Silent Honor by Danielle Steel Read Free Book Online Page A

seasick.
    Several young men had tried to speak to her, all of them Japanese, but she had been extremely polite, and avoided all attempts at conversation. By the time they docked in the States, other than a brief “good morning” or “good night,” she had spoken to no one since they left Kobe. She had eaten her meals in the dining room, and even then didn't speak to the other people at her table. She kept her eyes lowered, and appeared absolutely unapproachable, and she wore only her darkest and most serious kimonos.
    And just before they docked, she locked her trunk, closed her small case, and stood for a moment looking out the porthole. She could see the new Golden Gate Bridge just ahead of them, and the city was perched on the hills, sparkling white in the sunlight. It looked very pretty, but to her, even from here, it looked and felt completely foreign. And she couldn't help wondering what she would find there. She was going to cousins she didn't know, but whom she had heard about for all of her eighteen years. She only hoped that they were as kind as her father believed, and remembered.
    The immigration officers came on with the tug, and they looked over her passport and stamped it, as others stood in line in the main dining room for the same reason. And then she went out on deck, and smoothed down her long black hair. She had worn it in a neatly combed knot, and she was wearing a pale blue kimono. It was the prettiest one she had worn since they left Kobe, and it looked like a piece of summer sky, as she stood at the rail, looking very small and very lovely.
    The ship sounded its great horn, and the tugboat eased them in, as the Nagoya Maru came to rest at pier 39. And a moment later, the passengers who had been cleared by immigration began disembarking. Most of them were in a great hurry to get off, to meet relatives and friends, to end the two-week voyage. But Hiroko moved down the gangplank very slowly. She moved gracefully, her feet seeming barely to reach the ground, and she was not sure if she would recognize her relatives, or where to find them. It was terrifying just being here. What if they had forgotten to come? If they didn't recognize her, or once they did, if they didn't like her? A thousand thoughts flew through her mind, as she reached the pier, and saw a thousand unfamiliar faces. People were jostling and hurrying everywhere, identifying trunks, and looking for bags and hailing cabbies. And she stood feeling lost in the midst of the excitement. There was almost a party atmosphere and a Dollar Line ship was setting sail nearby in a blare of music. You almost couldn't hear amid the shouting and the noise, with the strains of “Deep in the Heart of Texas” all around them. And just as she despaired of finding anyone, she suddenly looked into a face that reminded her of her father. He was a little older, and not quite as tall, but there was something vaguely familiar about him.
    “Hiroko?” he asked, looking down at her, but he was sure of it. She looked exactly like the photograph her father had sent them, and as her eyes rose to his, he saw a shyness and gentleness that touched him deeply. All she could do was nod silently in answer to his question. She was completely overwhelmed by everything that was happening around them, and she had been so afraid not to find them at all, that she couldn't even express her relief to him that he had found her. “I'm Takeo Tanaka. Your Uncle Tak.” She nodded again, startled that he was speaking to her in English. He spoke it perfectly, with no trace she could detect of an accent. “Your Aunt Reiko is in the car with the kids.” But as he explained it, Hiroko bowed low to him, as low as she possibly could, to show her deep respect for him, and that of her father. And he was as surprised as she had been to hear him speak English. For an instant he hesitated, and then he bowed briefly to her, realizing that not to would have been an offense not only to her, but