Disclaimer: Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. (Mark Twain)

Altered Memory

Chapter 3 – Part III: Round Three… Knock Out!

In the morning, Kaoru woke with an instant alertness. The terrible scenes replayed themselves over in her mind with shocking detail. Kaoru shivered. Weeks – months perhaps – of that suspicion and hostility beating her down, and she unable to defend herself against it. “Absolutely no stress,” Dr. Genzai and Yoshida’s doctor had said. Little did they know that the stress couldn’t have been much greater if they had sent her back to Beirut!

She found Kenshin at the kitchen table eating his breakfast. “Good morning, Nurse Kamiya.”

Meg raised her eyebrows at his formality and the coldness in his voice. “Very workmanlike,” he jibed, but his tone implied, ‘But you don’t convince me.’

Her quiet “Good morning,” encompassed them both. She was aware of his sardonic gaze as Meg fussed over her, and she sighed in relief as he stood up and said, “Well, some of us have to work,” and went out the back door.

“What’s up with him?” Meg asked. “You upset him or something?”

“You could say that.”

---

That day, three friends of Yoshida came in hopes of a game of bridge. At Yoshida’s bright-eyed look of anticipation, Kaoru set up the card table for them.

“But what about you, Kaoru?” Yoshida said suddenly. “Perhaps you’d like to take a turn?”

“I’m afraid my accomplishments only run to chess,” she smiled. “If it’s all right with you, I think I’ll go for a walk.”

“Why don’t you stroll down to the winery? I’m sure you’ll find it interesting,” she suggested.

Kaoru agreed it would be a good opportunity for her to see what went on in the making of the wine, though with some reservations which she kept to herself. If Kenshin was anywhere about, she wouldn’t go near the place.

But there was no sign of him as she approached cautiously. There were several cars there, and as she drew nearer a three-sided building, one group of people was just emerging while another waited to be shown around.

Tomoe appeared behind the crowd that was leaving and greeted her with a warm smile. “Hi! What a lovely surprise. Come to see where all the work’s done? Hang on a minute. I’ll just dish out the tickets for this lot and you can join us.”

Kaoru watched as Tomoe took the tourists’ entrance fees. She was a very lovely woman with a natural, easy way with her, a fact that was appreciated by two men in the party. She handled the tourists confidently, showing no shyness. Kaoru could well appreciate what an asset she must be to the business, and why Kenshin had chosen her to be his wife. Kaoru was very conscious of her own shabby plainness and that was strange because she didn’t usually spare a thought for her appearance. Perhaps, if she were honest, she envied the other from the bottom of her heart. Tomoe had Kenshin’s love. She was going to be his wife. Ten years ago, Kaoru would have given her soul to be in that position. Even now–

She brought that thought to an abrupt halt. Marriage and a family were not for her.

She was glad to turn her thoughts back to Tomoe who was telling her audience the grapes grown in the vineyard were of a certain variety that was best suited to the English climate. She indicated a gleaming stainless steel trailer drawn up at the side of the open-fronted room. “That’s the grape-trailer,” she explained, “and it holds two tons of grapes.”

“Why stainless steel?” someone asked.

“Because the last thing we want is to poison our customers which is what would happen if the juice or wine came into contact with iron. So we use only stainless steel, enamel, fiberglass, plastic, or glass equipment.”

“And when do you harvest the grapes?” someone else queried.

“Usually about mid-October. We have to wait for the grapes to reach the right sugar content before they’re picked. The sweeter the grapes, the higher the quality of the wine.” She pointed out a large stainless steel screw running along the bottom. “The auger there carries the grapes into the berry mill here behind the trailer. This has to split the skin of every grape without damaging the stalks or the tannin would make the wine bitter. From the berry mill, the crushed fruit is pumped into the press.”

Kaoru found herself fascinated as Tomoe explained several more things. “Now we’ll move on into the winery.” Tomoe led them into a long, barn-like building that was scrupulously clean.

As the tour progressed, Kaoru admired Tomoe more for her knowledge and was very much aware of how closely she identified herself with her fiancé’s business.

Lastly, they were invited to taste the wine in a small inner courtyard where vines grew around the walls and white tables and chairs were set out in the sunshine.

Kaoru smilingly refused when Tomoe offered her a glass. “Don’t you like wine?” the other woman asked in surprise. “I noticed you didn’t drink any at dinner last night.”

“I know it must sound sacrilegious to you, but I can’t say I care for it,” she said lightly. She had drunk the occasional glass of wine in her teens but had never liked anything stronger, which made it all the more incomprehensible how she should have drunk herself into a daze on the night of Misao’s party. In any case, she hadn’t touched anything remotely alcoholic since.

“But even if I don’t care for wine, I was fascinated by your description of how it’s made,” she hesitated to add, “and I’m open-mouthed with admiration at your knowledge.”

“If you had to rattle it off six times a day, you’d know something about it too,” Tomoe grinned.

“That might seem a bit like hard work for Miss Kamiya,” a voice behind them said and Kaoru’s heart sank like a stone. Why on earth hadn’t she gone back to the house as soon as the tour was over? Why had she been stupid enough to hang around here for Kenshin to catch her away from her duties?

But Tomoe’s reaction to her fiancé’s appearance was different from Kaoru’s. Her face lit up. “Darling!” She turned her face up and Kaoru had to watch while he kissed her. “But what an unkind thing to say. I’m not quite sure who he’s getting at, Kaoru, you or me. I’m certain nursing’s a lot harder work than tripping out my piece for the visitors.” Her head turned as some of the visitors moved towards the doorway off the courtyard marked ‘Shop’. “Sorry, I’ll have to dash. Now they’ve tasted the wine, they want to buy – I hope!” She hurried into the shop after her customers.

Kaoru too turned to leave but Kenshin caught her arm, holding her back. “So you didn’t heed my warning. The first chance you get, you abandon my aunt to come snooping down here.”

His grip on her arm hurt but it was his touch that disturbed her the most. “I didn’t abandon your aunt. It was on her suggestion I came to see the winery. Some friends arrived and I left her playing bridge. However, I’m sure it’s time I go back now.” She tried to detach his grip.

But he held on to her easily. “If Yoshida’s playing bridge then she won’t thank you for disturbing her yet. So in the meantime, I’m sure you won’t object if I find you another job to do to earn your keep.” He dragged her across the courtyard to a gate that led into the vineyard, pausing only at a too store to pick up a hoe.

The rows of vines were planted about eight feet apart, each vine about four feet from its neighbor, trained onto wires supported by stout posts. They were some way down the long rows before Kenshin stopped and thrust the hoe into her hands.

“The one job there’s no end to at this time of the year – keeping the weeds down round the vines. And don’t bother to remind me about your supposed ‘accident’. I’m sure it’s as fictitious as your nursing experience, to make sure you won’t be called upon to do anything too strenuous. Well, I’m calling your bluff.” He turned on his heel and left her staring helplessly after him.

She could hear voices in the distance and guessed there were other workers out there. Kaoru began to work, pushing out of her mind Dr. Genzai’s warning that on no account was she to get overtired. Kenshin wouldn’t have believed her anyway, and she had her pride. She would show him she wasn’t afraid of work.

It was a simple enough job, loosening the weeds and leaving them on top of the ground to shrivel and die, but very soon her back and arms were aching and her hands began to smart as blisters formed. The sun beat down on her bare head until it swam, and perspiration trickled down her back.

Kaoru lost all count of time, moving like a robot as she kept on working. Only her will kept her going, the determination not to give in, and she didn’t even see the sun beginning to sink behind the trees or notice there were no more voices calling to each other.

It wasn’t until a heavy hand descended on her shoulder and she whirled around to stare into Kenshin’s furious face that the pounding in her head and the weakness of her body overcame her will. Her last thought was, ‘Now he’ll have one more thing to score against me,” as she slid into unconsciousness at his feet.