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Two Autumns, One Spring

By Elizabeth Ann Boyles

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Chapter One

August 1861, Year of the Rooster, Nagasaki, Japan

At the sound of her husband bounding up the stairs to their residence, Sumi Taguchi Cardiff headed toward the door. A second later, John burst into their living room, planted a gentle kiss on her cheek, and beckoned for her to sit with him on their tufted sofa.
“I have important news. Entirely unexpected. A real revelation.” He pulled a letter from the pocket of his waistcoat and held it up.
Sumi scanned his face. “Good news, I hope.”
“It might sound a little menacing at first, but you’ll charm the dragon.”
“Dragon?” Her stomach turned over. From what she’d heard of Western tales, dragons were fearful, never helpful like in some of her country’s myths.
“Amazingly, my mother is on her way for a visit.” John’s tone was cheerful, but his gray eyes brimmed with concern.
“Your mother? My honorable mother-in-law? Coming here?” She realized her mouth hung open and closed it.
“Yes. The steamer’s due this Thursday, believe it or not.”
She drew in a breath. “I don’t know what to say.” Four days! Her mother-in-law—due in four days? What if the lady truly resembled a fire-breathing dragon and disliked her? Despised her?
“Her letter was sent from New York in May, four weeks prior to the ship’s departure, but was delayed evidently. Probably routed overland because of the Union blockade along the southeast coast.”
“Such a . . . surprise. She must be very brave.”
“Determined, more than brave. She’s staying only ten days, but long enough, I believe, for you to detect her softer side.” His smile struck Sumi as close to a grimace.
“Can ten days be right? Might she have meant ten weeks?” But if American mothers-in-law were as demanding as Japanese ones, even ten days would be too long. And if she were a particularly fierce mother-in-law, her claws could cut out Sumi’s throat in just one day.
“Sounds outrageous, doesn’t it?” He unfolded the letter and glanced at it. “Her journey here and back will take far longer than her visit. I had to read the dates twice to believe it myself.” He tapped a line in the letter. “She’s traveling with a lady friend, who is disembarking in Hong Kong. Seems the woman’s elderly relative passed away, and she’s the only person eligible to sign for the sale of his residence. Mother will meet up with her friend’s ship for the return voyage.”
“To travel such a long way, she must be very eager to see you. I can understand why.” She mustered a weak smile.
He exhaled. “I wonder if wanting to see me is all there is to her visit. The more I think about it, the stranger it seems.” He ran his finger partway down the page. “She mentions a newspaper article that quotes a visitor to Yokohama. This self-proclaimed expert says our islands are overrun by peril from outlaw samurai. I guess that helped her decide to make her stay a brief one . . . as well as allowing for her companion’s needs.” He arched his eyebrows. “I bet she’ll have braved more danger from Confederate pirates than from anyone here. But considering the situation in both countries, this is not the best time for a journey.” He folded up the letter.
“What will you tell her about the rumors she mentioned?” Maybe a nice visit with the lady on the ship would suffice, and she could go safely on to Hong Kong with her companion.
“Only that Nagasaki isn’t at all like the area around Edo and Yokohama. That Edo’s a magnet for hotheads, like many capital cities. No need to mention the samurai attack on the British consulate there if she hasn’t already heard. It’d only increase her anxiety.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Now I need to explain a problem. My mother appears to have started her journey before the arrival of my letter telling of our marriage plans.”
“She doesn’t know we married?” Sumi took hold of the sofa’s arm next to her, feeling lightheaded.
“I think not.”
“But you told her about me, mentioned me in previous letters, right?” Acid began to eat at her stomach.
“As my wonderful, smart tutor for the Japanese language, yes.”
“Oh John, what will happen when she finds we are married?”
“Well, first I need to say that she’s a Christian. However, she clings to a narrow outlook on certain aspects of life, like your grandfather once did. But like your grandfather, she can widen her thinking.”
A chill slithered up Sumi’s spine. “What are you preparing me to hear?”
“She’ll be upset at first. In our culture, men in their thirties aren’t obliged to ask permission, but she’ll think that marrying a lady from a different background should have involved quite a bit of discussion. But then after getting to know all your charms”—he extended his palm toward her as though introducing nobility—“she’ll understand exactly why I married you.”
Sumi tried to smile at his gesture, but couldn’t. “I’m afraid I’ll be a native in her eyes, an ordinary one. Even though my family all agreed you were an extraordinary Westerner, our marriage still troubled my mother.” The room suddenly turned hot, oppressive in spite of a slight afternoon breeze coming in the open windows. She drew out her fan.
“You’re anything but ordinary, my dear. She can’t help but admire you, inside and out.” He gestured toward her hair, a twinkle in his eyes. “Take the way your hairdo forms those intricate spools, held in place with those chopsticks.” He chuckled.
“Cylinders. Glass cylinders.” She felt the corner of her mouth curve up.
“Right. And your lovely complexion that turns rosy, right before you fan yourself.”
“She may not see me the way you do.” She slid her fan back inside her kimono’s broad sash. “Women judge each other differently.”
“Well then, there’s your ability to think and your endless curiosity. Those are traits she’s got to appreciate. She kept urging me to acquire knowledge while I was growing up. She should be happy to see such a good influence.” He smiled when she shook her head, but his eyes became pensive.
He tucked away the letter. “Too bad I planned tomorrow’s trip. However, the governor might drag his feet another month before issuing a new travel permit. Our company has to export better porcelain. And from what everyone says, I’m tracking down the world’s best.”
“If only you didn’t have to go to the Hizen Domain to find it.” Another reason to worry. In the midst of the new trouble, his overnight trip had completely left her mind.
“I honestly doubt there’s a reactionary element left. Seems just a small fringe wanted to get rid of us Western barbarians. Besides, it’s a quick foray in and out of the domain. Any remaining rabble-rouser won’t have time to react.”
Words formed on the tip of her tongue, but good wives didn’t argue. She’d have a lot more peace of mind if her husband would delegate his trading business to his trainees, and become the American consul full time. But maybe the battles raging in the United States delayed his country’s offer of such a promotion.
As though he read her skepticism, he shook his head and smiled. “The four samurai escorting me—kindly provided by the city’s governor as usual—are more than enough to see that everyone behaves properly. And then there’s your father. Thank goodness for him. His translation will transform my fumbles. The tradesmen there don’t have to know my Japanese is . . . well, not great, but passable.”
“Your Japanese amazes everyone.” Her whole being wanted to enumerate reasons against the trip, a list that had grown every time he’d mentioned the Hizen Domain, but she forced herself to guard her tongue.
“Anyway, I should be back in plenty of time to help with any last-minute needs before Mother arrives.”
She swallowed, steadying her voice. “The household staff will help. We’ll be ready. Please just return safe and sound.”
He stood and pulled her up in an embrace. “That’s the exact plan.”

* * *

When John laid down his fork after devouring his breakfast of poached eggs and tinned ham, Sumi set aside her rice and miso soup. The wind chime outside the open window in their downstairs dining room tingled in a wisp of a breeze, but the bright sunshine flooding through the arched upper glass already foretold a scorching day.
“I’m afraid the time has come to head out.” John gulped the rest of his coffee and reached for his tan frock coat.
Her poor husband. He hated the Western fashion requirements that made summers even more uncomfortable than crepe undergarments and a silk kimono did for her.
Resisting the urge to kneel and help him pull on his boots at the vestibule, she handed him his broad-brimmed hat.
“I’ll be back by suppertime tomorrow, barring any trouble with the weather.”
“Look at these geese bumps. Cardiff & Associates' investors should appreciate how you stick out your neck.”
“Goosebumps, dearest. But aren’t you the one who said people shouldn’t be timid turtles, pulling their heads into their shells?”
“I guess I did.”
“And hasn’t all that boldness turned out well so far?”
“Much better than well.” She grinned although tears scalded her eyes. “Still, I can’t help worrying.”
He ran his finger along her jawline, and she felt the familiar thrill at his touch.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve got my six-shooter right here.” He pointed to his side and the hidden holster carrying his revolver. “It’ll stop an attack if all else fails.”
His groom met them at the gate, holding the reins of the large, chestnut-colored horse, for some reason named Shakespeare. John patted Shakespeare’s forehead, then bent down and kissed Sumi.
Rubbing her chin after he’d relinquished his hold, she realized for the hundredth time that she’d not only become accustomed to his beard’s tickle, she liked it.
He mounted, and she gazed up at him, tall in his Western saddle, a breeze ruffling his thick brown hair. The leader of a huge army couldn’t look more assured. Although America didn’t have warlords and samurai, he was samurai at heart. The most extraordinary one she’d ever known.
Her husband, horse, and groom disappeared around a curve in the road, heading toward the International Settlement’s jetty, where the company cutter would ferry him and her father to the Japanese coastal ship farther out in the harbor. She stopped staring at the spot she’d last seen him. He wasn’t going to reappear.
She turned in the opposite direction and joined the foreign soldiers, merchants, servants, and unidentifiable drifters, as well as her own country’s peddlers and laborers, crowding the cobblestone road that passed through the center of the settlement. Reaching the gate on the far side, she bowed to the sentries.
One of her country’s guards glowered at her. She faced forward, pretending not to notice, while his anger pricked her mind. Did he think she had betrayed Nippon by becoming intimate with a foreign man, or worse, did he actually know who she was? A dart of worry sliced through her. Until this point, her illegal attendance at Christian services hadn’t caused trouble. Either the officials were unaware of her participation in what the government termed the Evil Religion, or the chief inspector overlooked it because of John’s position. Sooner or later, however, the officials would take note. Had it already happened? Should she return to the safety of the consulate?
She clenched her jaw at the cowardly thought. The daughter of a samurai didn’t hide behind glass windows. Besides, she shouldn’t imagine the worst because of one moody guard. She raised her chin and crossed the Oura River Bridge into Nagasaki proper.
Although a piece of her heart had ridden away with John, at least his absence provided a chance to demonstrate her loyalty, both to him and to the soon-coming dragon. She passed the strong-smelling fish stalls and more sedate stores displaying rolls of colorful silk, shimmering in the sunlight. Entering the dental practitioner’s shop, she sat back on her heels at one of the low tables. Once the specialist covered her teeth with his black-enamel potion, she’d look properly married.

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