Kazuo Ishiguro (31 page)

‘Regardless of that, Lieutenant, I still need to proceed, and without any further delay. Look here, if the men you promised me haven’t returned, then perhaps, though I realise it’s a lot to ask, perhaps you’d be good enough to escort me yourself. Honestly, sir, I can’t think of a more suitable person to assist me at this point.’

The lieutenant thought this over with a grave expression.

‘Very well, Mr Banks,’ he said finally. ‘I shall do as you ask. But we must hurry. I should not really leave this post at all. To do so for any length of time could have the most awful consequences.’

He issued rapid instructions to the captain, then opening a drawer in the desk, began placing a number of items into his pockets and belt.

‘It is better you do not carry a rifle, Mr Banks. But do you have a pistol? No? Then take this. It is German and very reliable.

You should keep it concealed and if we encounter the enemy, you must not hesitate to declare your neutrality immediately and clearly. Now, if you will follow me.’

Taking a rifle that was leaning against the desk, he strode over to the hole gouged into the opposite wall and nimbly climbed through. I pushed the pistol into my belt, where it was more or less concealed by my jacket, then hurried after him.

It is only hindsight that makes the first part of that journey appear relatively easy. At the time, as I stumbled after the lieutenant’s striding figure, it certainly did not feel that way. My feet quickly began to smart from the rubble-strewn ground, and I found terribly awkward the contortions required to negotiate the holes in each wall.

Of the latter, there seemed an unending number, all of them more or less similar to the one in the cellar command base.

Some were smaller, some large enough for two men to squeeze through at the same time; but they had all been gouged out with rough edges, and required a little jump to climb through.

Before long I found myself close to exhaustion; no sooner had I clambered through one such hole than I would spot the lieutenant ahead of me, smartly easing his way through the next wall.

Not all the walls were still standing; sometimes we would pick our way through the debris of what must have been three or four houses before encountering another wall. The roofs were almost all smashed, often absent altogether, so that we had plenty of daylight from the sky - though here and there, heavy shadows made it easy to lose one’s step. More than once, until I grew more accustomed to the terrain, my foot slipped painfully between two jagged slabs or sank ankle-deep into fragmented rubble.

It was all too easy in such circumstances to forget we were passing through what only several weeks before had been the homes of hundreds of people. In fact, I often had the impression we were moving through not a slum district, but some vast, ruined mansion with endless rooms. Even so, every now and then it would occur to me that in among the wreckage beneath our feet lay cherished heirlooms, children’s toys, simple but much-loved items of family life, and I would find myself suddenly overcome with renewed anger towards those who had allowed such a fate to befall so many innocent people. I thought again of those pompous men of the International Settlement, of all the prevarications they must have employed to evade their responsibilities down so many years, and at such moments I felt my fury mount with so much intensity I was on the verge of calling out to the lieutenant to halt, just so I could give vent to it.

The lieutenant did, though, pause at one point of his own accord, and as I caught up with him, said: ‘Mr Banks, please take a good look at this.’ He was indicating a little over to our left, towards a large boiler-like construction which, though covered in masonry dust, had remained more or less intact. ‘This is the West Furnace. If you look up there, you will see the nearer of the two tall chimneys we saw earlier from the roof. The East Furnace is similar in appearance to this, and it will be our next clear landmark. When we reach it, we shall know we are very close to the house.’

I studied the furnace carefully. A chimney of some girth emerged from above its shoulders, and when I took a few steps closer and looked up, I could see the huge chimney going off way up into the sky. I was still staring up at it when I heard my companion say: ‘Please, Mr Banks. We must continue. It is important we complete our task before the sun sets.’

It was several minutes after the West Furnace that the lieutenant’s manner became noticeably more cautious. His tread became deliberate, and at each hole, he would first peer through, his rifle poised, listening intently, before climbing up. I also began to spot more and more stacks of sandbags, or coils of barbed wire, left within reach of the holes. When I first heard the machine-gun, I abruptly froze, believing we were under fire.

But then I saw the lieutenant before me still walking, and with a deep breath, went on after him.

Eventually I came through a hole to find myself in a much larger space. In fact, in my exhausted condition, I thought I had entered the bombed remains of one of those grand ballrooms I had been taken to in the Settlement. I then realised we were standing in an area once occupied by several rooms; the partition walls had almost entirely vanished, so that the next good wall was all of twenty-five yards away. There I could see seven or eight soldiers lined up, their faces to the brick. I at first took them for prisoners, but then saw how each man was standing before a small hole through which he had inserted the barrel of his rifle. The lieutenant had already crossed the rubble and was talking to a man crouched behind a machine-gun mounted on a tripod. This machine-gun arrangement was positioned before the largest hole - the one through which we would have to climb to continue our journey. Coming closer, moreover, I saw the perimeters of the hole had been decked with barbed wire, allowing only enough space for the gun barrel to manoeuvre.

I supposed at first the lieutenant was asking the man to remove this obstacle out of our way, but then I saw how tense all those present had become. The man behind the machine gun, all the time the lieutenant spoke to him, never took his gaze from the hole before him. The other soldiers too, all along the wall, remained still and poised, their attention utterly focused on whatever was on the other side.

Once the alarming implications of this scene had sunk in, I felt inclined to climb back through the previous hole. But then I saw the lieutenant returning towards me and remained where I was.

‘We have some trouble,’ he said. ‘A few hours ago the Japanese managed to push forward a little way. We have now beaten them back again and the line has been reestablished where it was this morning. However, it would seem several Japanese soldiers did not retreat with the others, and are now caught behind our line. They are completely cut off and thus very dangerous.

My men believe they are at this moment on the other side of that wall.’

‘Lieutenant, you’re not suggesting, are you, that we delay while this matter sorts itself out?’

‘I am afraid we will have to wait, certainly.’

‘But for how long?’

‘It is hard to predict. These soldiers are trapped, and they will be either captured or killed in the end. But meanwhile they have weapons and are very dangerous.’

‘You mean we could wait for hours? Days even?’

‘That is possible. It would be very dangerous at this point for the two of us to continue.’

‘Lieutenant, I’m surprised at you. I was under the impression that you, an educated man, were fully aware of the urgency of our present undertaking. Surely there’s some other route we could take to by-pass these soldiers.’

‘There are other routes. But it remains the case that however we proceed, we will be in considerable danger. Unfortunately, sir, I see no alternative but to wait. It is possible the situation will be resolved before long. Excuse me.’

One of the soldiers by the wall had been signalling urgently, and now the lieutenant began to go across the rubble towards him. But just then the machine-gunner let loose a deafening burst of fire, and when he ceased there was an extended scream coming from beyond the wall. The scream began full-throated, then tapered off into a strange high-pitched whimper. It was an eerie sound and I became quite transfixed listening to it. It was only when the lieutenant came rushing back and pulled me down behind some fallen masonry that I realised there were bullets hitting the wall behind me. The men at the next wall were now firing too, and then the machine-gunner let off another burst. The authority of his weapon seemed to silence all the others, and thereafter, for what felt like an inordinate time, the only sound to be heard came from the wounded man beyond the wall. His high-pitched whimpers continued for several moments, then he began to shout something in Japanese over and over; every now and again the voice would rise to a frantic shriek, then die away again to a whimper. This disembodied voice echoed unnervingly around the ruins, but the Chinese soldiers in front of me remained utterly still, their concentration not wavering from what they could see through the wall. Suddenly the machine-gunner turned and vomited on the ground beside him, before immediately turning back to the wire-decked hole in front. From the way he did this, it was not easy to tell if his sickness had to do with nerves, the sounds of the dying man, or simply some stomach complaint.

Then eventually, though their postures hardly changed, the soldiers all perceptibly relaxed. I heard the lieutenant say beside me: ‘So you see now, Mr Banks, that it is no easy matter to proceed from here.’

We had been crouching down on our knees, and I noticed my light flannel suit was now almost entirely covered in dust and grime. I took a few seconds to collect my thoughts before saying: ‘I appreciate the risks. But we must nevertheless continue.

Particularly with all this fighting going on, my parents shouldn’t be left in that house a moment longer than necessary. May I suggest we take these men here with us? Then if these Japanese soldiers set upon us, we’d be much the stronger.’

‘As the commanding officer here, I cannot possibly sanction such an idea, Mr Banks. If these men leave their position, the headquarters would become entirely vulnerable. Besides, I will be putting the men’s lives at needless risk.’

I gave a sigh of exasperation. ‘I must say, Lieutenant, it was pretty sloppy work on the part of your men to have allowed these Japanese in behind your line. If all your people had been doing their jobs properly, I’m sure such a thing would never have arisen.’

‘My men have fought with commendable bravery, Mr Banks.

It is hardly their fault that your mission is, for the time being, inconvenienced.’

‘What do you mean by that, Lieutenant? What are you implying?’

‘Please calm yourself, Mr Banks. I am merely pointing out it is not the fault of my men if…’

“Then whose fault is it, sir? I realise what you’re implying!

Oh yes! I know you’ve been thinking it for some time now. I was wondering when you’d finally come out with it.’

‘Sir, I have no idea what…’

‘I know full well what you’ve been thinking all this time, Lieutenant! I could see it in your eyes. You believe this is all my fault, all this, all of it, all this terrible suffering, this destruction here, I could see it in your face when we were walking through it all just now. But that’s because you know nothing, practically nothing, sir, concerning this matter. You may well know a thing or two about fighting, but let me tell you it’s quite another thing to solve a complicated case of this kind.

You obviously haven’t the slightest idea what’s involved.

Such things take time, sir! A case like this one, it requires great delicacy. I suppose you imagine you can just rush at it with bayonets and rifles, do you? It’s taken time, I accept that, but that’s in the very nature of a case like this. But I don’t know why I bother to say all this. What would you understand about it, a simple soldier?’

‘Mr Banks, there is no need for us to quarrel. I have only the most sincere good wishes for your success. I am simply telling you what is possible…’

‘I’m getting less and less interested in your idea of what is and isn’t possible, Lieutenant. If I may say so, you’re hardly a good advertisement for the Chinese Army. Do I take it you’re now going back on your word? That you’re unwilling to accompany me beyond this point? I take it that’s so. I’m to be left to carry out this difficult task by myself. Very well, I shall do so! I shall raid the house single-handed!’

‘I think, sir, you should calm yourself before saying anything more…’

‘And one other thing, sir! You can safely assume I will no longer be mentioning you by name at the Jessfield Park celebration.

At least if I do, it will not be in a complimentary light…’

‘Mr Banks, please, listen to me. If you are determined to continue, despite the danger, then I cannot stop you. But you will undoubtedly be safer alone. With me, you certainly run the risk of being fired upon. You, on the other hand, are a white man in civilian clothes. As long as you are very careful, and announce yourself clearly before any encounter, it is possible you will come to no harm. Of course, I repeat my recommendation that you wait until the situation here is resolved. But then again, as someone myself with ageing parents, I can well understand your feelings of urgency.’

I rose to my feet and brushed off as much dust as I could.

‘Well then, I shall be on my way,’ I said coldly.

‘In that case, Mr Banks, please take this with you.’ He was holding out a small torch. ‘My advice, as before, is to stop and wait if you do not reach your destination by dark. But I can see from your present attitude you might well be inclined to push on. In which case, you will certainly need the torch. The batteries are not new, so do not use it any more than you need to.’

I dropped the torch into my jacket pocket, then thanked him somewhat grudgingly, already rather regretting my outburst.

The dying man had now stopped trying to talk and was just screaming again. I had begun to walk towards the sound, when the lieutenant said: ‘You can’t go that way, Mr Banks. You will have to move north for a while, then try to navigate yourself back on course later. Come this way, sir.’