Free The Earthquake Bird by Susanna Jones

peak in the sky. One by one the others had enough of the view and settled on the ground for
     lunch. Lucy could not take her eyes from it and wondered what kind of picture Teiji would take if he were there. It was a
     view that could have been designed for Teiji. Lucy could hardly believe that he wasn’t with her. Then she remembered the photographs
     in the box and her face burned.
    “It’s private,” he had said. “I don’t think about her anymore.”
    Sachi. I would think about her forever. Her angry eyes, the face that became whiter and puffier with each photograph. The
     parties where she looked drawn and unamused, always away from other people, wearing dirty, crumpled clothes.
    Lily passed me a segment of her orange. I ate it but hardly turned my gaze away from the sky. She shuffled around so that
     she was sitting next to me.
    “It’s beautiful.”
    I nodded.
    “You really love Japan, don’t you?”
    “I suppose so. Yes, I do.”
    “Do you think you’ll be here forever?”
    “I have no idea.” The image of the ghost volcano seemed to shimmer and I blinked several times and finally turned to face
     Lily. “I can’t imagine leaving now, that’s true.”
    We ate in silence, sharing rice balls and barley tea.
    “Doesn’t Teiji like the mountains?”
    I smiled. “I think he does, but he loves Tokyo best.”
    I never took Teiji when I went places with friends. I didn’t want to share him. I would meet him later, in the darkest parts
     of the night on the street by an empty station, or in one of our apartments. To meet him in an open space, in bright lights,
     was to expose him to the world from which I wanted to keep him secret.
    Perhaps it was strange to Lily that I spent time without him, for her next question was, “Are you close?”
    “We are. Very close.”
    “But you don’t do everything together. That’s nice. You’re lucky, Lucy.”
    Am I?
    The descent was fast. We slipped and slid down the paths, tripping sometimes on rocks and roots. I let my feet go too fast
     and caught my ankle on a tree stump. I flew off the path and landed on my side with my ankle folded under my thigh. I tried
     to stand but the pain made me dizzy. I sat back down again, bit my lip in some intuitive attempt to move the pain to another
     place.
    Lily rushed to my side. “OK. Let me check it. Pull your trouser leg up, and your sock down. That’s it.”
    She loosened my shoe and took my foot in her hands. She prodded firmly but without hurting me.
    “It’s not broken. It’s a nasty sprain, though. Let me get a bandage on it.”
    The rest of the group stood around and watched. Bob put one hand on my shoulder and squeezed.
    “It’s not that bad. It’ll be fine.”
    “I know. I didn’t say it was bad.”
    Bob and Natsuko exchanged amused glances. I realized how defensive I’d sounded. Lily gave me a painkiller from a little bag
     in her rucksack, and some water. After a few minutes’ rest I was ready to hop slowly. I felt better. The pain was still sharp
     but Lily’s comforting treatment had touched something deeper in Lucy. All the way down the mountain she glowed in the warmth
     of Lily’s hands on her ankle, of lying on the soil being bandaged and cured. What had touched her most of all was Lily’s voice,
     so unusually calm and competent. Where had that voice come from? Lucy had heard it before in another place.
    “You’re very good in a crisis, Lily. Did you do Girl Scout training or something?” Bob was also impressed.
    “No, no. It’s just because I’m a nurse.”
    “A nurse? You never told us that.”
    Bob was surprised but I knew, as soon as Lily said it, that it made perfect sense.
    “Didn’t I? It wasn’t meant to be a secret. Now I’m working in a bar the topic of nursing doesn’t come up very much.”
    “I’m glad you were here,” I said, truthfully. “Not that it’s so bad.”
    At the bottom Natsuko guided us along small roads to a main one and then to an onsen, a hot spring.