Page 18 of Water Moon
Chapter Eighteen
The Truth Well Told
The pawnshop was almost pristine if you didn’t look too closely. Only the missing glass panels on some cabinet doors hinted at its earlier state of disarray. Hana and Keishin had spent the day putting the place back together. They hardly spoke as they worked, and when they did, it was mainly Keishin asking where something went and Hana giving him the shortest answer possible. Hana felt that it was safer this way. Talking inevitably led to telling the truth, and there were secrets that she needed to hold close to her chest.
Keishin wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand, leaving a streak of dust on his left temple. “It looks like we’re finally done.”
“You missed a spot,” Hana said.
“Oh?” Keishin surveyed the room. “Where?”
Hana wiped away the smudge on his face with a fresh cleaning cloth. “There. Now we are done.”
“Thanks.” Keishin blushed. “So, what next? We still have a few more hours before midnight.”
“Dinner. I just realized that we have not eaten anything all day. You must be starving. I am sorry.”
“I didn’t notice.” Keishin’s stomach grumbled.
“Your stomach disagrees with—”
Sharp knocking cut her off. Hana shot a glance at the back door. She motioned for Keishin to be quiet.
The knocking grew louder.
“Upstairs,” Hana whispered. “Hurry.”
Keishin crept up the stairs, careful not to make a sound. A step creaked. He glanced back at Hana, swallowing hard.
Hana whispered a plea. “Hide.”
Keishin disappeared into the hall.
Hana made her way to the back door, her heart pounding louder than the knocking. She steadied herself with a breath and pulled the door open. A shadow fell over her.
A slim figure dressed in a white kimono stood at the doorway. A Noh mask, carved from cypress and painted in a hue that matched the moon, covered its face. The slits from where the figure’s eyes looked out were small, revealing only two bottomless pools of black.
“Shiikuin-san.” Hana bowed deeply. “I did not expect you to come so early. The new moon is not yet in the sky.”
“We have not come to collect the birds.” A chorus of at least ten hollow voices, ancient and young, spoke from the Shiikuin’s mouth. The last word was spoken by a young child, but with no less gravity than the oldest in the choir.
Hana nodded. “Please come in.”
The Shiikuin entered, gliding over the floorboards as though floating on air.
“May I offer you some tea?” Hana said.
The Shiikuin slowly tilted its head, allowing the curves and angles of its mask to catch the light. Shadows morphed the wooden face, shifting its expression until it settled into the illusion of a dark, joyless smile. “We have come to ask you a question.”
“I am happy to provide anything you wish to know.”
The mask’s painted lips tightened into a thin line. “Where is your father?”
Hana’s spine turned to stone.
“And if you lie…” The Shiikuin outstretched its arm, a foul melding of iron and rot. It opened its hand, extending black talons where there should have been fingers. “We will know.”
Hana nodded, not trusting her voice. She slowly placed her wrist in the Shiikuin’s grasp, using every ounce of strength and will to keep from shaking.
“Ishikawa Hana.” The Shiikuin’s talons closed around her arm, digging into a vein and her pulse. “Tell us where your father is.”
“He is not here.”
“We sensed his absence.” The Shiikuin pushed a black talon deeper into Hana’s wrist. A drop of blood dribbled from her arm.
Hana clenched her jaw, ignoring the pain.
“Where has he gone?” a chorus of voices demanded.
“I do not know.”
The Shiikuin leaned closer, peering at Hana through its mask’s hollow eyes. “Tell us where he is.”
“The last time I saw him was before I went to bed yesterday evening.” Cold sweat beaded on Hana’s nape. “He was gone when I woke up. I do not know where he is. I swear it.”
The Shiikuin tightened its grip, drawing more blood. “Tell us what you do know.”
She sucked in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly through her teeth. “This morning, I discovered that the pawnshop was ransacked and that a bird was missing from the vault. My father was missing too. It appeared as though the thief escaped into the world beyond the door and that my father gave chase. He has not returned.”
“Ishikawa Hana.” The Shiikuin brought its mask to within a breath of Hana’s face. It wrung her wrist, cutting her skin deeper. Shadows turned the Shiikuin’s smile into a sneer.
“Yes, Shiikuin-san?” Blood spattered onto Hana’s foot.
The Shiikuin released her. “You speak the truth.”
Hana clutched her arm to her chest. It trembled against her pounding heart. “Thank you, Shiikuin-san.”
“We will come to collect the birds in two days.”
Hana bowed. “Yes, Shiikuin-san.”
“ All the birds.”
Hana paled. “But—”
The Shiikuin tilted Hana’s chin up with a black talon, nicking her skin. “You have your mother’s eyes. You might find reading your clients’ faces and examining their choices more difficult without them. The new moon is in two days.”