Her clothing and face sopping wet and her hair splayed across her forehead, Kiku stood at the entrance to the Nambanji and looked around her. The pace of the rain had intensified, and the ocean and beach were swathed in haze.

She stepped beyond the boundary set by the officials and pa.s.sed through the gate. Softly she opened the door at the entrance to escape the rain.

The thick door yielded with a dull creak, and she had a clear view of the tall ceiling, the black pillars, and the altar at the innermost part of the sanctuary. Gingerly she went inside, feeling a mixture of fear and curiosity.

To the right of the altar was a statue of a woman arrayed in foreign attire. The woman in the statue was cradling an infant, and she wore a crown on her head.

Taking a deep breath, Kiku stared at the woman. Never before today had she seen the face of a woman so pure, so clear. The woman in turn looked down at Kiku from her platform. It seemed as though the face looking down at her wore a gentle smile.

Ah ... it's you, isn't it?

Kiku took a step backward, just a little afraid of the strange female image. She stood there frozen, not moving a muscle.

The sound of the rain outside faded. She heard the call of a sparrow that must have been hiding somewhere until this moment.

Just then the door at the entrance rasped. A man drenched by the rain stepped in noiselessly. Unaware that Kiku was watching him, he walked ahead, bent forward in front of the statue of the woman, knelt down, clasped his hands and bowed his head....

It was Seikichi.

On those mornings when he came by the shop, carrying his wares on a pole over his shoulder, Kiku could never have imagined Seikichi in such a pose. She had never pictured such a look on his face. It was a look of rapture that was beyond her comprehension.

An inexpressible anger welled up inside her. Her rival was nothing more than an idol, but it made her unbearably jealous that Seikichi could look at another woman in such a way.

"Seikichi!" Her voice from behind him was piercing. "What do you think you're doing?!"

BATTLES IN THE DARK.

FEAR, WORRY, THEN confusion. The three emotions swirled like a revolving lantern across Seikichi's face. He couldn't understand what Kiku was doing here, and he was embarra.s.sed that she had seen him in the att.i.tude of prayer. To disguise his feelings, he asked, "And what are you doing here?" It was almost an angry cry, and he hurriedly rose to his feet.

"Me?" Kiku did her best to remain composed. "I was just trying to get out of the rain. And you ...?"

He said nothing.

"I saw, you know. I saw what you were doing just now." Kiku's triumphant announcement left Seikichi even more bewildered.

"You saw what? What was I ...? I wasn't doing anything."

"You don't have to hide it. I know everything. I know that you and the people in Nakano are Kiris.h.i.tans."

"Who ... who's telling lies like that?"

"Lies? Seikichi. You're the one lying to me."

Seikichi's face contorted with indescribable pain.

"Seikichi!" Kiku cried. "Why are you a Kiris.h.i.tan? You've got to leave them! The priest at Shtokuji says it's a dangerous heresy."

Again Seikichi had nothing to say in response.

"They only teach you evil things, those Kiris.h.i.tans. That's why the magistrate has banned it. So why can't you give it up?"

"The Kiris.h.i.tan faith ... is not a heresy!" Seikichi spoke resolutely, his fists clenched. "It's not a heresy. How can you just say such things when you don't know anything about it?"

"But it's what everybody says. They say that everything the Kuros do is strange."

"What kinds of strange things? Let's hear one."

Kiku was stumped for a reply. She really knew nothing about the Kiris.h.i.tan faith. "Well, why is the magistrate ready to arrest everybody in Nakano?" With reluctance she played the trump card she held.

"The magistrate? Who told you that?" He grabbed her arms and held them tightly.

"Doesn't matter who. That hurts! Let go of me!"

Seikichi scowled but did not release her. "It does matter who it was! Tell me who!"

"I won't tell you. But it's not a lie. Seikichi, that's why you've got to give up this Kiris.h.i.tan silliness!"

It was then that Seikichi sensed that something lay behind Kiku's desperate voice and desperate expression.

Until that moment, Kiku to him had been a willful, impertinent girl who got peevish and livid over the tiniest things. But now he understood why this brazen girl was quick to sulk and bl.u.s.ter.

Abruptly he let go of her arms. His face flushed in embarra.s.sment. In the Kiku he had always thought of as a young girl, he now could sense a woman.

"Seikichi, won't you give up these Kiris.h.i.tan beliefs?"

"I can't ... I can't do it."

"Why not?"

"It's the faith my dad and mom and all my ancestors have believed in for generations. The faith that all the people of Nakano have defended. How can I be the only one to give it up?"

"But Seikichi, if you don't abandon it, you'll be punished by the magistrate. Is that ... OK with you?" As she said the words, tears filled her lovely almond eyes.

"I can't do anything about it." As he spoke, Seikichi realized that he had to find out how this girl had learned about the intentions of the magistrate. And he must swiftly report all this to Nakano Village and to Pet.i.tjean. "I can't help it. Even if I am punished."

"I can't bear that! I can't!" Kiku covered her face with her hands, shaking her head.

It was her first declaration of love. This first love had not brought her happiness, only pain and sorrow.

"I'm sorry this is so hard for you, but ..."

"Isn't there anything you can do?"

"Kiku. You really don't want me to be punished, do you?"

"Of course not."

"Then why won't you tell me? Tell me who you heard this from. That the magistrate will be raiding Nakano soon."

After some hesitation, Kiku finally admitted that it was her cousin Ichijir.

"Ichijir?" Seikichi pondered. What Kiku said was surely not a lie. "Listen, Kiku. I have got to get word of this to the people in Nakano. If I don't notify them, we'll all be bound up and carried off by the magistrate."

Kiku realized how the words she had carelessly spoken had set a vortex in motion. She was guilty of betraying and selling out not just the magistrate but Ichijir as well.

"Don't worry." Had Seikichi sensed the workings of her mind? He shook his head. "I won't mention your name to anyone. And don't you say anything about this, either."

Kiku nodded compliantly, a first for her.

Some time later when she returned to the Gotya, Kiku ran into Mitsu, her face tight, outside the rear entrance.

"Kiku!" Mitsu stared hard at her rain-soaked cousin. "Where have you been? You ran off without saying anything, and the Mistress and Oyone are really mad. I was so scared! You've got to hurry and apologize, or they'll be just furious!"

"Yeah." She had resigned herself to what awaited her, but still she was frightened to go into the kitchen. She tried to make herself small and peeked cautiously into the room, but the Mistress and Oyone were standing there, gazing at her coldly.

The Mistress callously turned her head away and said with piercing sarcasm, "Oyone. I couldn't say who it is, but we appear to have an important visitor."

"Well, I wonder who this fine lady could be?" Oyone's reply oozed of disdain.

"I really couldn't say. But since she is such an elegant lady, we certainly can't expect her to cook the rice or do any cleaning. She'll be going out to have fun without saying anything to anybody."

The biting exchange continued for some time, and when Kiku tried to apologize, they retorted with feigned surprise, "Oh, really? And where did Our Ladyship go? And what was she doing?"

That night when everyone ate dinner, no tray was set for Kiku. She was left alone to clean up in the kitchen, all the while sensing Mitsu's timorous gaze darting sporadically in her direction.

This is all to help Seikichi.

To take her mind off her hunger, Kiku put more than ordinary energy into the hand that swiped the cleaning rag back and forth, her thoughts focused on Seikichi all the while.

Her troubles now had come because she was trying to help Seikichi. But that, paradoxically, was a joy to her. It made her happy.

"Someday, Kiku, you'll understand that I'm not doing anything wrong." That was Seikichi's firm declaration to her as they parted. He was so confident in his a.s.sertion that she wanted to believe him. But why would the magistrate want to arrest someone who hadn't done anything wrong?

The only things certain in her mind were that even if Seikichi was a Kiris.h.i.tan, she could never bring herself to believe that he was a bad person, that she could never despise him, that in fact, her heart was increasingly drawn toward him.

That night, after they had gone to bed, Mitsu poked her and said, "I bet that was really hard for you." She handed Kiku a rice ball. She had made it for Kiku when Oyone wasn't looking.

"It wasn't anything." It wasn't sour grapes, but how Kiku truly felt. Suffering for someone you love "isn't anything" to a young girl....

Once again the rain picked up noisily.

"Padre, you'd better not come to Urakami for a while. The magistrate is keeping a close eye on you."

With gloomy eyes, Pet.i.tjean, having heard the full story from Seikichi, nodded his head. His own folly in underestimating the Nagasaki magistrate was now obvious to him. No matter how oblivious It Seizaemon had pretended to be, he had, in fact, found out everything.

Most likely It had taken his directions from Hond Shuntar. The young, wily interpreter had given him veiled warnings, but Pet.i.tjean had taken them too lightly.

"But, Seikichi, if I don't go ... who will hear your confisso? Who will perform the bautismo for your babies?"

Pet.i.tjean's response left Seikichi in a quandary, and all he could do was sigh.

It was certain that if Pet.i.tjean stopped going to Urakami, the Kiris.h.i.tans of Nakano and Motohara and Ieno were the ones who would be left in a quandary. They would have to go back to the old practices of appointing men to such positions as Chyaku and Mizukata.

It was only after Pet.i.tjean pointed it out to the Kiris.h.i.tans of Urakami, who for so many long years had been without a church or missionaries, that they realized they had introduced a variety of errors into the doctrine and practice of the church as they verbally pa.s.sed down the teachings through the generations.

Elements of the Shinto purification ceremony had been inserted into their practice of baptism, and they had inappropriately merged the Festival of the Buddha's birth with the Kiris.h.i.tan Easter. But these were the corruptions of lesser importance. There were numerous ways in which they had erased vital points of doctrine or rendered them ambiguous. If Pet.i.tjean stopped visiting them, they would end up back exactly where they had started.

"But we don't have any choice. At least until the pressure is off," Seikichi muttered, but that was merely because he had nothing else to suggest.

Was there no way that Pet.i.tjean could make contact with the Urakami Kiris.h.i.tans without the magistrate detecting it?

Blessed Mother, please give me wisdom. Pet.i.tjean turned toward the statue beside the altar and prayed in his heart. Ever since the day he had found them, he had been praying to the statue of the Blessed Mother, in much the same way a child depends on its mother.... They ... they want my help. I don't want to leave them.

The image of the Immaculata smiled down on Pet.i.tjean-like a mother listening to the fervent prayer of a very young child....

You have your kite, don't you? Pet.i.tjean could almost hear the clear voice of the Blessed Mother.

"Kite?"

You learned how to fly it, didn't you? It's the season for kite flying in Nagasaki. It's not going to arouse the suspicions of the magistrate if you send up your kite. Use your kite!

Pet.i.tjean was certain he had heard the voice of Our Lady, like a mother guiding her child.

Ah, of course! Thank you, Blessed Mother! Pet.i.tjean's face lit up, and in jest he winked at Mary's effigy.

"Seikichi, I've had a great idea. We'll use kites to signal each other!"

"Use kites?" Seikichi was initially dubious, but after hearing Pet.i.tjean's explanation, he said, "Padre, that's a wonderful plan!" and clapped his hands in agreement.

Urakami and Nagasaki were separated by Mount Kompira, which was renowned for kite flying. No one in Nagasaki would be suspicious of a kite sent aloft in this season. Kite flying continued until around the time the new leaves burst forth.

"Seikichi, when you want me to come, send up a red kite. When the magistrate is on the lookout and might be suspicious, use a black kite. Don't you think that flying kites of different colors above Mount Kompira would work?"

Seikichi and Pet.i.tjean put their heads together and came up with a variety of kite signals. Using not only colors but also the shapes of kites, they were able to create a quite sophisticated system of communication.

"With this plan," Seikichi said as he was leaving, "the magistrate will never know what we're doing." He made it sound as though this were an exciting game.

The following day Pet.i.tjean reinstated his long walks, which he had furloughed for a time. At a set hour, accompanied by the newly arrived Father Laucaigne, he paraded in front of the Nikkanji, where the officials had set up their base camp, wearing a broad smile on his face and bowing politely to It Seizaemon's men.

The two priests made a circuit around the streets of Nagasaki. If they paid close attention, they could tell that someone was following them. Depending on the day, the man might be dressed as a craftsman or perhaps as a merchant's apprentice, but the priests had no difficulty discerning that they were spies sent out by the magistrate.