Kenji Nobu delicately picked up with his tweezers the battle station plans printed on the extremely fine paper he had just carefully unfolded. He looked closely at the plans in the light of the setting sun, coming through the window of his corrugated metal shack. He called out to the young boy standing nearby, looking with interest at the unfolded paper, “Theo, could you grab that Proud Americans Brigade membership manual on the shelf over there? I need to flatten this paper and store it someplace inconspicuous. The best hiding places are the ones in plain sight.”

“Which one is it?” Theo asked, as he hurried over to the wooden planks stacked on cinder blocks against one of the walls of the shack. He ran his finger along the rows of books of botanical textbooks and guides, pulling out the ones he thought might be the PAB manual.

“It’s the one with the large white star on blue and red stripes on the cover, on the bottom shelf,” Kenji explained, and winked at Theo’s mother, Rosa Jardine, sitting at the kitchen table across from him. She had a look of dismay and uncertainty on her face, and nervously patted the head of Arfie, the white Husky sitting next to her on the shack’s dirt floor.

“Found it!” Theo said excitedly, and pulled the book out of the shelf, bringing it over to Kenji and put it on the kitchen table top. Kenji opened the red, white and blue book, and flipped through the pages to some blank ones in the middle, separating the chapters labelled, “Neighborhood Surveillance” and “Reporting Suspicious Behaviour”. He flattened the book open on the table, and placed the fine paper plans carefully on one page, and closed the manual on it, leaving the front cover of the book face up.

Rosa looked at the white five-point star on the cover of the manual, and reached over to take the silver five-petal rose pendant that was laying next to it, still open from when Nobu removed the intricately folded plans concealed in it. “I’m a little surprised you would have a book like that,” Rosa said warily, “I thought you wanted nothing to do with PABbies, as Leanna called them.” She closed the pendant, sliding one of the petals to lock it, and held it in her hand, looking at it in the fading light.

Kenji picked up the book and put it into the white shirt under his brown robe, and went over to the opened kitchen drawer to put back the tweezers. “I use it to better understand the PAB broadcasts and their standard operating procedures. It makes them more predictable, although they are already pretty easy to read and guess their next move.” He saw that Rosa was holding the pendant in her hand, and turned to rummage in the kitchen drawer for a bit, reaching into the back and pulling out a velvet ring box. “Here, you have more use for this than I do.”

Rosa took the long, purple velvet box and opened it to reveal a fine gold necklace. “What’s this?” Rosa asked, lifting out the necklace and letting it sparkle in the orange glow filling the room.

Nobu winced a little, and said, “It’s one of the few things I still have from the Cooperative. Your father insisted that we convert all our profits into gold, and to- ah, I see you’re not interested.”

Rosa was tapping her foot on the floor and scowling. Theo’s eyes were wide, and he opened his mouth to ask Nobu a question, but Rosa interrupted him before he could speak, “No I don’t want to hear about that ancient history. It doesn’t help us with the trouble we’re in now.” She clasped the pendant onto the chain, and put it over her head, letting the pendant rest on her chest. “We should be focussing on getting back to Ojai, and to find out where Leanna has been taken to.”

“Yes, you’re right. We should leave before we get visited by those yahoos again that redecorated my home,” Kenji said, nodding at the mess around them. “I’m ready to go now,” he said, touching the hand of the sword in it’s sheath under his robe. 

Rosa stood up and was about to put on the yellow hoodie draped on the back of her chair, but let go of it on seeing the spots of blood on it from the now dried cut on her forehead. She looked down at the white t-shirt with the red piping, white Adidas shorts with blue stripes, and her socks and tennis shoes that she was wearing. “You don’t happen to have something I could wear to cover up a bit? I feel rather conspicuous in this get up… Leanna dressed the same way. I think I understand why now. Theo, take Arfie outside with you and go to the bathroom if you need to. We’re going for a long drive again. Don’t go far, and call us if you see anything or anyone. Be careful!”

Theo and Arfie left the shack, and Kenji went to an opened wooden chest in the corner of the room. “I actually might have something for you to wear,” Kenji said, smiling gently. Rosa could hear Theo playing with Arfie outside, as they went around the shack nearby. Kenji came back from the chest, holding a package wrapped in a large, indigo patterned handkerchief. “This was my wife’s; we got it on a holiday in Japan, long ago. I’m a widow now… obviously.”

Rosa took the package and unwrapped it, revealing a blue gown with a gold and silver pattern on it, a red sash and hair comb with a pin in it. “What is this? A kimono? It’s beautiful!”

“No, it’s a yukata. The cotton material is lighter, it’s almost like a housecoat and far more casual than a kimono. Put it on! I think you’re about the same size as my late wife,” Kenji said, his eyes lighting up as Rosa unfolded it. “See? You can easily wear it over what you’re wearing now.”

Rosa put on the yukata, folding one side over the other, and fastening them with the red sash around her waist. The pattern revealed was that of a golden crane taking flight, with silver stars on the light blue background. She went over to the cracked mirror over the kitchen sink, and pushed her long black hair up over her head and fastened it with the comb and pin. “I look presentable now. Kinda weird, but… nice.”

Kenji didn’t say anything, admiring Rosa in the yukata. She pulled the silver rose pendant on the gold chain out from under the yukata and let it hang over the folds of the garment. “I’m ready to leave now, Kenji. It’s getting dark fast and we’ve got a long drive ahead of us.”

“Yes, and we still need to meet up with Hanyo Soon tonight. He operates a plane, and he and his business partner will know how to give us safe passage back,” Kenji said, “We’ll find him at the Morongo Desert Bar and Grill, back out on the highway.” He pulled out a velvet black bag from under his robe, and showed Rosa the contents, saying, “And we’ll need these gold coins to pay him. Let’s go!”

*** This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental. ***