Ruri Pilgrim - Fish of the Seto Inland Sea

They could not find Tei-ichi. Only Matabei knew where he was. He was standing alone on a cliff overlooking the sea, but Matabei did not tell anyone.

The next day, Tei-ichi called Hideto. He said, ‘I will give this to you,’ and gave him an antique sword forged by a famous swordsmith. It was the most precious treasure belonging to the family.

Autumn came earlier than usual that year. Haruko was now fourteen years old. The rain which started in September continued without stopping into the middle of October. At first the Kitaka river had roared and foamed, swollen by the heavy rains. The volume of water increased until, for the past few days, the river was lapping at the top of the dyke. The water looked ominously quiet. It was dark and flowing swiftly.

The dyke had contained the river for as long as the villagers could remember. People stood by the water and shook their heads. That day, the river was higher than ever before. It was already overflowing here and there in thin streams, and crabs were crawling around.

The wind got up in the afternoon. People finished work early and secured their shutters and doors. When Masakazu arrived home and put away his bicycle in the old stable, he saw his father washing his feet by the well.

‘Oh, Masa, you crossed the river all right?’ his father asked.

‘I came home over the New Bridge, otohsan. Good job it was finished,’ Masakazu replied. The concrete bridge connecting Kitani village to the town had been finished earlier in the year. Shobei had donated generously to its completion.

‘Ah, the New Bridge will be all right, but it may be only a matter of hours until the dyke bursts. If that happens, several houses in the village will go under water.’ Then Tei-ichi said, ‘Masa, when you go in, ask someone to bring a towel out for me.’

Almost at the same time, Kei appeared with a towel and a pair of dry geta. ‘I am sorry. I didn’t realise you were home.’

‘Have you seen the river?’ Kei asked both of them, as she squatted and dried Tei-ichi’s feet.

‘I was telling Masa that houses of the Miwa tenant farmers might be flooded.’

‘Use this.’ Kei stood up and handed the towel to Masakazu. She asked both of them, ‘Shall I send Mata san to get the women and children from those houses?’

‘That might be an idea. Masa, you go and alert the youth club members. ‘We’ll send Yohei and Mata to the three houses nearest the river.’

‘Yes, otohsan.’ Masakazu went back to the stable and brought out the bicycle he had just put away.

‘Yohei.’ Tei-ichi called Shige’s husband. ‘Go to Kawabata and bring people from those three houses nearest the river. Take Mata with you.’

‘O’Shige san,’ Kei was heard calling. ‘Cook plenty of rice and make rice balls for the people who are coming. We need lots of hot water as well.’

‘Can we help make rice balls?’ The girls came to the kitchen.

‘Yes, yes, we need all the help we can get. Ask your okahsan to find you aprons.’

‘Oji-isama, can I go with Mata san to the river to help people?’ Shuichi asked.

‘Oh, yes, you can go, but stay with Mata and do not go near the river, do you understand?’

Watching the boy running after Matabei, Kei remarked, ‘He is getting clever. He knows I wouldn’t say “yes”.’

‘He is ten. You shouldn’t pamper him.’

Kei was quiet but she still shuddered when she remembered how close he had come to drowning.

As the darkness fell, the rain beat down harder. Masakazu came home and was going out again.

Tei-ichi called him back. ‘How is it? Do the upstream villages seem to be holding all right?’

‘So far we have not seen any sign of disaster, otohsan, but I don’t think some of the bridges are strong enough. I just came back to leave my bicycle. The wind is so strong that it’s difficult to ride.’ He called out. ‘Okahsan, I am going with the others to help the villagers upstream. Don’t worry about me, if I am late,’ but his voice was almost drowned in the torrents of rain.

‘I hope Shu-chan is all right,’ Kei said to Ayako, peering outside.

‘He is not stupid, okahsan, and Mata san will not let him out of sight,’ Ayako replied. ‘Besides, although he wouldn’t go up, the top of the dyke is quite wide. People can’t fall into the river easily. You know very well no one ever has.’

‘No, but he must be soaking wet. You get his dry clothes ready and let him have a hot bath when he comes home.’

Kei peered outside once more before she went back to the kitchen.

The wind became stronger towards midnight and brought more rain. About fifteen people including children were evacuated from their homes and came to the Shirais’. Kei did not hesitate to open up the rooms reserved for guests and special occasions and the whole household tried to settle down for an uneasy night. Outside the wind was howling.

It was about four o’clock when the rain began to subside. Once the storm had passed, the dawn brought a beautiful day such as people had not seen for a month. Shafts of golden light shone through clouds. The white feathers of pigeons on the still-wet roof were pink in the sunlight. Sparrows chattered. The hills in the distance were the colours of autumn and the leaves left on the trees were washed clean and shining. Masakazu arrived home caked with mud and without shoes. He had a bath and breakfast, and left for work. At every house, people were hanging their clothes out to dry.

A large area of the rice paddies was flooded and the water stretched far, reflecting the white clouds in the serene sky. Big trees had been washed downriver and lay sideways here and there gathering debris. Upstream the damage was considerable but in Kitani village, two houses had gone and there were no human casualties.

In the afternoon, a servant arrived from the Miwas, and Kei and Ayako realised that they had not sent a message of inquiry to Shobei and his wife. The Miwas’ house was on high ground and there was no cause for worry, but it would have been a matter of courtesy to have contacted them.

‘Oh, Zen san,’ Ayako said. ‘How are otohsama and okahsama? We are sorry we haven’t been in touch with you yet. We had so many people last night, and we are still in a muddle.’

‘They are all right, young okusama, although dansama seems to have caught a chill. He says he will come to see you tomorrow. He wanted to know if you need a hand.’

Ayako remembered that whenever there was anything unusual, however insignificant, Shobei would call on the Shirais himself.

‘Is otosahma all right?’

‘He says you should not worry.’

The day before, when the wind had been getting stronger, Rinji had called in to see if his parents needed any help. Seeing that everything had been in order, he had had a cup of tea and left soon afterwards. Shobei had stayed home and, after supper, had gone out without anyone noticing. Later when his wife had realised that he was not in his study, she had not been too concerned. He had a group of friends with whom he played the game of Go and she had thought he might have gone out to meet them, although it had not seemed like a good night to go visiting.

‘Actually, dansama walked upstream to see how his land and farmers were. I don’t think he realised how quickly the dyke would burst there. He was trapped in the flood till the youth club members rescued him early in the morning.’

Ayako frowned. She excused herself and quickly changed her kimono. To Kei she said, ‘I know he would come himself unless he felt really ill. I will just go and see how he is.’