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DUNDURN
TORONTO
Copy sht OJennifir Mrruno 2012

All righr reseruerl. No prrt ol this Publi.ation day be Eptodrcerl, *orcd in a rcr rio:t
s)«em'

rq*"'ntc.l i" my li.. - try rny mdns, el.donic, me'hinicJ' Pho(ocoPInB dodinS
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or orheNis (qc€fl lii hdefprsrges iär purposer of r«ie{) withour '18 Prior Pcnnission
olDun.lum PEs. Pennnsiol, to plrco.opv sho,ld bc *quelcd ftonr tuc$s CoPvrisltr'

tidnor: C|.ri.lllMley

Lib..ry .!d AßhiB Co.d. Cataloguing in Publistion

i!4aqxro, J.!nilcI, 1950' For Erin Jane Ti"auis

Cheri'blosotrt winler / J{nnilir Mrruno.

hnr.d,lso i,r elecüonic tärnuts.

lSBN 978-l-4597-0211-0

L Jeprnese Coidiar§..F.ricuation rnd Eloatio n. 1942- 1945..Juvenil' iction' I Tnle

I)S8(r.16.A785C54:012 jC8ll',-6 C20ll-908025-7

t134 5 16 15 i4 ll 12

Canadä 9\:iläil#J*",'lfi:'".."

Vc .rcknowlcdge rhc srpport oi rhe C.n.d. Council fdr th' Ari! Jnd tlr' Onttio
Ans
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rnd rhe Gorcmmcnt ofont.rio rIrou8h rhe ont.'io Book Publi'hint T'x Crcdit ui
rhe Ont*io M.di. D.Elopm.nt CorPonrion.

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 /l^,,gLr O^a

APNL 1943

"Michiko," her mother called up rhe back staircase, "please

come down."
Michiko put down the piece of paper she was trying
to fold and glanced at her Iirrle brother's body curled on
rhe sofa. Looking ar his bowl-shaped hair she wondered
how much longer he would sleep. Should she leave her
origani or take it rvith her?
"Michiko," Mrs. Minagawa called our louder with
hint of irnpatience.
h must be impoltant, Michiko thoughr. Her mother
was not the tFpe to raise her voice.
"Coming," she replied. She lifted the pillow of the
chair and placed the half-folded paper beneath it, hop-
ing Hiro wouldnt wake and 6nd it. She raced down the
steep back stairs of the drugstore. As she skipped across
the black-and-white squares of linoleum, she gave each
one of the red stools in fronr of the soda bar a spin.
Three rows ofsparkling ice-cream glasses waired in front
of the mirrored rvall.
Two women srood with her mother beside the cash
registet. The younger was pretry in a pale, bony way.
The bobbing bunch of brown curls on top of her head

rsrä4rgiBtessi&&i*.
 1|m 1 l,),,::cv rt',!.t
l,a"vrr {L.r.nc
9
fascinated Michiko. Even ifshe rwisted a lock ofher hair
around her 6nger "We make do rvirh what we
as hard as she could, it would always slip have,,, Michiko,s mother
said.
right back into straightness.
"Michiko," her morher said, "rhese ladies would like Eiko Minigawa was the masrer
of making rJo. She
to see what you are wearing." and repaired everfhin;. \X/hen
f+cled, lmode]led,
Ihe)'moved inro rhe aparrmenr shc washed
"\ü7hat?" Michiko asked. rh..ir.rpry ,i.e
bags in bleach and hung them
Her mother frowned. in ,t,. ,,rn ,o ,nrt ,i.._L"g
"l mean, pardon me?" she said in a softer voice. curtains. She then took down the "
apartment
curtains and
The women smiled. Their faces rold Michiko rhey made each of rhem a blorrse.
The blackour marerial from
were probably mother and daughter.
Vancouver became her farhert
shirr.
"That's exactly why we
The yoLrnger woman waved her hand about in a cir- .._ . are here,,, said rhe older woman.
cular morion. "Tirrn around, Michiko," she said. "Show "Edna-Morrison told us your
mother is the 6nest seam-
stress she has ever known.,,
us your dress."
Michiko rwirled in the candy-striped cotton dress , liko eur her fingerrips ro her lips. rJ7irh her other
hand she wived away rhe complimenr.
rvith large, deep pockets that her mother had made for
"Mrs. Morrison is right,,.
her tenrh birrhday. The skirt spuu like a rop. Michiko said. ,,Did she tell
Jhe oldcr women caught the hem. She wore Iighr grey, you about the quilt?,, Michiko
turned ro her mother. But
skin-tight kid gloves that closed wirh a tiny pearl button. her mother flashed her eyes and
shook her head.
Michiko noticed there were little holes along the Michiko had forgorten _ she wasnt
,.
discuss the quilt with anyone
to suppose ro
seams ud the bu(ron on rhe orher gJor.e was missing. outside of rhe family. ;ur she
Ite woman examined her mocheri riny perfect wanted to brag how clever her
mother häd been to lill rhe
stitches. ^'Your work is so 6ne," she said. "The stitches are quares with paper rnoney. All of
rheir savings came with
dificulr to see." She let it drop. rhem before rhe government
closed the banks.
Japariese
Her morher smoothed Hiro! car coat out on rhe A bang at the back of the srore made
rhem all urn.
counter. The young€r woman examined the small hood Michiko's father, Sam Minigawa,
staggered in under the
and felt hel way down the sleeves.
weighr of several cardboard boxes.
Michiko ran ro hold
"Thatt my brother's coat," Michiko informed them. the door.

"My mother made it from my father's old one." Looking "Can I oller you a cup of tea
. upstairs?,, Eiko said to
women, moving out from behind
at it, she realized how much her brother had grown since
:h.e.tu: the counrer ,,Ir
is black," she added, knowing
leaving Vancouver. that they probably wouldn t
Both women nodded. appreciate rhe riny green sticks
and leaves of r/a, as her
family did.
10 11,,,,, 1 ßl.ssor- t'rJ'^{.r'
Jr^^{r, fuatu^o 11

"That would be lovely," the older woman said

in a them, rubbing his hands and grinning. "Comics comel"
cup of tea"' She he asked. They were the only things he read these days,
whispery voice. "I could do with a nice
the fine since Japanese newspapers were forbidden.
,urr,.d,o Michiko and gave a smile that crinkled
much' "No comics today," Sam replied. He turned to Michiko.
skin around her pale watery eyes' "Thank you very
"Looks like Geechan will have to wait a little longer for
younB lady."
' Poprye the Sailor Maz." He carried one ofthe boxes over to
tii.itit o watched them pass There was no clothing
ifyou bought from the Eaton's catalogue I like Joe Palooha."
the magazine rack. "Personally,
store in town and
would talk Michiko smiled. It was wonderful to have her father
you looked like everyone else The women
Best of all' they back with them. Just before her ninth birthday, the gov-
abot,t dtesr-"king and look at Patterns
ernment sent him away. All men born in Japan had to go
would be upstairs when her little brother awoke Now that
far from the coast. He didnt talk a lot about working in
Hiro was walking, he was Tancha: very naughry
Her father dropp.d tht boxes at one end
of the the mountains ofAlberta, building roads, but she knew he
from his back didnt geta lot to eat and was always cold.
counter. He removed a small fotding knife
he would add it Their whole life changed because ofrhe stupid war. It
pocket and cut the string Michiko knew
under the counter' made her burn with indignation when she rhought about
to th. euer-gro*ing spool that he kept
it. Her mother, baby brother, aunt, and grandfather had
Right now it was the size of a baseball'
to just because they were Japanese. They
leaye Vancouver
"Ready to help?" he asked with a smile'
This was Michikot favoulite parr about
living above were luc§ ro rent a farmhouse. Most people slept in
above a soda fountain' tents waiting for the government to build them a riny
the drugstore. Not only did she sleep
wooden house. So many Japanese families came into this
she got to helP stock the shelves'
"Grrrhrr''
her grandfather' came in next from his small town that Japanese children had to attend school in
stick against three places.
morning walk. He rested his hand-carved
A small fist rapped at the drugstore window. "Here
,h. *"1"1. Wi,h it he poked under hedges and
pushed
never returned is our Kairanban girl," Michiko called out, unlocking the
aside branches and grass Her grandfather
front door "Right on time."
empty-handed. Mthiko loued the feshy fan-shaped
The small brass bell over the door.jingled. Mr. Hayashi
the tight green' hairy coils everyone called
-rrrhroo-r,
he collected from stood behind Kiko.
fiddleheads, and the wild strawberries
Today his brown weathered hands carried
Kiko, a short, pudgy girl, placed a small stack of
the woods.
Kairanban on rhe counrer Her flar nose sat on her face
several small wooden Pegs'
boots and like a button. Kiko once told Michiko she pinched it
Geechan removed his large black rubber
shuffed toward every day to make it point.
slipped into well-worn woven slippers He
0 !r'2"1 Alosso- W''1"

Hardware Srore
Michiko bad met Kiko Sagara at the
crossed' hands
s.nr.f. ifr. sat next to her with her arms
the teacher' Kiko didnt
to"k.d,,nder h.. armpits, glaringat
1LaX\u 1'^ o
*r", ,t S. ba.k in tla" after a whole year of freedomShe .It
Michiko new ways to fold paper'
,*, fiko *ho ,rughr
THE SECRET
for her tulips'
helped Michiko find the right paper
directed'
"Put them behind the countsl"' Mr' Hayashi
people in rown
"A newspaper writ rcn in Kanji makes some
'Thi, and
;;;r:' .hor, man, full of energv' respected Michiko waited at the top of the landing while Kiko
officer he
o, 4,, knew the rules' As camp security removed her shoes. It took time to loosen the laces in the
"J-o.l for those who didn't understand
.'-
rranslated thick piece of brown learher that rode their shoes like a
subversive"'
'.[fq pLobably think it's something saddle. Both of them desperarely wanted a pair of black
Sam said. patent Mary Janes fiom the camlogue.
Täkata's recipe for
"The only thing subversive is Mrs Kiko slipped her Get into a pair ofwoven-grass slippers
laugh'
he replied, and gaue a great hearry on rhe landing.
-e"tl.rs -e"tlo"fl'
"Can Michiko asked'
You staY?" "Can Kiko stay for lunch?" Michiko asked. Her mother
theret
"Of .ourst," Xiko replied "My father knows stood wirh her back to them, stirring a pot ar the stove.
from your house"
no poin, in asking me to rush back "Hello, Mrs. Minagawa," Kiko said in a quiet voice.
of straight dark hair that
She smiled through the curtain "lfthere's not enough, I understand."
her
I.t.r.O n* .1'.,.iiko didn't have a mother to show "We have enough," Michiko's mother said as she
how to use a bobbY Pin or barrette' added slivers of mushroonr ro rhe tiny bits of chopped
ear'
"I have a secret," Kiko whispered in Michiko's meat cooking in sholu. "Yolu are welcome ro sray." Steam
"Tell me at the pond"' Michiko told her'
"lh going
rose from the rice pot simmering on the stove. Its butter-
to look for frogs " like smell filled the kitchen.
won't
''ror', -.,i t"dpoles"' Kiko corrected her' "They "Can we help?" Kiko asked.
a newsPaper editor for a
be frogs until summer'" Having Michiko groaned. Kiko was always trf ing to please
Kiko was always sure of her facts'
fath.r, her mother.
Thl y;cilnes
Tog.,h., ,h.y 6lled the magazine rack "You can help me by nking Hiro outside for some
of ,h. ä"y 6lled Michiko with joy'
Vhat could be better
lresh air," Eiko told them. "l can work faster ifl dont have
to share a secret?
than having a friend like Kiko ready ro keep an eye on him."
 15
14 1l'r"1 A)osr'r' uV''l'''
covered many ofthe uppet windows and piles ofdirry snow
table' wrapping twine
Gecchan sat at lhe kirchen and dead lea"es hung about the doorways. The post ofüce
Ted would come
pegs Soon Michiko! Uncle was inside the General Store. Across from the General Store,
"ro,rnJ-,h. OL, garden Ted wa' the 6r'st member of rhe
." *i, ,n.- huge wooden steps led to the Grand Hotelt waterfront.
u'ed to build
;;ä*; ;;'it ä "'i" i' this rorvn He ro build litrle The national flag stirred lighrly in the breeze above
;;;;.:;r, ,h. i"'n-'n' sent him there to the apart- rhe hotel, the only three-storey building in town. On the
**in t."*Jttstead' §ühe^ they moved
street level, beneath rhe wide wooden verandah, were dim
with bunks All the single
-."t,,.0 frlled the farmhousecalled it the Bachelor House' hotel offices. The entrance hall off the verandah led into a
.ow and they
-".'irr.a,n.r" Iong hall with rooms on either side. These were the class-
rooms for high school students. The top foor bedrooms
housed the women teachers. Michiko's Aunt Sadie was
one of the teachers ar the Hotel High School.
wore a bleak winter look' the
Even though the town still Michiko and Kiko walked Hiro down the srreet to the
main street hac{ a haze of
new growth'
;;.; il;il baseball fieid.It was really just the vacant lot beside üe
t"i,i. [*.0 rhey could planr flowers Fresh flowers
She loved to horel, but the kids used it as a playground. A Iarge pond
*t"fa Urt.* a smile to her mother's face After clip- sar in the middle.
*".i *, nlo,ht' u'" her short sharp scissors'and stick ir Halfwa,v across the field, Kiko ttrrred to the Mounted
wire
;; il; rhe woulJ wind iL r'rith
Police station and stuck our her tongue. Michiko raised
i,r,Jr.lrr,., ofpins at rlre botrom of a vase'
"'-'' off the wooden her eyebrows. "Vhy did you do that?"
Michiko, Kiko' ""d Hiro stepped "Because," Kiko answered, "those Mounries are going
onto Main Street' which
*alkway in fro,t ofrhe drugsrore to make us move again."
the lake'
ran from the mountains to "\,X/henl" Michiko asked. She tried not to
think about
'liuo s.r".t, diuided Main Street into rhree pans Church
the little what had happened to her father because whenever she
S**t .-rr.i tf't top, where houses surrounded
", with narrow did she got scared.
It i," *".pt. These small frame houses
"f,,'"h' Vancouver' There
"\fho knows?" Kiko responded. 'All I know is my
*,"d"*t-i'.* Ot*trent from the ones in
father is calling a meeting."
sides or verardahs with pillars'
"- '**,."ny ,hi'gltd
*.r"n, "ls that youl secreti" Michiko asked as Hiro broke
Sttte"t Main in the middle This block
t'os"d
where Michiko away from their hands and ran across the field. "That
nai ,ü U,rr.tttt shop and the drugsrore there will be a meering?"
Store school'
i;;.;. o".t* tht tt"t' *"' the Hardware the Hall' "No." Kiko giggled. "This is something fun, not
h. Mo,,nttd Police olfice' the General Store' Boards something pol-ir-i-cal."
*d;;;.-pq'"tres were at the lower end oftown
16 1l',"1 ßlossoi- W'-{ " Jz^rr.zr
Michiko had to smile at the way Kiko dragged out
every one of the syllables. It was an imitation
of her
father's way of speaking.
Hiro pict.d up a stick and gave one of the small
and snap'
puddles a poke. The ice made the stick bend
giro dir"rrd.d the stick and picked up a small rock He
making a
threw the rock into the middle of the puddle'
spiderweb crack. The girls joined him' breaking the ice
with their heels. The strong stench of mud made them
plug their noses.
Hiro investigated another slab of ice He picked up a
when it
rock and threw it down. Michiko saw him frown
bounced and skidded away This gave her an idea'
"Hiro," she called out, "we can slide the rocks'"
\With the inside of her foot, Michiko shot the rock at
him. Then she rnoved her legs apart'
"Shoor it in berween my legs," she said'
"He shoots, he scores!" a tall boy called out as he
walked toward them. He had a nose full of freckles
and
invis-
bright blue-green eyes with lashes that were almost
toque'
ible. Tufts of golden hair stuck out from his green
Kiko clutched Michiko's arm as he approached Her
with anxiery.
eyes 6lled
Clarence," Michiko said to the tall lan§ boy'
"Hi,
She wasnt surprised to see him He often
walked into
town along the railroad tracks' Michiko gave him a
big
smile.
Hiro grinned and put his arms uP in the air when the
boy Clarence picked him up and swung him
"ppro".he.l. baseball"' he said putting
"You ,horrld be playing
".,rnd.
him down.
r14ai"^0 11
Clarence searched the ground for a thick stick. He
showed Hiro how to toss a rock in the air and hit it. Hiro
gave it a swipe but missed.
Michiko turned ro Kiko. "This is Clarence," she said.
Clarence was the only kid in town who made friends with
her when she arrived. "Clarence, this is Kiko Sagara."
"Vhere are you going?" Kiko asked.
"Your place," Clarence responded. "Ma sent me out
lor soap." His äce puckered, making all his freckles mash
together "Sheb dragged out the rin tub and is making
everyone take a bath, now that the weather is nice."
"My father will be happy ro sell you soap," Michiko
told him. "You'll be the one person who doesn't want
soya sauce."
"Doesnt your house have a bathmb?" Kiko asked
as she looked him up and down. "l thought everyone in
town had a bathtub."
Michiko knew that Clarence lived in a small wooden
house with a corrugated iron roof and a litrle grey shed
out back for a toilet, like the houses in the orchard. She
was grateful she no longer had to follow the hard-packed
path to the outhouse they had to use on rhe farm. She
remembered what it was like sitting on the cold porcelain
seat, fighting off spiders.
Clalence shook his head. "l don'r live in town."
"Me neither," said Kiko. "Our tub is so small you can
only put one foot in at a time."
Michiko changed the subject. She couldnt help feeling
guilty that she had a toilet with a pull handle, barhtub, and
plenty of hot water. "'ü/hat we need," she said, "is a swim.
Then we can all get clean at the same time."
ß 11c" 1 ß)cs;",' r't/r^l'rr

clapping
"Thati so funny you said that"' Kiko said'
;That's my secret The nren in the
h., h"nds together'
o/rral"
orchard are going to build an
y'log\z,al,re
THE GARDEN

"There won't be any work done on a bathhouse unril

everyone has put in their garden," Sam told the family
when Michiko shared the news at dinner.
He was right. Everyone in the orchard hoped to har-
vest a few ,regetables before the next winter. They spent
April slashing away the crabgmss and thistles in order to
plant their small parch of land. From dawn to dusk they
bent over the hard soil hoeing. Then they carted water
from the ground rap at the end ofeach street.
Geechan spent the mild spring days wandering the
lakeshore, creek bed. and forest paths collecting rocks. He
especially liked the ones with rainbow colours.
'Ashi o kiosukete kudasai," he muttered everl' time a

rock thudded to the ground at the back of the drugstole.

Michiko heard him say it often as she took rhe sheets from
the line.
"'*/hy does Geechan tell the rocks to take careoftheir
feet?" she asked her mother when she took a basket ofdry
linen inside. "Doesn't he mean watch out for his toes?"
Her morher lifted a sheet from the basker. "He's
speaking to his invisible plant," Eiko said with a smile.
"Once he has a large circle ofstones he will fiil it with soil
 Jr
^^
.v, .{..r.,"r )l
1)."r,, 1
ßl c',"ot' v'1' n\ t'
flannel shirt and denim pants with a small hole in one
an<i rnake a garden " She fol<ied the sheet' "He knows if ol the knees. Thick striped socks ropped his sculled hob-
faster' The rocks
yo,, plrn, b;i'ock'' "gttables will grow flailed boo6. "l just love poracoes."
catch the sun and keep plant roots warm'
"Whar's in the bag?" Michiko asked. She was pleased
Clarence remembered to come.
"l made three of rhem," Clarence announced proudJy,
"one for you, Hiro, and me." He placed rhe sack at
toast made
A sound like a giant knife scraping across Michiko's feet.
her bedroorn win-
Michiko hop out of bed and look our "They just look like cans co me,)' Michiko said,
across the yard As
dow. The .arly -o.ning sun spilled opening the sack and peering inside.
else'
G...hatl was up and workinpi before anyone
,rsual, "They are cans." Clarence pu)led one out and showed
rhe ground'
Mi.hiko *"r.h.d him drag his hoe across her the rows ofsmall holes in the bottom. "Theyie watering
hard' The
11.n h. lift.d it irr the air and broughr ir down dip ir in the bucker and move it dong the row."
cans. You
broke the ground
grot,nd U.L.. He scraped, lifted' and "Good thinking," Ted commenred, striding inro the
worked
l r..ond. ti-.. [n this rhyrhmic pattern' Geechan yard. He shouldered:r shovel, pickaxe, and hoe, his strong
his way lrorn rhe back of the garden
to the front' Then
carpenter hands clanrped over rheir wooden handles. His
pocket'
i. or*.a, removed a handkerchief from his back open shirt revealed a snow-white undershirt. His deep
l.aned on the hoe, and nropped his brow' black eyes sparkled.
lr{ichiko pur ou knee socks rhat no longer
came
"Something for each of us," Ted said, letting rhe tools
had been let down
up to her kn..' blut driil pants that c)atter ro the ground. "You pick."
.*i.", , t.,rn1 ,weater with patches across the e[bows "l pick the pick," Clarence said. "l've always wanted
"nd on her rub-
By the time she ate breakfast and pulled to srike gold iike a p.ospector."
soil waited'
b", boo,s, rhe first long furrow of broken "You mean silver," Michiko corrected. "This used to
She watched a robin land He
cocked his head to the
be silver town, not gold."
*.rura. ,fr.^ he pulled a soft worm from the ground "This town is nothing but a ghost town now," Ted
and flew awaY. said as he lihed rhe shovel-
"fühati thi, row going to be?" Michiko asked' "Don rforget to planrpeonies for prosperiry" Michiko's
his way to rhe back of
Geechan sh.uggetl
"nd '"dt Aunt Sadie cailed out ro them from the back door. She put
the garden to start again' rhe red-painted tips of her long straight fingers to her lips
il hop. we are Putting in potatoes"' Clarence
and blew Michiko a kiss. Hiro, in her arms, played with
building' A
,,.tnourl..i, appearing from the side of the the pompons dangling from her sweater.
burlap sack swung at his side as he
ralked He wore a
)2 1f.,,,1 Slors"r' vV'^{z'

most people The night before, someone pounding on the shop

Looking at her mother's elegant sister'
would think Sadie was too haihara for hard
work But door had made everyone srop eating in surprise. Michiko
wood' hauled- watched her father place his napkin at the side ofhis plate
when they 6rst arrived she had chopped
*r,.r, ,niscrubbed clothes iust like everyone else'
If and rise from the dinner table. They all stared at the grey
first to put on envelope he returned with, wondering what it was, but
anyone needed help, she would be the
Sam did nor open it. He put it down next to his plate,
her overalls.
tapped it lightly, and said, " §0'e wait forTed."
"Hiro, what do you think we should plant?" Michiko
Later that night Michiko turned the letter over. The
asked with a grin.
can climb words OlsNr,n sy CtNson and the examiner number
'A beanstalk," Ted replied "That way he
"Yancha hozo de ne"' were missing. Michiko hoped it meant they could go back
it." Then he added under his breath'
to Vancouvet
Michiko giggled. Sadie said Ted was just as mischie-
Her mother spread rhe tablecloth and set out rhe
vous when he was a boY.
into the garden' "we napkins. Eiko always insisted their table be set properly.
"For Hiro," Sadie said walking
"lt makes the food taste better," she said many times.
can plant an iris."
Michiko waited patiently for their lunch to finish.
"§0hy?" asked Clarence'
Finally her father took knife, slit open the envelope,
"Ou. -othe, was forever trying to Erow a Hirohito a

" and handed the letter to Ted.

iris, but it would not bloom
TEd scanned the letter. Täking a deep breath he read
"§7e better plant mote than flowers"'Ted muttered
like the ir out loud: 'Please be informed rhar your properry, in irs
in exasperation. "Especially if we have a winter
course ofsale, received a price equal to that placed upon it
last one."
dig and by an independent appraiser"
Ted, Clarence' and Michiko helped Geechan
patch ofland was full Her mother folded her hands in her lap and said, "l
scrape rhe soil until the rectangular
should thinkso. Ve painted and installed new firrnace pipes."
of scalloped edged rows'
Michiko jumped into the conversation. " §ü'e had a
"Tomorrow *. so*," Ttd announced' "Each person
for the pickaxe from garden in the back and in the front." She stopped talking
gets to plant a row." He reached out
when Sadie looked her in the eye and shook her head.
älrr.n... "You get to do the Potatoes;' he said' ruffiing
"Proceeds will not be given to the owners," Ted con-
the boy's bright red hair with his hand'
rest went tinued his voice grew low, "unless they can prove need."
Clarence waved and headed home' The
as

would be Sadie gave a sharp incredulous cry

indoors for lunch. Any other time Clarence
the family had Ted lowered the letter ro rhe table. "You dont want
welcome to stay, but not today' Today
to hear the rest."
important business.
24 11n,.1 1elo."ot- ut ^\0,
Eiko buried her face in her hands' "\What do they
mean by need?" she said.
"Let me that," Sadie said, snatching uP the letter'
see
She scanned it quickly with her eyes, and then read out
loud, "Your Ford was sold by the government for thirry-
three dollars. Handling charges for the transaction were
thirry dollars." Her voice moved to anger as she shoured
out the words: " §7e will forward you a cheque in the
amount of three dollars,"
Sadie waved the letter in front ofeveryonet face
"Do
you mean to tell me that you can't get the price ofyour own
house or your own car? All you get is three measly dollarsl"
Ted took the letter from her and handed it back to
Sam. "You knew the house sold."
Geechan patted Sam's arm. "We can never see the sun
rise by looking into the west."
"How can you say that?" Sadie screeched "First they
ake your boat, then our radios and cameras"' She stood
up, shoving her chair behind her. "They forced Sam into
a chain gang," she exclaimed, "and all you can say is,
look
the other way?"
Michiko held her breath, expecting her grandfather
to rise and rebuke Sadie. But he didnt
Sadie threw the letter to the table "l will never stop
looking back." She strode out of the kitchen, down the
stairs, and slammed the back door.
No one at the table moved.
The letter lay in the middle ofthe table'
Sam planted his elbows on the täble, settled his face
into his hands, closed his eyes, and gave out a loud sigh'
OL a6tar Fo,-,r
NEWTEACHER
Michiko sat outside the drugstore on the wooden walk-
way, hugging her legs. She waited for the school securiry
truck. tü4renever Mr. Sagara drove it, Kiko got an early
ride to school.
Before long, she saw it turn the bend and stop in front
of rhe church. The litde studenm got out. Kindergarten
was in the church basement.
The ruck drove down the street toward her and
stopped. Kiko hopped out. She wore what most of the
girls in the orchard wore to school. A light beige cardigan
covered her pink-and-white-striped cotton blouse tucked
into nary slacks. Michiko wore a green corduroy skirt to
school today. Matching barrettes held her short, sraight
black hair behind her ears.
"l wonder what she looks like," Kiko whispered
as they walked beneath the tattered awning of the
Hardware Store School. The building sounded as hollow
as a drum as they made their way to their partitioned
classroom.
Michiko put her norebook on her desk. In the excite-
ment of their letter, she had forgomen all about getting
a new teacher.
 11,,,1 A)csvl L
y',^1.,,
Kiko lifted rhe wooden top of her desk and placed
a small farothihi inside. Michiko didni have to bring a
lunch to school. Hel lunch waited for her across the streer'
On Fridays she brought Kiko home. Kiko eagerlv looked
lorward to steaming zriso soup and ttnutgo yahi, nade
with Mrs. Morrison's farm-fresh eggs.
"I hoped we would meet her before anyone else,"
Kiko whispered.
Michiko looked ar the blackboard. There was no
dare. Jhe bottles of ink were still jn a line along rhe
window ledge. 'lhe stack of textbooks rvas missing from
the teacher's desk.
"Are you sure rhere is school today?" she asked. But
before Kiko could reply the clanging ofthe big brass bell
brought the rest of the children running and pushing
inro the room.
In rhe bedlam ofvoices shouting and talking, Michiko
covered her eats and sat down.
"Good morning, class," said a srrong voice from
behind thenr. A rall man with a big smilc pushed aside
the grey gorcrnment blanket that acted as their class-
room door. He strode to rhe lront of rhe l'oom and
perched on rop of the reacher's desk' waiting for rhe
bedlam to subside.
"lt's Kiko hissed behind her hand
a nran teacher,"
Michiko rolled her eyes. She could see that as plainlv
as th€ orhers. She pur her hce on her 6srs to listen, as the
clirss sized up the broßze-skißned rrran wirh shorr black
hair and chocolate eyes. He wore a knitted blue vest over
a long-sleeved blue plaid shirr. A soft brown shoe with a
single lace dangled from beneath the cuffofgrey trousers'
Jr^".:.rr tr.ir.ac 21
"My name is Kaz Katsumoto," he said.
Tle boys in the room all began ro talk at once.
"Bur you can call me," he said as he looked direolv
at rhe boys, "Mr. Katsumoto." He reached into his
pocket and took out a small piece of chalk. Then he
turned and wrore his narne on rhe board. Several of rhe
boys continued ro murmur in excirement.
"Good morning, class," he said for a second rime,
when he finished writing.
"Good morning, Mr. Kamumoto," came the mur-
mured reply.
"Is rhac the best you can do?" Mr. Katsumoto
said in
mock surprise. "l heard more noise rhat thar rvalking into
the room."
The boys at the back grinned. "Good morning, Mr
Katsumorol" they yelled.
"Not bad," he responded, "but nor good enouglr to
cheer on a baseball team. Trv again."
Michiko and Kiko looked at each other in surprise.
This was the first reacher that asked them to be loud. Most
expected them to be quiet.
"Good morning, class," he said to rhem for a third
time and cupped his ear.
"Good morning, Mr Katsumoto!,, the enrire class
rhundered.
"The first task of the day," Mr. Katsumoto
began,
,,will
be to determine our timerable." He opened rhe drawer of
rhe desk and removed a smail stack of paper. ,.But first I
need to know your names." He walked to the back ofthe
room and handed some paper ro each person at the end of
rhe row. As rhey passed rhe paper forward, l\4r. Katsumoto
 Jz nn "r.z r llt;r.,nc 29
28 y'lr,,1 ß)crso. r'i
^t''
He wrore the list on the blackboard rhen stood back
corner and then
said, "Match the PaPer perfectly corner to and waited.
it in front
fold. Write your name below the fold and place "l hope we can haveart Jessons," Michiko volunteered.
o{you." The reacher added them to the list. "ls rhere anyrhing
He waited a.s .he children did as told Then he
elsei
each card
walked up an<l down each of the rows reading No one else spoke.
ort loud. ll. stopped ar Kiko She had not only folded "'[here is one rhing missing." Mr. Karsumoro
the paper in hali she made a snrall fold on the
front'
remarked looking up and down the list. "\{'e need the one
.r"",ing trorgh for her pencil "You like orlgazl' Kiko?" subject necessary to one! mental alerrness thar takes a lot
"
Mr. Katsumoto asked. oFdaily pracrice."
Kiko blushed and nodded' The n'hole class groaned. \)fhat could this awful
"Me too,' he sairl. lhen he asked the e ntire clxs"'is sub.iect be?
an1rcne missing from class todaY?" He put the chalk ro the board and paused. "l expect
A girl at the front pur up her hand' "Tanriko is nor each and everv one of my students ro excel in rhis sub-
h"r.," .-h. inforraed the teacher' "Her mother had
a baby
ject." He wrote the letters B-A-S-E, then paused and
a few days "
last night and she won't be in school for wrote B-A-l--1.-
M1 Krt,rrno,o nodded in understanding' "Please
A cheer rvenr up liom the class.
her a
make a carcl for her," he directed Kiko' handing "This way," Mr Katsumoto informed them, pulling a
she is still part
piece of paper. "Even though she is absent' familiar white ball from his pocker. "\{/e will learn co be
of out class." a ream." He rossed rhe ball from hand to hand. "And we
Michiko liked the way this new teacher rhought' will save all our noise, energy, and excitement for rhe 6eld.
\When the tall, gaw§ giri named Tämiko returned' she
ls that u ndersrood?"
would be pleased It was as if the new teacher had rvaved an invisible
-Ih" n.* in front of the blackboard'
teacher stood
wand. All the students sat straigbt up, folded rheir hrnds
tossing the piece of chalk up and down
in his hand'
on top oftheil desks, and looked straighr ahead.
"No*]'h. "we will create our timetable"'
"nnorn".d, "How many of you are bilinguJl" Mr Katsumoto
He looked at them all and asked, "What do you wanl
asked.
to learni" Kiko put up her hand. "l speak both English and
This question took everyone by surprise'
Japanese."
Kiko's hand shot up. "Our subjects should be English' Understanding what the strange word meant, several
him with
mrthematics, and social stüdies"'she informed other children pur up their lrands. Michiko did not pur
confidence.
 1'".r,,1 ßlo:',ur urJ
^{,'

hers up. She understood fragmenrs of her

grandfathet's

language, but she couldn't speak ir with confidence'

-
"Yo* k^o*," Mr. Katsumoto said with a frown'
"Japanese is not to be used at school
"
lLog\o' f ;'t
SOYA SAUCE
"says
"Mr. Katsumoto," Michiko told everyone at dinner'
"
baseball teaches teamwork
"His 6rst After a day ofsewing, helping with customers, and man-
"Mt Katsumoto?" her fathet said in surprise
aging Hiro, Michikot mother fopped into the wicker
name couldnt be Kazi"
ro speak' chair. A present from Mrs. Morrison, it groaned whenever
Michiko nodded, her nrouth too full of rice
"Did you hear that, Geechan?" Sam exclaimed "Kaz anyone sat. Her mothert face was lined and her eyes pufi!.
"Do you wanr me to make dinner?" asked Michiko.
Katsumoto is here!"
"lsalrl Katsumoto?" Her mother nodded with graritude.
Geechan put down his chopsticks'
extended his Michiko measured the rice carefully. She washed ic in
He put his dry spott.d hanc{s together and
he cupped a big bowl ofwater, rubbing the grains gendl'. She drained
,r-r, ha ,*t,r,g thenr back rhen forward' then
imaginary home run' it and repeated. 1ü4-ren the water ran clear she put it on ro
his q,es with his hand and followed an
boil. That much she knew how to do. But they couldnt
just eat rice. She opened the door and stared at the single
lump ofbrown waxy paper in the icebox. Rice and bacon
would have ro do.
"Yoo-hoo," a womant voice called out fiom the bor-
tom ofthe sraircase,
Michiko ran to open the apartmenr door for Mrs.
Morrison. A yellow straw hat brimming with daisies sar
askew on her cloud ofcarrot-coloured curls. The woman
looked up and smiled. Her cheeks were pink from exer-
tion. Behind her gold-rimmed specracles, small blue
eyes peeked out of a fleshy face. She put her dimpled
hand on the frame ofrhe door when she reached it. Her
D lil''rrr 1 ß)ossci' !t/'^l.r'
took all of
bosom heaved. The effort to get uP the staits
her breath.
"ls yrcur mother here?" she asked blinking behind her
,p..,r.I.r. "lfnot I'll have to wait lor her' I can't do
those
stairs more than once a day," she puffed'
"l'm here." Michiko's mother said rising from the chair'
"This is a nice surPrise."
Mrs. Morrison raised her string bag in salute'
walked her
Michiko's mother took her by the arm and
kitchen table
to the kitchen. Edna placed the bag on the
she never came to their house empry-handed
A jar
-of homemade pickles or iam, a cooking utensil' eggs; she
brought anything that helped make their life
easier'
':l'- *aking dinner," Michiko told her proudly'
up
"l've already washed the rice and I'm going to chop
some bacon."
"Good thing Iblought a c"rbbage"'Mrs Morrison
replied, "and an onion."
'And add a ouch of shoyl"' her mother said. "Not
much. be careful."
The shortage of soya sauce was becoming a problem
for everyone *lho ,.. J"P"nt" food' Miso' the
special
also in
b.u., prr,. that most people used every day' was
card
great lemand. Her father had hung a hand-prinred
ieading TuIs ts xor a Gnosuetv Sroxe in
the drugstore
rvindow to stop people from asking'
The
Michiko 6lled the kettle and put it on the srove
smell of frying onion filled the kitchen'
"I lust left the church meeting," Edna began' reaching
china cuPs
for the sugar bowl. lt was one of her mother's
rhar had list its handle. "Vhile I was in
town I thought I
,h^iia lv(,.,c .il
would visit." She rummaged about in her purse. "l need
to take advantage ofyour sewing talents."
'A new dress?" her mother asked.
"Curtains," Edna replied. She opened her purse and
pulled out a small brown paper bag. "One for each of us,
and rwo for my little Heero," Edna said, referring to the
oatmeal cookies.
Michiko srniled. Mrs. Morrison always plonounced
her little brothert name incorrectly. She jusr couldnt
get the infection. She handed one to Hiro. He took it,
exarnined it. then broke of a chunk and stuffed ir into
his mouth.
Mrs. Morrison explained the troubles she had getting
the right material for new curtains. "l asked for poppy-
coloured material, but they senr me scarlet, then wine,
then purple." She took a sip oftea. "By the way, the church
is thinking of having a bazaar."
"rWhatt a bazaar?" Michiko asked. For some reason
rents and elephancs came ro mind.
"It's like a fai.," Edna said. "'Ihe town hasn't had one
in some time," she told them.
"\X4-ry do people have them?" Michiko wanted to know.
"To raise money," Mrs. Morrison replied. "I'm sure the
children in your school could do with some more books."
"The children need electriciry 6rsr," Michiko! morher
said. She picked up rhe teapot and filled her guest's cup.
"Even if they had books, they would have to read them
by oil lamp. Their eyes will be ruined if the electricity isnt
insalled."
"Perhaps l'll write the Red Cross," Edna suggested,
sipping her tea.
 y'l'r,,1 ß)osror- r't/''l" ir^^Yn NE.J^e l5
34
Michiko followed him inside . She went into the drug-
Michiko thoughr about Kikos news t{o\^'would
ifher father had time for tea, but stopped when
store to see
they build a bathhouse if there wasnt
any eleoriciry?
she saw him reach for rhe bottle of chocolate syrup. llri
How would dreY heat the giant tuh?
"l'll if Geechan wants mahing a milhshake, she thoughr as he poured it into rhe
"Excuse me," she said see
metal container He added three large spoonfuls of malt
sonte tea."
powder, and a glub ofmilk. As he fixed rhe container to the
"Tell him there is a cookie," N{rs' Morrison called out
mixer, a boy stepped our from behind the magazine rack.
behind her.
a white Michiko caught her breath at the sight of the familiar
Geechan squatted in the garden wearing
caked his big fringed cowboy vest and slingshot sticking out ofthe back
handkerchief headband, pulling weeds Dirt
pocket. George King was the first person she met when
black rubber boots.
she walked to town. He almost ran her down with his
"Geechan," Michiko said to him' "Mrs' Morrison
has
bicl'cle. George King called hel a dirty Jap.
a treat for You."
dirt fron.r Michiko turned to leave just as he looked up and
Her gra,rdfather stood up and brushed the
spotted her.
his hancls. A huge grin crePt across her
grandfather's
"Hello," he said with a fake cowboy drawl, "fancy
chestnut fäce.
meeting you here."
"I have a question"' N'lichiko said She kicked a clump
earrh Michiko faced his cold hard gaze r,r,ith a smile. "Hello,
of earth with the toe of her shoe The upturned
take to fill up George," she said politely. George had a loud voice and
smefled fresh. "How much water does it
used it anytime someone did not agree with him. The
an ofurol"
-He.
his head Not always ready moment he raised his voice, most people gave in, except
grandfath.,
'cratched Michiko. She always spoke ro him in a pleasant tone,
*ith an English reply, he made a large circular motion
which infuriared him.
with his arms to exPlain'
George took a dollar from his pocker and slapped it
"lt's a lot, isn't it?" sl.re said
on the counter. Her father put out his hand to take it, but
He nodded again and again'
George pressed his finger to the €dge of the bill. "Dont
"I have another quesrion," she said'
even think of trying to rob me," he said. There was no
He undid the bandana from the back ofhis
head and
it in his back pocket mistaking the scorn flashing from his cold blue eyes.
used it to wiPe his brow' Then he put
Michikot father didn't ansrver. He returned with the
and waited for her to sPeak'
change, and placed it coin by coin in [ront of the boy.
"§ühy would they build an ofuro where there's no
"Have a good day," he said and went ro the other side of
electriciry?"
the house' the store.
He sh.,rgg.,l hi, shoulders and went into
 1/,rrrl Alosror-. Wr^tr2,

The pasry-faced boy finished his shake in long

noisy

,lurp, b"l.h.d. Then he left his stool and walked to the

"r,d hanging
door. He squinted at the litde hand-printed sign
from the doorknob and yanked it ofl
"Nobody wants this lhog\r' 9t^
"Your kind
stupid English in their face," he told Michiko'
do.rnt bÄng here, you know," he said' tossing tbe
small THE BATHHOUSE
cardboard onto the floor' He yanked the
door
square of
open. "My dad's going to see to that-"

The Nelson ärm lay three miles olf the main road, just
outside town. This was where Michiko and her family had
lived when rhey 6rst arrived. Since drere was an indoor
pump and electriciry the Japanese communiry built their
ofuro rhere.
Saturday afternoon, as the hear bugs zinged, Michiko
waited at end o€ the road rhat led to the houses in the
orchard. Her mother and Aunt Sadie had gone ahead
carrying a small enamel basin, washcloth, and towels.
Michiko warched Kiko stop to say hello to rhe group
ofgirls gening ofa truck. They all wore khaki overalls wirh
floppy straw hats tied under their chins. Some of them
covered their arms with old nylon stockings. They giggled
and talked, glad to finish their morning ofberry picking.
Michiko was glad she didnt have to do that again.
Once she went with Clarence. The dense stubby bushes
were high in the mounrains. The twigs and thorns scratched
their legs. Because huckleberries ripened at different times,
rhey had to pick them one-by-one. Michiko lemembered
scratched 6ngers, harsh sun, and mosquitoes,
That was before her father came home and got a job
making thirry-five cents an hour The apartment above
 11,.." 1
ß)o:r",. rrJ,^1,, Jr.^r,lr,\la,r^o -t9

rhe drugsrore was free. According to Kikos neighbour, Eiko soaped the damp, steaming facecloth
and rhen
Mr: Yama, Michiko's family was hanemorlrl, rrpper class. rolled it into a tight ball. Kiko squirmed
and squealed
Kiko finally broke away from the group and ran as Michiko's mother scrubbed her vigorously
frorn top
across the road. Swiping her hair from her face, she asked, ro bottom.
"ls rhis your 6rst tine for ofuro?" "l cannot believe how dirry you are,,, Eiko
said. She
Michiko nodded. "\We had nothing like it in oul old drew more water, rinsed, and washed again.
Then Eiko
neighbourhood." She didnt mention th€y were the only handed the cloth to Kiko. ,.Each 6nger
and each toe,,, Eiko
Japanese family on the street where she used to live. told her. "You must learn to clean yourself
rhoroughly.,,
They rook the pine-scented padr beneath rhe gigan- She took rhe cloth from Kiko and dropp.d
it i.,to th.
tic Douglas 6rs. Along the creek they watched dragonflies enamel basin at her side. ,,The cloth, once
soaped, must
dalt about the surface ofthe water. The ribbon ofsunlight never enrer the bath," she insrructed
rhem both. Then she
gleaming through the brush showed them the way out. dipped the small wooden bucket into rhe
big bath and
Smoke wisped from the grear black stovepipe sticking our dumped it over Kikot back.
ofthe roofofthe slanted shed. E ery time she saw the hrm- "Ahh," Kiko murmured with a sigh.
house she was grateful she no longel had to fetch a load of "Now you can climb into the tub,,,
Eiko told her
firewood or use the outhouse, especially in the winter. She waved Michiko to the stool and bent
to pick up the
lnside, Sadie was already soaking in the big square tub slushy', soapy clorh.
of sweet-smelling pine. The blue towel wrapped around As soon as l\4ichiko enrered the hor water
she Glt
her wer hair gave her skin the look of porcelain. like drifting into sleep. Opening one eye, she
watched
Her mother waited for them on the slatted wood her mother cock her head to one side and
sqrreeze our
'All your clothes go on the bench," she instructed
floor. the warer from her long dark hair. She used
long pulllng
them. "Fold them nearly." srrokes like she was milking a corv. The *",...rn do*,,
Michiko, embarrassed, exploded inro a fit of giggles. her arm and dripped offher elbow.
"You first," she said to Kiko. "ls this only for
Japanese people?,, Michiko asked her.
Kiko ripped olf her clothes and threw them on "Why do you ask that?,,
rhe bench. She plopped onto a litde four-legged srool. "l think Clarence should come,,, Michiko ,.1
said. dont
Michiko's morher dipped the bowl into the tub and drew know how he uses a riny rub.,,
out some hot water She poured it over Kikot naked body. 'As long as he comes on men,s day,,, ,,1,m
Sadie said,
"Ahh." Kiko exclaimed. She turned to Michiko and sure it would be 6ne.
smiled. Michiko and Kiko expioded into a 6t of giggles
Michiko removed her socks and balled them up.
.
the second rime.
for
 1i.a,,1 A)ossoi- !t/,^iz,
Kiko floated quietly. "Do you think my mother will
ever get to come here?" Kiko asked. She sighed so deeply
it made Michiko's heart ache.
Michikot mother and her aunt exchanged an anxious
glance.
"Vhere did your mother go?" Sadie asked Michiko
had always wondered what happened to Kikot mother
but was afraid to ask.
"She went to Japan, just before we had to move"' Kiko
said. "My father and my aunt sent letters to tell her where
we are. But Mr. Yama says she will never come back"'
Sadie gazed at the little girl across from her in
kindty way. "I dont think anyone has the power to tell the
future," she said'
Michiko waited for her mother to say something' but all
she said was "Gangara."That meant Kiko was to be patient'
"Mr. Yama says he has no desire to be part of this
country," Kiko continued. "He says he wants to return to
Japan because there is no future
for any of us"'
"l can see why he would say that," Sadie commented'
ficking water at Michiko.
"I think that depends on what you want for a future"'
Eiko said.
"lfyou planned on travelling into the wild and being
a prospector," Sadie said, splashing Michiko, "then this
life would be fine for You."
Michiko giggled, returning her aunt's splash'
The wooden door ofthe shed opened abruptly as sev-
eral girls arrived. "I have to go"' they overheard one of
them say. "There's a speaker coming from Toronto' I need
to explain it all to mY Parents."
J2h.,.rr A4a'i^o 4l
'Are you going to the meeting?" Kiko asked Michiko's
mother as they dressed.
"My husband and father will be attending," Eiko
responded. "l will be home with Hiro."
'Are you going to the meeting, Auntie Sadie?" Michiko
asked, pulling up her socks.
Sadie held a small black oval-shaped mirror up to
her face applied her lipstick. "Of course, all of rhe
as she
teachers want to hear what it is about."
"\Why don't you come back to the orchard with mel"
asked Kiko. "You can go home with your father."
a
They borh looked at Michikot mother in anticipation.
She nodded in agreement.
Michiko and Kiko ran down the rutted dirt road,
hand in hand.
i4ra!" K)ko yelled as she danced into the field. "Vatch
out for cow pies."
"\Vhats a cow pie?" Michiko asked.
"You know, it's what cows leave behind in the field."
She pointed to the numerous cow droppings that dotted
the 6eld like large brown pancales.
Several cows srood in the shade of the apple trees.
Their dark tails swished back and forth, disturbing the
flies rying to settle. The two girls skipped their way
across the 6eld. Kiko made Michiko laugh, telling her
how the orchard ladies scared the cows away by opening
and closing umbrellas in their big black and whire faces.
Stooping to pick buttercups and Queen Anne's lace, they
heard the crack ofa baseball bat and saw a ball soar s§wlard.
"Someone's playing baseball," Kiko yelled as they ran
the rest ofthe way.
4) 1|r,,1 ß)usror- r.'ti,^]'r,
The girls watched the mar in a red-and-white base-
ball cap jammed low across his forehead' He kept two'
sometimes three, balls in the air at a time He drove them
easily to right 6eld, then centre, then left' Racing after
the balls, the boys from the orchard skidded and slipped
in rhe dirt.
"lt looks like Mr. Katsumoro," Michiko exclaimed
di<lnt know he lived in the orchard. I thought he lived up
'
ar the Bachelor House.
"He iust moved in," Kiko replied. "Mr' Yama asked
" as the meeting hall. Some people stood with their arms
hinl to ioin his family so they could get a bigger house
"Thatt good thinking," Michiko said'
"That's great thinking," Kiko replied "Mr' Yama and
his family will live ar the other end of the orchard
have to listen to him talk about my morher'"
Michiko looked ar her friend's face She knew how
much she missed her father when he was away She
"You
couldnt imagine not having her mother with her'
know what?" she said. 'l think you are the bra'est girl in
the world."
Kiko studied Michiko: face before she replied' "l
tlrink you are brave too," she said. "l don\ have bahujitr
friends."
/t ag\u geton
THE MEETING
"l
Everyone crowded into rhe long tarpaper building used
folded, spitting out Japanese fast and loud. Others ralked
in English abour what had once been theirs, bristling with
l won't suspicion and anger.
Kiko and Michiko darted in and around them, lis-
tening to bits of conversation. The plank walkway was
wide enough lor rwo, but if you didn't watch where you
were going your foot could slip off into the mud.
Kaz Katsumoto was also big news.
"l was only nine when I lived near Athleric Park," Kaz
told the crowd ofmen that surrounded him. "l started off
as a bat boy. I guess the rest is history"
"You were the youngest to join the Asahi," one of the
men said. "l saw you play for rhe frrst rime." He turned to rell
the rest ofthe crowd, "As soon as the basebail left the pircher's
hand, Katsumoto was running from third to home plate."
None of rhe kids in Michiko's clxs planned ro lisren
to what the visiring reverend had ro say. They all wanted
to investigate the fort one of the boys had built in an
apple ree. Kiko couldnil she had to stay close by jusr
in case her father needed something fronr the house.
 1l .,, Alo:ro,^ trJ.{,, Jr^^;rar fuar..c 4.5
1

"Ir's called a convertible," Kiko said. ',1 ve

Michiko remained at her side. She hadn't yet located her
father or grandfather.
The security truck rumbled down the rutted road and
sropped. Michiko recognized Sadie among the group of
teachers that got out. She put her rwo beautiful manicured
heard about
them bur ['ve never seen one."
"\X/here is rhe roo0" Michiko wanted to know.
"lt folds up," Kiko said, "like a baby carriage. \(/hen I
grow up, I'm having one like it."

hands to her chest and breathed in deeply. "l miss the smell
ofall that grass," she said to Michiko.
"l dont miss the wolves," Michiko said in rcsponse.
She would never lärget the night dre hungry animals left
the mountains and came right up ro the ärmhouse porch.
As Sadie and Michiko walked through the crowd they
heard a long low whistle. "Looks like rhere still are a few
wolves around," Sadie whispered in her ear. Then she put
her hand up ro pat the rwist of hair at the nape of her
"'J7e used to have a car," Michiko rnurmured. ,,Ve used
to go for all kinds ofrides."
But Kiko wasnt lisrening. She opened the door aad
jumped in behind the wheel. Kiko patted rhe seat beside her:
"Get in, Michiko," she said. "1Ve can go on holiday now,,
Michiko put her hand on the chrome door handle,
but hesitared. The reverend hadnt invired them ro sit in
his car. She turned to Mr. Katsumoto to see ifhe approued,
but he was busy staring at someone in rhe crowd. Michiko

neck. She was dressed in a wide-banded pink-and-white- followed his gaze to Sadie, in her white sleeveless blouse

striped cotton skirt and a sleeveless white blouse. Her and crisp skirt, standing in the sunser.

perfume fllled Michiko\ nose, reminding her of the wild "Ger in, Michiko," Kiko repeared.

pink roses that grew along the roadside.
"Come and look at this," Kiko said, grabbing her
elbow. She pulled Michiko in the direction of a group
of men and boys standing beside a long yellow car with
white-rimmed tires. Michiko's father was among them.
She wondered if he was thinking about his black Ford
with the long square snout.
Mr. Hayashi took the elbow of a man in the nary
raincoat and fedora. He led him toward the building. The
Michiko looked around. She pressed the large square
button on the handle and pulled. The heary yellow door
swung open and Michiko climbed inside.
"You and I are going to d ve to Toronto,,' Kiko
announced turning the wheel.
"\X,/hyTbronto?" Michiko asked. "Let's go to Vancouver.,,
Kiko stopped moving the wheel and placed her hands
down fat at her sides. "No one is eyer going to Ban Ciry,',
she said.

rest followed. Her farher winked at them as he passed.

"Ban Ciry," Michiko repeated. "Vhere,s thatl,,

Kiko ud Michiko walked around the car. It had a long "You don'r know anyrhing, do youl" Kiko said with a

nanow step under each door. The top halfofthe cart head- great sigh. "l guess it s because you don't live in the orchard.,,
lights were painted black, just like her fatheri had been. But She put her hands on her hips. "Ban Ciry is Vancouver"
the most amazing thing about it was the car had no roof "\7hy?"
 I i.,, 1
P,) a';'" » tl.;\. n Jznn"or lVaru»c 47

'Are you stupid?" Kiko asked with a smirk. conversation. The crowd moved slowly toward their
Michikot mouth dropped open. No one had ever homes, replacing the sounds of the crickets.

called her that. She put her hand on the door handle' "lt's
not nice to say that," she said.
Kiko grabbed her other hand in apolory.
people have been banned from Vancouveq" she explained
"Thatk why itt called Ban Ciry."
"But it's only for a while," Michiko mutmured. "§Ve
will all be going back soon."
'Are you ..." Kiko began, but stopped when Michiko
glared at her. "Don't you know what the meeting is about?"
"No," replied Michiko in anger. She hated the way her
parents kept things from her. Kiko knew about everything
because her father ran the newsPaPer.
"The reverend," Kiko said, getting out of the car,
"came from a church in Toronto."
Michiko wanted desperately to pretend she didnt
care, but she couldn't. She opened the door and got out'
"You won't have to walk back," Sadie announced
as she left the building. "The truck was only half full.
"A1l Japanese You can hitch a ride with us." She took Michiko's hand,
beckoned td Sam, and pointed to the truck.
"Did you find ir inreresting?" asked Michiko.
"l'm notsure that is the correct word," Sadie responded.
Michiko looked up at her aunt. Usually Sadie insisted
Michiko know all about what was going on with their
lives. When Michikos mother tried to coyer rhe truth of
their move, Sadie made sure Michiko understood it wasnt
just a holiday. Vhy wa she being so secretiue now!
Her father sat in the back of the truck with his head
resting on the canvas side with his eyes closed. She knew
what his answer would be if she asked him.
'Adult business," he would say. "You stick to kid
business,"

" §7hy is he herei" she asked. "Does their church want to

have a bazaarl"
"No," Kiko said. She pulled Michiko down on to the
edge ofthe wooden walkway that ioined the buildings "The
reverend wanß the people to ioin his church "
Japanese
"Thatt an awful long way to go to church," Michiko
mused.
"\X/ell," Kiko said, "we will all have to go somewhere."
Just then the wooden door opened and the crowd
began to disperse. Most of them were speaking Japanese,
*hich made di{ficult for Michiko to unde.stand.
it
it was that they were discussing, it seemed
'§flhatever

imponant. Many walked with arms linked, deep in

 12"^jzr llar;^o 49

He tossed the ball in the air and hit it toward them.

"First one to get seven points becomes the next batteL"
It didnt take long for Raymond to becorne batter. He
/L ogL' a-',Xl\ caught two fly balls and a bouncer. He strutted up to the
bat and clutched it with pride.
HOME RUN Michiko watched Kiko dart about the field, derer-
mined to be just as good. But when she shoved one ofher
classmates out of the way to catch the ball, Mr Katsumoto
whistled and shook his finger at her.
Mr. Katsumoto took the class to the vacant lot for their
A louder whistle sounded in the disance. The train
first baseball lesson. He pulled a white cap from his back
rumbled along the mountain, its mxsive headlighr gleamed
pocket and shoved ir down on his head. A large white,4 was
in the late afternoon sun-
embroidered above the bright-red brim. One of the boys
"Thereb our signal to stop," Mr Karsumoto called out.
whispered, 'Asahi," and rhey e1l grinned.
"Schoolt out for the day."
Baseball was all they talked about.
The boys and girls raced back to the Hardware Store
Michiko had never even held a bat.
School to retrieve their belongings.
At first they stood in a circle and Mr Katsumoto "Can't we play a little while longer?" Michiko asked.
tossed the ball to each ofthem in turn. "Easy does it," he
"Kiko is going to wait for the rruck and I only have to
coached them. "Just toss it back." He threw the ball with
walk down the street."
a round, smooth motion. lt reminded Michiko of the way
"Sure," Mr. Kanumoto replied. "l'll pick up my equip-
her Uncle TEd cast his fishing rod, only upside down.
ment on my way out."
\W'hen the ball came Michiko's way, she almost closed
"You hir," Michiko told Kiko, handing her the bar.
her eyes. But she caught it with both hands and smiled.
Kiko propped the bat over her shoulder. Michiko
The ball was a lot harder and heavier than it looked.
tossed the ball across the plate. Kiko swung before the ball
Mr. Katsumoto picked up the bat. "l'm going to teach
arrived, lost her balance, and staggered. The ball dropped
you a game called Seven Up," he explained. "For every
behind her She turned and picked up the ball. "lt's too
ball you catch in the ait you get three points. Ifit hits the
hard with only rwo people," she complained.
ground and bounces, you get rwo points. Ifyou pick it up
"There's Clarence," Michiko said seeing him walk up
from the ground you get one point."
from the tracls. "He can playwith us." She waved him over.
The boys scrambled for position. Michiko realized this
"\Vhat a nice day," Clarence said sauntering toward
must have been what they were playing in the orchard.
them. "1ffe should be fishing."
 11,,,,.1 Alor:or" W
^1.,
It was true. On such a glorious July day everyone
should be 6shing. But the Japanese children had missed
one whole year ofschool and they had to make it up.
"\W'e need another person," Michiko told him.
" \I'ant to go fishing tomorrow?" Clarence asked.
Fishing when thq should be in school? As pleasant as
it sounded, it meant skipping. Michiko couldnt imagine
doing anlthing that reckless. "\Wouldnt Mr. Katsumoro
get mad?"
"'§0'e could be sick for the da1'," Kiko said, clearly in
favour ofthe idea.
"Ve couldnt bring our fishing rods to school."
Michiko protested.
"[ gor a couple srashed for a day just like this,"
Clarence said. "Think abour it."
Michiko tossed the ball again. This time Kiko hit
ir. The ball hit the glound at Clarencet feet and rolled
rhough rhe grass. Clarence picked it up.
"Come on, Clarence," Michiko said, "play with us."
She handed him the blt iust as the securiry truck pulled
up in front of the General Store.
Michiko sent a slorv easy ball across the plate.
Clarence swung hald at the ball lioating toward him,
but norhing happened.
"Stee-rike one," Mr. Hayashi called out. He had come
our of the Mounted Police Sration irtst in rime ro see ir'
"You gotta keep your eye on the ball."
Clarence grinned. He beckoned Michiko to toss him
the ball again and took the stance of a hitter- The ball
came slow and low. Clarence swung hard. There was a
Ioud crack. The ball ricocheted off the corner post of the
Jrn^.r?r fuarr^o 51
station, landed on the roof of the truck, and bounced
into the road.
Mr. Hayashi jumped into rhe road and retrieved ir.
"Nice," Mr Katsumoto called as he walked toward
them. "\ü7e'll have to sign you up."
Mr Hayashi tossed rhe ball to Mr Katsumoto.
Michiko and Kiko warched in anticipation as their teacher
moved to the pitcher's mound. He stepped back, swung
his arm as he took a step forward, and the ball left his
hand. He thlew hard and far.
Clarence swung and the bat cracked for a second time.
The ball whisded past Michiko's ear and rose srraight
out over the road.
Clarence looked at the bat in surprise. "Holy mackerel,"
he murmured.
Everyone warched the ball disappear into the clouds
before it sank into the lake.
"That onet gone for good," Mr. Karsumoto said,
shielding his eyes with his hands.
"l'm really sorry," Clarence murmured. "l'll get you
a new ball."
Mr. Karsumoto looked at him and laughed. "Not
unrilyou run the bases," he rold him. "lfyou dont do that,
you're out."
Clarence dropped the bat and ran around the thin,
worn line thar connected the four patches of dirt. As he
headed for home he looked up and grinned.
Michiko jumped up and down clapping her hands.
Mr. Hayashi pounded the side of his rruck door. Mr
Katsumoto walked over and offered Clarence his hand.
"You must play a lot," he said to him with a grin.
 Jr^^tzr fu6,J^t Jl
1Lr,,1 Aiossor- r,t/,,{r,

"You could have played baseball?" Michiko repeated

"Nope," Clarence replied. "l think ir \Yas beginner's
in surprise. "\X/hy didnt you?"
luck." "l was on the road," was her fathert reply. "l needed
"\X/ell, if you are a beginner," the baseball plai'er said
the job for my family."
as he clapped his hand on Clarence's shoulder,
"l expect
The next afternoon when Clarence joined them on
to see you here practising with the rest olus "
the field, the man from the General Store brcught a chair
''Vould you?" Michiko asked.
outside to watch. Mr. Hayashi drove the truck in early.
Kiko pushed herself in between them "He's not Even the Mountie on dury stuck his head out the door
voice'
Japanese." she said in a peculiar once or rwice.
Michiko turned to her in surprise"'What does rhat 'When
Sam showed up, Clarence handed him the bar.
matter?' she asked. He smiled and rolled up his sleeves.
doesn't," Mr. Katsumoto said in a low voice He
"[t
Kiko dropped ro the sid€lines. "The adults are raking
turned to Kiko. "No haisehi in baseball," he said in a over," she complained.
6rm way. Kiko dropped her head, turned, and ran to "l've got an idea," lr4ichiko whispered. "Out class
the truck. should challenge them."
"Vhat did he mean?" Clarence asked'
"You mean like a real game?" Kiko asked in astonish-
"Mr. Katsumoto iust wants Kiko to be a good sport"'
ment.
Michiko said. It was something told to her as long as she "You could even report on it for your'äthelt news-
could remember. She was never to do an1'thing to make
paper," Mihiko suggested.
trouble. Troublemakers shame a famill"
Mr. Katsumoto liked the idea a lot. He invited Mr.
That night Michiko told her father about playing
hit"'
Sagara and Mr. Hayashi to be on the team. Michiko
baseball after school. 'You should see Clarence she
suggested her father and Uncle Ted.
bragged, "even Mr. Hayashi was surprised
"
"\X/hat will be the name ofyour team?" Mr. Katsumoto
"You remember that squeeze play when the Asahi
asked Kiko.
won the Terminal Championshipi" her father asked Kiko looked at Michiko and shrugged.
Geechan. He took Geechant chopsticks along with his "l know," Michiko said. "rX/e can be the Main Street
and made a diamond shape on the table' The salt and Team."
pepper shakers became pitcher and batter' "That makes us the Orchard Team," Mr. Katsumoto
"Here we go agarn," her mother said with a smile'
respo nded.
"another moment in baseball histoty"
The class practised after school and chose their best
Geechan looked at Michiko. "Your father could have
players.
been Asahi," he told her. "They scout him
"
 11,,r,, , l)c:sq- r,ti,-{.:,

The adulrs practised after dinner.

Geechan coached them all.

/Lo$n, )o,^,
THE GAME

Michiko's mother stuFed rice bags with newspaper for the

bases. Ted erected a small wooden platform. On it he put
three chairs and a small rable. His carpentry business made
all the chairs and tables for the people in the orchard.
The news had spread. Everyone was coming to watch
the game.
Clarence and Michiko waited on the edge o€ rhe
platform for rhe rest of the ream ro arive. She noticed
rhe linle scars that marked his bare whire knees. Close
to him, Michiko could smell Clarence! body. He had
a woody smell, Iike a fireplace. Ir was nor a bad smell,
brrt a definite one. She knew her grandfather smelled of
fish and soap and her mother of warm sweet baking. She
guessed every person had a smell and wondered what
hers might be.
Somewhere a cicada buzzed. Clarence looked at the
s§. "Perfect dai'for baseball," he said.
clear cloudless
"Are you the boy who hit rhe ball inro the lake?" a
small Japanese man asked Clarence.
Clarence looked up in surprise and nodded.
"You cant play without a glove," the man said. He
held out a baseball glove with fingers stitched and tied
 llt«, lo1,,l"'c> ',',1:^l tr
several times. "lCs good and solid," he said, smacking the
old leather mitt with his fist.
Clarence reLched out to touch the smooth walnut
brown leather.
"l polish it with oil once week," the man told him.
a
"ft's old like me, but a classic." He handed Clarence the
glove. "Can'r play ball without a glove," he repeared,
walking away to join the gathering crowd.
Clarence stared up at the man in disbelie[ Then he
pur the glove to his face, closed his eyes, and drank in the
smell of leather.
Fine clouds ofdust rolled up behind the wheels ofan
old lumber truck. Several men iumped out and unloaded
chairs for those who neetled to sit.
Behind it came the Security Commission truck. Kiko
waved from the front as the rest oftheir team emptied out
of the back. 'llren it turned around
"l bet he's going back for more people," Clarence said
miserably.
"Of course," Michiko squealed, circling her arms in
the air. "This is going to be big."
"l wonder if Mrs. Morrison is going to come"'
Clarence said. No sooner had he spoken than Bert's
familiar green pickup tluck rounded the corner'
"Yoo-hoo," their stout friend called out From the win-
dow, waving the tip of her knitted shawl. Mrs. Morrison's
rocking chair bounced about the truck bed as Bert pulled
on to the field.
Sadie, waving madly, pointed to the truck. Michiko
watched her ämilyioin Mrs. Morrison in the back. Geechan
srumbled gening up, but her mother caught his arm'
Jr^nqr l\iarr^. 51
Bert ambled off to the crowd of townsfolk gathering
nearby.
"Good luck," Michiko whispered to Clarence. Kiko
beckoned, paper and pencil in hand.
As Michiko headed toward the truck, two boys from
her school were walking beside her. She couldnt help
overhearing their conversarion.
"He can't just push us around like that," the small one
complained.
The bigger boy got in lront of him and took hold ol
him by the shoulder. "Listen," he said, giving the small boy
"you should have just kept quiet."
a shake,
"All I said was he never played baseball," the small boy
grumbled.
"'Ihat George kid doesnt want to have anlthing to
do with us," the bigger boy explained. "You should have
walked away."
'AIl I said was the truth," the small boy protested
in anger "You can rell by the way he threw the ball into
the bushes he'd never played baseball. \Whais wrong with
relling rhe trurhi"
"-Ihat's why he shoved you in the dirt. You can't make
fun ol hahujin."
"George . . . " Michiko repeared. "Excuse me," she said,
turning to the boys, 'was it George King? Vas he the boy
you had a problem rvith?"
'All I know is his first name is George," the bigger boy
said. "He hates Japanese."
"He knocked me down when I tried to get my ballback,"
the little boy complained. "He s:rid ir was his ball, because ir
was on his properry and his family owned the whole town."
 1' ,,, 1 Alo,,r.,- W Jrhhwr
"r..'
"[ tried to make him give it back," his older brorher
said. "He shoved me roo."
Michiko nodded in sympathy as a roar wenr up from
the crowd. Kaz Katsumoto had mounted the platform-
The boys and Michiko rushed to watch rhe game.
Mr. Hayashi picked up rhe megaphone and welcomed
the crowd. Mr. Katsumoto and Raymond, their team cap-
tain, fipped a coin. Everyone took their places. As she
serrled herselfin rhe back ofthe rruck, Michiko refused ro
think abour George anymore.
"Stepping up to the plate is Kobe Arai," the announcer
called out. "Pitching for the adult team is Kaz Katsumoto,
known to many as the 'Man with the Golden Arm."'
"l didnt know that," Kiko exclaimed, writing rap-
idly. Then she put the end ofthe pencil in her mouth and
chewed it nervously as she watched.
Kaz Katsumoto rolled the ball in his 6ngers. Then
he readied himself, reared back, and 6red the ball toward
rlre plate. SAAAWAAK was all they heard. The b,rli hit the
catcher's glove right in the centre of the pocket.
"Stee-rike one," the umpire called out.
"Here comes the pitch," the announcer told the crowd.
'Arai swings. Ladies and gentJemen, kiss it goodbye."
The crowd whooped, whiscled, and clapped as Kobe
ran home.
"First ball to 6nd its way into rhe lake," the announcer
commented-
"The second ball into the lake," Michiko said smugly.
"Clarencet was firsr."
"Clarence the Red is a hard hitter and a skilled out-
fielder," the announcer said.
fuq(,^c
59
Clarence shot a ner.,ous look at the crowd.
"Clare-ence, Clare-ence," the kids from town shouted
from the roofofthe General Store.
"Hi, Clarence," Hiro's small voice ca.lled out. The
crowd chuckled.
Clarence raised his eyes ro the sky and then faced
the pitcher
Michiko glanced ar Geechan. .He looks scarecl," she
said. Her grandfather patted her shoulder, keeping his
eyes on the boy.
From a full windup, Mr. Katsumoto shor one across
the plate. Clarence watched ir go past for a called strike.
The next pitch few across his knees for strike rwo.
The rhird pitch whizzed in like an arrow. It looked slightly
high, but Clarence swung.
"You're outl" said rhe umpire.
A huge sigh came from the crowd.
Clarence slung his bat in despair.
Michiko watched him walk back to rhe bench, head
bowed. "He feels bad," she said.
"rVhat do you expecr?" Kiko said. She benr
her
head and wrore wirh fury. "Het playing against Asahil"
Michiko saw Raymond put his hand on Clarencet
shoulder and speaft. Clarence nodded, even though he
seemed occupied with the webbing on his glove.
Raymond went to bat. He managed a pop fy but rhe
fielder caught it.
"They re pulling down balls like bees to honey,,,
Kiko
commented in Japanese as she wrore. Geechan nodded
and srniled.
The aduls rvent up to bat.
 ?1r,,1 Lloss" ',,J,n\.r,
^
"Heret
man that followed the dream ofevery )'oung
a Clarence raised his chin and hunched his body, this
boy. He wole the Asahi uniform at the age of nine." The
announcer introduced Kaz Karsumoto. "Katsumoto
started out as a Clover, became a Beaver, worked his way
rhlough the Athletics, and is here today as Asahi."
Kiko wrote as quickly as she could.
Kaz Katsumoto went to bat. He smashed the first pitch
deep to the left 6eld where it ricocheted offthe front ofrhe
General Store. The boys from rhe orchard, lining rhe 6eld,
l,elled and cheered ar Kaz Katsumoro made his way home.
Michiko watched the baseball streak toward her
Uncle TLd. It dropped into rhe catcher's glove. "Stee-rike
one," the umpire called out. The next pitch was faster
Täd didn't look at anyone else except the pitcher The ball
smacked into the catcher's glove.
"Stee-rike two," was the call,
On the third plrch Ted hit it up the middle. The
pircher dove but missed the ball. §7hen he finally threw
it ro 6rst the baseman caught it with a loud plop, but too
late to tag the runner.
"Yay, UncleTed," Michiko called out. Everyone in the
ruck bed clapped.
"\bu are cheering for the wrong team," Kiko rold her
with a roll ofher eyes.
The sun moved lower in the sl<y. No one paid much
attenrion when Geechan stepped down from the truck. Hiro
followed him and Michiko had to chase him down. "Stay
here," she said when she handed him back to her mother
"lr's two down and Clarence the Red has rwo strikes,"
the announcer called out.
The crowd went quiet.
Jrnrtrr Alar,rnc (r1
time derermined ro give ir his all.
The rhird pitch was like the 6rst rwo.
Clarence bunted and raced for 6rst, jusc as Geechan
taught him. The catcher threw, bur rhe baseman missed.
Clarence headed for second. The ball rolled out to right
6eld, where Mr. Hayashi fumbled it. Clarence made it
to rhird.
Mr. Hayashi threw the ball home but the catcher was
ralking to someone.
"Head for home, head for home," rhe crowd chanted.
Clarcnce tripped on a lump in rhe field, fell and
scrambled along the ground, and dove into home plate as
the catcher picked up rhe ball.
Applause and laughter exploded from rhe fans.
"A home run all on errors?" yelled Kiko. She shook
her head unbelievingly.
"Thar's Clarence," bragged Michiko, glancing at the
group of farmers off to one side. They were cheering and
clapping each other on the back. She saw Bert leave the
group and approach Mr. Katsumoto.
The crowds broke up in the deepening dusk. ,,rüho
would have rhoughr," Michiko heard one wonran say, ,,we
would be watching baseball again."
"Vith such handsome players," another commented.
"The men around rown have been looking for some_
rhing to do," Mrs. Morrison said, fanning herself with a
piece of folded newspaper. "Maybe rhey can ger a team
together."
Michiko clirnbed down ro rell Geechan the news.
But as she rounded the front ofthe truck she gasped. Her
G

11r,,1 Alors.r'. ld,"il

grandfather lay face down in the dirt. Her scream brought

her mother and Aunt Sadie to his side.
Bert, Ted, and Sam raced across the grass to see what
was happening. Bert tossed Mrs. Morrisoris rocking chair ALag\e,\n
over the side and helped to lift Geechan into the back of
truck. They covered him with Mrs. Morrison's shawl' SPLASH
Michiko clutched Kikot hand as the green truck
raced its way to the hospital.

September brought the smell of dry leaves that always

reminded Michiko of newly sharpened pencils. But the
days ofstarting schoolwith a new satchel full ofcoloured
pencils and clean notebooks were long gone. Clarence
and Michiko mer at their usual spot on the bridge at the
outskirts oftown. Here the icy creek raced out ofirs lorest
runnel and plunged orer rhe rocks.
"How's Geechan?" he asked.
Michiko shrugged and smiled. .[t was hard to explain
her grandfathert "far-offness." His eyes glazed over when
they talked. \Whenever he spoke he ran our of breath
before he could 6nish what he had to say. His jaw fell
open when he slept in the chair Sometimes his hand just
dropped to his side, spilling his rea. He seemed to have no
mofe srfengrh than a kiften.
The sun refected offa brightly polished bicycle fender
coming toward them. Michiko grimaced. The only good
thing about seeing George was it reminded her how lucky
she was to have C[arence for a friend.
"rü4rere ya going?" he shouted, screeching his wheels
and sending up a shower ofsrones.
"§7here do you think?" Clarence replied. He held up
 lt"'r 1Alc\scn
V)\^\11
his fishing rod as a hint. The cork bobber swung back and
forth from the string that dangled from a tree branch'
"You won't catch anything with that," mocked George'
"I suppose your pretending to be lndians again." Once
Clarence fooled George by telling him Michiko was a full-
blooded Kootenay. George hadnt forgotten or forgiven'
"Buzz off" Clarence said as they turned up the lane
that led to the orchard. They both knew George rvouldn't
follow them there.
Saturday was the day the men in the orchard left town
to cut wood. They boarded the Securiry Corrmission
truck under the suPeryision of Mr. Hayashi. Kiko passed
her father his lunchbox. "At least they get to leave the
orchard," she complained to Michiko.
" §flhy dont you come with us?" Michiko asked her
friend.
"l don't ha''e a lod," Kiko said
" §?'e can share mine," offered Michiko. "Jusr rhink:
fresh 6sh for dinner.
Kiko grinned. She waved goodbye to the truck and
the three of them headed past the last of the houses into
rhe woods.
At the end of the street the three of them came face
to lace with Mr. Yama. The small wiry man crossed his
arms batsu and stood in their wa,v' glaring. The dark skin
ofhis arms and flace seemed shrivelled. His stale chocolate
eyes sank deep inro their red-rimmed sockets. Because of
the large purple birthmark that marred half of his face,
Michiko found it hard to look at him.
The man squinted as if he could not believe who
stood in front of him. "1Vhy you hahujin here?" he
ir^^,.r,ln"r"»o i)5
shouted. He pointed a bony 6nger at Clarence. "§7har
you want?" he growled.
"Just ignore him," Kiko said.
"You and you," he said, brandishing his finger at
l\4ichiko and Clarence, "ENEMY."
"You cant say that," Michiko protested, seeing
Clarence's face go slack.
"Mr. Yama," Kiko said, grabbing Michiko's fishing
rod. She held it up. "Michiko and I are going 6shing. Be
nice to her."
"Bah," Mr. Yama spat out and moved aside.
"\44rat a miserable old guy," Clarence said as they
headed toward the lake. "He needs a drum to bang."
Kikoturnedbackandyelled, "KI-CHIGAI GEECHA."
Michiko shook her head. Calling Mr. Yama a crazy
old man wouldnt help anlthing. Michiko's mother told
them he had a lot of ploblems because ofhis face and had
trouble letting go of his misery. But that wasn't the only
thing that bothered Michiko about Kiko. She should have
rold Mr Yama to be nice to Clarrnce as well.
They headed toward the beach. It wasnt really a beach
but a rim of sand along the lake, beaten down by the
number ofpeople that used it. The lake sat still and calm.
The reflection of the tall rugged mountains was as sharp
and precise as the mounrains themselves. lt was so still it
almost seemed wrong to break rhe silence by talking.
"Do we fish from herei" Kiko asked.
Michiko shook her head. She led them along the strip
of lirm, damp sand. Then they scrambled through the
bushes, slipping on the small, round pebbles that lined
the shore.
66 1!r,r-., A)osso- td,^{,,, Jz^^uzr r1lo,,r^c 67

"V4ere are we going?" Kiko whined, slapping at a well. Kiko didn't even try
mosquito. "Time ro head back.,, Clarence
said.
.No
need to be
''\flair and see," said Clarence. greedy."
Kiko watched Clarence and Michiko parr the braoches The three ofthem looked up at rhe sound ofsnapping
ofa fallen willow. The small red rowboat nodded under an rwigs. Michiko saw a flash ofa green_and_whire_checked
archway ofgreenery shirt at the top of the bank. Then she heard a familiar
"\W'ow," Kiko exclaimed. "You have a boat) Where did voice. "\X6ere did you get the boat, Clarence?,,
you get ir?" The rhree ofthem sear.ched the bushes wirh their eves.
"My uncle made it," Michiko told her with pride. Georget voice shouted out again. ,.Hope ir! your
"\Ve ca-ll it rhe Apple." boat, Clarence," he shouted. .,ft,s against the law for
Japs
Clarence stepped on to the fallen tree rrunk, wall(ed to own one."
along it, and rod into the boat. Then
rossed his fishing "Ve know it's you, George,,, Clarence called back.
he rerurned and took Michikot rod. Michiko clutched "Scared to show your face?,'
Clarence's other hand as she climbed up and followed. George came out from behind a large bush and
Kiko scrambled up and along the trunk with ease. The stood ar the edge with his hands on his hips. ,,1 asked
branches swayed in the water when she got inro the boat. you a question, Peach Boy,,, George shouted. ,,.§7ho owns
Soon they were gliding past shores of green grass. the boatl"
Kiko trailed her hand in the clear. cold mounrain water. Clarence and Michiko Iooked ar each other wide_eyed.
Michiko inhaled deeply. She loved the strong weedy smell "l do," Clarence shouted back.
ol rhe lake. She could almosr rasre its ancienrnesr. Kiko looked at Clarence and then ar Michiko. She
"We have a special fishing spor," Michiko said. "But stood up with eyes blazing. ,,you couldn,r build a boat
Iike
don't tell anyone, itt a secret." rhis," she yelled. "This is Japanese-built. [t,.s the best!,,
"How did you And ir?" Kiko asked. Michiko looked ar her in horror Her uncle had
"The Indians showed us the way," Clarence said, painred rhe hull rough, so no one would suspe«.
Normally
making Michil<o laugh. he took the time to strain rhe paint rwice, making
it glide
A speckled trour rose from the water with irs mouth on like silk.
open and snapped at a fly. Kiko clapped her hands in "No, Kiko," she insisred as a wave ofpanic rose inside
delight. Clarence nudged the boat toward the bank where her. "Clarence built it." If the Securiry Commission
found
the creek began to bend. 'Ihey spent the morning drifring our Täd had a boat, he would be in trouble. They would
about the small cove surrounded by steep banks. Three think he rvas a spv for sure. ,,I warched him do it,,, Michiko
trout soon lay at Clarence's feer. Michiko caughr several as shouted back.
 Jr^..-ar rlaro^c 69
llt y ß) o",",on r',1.^\.,,

Clarence drew the boat in. Michiko dragged George

"You're lying," George screamed. "You rold rne once
up onto ä wide, warm rock. He slumped down shivering
boats were much bemer than bicycles. That uncle ofyours
with cold and shaking wirh Gar
built it, didn't he?"
"Let's gerout ofhere," Michiko said, pulling Kiko down
Michiko turned on Kiko. "Vhy did you have to say
that?" she demanded. "l[he tells the Mounted Police they
so hard she almost toppled over the side. They grabbed the
will take the boat." She put her hands on her hearr. "Thq'
oars and turned rhe boat around. But Kiko wasn\ 6nished.
- could even take my uncle away."
She turned to George, stuck out her tongue, and then
"Okay," Kiko responded with a shrug. "Then we'll
screamed in Japanese, "BAKA, BAKA!"
jttst dump him back in."
"l'll get you," George threatened as h€ took a srep for-
Michiko looked ar Cllrence in surprise.
ward shaking his fist. But his weight on the edge of the
"Don't," George yelled, crawling back in terror
grassy bank rnade it collapse. He slid down into the water.
"Clarence, you got to save me from these Japs."
"Ha, ha, ha," Kiko said as she laughed and pointed.
Clarencet eyes narrowed. "Vhy should I?"
"Look at tbe big 6sh swim."
George sucked in his breath.
Bur Michiko could tell by rhe way George was flaying
In a quiet voice,
Michiko spoke to the soaking, scared
about that he wasnt swimming.
"Clarence," she screamed, "l dont think George can boy. "You better keep this boar a secret ifyou dont want
enemies for real," She waved her hand toward the exposed
swim."
roots ofthe river bank. "You can climb back up over there."
Georget face rose ftom the rippled waters of the cove
George scrambled ro rhe rop of the bank. His face
sputtering. "Help," he wailed.
crumpled as he stood watching them row away. "[t's not
Michiko jumped into the water. The icy cold bit right
fair," he sobbed. "Clarence has all kinds of brothers and
through her clothes and took her breath away. Holding on
sisters." He wiped the water from his face. "l don'r have
to the side of the boat, she extended her orher arm to the
any fliends at all."
thrashing boy. "Take my hand," she called out to him, but
"Then you should remember this Japanese saying,"
she couldnt quite reach him.
Michiko called outrchim. 'Always beware of the returning
Clarence handed Michiko an oar. "Grab the paddle,
arrow. "
George," he i'elled.
Gmrge clutched at the wide end of the oar q'irh borh
hands. As Kiko and Clarence dragged the oar closer, Michiko
grabbed the shoulder ofhis shirt and pulled him to the boat.
"Hang on," Michiko said, catching her breath, "until
we reach the roc[rs,"

/l"p\r, LIB,B^
THE TELEGRAM
The maple trees on Main Street made the papery rusde of
autumn. It was a nice day for October, but it was way before
suppertime and the sky was already getting dark. The wincl
prowled about Michiko and Kiko's feet like a cat, reminding
them that winter was on its way. Each carried a large brown
paper bundle up the road. \Where they walked, green, spiked
balls and shiny black nuts linered the woodsy yards.
"l
hate walking home in the dark," Kiko whispered.
"l wish I had a fashlight."
If I had a fttshlighr, Michiko thought, 1 uouU read
in bed. Bu like everything else, it cost money. "lt will be
okay," Michiko reassured her, "Mrs. Morrison promised us
a ride back."
They approached the large wooden house with scrolls
of woodwork around the front verandah. Yellow leaves
covered the woodsy lawn. In the summer you could hardly
see the Morrison's house for honeysuckle and clematis.
Now a cloud ofdead branches and leaves, still attached to
the lattice, rattled in the wind.
Michiko put down her bundle and pushed open the
gate. They mounted the wide wooden steps and knocked.
The door was partly open.
Ia^n4zr /\ar.^c 7l
"That'll be the girls," Mrs. Morrison boomed out from
the kitchen. She had such a large voice they could hear it
on the verandah.
A tall woman in a long-sleeved black blouse, black
skirt, stockings, and srout black shoes bustled toward them.
Her skinny red nose looked x if it had been in a pencil
sharpener. Seeing Michiko and Kiko the woman stopped
suddenly, making the eye glasses on a chain around her
neck bounce. "Are you the girls from townJ" she asked in
a sharp, vinegary voice. Her lips puckered in disapproval.
Michiko felt her face redden. tX/hen 1ou arc at home or
school, youforget about beingJapanese, she thought. But uhen
lou the ua! this uomdn doa, you remrmber.
Peo?la looh at
"Give Mabel your coats," Edna boomed from the
kitchen. "l'm up ro my elbows."
Michiko placed her mittens and hat on the small
table beside the door-
Kiko had come without.
Mabel shook each coat before hanging it up, as if she
expected something to fall out.
"\Ye\e just bids,"Michiko wanted to call out afrer her
"tYe are not spies." Instead she adjusted the blouse under
her nary bluejumper. Her freshly ironed, long-sleeved
white blouse had mother-of-pearl buttons that mrned
blue and pink in di$erent lights.
Kiko paused in the doorway ofthe living room. She
stared at the couch, Persian rug, pictures on the wall, and
the hear.y bronze Iamp with the green fringed shade. Kiko
placed her hand on the dark wood banister ofthe staircase
that led to the second floor and glanced up. Michiko could
tell by the look on her äce that she wanted to explore.
1Z 1,;,, 1 dl"::c,' rtlr^{.;,
1l n^''r.a, fua,.,.c 71
'Ihe girls entered the kitchen ro see Mrs. Morrison's
"Then try something new," Michiko suggesred, reach-
pudgy fingers rolling out soft yellow pastry dough. She was
ing for a jar ofgolden yellow.
a wide woman, and her white apron made her even wider.
"lr's such a big house," Kiko whispered ro Michiko.
"What kind of pie are you making)" Michiko asked.
"Does she live here all by herselP"
Edna Morrison paused with rhe rolling pin in the cen-
Michiko nodded. "This is where Mrs. Morrison grew
tre of the fattened circle. "lt wouldnt be a Thankgiving
up. After her parents died, she and her husband came here
without mincemeat pies," she bragged. "This is the last
to live. Bur then he went off to war."
for «rda1,."
"Vhat kind of rnear do you pur in?" Michiko asked.
"None," Mrs. Morrison said with a smile. "lt's really
.lust a fruit pie."
"Now tell me all about your plans lor Christmas," Mrs.
Kiko gave the dark mixrure of raisins, apples, and pears
Morrison asked, heading for the kirchen sink wirh her
in the earthenware bowl a stir. "So, rhere is no meat in a
arms in the air when the girls rerurned ro the kitchen. "ls
mincemeat pie." She rcpeared it as ifrc store the infonnation.
your class having a parry?"
Edna folded the circle ofdough in halland slid it into
Michiko and Kiko glanced at each other No one had
the pie pan. "\flhy dont you rwo run downstairs and get
said anything about a parq. "Maybe we should suggesr it,"
a jar of jam frorn the shelf." She dipped her head in rhe
Michiko said to her friend.
direction of the door rhat led ro the basement.
"The school Christmas parry was the highlight of the
The two girls made their way down to the dank room
year when I was young," Mrs. Morrison reminisced. She
ofcinder-block walls and earthen foor. A single bare light
gave the handle of the water tap a nudge with her elbow.
bulb cast harsh shadows on the walls, a silver coblr'eb
"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Vill one of you undo mv warch?"
glistening from its enamel collar A large shelf of filled
Kiko raced ro Mrs. Morrison's assisrance. She undid
.jars sat between the wringer washer and the furnace.
the clasp of the tiny gold srrap, letting the watch fall into
Preservesof pallid pears, golden peaches, and crim-
her hand. "Itt so delicate," she said.
son crabapples 6lled rhe top shelf The bottom shelf was
'Just an old rhing," Mrs. Morrison said. "Pur it on
full bread and butter, mustard, and dill pickles. Michiko
rop ofthe mantel." Reaching for rhe sliver ofyellow soap
reached out to the rniddle shelf lined with jars of peach,
by the sink, she told Michiko to stick some slices ofbread
strawberry. gooseberry, and black currenr jam.
into the toasrer. "Jam on toast always brightens up a dreary
"Vhat kind do you wanr?' she asked.
day," she said wirh a smile.
Kiko shrugged. "l've only ever tasred strawberry," she
Michiko sliced rwo pieces of bread and clamped rhem
confessed.
into the wire rack on the brrrner-
74 1t. r,,1 l')o',sr.*/t;\,,
" §ü'ho was the lady that answeled rhe door?" Kiko
asked retulning to the kitchen.
Michiko lrowned ar her imperrirrence.
"That! Mabel, Bert's wife," Edna explained removing
her apron. "She helps me with my dusting and cleaning."
"\X/hy cant she help you hang 1'our currains?" Kiko
asked.
Michiko rolled her eyes. How many times had her
mother told her not to ask quesrions abouc other people's
business? But then, Kiko didn't have a morher.
"Same reason we no longer pick our own apples,"
Mrs. Morrison replied, after a hearry laugh. "Neirher of
us can get up a ladder"
By the time the old curtains had come down and the
new ones wete up, it had gotten dark.
The feast of pork chops, peas, turnip, nrashed pota-
toes, and grarT stuffed them beyond beliefl Michiko gave a
huge groan. Kiko rubbed her stomach and rolled her e1,es.
Mrs. Morrison looked at her wrisr to check rhe
time. "l forgot, I took off my watch," she admitted. But
no sooner than she had spoken the tall clock in the hall
chimed seven.
"Get ,vour coat girls," their hostess djrected. "Your
ride will be here any minute."
'Ilere was a knock on rhe door jusr as the girls picked
up the bundles of old curtains. "Thaill be Bert," Mrs.
Morrison said. "Het driving 1,ou both home." She turned
to each ofthe girls and gave them a warm hug.
But it wasn't Bert at the door.
A man in a brown uniform with khaki purtees rop-
ping his highly polished boots waited in the yellow porch
Jtrauw N«.,nc, 15
light. Under his large peaked c:rp a pencil stuck out from
behind his ear. He held our a firnsy yellow envelope wirh
the words 'ü/esrern Union.
Mrs. Morrison stopped in rhe halhvay and put her
hands to her chest.
"Edna Morrison?" rhe man asked, looking past rhe
girls.
Michiko and Kiko swerved their heads to see the
womar in the foyer shake her head. She didn't put out her
hand to rake it.
Kiko snarched it from the mans hand. "l'll give it to
her," she said.
The man looked down at her in surprise. Then he
looked at Mrs. Morrison frozen in the doorway and
tipped his hat. "Good night," he said and closed the door
behind him.
"I knew it would happen. I've been right about every-
thing that has to do wirh rhis war," she said in a dull voice.
"Just when I finally stopped worrying," she whispered,
,,1
get a telegram."
Michiko led the frightened woman to the living roon.r
and eased her on to the couch.
Kiko brought the envelope.
"But you dont know what it says," Michiko told her
g€ntly. "You have to open it."
"I know what it says," she murmured, taking the tele-
gram. She turned it over and over.
"Stop talking," Kiko interrupted. "Open rhe telegram.',
Michikot head jerked up in surprise. But Kiko's rude-
ness seemed to get through to Mrs. Morrison. She tore
open the envelope.
 1t, a,, 1 [,) o:',cv tl, n\
It seemedto take forever to remove the thin piece
of paper with funny ryping from its envelope. But Mrs.
Morrison couldn't seem to read it. She just held it in front
ofher and stared.
"Read it," Michiko urged.
The rwo of them watched rhe pair of gold-specracled
blue eyes Gnally travel back and forth across the prinr.
Then, wirh a sigh, Edna Morrison folded it and stuffed
ir back into the envelope. She held it ro her chest and
breathed in deeply.
"A torpedo hit his ship," she said.
Michiko and Kiko gasped and looked at each other
with wide eyes.
"lt sank," she continued.
The room was silent but for the tick ofthe clock.
"They ere searching for survivors," she finally added.
"Ralph Morrison is missing in action." Edna Morrison
searched M ichiko's face.
"l'm not even able to cry," she said in surprise,
There was a second knock on the fronr door. This
time it was Bert, in his red plaid coat and denim overalls.
"Mr. Morrisonb ship sank," Kiko blurred out
yanked open the door.
"He's missing in action," Michiko added.
Bert removed his cap, rushed inside, and kneeled at
Mrs. Morrison's side. "He'll be 6ne," he said. "Remember
the time he lost his oars 6shing? He knows ho* to keep
afoat."
"l dont think we should go home," Michiko said,
taking the woman's hand in
hers. "Mrs. Morrison
shouldn't be left alone at a time like this."
r, J2.^{'r. fuÄ'J^o 17
Bert looked at her in surprise. "l'll go get Mabel,"
he said.
Michiko tossed the bundle of old curtains inro rhe
back of the pickup truck and lifted her knee to crawl up
on top. Bert removed the pipe from between his brown
stained teeth and held it in his hand. "No need to ride
in the back," he said. "There's room for the two ofyou
up front."
No one spoke as they followed the glare of truck
beams along the dark road. Ar the laneway to the orchard,
tlre truck slowed down.
"\iX/hich place is yours?" he asked.
"Follow the road to 8th Srreet," Kiko told him. "l m
in rhe first house."
Kiko hopped out, stopped in front ofthe truck, and
waved goodbye. The headlight caughr something on her
wrist, making a flash. Michiko wondered what it was.
Vithin minutes the green truck pulled up the back
lane of the drugstore. Michiko paused rvith her hand on
rhe handle. "That was nice ofyou to take Kiko right to her
door," she said.
as she
Bert nodded and rhen spoke. "Ho*'s your grandfäther
doing?"
Michiko smiled briefy. Her grandfather looked so
tired and his memory was not quite right. He kepr calling
her Eiko and asked her all kinds of thing about people
she never knew. "The dooor told him he'll be 6ne if he
takes it easy and stops running around coaching base-
ball," she said.
For the first time, Michiko saw the tall, solemn
farmer grin.
 1l.zr, 1 AJcrso- trjr^1r,

"Tell him from me," he said, "thatt good ne*s [or the
farmers'team. He's much too good a coach."
Michiko placed the 6rst bundle of curtains inside
rhe door at the foot of the stairs. Wh€n she went back ,{,2, T,'^,,
0t, \,el I} lrp
for the second, she smiled. She had just realized her 'of
grandfarher would like very much like to hear what Bert
THE DATE
just said.

"Eat something." Michiko heard her mother tell Sadie

in rhe kitchen. "You shouldn't go anlavhere on an emp§'
stomach. It might rumble."
"\iXÄen this war is over," Sadie said, "I'm going to eat
cake every day."
Eiko laughed. "lfyou eat cake every day," she replied,
"you will be fat, like me."
Michiko put down her book and smiled. Even if
Sadie ate cake every night, she knew it would only be a
very small piece. She was proud of her slim 6gure. Sadie
wore dresses with belts so tight it was a wonder she could
brearhe. But her mother wasn't as slim as she used to be,
which was strange because none of them were eadng
cake. Her mother seemed to have gorten thicker about
the waist.
Michiko went into rhe kitchen. "Do vou want me to
bake a cake tonight?" she teased.
"I'm too nervous to eat anyrhing," her aunt replied.
Sadie picked an invisible piece of lint from her shoulder.
"l've got a date," she murmured.
'A date?" Michiko and her mother repeated at the
same time.
 11 ,',1!'lo,,scn u^l
^1n,
Jr^hil2r fua',rho lll
"Vhere did you meer him?" her mother wanted to
"Yes," she said. 'A go-between put your father and
know
me together."
"\ühere else would I meet him?" Sadie responded
"I
suggested the match," Sadie said. "Can you just
with a laugh. "lti not as if we get to travel an)'where
imagine if they had picked someone like Mr Yama?"
outside ofthis town."
Michiko's mouth dropped. Sadie burst into laughter
Michiko was not surprised that Sadie had a date. She
at the sight.
was so beautiful that the farmhouse could have been full
"Stop teasing, Sadie," Eiko said. "You'll have Michiko
of men wanting to take her out. But this was the 6rst time
believing the strangest things."
since they left Vancouver she even used the word,
"rü4rat are you going ro wear?" Michiko asked. She
"Is he handsome?" Michiko asked.
loved it when her aunt used to visit them right after her
"l dont know," Sadie said in a whisper.
day in the dress shop. She had so many beauriful out6ts.
"You donr know what he looks like?" Michiko asked
Her shoes always matched her purse. Once she wore a
in awe. "\X/hy not?"
veiled hat made completely ofred feathers.
"lt's blind date," Sadie told them. Then she lowered
a
"l don't know," her aunt responded. For a moment
her voice. 'And neither ofyou are to say anJthing about
she stared off into space. "l think I'll start out wearing
this to Geechan."
grey. I dont want ro waste a good our6t on someone
Michiko glanced at the closed door ofher grandfathers
who might be boring." She smoorhed out her skin as she
bedroom.
talked. "i wish I had enough money to make a new dress."
"Sadie," her mother began, but Sadie put up her hand
She lifted her tea cup to her lips, and then paused. 'And
to stop her.
what about you, Eiko?" she said. "What are you going to
"l'm not going to discuss it wirh him," she said. "l live
do about a new wardrobe?"
outside the home, and l'm old enough to know what I am
Eiko put one finger to her lips and gave Sadie a wide
doing. You know how old-fashioned he is. He'll expect me
stare. "Mrs. Morrison has offered me a few of the dresses
to have a chaperon."
she no longer wears."
"Or at least a go-berween," Eiko said with a smile.
"Mrs. Morrison," shrieked Michiko. "Her dresses
" §ühat's a go-berween?" Michiko wanted to know.
would be way too big for you."
'A go-between is a person who arranges for you to
"Your mother has a sewing machine, doesnt she?"
meet the man you will marry"
Sadie responded.
Michiko looked at her mother. Her flowered pinafore
stretched across her front as if it had shrunk in the wash.
"Did you have a go-between?"
 4r,,1 ß)osror- W,,{.r, Jznrrczr fuaruno il-l

Sadie wasn't coming for lunch rhe following Sunday "l never get caughr at anything," Kiko said. As she
because she had a second date with the-man-no-one- saidir a look of sly confidence darted across her eves.
knew. They planned to spend the day in the nrountains. Michiko was not sure why.
Eiko was making them a picnic. Vhen Michiko came home from school rhere were
"Do you think Auntie Sadie will get married?" clothes covering her mother's bed.
Michiko asked het mother as they wrapped rice balls in "lr doesn't marter what you wear," Eiko was saying
wax PaPer. to Sadie.
"lnJapan, girls get married at seventeen," her "\X4at do you rhink, Michikoi" Sadie asked ,,r.hen
mother said. "Some would say Sadie was past the age for she walked into the room.

Betting married."
"But what would we do for a wedding?" Michiko
felt saddened. There would be no beautiful ltce for a
goun, she thought. There wo d be no yellow silh for
bridesmaids.
"l think we should iusr wait and see," her mother
advised her. "So many things can happen."
"So many things can happen," Michiko repeated as
she turned to the stove.
"It to be someone from the Bachelor House," Kiko
has
decided when Michiko told her about the picnic. "\üe
should 6nd out."
"How would we do that?" Michiko asked.
" §üe can follorv her when she has'rnother dace and see
who she meets."
"You mean spy on her?" Michiko looked at Kiko
and blinked.
"Everyone thinks we are spies any'lvay."
"I dont know," said N'lichiko. " \X.&at if we get caught?"
She held up her worn suit in front ofher. "This makes
me look like I am going to church." She flung it back on
the bed, and picked up a pair of nary slacks. "lf I wear
these, I look like I u,ork in a äctor1'." Then she lifted rhe
pale green out6t she wore the day they left Vancouver.
"This used to be my best outfit, but it's so worn."
Michiko had nev€r seen her aunr so worried. She
didnt say it out loud, but Sadie would look good in a rice
bag. lnstead she asked, "\7here are you going?"
Sadie slumped on top of the bed. "ltt nowhere that
special," she said. "FIow can it be? \ü/e aren't allowed ro
leave the area, no one has a car, and it's jusr ..." her voice
trailed off.
"Itt just that you wanr to look special for the man-
with-no-name," Eiko guessed. "\X.4ry dont you wear
something of mine? My clothes haven't hird an ouring fbr
a while."
"Could Il" Sadie said leaping up. "l'll take good
care ofwhatever you lend me. I just need ro wear some-
thing different."
lr{ichiko looked through the doorway at her grand-
father. Since his heart artack l.re spenr his days sitring
 11,,.1 A)c:sor- Wr^{r,
beside the window, gazing down at the garden. Once in
a while, Mrs. Morrison would take him for a walk up to
her house and give him a bowl of homemade soup.
"Vhy dont you tetl Geechan?" Michiko asked.
"Maybe it would cheer him up."
"Father wouldn't understand," Sadie said, lifting a
brown-and-white-polka-dot dress with a matching jacket
from a hanger "Vhen we were growing up we weren't
even allow€d to listen to a record player."
Michiko remembered the black leather box with
shining handles that she got to open from time to time.
\i(/hen Sadie came to visit, the 6rst rhing she did was
slide a vinyl disk from its brown paper sleeve and put it
on the turntable. Sadie and her mother danced as they
sang along with Bing Crosby. Michiko waltzed about
with her baby brother in her arms. It all stopped when
Geechan came to live with them. Or did it stop because
the record player disappeared? She couldnt remember.
"Mr. Katsumoto loves to sing," Michiko told her.
"He does?'Sadie said in surprise.
"\Ve sing 'Red fuver Valley' and 'Deep in the Heart
of Texas' during music time," Michiko told her. "He's got
a really good voice."
Sadie looked at Michiko and smiled. Bur this was a
smile Michiko hadn't seen on her aunt's face in a very long
time. lt was the kind of smile made her eyes shine just like
melting chocolate.
She must really lihe those sorugs too, Michiko thought.
/L"g\r' al^,r\rr,.
THE HOSPIruL
The fallen maple leaves had blown all the way down to the
lake. There was the kind ofchill in the air that only comes
when snow is right around the corner. Michiko didnt like
hearing harsh cries ofthe geese as they passed across the s§.
Michiko's father had one arm in his coat when the
knock sounded. He yanked the door open.
"l thought Iä check on the old fella," the doctor said,
"on my way home."
"Please come in," her father choked out. "l was just
heading up to your place."
The tall, heary-boned, grey-haired man headed upstairs
and into the kitchen. He pulled offhis coat and placed it
foor woke
over the chair. The scrape ofthe chair across the
Michiko's mother, who was sleeping at the kitchen table.
She lifted her head from her arms.
Michiko looked at his black bag, thinking of all rhe
horrible-tasting medicines that were inside. She followed
the doctor to the doorway of the Geechans bedroom, but
he put his arm out to stop her from coming inside.
'A hot drink would be nice," he said.
Michiko returned to the kitchen and lifted the kettle
from the back burner to the front. She waited for rhe
 11.r,,, A/":sc;. r.tJ,^{r,
kettle to sing, and then sprinkled a handful ofblack leaves
into the pot. Their supply'ofgreen tea was so low that
they saved it for Geechan.
Her mother and father sat with the cups in front of
them, waiting.
Finally the doctor lowered himself into the round-
backed u'ooden chair. Michiko pushed a steaming cup of
dark tea toward him. He laced it with milk from the can
with a white carnation on the front, took a sip, closed his
eyes, and savoured it.
Michiko pried open the lid of the cookie tin and held
ir out to him. The doctor put his enormous paw inside
and took out a small lump of oatmeal.
"l made them," Michiko bragged.
The doctor took a bite. "Delicious," he said.
"Vell?" Michiko's morher asked in a hushed voice.
The doctor cleared his throat. "Your father needs to be
in the hospital," he said. "The sooner rhe better Not just
for him but for you too, by rhe looks of it."
"The hospiral," Michiko repeated. A lump the size of a
rice ball came into her throat.
"I ll take him in my car," the doctor said, "ifSam will
come with me,"
Michiko's father helped Geechan get dressed. Around
his frail, thin body, Eiko draped rhe quilt that heä carried
all the way from Vancouver.
Despite tbe cold, Michiko srood with her morher on
the front porch to wave goodbye.
The next two days passed by quickly. Her mother
performed her household tasks in silence. Mrs. Morrison
visited every day, enveloping Eiko in her soft, warrrr arms.
Jr nnorr l\{aronc tt7
'When she pressed
her warm cheek against Michiko\
face, Michiko closed her eyes and fell into the smell of
lavender shampoo.
After school on the rhird day, Michiko visited the
small white hospital. Ourside it was almost dark, but you
couldnt rell in the hospiral. The bright lights refecting off
the pale green walls made her feel like she was underwarer.
Noises ofsqueaking metal cart wheels, quier conversarions,
footsteps on linoleum floors, and coughs surrounded her.
Ller grandfather's thin parchment hands lay motion-
less actoss his chest on top of rhe sheets. "Geechan," she
said, bur hedid not waken. Michiko shook him gend1,,
but he did not respond. She took his hand, sending all
of her love through a squeeze. Maybe this time he would
turn his head to her and open his eyes. But he didnt. In
frustrarion, she pinched his hand. He didn't even finch.
At the sound of the train going by, Michiko looked
up. For certain he would say, "Choo-choo," the way he
always did to Hiro. But he didn't move or speak.
Michiko looked at her father leaning back in the chair
with his eyes closed. V'hen he slept he didn't have the
s,rme ghostly look to his skin that hel grandfather had.
"Why wont Geechan wake upl" she asked.
"He is in a very verv deep sleep," her mother told her
as she entered the room. She looked at Michiko as if she
was carrying a very sad secrer.
"l'm not going to talk to him rhen," Michiko
announced folding her arms across her chest, "until he
opens his eyes."
"You must still talk to him," Sadie said, coming in
behind Eiko. "He can still hear your voice." She leaned
ult 4r,,1 Alos:or" Ll,-{,.
}"^4z' At""^" u9

over and kissed the forehead of the man in the bed.

"§ühat is thar?" asked Michiko, as Ted entered the
" Konnichiwa," she said to him softly. "fue you in Japan?"
room. "'ü/hat is Yamato-damashii?"
Michikot mother looked up a. Sadie in surprise. "l "ltmeans the true spirit of Japan," her uncle replied.
was thinking the same thing," she said with a sad smile.
He crossed the room and placed his large weathered hand
"l hope he's in his old neighbourhood with all his school
on top of the two fragile weathered ones. Then he turned
friends."
to Michiko. "[t was one of the things your grandfather
Sadie placed her delicate hand on Michikoi shoulder.
and Sadie fought about over and over again."
"Heä always planned to take you to Japan," she said. "He
"That's not fair," Sadie said, turning to Eiko. "Ted
saved all his money in a cigar box. Geechan wanted you to
fought with him too."
know all about your culture and heritage."
Michikot eyes widened. This was news to her. She
Michiko remembered the thin wooden box with the
had never known a cross word to come berween her
white owl on the top. Her grandfather used to show it to
grandfather and the three adults standing in the room.
her, tap the top, and say, "One day we go Japan."
"You fought with your father?' she asked in awe.
She always dreamed about visiting the Land ofCherry
"Yes, we did," Ted admitted. "Sadie and I had di$erent
Blossoms. She saw herself wearing a kimono, sitring on
dreams from the rest of the family. Especially Sadie. She
the foor at a low table to eat, and sleeping on e tatami
only had only Canadian dreams."
mat behind a rice paper screen. Michiko wanted to see the
Sadie gazed toward the man in rhe bed. "\ü4ren he was
mountain with the snow on the top that everyone drew
young he followed all theJapanese ways. The Emperor ofJapan
and the crooked trees. But the stupid war got in the way
was like a god to him," Sadie rcld Michiko. "He insisted your
and now Geechan wouldnt even wake up.
linle brother be named Hiro, after the emperor" She walked
"He missed our mother," Sadie told Eiko. "He found
over ro Geechan ard smoothed his brow. "After mother died
her in you, but not in me."
he tried his besr to make sure we stayed Japanese."
"He found himself in you," Eiko told Sadie with a
"\Vtry didn't you argue?" Michiko asked her mother,
grin, "except for one thing."
even though she already knew her mother seldom argued
"\Vhat was thar?" Michiko wanted to know.
with anyone. just turned blank and moved away.
She
"Yamato-dtmashii, " her mother and aunt said at the
"Your mother knew how to be Japanese at home and
same time.
Canadian at school. She lived in two worlds," her father
Sadie laughed out loud. Her mother hid her laughter
said. "That is how it is with the oldest."
behind her hand.
"Vhy does it have to be one or the other?" Michiko
Michiko glanced at her grandfather looking for a
wanted to know. "\Vhy cant we beJapanese and Canadian
reaction, but there wasn't one.
at the same time?
{f:§ffi( Illt;kr

11,r,,1 A/osror. LV,^1;,

No one answered.
Late that night Michiko's farher and morher returned
from the hospital. Hiro was asleep, bur Michiko lay in her
bed teading.
Her mother gave out great sigh as she lowered herself /1""p\r' f o,,Ärz,.
on to rhe end of Michiko's becl. She rook the book and
folded Michiko! hands into hers. With bright eyes, Eiko SAYONARA
spoke in a strained voice, "Sleep carried Geechan to his
place of comfort."
Michiko nodded, she knew about his Iong deep sleep. Michiko put her feet on rhe cold linoleum foor and tip-
"He is there now," she whisper.ed. toed ro the window. The lacy frosr on rhe glass shone like
At first Michiko did not undersrand what her silver. I)ense snow clouds covered the s§.
mother was saving. Geechan was well enough to trauel? "lt's freezing," she complained ro her mother when
Then a cold fear crept around her heart as she realized she entered the kitchen. She couldnt counr rhe number
what hel mother meant. The entire inside of her body of times the cold had awakened her by making her legs
went hollow. The hurt swelled within her chesr and came and feet ache.
our in a great heaving sob. But her morher wasn't at her usual place in fronr of
Her father pulled her to him right. Then he pushed the stove. She sar on her bed, her back ramrod straight,
her back, held her ar arm's distance, and looked her sraring at the rvall. Her eyes sagged, her sorrow too deep
straight in the eyes. "Itt better where he is, I promise," he for tears.
said in a sofr, sad voice. Michiko stood in rbe hallway *,ith her arms about
her waist. Her morher turned ro her bur didnt ger up.
"This is the best I coLrld do," Sadie said, enrering the
room holding nvo hats. 'All I could 6nd
is some black
feathers and nerring." Her sadness gave her face the look
of a china cup.
Michiko had no fancy hat to wear Her nary srraw
hat blew off the day they rode in rhe back of Bertt truck.
She had to be content with her mothers head scarf over
her toque.
"§7hat about Uncle Ted?" she asked.
 92 11r,,1 ßloss.or ü/r^{r,
Sadie looked up from adjusting rhe netting. "l hope
he makes it before the snow hits," she said, furrowing her
brow. "\X/ith all this wind, rhere will be huge drifts." Sadie
put the two hats down and took Eiko's hand.
Michiko wandered into the kitchen and sat down to
a bowl of cold porridge. Vithin minutes she washed her
bowl, dried it, and put it back in the cupboard.
"He has ro come," Michiko heard her morher say.
"He cant miss his fathert funeral."
"Ted will do the best he can," Sadie assured her.
"But he is a long way away. §0'e dorit even know if Mrs.
Morrisont telegram reached the lumber camp."
Vhen Ted first told the family he was making shiplap,
Michiko rhought he was back to work in the shipyard.
"Not ships," he corrected her. "Shiplap is the rough wood
siding they use for houses around here. But I'm going to
convince them to branch out into windows and doors."
Eikot eyes brimmed with concern. "Vill it be safe to
drive in rhis weather?"
By noon rhe snow smorhered rhe street. The drift
at .he back door was so large they were unable ro open
it. They went through rhe drugstore to the front door
where a new hand-printed sign hung over the doorknob:
Crosro ron Flr,.rrrB FuNsRAr-. Her father had misspelled
the word, fimi$ bur Michiko wasn't going to tell him.
His cardboard Mpnny Cnnrsruls sign in the window,
spelled out in comon balls, was perfect.
Outside Michiko lifted her little br.other to her
father's decorated window. Green crepe paper draped the
window like an awning. Red net stockings filled with
candy lay against boxes of chocolate-coyered cherries
-t:E*-
Jrn^,+r fu<r.,^o 9l
and peanut brittle. Small tinfoil Santa statues stood in
the centre.
Tomorrow she would take Hiro to the General Store.
In their window a mechanical Santa Claus moved up
and down, holding a pickaxe. All around him lay candies
wrapped in silver foil.
The family made their way to rhe church ar the rop of rhe
street, leaving footprints in thewhite. "Look, Hiro,"
Michiko
said, sticking out her tongue. A fat snowfake foated onto
her tongue. "It's ice cream." she held dghdy to Hiro's hand,
allowing the adults to move ahead. Nothing would stress
her mother more than an incident ofbad behavior.
Two turkeys hung head down in rhe window of
the butcher shop. The sign below urged people to place
their orders soon. Michiko thought about the deep layer
of sawdust that covered the foor At first she rhought it
was a wonderful way to freshen the shop's sour air, until
Clarence rold her it was there to catch dr.ips of blood.
Michiko wrinkled her nose and stamped the sawdust from
her shoes all the way home.
A crowd of people stood around the heary wooden
doors ofthe church, speaking in low murmurs. There was
mlk of her grandfather's wonderful garden. Several came
forward to shake hands with Michiko's family. Clarence
led a tall man in a grey overcoat by the hand to Michiko.
"Thisis my fathea" he said to her with a oooked grin.
Michiko stared up ar the tall man with grizzled gin-
ger hair. He put out his hand and she shook it. Then he
94 11..r,,, llcr:"r- tli r^1,,,
exrended his hands to Michiko's mother and father "My
boy talked a lot about the old guy," he said, "may he rest
in peace."
The thunder of a giant logging truck pulling up to
the church made everyone stop and look. Over his blue
.jeans, Ted wore a nary topcoat and fedora, He reached
for Sadie's arm. Michiko threw her arms about her
uncle's waist.
Michiko bleathed in the smell of wood polish when
they entered the small white church with the yellow dia-
mond windows. On the altar a vase held a single white
lily. The old reed organ stood to the right of the pulpit.
Michiko was surprised to see Berti wife, Mabel, adjust-
ing the sheets of music, wearing a black hat and coat. The
minister wore a gold satin scarf with embroidered crosses.
Michiko fipped through the pages ofthe hymn book
while the Mabel pumped the carpeted pedals. "Hiro,"
she said, in an artempr to keep him occupied, "tell me
the numbers."
She pointed to the white cards in the wooden shield
on the wall.
Everyone shuffied to their feet in order to sing.
Mrs. Morrison's voice rose just slightly over the others.
She held the notes just a bit longer than the rest of the
people singing.
Hiro glanced up as if he had just remembered some-
thing. He looked around and then slid out of the pew
to the red-carpeted aisle. "Geechan," he called out as if
he was playing a game of hide-and-seek. "Geechan," he
ca.lled again, walking down the aisle.
Several women raised gloved hands to their mouths.
l^^,92, /\<,u.o 95
Michiko darted after him just as Mr. Katsumoto
stepped into the aisle. He scooped Hiro up and flipped
him onto his shoulder. Michiko followed them to the
church basement. There Mr. Katsumoto flipped Hiro
back down to the ground.
Her teacher pulled out the bench and tickled the keys
of the upright piano.
"I didn't know you could play the piano," Michiko
said in surprise.
"Keeps my fingers nimble," he replied as he wiggled
his 6ngers. "ltt good for baseball."
Hiro ran across the shiny hardwood floor, skidded,
and Gll with a thump. Giant tears welled up in his almond-
shaped brown eyes.
"Hey, little fella," Mr. Katsumoto said, "want to gallop
like a horse?"
Michiko took off her coat, then undid the buckles
and stepped out of the rubber boots she wore over her
shoes. "\Watch, Hiro," she said. "This is how."
Mr. Katsumoto played while Michiko galloped
around the hall. \X/ith a smile, Hiro copied. "§7e have a
piano at home," she called out across the hardwood space.
"lti a good way ro wear the little guy qus," 1\41.
Katsumoro said with a laugh.
"He's not so bad," Michiko explained. "But he does
like to get into things."
"Sort oflike your Aunt Sadie," he commented.
"Do you know her?" Michiko asked, stopping her
gallop.
'All the teachers know each otheE" he said, grinning
down at the piano keys.
 40,,, 8,/. rsoi- trl .1,'
91

Michiko looked at the smiling, handsome man.

Her grandfäther would have been proud.o hav€ Mr.
Katsumoto as Sadie's boyfriend, a much bener choice
As Michikot family talked oußide the church with Mrs.
than the man-with-no-narn€.
Morrison, Mr Katsumoto surprised them all by carrying
Geechan's walnut face floated into her mind. He had
a sleeping Hiro toward them.
a way of smiling that lit up his whole face. She could just
"Mr. Katsumoto played thepiano!" Michiko exclaimed,
see him shaking Mr. Katsumoto's hand,, saying, "Come-
'And he tired Hiro ort."
gratulationt," over and over again, the way he misspoke
Her teacher extended a free hand to her lather and
English.
mother. "Please accept my condolences," he said. "He was
"Life goes on," people kept saying to her oyer and
a great baseball coach."
over again. But f life tuent on, she rhought, hetl be here
"I
wish he could have gomen ro know you better,"
right nou.,.
Sam replied. "You were his hero."
A great grey into her heart. Geechan
sadness seeped
"I'm not going to join you for dinner," Mrs. Morrison
had been such a big part of her life. He stayed at their
house when the government took her father away. He
said in a wobbly voice. She put her hands on her chest as if
to stop them from heaving. Her face was white and lined.
rode the train with them, carrying the quilt full of money.
"'§7e have already set you a place," Eiko said, bur Mrs.
He chopped wood and pumped water at the farmhouse
Morrison walked away, wiping her eyes.
and planted their gardens. At bedtime he showed her 5olr
Sadie, joining rhe group, caughr her breath ar the
Boshi, the kimono sleeve in the stars. Michiko didn't even
sight of Mr Katsumoto.
get to say goodbye ro her grandfather. A huge lump of
"§?'e dont have to take her plate away," Michiko said,
tears filled her throat. People should be sa/ng that death
looking at her mother in earnest.
goes on. Geechan will be clead foreuer. She put her hand to
Her mother took the hint. "Would you care to join
her throat, making a strange choking sound.
us?" she asked Michikot teacher.
Mr Katsumoto stopped playing. "I'm so sorry" he
Mr. Katsumoto didn't respond at first, busy trans-
said softly. "lt is such a sad time."
ferring Hiro to Tedt arms. "l wouldn't want to impose,"
Michiko nodded. The lump melted as tears streamed
he 6nally said, "under the circumstances."
down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the cuff of
"lt would be an honour to my fathea" Eiko said. "He
her sweater,
never stopped talking about seeing you win the Terminal
Hiro raced to the piano and banged a few keys.
League Championship."
"§7'atch," Mr. Katsumoto said to him. "I'll show you
At dinner Mr. Katsumoto enrernined them with sto-
how to play the galloping music."
ries of his days in road camp. "\We sat at a long table of

I
9U 11,,,,..1 Llo',",o't' ttl,^\.,, J,zh.rrrr llar'rnc 99

green u,ood with rwo beDches," he rold thenr. "There were "Ve should put a Christmas tree up at school,"
ten place semings, 6ve at each side. Each ofus ha<l a tin pie Michiko said, "for our class parry."
plate and an enamel cup." "\Vhat class parry?" Mr. Katsumoto asked in mock
Michiko, seeing her father nod at the description, seriousness.
stared down ar hel rice bowl. "The one you plan on giving your students," Sadie
"One man chopped the green tops offthe cartots," Mr. said with a large smiie.
Katsumoto told rhem, "another put rwo on each plate," "Once I read a story about a family that had no money
"'We ate a lot of raw as well," Michikot father said. for decorations," Michiko told him eagerly. 'A spider
"Once all we had to eat was a wedge ofcabbage. heard rhem and covered rhe tree with beauriful cobwebs."
Michiko looked up in surprise. Her father seldom "l try not ro read too much these days," Mr. Katsumoto
talked about rhe rime he was awa)'. said to N'(ichikos surprise.
"l could pur up with the poor food and the isolation," Sadie said in a soft voice, "I cant imagine living with
Sam said. "The real torture was the blackflies." He reached someone who didn't read."
over and patted his wife's hand. "My wife insisted I take a "l didnt say I dont enjoy reading," he replied. "\With
set of bed sheets." no bool« around, I get frustrated."
Michikot mother lowered her eles in embarrassment. "You can read all of my boo[<s," Michiko said-
"l used them to cover myself from the flies," he said. ''\XÄy thank you, Michiko," Mr. Karsumoto said,
'At least there were no rats." "but only one at a time."
Michiko dropped her chopsticks. Sam turned and spoke quietly to his wife, "\X/ill you
Her morher rose from the table. "Thankfully we are all play rhe piano?
better offthan thirt now," she said as she lifted the cloch 6om As the snow fell like perals lrom a cherrl, blossom, the
*re plare of small round cal<es in the centre ofthe table. Minagawa family sar with rheir guesr and listened to her
"You should have been at our house for New Years," grandfather's favourite songs ofJapan.
Michiko said to her teacher. She closed her eyes and
sighed. "Nothing tastes better than New Yeart mochi."
'Aah," said Mr. Katsumoto, "l often dream irbout
rhose sweet red bean cakes."
"It is so hard," Eiko said, looking at Sadie, "getting
the right ingredients."
"But yotive got a Christmas tree," Mr. Karumoto
said. "l haven't seen one in years."
 lznnu,zr fuar:nc 101

Next was a large box ofdetergent.

"Why send detergent with disposable diapers?" asked
Sam. He chuckled at his own joke.
At the bomom lay a large brown envelope addressed
/Log\t' f:.1\em to Mrs. Sam Minagawa.
- Over a cup of steaming tea. Michiko! morhe r opened
SPECIAL DELIVERY the envelope in front of then.r all. She pulled our a lerrer, a
small blue envelope, a cheque, a card, and a phorograph.
Across the top ofrhe letter ran the words, Tir r Iulrnul
"Vhart in the box?" Michiko asked her father. CoNrscrroNery CoupeNy or CaNeoe. "ltt from Mr.
He looked up from prying the lid off the wooden Riley," she exclaimed, scanning it from top to bottom.

crate and shrugged. It took up most of the space at the Finally Michiko knew who sent the box. Mr. Riley
was her fathert Vancouver boss.
bottom on thc stairs. Vhen he finally lifted the lid all they
saw was sttaw.
"Dar Mrl Minagawa,"her mother read aloud. '7 arz
"This really is a mvstery" Michikot mother observed. sorry to repoft thdt we haue had to fll the position yur has-

She pur her hand out to stop Hiro from pulling out a band hell in ou.t company" She gave a loud sigh before

great clump ofyellow. "We need to unpack it properly," continuing. "Fornnately we knau ofyour location, I haue
she announced. "The straw will be good for rhe garden." forwnrded a photograph fom your /tusbarrd's dzsh drawer

She shooed everyone back.

and a money ordtr for his oußtanding conrmissions."

The 6rst thing hidden beneath the straw tas a card- Michiko's mother ürned over a dog-eared photo-
board carton labelled CoNBs. graph of Sam, Eiko, Michiko, and Hiro. Her eyes took
"Ice cream cones," Michiko read in astonishment. on a faraway look. "Every New Year we dressed up and
"\Who would send us ice cream cones? Don't they know went to Mr Fujiwara's studio," she said, lowering the

we live above a soda fountain?" photograph into her table, "until it closed <[own."

Michiko\ mother passed the box to Sadie. Shc shook Then she picked up the cheque and held ir to her breast.

it. "Too heary for cones," she said. Michiko dared nor ask how much. Her mother placed ir
lhe second discovery was a box ofdisposable diapers. fäce down, lifted the small blue envelope, and opened ir.
"Dear Mrs. Minagawa," she read, "My aunt isn't much
Täped to the side were two blue panty covers. "'ü/hoever
sent it doesn't know Hiro has grown," Michiko observed. for writing, but she did bt rne hnow yu orriued safel1."
"\(hoeyer sent it," Sadie responded, "has money. She looked at the signature on the botrom. "lts from
Those cost abour six cents each," Paul Morrison, Mrs. Morrison's nephew."
102 1h,,., A)"sso', vl,^\,l,
She continued reading. "I hope eueryone is welL The
put tog*her sorue it€ms ae think loa might lihe. We
Sam ofien, Paul. " Michiko opened her
Michikot morher rerurn€d the blue paper to
envelope. The Christmas card brought them all greetings
from the staff of the Imperial Confectionary Company.
"Now can we open the boxes?" Michiko asked in
exasperation.
Her mother nodded and they rose from the table.
"This one first," Michiko said, indicating the ice cream
cone box.
The carton contained a brown teddy bear. Its nose
and the insides of its ears were golden brown. "lt's so
sweer," Michiko said giving it big squeeze. It surprised her
with a squeak.
She handed it to Hiro. He clurched it with a wide grin.
There was a giant-sized package of coloured pencils,
several orange scribblers, and a large puzzle of rwo kit-
tens in a basket. At the very bottom lay a thick book.
Michiko grinned.
Another carton held wool, knitting needles, and long
rolls of digestive biscuits. There were tins of peaches,
evaporated milk, and bags ofcandies that looked like tiny
golden pillows.
Michiko squealed when her mother pulled out the
box ofcandy canes.
"Candy canes," Michiko told everyone. "§0e have
candy canes."
Michiko closed her eyes. Her thoughts drifted back
ro a once-upon-a-time Christmas in Vancouver. Sracks
presents sat beneath the tree in the corner oftheir living
101
staff room. Christmas cards danced along the mantelpiece from
thinh of a green ribbon. Special smells came from the kitchen.
eyes. Last year all they had was a
its pine tree with paper ornaments stuck in a bucket ofsand.
This year they had candy canes!
Covered in red silk and dressed with a large black
tassel, the last box was unlike any of the others. Her
morher lifted the lid to reveal a thick wooden brush, an
ink stick, an ink stone shaped like a cherry blossom, and
a roll of rice paper.
Michiko rubbed her eyes. "Sadie," she called out, "look."
Sadie nodded. "The four treasures." she said with a
smile.
Michiko suddenly remembered an eldedyJapanese man
saying those very words. Her art teacher at Japanese school
cailed them sumi, suzuri, fude, and hami, Japanese for the
ink stick, ink stone, brush, and paper. The Four Treasures
were all you needed to paint.
"This is perfect," Sadie announced. "Next week we are
starting special classes."
"\What kind of classesl" Michiko asked.
Sadie lowered her voice and said, "The kind of
classes that will probably cause trouble." She cupped
her elegant hands around her mouth and whispered,
"Japanese culture classes."
"\X&ot giving them?" Eiko asked.
"§Thoever we can get," Sadiet said. "§0e are looking
for talented people."
"Mr. Katsumoto could teach origami," Michiko told
of her aunt,
"How do you know that?" Sadie xked.
 1
104 1Lz".1 t)ossor- l.ti r^1,
'
I
l/larrnc
Jrh^,.zr 10.5

"He shows us stuff in class," Michiko replied. She

not good ar this anymore," she mumbled looking ar the
pointed to the little blue vase 6lled with paper flowers.
bamboo leaf she tried to make.
"Kiko taught me ro make mlips but Mr. Katsumoro
"What did you sayl" asked her morher from across
showed us the iris."
rhe room.
"He is a man of many mlents," Sadie replied wirh a
"lt is supposed to be art," N'lichiko complained,
faint smile.
putting down the brush.
")bu can reach dance," Michiko said.
"Cbokubitsu,"her mother called our. "Chokuhixu and
"l plan to," Sadie said as she unrolled a pale yellow
sohuhitsrt."
sheet of rice paper and grimaced. Tiny threads danced
Michiko nodded. She knew she was always supposed
benearh rhe surface. "This paper is not as crea,ny as it
to pracrise the two basic strokes first, before trying to
should be." She sighed. "But iti not as ifanyone can send
make anything else. That's all they ever did in class. They
away lor better supplies."
practised norhin8 but strokes, curved and straight, hori-
" W'e should be gratefulto have ir," Michiko said as
zontal and v€tical, rhick and rhin, and then circles. But
she filled the small well in the ink stone with water. [f
Michiko, always impatient with these exercises, wanred to
she remembered correctly it should only be half-full. She
paint pictures.
dipped one end of the ink stick into rhe water and rhen
Michiko sighed and pur down the brush. "Too bad
placed it straighr up on rhe flat surface. She rubbed the
Uncle Ted can't teach carpentry," she said. "Remember
ink, grinding down rhe stick. It ran down the sloping
Hirot snrall wooden boat?"
surface and mingled with the water in the well. lt seemed
The word boat suddenly made Michiko nervous.
to be right, but she wasn't sure. She had only done this
Would Gcorge King tell the RCMP? She pushed rhe rhought
with a master presenr. Michiko propped the stick on the
to the back ofher mind.
edge o[ the stone. Everyone gathered to watch as she
picked up the brush. She put it back down.
"Y/e never painted on good paper 6rst," she said. " §ü'e

always scarted out on newspaper."

"['ll get one from downstairs," her farher offered.
They didn't keep newspapers in the upstairs apartmenr.
Her mothe r had forbidden them.
Michiko dipped the brush into a small .jar of clean
water and wiped ir on rhe side. She dipped the rip of
the brush in the ink and took it to the newspaper. "l'm

lt "$", Sin.{orn
THE EXPEDITION
"Does everyone krow where we are going?" Mr'.
Katsumoto asked the group ofbundled children standing
in front of him. Michiko's scarl damp from her breath,
smelled ofwet wool. It covered her mouth like the othels'
and muffled their answers. "\We will board according to
your assignments," he said, stopping in front ofthe horse-
drawn wagon.
The children looked at each other, not krowing what
their teacher meanr.
"First group," he announced, "are the Horsemen. You
will drag the tree out of the woods." He read out four
names. The four largest boys stepped forward.
Mr. Katsumoto opened his burlap sack. He placed a
round object in each oftheir hands. "Every horse should
have sleigh bells," he said.
The boys opened their hands and their eyes widened.
\With a grin they shook the small string of linle gold bells.
Mr Katsumoto waved them over to the waiting wagon.
"Next group are the'W'oodsmen," he called out. "Your
job is to identify and mark the best tree ro cut down." He
held up several long pieces of red ribbon. Kiko stepped
forward when Mr Katsumoto called out her name.
Jr^.tr?r /X(rJhc 107
The Merry Men were to make merry music and sing.
Michiko received a small rin flure.
Mr. Katsumoto gave each of the Axe Men a helmet of
cork, but he carried the axes.
Michiko remembered this wagon when she climbed
aboard. The old farm horses in their long srraw collars and
heary traces often pulled it past the farmhouse. §?hen rhe
front wheel hit a bump, the load ratled. Once a few pota-
toes rolled from the top ofthe pile and landed on the road.
Her grandfather leapt from his chair and ran down the
steps. She could still see him waving awaF the dusr as he
bent down to pick them up. He walked back with pockets
bulging. "Special delivery" he told her with a wink.
From then on, Michiko stopped and waited when-
ever the wagon passed by. Once it drove by piled high
with crates. The strong smell told her it was cabbage, but
nothing fell off.
Mr. Hayashi drove the horses along the old orchard
trail into the forest, The snow-covered pines towered
around them. It was still, almost tense with expecrarion.
"Let's have a song," Mr. Katsumoto shouted, "since
we are dashing through the snow."
The boys with the bells began the chorus. Michiko
and the others with the flutes joined in. Kiko sang out
in her high tinny voice. In no time at all they arriyed at
the clearing.
Once the children were off the truck they started
throwing snowballs. Kiko bobbed up and down, 6ring
them quickly. She raised her arms in the air and stuck out
her tongue, daring the boys to hit her. Michiko giggled
until she saw a fash ofgold.
F 10u 11,rr,., AJorsor. Wi^12,
"Let me see your braceler?" she asked exciredly.
"rühen did you get it?"
"My father boughr me a watch for my birthday," Kiko
said, tugging her jacker to cover it.
"Your father bought you a watch?" Michiko said in
amazement. Kikot birthday wasn't until the spring. "That
was a generous of him," she said.
But Kiko wouldni ler her see ir.
They walked to rhe rocky ledge. From where Michiko
and Kiko stood, rhey could see the whole communiry
tiny wooden houses. Smoke rose straight up from the
rows and rows ofshacks. Some ofthe small children were
out on the slope behind the old Apple Depot, sliding on
rice bags.
"\Ve still havent had any news about Mrs. Morrisons
husband," Michiko said.
"Het probably just foating around the ocean," Kiko
said with a sigh. "D-E-A-D."
"\ü4rat?" Michiko screeched. She turned to Kiko, her
face red with fury.
"Vhat I meant is," Kiko said, taking a step back, "itt
not as if rhey have any children. It's not like he's some-
one's father."
"So what?" Michiko screamed. She picked up a grear
wad ofsnow and threw ir at Kiko. "I would think you ofall
people would care about people going missing. How would
you like it ifyour father went missing like your mother?"
As soon as the words spilled out of her mouth,
Michiko wanted ro take rhem back. The pale, ashen
look that came over Kiko's face told her she had said the
wrong rhing.
I
109
Kiko brushed the snow from her shoulders wirhour
looking at what she was doing.
"I am so sorry Kiko," Michiko cried, rushing to her
side. She helped brush the snow away. Then she removed
the woolen scarf from her own neck and wrapped it
around Kiko's. "l think some snow gor down your neck.
This will keep you warm."
But Kiko did not reply. She stared srraight ahead as
if she had seen a ghosr. Then she walked back to the
of wagon and took a seat. All the way back to the school
she stayed silent.
The inside of the Hardware Store School seemed
fusry compared to the fresh air of the forest, until they
smelled the hot chocolate. Some ofthe morhers had made
it as a surprise.
But the besr surprise ofall was the gift bag each child
received from the Timothy Eaton Company. It contained
a small bag of hard candies, an orange, a yo-yo, crayons,
and a red kaleidoscope.
The gianr pine breathed the delicious smell of
Christmas into the whole building. They put 6r boughs
ever)'vrhere. Mr. Katsumoto tied a large spray ofgreenery
to the schooli front door.
All week long Michiko's class prepared decorations.
Sadie supplied the class with soft white paper, scissors,
and glue to cut snowflakes to spin from the ceiling. The
class transformed the bleak dilapidated building into a
Christmas hall.
110 /,u,,1 Alc:ror- r.t1
^J,,
}^"rrr 1",."o 111

Each day Kiko worked without a sound. Her tinny Michiko had to smile . "Mymother is baking
laugh never rose above the noise. Christmas cookies roday," she said. "\X/hy don't you come
Mr, Karsumoro taughr them how ro make a wire han- home with me?"
dle and punch holes in a tin can for a lantern. Michiko Kiko raised her head. "l've never made Christmas
worked diligendyon a star pattern. Kiko worked on a heart. cookies." she said. She sat up straight. "\Would I get to
Each rime Michiko tried to apologize for the awful eat one?"
rhing she said, Kiko jusr moved away to work ar a dif- "You can eat mine as well." Michiko offered.
ferent table.
Finally, Michiko went to her side and put her arm
around her friend. "l really didnt n:ean what I said about
your father." Hiro jumped down from his chair when the girls entered
Kiko looked up. "He's not my äther," she said in a thc kitchen. "Kiko," he said pLrtting his arms in the air
lorv voice. when she entered the kitchen, "horsie."
At first Michiko thought she had heard incorrectly. Kiko pulled him on to her lap. She bounced Michikot
After a long silence, she whispered, "\X/hat do you mean little brother up and down.
he is not your äther?" "Faster," Hiro demanded.
"He is my uncle," Kiko said. She laid her head across Kiko bounced him up and down on her knee making
her arms. "l thought i[ I pretended he was my father, I his black fringe bob and as his eyes grow wide. lt was then
might nor miss my parents so much." thar Michiko saw Kiko's watch. A watch that looked exactly
"Did your father go to Japan too?" Michiko asked. likes Mrs. Morrison's.
Kiko dragged her bortom teeth across her lip before
speaking. "My father refused to evacuate. He left me
with his brother before he ran off. If they catch hirn, he'll
go to )ail."
She put her face down into her arms.
"Good rhing you have an uncle to count on," Michiko
said, patting hel friend's back.
"Count on him?" Kiko said raising her head. "All he
ever does is count on me. I'm counting on you to do this,
I'm counting on you to do that." She uncrossed her
he says.
arms. "He counts on me so nuch I could be an abacusl"
 1 I.i

ball foated toward her in slow motion. She swung the bat
and hit it. The ball soared over the lake and landed in her
old bac§ard. She started to run the bases. \,XÄen she got
1L og\zr 9nr^\ean to third her legs rurned hard. She looked down and they
had become bats.
HATUSl'UME "Run home, run home," Geechan called out to her.
Michiko reached down and lifted one ofher bat legs
forward. She did the same with the other. Halfivay home
she was too rired to continue. She started
to cry.
Michiko woke with a sense of anxiery but she didnt
"Run home, run home," Geechan called to her from
know why. She reached her toes down to the heated brick
home base.
wrapped in flannel at the end ofher bed, but it was cold.
She desperarely wanted ro get to home base. She
Then it came to her: she needed to take a closer look at
looked at her legs again now she was wearing geta.
Kiko's watch.
She ran on the Japanese
-
shoes, but when she got to home
ln the kitchen an orange scribbler lay open next to
base Geechan was Bone,
her bowl. Beside the can of milk with rwo holes punched
"\4&at ifl dont understand what it is about?" she asked.
in the top lay a sharpened pencil.
"All the more reason to write ir." her mother told her
"Did you dream last night?" her mother asked as she
"The meaning will come Iater"
stirred the oatmeal. She seemed pale and there were hollows
'Are we moving back to Japan?" Michiko asked.
under her cheela.
Her mother whirled abour, her eyes {lashing. "l am
Michiko looked up in surprise. Hotu did her mother
Canadian," she said in a loud voice. Her face was angry
hnou? She dreamt every night, mostly about Geechan.
and red. "This is my country. It's nor a question of going
Not bad dreams, but ones where he was riding with her
bach for me."
on the train, working in the garden, and walking along
"But Kiko says," Michiko began ro say.
the river He would always stop, look at her, and smile.
"Kiko saysa lot of things," her mother snapped.
"You need to practise writing down your dreams," her
"l have had enough of this silly talk." She brought the
mother explained. "All the people in Japan record their
saucepan to the table and ladled porridge into the bowl.
first dream of Hatusyurne."
She lifted the can, poured a steady stream ofyellow milk
Michiko thought about last night's dream as she
over Michiko's porridge, and slammed it down.
played with the pencil. In it she was playing baseball.
Tbings are so different at Kiko's house, Michiko thought.
Clarence was the pitcher and Geechan the catcher The
She can speah her own mind, disagree, and euen change the

I
 I
114 /1,n,,.1 Slos;or. W,-1,, Jr..u:r fu.ir.rnc 115

topic of conuersatiofi. Here no one is euen interested in dis' "Come home with me today," Michiko told Kiko.
I am to speak on$ if spohen to frst.
cussing my id.eas. "lt's warmer there."
Michiko picked up hel spoon. She decided to tell "l hope it is warmer in our new home." Kiko said as
Kiko to write down ITer dream as soon as their ink thawed. rhey put on their coats.'
k was so cold at night that the bottles on the ledge beside "You cant go back to Vancouver? You told me it was

rhe stove wouldni be ready fbr an hour. Ban Ciry"

Every morning the boys and girls in Michiko's class "\l{/ho said an}'thing about Vancouver?" Kiko replied
lefi their litde wooden huts so bundled drey could hardly with defiance. "My äther," she said with a stutter, remem-

move. Long johns went under cordu:-oy pants, flannel hering Michiko k-new rhe rruth. got permission to move
blouses under swearers. §üith their hats down to their to Ontario."
eyes and rheir scarves up to their nose it was hard to tell "Ontario?" Michiko lepeated. She turned and grabbed
who was who. Kiko's shoulders. "\X/hy?"
To keep their minds off the harsh winter, everyone "I keep telling you we are going ro get moved again,"
stayed busy. \(4ren rhey weren't sweeping frost from the Kiko sajd, kicking at rhe snow as they crossed the street.
floor or icicles from the roofs, they attended the forbidden "My father said this time het going to decide for himself
classes. where he wants to live."
Tämiko took lessons in lbebam. Kiko became a As they entered the apartment, Michiko overheard
champion in Japanese chess. Raymond carved a knife for Mrs. Morrison say, "l've brought a few live things into the
opening letters and lr woodeq rvhistle from a tree branch. world myself, living on the farm."
He bragged about his plan to carve än entirc baseball bat. Kiko froze in the doorway. "l won't stay for lunch,"
"Since you are so inrerested in ryssd," 14r. Katsumoto she said. "l'll .iust tell your mother mv news and go back
said to him one da1,, "you can be in charge of feeding the to school."
fire." Everyone laughed because the black pot-bellied stove Michiko frowned. "1X/e ve got enough, don't wei" she
consumed cord after cord. Raymond scowled. From the asked her mother.
look on his face this was not the iob that he had in mind. "Of course we do," her mother exclaimed. "Kiko take
Michiko attended classes in Haihu, but her poems your coat offand sit down."
had to wait for the special rice paper in the red box at "i'll ler you get on with your lunch," Mrs. It'[orrison
home. There was srill no one rc teach her Kanji. announced, lifting her heary black purse from the floor
Edna Morrison, caught up in all the activiry lormed a and placing it on rhe table with a thud. "l'm attending a
\WaL Relief Club. The women of rhe church held meetings luncheon ar the KinB residence today. Ali the women of
at her house to knit socks and scarves. the auxiliary will be there."
 I
11(r 1Lr',1 ß/ossor- Lt/'"{.r,
l?^nYr. i\arrno ll7

"Do you mean George King's house?" Michiko asked "Everyone is going to have to move again," Kiko said.

in astonishment. "My father says so."

"Thatt right," Mrs. Morrison said. "You know George, "\,(/hy dont we move to Ontario roo?" Michiko asked.

don't you?" She turned to Michikot mother "Het such an

"Michiko," her father said in a deep voice. She knew
overprotected boy. His mother wont even let him get wet." she had angered him. Her stomach churned as her morher
Michiko and Kiko burst out into such uncontrollabl€ cleared the table in silence. Eiko's face told Michiko there

laughter they had to escape to Michikos bedroom. Since was ro be no more ralk abour movinB.

January, Hiro slept in Geechant old room.

"She wont even let him get wet," Kiko repeated with
glee. "He didnt tell his morher."
"Let's hope that's not the only rhing he didn'r rell her,"
Michiko whispered back. So far the RCMP seemed to
know nothing about the boat. Hopefully he would keep
his promise.
"Did you know that Colgate is the only toothpaste
used by the Dionne Quintsl" her farher asked, sticking his
head in the doorway.
"They live in Ontario, don't they?" Michiko asked.
Her father nodded, beckoning them ro lunch.
"Kiko is moving to Ontario," Michiko announced as

they all sat down.

'Are you?" her father asked.
"Yes," she replied. "§7e got special permission."
"I wonder what Ontario is like," Michiko mused as

she lifted her soup bowl to her nose.

"We can't think of moving any.where," Michikot
mother said in a voice that was sharper than usual. She
looked into Samt eyes and blinked, as iffashing a warning.
"\X/hy not?" asked Michiko.
"'Vhy move?" Her father said in a jovial way. "\üe live
here for free."

I

/t"$^ Q-,1ll,n,n
GOOD NE\YS
Eiko sprawled on her hands and knees across the kitchen
floor, scrubbing. "l'm 6nished," she said as she held her
hand out to Michiko. "Help me get up," she whispered,
almost out of breath. Lately every one of her sentences
ended in a whisper
Michiko leaned down a-nd grasped her mother's hands.
The linoleum foor smelled of soap and wa-x.
Eiko pulled heavily and rose to her feer. She put one
hand on the back of the chair and winced as she tried to
stretch her back. "l think I may have overdone it," shs
said. She leaned heavily on Michiko before sinking into a
chair. "Make some tea, please."
"ls it all right if Kiko and I make popcorn?" Michiko
asked. "One of the bags in the store had a hole in it and
Kiko talked the clerk into giving it to her for free."
'As long as you keep the floor clean," her mother told
her. "l cant face it again."
\X.4ren Kiko arrived, Michikot mother took offher blue
checkered apron. "l'm going ro lie down for a while," she
told them. "You can keep Hiro busy with 1,our popcorn."
"Don't forget to shake the pot really hard," Michiko
advised Kiko when the wild pinging sounds started. It
119
always reminded her of winter hail against the windows.
She left the kitchen to peek in on her mother and covered
her with the patchwork quilt.
Kiko pulled a chair to the stove. "Hiro," she said, "stand
beside me and watch."
The pot lid rose and a collar of fuffy kernels peeped
out. Soon popcorn danced onto the stove and bounced to
the foor. Hiro.jumped from rhe chair He picked up the
puFs and ate rhem.
"How much did you put in?" Michiko asked when
she came into the kitchen, seeing the puffs drop.
Kiko shrugged. "l doni know," she said. "I put some
in and Hiro put some in."
Michiko scooped up rhe bag. Over halfwas gone.
"Youve put in way too much!" she exclaimed as she
turned down the burner
The foor looked as snowy as rhe road outside.
Hiro daned about, stuffing his mouth. Broken kernels
stuck to the clean linoleum.
"My mother just washed rhe foor," Michiko moaned.
The rwo girls scooped up popcorn and 6lled a bowl.
Even rhough the stove was ofi it kept on popping and
dropping. In desperation, Michiko opened the cupboard
under the sink and grabbed an empry rice bag. She stuffed
it with popcorn. Now there was mess and waste. That
would upset her mother even more.
"\i(/e can take some to my father," Michiko said, "but
we have to clean rhe lioor first."
i
1.1) r'! ,,, t ti,..,"."
"tt.),r, t2t
A bicycle rvhizzed by the liont window just as Michiko
"Hes in a neval hospial in London."
cnrclcrl the dlugsrore. She recognized the man's khaki
"Thais right," Mrs. N{orrison said, finallyable to speak.
rruifbrnr and polished boors.
"He will be able to come home on leave." She crossed her
"Oh no1" Michiko shrieked. "The telegram man could
fingers. "Hopefully rhe war will be all over before he has
bc going to Mrs. Morrison's."
to go back."
Sam, Kiko, and Hiro yrent ro rhe window.
"I knew he would be all right," Kiko said to her. "I
"I'm going to 6nd out," Michiko announced, rugging
.
always said that to Michiko."
on her boots and grabbing her coat from the peg. She ran
Michiko shor her a glance ofdisbeliefwhile she patted
out the Fronr door as fast as she could through the snow.
Mrs. Morrison's hend.
The bicycle was leaving when she arrived at Mrs.
"Mv mother will be here soon," Michiko said.
N4orrisont front porch.
"I hope not," Mrs. Morrison said standing up. "lt's
As Michiko ran up the sreps, a sob came from the
too hr for her to walk in her condition." She turned to
open front door'. She stepped inside as Kiko pounded up
Kiko. "You run back and tell Eiko to stay put." She turned
on to the porch behind her.
to Michiko. "You tell Bert to bring his rruck."
Mrs. Morrison sat on thc staim, her face in her hands.
\)7hen Bert pulled into rhe laneway, Mrs. Morrison
An open envelope lay at het feet.
waited on her front steps holding a large wicker basket.
Michiko went on her knees. "lr,[rs. Molrison," she slid,
"\Ve are going to celebrate," she said.
"is it bad newsl"
Michiko peeked inside at the bag of sugar, package
The woman remoyed her large fleshy hands from her
of burter', a lemon, and huge bowl of eggs. This really is
läce. Her nose was brighr red.
"He's
r celebrarion, Michiko thought. Mrs. Morrison usually
" she said. Her voice cracked. She looked at
...
sells her eggs. There was enough there to buy herself a
thenr both with wide eyes.
new har.
Michiko and Kiko helpe<l her to rhe sofa.
Michikot mother mer rhem at the door.
"Get het a glass of water," Michiko comn.randed as
"l think I feel a bit of a cry coming on," Mrs. Morrison
she retrieyed the lener.
said as she climbed our ofrhe truck. "l doni know what I
"l'll
it out loud," Kiko said when she returned
read
would have done if it had been different."
from the kitchen. She snatched ir from Michiko's hand
Eiko gave her a hug.
and scanned the strips of ryped print. "He was rescued
"l was so afraid he drowned at sea," Edna said. "l
from a lifeboat."
"Hurtay!" Michiko yelled, handing Mrs. Morrison didnt think that ar 6rst, but I when couldni find the
a
rvatch he gave me it seemed like a bad onren."
glass. "Vhere is he?'
Michiko's eyes widened. Kiko srared at rhe ground.
 I
D2 1t,r,,1 N,lo',',"> tl,^\.,, l:nnrr-rr fuaronc l2-l

"l have searched the whole house. I opened drawers, "ls Sadie coming back to live with usl" Michiko asked.
emptied vases, and moved things about. One nighr I looked "No," her father teased, "we havent me. the peffon who
until two o'clock in the morning and still no watch," Mrs. will be living
wirh us."
Morrison said. "You must think I am a foolish old woman." Michiko looked at each of them as rhe smell of the
"lt is neyer foolish to care about rhings you love," sweet pudding filled rhe air.
Eiko said putting her arms around her friend. "['m sure Kiko hir her in the arm. "lbur mother," Kiko began,
it will turn up," she squeezed her friendt shoulders, "jusr but stopped, seeing Eikot face.
like yoLrr husband." Eiko moved to Michiko's side and whispered into
That night Michiko watched Mrs. Morrison make her ear.
rhem lemon curd. She sat her mixing bowl on rop of a "Ve're having a baby!" Michiko exclaimed.
saucepan of boiling water. Into it she cracked six eggs That night Michiko lay in bed, wide awake. There
and beat them well. She stirred in the sugar and butter, was so much ro think about: Kiko going to Ontario, Mrs.
and then put her hand out for the lemon. Morrison's missing watch, and now a new baby.
Michiko and Kiko had been taking turns holding
it and smelling it. Michiko remembered how Geechan
could never make the sound of the letter Z. He would
always call the bright yellow fruir a "wenon. " Sadie said ir
the same way too, jusr to rease,
Mrs. Morrison cut the lemon in half and gave the
gids the job ol squeezing in the juice. Then they stirred
until it got as thick as honey.
"Speaking of good news," Sam said when he came
upstairs, "isnt it abour time you shared our good news
with Mrs. Morrison?"
"She already knows," Eiko said with a bir ofa blush.
"But r.our daughrer doesn't," Mrs. Morrison said.
"Doesn't know wharl" Michiko asked . Hod her mother
changed her mind tbout rnouing?
"You'll be happy about one thing," Sam said, looking
at Michiko. "You wont have to share your room. lt will be
Hirot turn to share this time."

I
 J,r".u:;r fu<r.,"o 125

This is where she would usually meet Clarence. Clarence

/L ag\n, lovt\rn^
THEIX/ATCH
Michiko opened her eyes the next morning and gazed about
her room. The small black-spotred mirror artached to her
bureau reflected the wooden car Geechan had carved for
her. She looked at the ceiling. Geechan made the paper lan-
tern that coyered the bare bulb. He was always doing some-
thing for them. She needed to do something special for him.
She remembered the baby. [t seemed like she had just
would neuer tahe anything that didn't belong to hirn, she
thoughr. He euen returned the baseball gloue giuen to him
at the gal e.
The wind howled about her feet as she made her way
down rhe laneway that led to the orchard. Wisps of smoke
floated up from the tiny snow-covered roofs. She gave
three hard knocks on the door ofthe newspaper house.
"Hello, Michiko," Mr Sagara said as he opened the
door. The familiar acrid smell of printers' ink rugged at
her nose. His dark hair stood straight uP
up on top of his
head, reminding Michiko of a brush. He He held a blue-
stained cloth in one hand.
"ls Kiko at home?" Michiko inquired.
"No," he said.
"She has something rhar I have to get back," Michiko

gotten used to carting her brorher around and now he said at rhe doorway,

ran and climbed everywhere.
Then she remembered rhe watch. She rose and dressed
q uickly.
"Can I go to Kiko's house todar'?" she asked her
Her mother was busy taking apart one of
Mr. Sagara indicated thar Michiko should sit on a
kitchen chair. He went back to his stool in front of the
rows of rype letters. Michiko stared ar the mildewed walls.
morher Kiko danced through the doorway. "Hi, Michiko,"
Mrs. she said. She put her hands over the small black stove and

Morrison's dresses. She cut a parrern from brown paper. rubbed them hard. "\iühat are you doing here?"
After she sewed it togerher again, inside out, it would look "l came to get something back," Michiko rvhispered.
like new. Eiko nodded. "Something you borrowed."
Michiko put on both her swear€rs, then her coat. Kiko stared at her blankly. Then she shrugged her
Tügging her hat down oyer her ears she thought abour what shoulders.

Vhat if Kiko wouldn't co-operarei

she was going to say. "l want rhe watch," Michiko said, poinring ro her
The cold, sharp air bit her face as she made her friendi wrist.
way down the middle of the snow-banked street. The Kikot eyes ficked open. Then they half closed and
water below rhe bridge rushed beneath a cover of ice. opened again.

I
 I
1i.,,,1 ßlossc> iV,^1r,
Mr. Sagara lubbed his face, smearing ink on his fore-
head. "Najii des'ka?" he asked as he got off the stool and
came toward them. "Do you have a watch?"
"She said it was just an old thing," Kiko hissed at
Michiko. She turned to her uncle. "She doesn't need it.
Mrs. Morrison's got a huge clock in her hallway."
Mr Sagara fixed his dark eyes on Kiko. "Did Mrs.
Morrison say you could have it?"
Kiko looked arvay.
"Did Mrs. Morrison tell you that you could have it?"
he repeated.
Kiko bit her bortom lip. Her e1'es sparkled with
tear§.
"Kiko was supposed.o pur ir on the mancel, but she
put it on her wrist insread," Michiko blurted our. "Mrs.
Morrison doesn't know where it is."
Kiko staled ar her in disbelief.
"Vell, then," Mr. Sagara said, raking a deep breath,
'give the warch to Michiko."
Kiko yanked back rhe sleeve ofher swearer. She undid
rhe clasp, removed it, and slammed it into Michiko's our-
stretched hand. She slumped on ro rhe chair and crossed
her arms.
"§7ell," Mr. Sagara said, "you haveyour hahujin watcl:.
back, You can go home now."
Michiko fixed her eyes on Mr Sagara, wondering
what to say. Suddenly Geechan's voice floated inro her
head. "Those who make the first bad move always lose the
game," Michiko said to him before she opened rhe door.
Mr. Sagara blinked rapidly'.
Michiko turned on her heel and left. All the wav
1),7
home her eyes smarted. How could she and Kiko possibly
stay friends now?
At the bridge, hearing the sound of rires on snow,
Michiko moved to let the vehicle pass.
"Hey, there," Bertt voice called out to her. "!ühat are
you doing way out here?" He leaned across the seat and
opened the truck door.
Michikot hand went to her pocket. What if Bert
found out she had Mrs. Morrison's watch? It rook him a
long time to accept the Japanese people living in his town.
This could change everyrhing.
"Hop in," he said. "l'm going ro the General Store."
Michiko climbed into the truck, glad of rhe warm
interior. "Thanl<s," was all she could sa1,. Her mind was
full of what to do next.
tü/hen she got home, Mr. Katsumoto and Mr. Hayashi
sat at the soda fountain counter.
"\iZhat's the matter?" her father asked as she took off
her hat. "You look upset."
"Snowball fight," Michiko said removing her boots.
"ln a word," she heard Mr. Hayashi say, "dispersal."
"\Veve been uproored for more than two years
already'," her father complained.
"[f I can get rvork in Raymond, Alberta, theyll let
me play in the Southern Alberta Sugar Belr League," Mr.
Katsumoto said.
"You want to haryest sugar beets with a college educa-
rion?" Sam replied.
"The evacuarion ended the Asahi team," Michiko
heard her teacher say as she mounred the stairs. "At least
Iä get a chance to play."
I
12lJ d,r,,1 P,)ossot W,nl o
t29
Michiko was so frightened she could hardly walk.
Sadie stooped to pick upHiro. "Now, now," she said.
If anyone caught her with Mrs. Morrison's warch she
"Your father and Uncle Kaz will wonder what is going on
couldn't imagine what would happen. She stuffed it inside
up here."
a clean sock in her drawer
"Uncle Kaz?" Michiko repeated. "\X/hy did you call
She went to the kirchen where Sadie was saying, "We
him that?"
need, a, majnai. Remember what mother used to do? She
"Because," Sadie said, "ifhe leaves I am going to have
put the scissors on the stoye and the right answer popped
to go along wirh him as his wife."
into her head. She said it worked every rime."
"l dont want ro mlk abour it anymore." Eiko said.
"Not talking about it doesn't make it go awa5"
Sadie said. "Prime Minister Mackenzie King said that
the Japanese people who do not move east will be sent
to Japan."
"And how does he expect them to ger rhere?"
"Oh, dont worry he's thought of that," Sadie said
with a laugh. "Het going to give each of us $200.00 for
travelling expenses."
"§Ve can't go any.where with a baby on the way,"
Eiko said.
"Everyone has to pick up their pieces and move on."
"§7hat pieces? There are no pieces of furniture, no
car, no money for a house. \Vhy leave with nothing to
noüing?"
"Your family still has to move ahead," Sadie warned
her. "You can't let rhis baby keep you back." Sadie lowered
her voice. "Even Kaz is leaving."
"\Mhat?" Michiko screeched, unable to be invisible
any longer "Mr. Katsumoto is leaving?" She ran to Sadie.
"He can't leave. He's our teacher."
Hiro, playing on the foor, saw Michiko's distress and
began to wail.

I

/L"$n' T."-."'{1
PUSSYWILLOWS
"Brush your hair," her mother said, tapping on Michiko's
bedroom door. " §ü'e're having visitors today."
Michiko lay on top ofher bed thinking how she could
return Mrs. Morrisont watch without anyone krowing.
She had no idea.
Her mother stepped inro the doorway of Michiko's
bedroom. Her face looked like the sun in all its fullness.
"Hurry up," she whispered. "Theywill be here in a minute."
"lt must be a girl," her farher had told her the night
before. "Your mother looked like a chubby pigeon with
you. Her cheeks wobbled when she laughed." Hearing
this, Michiko realized she hadn't heard her mother laugh
in a long time.
Michiko barely had time ro straighten her bed when
Kiko arrived with her uncle. She had no idea what to say,
but it didnt seem ro matter Kiko acted as if nothing had
happened.
Her mother sat listening as Mr Sagara rold her rheir
plans. A long package wrapped in newspaper lay across
his lap.
"You have been so good to Kiko," Mr. Sagara told
them both. "She tall<s so much about your family. I know
Jz
"^.rz
r Atla,,^o 131
she is sorry to leave." He glanced at Kiko, but she just
stared at her feer.
"You are very fortunate to be leaving," Eiko replied.
" §flhen do you go?"
"The day afer Haru Matsuri," he said. "rVe wouldnt
want to miss the Gstivities." He looked at Kiko and
smiled. "Kiko has been practising quite a lot for her per-
formance."
"Thank you for printing out the posters," Michiko
said to Mr. Sagara.
He nodded and sm iled. The Japanese commu n iry was
having their first spring festival, even though everyone in
town called k a 6azaar. The teachers and children had
transformed rhe bleak school building into a showcase
celebrating their winter accomplishmenrs.
"It is time ro move on," Mr. Sagara said, "roo much
looking in the rear-view mirror."
Tltis is all that eueryone talks about these daj,s, mouing
forward, mouing bachward, Michiko thought. Her family
didn't talh about mouing anywhere.
"Do you have family in Toronto?" Michiko's mother
a-sked-
Kiko turned her head and looked ar rhe piano.
"\X/e will be making enquiries as to the whereabouts
of my brother," Mr. Sagara said. He stammered, "Kikot
uncle may be there."
Michiko's heart skipped a bear.
Kiko looked up at the ceiling.
Mr. Sagara looked at the package on his lap and
blinked as if he saw it for the 6rst time. "Forgive me," he
said picking it up. "Ve thought you would like these."
132 th*1 1.1..,:,,r' W,.tt,
He rose and atrempted ro put them in her mother's
lap, but her mother had no lap.
Michiko rushed to take the bundle.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Sagara," her mothei said.
"Thar was very kind ofyou."
Placing it on the floor Michiko pulled away the
paper, revealing several long branches ofpussy willows.
"\X/e picked them this morning," Kiko said kneeling
on rhe {loor beside her. She stroked one of the riny grey
pufballs with her frnger. "Feel how soft they are. lf you
put them in water they will roor," she said.
Michiko lifted rhe bundle. "Ler's do it," she said in
a soft voice. \X/hat Kiko did was very wrong, but she
couldnt stay angry at her.
"Do you think your farher is in Ontario?" Michiko
whispered to her in rhe kitchen.
Kiko shrugged. "!7ho knows," she said placinB ä stem
into the jar ofwater.
Jhere was a knock on the back door. Kiko and
Michiko rushed to the landing. The rwo RCMP officers
from down the street waited at the bottom of the stairs.
Michiko and Kiko strained ro hear. But Sam led them
into the drugstore.
"Vill your family have to go back to Japan?" asked
Kiko.
"There is no back," said Michiko, repeating her
mother's words "rü7e were not born in Japan." But she
shivered, knowing that her mother would have ro go
wherever her father did.
Michiko watched Kiko and Mr. Sagara leave from rhe
window. Mr. Sagara bent and scooped up a handful of
Jznnwr /\iqr.,no 131
pine needles. He srood for a moment, holding them in his
hand as if he had nerer seen rhem before- Then he threw
them to the ground.
That night Michiko woke ro rhe sound of her parent's
angry voices and went to their b€droom door
"How will we establish a livelihood?" her mother
asked. "lt is a foreign country"
"lt is m1' hernglx.4," her father said in a quiet voice.
Michiko lefr her bed to peek rhrough the space ofthe
partly closed door.
"You have a bedridden mother and an elderly father,"
hel mother said. "They will not wish to be burdened with
an infant and two children."
"lVe will just have ro pack up what we blought," her
farher said. He reached out ro stroke her. morhert cheek
but she waved him away.
Michiko closed their door softly. She didnt want to
hear arrymore. We brought Geechan, she rhotght, the only
one in the family who uanted to go bach to Japan . Midiko no
longer wanred to think about the Land ofCherry Blossoms.
The mud on Clarence's boots was evidence that he had
carried the posrers all over rown. "I put one up in every
window," he said, nodding toward his bundle. Two rolls
of paper with large brown elastics stuck out flom under
his arm.
1.]4 1lr,,1Al"s:,ot"',t1,.!.r,
Clarence pulled our a poster, shook it, and let it
unwind. Cherry blossoms danced around each corner.
The words Haru l'fatsuri floa.red across the middle.
Michiko climbed up on to the window ledge to pull
down a sign. [)ust and dead spiders 6lled the bottom of
the window. "This place really needs a spring cleaning,"
she said. Then she had the most brilliant idea.
Mrs. Morrison cleaned her house lrom top to bottom
each spring. She told them she would be cleaning out the
grare and polishing the brass frreplace screen next week.
Michiko dropped the watch into the ashes, she would be
sure to find it.
"Let's go visit Mrs. N'[orrison," she suggested aLfter
sticking up the poster.
/ l^
g\ rt T.^c,,1 1 -0,,2
"
HARU MATSURI
lf Michiko Gnished taking aparr one of their white cotton
pillowcases. So far there was a modest layette offour hand-
made kimonos, a dozen hand-hemmed diapers, and four
threadbare shirts thac both she and Hiro had worn. A small
knitted sweatel bonnet, and booties arrived from Sadie.
She glanced at her mother leaning back in the chair,
her eyes closed. Michiko fuffed her pillow. Thanh goodness
lter father took Hiro ort earlier, she thought.
Ar her mother's sigh, Michiko looked up. "l dont have
to go," she said, even though she couldnt rvait for the fes-
tiviries ro begin.
"Go," her morher said. "Enjoy yourself."
In a cloud of flowery perfume, Sadie entered the
room. "[.ook at this," she exclaimed lifting her lapel. "lt!
Pegasus," she said removing the mythical flying horse to
let them exa;line the emerald green wings. "Kaz said it
reminded him of me."
"The right man for you would nerer try to clip your
wings," Michiko's mother said as she picked up her
darning basket.
After an uncomfortable silence Sadie cleared her
throat. "lt wont be for long," she said. "After a year in the
f -i6 1i,;r,1 8)cs:c> vJr^ier
117

beet fields, we'll have enough for a home."

The iook on George's face rold Michiko he really
Michiko took a deep breath. "l wish I knew what we
didnt want to be there with the ladies. Michiko smiled and
were doing," she said.
waved at him after all, he hadn'r told about the boat.
Her mother held her needle in the air and frowned. -
The performances were taking place in the large,
"That decision has not been made."
dimly ljt hall with a srage at one end. Her father and
"l heard you talking abour Japan."
Mr. Katsumoto set out eyery chair they could find and
"lfyou heard that you must have been eavesdropping."
made benches ofbricks and planks. The tiny cloakroom
She wagged the needle back and forth. "Yancha," she said.
would serve as a chänge room for the dancers. All month
"How else would I know what is going on?" asked
long people had borrowed and craded kimonos, scarves,
Michiko. "You never tell me anyrhing. Even Kiko knew
and fans.
you were having a baby before I did."
George slid into the seat she had saved for Clarcnce.
"Kiko knows more than she should for a girl her age,"
"§7ere you waving at mel"
her mother commented. She cut the wool thread with hel
But belore Michiko could answer there was a loud
scissors and slipped the wooden mushroom out from the
bang from a drum. Michiko blinked at the sight of Mr.
toe. She turned to Michiko. "lt is not your worrl'," she
Yama dressed in a short dark hanten with red calligraphy
said. "You rvill go where we go."
marching down its lapels. Two thick wooden sticks hung
"You mean stick to kid business that's whar you
-
mean." Michiko said stonrping down the stairs and all the
below his cuffed sleeves. A white bandana with a large red
sun crossed his dark brows. He stood glaring at the crowd
way across the street.
from behind a giant wooden drum.
The school, decorated with paper lanterns and fow-
Michiko could hardly believe her eyes. Mr. Yama
ers, hosted a tea room, bake table, and a hot-dog srand.
always stomped about in old shirm, baggy pants, and
Tables displayed everyone's poetry', origami, wood carv-
thick-soled shoes, even on hot days.
ings, and sewing. Michiko walked through it all and then
As master of ceremonies, Mr. Hayashi stepped in
made her way down the strcer ro the hall rhat rhe old
front of the crowd wearing his best blue suit. "On behalf
timers called the Opera House.
of the communiry" he announced, "l welcome you to
She picked her way through the oowd gathered on
our very 6rst Spring Festival." He waited for the crowd
the fronr lawn. George leaned against the doorway, while
to settle. "lVe will begin with," he paused to look at his
his mother chatted wirh the other town women. Mrs.
notes, " Sahura, Sahura."
Morrison wore her new inside-our dress with a lace col1ar,
The audience applauded as a young man took his place
Her gold watch sparkled on her wrist. Her straw hat, full
at the piano ar one end ofthe stage. After his first piece he
ofcherries. was perfecr lor rhc occasion.
played a rousing rendition of"Deep in the Heart ofTexas."
l lti 11,,,,-1 ß)oss.r- t4,^1,n, 119

George glinned and clapped. "That's my hvourite
song," he said.
Michiko was glad he didn't comment on the 6rst piece.
"Tbe Happy Dance of the Doll Festiual follows the
piano performance," Mr Hayashi announced. Behind
him a group of girls scurtied to their positions, holding
their kimono sleeves close ro rheir chesrs,
Mr. Yarra moved to a small table beside the piano. He
cranked tl.re handle of the record player, lilrted the needle
arm, and put it on the disk. Scratchy Japanese nusic 6lled
the room.
1he girls nodded and pointed their fans. They dipped
as they opened rheir äns at the same time. As they moved
about the stage they hnned their faces. Then, resting rheir
elbows on the delicate painted paper fans, rhey stopped
and snapped the fans shut.
One by one Michiko examined the faces of the danc-
ers. Kiko was nor one of rhem. What ltad shr bcn practising?
Once again, Mr. Yama operared the record player. Bur
this dancer soon made them forget its tinny sound.
She brought the sleeve of her kimono to her brow,
to reveal its bright green insides. Wirh knees gently bent,
she made sliding motions across rhe floor, dipping and
swaying side ro side. Her high wooden clogs made her
delicate steps all the more spectacular.
Vith her head slightly bent, she paused with fingers
to her chin. It was that movemenr thar rold Michiko it
was Aunt Sadie.
Sadie opened her parasol and raised the beautiful
painted chrysanthemums above her head. She moved in a
circle, her sleeves foated beside her She spun her parasol
as she dipped. Everyone in the room knew she was happy.
fu the tone of rhe music changed, Michiko's aunt
placed her parasol on the floor and pulled a long silk scarf
from her sleeve. As she moved she wrapped rhe scarfabout
her neck. She brought the ends up to touch her cheeks, as

Placing their fans in the large wide beltabour rheir wäisr, ifshe was wiping away giant tears. In a flash she undid the
the dancers formed a circle. Each movement was gentle and scarf, then let it futter and drop.
'I}e girls scurried away to loud applause.
well-practised. Sadie brought one long sleeve of her kimono to her
Mr. Hayashi announced, "The next dance is the brow as she extended her other arm out, palm down. Her
story of a young woman having to say goodbye to her sens€ of despair was so great, Michiko wanted to run ro
loved one." He gave such a magnificent sigh he made the her and hug her.
audience laugh. '[re dance ended when she sank to her knees behind
George held his 6srs ro his face and hunched fotrvard. rhe parasol.
A wonran in a snow-white kimono rvirh a chalk- At 6rst no one made a sound, The thunderous applause
white face and cherry lips stepped into view Garlands of made Michiko turn to see just how many people were
small flowers lell flom a comb of jewels in her hair. A watching. Not only was the whole orchard in atendance,
lolded parasol rested in the crook ofher arm. The golden almost all of the townsfolk were here as well. Clarence
embroidety in her sash sparkled. stood in the doorway wirh Mr. Katsumoto. But it was Mr.

I
 I
140 1t-t,,1 Alcssot W,^\t,
Katsumotot face thar caught Michikot eye and made her
stare. He was wearing a look she had never seen before.
The activiry ar the front drew Michiko back to the show.
Mr Yama broughr his taiho into the cenrre. Three
)oung men and a small boy came on srage. Each wore
a short black hanten with a white bandana across rheir
forehead. The young men placed their drums onro cross-
legged stands. Tbe small boy sat on the floor wirh his
drum in front of him.
Mr. Hayashi rose and read from his notes. "This musi-
cal piece," he said, "is inspired by the clock works and the
puppet master. It promises to be full of life and energy."
The audience moved about in their seats in anticipa-
tion. Drumming :rJways broughr excirement.
Ml. Yama tapped the side of his drum with the ends
ofthe thick wooden drumsticks, making a clacking sound.
Then he lunged at his drum, giving ir one enormous bang.
George almosr jumped our of his sear.
Each of the drummers hit their drums with force.
'Ihe room throbbed with the clack of wooden sticks. It
was as if they were all inside Mrs. Morrison\ big hall
clock. Michiko couldn't take her eyes of the fierce lirtle
drummer in the flont.
" §7ow," George said, "that little guy can really play."
Michiko covered her laughter with her hands, shaking
her head.
George lurrowed his brows and looked again. His
eves opened wide as it dawned on him. It wasnt a boy on
the drums, it was Kiko.
/L"$" t"""'{',-1-'"'o
TADPOLES
Michiko, Kiko, and Hiro all crouched, pushed aside the
grass, and peered into rhe mur§ water Dragonflies skirted
rhe scum on rhe pond in rhe middie of rhe baseball dia-
mond. Michiko could almost taste the slime.
Kiko took Hiro's stick and stirred. The tadpoles
swarmed to the edge. As they wriggled, they could see
their short stubby tails and front legs.
"Don't get dirry" Michiko warned Kiko. Her feer
looked so dainty in running shoes painted with whire
polish. She wore her woollen coat wide open and carried
a cardboard pulse.
Kiko plucked at rhe collar of her blue nylon dorted-
"lt's prickly."
Swiss dress.
Hiro picked up another stick.
"l should have brought a.jaa" Kiko said. "l could mke
some tadpoles with me."
Tlre quiet pond reflecred the sk1'and the clouds
above rhem. Michiko's reflection rippled alongside
Kikot. They waited for Mr. Sagara to 6nish his business
across the street at the RCMP office. All their paperwork
had to be in order before they left. The security truck
was making a special trip ro rhe train starion in the next
I
 I
142 11.r,,1 A)csso- U/,.1.,,
rown. Mr. Hayashi had invited Michiko and Clarence ro
go along for the ride.
They never spoke about Mrs. Morrisont watch.
After Michiko congratulated Kiko on her tremendous
drumming, they both acred as if nothing had happened.
Michiko sported her parents coming down rhe street
to say goodbye. They joined them as Eiko and Sam were
shaking Mr. Sagara! hand and saying they were sorrv that
he was leaving.
"Vith all your newspaper experience, you should be
able ro 6nd a job," Sam said.
"Kiko will have a chance for a much better education,"
Eiko commented.
Kiko stood beside her unclet rope-tied caldboard
suitcase, wearing a false smile.
"This
is foryou," Michikos mother said as she handed
Kiko two gleen plastic bows attached to a cardboard srrip.
Kiko removed them and Eiko fastened rhem to either side
of her head. Kiko touched the barrettes with the tips of
her fingers and smiled. "Thanks," she whispered.
Clarence arrived carrying a package of brown paper
and string. He handed it to Michiko. 'Arrived just in
time," he said. Then he took Hiros hand.
Hiro looked up and down the streer. "Choo-choo,"
he said. "Choo-choo?"
"lt woni be stopping here," Clarence said. "Kiko has
to 8o to the next station."
It had been over rwo 1.ears since N,lichiko travelled the
road from the railway station. This tin.re she was sitting on
a bench, instead ofstanding beside a pile ofluggage in the
open back of Bertt farm truck.
141
One side of the road was mounrain, the other, lake.
After they passed the RCMP guardhouse, Michiko tried
to count the number of S turns in the road, but gave up
after fifry-four The mountaintops disappeared for a few
moments into the clouds. There were patches of snow and
signs warning them ofavalanches. She hoped Mr. Hayashi
would steer clear ofrhe rocks on rhe road. Ifthey got a fat
tire, Kiko would miss her train.
A logging truck, loaded with red-barked cedar logs
the size ofrruck tires, pxsed them on the road. "Thais the
company Uncle Ted works for," Michiko told Clarence.
But Clarence wasn't listening. His head stuck out
rhe back. He craned his neck in all directions, the wind
whipping his hair into frenzy. "My pa said there were hot
springs around here." He turned ro Michiko and smiled.
"Sorta like a Japanese bath, I guess."
The train whistle echoed through the valley and rurned
the curve as they pulled into the station. Michiko handed
Kiko the package. "1i7e know you like to collect facts," she
said as the sream from the coal-earing train billowed about
them. "You can make a book about Toronto."
A Iitrle smile lifted the corner of Kikos mouth. "[ will
keep a Commonplac€ Book."
"lt wont be very common if ir's a record of your lifä,"
Clarence said with a glin.
They beamed at each other like the lriends they used
to be.
Kiko held the package to her chest. "Someday we wili
look at it rogether," she said to Michiko. There seemed to be
hope in Kikot words, but Michiko didnt believe her. The
chances ofher family leaving town were as slim as a ghost.
 144 1!, r u 1 A) o",so> t t)' ;1. r.,
t4\
Mr. Sagara picked up rhe rwo suitcases and boarded
pushed down hard. He was halfway up the street when
the train. They watched him and Kiko make their way
Michiko's father unlocked the front door. Mr. Hayashi
down, inside the car. Kiko sat by the window opening and
nodded to the rwo of them as he left.
closing her fingers as a wave. She stretched her lips across
"Did that boy want something from the storel" her
her teerh in a brief smile.
, father asked with a hint of worry in his voice. "I only
The conductor picked up his linle step and put it
closed for a second."
back inside the car. As the train lurched forward and
"I dont know," said Michiko, wondering why her
pulled out of the station, it started ro rain. Clarence and
father locked the door.
Michiko waved madly until it was just a puff of smoke
Michiko turned to Clarence. "You know, nexr rime
in the distance. Michiko wondered what it was like in
we go 6shing," she began.
Toronto. Woull Kiho be able to go into th€ ttotet dnd be
"I know what you are going to say," he said rolling his
serued by the clerhs? Or toonU it be like Vancouuer?
eyes. "You want me to invire George to come along."
It was a cold journey home. The rain drummed on rhe
Michiko nodded.
body of the truck. lt was a good thing there was room for
"He won't come," Clarence said. "You larow he cant
them in the front. The wipers scraped away rhe sheet ofwater
swim and his mother wouldnt ler him."
on the windscreen. Euerything is mding Michiko thought.
"tVhy does his mother haye to knowJ" she replied,
Their iris had wilted into a dark, slim, snarl. Mrs. Morrisont
knowing full well it would not go over well with her own
beautifr lilacs turned brown and shrivelled. Sooner or later
rnother ifshe heard what she just suggested.
the whole town would shrivel up and be gone.
"Michiko," her father shouted down from the top
George King waited in front of the drugstore on his
window
bike. His curlyhair needed acut. It blew about his eyes. "Did
"Yes, Father?" she replied. Now he was :upstairs. Vhat
your drummer friend get on the train?" he asked Michiko.
u,t§ g0ing on?
"That's right, George," Clarence answered. "Kiko's on
"lt is time."
her way to Toronto."
"Toronto," George repeated. "Shei going toToronto?"
"Okay," she replied. But it took her a few minute to
understand what he meanr. Her stomach jumped with
"Yup," said Clarence. "And she has invired us to come
excitement. "Okay," she said again, louder. She gave
and visir wheneyer we want."
Clarence a wide smile and tore inside and up the stairs.
Michiko looked at Clarence and frowned. Kiko didn't
Michiko remembered her mother saying her back felt
say thar.
funny the night before.
"Luc§ her," George said mounting his bicycle. "A1l
Her father stood with her mother ar rhe aparrmenr
the way to Toronto." He put his foot on a pedal and
door. Michiko saw a riny drop blood on her lower lip, as

146 1t, Al a",sc't- v^l,
",, 1
if she had bitten ir. Michiko picked up her mother's small
furoshihi and run ahead ro open the door downstair s. Eiko
grimaced as they stepped off the porch, but never made a
sound. AII they had to do was get ro rhe docrort house.
He would drive them ro the hospital.
Michiko walked about the apartment, not sure what
to do next.
"Yoo-hoo," called x familiar voice from the bortom
the stairs. "lti me."
Mrs. Morrison stood below, grinning. "Clarence
came to tell me," she said with glee.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" Michiko asked, calling
down the stairs.
"l'm not coming up," Edna replied. "l'll take Hiro
back, to help feed the chickens."
"Poor chickens," Michiko rhought as she burroned
her little brother's coat. "Niuatoril"
smiled. 'Are you going ro feed the chickensl"
Hiro looked up. She wiped his morning porridge
from his chin and helped him down the smirs. Then
turned the sign on the door to Cr-osr,n.
"ltta girl!" Sadie cried, bursring into the kitchen jusr as
Michiko finished the dishes. 'A beautiful baby girl. Your
father called the school."
"I have a baby sister?" Michiko said in astonishment.
"Don't you want to see her?" Her aunt shooed her
toward the door "There's an RCMP officer wairing in his
car. He said heä drop us off ar the hospital."
i
;\. r., '141
Michiko's new baby sisrer was the smallest person she
had ever seen. Her head was no bigger than a grapefruir.
She had chubby red cheeks and 6ne black hair that shot
out in all directions. Her small pink hands clenched either
side ofher face. As she pushed one ofher tiny fists inro her
eye, Michiko's mothel drew ir away.
"She looks like Sadie," Michiko whispered.
of "That's what I thought," her mother whispered back.
Her dark eyes looked tired and she smelled olmedicjne.
"Perfect in every wa»" said the nurse enrering rhe
room, "a very healthy child."
"lVould you like to hold her?" asked her mother.
"l guess." Michiko said wirh a grimace.
As she cradled the riny bundle in her arms rhe sweet
smell of talcum powder drifted up. Michiko bent to kiss
her soft round cheek and caught the smell of brand-new
she said to Hiro and skin. A tiny fist opened. Michiko slipped her fingel into
it. Five tiny pink fingers closed over it. A shiver started at
her fingertips and went up her arms.
she "Lucky girl," the nurse said arranging the pillows
behind Eiko's head.
"l guess I am," Michiko responded.
"l meant the baby," the nurse said. "I always wanted
a big sister."
That night Michiko paused over and over again
while reading in bed. She couldn't concentrate. Her
sister's tiny face kept appearing on the page. Then she
heard a sob.
Michiko put the book down and tiptoed to her
brother's doorway. He was fast asleep. She heard the noise
again- lt came from the kitchen.
T
148 4t.e,, 1 Aloo,,,or- tl.nt,n

Her father, his head buried inro his hands, was shaking.
"\X4rat's wrong?' Michiko cried out. "Did something
happen to the baby?"
Her father took his hands from his face and looked at /Log\r, T'.-^{1-TL,rz
her. "The baby is 6ne," he said.
Michiko slipped into rhe chair beside him and put her THE LETTER
alm around him.
"You must forgive me," he said. "There is so much to
worry about these days,"
Michiko pared her fathers arm. "There is nothing to "l'm glad you know the difference," Clarence said to
worry about," she said. "Remember what Geechan always Michiko in their back garden. "l'm never sure what are
said: at the foot ofrhe lighrhouse it is always dark." weeds and what are vegetables." He scraped his hair
"Not ifthe lighthouse is in Japan," her father replied. back from his freckled forehead and stuffed it under his
"I don't know whac you mean," Michiko said, a tinge baseball cap.

of fear creeping into in her heart. Michiko picked up her rake. "Hello," she said to Mrs.
"[ mean," he stammered, running his fingers rhrough Mortison, who was walking toward them.
his hair, "before your litde sisrer was born, Mr Havashi "How's the new babyi" was rhe woman's first question

helped me fill out the papers ro send our whole family every time they met.

to Japan." "Fine," Michiko said wirh a smile.

Clarence and Michiko set to work weeding.
Mrs. Morrison talked as they worked. "There lrasnt
been a baby around here in a long time," she said. 'All
kinds ofkids used to run up and down the main streer."
"Now theret only George King," Clarence said in an
aggravated tone. "George King, King of the Town, as he
likes to say."
Michiko giggled.
"Poor George," Mrs. Morrison said, ilspecting the
beds.
"Poor George?" echoed Clarence in astonishment.
"He's the richesr kid around."

I
 150 1l.r* 1 Al"sror. lt/,-1,,
"George is poor in other ways," Mrs. Morrison told
rhem. "He is poor in health, poor ar sports, and he is poor
*j,r,r!r,i.l at making friends."
"Maybe because he is a poor sport," Clarence said
giving a dandelion a swift slash.
"George King was the only child of the King family
to survive," she said.
Clarence, having seven brothers and sisters, looked up
in astonishment.
Michiko blood turned cold. She opened her eyes
wide.
Edna Morrison read the fear in Michiko's eyes. "Not
thar it's a problem for a healthy baby girl like yours," she
assured her.
"How many children did she have?" Clarence asked.
"Three before George," said Mts- Morrison. "There
were two girls and a boy. They never lived pasr rheir 6ßr
year of life. AII of them are in the church cemetery"
Michiko thought of the small angel statues in the
childrent seoion. She shivered. If there was one place in
the whole area chat Michiko disliked. ir was the cemerery
HalÄrvay down the mountain berween the larnrhouse
and the orchard, it was a tangled mass of wildflowers
and weeds. The little iron-railed plots with gulls crying
overhead made her uneasy. Trying not to think of ir, she
raked with gusto.
"George u'as rhe only one ro live past his fir'sr birrh-
day," Mrs. Morrison told them. "His mother was unable
to have more children."
Clarence and Michiko listened as they scratched out
the weeds around rhe vegetables.
r51
"Georget mother and I went to school together,"
Mrs. Morrison said as she did rtp her cardigan buttons.
"Kathleen was the only girl from a well-to-do family of
boys. Her mother dressed her in frills every day."
"Sometimes I wish I was an only child," Clarence
said. "Our house gets real noisy at times and we are alwal's
running out of food."
"But you would be lonely, ' Michiko said. She
couldn't imagine not having Hiro around. He got into
rhings but she Ioved him. 'And youä end up being self-
ish," she added.
"Being an onl;' child doesnt make you selfish," Mrs.
Morrison said indignantly, putring her hands on her hips.
"l was an only child. But instead ofwearing frills, I had ro
work the farm. I had to keep the chickens, milk the cows
and the goat, and tend to rhe gardens. I used to wash my face
in goars milk trying to look as pale and pretry as Kathleen."
Michiko looked up at the woman's red shiny face
gleaming in the sun. One couldnt find a more kind and
gen€rous woman. "You dont need goat's milk," she said
dropping her hoe. She rhrew her arms around Ednds waist
and buried her hce in her cardigan. "You are beautiful."
Täken by surprise, Edna Morrison's eyes widened.
Then they softened and turned moist. "[ think you are
beautiful too," she said stroking Michikos dark head.
"Doesn'r anyone rhink I am beauriful?" Clarence
asked, leaning against his shovel with his cap shoved to
the back ofhis head.
Michiko released Mrs. Morrison with a giggle.
"Time for my visit," the woman announced, heading
in the door.
 152 Z'2,,., ßlosse" Wr^{,,,
1,5. i
Michiko bent to straighten the rickety peony cage,
"Why doni you come with me to the church," Mrs.
äshioned out of rusty fence wire. The scraggly plant
trapped inside looked limp. "Maybe we should try to Morrison suggested. "The fower beds could do with a
weeding before the wedding." She giggled at what she said.
make friends with George."
"How?" asked Clarence. "His mother wont let him
play with me. I'm from the wrong side of the tracks. And
you are ... " But he stopped alking.
"I am an enemy of the country," Michiko finished \Vhen they arrived at the church, Mabel, in a large cotton

for him. "I come from a whole family of spies." She apron with a knotted tea towel about her head, appeared

remembered what Kiko had said once about being a spy.

"Maybe," she said,'we could do it in secret. Isn't that
what spies do?"
"He'll only cause trouble," Clarence said. "That is
in the doorway. "Do we take everything off the notice
board as well?" she asked.
Edna replied, "Michiko can do the notice board.
Clarence, you tackle the dandelions."

the one thing he isn't poor at." He stopped raking and Michiko dropped her rake onto the grass. She entered
ro the sound of Mabel pumping the caryeted Pedals, mak-
rested his chin on the handle. "\X/hy don't you invite him
to the wedding?" ing the old organ wheeze out the wedding march.

Michiko threw The notice board was so full it was a wonder anyone
a dandelion
plant at him.
The wedding was producing as much excitement noticed anlthing. An unclaimed mitten from last winter
as
covered some ofthe messages and announcements. Michiko
the summer baseball games. Mrs. Morrison organized the
church women into cleaning every inch ofthe chapel. decided to remove everything, throw out what was out of
date, and rearrange.
Before long Mrs. Morrison returned, carrying the
tin can of Along with the usual notices of choir practices,
large told me if
used tea leaves. "Your mother
I scatter them about the lloor when I sweep, it will help upcoming events, and club meetings was a small news-
keep down the dust."
paper clipping. It was so small the brass thumbtack
I bet she didxb tell yu holding it up covered most ofit. She pried back the tack
where we are going, Michiko
thought. These days her mother's face was expressionless. and read.

Her pale, thin lips pressed together so tightly they almost

disappeared. She cleaned the house from top to bot-
tom, took down the curtains, and moved the furniture. Family \Y'anted: Owners of ghdiola farm
Michiko knew her mother was not happy about moving need help witb business and household.

to Japan. Man required. Must be able to o?erdte

trdctor haruest and sort bulbs, sellflowers.
 {r

154 11,r,,1 ßlos,ror, !,t/,^{r,

\Y'omtn needed for ltousework and meals.

Small house incladed. lVill dccept Asi.tn
farni$. Write for details.
.TL'r
0 L o p\ nt r'{, .1 -lo u,
Michiko stared at what she held in her hand. She
turned it over tosee ifrhere was a date. All that it said on
THEWEDDING
back was, "Raspberry Jam 24 oz jar 29 cents with
two Preserves coupons."
- -
How long had this ad been here? Michiko asked her- Mrs. Morrisons rickery camera had a lever that kept
selfi The paper wasn't yellow or faded. How many other on gerring stuck. "l hope rhis doesn\ make rhe picrures
Japanese families had read it? Täking a deep breath, blurry," Mr. Hayashi mumbled.
Michiko folded the tiny strip of words and slipped it Sadie Minagawa and Kaz Katsumoto celebrated their
into her blouse pocket. This ju* might be the artwer to wedding in Mrs. Morrison's back garden. Dark orange
lLA ?/ayrs. lilies bobbed along the fence. Roses 6lled the air with
their sweet perfume. The huge lilac tree by the gate wore
a white bow around its trunk.

Sadie made an enchanting bride in her white satin

dress. Michiko's mother laboured many nights after the
baby slept, stitching tiny pearl buttons along the neck.
Her white high-heel shoes came from the catalogue
courtesy of the female teachers. "lt's an investment,"
Sadie told everyone with a laugh "They all hope to use
them some day." She smiled down at her huge bouquet
of 6eld daisies and wild ferns tied with a white ribbon.
Michiko wore a borrowed dress of yellow chifon with
short pufr, sleeves, too small lor one of the reachers. Her
satin hair band, a present from Mrs. Morrison, shone
against her shiny bobbed hair. She couldn't stop pointing
her legs to admire her new snow-white knee socks and
black patent shoes.

I
 I 5(, 1fr,,, ßlos:or- !!,^{2, r57

Mr. Hayashi made sure all the men ar rhe w€dding
wore suits, but the groom surprised them all. Vhen
Mr Katsumoto arrived he took everyone's breath away.
Dressed in grey-and-white-striped pants and a black coat
with tails, he looked like a diplomat. "lt was a gifr from
my team, when I wenr to Japan," he said with a ,hll
Brin.
baseball stars had to dress properly."
The wedding banquet sat on a long trestle ofsheeted planks
in the bac§ard. Täll silver-plated candelabras stood in the
middle. Roses bowed from jam jars. There were china
plates and silver forks. Beside the huge platters ofchicken
sprinkled them with 6ne sugar and let them dry. "But 1,ou
Michiko assured him.
can srill ear rhem,"
The sound of a large truck lumbering down the lane
made everyone stop chamering and look up. Ted's lumber
truck flowed with white steafllers, Two wooden boxes
draped in a white sheet took the place of the logs.
"Your bridal carriage awaits vou," he announced from
the cab. He was aking rhem back to the hotel. All the
teachers bunked in with someone from the orchard to
give them privacy. As they climbed into the truck, the
teachers fung confetti. Hiro tried to fill his pockets with
what he found on rhe ground.
Eiko stepped up ro kiss the bride.
As she waved goodbye, Michiko's onlywish was that her

were large bowls ofponto salad, coleslaw, and sliced rorna- grandfather had been thele. Bur she stopped herself from
toes. Glass dishes of pickled beets and deviled eggs sat on thinking about it. Today Sadie would agree with him when
either side ofenormous rwo-storey loaves ofbread. lrc said, "W'e can neuel tee the se bl boking to the tuea. "
But most amazing of all was the three-tiered lr,edding "Before you leave," Edna Morrison said as she removed
cake. Mrs. Morrison gor €very one of her friends to saye her new flowered hat, "there's a letter here for you."
sugar so she could bake and ice a proper wedding cake. It 'A letter for me?" questioned Michiko's mother. 'A
looked beautiful, but only rhe top layer was cake. Ietter came here for me?"
"Vho will know in the pictures?" beamed Mrs. "lt's on the mantelpiece," Edna said. "Bring the baby
Morrison. She pinned brown paper strips cur from grocery inside and read it."
bags around rwo harboxes and iced them as if rhey were Michiko ran to rhe baby carriage. "I'll bring her,"
cake. Michiko would get ro scrape rhe iced paper later. she said.
"Those eowers look real," Clarence said. He was Little bristles offear 6lled her chest. In a way Michiko
dressed in a hand-me-down suit from his oldesr brother, had told a lie, pretending she was her mother when she
and smelled ofthe soap rhey sold ar the drugstore. wrore the letter to the poster ofthe ad sheä found on the
"They are real," Michiko said. She helped Mrs. church bulletin board. But her litde sister, like herselfand
Morrison hold each of the pansy blossoms with tweezers Hiro, was Canadian. She shouldnt grow up in ]apan. She
while she brushed egg rvhire across the petals. Then they played her mother would understand.

I
I 5tt 11,, , l,)c...,,n
"1.;\,r.,
That night, Eiko held out the letter ro Sam. "Read it your-
self," she said.
He ignored her and walked out of the room.
Michikot morher followed him, waving the letter in
her hand.
'According to rhis," she said, "we would live for fr.ee
in a small farmhouse that has electriciry, hot w,rter.. and a
hathroom."
Her father said nothing.
"You will work in a garden, just like you do now, only
growing fowers. You will also help with sales, like you do
now. I will cook and clean, just like I do now."
"Our rent will be free in Japan," he said in a low voice.
'A house for a family is included," she said. "The1.are
willing to pav you $6.00 a week," Eiko conrinued, 'änd I
get a salary as well."
Sam looked Eiko in the eye and rook rhe lerter fr.om
her hand. His chocolate eyes grew cold and srale. "l
don't know how to drive a tracror," he complained after
reading it.
"You know how to drive a car and a delivery truck,
how can it be that much different?"
Michiko knew her nrorher had made a lot of good
points.
"§?hat are rve going to do for travelling money?"
asked her father "There are five of us."
Michiko couldnt stay quiet any longer. "l know!" she
shouted in her eagerness to solve this new problem. "\We
can ask Mrs. Morrison to lend us the money."
r59
The force with which her father slammed his 6st on
the table startled her. "Don't you ever suggest that again,"
he said in a deep firm voice. He stomped downstairs.
Michiko didnt understand his reaction. It couldn't
possibly be because Edna Morrison was hahujin. Maybe ir
was one ofthose old-fashioned Japanese things her mother
and Aunt Sadie always nlked about. Maybe a man could
never borrow money from a woman,
Her mother shook her head ar Michiko, as if saf ing,
"l told you so."
"I thought it was a good idea," she murmured. " Why
wont he accept help?"
"Your father is a proud man," her morher said. "He
would never borrow."
"\We would pay it a1l back," Michiko said.
"There has to be anorher way," was all her mother
said. "We have some time. They said thef have help for
the flowers but not for the bulbs. [[we want the posirion,
we will have to be there by September."
Life went on as usual. Each morning Michiko made
breakfast for her brother. She ridied the kitchen before she
went m school. At noon she came home to help with the rou-
tines of the household. Monday was washing day; Tiresday,
imning. They baked on Wednesday Thursday was for sew-
ing and kritting, although now her mothelonly made minor
repairs oftheir clothes. There was no time wirh the new baby
to take in work from other people. Friday was for the garden.
Saturday was for the bathhouse, and Sunday, church.
"Mrs. Morrison said she wanted her house painted,"
Michiko told her father aftel church one day. "Do you
think Uncle Ted would be able ro fit it in?"
I
160 lt t« 1 A)ov,ot- vl,n\.t,
t6l
"Thatt much roo big a job for weekend work," her
Michiko's mother made a few small changes in the
father answered. "Ted's working hard with the lumber
store, adding baby toys and ladies' magazines. \X/hen Sam
company. He needs his weekends to rest."
came home for lunch the store was often crowded with
"Maybe Clarence and I could do it?" Michiko sug-
women, playing with the baby and making small purchases.
gested. "Het looking for work."
"You are good for business," Sam said raking the baby
"Vhat if I helped too?" her mother added.
into his arms. "Time ro rhink about giving you a name."
"Paint a house?" Sam looked at his wife in disbelief
"\ü/hen are we goinB to have the babfs christening?"
"No, silly," she replied. "l could watch rhe store
Michiko asked at dinner that night. She already had a
while the three of you paint. Mrs. Morrison would love
long list ofpossible names for her tiny new sister. "She has
to entertain Hiro. The baby would be fine in her carriage
to be called something."
in the store."
"lt all depends on where we are going," was her mother's
"lt would be a way of making moneyr" her father said
reply She looked long and hard at Sam. "Her name musr
tapping his 6nger to his chin. "l'll have to see what she says."
suit her life."
By the end of the week they had a plan. Eiko would
mind the shop in the morning. Sam, Michiko, and
Clarence would painr in the morning, while it was cool.
Mrs, Morrison borrowed a cot from the church and set
it up on the back verandah for Hiro. Vhile he napped,
Michiko and Clarence would clean the brushes and eat
their lunch. Sam would come home for lunch and work
in the drugstore.
Mrs. Morrison lent Michiko her alarm clock and
showed her how to use it. As she wound the tiny key at the
back, Michiko thought how there was neyer a need for an
alarm clock when they were living at the farmhouse. The
morning started with the noise of rhe draft creaking open,
the scrape of the meta.l shovel and the clatter of wood
going into the stove.
They would work for 91.75 a day. Clarence would
take home fifry cents. The rest would go into Geechant
thin wooden box with rhe white owl on the fronr.

I

/0" $r,'\,,,-,,{ 1 -li,z
HANNAH
Each nighr after dinner, her father counted rhe money
in Geechan\ cigar box. Her mother counted it a second
rime, darue obsi. Bert was so impressed by the job they did
on Mrs. Morrison's house he asked them ro paint his barn.
Her father upped the price and Bert agreed.
" Two dolbrs a dal rnahes Japanfar away "Michiko told
herselfeach night as she crossed out a day on her calendar.
But she never said it out loud. She didni want ro offend.
Mr Hal,ashi visired that nighr. Moving out of
town wasn'r as easl'as Michiko drought. Mr. Hayashi
had to write ro the Security Commission, telling them
her father had a job and accommodations for his fam-
ily in Oakville. Then her ärher had to take the letter
from Oakville to the RCMP o{fice down the street. Mr.
Hayashi told them that they weren't giving out anymore
permits to Toronto, but they might for Oakville. No one
had applied to Oakville.
"*ü4rat about the other papers?" her mother asked in
a hushed voice.
Her father shrugged.
A strange chill went thlough Michiko's mind when
she saw thar shrug. Did it mean Mr. Hayashi's set of
Ti-
161
papers didnt matter, or moving ro Oakville didnt matter?
But rhe strangesr rhing ofall was that her mother insisted
no one know of their plans, not even Uncle Ted, Auntie
Sadie, or Uncle Kaz.
Michiko had a hard time calling her reacher Uncle
Kaz. At least Raymond and the rest of the boys in her
class finally stopped asking her how it felt to have such a
famous person in her family. Her mother said everything
was to remain the same until all was arranged. Thar meant
at school and everpvhere else. lt was getting dimcult for
Michiko to keep such a big secrer.
"The Minagawa baby is rwo months old," Aunt Sadie
said one day at church. "l'm on my second name and she
doesn r even have her 6rst,"
Michikot mother smiled. "Obon," she said, "is when
we will name her."
"\iX/hat is an Obonl" asked Clarence when she told
him the christening was August 15.
"Obon i.sn'r a thing," Michiko replied. "lts a kind of
holiday."
"\X4rat kind ofthings do you do?"
Michiko shrugged. She wished her Geechan was
around. He knew all about the festivals of the Japanese
Buddhisrs. She was going to have to ask someone else
about this. She knew exacrly who it would be, ifshe could
And rhe courage to ask.
"Do you want to go to the orchard with me?"
Michiko asked Clarence as they laid the paint brushes
in the sun to dry.
"Vho are you going to see?" he asked. Michiko hadnt
been there since Kiko left.
I

l(t4 1l,z',1 ßlos:or- ut/r"{r,
Michiko took a deep breath. "[ want to see Mr.
Yama," she said.
Clarence opened his mouth and shur it. He reminded
Michiko of a goldfish she once had. "Mr Yama?"
screeched. "\Vhy do you want to visit that guy?"
"You just asked me about Obon," Michlko said. "Mr-
Yama could tell us."
"Vell he wont mlk to you if I go along," Clarence said.
"I'm hi-coo-jean."
"Maybe we should ask George to
Michiko said with a smile.
Clarence opened and closed his mourh a second time.
"Are you crazyl"
"All Japs are cmry" Michiko replied. "Let's go find
George."
Even though he had the best bike in town,
was never far from home. They spotted him pumping his
tires on the front lawn.
just walk up to him," Clalence said. "His
"\W'e can't
morher will call him inside."
"l'll go on ahead," Michiko said wirh a smile. "You
can do something else with him."
"He'll want to know what," Clarence said.
"Tell him he needs to learn how to throw a baseball,"
Michiko said.
"I don't know" Clarence said removing his cap and
running his fingers through his hair.
"See you later," Michiko said. She turned and
walked away. Maybe, just maybe, they could learn to
get along. Clarence and George mighr even become
frien ds.
r\afuno
lz nn 'rz r 16,5
On Mr Yamat wooden steps Michiko learned all
about the Feast of Lanterns.
"People stop rvork," Mr. Yama told her in broken
he
English. "Everyone go home."
"lVhat do they do with rhe lanterns?" Michiko asked.
"Lanterns go ourside house," he said. He put up his
brown leathery hand to shade his eyes and look around.
Just like her grandäther, Mr. Yama used his hands to
explain what he meanr. "Family spirits see lanterns and
come along," 6nd way home." He rubbed his stomach. "Then family
have big feast and put food for spirit guests too."
"Then what happens?" Michiko prompted.
The old man blinked. "People take lanterns to water,"
he said. He swayed his body from side to side. "They have
big dance to say goodbl,e." He moved his hands up and
George
down in fronr of him making waves. "Lanterns go on
rvater so spirits find way back."
Michiko looked at the man with the purple blotch on
his face and sighed. He may not be beautiful on the out-
side, she thoughr, but he had beaury inside. "You know,
Mr. Yama," she said, geming up, "I rhink rhe people in
the orchard should celebrate Obon." She dusted oF her
shons. 'After all, we have a lake and a river"
The old man blinked as ifhe saw her for rhe first rime.
"l didn'r have to Bet the papers back," Mr. Hayashi told
Michikot parenrs that night. "I never sent them in. I
needed rwo signatures. Remember, we were interrupted
by the babli'
166 /1,,, , I'l,,,t, v tl ^t.0,
Michikot mother let out a squeal and threw her arms
around the surprised securiry oItrcer. "'Ihat is wonderful
news," she told him. Then she did rhe unthinkable. She
kissed him on the cheek.
"fue we good to go?" her father asked.
"lf
youve gor rhe money," Mr. Hayashi said, "l'll
apply for your tickets romorrow."
Michikos hands went to her mouth. All their papers
were in order. Tomorrow rhey could buy rheir train tick€ts
and they could move to Ontario. She clapped her hands.
Hiro copied.
A small cry came from the carriage. Michiko looked at
the small fist waving in the air. "Thatt right, baby sister,"
she said rushing to her side. "You can give a cheer. Because
of you, you will be growing up in Ontario."
Michikot mother lifted the baby from the carriage.
"So, Hannah," she said, "are you ready to wear your pretty
white christening dress?"
"Hana?" Michiko and her father repeated together.
"\fle ale calling her Hana?"
"Hana is a Japanese name," Sam said.
"l thought it was a Canadian name," Michiko said.
"It's both," said her mother. 'And it is the middle
name of her soon-to-be godmother."
"Vell, what do you know," Michiko's father said.
"Our baby girl is a flower after all,"
"Edna Hannah Morrison," Michiko said. "I never
knew."
t67
A slight breeze swept across rhe cemetery slope, scattering
the 6llen leaves. Michiko carried the spade. She stepped
not to tread on anyonet bones.
across the grass, careful
Her mother, father, and aunt walked rogether. Mrs.
Morrison held Hiro's hand. Uncle Kaz pushed the baby
carriage. Uncle Ted carried a small rree in a por.
Michiko watched her mother brush the leaves from
the rough slab ofpebblycement. Her light touch reminded
Michiko of the way she soothed Geechant brow in the
hospital. Her father, Uncle Ted, and Uncle Kaz pulled out
weeds from around the flat stone. Sadie patted the stone
as ifshe were making rice balls. Ted dug a hole and put the
cherry tree into place.
ln her dream the night before, Michiko walked
through the long grassy field ofthe farmhouse. Her grand-
hther stood against the blue sky, waving. The orchard
was pink with cherry trees. She ran toward him and their
fingers touched. She woke up right then and lay in bed,
knowing that he would always be with them.
Everyone drew together, holding hands around the tree.
They bowed their heads and prayed in silence. Even Hiro
remdned quiet. The smell of the weedy grass reminded
Michiko ofsitting in the field with her grandfather, waiting
rc carch firefies. She made up her mind to do that with
Hiro. That is, if there were fireflies in Oakville.
I
 rI
)a(aruz\a Voca'o.,/4r 1

r--J a((taranco rn S\ör1

rn ordal
\

0rrgamt Japanese art ofpaper folding

cha Sreen tea

lancha naughry

Geec ltan Grandfather

kairanban homemade newspaper or bulletin

Kanji Japanese alphabet leners

shoy soya sauce

of"ro Japanese public bath

'Ashi o hiosukete "Täke care ofyour feet"

hudasai"

haihara too good fol rhe neighbourhood

I
170 1',,r,, a /')osl.,o'n u"),;\.r, Jr.^i.r, Ivarü^o 171

"Yancha hozo de ne" "Such a mischievous kid" tatomi ]apanese straw foor mat

furoshiki bundle made by rying lour corners Yamoto Damashii Tiue Spirit ofJapan
of a square cloth
sdlo dra goodbye
tnrto red or whire bean paste
Sode Boshi Kimono Sleeve in rhe Sky
tdmago lahi omelette Constellation

Asahi famous Japanese-Canadian basebafl sum, solid rectangular stick of ink

team
suzuri ink stone for grinding stick into water
hanemochi upper class, people with money
fude Oriental paint brush
glngard hold on, keep going, persevere
kami Japanese painting paper
'Watch
Ara! Out!
chobuhitsu Basic sumi-e stroke vertical
hahujin Caucasian, or white person brush stroke
-

haiseki discrimination, prejudice sohuhitsu Basic sumi-e xroke slanted brush

stroke
-
batsu Japanese gesture ofcrossing arms to
mean no hatuyume the new year

hi-chigai geechan crazy old man getd high wooden shoes with thongs

baha stupid Ikebana Japanese fower arranging

konnichiwa hello Haibu rype ofJapanese poetry

112 1lz,,y 8)osror- L.t/r.{u,

"Do you have a watch?"

mnjnai trick that brings good fortune

Haru Matsura Spring Flower Festival

A"tLor's fuot,
hanten housecoat

sahura cherry blossom

Growing up, I knew nothing ofrhe treatment ofJapanese

taiho Canadians during the Second World War History books

drum
concealed how the government left them penniless,

niaatori homeless, and without a future. My admiration goes out

chickens
ro all the brave Japanese-Canadian men and women who

dame ohsi sssqnd lims

kept their families fed, clothed, and educated without
16 make sure
- funds or bitterness.

Obon Buddhist Lantern Fesrival Mrs. Morrison, Clarence, George, and the rest of
the townspeople e fictional. The names of the Japanese
families are changed, but the people involved are real.
My mother-in-law, Eiko Kitagawa Maruno, allowed me
ro explore her life through photographs and memories.
To see their life in the ghost town, my husband and I
travelled to the Kootenays to visit the ]apanese Memorial
Centre in New Denver. Thanks to Noburo Hayashi,
caretaker and interpreter, who helped us find Nelson
Farm and the original railway tracks.
i am grateful to Sylvia McConnell for accepting my firsr
marruscript, \X/hen the Cherrl Blossoms Fell, whichbegan rhe
Cherry Blossom series. Thanks go to the team at Dundurn
for continuing the story of Michiko and her family.
114 11r,,.1 A/"rloi- vJr^{,,

To my avid readers, Susan Onn, Nancy lVannamaker,

and Brenda Julie, thank you for asking the right quesrions
and being part ofmy later-liG career as an aurhor.
To Stan, my husband, David and Erin, my children,
When the Cherry Blossoms Fell
and my friend Anne More, thank you for your never-
A Cheny Blossom Booh
ending support and encouragement.
978-1-8949t7834
$9.e5

Nine-year-old Michiko Minagawa

bids her father goodbye before her
birthday celebration. She doesn't
know the government has ordered
all Japanese-born men out of the
province. Ten days later, her family joins hundreds of
Japanese-Canadians on a rrain to the interior of British
Columbia. Even though her Aunt Sadie jokes abour it,
they have truly reached the "Land of No." There are no
paved roads, no streetlights, and no streetcars. The house
in which they are to live is dirg, and drafry Ar school
Michiko learns the truth of her situation. She must face
local p§udice, rhe worst winter in forry years, and her
6rst Christmas without her äther

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