Part 5 (1/2)

Feeling hungry, Isaku started eating some of the roasted beans he had in his bag.

'There's quite a bit of cargo there. That's some haul,' said Gonsuke, his voice trembling as he looked down on the bay.

'Is this more than O-fune-sama in the past?' asked Isaku.

'There have been bigger s.h.i.+ps, but this amount of cargo's unusual. There's a lot on the beach, and there's still more to come off the s.h.i.+p.' Gonsuke's eyes glistened with excitement.

Gonsuke undoubtedly knew what he was talking about, since he had been on lookout each time O-fune-sama had come. Isaku felt excitement welling up inside him at the very thought of the exceptional amount of cargo. 'What do you think could be on board?' he asked.

'Well, first of all, there could be rice, then maybe things like beans, cloth, pottery, tobacco, writing-paper, oil and sugar. Once there was even a s.h.i.+p carrying twenty casks of wine,' he said, baring his chipped teeth in a grin.

The s.h.i.+p must have been eventually emptied of cargo around the time the sun began to set. The boats became less active, and the villagers started to carry everything off the beach up to the chief's house.

The snow on the mountains looming behind the village took on a purple tinge before giving way to the night. Down on the beach the light of the fire suddenly glimmered, and the village sank into darkness.

Isaku helped Gonsuke dig a hole in the deep snow that had built up behind a large rock, lining the inside with dry leaves and gra.s.s. After they had criss-crossed sticks over the top of the hole and placed bark on top, they climbed in and lay down back to back.

There was a wicked chill in the air, but inside the hole it gradually became warmer. Gonsuke started to snore.

Isaku lay in the dark, his eyes wide open. By all accounts the village chief would order the bounty from O-fune-sama to be distributed fairly to each household, according to the number of people in each family. With the bulk of the cargo undoubtedly being bales of rice, Isaku was beside himself with joy at the thought of partaking of such a delicacy. His younger brother and sister had never tasted rice, and he imagined the luxury of serving them rice gruel. He could just picture how the delectably sweet taste of the white gruel would astonish them.

Gonsuke was certainly right about the large haul, and naturally this meant that each family could look forward to receiving a generous amount of food and other items. With the saury not selling and a poor catch of autumn octopus allowing them to buy only a pitiful amount of grain, the coming of O-fune-sama was nothing less than deliverance from the fear of starvation. If managed properly, the bounty would last them two or even three years. There would be no need for them to sell themselves into bondage, and no doubt they would be able to lead quiet, peaceful lives for some time to come. Tami would stay with her family, and Takichi would continue to spend his days as a fisherman and a father to his child.

Isaku put his hand over his heart. The coming of O-fune-sama was due to divine intercession, and Isaku wanted to offer a prayer of grat.i.tude from the bottom of his heart.

The sound of the waves breaking at the foot of the promontory seemed to reverberate from the earth's very core. Before he knew it he was asleep.

He woke up to find a hand shaking his shoulder.

Gonsuke reached up and pushed aside the branches and bark covering the hole. Isaku felt a sudden rush of cold air. There were still stars in the night sky, but they were losing their brightness.

Isaku crawled out of the hole. Gonsuke was blowing life into the dying embers of the fire, and in no time he had the dry branches crackling.

Isaku warmed himself by the fire and looked out to sea. As daybreak drew near, the sea was calm. Down in the bay, work had already started; he could see what must have been flaming torches set up in the boats moving on the water, as well as on the stranded s.h.i.+p.

Gonsuke cooked two salted saury in the fire, handing one to Isaku. Fat oozed out of the hot fish, and as he ate it with the roasted beans the saltiness of the saury was neutralised, producing an incredibly delicious taste.

Daybreak came, and the sea was bathed in morning sunlight. Splashes of spray shot up again and again round the stranded s.h.i.+p as pieces of timber and planks were thrown overboard.

'Looks like they're taking O-fune-sama apart,' said Isaku, straining his eyes to see what was happening.

'That's because she's made of good-quality timber. Can be used for anything. There are nails and hinges to be had there, too. And all the pots and pans down in the galley, not to mention the knives, buckets and rice tubs. Sometimes there are even cabinets or chests,' said Gonsuke enthusiastically.

Now Isaku understood why the elder in charge had got them to prepare saws, axes and mallets. The s.h.i.+p was being taken apart and the timber dropped into the water.

The boats were towing it to the sh.o.r.e, where it was pulled up on the beach. From there it was carried into the woods behind the village.

Isaku and Gonsuke cast their eyes across the sea: no sign of any pa.s.sing vessels. Off to the east, they could now see scores of seabirds dancing in the air like snowflakes, with the reflections off a school of fish breaking the surface of the sea below them. No smoke was to be seen over the other side of the bay, either, on Tide Point.

Two small boats started to move away from the s.h.i.+p in the direction of the promontory where Isaku and Gonsuke were standing.

'They're taking the bodies away,' said Gonsuke.

Isaku looked over. He could clearly see something covered with straw matting in the bottom of the boats. Eventually, the boats started to disappear from sight, one after another, down at the foot of the cape.

The tumult around the s.h.i.+p showed no signs of stopping, and the vessel soon lost all semblance of its original shape. Work was progressing at a brisk pace, and already the part of the stern that held the smashed rudder had disappeared. He could see a boat carrying away the sailcloth.

Just after the Hour of the Horse, the only part left on the rocks was the bottom of the hull. There were also people actually standing on the reef as they worked on the boat with astonis.h.i.+ng speed.

When the timber from what seemed to be bunks had been towed away, all that was left floating on the water was pieces of the keel. When these were pulled up onto the sh.o.r.e, the last trace of the s.h.i.+p disappeared from the rocky bay, leaving nothing but the placid sea.

'Have you ever seen a s.h.i.+p heading this way when you've been on lookout?' asked Isaku, seeming to lose interest in the task at hand.

'Yeah, I have. Two in one day,' said Gonsuke, scanning the sea.

A plume of smoke rose into the air.

'That's the signal that they've finished. That's it for us, too,' said Gonsuke, throwing snow on the fire. 'Let's go and have a look at what they've got. Looks like a fair-sized haul all right,' he added, swinging his axe up onto his shoulder.

Isaku followed Gonsuke into the woods, weaving his way between the trees as he scampered to keep up with Gonsuke's fast clip. Exhilarated, he felt as if he were walking on air. No doubt his mother and Isokichi had worked through the day with the other villagers.

He wanted to join the frenzied excitement in the village as quickly as he could. When they reached the mountain path, Gonsuke, axe on his back, broke into a trot, with Isaku close behind, impatient to see the bounty O-fune-sama had brought.

Coming out of the trees they could see the sh.o.r.e down to the right. They expected to see the villagers dancing madly, but instead they all stood stock-still by the water's edge. Taken aback, Isaku broke stride for a second, but Gonsuke ran on unperturbed down the slope so he followed him.

Gonsuke left the path and stepped onto the beach. Breathing hard, Isaku walked over to the gathering.

The villagers were standing around their chief, palms pressed together as they faced out to sea. Isaku understood that they were offering prayers of grat.i.tude for the bounty bestowed on them by the sea. When the village chief finished praying, the elder standing beside him turned to the people and in a spirited voice said, 'Well done. Your hard work has made your chief happy. Now go home and spend the rest of the day praying to your ancestors. The bounty from O-fune-sama will be apportioned tomorrow morning.'

The chief left the water's edge, followed by the villagers, no one saying a word, the glint in their eyes and their beaming smiles telling all. Prodded by Gonsuke, Isaku took a step in front of the elder. The old man was satisfied when Gonsuke reported that there had been no signs of s.h.i.+ps approaching. Isaku bowed deeply and walked to his house.

When Isaku pushed his way past the straw matting hanging at the doorway, his mother turned to look at him as she prayed in front of the ihai, their ancestral tablet. She looked completely different, her face flushed with happiness, the corners of her mouth turned up in a way that Isaku had never seen before.

He stepped onto the floor, pressed his palms together in front of the ancestral tablet, and sat down by the fireside. Feeling another wave of joy, he wanted to jump up and dance around the room.

The sun had begun to go down and the temperature was falling. His mother started heating a pot of water with buckwheat seeds, then brought some salted saury over to the fireside. Obviously the makings of a meal much more generous than usual.

'What was on O-fune-sama?' Isaku asked his mother.

'Rice, and lots of it,' his mother said, enunciating each word for effect.

'What else?'

'There was cotton and rapeseed oil, too. Wax, tea, wine and soy sauce, vinegar and matting. But the rice ... This O-fune-sama was a rice s.h.i.+p,' said his mother excitedly.

What a great day it is, Isaku thought. It was a joy to see his mother so talkative, and he felt her happiness affecting not only him but his brother and sister as well; they sat, smiling, beside him. When the buckwheat seeds started to dance in the hot water, his mother added some vegetables and seaweed. The room grew dark, and their faces gleamed red in the light from the flames. Smoke started to float up from the skewered saury around the fire. His mother filled their bowls from the pot one by one, Isaku first, next his brother, and then his sister, before serving herself.

Isaku nibbled a saury and sipped away at the vegetable porridge. The next day the rice would be distributed, and he was elated at the thought of his brother and sister's first taste of rice gruel.