Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler

7/30/2019 Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler

1/14


2/14

Sophie Littlefield


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


4/14

For Julie


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


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.


7/14


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


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


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.


11/14


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


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-


13/14


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


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.

Documents

Garden of Stones by Sophie Littlefield - Chapter Sampler