The Peony Lantern Read Online Free PDF Page A

close to my grandparents.
    When the last of the dinner trays had been cleared, the dishes washed and preparations for breakfast made, Hana and I unrolled our parents’ futons on one side of the hearth and our own on the other.
    As the room filled with the deep breathing of sleep, I lay awake, clutching the edges of my futon. This was all happening too fast.
    I heard my sister shift and roll over. Turning my head, I could see her eyes were open, watching me.
    â€˜Why you?’ she demanded in a fierce whisper. ‘I’m the oldest; it should be me going to Edo.’
    I couldn’t tell if she was resentful because something extraordinary was happening to me and not her, or if she really wished for a different life. Hana would soon be marrying the second son of an innkeeper in Magome. Because our family had no sons, Father would adopt Hana’s husband and he would take over the inn when our parents retired. I’d always presumed this was what Hana wanted, that it was why she worked so hard, knowing that one day Mother’s duties would be hers.
    â€˜It’s not fair!’ Hana said now.
    â€˜I’d be happy to change places with you,’ I offered, but even as I spoke it occurred to me that I didn’t want Hana’s life, and that I didn’t really want the life laid out for me here either. So perhaps, I thought with rising excitement, this really was an opportunity. Perhaps in Edo I would find a life that suited me.

Chapter
            Three
    Grasses whispering
    A song of moon and flowers
    Lead to night’s repose
    I rose and dressed with a sense of unreality. Yesterday morning I’d had no inkling that I was about to spend my last day in the village.
    â€˜I don’t understand what would make him choose Kasumi,’ my mother kept saying; I would have felt insulted if not for the fact that I agreed with her. It was a long journey from Matsuyama to Tsumago. How many inns had Lord Shimizu stopped at along the way? How many of those inns had daughters? And yet it was me he had chosen . . .
    â€˜Come on,’ said Father as we heard murmurs from the front of the house. ‘Say goodbye to your mother and sister. There’s no time to linger.’ The guests were stirring and would be wanting their breakfast. Mami was already at the stove.
    â€˜Don’t come back thinking you’re someone important,’ Hana warned, her face pinched and angry.
    My mother’s eyes welled with tears as she held me to her. ‘We’ll see you before the next plum rains,’ she promised.
    At the waki-honjin we found Kimura outside in the courtyard overseeing the porters who would take our luggage. My trunk had been fetched from our house earlier.
    â€˜Ah, Kira-san,’ Kimura called as we approached. ‘So it’s true then: your daughter is to go to Edo.’
    â€˜I’ve got the travel papers right here,’ said my father.
    Kimura squinted at me as if trying to discern what it was that had seen me singled out for such an honour. ‘You’ll be a lady-in-waiting?’
    â€˜Yes, Kimura-san.’
    â€˜For Lord Shimizu’s wife?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Well, I’m sure you’ll do us proud.’ He sounded doubtful, and I didn’t blame him. I knew I didn’t look like a lady; I was tall for a girl, and my skin was tanned from so much time spent outdoors. And, as my father was quick to point out, I didn’t act like a lady either. Perhaps Kimura was having second thoughts about me as a marriage prospect for the yam. I hoped so . . .
    â€˜How did Kasumi impress Lord Shimizu?’ Kimura asked. ‘I’ll have to get my daughter to follow her example.’
    Father rolled his eyes. ‘Who knows how samurai think? She called his friend a tanuki , and I thought for sure he’d be offended, so to cover up I sang her praises. And look what it has led to!’
    Sang my