at the thought of my wife and son. I looked at Emi, but saw Cho. And at that moment, I knew that I would give Emi her promise, and that I would keep to it. To do anything else would have lowered me to Taiho’s level. Unlike him, I was not a coward.
“‘You have my word on it,’ I said simply.
“Emi studied my face for a while and then nodded. ‘You will find him in Sakai, a brothel called the Pink House.’
“She rose abruptly and turned to leave. I called her back. ‘How do I know you aren’t going to warn him?’
“She smiled. It lit up her face and, for a moment, I saw her as the lovely young woman she might have been if her fate had been different.
“‘There’s no need. You have given me your promise that you will meet Taiho fairly. If you do that, he will kill you. Once you’re dead, he can come back here. To me.’
“She walked away then, leaving me wandering in so many emotions that I was lost to the world.”