The Girl from the Well

She turns to place the urn reverently on one of the larger altars, while the other mikos stand silently and say nothing. Some time later, Callie watches as they chant and toss handfuls of Yoko’s ashes into the thick foliage that surrounds the small shrine, and she wonders how many dead shrine maidens cover this tiny clearing.

It soon becomes clear that the Chinsei shrine is self-sufficient and has little reason to interact with the other locals. The mikos show them their garden, where small herb and vegetable patches satisfy their requirements for food, as meat is not consumed inside the shrine, much to Tarquin’s consternation. For other basic necessities, the miko Kagura explains, she is often sent to nearby Oku-Yagen, or even to Mutsu when supplies in the nearby hamlet are lacking, as they sometimes are. The mikos spend their days cleaning the shrine and gathering at certain hours of the day to chant sutras to cleanse both body and spirit. They do not mention the woman in black or the onryuu in white as Kagura had, and Callie wonders if only the younger girl possesses this ability while the skills of the older shrine maidens have grown weaker over time.

The next two days are spent in pleasant inactivity. All the mikos dote on Tarquin, who is uncharacteristically embarrassed by all the attention, much to his father’s and Callie’s amusement. They are invited to partake of the hot onsen springs. Tarquin and his father go first. When they return, it is Callie’s turn.

Kagura and another one of the mikos named Amaya accompany the girl on her first visit to the hot springs. “There are three open-air onsen in all of Yagen Valley,” Kagura tells her as they begin their twenty-minute walk. “The Meoto Kappa-no-yuonsen is the only one that offers dressing rooms and showers for visitors. It costs 200 yen, but from the Chinsei shrine, it will take nearly an hour’s walk to reach, and another hour to return. You would be tired and exhausted by then, and this would negate the bath’s soothing effects.

“Kappa-no-yu is the second onsen and free of charge, though there are no changing rooms. The third and nearest onsen is where we will be headed. No one has thought of giving it a name, perhaps because they wish it to remain as unspoiled as its surroundings. But we have always called it the Chinsei-no-yu among ourselves, for we are its most frequent customers.”

Chinsei-no-yu is exactly how the miko describes it. There is a view of the nearby rapids, but no enclosures or rooms to change in. Kagura and Amaya show little inhibition, eagerly shedding their clothes while Callie, blushing furiously, gingerly follows suit. Among these springs, it seems, visitors are required to shed their modesty as well as the rest of their clothing before stepping into the water.

“Do not be so shy,” Amaya encourages in Japanese, and Kagura translates for her friend. “You must rid yourself of all your Western modesty when you come to our hot springs. To embrace the Japanese culture is to follow in the customs of the Japanese at onsen. There is nothing to be ashamed of.”

Finally stripped down, the three girls enter the hot springs. Callie gives a soft little sigh of contentment the instant her skin touches the water, the constant worries and concerns plaguing her during the last several days melting away upon close contact with such comfortable heat.

They sit in companionable silence for fifteen, perhaps twenty more minutes, simply luxuriating in their baths. “I’m afraid there is another reason we have asked you here,” Kagura finally says, breaking the lull. “Douglas Halloway-san does not believe in talk of spirits and rituals, and Obaasan fears that the more we talk of what we do, the earlier he will leave and take Tarquin-kun along with him. That we cannot allow to happen. If the boy leaves Yagen Valley, he will soon wither away and die.”

Callie suddenly feels cold, despite the hot water. “What can I do to help?”

“You feel differently, do you not, Callie-san?” Kagura asks eagerly. “That is why Obaasan has instructed us to bring you here, so that we may explain about Chiyo without fear of being overheard by Douglas-san.”