“One day I was sent out with another officer, a geologist from Osaka. He was a good friend and made my time there easier. Kondo was his name; the finest man I ever met. In the evenings we would talk about art and books. Basho was his favourite. ‘We have travelled the narrow road to the far north, my friend,’ he said when I returned to Japan. He was the one who was with me on that day. I remember everything clearly, even though I have tried to forget it. We were sent to investigate an incident that had happened near Mudanjiang. A few men had been patrolling an area of rocky, mountainous terrain. They had reported an explosion and a few resulting casualties. Nothing out of the ordinary — this sort of thing happened several times a day. As usual, I was sent to gather information and write reports; Kondo came with me to look at the rock formations. We had to leave our vehicle and walk some distance on foot. We dropped down into a valley and followed an old railway track. This was the most direct route to take. It was difficult ground to cover — loose rocks fell around us all the time. After a while we saw ahead of us a group of soldiers squatting around a campfire. Neither Kondo nor I recognised them. Their uniforms were of the standard variety, but we did not know which regiment they belonged to. As we approached, we saw that they were eating a meal; fresh meat was roasting over their fire in large blackened chunks. This was very unusual. Conditions in Manchuria are harsher than you can imagine, and food — particularly meat — is very scarce. These soldiers seemed to be planning something. They spoke quietly to one another, looking at us suspiciously. As we approached, one of them smiled at me. I can still see his yellow teeth set in his cracked brown face. ‘Brother,’ he said, ‘why don’t you join us for some food?’
“‘That’s kind,’ I said, trying to hide my discomfort. ‘You are lucky to have meat.’
“ ‘Yes, we caught a big snake,’ he said. ‘A very big python.’
“Next to me I could feel Kondo stiffen. He too knew something was not quite right in the way these soldiers were behaving. The smell of the meat made us even more uncomfortable. It was sweet and inviting, and neither of us had eaten much meat since coming to China.
“‘Here, brothers,’ the soldier said, holding up two pieces of meat. The entire group of them stopped eating and looked at us. It felt as if it was a test. I feared what would happen if we refused, so I accepted the meat. I put it into my mouth slowly, biting into it hesitantly; I could hardly bring myself to do so. The flesh was firm and warm from the fire; once I began eating I could not stop. I finished it quickly and was immediately hungry for more. Kondo had more problems consuming his piece of meat. He gnawed at it weakly and he looked very ill. When I saw this I began to march ahead; I feigned impatience and urged him to hurry.
“ ‘Won’t you stay for more?’ the soldiers cried, but I said no, we were late in performing our duties and would be punished if we were any later. Kondo was still holding the meat as we walked away. I told him to eat it. If they saw him throw it away, I feared, we would be shot in the back. He put it in his mouth. When we were certain that we were out of sight, we began to run. We ran until Kondo stopped, doubling over and vomiting hard. He was very sick.
“ ‘Did you see?’ he gasped.
“ ‘Yes,’ I said. In the bushes near where the soldiers sat, there was a pile of standard-issue uniforms, similar to the ones the soldiers had been wearing, but streaked with bloodstains.
“Kondo and I never spoke of that incident again.”
There was prolonged silence between us. Mamoru remained utterly still.
“There are more things,” he said. “There were women in the camps. They were brought there for a purpose. For the soldiers—” He stopped. “No, I cannot even speak of them. To get to my quarters I had to walk past the house in my camp, the one where all the women were kept. It was completely silent. I never heard a single sound from it. The silence was terrible. Every night I fall asleep with that silence screaming in my head.”
I reached across to him and gathered him in my arms. His head lay heavily on me, cradled against my neck.
IT WAS LUNCHTIME when Peter asked us to accompany him on a walk.
“I’m sorry, I don’t think I’m up to it,” I said. I had not slept well — the wailing had disturbed my sleep and I was feeling very tired.
“Come come,” he said, “a walk will do you a world of good. What about you, Professor? You’re game for a stroll through the woods, aren’t you? It’s not as if there’s anything pressing to do.”
Mamoru looked at me and shrugged.
“And why don’t you come too, Honey?” Peter continued. “I know how you don’t like being left out of anything.”
“This is ridiculous,” Honey grunted, but he stood up nonetheless, tagging reluctantly onto the back of our reluctant group.
“Where’s Johnny?” I asked as we followed Peter.
“He’ll come. He knows where we are.”
