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had come from Yoroido; since her accent was as strange to me as everyone else’s, I felt sure she wouldn’t recognize the name of my village. I said instead that I’d just arrived.
    â€œI thought I would never see another girl my age,” she said to me. “But what’s the matter with your eyes?”
    Just then Auntie came out from the kitchen, and after shooing Pumpkin away, picked up the bucket and a scrap of cloth, and led me down to the courtyard. It had a beautiful mossy look, with stepping-stones leading to a storehouse in the back; but it smelled horrible because of the toilets in the little shed along one side. Auntie told me to undress. I was afraid she might do to me something like what Mrs. Fidget had done, but instead she only poured water over my shoulders and rubbed me down with the rag. Afterward she gave me a robe, which was nothing more than coarsely woven cotton in the simplest pattern of dark blue, but it was certainly more elegant than anything I’d ever worn before. An old woman who turned out to be the cook came down into the corridor with several elderly maids to peer at me. Auntie told them they would have plenty of time for staring another day and sent them back where they’d come from.
    â€œNow listen, little girl,” Auntie said to me, when we were alone. “I don’t even want to know your name yet. The last girl who came, Mother and Granny didn’t like her, and she was here only a month. I’m too old to keep learning new names, until they’ve decided they’re going to keep you.”
    â€œWhat will happen if they don’t want to keep me?” I asked.
    â€œIt’s better for you if they keep you.”
    â€œMay I ask, ma’am . . . what is this place?”
    â€œIt’s an okiya,” she said. “It’s where geisha live. If you work very hard, you’ll grow up to be a geisha yourself. But you won’t make it as far as next week unless you listen to me very closely, because Mother and Granny are coming down the stairs in just a moment to look at you. And they’d better like what they see. Your job is to bow as low as you can, and don’t look them in the eye. The older one, the one we call Granny, has never liked anyone in her life, so don’t worry about what she says. If she asks you a question, don’t even answer it, for heaven’s sake! I’ll answer for you. The one you want to impress is Mother. She’s not a bad sort, but she cares about only one thing.”
    I didn’t have a chance to find out what that one thing was, for I heard a creaking noise from the direction of the front entrance hall, and soon the two women came drifting out onto the walkway. I didn’t dare look at them. But what I could see out of the corner of my eye made me think of two lovely bundles of silk floating along a stream. In a moment they were hovering on the walkway in front of me, where they sank down and smoothed their kimono across their knees.
    â€œUmeko-san!” Auntie shouted—for this was the name of the cook. “Bring tea for Granny.”
    â€œI don’t want tea,” I heard an angry voice say.
    â€œNow, Granny,” said a raspier voice, which I took to be Mother’s. “You don’t have to drink it. Auntie only wants to be sure you’re comfortable.”
    â€œThere’s no being comfortable with these bones of mine,” the old woman grumbled. I heard her take in a breath to say something more, but Auntie interrupted.
    â€œThis is the new girl, Mother,” she said, and gave me a little shove, which I took as a signal to bow. I got onto my knees and bowed so low, I could smell the musty air wafting from beneath the foundation. Then I heard Mother’s voice again.
    â€œGet up and come closer. I want to have a look at you.”
    I felt certain she was going to say something more to me after I’d approached her, but instead