Free The Ghost in the Tokaido Inn by Tom Hoobler

began again— sounding
forty-seven times. The music began again, and the lanterns winked
on. The stage was empty, but the audience began to clap so loudly
that the actors reappeared to bow and accept the
applause.
    Seikei stood to see as clearly as
possible the actor who played Oishi. He was in the center of the
stage, smiling and bowing. But he was too far away for Seikei to
tell if he looked like the man he had seen in the Tokaido Road.
“Where do the actors go after the play?” he asked Judge
Ooka.
    “I do not know,” said the judge.
“Why do you ask?”
    “Let’s follow them and see what
that actor looks like without his makeup.”
    The judge yawned. “The play was a
long one, and I am tired. Why don’t you do it and come back and
tell me what you found?”
    Seikei stared. He could not
understand the judge’s lack of concern. Hadn’t he picked out this
theater himself? This might be the thief they were looking
for!
    Perhaps the judge was testing
Seikei’s courage. If so, he must prove himself. Seikei nodded and
began to make his way toward the stage.

11: The Floating World
    Seikei found it hard to thread his
way through the flow of people leaving the theater. By the time he
reached the stage, it was empty. He climbed up and went behind the
curtain that had concealed the musicians.
    Seikei found himself in a
confusing crowd of actors removing their costumes, musicians
packing their instruments, and others collecting the props. He
searched anxiously for the actor who played Oishi, but did not see
him. One of the other actors took off his helmet and handed it
casually to Seikei. Without thinking, Seikei took it.
    He looked around. Another boy
about his own age was packing the helmets into a chest. Seikei went
over and stacked his on top.
    “Not like that!” the other boy
said. “I’ve got to fit them all inside.” He took the helmet and
slipped it neatly over another one. Then he eyed Seikei.
    “Who are you?” the boy asked. “I
never saw you before.”
    “I’m looking for the actor who played Oishi,” Seikei
explained. “I... I have a message for him.”
    The boy snorted. “From some woman,
I suppose. Well, he’s gone. Didn’t even take off his costume, as
usual.” The boy winked at Seikei. “He likes to wear it about the
town, pretending he’s a samurai. I’ll have to go find him later to
get it. Probably have to clean it too. He’s likely to end up
drunk.”
    Seikei thought for a moment. “If I
help you here, will you help me find him?”
    The boy shrugged. “Why not? Go
pick up some of the robes. These actors will just toss them on the
floor and blame me if they’re wrinkled at the next
performance.”
    As Seikei helped, he learned that
the boy’s name was Kazuo. He constantly complained about the
actors, but it was clear that he was proud of being part of the
troupe. “Are your parents actors too?” Seikei asked.
    Kazuo shook his head, smiling.
“Haven’t got any parents,” he said. “I’ve always lived in the
kabuki. Tomomi said they found me in a trunkful of costumes when I
was a baby.” He shrugged. “Maybe I was a character from a play who
came to life. Once in a while, they let me on stage, and I know
that’s where I’m destined to be. Someday I want to play Oishi, when
Tomomi retires.”
    “Tomomi? Is that the real name of
the actor?” asked Seikei.
    Tomo Tomomi he calls himself,”
replied Kazuo. “But who knows what his real name is? As Tomomi
says, in kabuki anyone can become whoever he likes.”
    Kazuo closed the last of the
chests of costumes and locked it. Everyone else had left the
theater. “You want to go find him now?”
    Seikei nodded.
    “He’ll likely be in the floating
world somewhere,” Kazuo said.
    Seikei took a
deep breath. The floating world! That meant the houses where
lanterns shone far into the night. The pleasure quarters where
beautiful geishas sang and played samisens, served cups of rice wine
called sake , and comforted those who