Free Dolls of Hope by Shirley Parenteau Page A

did they keep from falling off?
    Shop windows held more goods than she had ever imagined.
Hina ningyo
for a Hinamatsuri display posed on the tiers of a crimson-draped stand in one window; there were even more dolls and accessories than she had seen in Yamada Nori’s home that night.
    A bicyclist pedaling past blocked the view with many bamboo birdcages roped together behind and above him. Smells crowded the air until it was impossible to tell one from another. Chiyo thought she smelled fresh yuzu and soy sauce among a mixture of aromas from herbs and roasting meats. Vendors busy with small hibachis offered skewers of cooked meats and vegetables to people passing by.
    Chiyo recognized the smell of river water and wet green plants when the rickshaws traveled across a wide bridge. Below, large and small boats, many with sails, crowded the water and lined both shores. Hana said, “Some of those boatmen have traveled from Tsuchiura to sell their goods. The journey takes a strong wind and days of travel.”
    Yumi and Kimi would never believe all she was seeing, and the trip had barely begun.
    When the rickshaws stopped, Oki-sensei pronounced their hotel to be satisfactory, although she had once stayed at the Grand Hotel in Yokohama. As they gathered in the lobby, she told them sadly that the great Kanto earthquake four years before had destroyed the Grand, along with much of the harbor and city. In her mind, no other hotel could compare with that lost grandeur.
    This was grand enough for Chiyo. She glanced at Hoshi and tried to walk through the lobby with the same straight spine and graceful steps. It was hard to keep her eyes down while longing to look from side to side.
    Golden tatami mats floored a room vast enough to hold her entire house and maybe Yumi’s as well. How could Oki-sensei keep saying that this hotel could never compare with the majestic Grand?
    “Do you know a famous American writer named Rudyard Kipling stayed there?” Sensei asked. “As well as several well-known actors? The guests today . . .” She glanced at a group wearing western clothes and shook her head. “They cannot compare.”
    Chiyo couldn’t help casting quick glances after the group in western clothing.
Otousan
wore soft trousers and a loose tunic to work in the fields, but those were nothing like the suits of fine cloth and closer fit on the men here.
    Yamada Nori had worn such clothing at the school. He must have been as comfortable in Tokyo as in Tsuchiura. Was Masako adventurous enough to live in two worlds?
I will have so much to tell my sister when I see her again.
    When the group reached an upstairs hallway, Hana grabbed Chiyo’s hand. “Run!”
    Startled, Chiyo raced with her to an open doorway where young men were taking the luggage. Hana pulled her past them to a corner window and onto a futon. “Hoshi will expect to sleep near the windows.”
    “Too late,” Chiyo said, flinging herself flat.
    The rest of the group soon came into the room. While Oki-sensei dealt with the luggage, Hoshi walked over to Chiyo and Hana. “This corner is mine.”
    Chiyo sat beside Hana and smiled sweetly, both of them closing their eyes in their burned-doll look.
    “Ohh!” Hoshi stalked over to the others. “Sensei, my father paid for the room. He expects me to have the view.”
    Sensei waved away the luggage carriers, looking distracted. “Fortunately, you are too polite to complain, Miss Miyamoto. And after all, you were not the first to claim the spot.”
    Hoshi’s shocked expression made Chiyo turn away to hide laughter. Hana leaned close. “Sensei knows who locked you on the train platform, but she won’t risk General Miyamoto’s outrage to say so. He would never believe that his perfect daughter would do such a thing.”
    Chiyo hadn’t realized that Hoshi’s spiteful act could cause a problem for their teacher. For the first time, she understood why Sensei had said that since Chiyo was safely inside the train, the matter was