garden of stones by sophie littlefield - chapter sampler
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
1/14
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
2/14
Sophie Littlefield
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
3/14
DID YOU PURCHASE THIS BOOK WITHOUT A COVER?If you did, you should be aware it is stolen propertyas it was
reported unsold and destroyed by a retailer.Neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment
for this book.
First Published 2013First Australian Paperback Edition 2013ISBN 978 174356013 6
GARDEN OF STONESI`:VWOPL3P[[SLLSKPhilippine Copyright 2013Australian Copyright 2013New Zealand Copyright 2013
Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in wholeor in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now knownor hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or inany information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permissionof the publisher, Harlequin Mira, Locked Bag 7002, Chatswood D.C. N.S.W.,Australia 2067.
This book is sold subject to the condition that shall not, by way of trade orotherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the priorconsent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in which
it is published and without a similar condition including this condition beingimposed on the subsequent purchaser.
All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in anyform. This edition is published in arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A..
;OPZPZH^VYRVMJ[PVU5HTLZJOHYHJ[LYZWSHJLZHUKPUJPKLU[ZHYLLP[OLY[OLWYVK\J[VM[OLH\[OVYZPTHNPUH[PVUVYHYL\ZLKJ[P[PV\ZS`HUKHU`YLZLTISHUJLto actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales isentirely coincidental.
Published byHarlequin MiraAn imprint of Harlequin Enterprises (Aust) Pty Ltd.Level 5, 15 Help StreetCHATSWOOD NSW 2067AUSTRALIA
and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its corporateHMSPH[LZ;YHKLTHYRZPUKPJH[LK^P[OHYLYLNPZ[LYLKPU(\Z[YHSPH5L^ALHSHUK[OL
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
4/14
For Julie
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
5/14
7
ON A CHILLY TUESDAY A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER, LUCY
walked to the store with coins in her fist, thinking about theNancy Drew book she was currently rereading. Shed discovered
the series when she was ten, but the first time she read The Secret
of Shadow Ranch, shed missed all the clues. Now as she walked
along, she thought about the way Carolyn Keene constructed the
mystery, the clues layered in among Nancys adventures. Nancy
was brave, but she was also lucky, with her friends and her clothes
and car and her handsome, dependable father. And she got to goto such interesting places, and war never intruded into her world,
and she and her friends stopped the bad guys from getting away
with the terrible things theyd done. Lucy thought she might like
to be a detective herself, peeling away the layers of a crime until
she figured out who the guilty person was. It was always a sur-
prise, always someone you never would have guessed.
Lucy passed the boarded and broken windows, no longer sensi-tive to the ravages being inflicted on the neighborhood, but when
she spotted a cluster of people around a lamppost in front of the
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
6/14
garden ofstones 49
movie theater, she stopped to see what the fuss was. The movie
theater was one of the few places Japanese still went without fear;perhaps it was the darkness inside that made them feel safe. Had
this too been taken away? Were they no longer welcome here?
Coming within a few feet of the crowd, Lucy saw that a sign
had been pasted on the pole.
INSTRUCTIONS TO ALL PERSONS OF JAPANESE ANCESTRY
She craned her neck to read the smaller print below:
All Japanese persons, both alien and nonalien, will be evacuated
from the above designated area.
The Civil Control Station will provide services with respect to
the management, leasing, sale, storage or other disposition of most
kinds of property.transport persons and a limited amount of clothing and
equipment to their new residence
Lucy felt cold fingers of dread creep down her neck. She turned
away without reading the rest; Aiko had been predicting this day
for a while now. Whenever she brought up the subject, Miyako
blanched and begged her to stop. Now it was up to Lucy to finallymake her understand.
She ran all the way home, and by the time she arrived, her lungs
were burning and her feet pinched against the leather of her shoes.
Somewhere, shed dropped the coins without even noticing. She
had not bought the tea that her mother had wanted. There would
not be enough for tomorrow. But what did it matter?
Lucy burst through the front door and nearly collided withAiko, who was standing in the parlor. For a moment neither said
anything; Lucy could see from Aikos eyes that she already knew.
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
7/14
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
8/14
garden ofstones 51
hoped so. Just in case, she fixed a smile on her face so that he
would see she was taking good care of Miyako.Auntie Aiko says we can store our things.
Miyako frowned. Maybe some of them. But, suzume, I have
been thinking, we dont need so many things anymore. All this
big furnitureall those clothes
She gestured at the heavy oak armoire, which was just a bulky
outline in the darkened room. Lucy had always loved her par-
ents furniture, a matched set purchased when they had married.Another of the stories her father loved to tell: taking his young
bride-to-be to the best department stores in Los Angeleshow
shy she was!and telling her to pick out anything she liked. She
had never been inside Bullocks before that day, and the sales
clerks were practically falling all over themselves to wait on her,
assuming she must be someone important, dressed in the finely
tailored clothes she had made for herself.But you cant give all of our things away, Lucy whispered.
The neat row of dresses, the drawers full of silken camisoles and
slips, the bottles of perfume and the mirrored tray that held her
cosmeticswhat would her mother be without these things? We
can take them with us. The sign said. You just pack and the gov-
ernment
But Lucy wasnt at all sure what the government would do forthem. On the sign it had said something about storing household
possessions if they were crated and clearly marked. But this was
the voice of the same force that broke down doors in the middle
of the night, that cut slits in peoples sofas looking for evidence
of treason, that broke treasured records in half just because the
labels bore Japanese words. How could they possibly be expected
to care for Lucy and Miyakos possessions?We have a little time, Miyako said. We will start tomorrow.
She raised her arm, making room for Lucy against her side. It
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
9/14
sophie littlefield52
was easy to fall asleep, listening to her mothers breathing. And
when Lucy woke againmany hours later, in the middle of thenightshe found that her mother had curled around her, holding
her in the curve of her body, making a cocoon with her thin arms.
In the confusion and panic surrounding the evacuation order,
Miyako and Auntie Aiko somehow managed to learn what goods
could be packed to be sent along later, and what would have to
be stored until after the war, and began to prepare. They were toreport to the Methodist church on Rosecrans Avenue on March
22, bringing only what they could carry, but it wasnt clear what
was to happen after that. The newspaper reported that the newly
formed War Relocation Authority had secured land in the Owens
Valley near the Sierra Mountains, and even now workers were
building quarters for the thousands of Japanese Americans being
ousted from their homes. But there were also rumors of peoplebeing sent to racetracks and fairgrounds all over California and
forced to sleep in horse stalls, and no one could say for sure where
anyone would be going on the twenty-second.
What was immediately clear was that the process would be nei-
ther easy nor orderly. By the second day after the sign was posted,
the local stores ran out of twine and luggage. Entire blocks in Little
Tokyo were vacated, and speculators swooped in offering cents onthe dollar for the ousted merchants inventories. Soon, other men
began going door-to-door, making offers for entire housefuls of
family possessions. At first these offers were rebuffed, but before
long frantic families began to realize that an insulting offer was
the best they would receive.
After several days shuffling their belongings among ever-chang-
ing piles, Miyako and Auntie Aiko decided to be practical aboutwhat to store and what to ship. Into their boxes went bowls and
pencils and writing paper, scissors and Fathers gooseneck lamp
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
10/14
garden ofstones 53
and extra lightbulbs, pillowcases and serving spoons. For a long
time, Mother did not pack her embroidery box. It sat next to astack of dessert dishes on the table, waiting for her to decide, the
thimbles and packets of needles and skeins of colorful floss ar-
ranged neatly in the lacquered box, the contents of which Lucy
knew by heart even without opening the lid. She understood her
mothers dilemma, because while the embroidery was beautiful,
it was also useful; her mother only embroidered things one could
use, like pillowcases and towels and bedcovers and tablecloths. Inthe end, the box was packed, which was only a fleeting comfort.
Lucy went across the street the morning they were to leave to
return a hammer her mother had borrowed from Aiko to seal
their crates, and found Aiko in tears.
Whats wrong? What happened?
Oh, oh. Lucy. Im sorry. Aiko turned away from her and swiftly
dried her eyes on a handkerchief. I can live without all of this.ButBluebell and Lily
Her cats. Of course. Bluebell and Lily trusted only Aiko; de-
spite Lucys patient efforts, they never warmed up to her enough
to allow her to pet them.
Im sorry about your cats, Lucy said softly. She touched the
hem of Aikos skirt. The fabric was stiff with starch and smelled
like Aikos familiar perfume.Oh, dont be silly. Aiko cleared her throat and forced a smile.
Mrs. Marvin down the street will take good care of them for me.
Everythings going to be just fine.
But the men with the truck were late, and Aiko and Miyako
were nearly frantic with worry by the time they finally pulled up
to the curb. The bed of the truck was already so laden down with
other peoples belongings that Lucy didnt see how they could addany more, but the men lashed their boxes on top of the heap and
drove away.
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
11/14
sophie littlefield54
Lucy was wearing her best school dress and her good coat, and
Aiko was wearing a suit and a hat with a small, glossy featherfanned out along the brim, but it was Miyako who people stared
at as they walked through the neighborhood with their suitcases.
Lucy knew that her mother took comfort in making up her face
when she was feeling anxious; by painting and powdering her
face, it was as if she created an extra layer to hide behind. Today
she wore a simple olive serge dress with a matching coat, and had
fixed her hair in an elaborate pompadour on top of her head. Shewas wearing a pair of dark sunglasses with pearly frames; they
were too large for her face, but they made her look mysterious,
unapproachable even, and Lucy knew that was the point.
It was chaos at the church. Caucasian volunteers sat at desks
with long lists of names, and uniformed servicemen tried to or-
ganize the milling families and their belongings, but it seemed to
take hours for their turn. They were given tags for their luggageand one for Lucy to wear around her neck, since she was still a
child. Each familys tags bore their name, and Lucy thought it was
sad that Auntie Aikos suitcase was the only one bearing the name
NARITA. Better that she should have been part of their family;
better that she be a TAKEDA, at least until the war was over and
they could come home.
At last, the assembled crowd was directed aboard buses, andthe buses took them to the train station downtown. There were
so many people, so many faces. Lucy searched the crowd for
people she knew, but everyone from her neighborhood had be-
come separated in the vast, milling throng. The string around
her neck that held the tag pulled and itched, but she said noth-
ing. The other children she saw were silent, their eyes wide. Even
the adults spoke quietly, lapsing into silence whenever soldierswalked among them.
Lucy had never ridden on a train before, and as they pulled out
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
12/14
garden ofstones 55
of the station and everything familiar disappeared behind them,
it did not seem possible that the boxes that her mother and Aikohad packed would be able to find them. How would their be-
longings find their way beyond the Santa Monica Mountains to
the flat valley beyond, places Lucy had never seen? As the hours
passed, she kept her face pressed to the train window, while her
mother and Auntie Aiko talked in quiet voices. She saw orchards
that looked like the pictures in her fathers advertising brochures,
and fields of strawberries and corn, little towns and ranches andchildren with no shoes waving madly as the train raced past.
At times, it almost felt like an adventure, except that the other
passengers were silent and glum. Some cried, some slept, some
talked in low voices. When a young soldier with acne freckling
his cheeks told the passengers sitting next to the windows to pull
down the blackout shadeseven though it was bright afternoon
people complied without a word, and they were all plunged intodarkness. Later, they were allowed to put the blinds up again, and
someone had brought a box of oranges into the car, enough for
everyone, and soon the air was full of the bursting scent of citrus.
Plump orange segments, bright and sharp on Lucys tongue, a
treat. Was this what life was to be like from now on? Monotony
and confusion, other peoples sadness and fear making it hard to
breathe, punctuated by these small and unexpected pleasures?
In Bakersfield, they transferred from the train to waiting buses.
Lucy clutched her tag and her mothers hand, as she had prom-
ised, and tried not to look at the watchful soldiers with their
billed caps shielding their eyes, their gleaming guns. The bus
was crowded and smelled of exhaust; people coughed and the
soldiers in the front struggled to keep their footing as it rolledout of town and onto a road that followed a twisting mountain
gorge. As the bus took steep climbs and hairpin turns, Lucy peer-
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
13/14
sophie littlefield56
ing out at the breathtaking drop-offs outside her windows, there
were quiet moans and the sound of retching from those afflictedwith motion sickness. It wasnt long before the bus was filled with
the stink of vomit.
It was night when they finally pulled off the road that bisected
the flat valley between two mountain ranges. Somehow, in the
miserable, fetid bus, Lucy had fallen asleep with her head in her
mothers lap, an indulgence Miyako would not have allowed even
six months ago.When the bus groaned to a halt, a buzz of excited conversa-
tion rose all around them. Lucy pressed her face to the window.
In the distance a mountain peak rose up into the night, illumi-
nated by moonlight, snow topped and impossibly vast. It was the
biggest thing Lucy had ever seen, bigger than anything she had
ever imagined.
And laid out in either direction along the wide dirt avenue
where the bus had stopped were long, low buildings like domi-
noes arranged on a table. Above them the sky was bigger than it
ever was in Los Angeles, and dusted with so many stars that it
looked like talcum powder had been spilled across it.
Last stop, the driver said, perhaps joking; but after he cranked
the doors open, it was several moments before anyone made amove. The air was cold here; while Lucy slept, her mother had
covered her with a wrap taken from her valise. But the air that
rushed into the bus was far colder. The soldiers, barking orders,
made clouds with their breath.
Are you sure this is it? Lucy whispered, but her words were
lost in the hubbub as people began to file off the bus.
Wait, Miyako said, her free hand clutching Lucys coat collar.The passengers exited and formed a milling crowd outside Lucys
window, illuminated by spotlights coming from two tall wooden
-
7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler
14/14
garden ofstones 57
towers. She searched for Aikos familiar coat, but there were too
many people, too many unfamiliar faces.Eventually there were only a few stragglers on the bus. Come
on, the young soldier said impatiently, gesturing with the rifle
he held in both hands. Hurry up.
Miyako held both their suitcases in front of her, grunting with
the effort of maneuvering them down the aisle. Lucy clutched her
mothers coat and inhaled the smell of the wool. Descending the
steps, Miyako accepted the help of a stranger in a jacket and tie,and Lucy couldnt help feeling sorry for the man, who apparently
owned no warm coat. Once on the ground, she tested the soil with
the toe of her shoe and found it sandy. The cold rushed under her
skirt and the wind lifted her hair and swirled it around her face.
It was as though the place was claiming her for its own, and Lucy
stood rigid and fearful, not knowing how to resist.