The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy

Chapter 3

The Sheriff, thwarted in his desire to obtain a Toki-child from the Jizo, marched his men up to the field where the Jizo stood. He told his men to throw them into the marshy area at the other end of the valley and directed them to build a temple like the ones he had seen in America only they called them "churches" with a cross on the top and a bell in the tower. The bell, he knew, was to ring. What the cross meant he had no idea, but churches in America mostly had them.

"Get a statue of the woman in blue to put out front," he told his men as he turned to go home. "They call her Mary," he said in response to a question. "She's the mother of their chief god." He marched off, satisfied. That would get even with the Jizo for slighting him, he thought, replacing them with a Mary statue from the West.

Once he'd returned home, he made coffee with whiskey in it, put his feet up, and started to think about the toki. He decided he must get his hands on Azuki, the only toki in reach, who after all was only a bird, and a wild bird at that, and thus the property of the government, and therefore, obviously at least to Genmai, already Genmai's own.

His thoughts turned to General Apple and the party he planned to give during the General's visit. He would do anything to make the General welcome. If it hadn't been for the General, he would never have returned home and might have starved as a waterfront beggar. Why not, he mused, have a circus like they did in The West, much grander than anything traveling performers managed in Japan? With not only musical monkeys and acrobatic dogs, but exotic reptiles, counting horses, birds that could answer questions, mimic human speech, do aerobatics, and walk tightropes balanced on each other, or wear heavy iron kettles to show off their strength and balance? Well, why not? He could show off his toki then. His idea became a plan.

The very next day Genmai and his official guard went to Chizuyo and Hachibei's house.

"Hachibei, Chizuyo, bring me the toki," Genmai said, looking every inch the powerful Sheriff he was. "The toki is the property of the government and it is coming with me."

"No, Sheriff." Hachibei stepped forward bravely, though Chizuyo quailed at the sight of the swords, nets and rifles. "Azuki is our daughter, and she belongs to no one. You do not have the right to take her from her home; the government doesn't have the right to take her, either. She belongs here."

"I warn you, Hachibei, you are disobeying a government order" Genmai swung his new rifle up so the barrel faced Hachibei.

"No!" Hachibei roared. "You will not "

The rifle fired. Hachibei fell. The men slung a net over Azuki who, in bird form, had been watching from a hiding place under the porch. Shota flew into the roof thatch to hide. Chizuyo screamed "NO!" and ran to her husband.

It was over so quickly, Chizuyo thought through her tears, that she could only recall the most important things, the most terrible things, the ones that hurt the most. Her good, kind, brave husband was dead, murdered by the Sheriff, and her daughter was gone, kidnapped by the same man. Chizuyo fell over her husband's body, sobbing, while Shota glided down from the roof and turned into a boy to take her hand and try to comfort her in their shared grief.

The Sheriff continued making plans for his circus. He kept Azuki in a cage and fed her only raw fish. People in Japan eat raw fish too, and find it a treat, but people eat other things, and cooked things, too. With just raw fish, Azuki would need to stay a bird, and the Sheriff wanted her to stay in bird form. Gleefully, he collected the feathers she shed every morning. He wanted to make a vest for the General, and if he had enough feathers, a matching one for himself, too. But the only other weaver as skilled as Hachibei at working with feathers was Chizuyo. Genmai could hardly ask her. His spies watched her, though. He hoped she might forget the toki and that she was too scared to plot revenge against him. Genmai tried to tell himself Hachibei's death was an accident. He hoped Chizuyo believed that, but he had a sneaking suspicion she didn't any more than he did in his heart.

Chizuyo, of course, did not forget and neither did Shota. Chizuyo knew they could never forget. Though they missed him terribly, Hachibei was at least safe. His good karma would follow him into his next life, and they held memorial services for his benefit at their temple, making offerings at the stupa there that marked his grave, but Azuki remained a prisoner, tearing at their hearts.

Chizuyo knew she was being watched, so she made her plans in secret, keeping Shota out of sight so the Sheriff wouldn't find out about him and steal him, too. Azuki must get away. Both bird-children must get away from this place, at least for a while, she thought, until she could take care of things here if she could and guarantee her children a chance at happy lives in the village that was their home.

The day of the party approached. Chizuyo had her own spies among her friends and fellow villagers, some of whom worked for the Sheriff in varying capacities. She learned how and where Azuki was being kept. She also learned that her love and Hachibei's would always be enough to allow Azuki and Shota to become human at will, for love transcends space and time. If Azuki had room, she could become a girl, but her cage was too small to allow it. Chizuyo discovered the Sheriff was gathering Azuki's feathers and looking for a weaver to make them into cloth. She learned about the circus and that he planned to force Azuki to perform in it.

From all of this, she worked out a plan to help Azuki make her escape.