Silk by Paul Lally

Author:Paul Lally [lally, paul]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-12-11T05:00:00+00:00

Do not use two arrows to hit a target.

- Japanese proverb

My telegram to Gerlione was simple, to the point, and a total lie:

ESTIMATE 1750 BALES GRAND DOUBLE CRACK EXTRA AVAILABLE MID SEPT/ WILL SELL ENTIRE HARVEST DIRECT YOUR COMPANY FOB NEW YORK /SATO AGENT TRAVELS SHIPMENT / RESPOND OFFER SOONEST/MASAKI SATO, PRESIDENT, SATO SILK

Once again I had signed Father’s name without his knowing. Once again I would face the consequences of my act. But I didn’t care, because if the answer was ‘yes,’ then my desperate idea might work. If ‘no,’ the house of Satō would collapse, and the town of Kiryu along with it.

My hand shook as Kenji Oto, our town’s telegraph operator handed me the receipt. We had gone to elementary school together. Once a shy little boy, he was now a shy grown man. But an enterprising one, too. His peasant family had sacrificed everything to send him to a trade school, where he had learned telegraphy and been hired by the prestigious Japanese Wireless Telegraph Company.

Being a model employee, he treated his customer’s messages as dots and dashes and nothing more. But one look at his face told me that in my case he would act otherwise the moment I walked out the door.

‘Yes Mr. Oto?’ I said, trying to sound authoritative, but failing. ‘You have a concern about my telegram?’

‘Not at all. Everything is in perfect order.’

I patted the receipt as though it were a friendly cat. ‘I am hoping the answer is yes. For it means everything to our town.’

His eyebrows rose in question. I leaned closer and whispered. ‘You used to be good at keeping secrets, Kenji-bo. Can you keep a very big one now?’

He stiffened to attention. ‘Hai.’

‘If Gerlione agrees to purchase our silk direct, with no middle man, our town just might be saved.’

‘Saved from what?’

‘The Mitsui zaibatsu. Haven’t you heard?’

His eyes widened. ‘No.’

‘Mitsui’s taking over Satō Silk if we don’t pay off our construction loans.’

His eyes grew even wider still. ‘No!’

‘We have until October first. Three short weeks away.’

He re-read my telegram. ‘And if they don’t accept your father’s offer?’

‘They bring in their own people, consolidate the feeding stations, and the world as you and I once knew it will be gone.’

The telegram trembled in his grasp.

‘Tell no one about this,’ I said. ‘The success or failure of this proposal depends upon utmost secrecy. Do you promise?’

He solemnly nodded. But I knew that before the day was out, the entire town would know about the takeover plans. And that’s exactly what I wanted. Kenji was not only an excellent telegraph operator he was also the best gossip you could ever hope to find. The moment I left, he would start broadcasting the news.

The answering telegram, arriving eight long, torturous hours later, made my legs shake both in fear and relief:

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