The Samurai That I Loved

第3章

Eliza kept her cloak over her head. The captain - whose name she learned was Harrison - kindly gave her an extra change of clothes to disguise herself as a local. He had claimed it belonged to a former ship hand who had passed from scurvy. This information did not comfort her in the least.

Keeping her brown boots on, she changed into the garment known as a kimono, more specifically, a kinagashi. It was a male's commoner kimono that was comprised of a grey baggy long-sleeve tunic dress paired with a dark blue wide-brimmed jacket known as a haori. She tied a blue ribbon around the waist of her kinagashi garment before slipping the cloak on to complete her outfit. Her hair was neatly tucked away in a braid down her back.

It was nightfall by the time they were sailing through choppy, silent waters. The ship hands had doused the lights, masking the schooner in complete darkness. Not a soul made a sound as they approached the Japanese shore.

When Captain Harris spotted Eliza looking out from the rails, he walked up to her and said quietly, "Alright, time to go."

She looked back at him with a faint nod before following him to one of the life boats. Climbing in after the captain, Eliza watched as the ship hands dropped them down into the water, and they were soon sailing towards the coastline.

"Go east, and you'll come up on a village. Just tell them, Edo, and someone will point you in the right direction. Keep a low profile and try not to get yourself killed, alrighty lass?" Harrison whispered as he pushed the oars through the dark waters.

Eliza's heart was beating frantically. Suddenly feeling entirely over her head in this situation, she realized there was no turning back now.

The boat pulled up almost to the shore before Captain Harrison whispered quickly, "This is as far as I can take ye, now get out and start swimming!"

With wild eyes, Eliza did not need to be told twice. Like a fish jumping back into the water for survival, she clambered out of the life boat and began swimming for her life. Reaching the shore, she dragged herself out of the waves with breathless gasps for oxygen. Scrambling to her feet, she picked up the wet hem of her kinagashi and darted towards a patch of woods.

Swallowing down the hurendous fear thriving through her, she collapsed against a large tree and boulder to catch her breath. Shivering from her cold clothes, she clutched her arms about herself and tried desperately to conjure up the sweet image of Ernest's round face.

She couldn't wait to finally rejoin him.

~•~                            

The next morning, Eliza stumbled into the village with her cloak shrouding her identity. She meandered past street stalls, tantalizing aromas of smoked fish and rice, children playing in the street. Until recently, she had never before seen anyone who was not of English descent, thus leaving her spellbound by the stark differences between her own ethnicity and that of the rest of the world.

Each man, woman, boy or girl that she passed either had black or brown hair, dark or pale skin, however the beautiful almond eyes that each person possessed were so unfamiliar to her, she found herself in complete awe. The Japanese were truly more beautiful than most English twats she had laid eyes on. Well, some of them anyway. Same as in England, the older generation wasn't as easy on the eyes here either.

Shoving her vain thoughts to the back of her mind, she walked up to an elderly woman in a kimono who was resting beside her street stall. A pointy, woven hat sat atop her head. When she looked up at Eliza, her eyes widened in alarm. "Oh?" She replied curiously.