Lady Samurai

Chapter 4

They set sail the following morning.

Lottie stood at the stern, gazing at the slowly disappearing shore; with no regret or sorrow, she realised to her own astonishment. The only living creature she had had any relationship with was her horse, but she had sold him nonetheless. She had consciously and deliberately severed all her ties with this place.

After purchasing several sets of clothing and other essentials, Lottie had said a brief farewell to Mama-San and before nightfall she had arrived to board the ship. She had struggled to sleep, so she spent the night on the deck, trying to keep out of the way of the crew and their frenzied preparations before setting sail.

Now that she was leaving America, presumably never to return, she didn't feel even a sliver of emotion. This was never her home. Her home was in the faraway Japan.

*

She spent the first few days of the journey at the bow, pensively gazing into the distance.

Captain Norton, being by nature an inquisitive individual, observed Ms Mitchell intently and frequently could see a deep sorrow in her eyes. Whenever his duties permitted, he would join Anna at the bow and to distract her, he spoke about his own life and travels. She came to know that his wife lived in Baltimore. They had no children, but Mrs. Norton occupied herself by entertaining society and the literary circles. But no matter how hard he tried to find out something about Anna Mitchell, she revealed no personal information.

However, she wanted to know about the others. "How did it come about that you served on a Dutch ship?" she asked once with curiosity.

"Well, I have always wanted to explore the world. And Japan was always the most exotic place I could imagine. The pay they offered was good, so I didn't even pause to think twice. Of course, I was never properly in Japan. We were only permitted to land in Nagasaki and I never even left the port. But you! You seem to know so much about their culture and ordinary life. I can't figure out how this is possible."

Lottie looked at him for a long time. "I grew up there," she said eventually. "Do you know of Sakoku?"

"The ban of the foreigners? Yes."

"Then you understand why this must remain a secret," she stood up. "Absolutely no one can know about it," she stressed, looking into his eyes with an unusual intensity. "Promise me!"

"Of course," he felt strangely privileged by her trust. But was she telling the truth?...

As the weeks passed, no one on board could say that they knew her any better than on the first day. Captain Norton was the only one she allowed in, but he realised he had only occasionally glimpsed mere hints of her true self.

There was something different about her, he felt. Something that stood her apart from any other person he knew. He felt there was more to her than met the eye. Sure, she was a remarkable woman; she spoke an exotic language, travelled dressed as a man and had an impassive face that never betrayed her thoughts or feelings. But intuitively he knew that behind this cool and collected exterior there must be lurking some secret or a tragedy.

From her knowledge and manners he guessed her to come from the gentility at least. But no English lady would travel unaccompanied in the Wild West, behaving like a gun-slinger. And her name; sometimes she didn't answer to her name, especially when lost in thought, almost as if it wasn't her true identity. Who was this woman? And what compelled her to travel across the world to a country that banned foreigners?

Others were also curious, but at meals, when they all met, she skillfully avoided speaking about herself. Instead, she drilled into them information about customs, dress and courtesy that needed to be observed in front of the Japanese.

"Don't for a second forget that they consider us barbarians," she grinned mischievously. "To them we stink, have no manners and can't control our emotions. As we will surely have to endure many hours of lengthy negotiations, you need to learn to follow their customs and etiquette. Above all you need to appear polite. Heads had rolled in the past for a bow not deep enough or for a disrespectful gaze. Samurai wield the absolute power over life and death in Japan. And their swords are infinitely superior to anything we are able to manufacture in the West."

They listened, but she could see that they didn't sufficiently absorb or appreciate enough the extent of her knowledge. To them the Japanese were a society caught in an archaic culture. And that culture must now change to accommodate American demands.

It will be a hell of a negotiation! She thought, but kept her opinions to herself.