Alice-Miranda in Japan 9 (2 page)

‘And my locum is going on holidays as soon as we get home,' Pippa added. ‘I'll be running the surgery. Can't leave all those animals without a local vet.'

‘What about Millie?' Hugh asked.

‘I don't know – what do you think, Millie?' Hamish looked across the table at his flame-haired daughter.

Millie was confused. ‘About what?'

‘Would you like to come to Japan?' Hugh asked.

Millie's eyes almost popped out of her head. ‘Are you serious?'

‘Yes, of course – if it's all right with your parents?' Hugh looked at Hamish and Pippa, who both nodded.

‘Yes, yes, yes!' Millie jumped up and hugged Alice-Miranda.

Jacinta's face fell and she began to pick at the skin around her fingernails.

Hugh noticed the girl's glum expression. ‘Of course, you'll be coming too, Jacinta.'

She looked up. ‘What did you say?'

‘I said that of course you'll be joining us. I don't imagine your mother will leave you at home if she takes the assignment,' Hugh said with a wink.

‘But how did you know about Mummy?' Jacinta asked, wide-eyed.

Cecelia looked at the girl. ‘Darling, after Paris, Charlotte and I had our suspicions, and then your mother came over while you were away and confessed all. She's brilliant and we're so pleased that she's Rosie Hunter. You must be very proud.'

Jacinta nodded and smiled. ‘I couldn't believe it when she first told me, and I wondered if she'd get into trouble, but Mummy said that lots of people write under another name.'

Hamish grinned at his wife. ‘Well, Pip, I think our caravan holiday has just slipped out of first place.'

‘No,' Jacinta said abruptly and stared across the table at the couple. ‘It's still the best holiday ever. At home, that is. And this is going to be the best trip away.'

‘Well, that's that. Cee, you'd better call Ambrosia and check with her. And why don't you see if Charlotte and Lawrence are free to join us for a few days? Isn't Lucas with them at the moment?' Hugh asked.

‘Oh, yes,' Jacinta sighed. ‘That's a great idea.'

Everyone else laughed.

‘What?' the girl asked, bewildered.

‘Gosh, you're thick sometimes,' Millie teased.

‘Dolly, telephone the Ministry and tell them you'd be delighted to accept their invitation and I'll see to the accommodation,' Hugh said.

Alice-Miranda looked at Millie and Jacinta. Their smiles couldn't have been any bigger.

 

 

The girl huddled under the yellow glow of the street lamp. She pulled the diary from her dark blue backpack and stared at its pretty cover, her fingers tracing the embossed design. She imagined her mother's hand doing the same thing. Kiko couldn't believe how easy it had been to escape. Perhaps her mother was guiding her. She flipped open the pages to the address she had marked and wondered if it was close by. The subway had been a mistake. She'd had no time to check whether she was on the right line, but she hoped she'd at least travelled in the right direction. Now it was dark, her stomach was grumbling and she was horribly lost.

She put the book away and reached into her pocket, checking that the necklace was still safe. In the distance she could see a huge gate with a low-slung bell and, further on, two rows of shops with customers wandering from side to side. The smell of noodles and
yakitori
filled the air. She gathered her belongings and walked into the market, hoping she would find someone who could help.

‘Kiko!' a razor-sharp voice called from inside one of the shops.

The girl jumped. She spun around, scanning the street. Who was calling her?

Seconds later, a small child – no older than five or six – raced out of a souvenir shop and into the store directly opposite.

‘Kiko, I told you to stay here. You will get lost,' a young woman scolded the child, who began to cry.

The girl's courage deserted her and she scurried along the lane, passing under another gate, this time with a giant lantern hanging from the rafters. It looked strangely familiar and Kiko wondered if she had been there before. She tried to focus a cloudy memory but it was too long ago.

In front of her was a temple. Red columns rose up to meet the flared roof. She walked up the steps and saw a sign across the doors.
Kuroozudo.
She was tempted to try the door just in case someone had forgotten to lock it. Maybe later.

The streets were still busy but it was nothing like the crowds she'd encountered earlier. The narrow lanes were like an ancient patchwork, bordered by shops and timber houses. A siren wailed in the distance. Kiko held her breath while her heart thumped like a drum. She scurried down an alley and stopped in the relative safety of a darkened doorway. Tomorrow she would find her way to her grandparents' house. But for now she crouched and hoped that somehow she might fall asleep. Life was always better in her dreams.

Hours later, Kiko was dozing when the door opened. She fell backwards, landing on a tiny pair of feet.

The girl was jolted awake. ‘Ahh!'

‘What are you doing in my doorway?' a shrill voice demanded.

‘I . . . I,' Kiko began. She rolled over and leapt up. The old woman standing in the doorway thrust a plastic bag into Kiko's hand. ‘Huh, that's okay. If you want to sleep in my doorway, you can take my rubbish. Save me the walk.'

Kiko held the bag and wondered what she should do next.

‘Well, what are you doing? You blind or something?'

The girl shook her head.

‘The garbage bin is over there.' The woman pointed a gnarled finger at the industrial bin on the other side of the lane.

Kiko hesitated.

‘Do you want a written invitation? I'm too busy for that,' the woman snorted.

Kiko walked to the bin. She was about to throw the bag away when she noticed a pleasant smell coming from inside it. She peered in at a mixture of chicken bones and rice. Her stomach let out a strangled whine.

‘Why are you taking so long?' the woman demanded. ‘What are you doing over there?'

Kiko reluctantly dropped the bag over the edge of the dumpster.

‘Why are you sleeping in my doorway? Haven't you got a home?' the woman asked.

Kiko froze.

‘Come here, I want to look at you.'

Kiko was about to run when she realised that she'd left her backpack in the doorway and it was now wedged under the woman's foot. She gulped and walked towards the light. The woman wore a grey smock dress, which swamped her tiny frame. There was a red scarf around her neck and knitted slippers on her feet. Her face was wrinkled like a currant and the skin under her cloudy eyes sagged like tea bags. Her thinning hair stuck out like straw and was the colour of snow. Kiko was at least an inch taller than her.

‘Come closer.'

Kiko stepped forward and stared at the ground. The woman squinted and pressed her nose against Kiko's. Then she ran her gnarled hands over the girl's face and neck, her fingers drawing the image of the child. Kiko's long hair was plaited tightly and hidden beneath a baseball cap.

She could have run. The woman was frail and wouldn't stand a chance against a healthy eleven-year-old. But Kiko's feet felt as if they were set in concrete and she couldn't leave the diary behind.

‘Why are you here, boy?' the old woman demanded. ‘What's your name?'

Kiko said nothing.

‘Are you stupid or something?'

Kiko felt the heat rising in her neck. She hated that word. She had heard it too many times before.

‘Yoshi.' The name tumbled out. He was a character in a book she had read.

‘Where are your parents?'

Kiko's face fell.

‘Are they dead?' the woman asked.

Kiko remained silent but nodded her head ever so slightly.

‘I need a helper. Do you want to stay here? I'll give you food and a bed and you'll help me. Okay?'

Kiko gulped.

‘I suppose you will have to go to school, but we can work that out later. You can go with fat boy.'

Kiko wondered who that was. But just the thought of school made her heart soar.

‘Good, that's settled. You stay here and I will look after you. But mostly you will look after me. Okay? Okay.' Then the woman laughed and put her hands on Kiko's shoulders. ‘Well, boy, are you coming or not? I haven't got all night. I know I look good but I am tired.' She gave Kiko a shrewd look. ‘Pretend I'm your granny. You can call me Obaasan.'

Kiko allowed herself to be propelled inside the house. She didn't feel her necklace fall from her pocket, or see the tall man with the pockmarked face walking down the alley towards the house. He picked up the necklace, looked around, and shoved it into his pocket.

 

 

Two days after returning from their seaside holiday, Alice-Miranda, Millie and Jacinta were on their way to Tokyo, along with Ambrosia Headlington-Bear, Alice-Miranda's parents and Mrs Oliver.

Ambrosia had been thrilled to learn of her special assignment and had her bags packed in no time flat. She was glad that she'd come clean with Cecelia and Hugh about her alter ego, Rosie Hunter, but she was still planning to stick with the name for work. She was enjoying having a slightly mysterious side to her life.

The group would be staying in Tokyo for the first week, before venturing out of the city the week after to explore some of the charming villages and towns further afield. Charlotte and Lawrence and Lawrence's son, Lucas, would be joining them in a couple of days.

‘So, what do you girls want to see in Tokyo?' Hugh asked. He'd joined the children for their inflight meal. The Highton's private jet was configured so that four passengers could sit facing one another with a table between them. There were another four seats across the aisle where Alice-Miranda's mother, Mrs Oliver and Ambrosia were sitting. Further along, a lounge area faced inwards.

‘It would be fun to go on the bullet train,' Jacinta said.

Millie nodded. ‘They call it the Shinkansen and it goes over three hundred kilometres an hour.'

Hugh nodded. ‘That's how we're getting to the mountains.'

‘Cool,' Millie said. ‘What would you like to do, Alice-Miranda?'

‘I read something about the Imperial Palace. I'm not sure if it's open to the public but that would be amazing to see.'

‘We can visit the gardens, sweetheart, but the palace is off limits, I'm afraid,' Hugh said.

‘What are we doing tomorrow, Daddy?' the child asked.

‘Well, your mother and Ambrosia have meetings and Mrs Oliver will be at her conference, so I thought we could explore the local area around the inn. There's a stunning temple close by.'

The girls nodded in agreement as the young flight attendant cleared their plates.

An hour later, as the jet began its descent towards the runway at Narita airport, Millie and Jacinta jostled to see out of the window. Hugh had gone to sit with Cecelia in the lounge and Mrs Oliver was strapped in opposite Ambrosia on the other side of the aisle. Thousands of lights twinkled below them.

‘Wow! Tokyo is huge,' Jacinta gasped. ‘It looks like fairyland.'

‘It says here that there are thirteen-point-two
million
people living in the city,' said Millie, tapping her finger on the page. ‘That's about ten million more than Paris and we thought
that
was big.'

As soon as Millie's grandfather had learned that she was off on another adventure, he'd gone straight out and bought her a new guidebook. The Paris version had been a great success. He also wanted an excuse to see Mrs Oliver before she headed off, and delivering the book to Millie at Highton Hall was just the thing.

Jacinta shot Millie a dubious look. ‘Are you going to bore us to death with lots of irritating facts again?'

‘I think it's wonderful that Millie likes to find out about things. Her knowledge of Paris on our school trip was fantastic,' said Alice-Miranda, defending her friend. ‘She knew loads more than the rest of us.'

‘Yes, I agree, Alice-Miranda,' said Ambrosia. She scowled at her daughter from the other side of the aisle. ‘I think it will come in very handy. The only time I've been here before was with your father on a business trip, and I don't remember seeing anything other than the inside of the hotel. I was so scared of getting lost, I didn't venture out at all. But I'm looking forward to experiencing Japan properly this time.'

‘It's a pity that none of us speaks the language,' Alice-Miranda said. ‘It would make life much easier.'

Dolly Oliver was jotting notes for her conference presentation. She glanced up on hearing the conversation. She wished she'd had more time to work on her latest invention before the trip, but at least she could trial it while they were here – provided she had privacy. It wasn't ready for general consumption. Nevertheless, she was excited about the prospect of perfecting her discovery. After more years fiddling and faddling than she cared to remember, she'd hit on something quite extraordinary. Possibly even more extraordinary than her Just Add Water food. She opened the bulging handbag on the seat beside her and peered at the pill case inside. For now, it would remain her secret.

Soon enough, the eager travellers were off the plane and in a limousine, weaving their way through the city.

‘Daddy, where are we staying?' Alice-Miranda asked. She was staring out the window at the tall buildings with their enormous electronic billboards, and the waves of people moving along the footpaths.

‘Your mother and I decided that we'd like you all to have an authentic Japanese experience, so we've opted for a small
ryokan
.'

‘What's that?' Jacinta asked.

‘It's a traditional inn,' Cecelia explained.

‘It says here,' Millie read from her guidebook, ‘that
ryokans
will provide travellers with a taste of the real Japan. It also says that you have to sleep on futons on the
tatami
mats.'

Jacinta's lip curled. ‘On the floor?'

‘Don't worry. I'm sure it won't be any different to being at the caravan and sleeping on the camp beds in the annexe,' Millie said.

‘Let me see that.' Jacinta reached for Millie's guidebook. It was open to a photograph of a futon. ‘Seriously, it's on the floor!'

Millie let out an exasperated sigh.

‘Which is exactly why I'll be leaving you to your fun,' Dolly said, raising her eyebrows.

‘What do you mean?' Alice-Miranda asked.

‘Dolly's staying at the hotel where her conference is on,' Hugh explained. ‘At least until we can coax her to come back to us at the end of the week.'

‘You make me sound like a spoilsport, sir, but I'm just a little worried about my back seizing up. I'm not as young as I once was,' Dolly said.

Alice-Miranda smiled at the woman. ‘Staying at the hotel makes perfect sense.'

‘So now you're agreeing that I'm old, are you, miss?' Dolly teased.

‘No, of course not, but I imagine you'll want to have time to meet lots of other inventors and scientists.'

Dolly nodded. ‘You're right about that, dear. It's not often you receive an invitation like this. Come to think of it, it's the only time I've had an invitation like this, so I really should make the most of it. There are some very accomplished men and women attending.'

‘And you're one of them, of course,' Alice-Miranda said.

‘Oh no, I'm just a dabbler, dear,' Dolly protested.

Hugh winked at her. ‘A dabbler whose invention is changing the course of history.'

Dolly's cheeks lit up. ‘Mr Hugh, I think you're exaggerating again.'

The limousine turned into the entrance of a towering hotel. Dolly said her goodbyes and Cecelia saw her inside, returning after a few minutes. They set off again and soon Alice-Miranda noticed that their surroundings were changing. Although they were still in the centre of the crowded city, this neighbourhood consisted of narrow lanes and low-rise timber houses.

The limousine pulled up outside a dark timber building. A squat stone lantern sat on the edge of the road, illuminating the entrance. A rickshaw leaned against the wall at the end of the slim veranda and pretty paper lanterns danced above.

Hugh helped the driver with the bags. The girls each took care of their own suitcases and followed Cecelia and Ambrosia into a small entrance hall. A shoe cupboard took up the length of one wall. Jacinta looked at the array of footwear in the pigeonholes and the slippers lined up on the floor. ‘Do we really have to take our shoes off?'

‘Yes, of course,' Millie said, as she stuffed her feet into a pair of satin slippers and put her own shoes away. ‘And you have to take the slippers off on the
tatami
and there are special slippers just for the bathroom too.'

‘How am I supposed to remember all that?' Jacinta whined. ‘And what if you've got smelly feet like Sloane?'

‘I suppose they might have a supply of pegs,' said Hugh as he joined the girls.

‘What for?' Jacinta asked.

He grinned. ‘The noses of the other guests.'

‘Oh Daddy, your jokes are getting worse.' Alice-Miranda shook her head but Jacinta laughed.

‘Well, Jacinta thinks I'm funny,' Hugh said and winked at the girl.

The group walked into the foyer. It was like nothing the girls had seen before. The walls looked as if they were made of paper and there were dark timber beams lining the ceiling. A glass case opposite the reception desk housed a collection of wooden
kokeshi
dolls, lined up in rows, and several stunning floral arrangements decorated the room.

Cecelia pointed at a striking display of orchids. ‘Aren't they lovely? That type of flower arranging is called
ikebana
.'

‘They're gorgeous, Mummy.' Alice-Miranda inspected the vase closely. ‘Mr Charles loves his orchids and I know he's got some rare beauties growing in the greenhouse at school. I'll have to take some photographs for him.'

A young woman with sparkling brown eyes walked through a door behind the reception desk. She was dressed in the most beautiful pale green kimono. ‘
Konbanwa
. My name is Aki.' She bowed.

‘
Konbanwa
, Aki-san,' Hugh replied and bowed in return.

Cecelia and Ambrosia smiled at the girl too.

‘How was your journey, Mr Kennington-Jones?' the girl asked in perfect English.

‘Very good, thank you,' Hugh replied. ‘But we're glad to be here.'

‘I hope that you are happy with the rooms we have set aside for you.' She smiled and walked out from behind the counter. ‘I have one for the three young ladies.' She handed Hugh an engraved key ring. He passed it to Alice-Miranda.

‘Look, Daddy, it has our names on it,' she said, beaming.

Aki nodded at her. ‘You must be Miss Alice-Miranda.'

‘Hai,'
the child replied. ‘It's lovely to meet you, Aki-san.'

‘I see you have been practising your Japanese,' the girl replied. ‘I am pleased to improve my English too. Perhaps you can help me and I will help you with some lessons in Japanese.'

Alice-Miranda nodded. ‘That would be wonderful.'

Aki handed another key to Ambrosia and there was a third one for Hugh and Cecelia. ‘I will show you to your rooms,' she said, holding out her hand. ‘Please come this way.' Aki walked along a dimly lit hallway then stopped in a doorway. ‘This is the breakfast room and is also our restaurant in the evenings. On the other side we have a sitting room. There are some board games that the children might like in the cupboard.'

She continued further down the passage before heading up a dark timber staircase to the first floor. A central hallway divided the rooms left and right. ‘This is for Mrs Headlington-Bear.' She slid open the door to reveal a spacious room almost devoid of furniture.

Jacinta poked her head inside. ‘Where's the bed?'

‘Come and I will show you.' Aki turned and opened the door opposite. ‘This is your room. Slippers off, please.'

‘The floor feels nice,' Millie said. ‘It's
tatami
, isn't it?'

‘Yes,' said Aki. ‘It's made of thick straw, and we measure the size of a room by how many
tatami
mats fit on the floor.'

‘But there are no beds in here either,' Jacinta scoffed. ‘How can this be a hotel without any beds?'

‘You will see,' Aki said. She opened a small wardrobe and pulled out a thick roll of material, which she unravelled on the floor.

Jacinta thought it looked like a sleeping bag. She plonked herself down, expecting it to be hard. ‘Oh, that's really soft! And that duvet is heavenly.' She fluffed it with her hand.

‘I am glad it is to your liking,' Aki said.

‘Girls, are you happy to get settled while your father and I have a look at our room?' Cecelia asked. Ambrosia had already disappeared into her room across the hallway.

‘Of course, Mummy,' Alice-Miranda said, as she pulled another futon from the cupboard.

‘This way, please.' Aki motioned at Hugh and Cecelia. She slid the door closed and left the girls alone.

‘This room is weird,' Jacinta said, as she walked around. It was a bare space with only a couple of pieces of furniture against the wall. There was a large wardrobe, a low lacquered table holding an arrangement of orchids and nothing else.

‘It
is
plain,' Millie agreed.

‘I think there's something lovely about how simple it all is,' Alice-Miranda said.

‘How will we lay out the beds?' Millie asked. Even with two futons unrolled there was still plenty of space.