The Eighty-eighth Key Ch. 42

Part V

Chapter 42

"It's almost possible to see Omi stalking the beach, hear the crew suffering in the pit," Bullitt said, his voice a bare whisper in the twilight. He turned to Fujiko-san, wonder in his eyes: "I have you to thank for this. This is exactly what I wanted to experience. This moment. To feel time as it might have been four hundred years ago, what it might have been like to walk this beach in a time before cars and airplanes..."

Fujiko bowed. "Thank you. I do not deserve such praise."

They were seated on the sand at a small beach south of Ajiro; the beach was aglow in torchlight, a small dinner of fire-roasted vegetables and seafood was cooking on a nearby fire pit, the hissing red embers lending another layer to the colorful sunset.

Evelyn was sitting beside Callahan; she had not smiled all day, had barely said a word - even when asked. If she had expressed any emotion at all, it might have been found in the many covetous sidelong glances she cast - like a fisherman's net - between Harry and Fujiko-san. Now, she was snuggling up to Callahan in an almost brazen attempt to stake a territorial claim, as if she was daring Fujiko-san to repeat last night's waterborne drama.

Callahan, for his part, seemed annoyed by Evelyn's overt manipulations, but he had been growing tired of her all day. This evening's antics had become the last straw on a day filled with childish pouts and churlish moodiness.

So when Evelyn chided Frank for his overt thankfulness, Harry got up from the sand and walked away, down to the gently ebbing surf. Evelyn got up and ran after him.

"I'm sorry," she said as she came up behind him. "I can't help it..."

"It was a mistake to bring you on this trip - you're like a black hole that sucks all the emotion out of the air. You leave stale misery behind, don't you? I mean, you do it deliberately, right?"

She stepped back, sucked in a deep breath like she'd been gut-punched, and then she started to cry...

"Oh, stop it, would you?" he hissed. "Tears are for children who don't know any other way to get what they want."

Her eyes blinked rapidly, her arms crossed reflexively - as if she was preparing to ward off blows...

But they never came.

"Is that what you do?" he continued. "Push and push and push until the people close to you lash out in self-defense? And then you blame them? Why don't you grow up and take responsibility for your actions."

She turned wordlessly and walked into the night; a moment later he felt more than heard Frank walking after her, then he heard Cathy by his side.

"She put on quite a show today, didn't she," Cathy sighed. "Frank is beside himself right now."

"It was that obvious, wasn't it?"

"Yes. He said he wanted to send her home, but then he realized she has no home to go to. She's pushed everyone out of her life, and now she's working on Frank."

"I think all she wants is some kind of sympathy-banquet."

Cathy laughed a little at that. "Well put," she whispered, "but I wonder..."

"How are you feeling?" Callahan asked, changing the subject.

"My feet are killing me. Some kind of circulatory problem."

"Your ankles looked a little puffy this afternoon. Maybe you shouldn't go on so many walks?"

"I'm too old for this, but..."

"But it's the most important thing you and Frank have ever done."

She stepped closer, took his arm and leaned her head on his shoulder. "Life is easier with friends, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure about easier, but it's not much worth living without them."

"I hope he'll be around when she's born."

"He will be."

"What?"

"Just a feeling, Cathy. I just know he'll be here."

She squeezed his arm. "Come on. Let's eat some of those goodies."

When he woke up the next morning Callahan called Didi; an hour later and with fax in hand, he took Evelyn to Tokyo and put her on a Swissair flight to Zurich. Didi planned to meet the plane and take Evelyn to the clinic in Davos. It was, in the end, the only thing he could think to do and he hoped Frank wouldn't be too upset. Dell and Carl and their broods left for California too, their vacation times at an end - leaving Frank and Cathy, Sam and Elaine, as well as Harry the remaining members of the group, and today they were off to the mountains above Ajiro. They were headed to a small inn; after a night there the group would walk along a trail - from inn to inn - for five days and nights, stopping at small shrines each afternoon. The last night would see them visit a small hotel and teahouse, one reputed to be located in the most gorgeous setting in all Japan. Fujiko-san had prepared reading materials and these were needed to cover the importance of the tea ceremony in Japanese life, and to prepare each of them for their own ceremony.

They walked along a ridge-line from north to south, following a sort of spine that divided the Izu Peninsula into wet and dry regions. The path they walked was, Fujiko-san told them, ancient, and had been in use for at least a thousand years, and during the summer it was always quite crowded...

"Why?" Sam Bennett asked.

"You must see for yourself," Fujiko-san said. "Only in that way can you truly learn."

But it didn't take long for the little group to understand why. The trail meandered through dark forests and airy glades, then crossed rocky streams that seemed to be meticulously planned settings for secluded gardens. Every so often they rounded a bend and found the way ahead chiseled into the sides of sheer granite cliffs, and hundreds of feet below the sea crashed into a rocky shore. Just when muscles began to ache and their feet to tire another inn suddenly appeared, and soon rocky baths fed by hot springs soothed away all their aches and pains. Their evening meal was in a forest glade one night, then on a rocky outcrop perched high above the sea the next, and every night Fujiko-san instructed them on the importance of tea - and the tea ceremony - before heading off to bed.

In the middle of the second night, Callahan woke after a particularly unsettling dream. Evelyn was lost in a blinding snowstorm one moment, and the next he was staring down into a grave. Worms were writhing all over a partially decomposed body before unseen men began filling the grave, and when he woke in a sweat he went outside into the cool air and sat on a rock overlooking the sea.

A few minutes later he heard another shōji screen open and close, then he felt Fujiko-san kneeling by his side. She remained there, not saying a word - barely breathing - until he stood, then she took his hand and led him to the hot springs. In the bathhouse she took off all his night-clothes and rinsed him off, then he followed her to one of the rocky pools. They sat in the water; she kissed him once then she very slowly mounted him, and they remained fused in that position for what felt like an eternity, until the moment of the clouds and the rain came for them.

When he woke up he wondered if any of it had really happened, if their joining had been a part of his fevered dreams, but those doubts vanished when he saw the look in her eyes later than morning.

'I cannot fall in love again...not so easily, never so carelessly again...' that cautiously hidden voice said again and again - and just as the trail began descending through a series of narrow, rocky canyons, he began to see the final truth of this walk among the pines. In the distance he could see mist-shrouded spires rising from the sea, and now the air smelled of rocks and pine and sea-blown spray, while a freshening breeze began to chill the sweat on his body. The trail narrowed deeper still, until on the last stretch they were stepping from boulder to boulder, but by then the air around the rocky spires had cleared a little and atop each rocky needle he could just make out a series of cascading wooden structures...

"Is that the inn?" Frank asked, his voice full of wonder.

"Yes," Fujiko-san said, "and on the farthest rock, just there," she said, pointing, "is the Teahouse of Autumn Storms."

The song of wind through pine gave way to mellow notes of rock and sea, and Fujiko-san led them across a narrow bridge, the yawning chasm below a reminder of just how isolated this place really was.

"There is no electricity here, no running water, so be spare with consumption here."

"There's no bath?" Elaine Bennett asked.

"Over here," Fujiko-san said as she led them to an overlook, and everyone in the little group gasped as they looked at several pools set among the rocks, each overlooking the sea. Callahan could just see steam rising from the pools; one just above the crashing surf caught his eye and he thought of Fujiko in the night, and when he looked at her he thought he could see the faintest outlines of a smile within the delicate hint of her lips.

"There are just a few rooms here, so the inn belongs to us for three nights. We will take our meals in the building just there," she said, pointing at a craggy spire on the far side of a fifty-meter gap.

"There's no bridge," Sam said. "How do we..."

Fujiko-san turned and smiled. "Be patient. Time will reveal all you need."

Sam bowed and Fujiko-san returned the gesture, smiling slightly.

A very correct, very traditionally dressed innkeeper appeared and turned to Fujiko; he spoke once and she reminded them to take off their shoes before they entered their rooms, then she turned to Frank and Cathy. "If you will follow this man he will take you to your room. A maid will help you with your clothing and show you to the steps that lead to the baths."

As Frank and Cathy were led off Fujiko turned to Sam; she asked them to follow the innkeeper's wife to their room, then she turned to Harry.

"Follow me," she whispered.

She led him to another narrow bridge and he followed her across the span to what almost looked like an elaborate umbrella-shaped structure, but one that seemed hewn into the rock itself. He had to duck low to enter through the low-slung shōji screen but once inside he found the room simply awe-inspiring. The floor was laid out to perfectly accommodate four tatami mats, but it was the view that staggered Callahan. The seaward-facing walls were open to the sea just now, the screen walls open to the sights and sounds of the sea below. He walked around the space, saw that every joint in the wood was a mitered puzzle of impossible cuts, and just outside the formal space of the room was a cantilevered ledge that served as a terrace. He stepped out carefully, mindful that there was not a railing in sight, and then he looked down to the surf a hundred feet below.

"It's perfect," he said as she stepped out and joined him. He turned and faced her, looked into her eyes. "Is it possible that you might stay here with me?"

"Just here inside this moment, anything is possible."

"I would like this moment to last forever," he said, bowing low.

She most formally returned his bow, then turned to the room. "Your maid is here. She will help you change and lead you to the walkway. I will join you below."

He stepped inside and the maid helped him out of his walking clothes and into a bathing kimono, then she led him, barefoot, to a hidden shōji screen. Sliding it aside she pointed to a narrow stairway cut into the amber stone; candles in little alcoves lit the way down and Callahan could just see that a rope handrail of sorts was there if he needed it. Concerned that the stone would tear up his feet gave way to wonder when he realized the stone had been worn smooth by hundreds of years of use, and he had made his way down several steps before he realized this stairway was quite literally inside the spire. The only hint he was near the end came when he heard surf crashing into rock, then a gentle increase in light.

He stepped out into a crimson sunset, the sky now gently streaked with wispy yellow-orange clouds, and he spied another maid waiting by the nearest pool; she was standing beside a small stone table laden with things to make tea, as well as a few plates of grilled vegetables and raw fish.

A few minutes later Frank and Cathy appeared, and Sam a few minutes later.

"Elaine is terrified of those steps, and I'm afraid I didn't do much better..."

"Is she still up there?" Harry asked, pointing.

"Yup. And still clinging to that goddam rope, I do believe."

Harry dashed to the opening Sam had emerged from and found Elaine still near the top; he had her put a hand out on his shoulder and gently led her out into the sunset.

"My God," Elaine sighed as she looked around in wonder, "but this was worth the walk."

Sam was already in a pool nursing a cup of something and Elaine went to her husband and slipped into the water by his side. Harry joined Frank and Cathy as everyone sat in silence, each watching the setting sun as if inside a deep trance.

Harry felt Fujiko slip into the water but she remained a polite distance away, but then she handed him a cup of what he assumed was tea...yet though it was a tea of some kind it was thicker and seemed infused with the flavor of flowers and berries. She passed cups to Frank and Cathy as torches came to life one by one, filling the rocks with dancing shadows and shimmering amber rock.

The maid handed Fujiko a plate of vegetables and fish, and this she passed to Frank and Cathy. The next plate went to Sam and Elaine; when the last was handed to Fujiko she held out this plate, without a word asking Harry to make his choice.

Dinner was elegant but quite spartan; grilled vegetables and more seafood, some cooked over charcoal, some raw. A woman played the koto and sang mournful songs as the moon came out of the sea; soon after everyone returned to their room, if they could be called that, by walking down the dining rooms spire - and then back to the spires that led to each of the four rooms.

The maid was waiting for Callahan and she helped him into a light sleeping kimono, pointing out where he could relieve himself in the night then leaving him to the silence of the moment. A half-hour later the shōji slid open and Fujiko came to him; they made love through the night then stepped out onto the terrace, waiting for the sunrise. She leaned against him and he held her close, lost in the quiet timelessness of this first real moment together.

She disappeared a few minutes before his maid returned, and once again the maid helped him into the same bathing kimono he'd worn the night before. He walked down the rock stairway to the pools and there was a light breakfast waiting for him; after everyone had eaten Fujiko appeared - in a swimsuit - and she led them to a shallow entry well away from the breaking surf.

"We will swim out to that rock," she said, pointing to a tall spire Callahan guessed was at least a hundred meters offshore. "There is a shrine inside the rock; it is a very ancient place, very magical."

"How cold is that water?" Sam asked.

"It is cool, but not cold. You should be fine as long as you can make reasonable speed through the water."

Sam shook his head. "Not me. Elaine, feel free."

"I'm a good swimmer," Elaine said to Fujiko. "I'm in."

"Not me," Cathy said, pointing to her belly. "Frank?"

"Would you mind if I went," he asked Cathy, who simply shook her head.

"No, go ahead."

Fujiko led the way down to the water's edge and Callahan gaped at the clarity of the sea here: "It looks like a swimming pool," he said as he looked down into the sea, and at the pebbles below the surface.

Fujiko and Elaine took off first, but Frank held Harry back a moment, let the women get ahead a little before he walked into the water.

"Damn," Harry said as the water hit his groin, "if this isn't cold I wonder what is?"

"Come on," Frank said as he dove into the sea. When they were well away from the shore Frank turned to Harry. "Are you making it with her?"

"Fujiko?"

"Goddam, Harry. Who'd you think I was asking about?"

"Yes. We're making it, Frank."

"Damn. I knew it."

"What does it matter to you?"

"I don't know, Harry," Frank said, exasperated. "So, you're done with Evelyn?"

"Completely."

"Why'd you send her to Switzerland?"

"She's sick, Frank. She needs help, but you know what? It's not my job to rescue people all the time, Frank. I want a life, a real-life this time."

"And you think this girl is going to offer you that? A real-life? She's a walking, talking medieval fantasy, Callahan, not a wife. Hell, she's like a walking wet-dream right out of that book!"

"She was born in San Francisco, Frank. She went to fucking Stanford."

"What?"

"Yeah, Frank. Cut me a little slack, would you?"

"Okay, Harry. Sorry. I'm just worried..."

"Yeah? Well, I'm worried about you too, Frank. And I'm worried about Cathy. Hell, I'm even worrying about Sam right now. Like...why the fuck is he not out here, not getting in the water? He's a great swimmer, so what the fuck was that all about?"

"Harry, you need to get laid more often."

"I'm working on it, Frank. Jesus Fucking Christ, my nuts are about to freeze off!"

"We better pick it up a little. The girls are already out on the rocks."

Callahan was shivering by the time he crawled out of the water, but Fujiko magically handed him a sun-warmed towel...

"You think of everything, don't you?"

She smiled as she handed Frank a towel. "We are going up inside this rock to a very special shrine. It dates back more than a thousand years, but be careful. The path is narrow, the steps uncomfortable in places, so we will go slow. Now, follow me, please."

The entry to the 'stairway' was, Callahan saw, almost impossible to pick out from the other cracks and crevices on the wall's face, but then Fujiko slipped sideways through a narrow slit and disappeared.

"Shit," Bullitt whispered as he stepped up to the opening. "Harry, I'm not sure you'll make it through this thing" - but then Frank stepped through and was gone.

Elaine had no difficulty at all, but when Callahan stepped up to the opening he tried to make sense of the math. 'I'm six-four and this slit looks just about right for someone five feet tall...' He stepped in with one leg then contorted here and there until he was through, but then he saw he'd picked up a good scrape on his right knee, too. A steady stream of blood was running down his leg as he started up the narrow path. The height stepped down to around four feet in places, and Callahan had to turn sideways to get through other, narrower parts of the passageway, then he stepped out into a vast room...

The floor had been chiseled smooth but the rest of the space was a natural cavern, with one narrow slit in the rock letting sunlight and fresh air into the shrine.

"On the equinox, sunlight enters and shines on this formation," Fujiko-san said as she pointed at swirling striations in an area of smooth rock wall. Harry struggled to make sense of it then his mind recognized a stork or crane, a vast bird of some sort, anyway, and while the rock surrounding the bird was gray and amber-brown, the 'bird' was blue and, in places, almost white.

"I'll be damned," Bullitt whispered, shaking his head in disbelief.

"I've never seen anything quite like that," the Old Man in the Cape said, suddenly standing right beside Callahan. "Fascinating, isn't it?"

Harry ignored the Old Man and shook his head.

"Oh, and if I were you I'd keep an eye out for sharks." He grinned at Harry and an instant later the Old Man vanished.

"You said this is a shrine," Elaine said. "What kind? And is this shrine unlike any other?"

"Very much so," Fujiko said. "A priest does come here, but only on the two days of equal duration, the equinox in autumn and in spring. There is a small service - well, what most would call a service - and an offering to the kami that resides in this rock. On those rare days when the sun shines and the crane is illuminated, good fortune is foretold for those few who have made the journey."