The Wanderer
Autumn passed in the blink of an eye, and the season changed to winter.
On one chilly morning, Balsa left Torogai's hut and went down to Tanda's village. All the grass and mountain vegetation were covered in a fine layer of frost.
Balsa paused in the doorway of Tanda's house, watching his mother preparing breakfast next to the fire. "Good morning," Balsa said politely.
Tanda's mother blinked in surprise, then looked toward the door. She smiled. "Good morning. You're here very early. Is there something you need?"
"I, uh, wanted to talk to Tanda," Balsa said. "Is he here?"
Tanda's mother shook her head. "He went to the town hall already. He went just after breakfast, carrying paper and ink...he's much more enthusiastic about that than field work."
After the harvest was over, scholars from Kosenkyo traveled to New Yogo's villages to teach people how to read, write, and do basic mathematics. Tanda had always been very diligent about studying and went to the town hall every morning at this time of year.
But Balsa knew that Tanda was not at the town hall this morning. She'd stopped there first, before coming to Tanda's house, and he wasn't there.
What is he doing? Where is he?
Balsa thought for a moment, then nodded to herself. Tanda had carried ink and paper somewhere, but he hadn't gone to the town hall. There was only one other place he could be. "Okay," she said to Tanda's mother. "I'll stop by again later. Thanks." Balsa bowed her head, then left.
Balsa passed by a large group of girls gathered by the communal well. They were talking excitedly about something, but Balsa didn't pause to listen. She climbed up the steep path to the village's temple. She hadn't gone far before she caught sight of someone in the distance. No one went up to the temple in winter; there was no real reason to.
Tanda sat on the stones outside the temple, drawing something in his lap. He was so absorbed in what he was doing that he didn't notice Balsa was there until her shadow passed over the piece of wood he was drawing on.
"That's a tolcha, isn't it?" Balsa asked.
Tanda's hands stilled. He looked up at her and nodded. His fingers were already red from cold. He had created a very good likeness of his uncle Onza's face on the plank of untreated wood, but he seemed dissatisfied. "I don't think it turned out too well..."
Balsa looked closer and noticed that the lines of ink around the nose and eyes were a bit jagged, but Onza was still recognizable. She grinned. "I dunno, it makes me want to smile. I think Onza would like that."
Tanda had been hard at work on this tolcha since the night he'd encountered the wild dog, but he hadn't been able to make much headway until autumn was over. His family had needed his help to prepare for winter.
Tanda waited for the ink on the tolcha to dry, then stood up.
"Where will you put it?" Balsa asked.
"In the grove of koza trees," Tanda said. He lifted the tolcha and started walking down the path. Balsa followed him a little more slowly.
The grove wasn't far. Winter had withered many of the trees in the forest, but the leaves of the koza trees were still fresh and green.
"I'll put it behind this tree here," Tanda said. "That way, no one will notice from the road." Tanda didn't want the tolcha to cause a stir, since people from the nearby villages would certainly know what it was. He set up the tolcha and spread out the branches a little to hide it better among the koza tree's large leaves.
The roots of the tree had been clawed by an animal recently. Tanda saw small tufts of fur blowing in the slight breeze. Tanda knelt down and touched the tree roots with a troubled expression.
"What's wrong?" Balsa asked.
"There's something here..." Tanda held his breath, then reached under the damaged tree roots. There was a small package wrapped in oiled paper wedged beneath them. Tanda extracted the package carefully and unwrapped it. "What is this?" he asked, standing up so that he could show Balsa.
There was a long sash inside the package. The oiled paper had protected it from the worst of the dirt and rain, but there were a few splotchy places. Tanda cleaned it up a little by shaking it, and discovered finely detailed embroidery at the edges of the shawl. As he shook it, a few tiny white mothballs fell to the ground.
The shawl was a special marriage sash. It looked like a very expensive one. The word "Ori" was stitched along one edge of the sash in gold thread.
Tanda and Balsa locked eyes. "This was uncle Onza's," he said. His throat felt too dry.
Balsa nodded. "Ori is your uncle Onza's older sister, right?"
"Yeah."
But why was this sash hidden here?
Tanda and Balsa stood in the grove, looking at the sash. The mothballs were still potent and the smell stung their noses a little.
"I think uncle Onza came here that night to find this," Tanda said. But he hadn't been able to retrieve it. The gap under the tree roots was too narrow for the wild dog.
The sky was overcast that day, but a shaft of pale winter sunlight cut through the clouds and shone into the grove.
"Why would he put something like that here? It got all dirty," Balsa said.
"I think he wanted to give it to Ori before her wedding," Tanda said.
Balsa reached out and touched the sash. "But that doesn't really make sense."
"Huh?"
"Ori got married, what, ten years ago? More? But the paper it's wrapped in isn't anywhere close to that old. It would be in a lot worse shape, see?" she asked, pointing to the oiled paper.
But if Onza hadn't bought this sash for Ori's wedding, what was it for? Why had he bought it, and when?
Tanda looked up at the mountain path where it forked. One road led to Kosenkyo, but the other led to Yasugi, where Ori lived. The sun shone on the path, though the rest of the world was covered in gray clouds. Tanda took that as a sign. Yasugi wasn't too far from here. Tanda wondered why Onza would bring the sash all the way here and not bother taking it the rest of the way.
Onza had often come to this grove in his travels to rest and smoke cholu on his way to Tanda's village, but in the long years since he'd left home, he hadn't visited Ori once. What was Onza thinking when he sat here, in easy reach of Yasugi, with the sash hidden under the tree?
Balsa took the sash carefully from Tanda's hands, folded it, and wrapped it in the oiled paper again before stowing it in her pack. "I'll take it to Ori," she said. "Yasugi isn't that far out of the way for me."
"What? You're going to Yasugi?"
Balsa nodded, but she was frowning. "Uh, dad came home yesterday and said that some of the people chasing after us found out about Torogai's hut, so it looks like we might have to leave New Yogo for a while." She stared at the path to Yasugi and didn't so much as glance in Tanda's direction.
"So you're leaving," Tanda said.
Balsa turned to face Tanda. "Yeah."
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning at dawn."
Tanda bit his lip. "Where are you going?"
"Rota."
Rota was so far away—much farther than Yasugi, and even farther away than the capital.
"It's going to snow soon...is it really safe for you to go?"
Balsa avoided Tanda's gaze and muttered, "Dad said it'll be fine if we stay out of cities and keep to the small villages along the South Imperial Highway. But it's a long way, and kind of roundabout. I told him I'd rather stay in Shirogai over winter before crossing the mountains, so we'll see what happens."
Balsa was leaving—going away far beyond Yasugi and the capital to a completely different country. Tanda and Balsa looked at one another for a moment that stretched, unsure of what to say.
Then Balsa turned back toward the grove and shouted in a bright, clear voice: "Yo, Onza! Tanda found your sash!" Birds scattered in surprise at Balsa's sudden shout. "I'll get it to your sister for sure, so stop haunting this place!"
There was no sign of the wild dog anywhere.
When Tanda awoke the next morning, it was still dark. Everyone else was still asleep, so Tanda tip-toed quietly out the back door and went up the mountain path toward Torogai's hut. He hadn't gone far before he saw Jiguro and Balsa coming toward him, their dim shapes scarcely illuminated by predawn light.
Tanda waved. "Balsa!"
Balsa and Jiguro turned away from him down a side road, but Balsa hesitated. Jiguro said something that Tanda couldn't quite hear. Balsa looked at Tanda, somewhat apologetically, and shook her head before following Jiguro down the side road.
"Balsa!" Tanda put his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice. "Balsa!"
Balsa didn't turn back to look at him this time. Tanda tried to catch up, but they were too fast, and were eventually lost in the shadow of the trees.
This is the end of the story Floating Rice Husks. For an alternate ending (written by the translator), click here.
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