فصل 02

Chapter two

The blue suitcase

‘Can you describe the suitcase?’ asked the woman at the desk in Heathrow Airport. Ikuko felt like crying. It had been a bad flight. She’d been sitting next to two children who were noisy and who couldn’t sit still. Ikuko hadn’t been able to sleep at all. And now her suitcase was lost. With her clothes, her camera - everything.

She said slowly in English, ‘It was blue…’

The woman smiled at her kindly. ‘Don’t worry. Just fill in this form. I’m sure we’ll find it. It will probably be on the next plane. We’ll send it on.’

Slowly Ikuko wrote a description of the suitcase and what was in it, and the address she would be staying at: Selly Park Hostel, Oak Road, Selly Oak, Birmingham.

Four long hours later the taxi drove up in front of a big old house with trees around it. It was seven o’clock. It had been a long, difficult journey from Heathrow Airport - the London underground, the train to Birmingham and the taxi from the station to the hostel.

Ikuko walked up to the hostel. She thought the building looked like pictures of churches she’d seen with its dark stone walls and pointed windows. Two students came out of the door, talking in a language Ikuko didn’t understand. She went inside. There was no-one at the reception desk, but there was a sign: ‘Ring bell for service’. She rang it.

After a moment a door opened and a woman came out. ‘Can I help you?’

‘I’m Ikuko… Ikuko Kanazawa.’

‘Oh, yes. We were expecting you. You’re in room 31. Come along, I’ll show you. Where’s your suitcase?’

Ikuko started to tell her, but the woman didn’t seem to be listening.

‘Oh dear. Never mind,’ she said. ‘Now, here’s your room. Dinner’s finished now, but there are plenty of restaurants five minutes away on Bristol Road if you want something to eat. Breakfast’s at eight - back in the main building, on the ground floor. OK? Do you understand?’

‘Yes,’ Ikuko said as the door closed, leaving her alone. But she wasn’t sure she had understood. The woman sounded different from the recordings she’d listened to in her English lessons. Maybe it was because Ikuko was so tired.

She looked around the room: a bed, a desk, a lamp. She wanted a bath, but she had no towel. She wasn’t hungry, and anyway she couldn’t face going out into the cold strange streets that night. She wanted to ring Hiroshi - but in Japan it would be four o’clock in the morning.

The room felt cold and she got into bed to try to keep warm. She was tired but her mind was still active. She took her new diary out of her handbag and started to write in English.

9 January 2000

Today I arrived in England. It’s very exciting.

She thought for a moment. ‘Who am I writing this for?’ she wondered. ‘Will I show it to Hiroshi? Or is it just for me? Anyway, I should write the truth.’ She started again.

Today I arrived in England. My suitcase is lost. The journey was quite difficult. I’m disappointed that I can’t understand English people better. Now I’m in my room in the student hostel. I feel so lonely. I miss Hiroshi. Maybe he was right about travelling.

She put down her pen feeling close to tears. This was not how she had expected to feel on her first day in England. She put her head down on her pillow - maybe if she had a rest she’d feel better…

There was a knock on the door and a man’s voice. ‘Ikuko Kanazawa?’

The room was dark and for a minute Ikuko didn’t know where she was. She turned on the light and looked at her watch. It was seven o’clock on Monday morning and she was in England.

There was another knock, and then footsteps going away. Ikuko got out of bed and realised she was still wearing all her clothes. She felt hot and uncomfortable.

She went to the door and opened it. A man was disappearing down the corridor. She could only see his back - black hair and a red jacket. And in front of the door was her blue suitcase.