Ryuhiko -03

Ryuhiko-03-20150120

Time at the base camp went quickly for Shin. He had gathered data from each of his sampling stations and had enjoyed Mary's company in doing so. He had enjoyed her company so much that he failed to notice that she never seemed to go off and do any research on her own. In the evenings the two of them would talk long after the others had retired. The WSU group returned to Seattle on Sunday leaving only five of them. Shin needed three full days to gather all of his data, so he wasn't leaving until Tuesday. Each night, after everyone was asleep, the lone dark figure would slip into Shin's tent and just sit.

By ten o'clock Tuesday morning Shin's truck was packed and he was ready to leave. He turned the key and the big truck came to life. He had a Ram 1500 4x4 with the 3.0L ecodiesel V-6 engine. Although it had less horsepower it had almost twice the torque, a lot better gas mileage and was significantly more environmentally friendly. Shin sat listening to the engine and staring out the front window but he wasn't seeing anything. He was thinking . . . thinking about Mary, whom he had left a few minutes before standing just on the other side of the creek about eight hundred feet from the parking lot. If he backed up to the east side of the parking lot he would be able to see her.

The thought of how silly it was to back the full distance of the parking lot just to get another glimpse of a woman, and perhaps wave at her, did flit through Shin's mind, but all it did was flit. He put the truck into reverse and headed straight back.

There, near the little footbridge over the creek, was where they had said good-bye. But she was not there. What a fool he had been. Why hadn't he at least attempted to give her a peck on the cheek. The worst thing that could have happened would have been that she would tell him straight out that she wasn't interested. As he looked at the spot where she had stood watching him leave he noticed the large oak tree. He hadn't remembered that there. Strange how your mind plays tricks on you. Things you pass each day and don't notice suddenly become the obvious. He put the truck in drive and headed down the mountain toward the highway. It was just over five miles to Twin Peaks Road where he would turn left and follow the Challis Road to the highway. It was a long five miles for Shin and all he could think of was what a fool he had been and how was he going to get another chance.

That's when it hit him. He not only had not taken any risk in showing Mary his feelings, but he hadn't even asked for a telephone number or email address. He had no way to communicate with her. His anger with himself grew by the minutes and by the time he had reached the Twin Peaks Road he was deluging himself with less than complimentary descriptions. He hit the gas pedal so hard when he turned onto Challis Road that the back end broke traction and swung around to his right. He corrected and continued his tirade. By the time Challis Road crossed Eddy Creek, Shin was so upset that he had to pull over. What was he going to do?

He could just take a chance that they would meet again at the research camp, but he knew that was foolish. The only real option was to turn around and go get a phone number before he got any father away. He cranked the steering wheel as far as it would go and spun the big pickup around.

The parking area was only about eight miles from where he had stopped. He figured that he had wasted about fifteen minutes going down the mountain and another fifteen returning. She shouldn't have gone too far in half an hour. He consoled himself that even if she had left camp he could leave a note on her tent and ask her to call or email him. Shin spent the trip trying to think of clever things to say when he saw her. He pulled the Ram right up to the path, jumped out and started jogging toward the base camp.

It was close to a mile and a half from the parking area to the base camp but Shin made it in slightly over a half hour. He was breathing hard when he arrived and gasped for air when all he saw were the tents of the two Frenchmen and Trevor. Mary's tent was not there. Trevor was sitting by the campfire.

“Trevor!” Shin shouted. “Trevor! Where is Mary?”

“Didn't she leave with you?” Trevor looked totally puzzled. “Are you okay?”

“I'm just winded and totally disgusted with myself,” said Shin looking around in dismay. “She walked out with me, but she didn't have her gear with her.”

“Are you sure?” Trevor was beginning to show concern. “The two of you left together and I haven't seen her since.”

“I left her by the footbridge. Right by that big oak tree. But I would have sworn she didn't have her gear with her.”

“Big oak tree? What big oak tree?” Trevor was now on his feet. “Are you sure you're okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Shin was beginning to doubt himself.

“You're scaring me, man,” said Trevor. “Maybe I'd better call the Rangers and get you to a doctor.”

“Naw,” Shin was resigned. “I just screwed up. I really wanted to see Mary again and I let her get away without even getting her email.”

“Bummer!”

“Now I feel like a real idiot.” Shin turned to start back to his truck. “Thanks, Trevor. Sorry I bothered you,” he said over his shoulder.

“It's alright.”

“Hey,” Shin stopped and turned toward Trevor. “if you see her, would you give her my email.”

“Sure thing, buddy.”

The walk back to the truck took Shin almost an hour. He stopped at the large oak tree and thought about Mary standing there. He couldn't visualize her with her camping gear, but then again, he had had no interest in her camping gear, just her. He thought about her smile. It was so gentle and sweet. Her eyes were a rich brown and her skin was like . . . well, Shin thought of her skin as he looked at the oak tree . . . like a finely polished piece of oak. He laughed to himself. Well, the color of a finely polished piece of oak. She was beautiful.

The drive back to Boulder was long and somewhat frustrating. Every time Shin started to think about his work and his data he caught himself thinking about what Mary did or said when they were collecting the data. Most of the drive was filled with self-recrimination.

It took Shin several days before he started getting anything done but by the beginning of the next week he was again deep into his research. There was good reason. There were some very strange things. The samples from Watcher's Peak had a very high concentration of putrescine and cadaverine the night Shin had arrived. Putrescine and cadaverine are diamines found in rotting flesh. They are chemically very similar. Putrescine's systematic name is butane-1, 4-diamine because it has four carbon atoms between two amines, while Cadaverine's systematic name is pentane-1,5-diamine because it has five carbon atoms. They could both be called cleaners and eventually end up, in the living body, to contribute a little bit to the smell of urine. Most people who have encountered a bady decomposed animal body have no problem remembering and identifying the smell putrescine and cadaverine. The concentrations spiked about 2am and then discipated. If these were coming from the decomposing body of an animal they should have seen the carcus and the smell should have lingered for some time. There is no way that it came from urine. The only possible explanation was that the carcus was dragged away during the night. That was extremely unusual, but that's something with which Mary could have helped.

Shin was ready to gather his things and return to the research camp when he remembered his Mother's birthday. It was her 75th. birthday and Shin had promised to be there. He would have to go to the camp after he got back from Seattle.

Barako, or Rose Takeyo as she was known by her friends, was enjoying being surrounded by her children. She always enjoyed having her children around and, as they were older and had children and grandchildren of their own, it was becoming more and more difficult. She was waiting anxiously for her youngest, Shinmasa.

The Takeyo home was at the end of a little, unnamed spur off of 178th. Lane NE in Seattle. The house set up on the side of a hill above the Lake Sammamish Parkway and had a great view of the Lake. It was very Japanese having been built by his father just after arriving from Japan. Barako was sitting in the garden with her children when Shin arrived. He bowed and showed traditional Japanese respect to his Mother and then, in good American fashion, went to her and gave her a kiss.

Barako took one look at her son and began to speak rapidly in Japanese. The only thing anyone could make out was 'akai ryu' which she repeated again and again. She held tightly to Shin and spoke directly to him.

“What is she saying?” demanded the others.

“She's just excited to see me,” Shin tried to cover up the shock he was feeling.

“What is akai ryu?”

“Oh, that's just a naughty boy because I didn't tell her I was coming,” Shin said trying to calm his mother, smile and cover up his own confusion at the same time.

“Yes,” said Barako now calm and smiling at the others. “Shinmasa had not told me that he would be here. He never makes it to my parties. He's always off somewhere doing research.”

There was some skepticism among Shin's siblings but Barako appeared to have pulled it off. At least it was enough to take their minds off akai ryu and change the subject. Barako didn't let go of her son's hand and would pat it and whisper “subarashi” which means “wonderful”. Occasionally she would look at him with admiration and say “Watashi no musuko, akai ryu.” “My son, red dragon.”

It would be several hours before Shin had the opportunity to talk to his Mother privately. She was sipping tea late in the evening. Only his sister from Los Angeles was still at the house and she was in her room on the telephone with her husband. Shinmasa approached his Mother with traditional respect.

“Sit down, my son.” Barako said in Japanese. She smiled and repeated with great pride, “Watashi no musuko, akai ryu.”

“I must talk to you about that,” Shin started, also speaking in his Mother's native tongue. “I don't know what you mean.”

Barako looked at her son for a long time. Could he really have no idea?

“Do you not know that you are a red dragon?” she asked.

“What do you mean I'm a red dragon?”

“I knew as soon as you walked through the door. I could see the dragon in your posture and your bow.”

“I still don't understand,” Shin confided. “When I was a child you told me stories of dragons and how they have protected people for thousands of years, but how am I a dragon? Is it because of my work ... because I want to help and protect people?”

“So you do not know.”

“No,” said Shin. “I have no idea!”

“You know that one of the greatest blessings you can give a friend is that one of their children will become a dragon.”

“Yes,” said Shin, “but . . .”

Barako interrupted him. “When you were a new born baby we befriended a Japanese immigrant who called himself Mahotsukai no Ryunake - the magician who is a friend of the dragon. He was a kind man and did a lot of gardening work for us. Much of this beautiful formal garden was his creation. One day he said that he must move on but wanted to give a blessing before he left. He put his hand on your head and said 'may you become a red dragon and save the people.' Since that isn't dissimilar to any other dragon blessing, we just smiled and thanked him.”

“That was very nice of him,” said Shin.

“He also left a gift. It is a jo with the words akai ryu carved in it above a dragon. I have kept it in the garden tool shed he built.” Barako motioned toward a small tool shed hidden among the bushes. “Please get it for me, Shinmasa.”

Shinmasa did as his Mother requested and soon returned with a jo just as she described. He had studied jojutsu, the martial art of wielding a jo, and gave the old jo a spin as he returned to where his Mother sat.

“Today, when you walked into the garden, I knew that the blessing had come true. You are indeed akai ryu, a red dragon, and that jo was meant for you.”

“But how do you know, Mother. I haven't changed. I look the same and I think the same.”

Barako just shook her head. She could see the red dragon sitting beside her, but the red dragon didn't recognize himself. “Has anything different happened?”

“No,” said Shin. Then he thought of Mary. “Well, I did meet a young lady whom I would very much like to get to know, but I failed to get either her telephone number or email, so I'll probably never see her again.”

“Is she Japanese?”

“No.” Mary's beautiful face filled Shin's imagination. “Her skin is like coffee with milk. I think she must be African-American.”

“Oh,” said Barako. She didn't really care that the girl was not Japanese. But had she been Japanese she might have recognized akai ryu.

The two talked for some time about dragons, life and love. Barako could sense her son's sadness. She had never known him to care for a woman so deeply. There had been Haruko, but she had actually been a bit shallow and never really appreciated Shinmasa's work or dedication. Barako had hated the horrible pain her son suffered when Haruko left, but deep inside she was thankful. If they had married, it would have been a horrible disaster.

On the flight back to Boulder Shinmasa could not get his Mother's determination that he was a dragon out of his mind. Dragon or not, he was happy that she was proud of him. Now he needed to turn his attention back to the anomaly at Watcher's Peak. He would go there as soon as he could get his instruments calibrated and certified.