For Hiroko, once Anne had left, it was a little bit like being Cinderella being there. Everyone was very kind, but they also knew that Hiroko had gone to school with Anne at St. Andrew's, and why she had left, and where she had been for the past three years. But no one ever asked her any questions. They showed her how to do her work, and let her be, and kept an eye on Toyo for her when she was busy. And Hiroko was always polite to everyone, and helpful; she worked hard and kept to herself. And on her days off, she took Toyo to the park, and she went to the Japanese tea garden she remembered visiting in Golden Gate Park with the Tanakas when she'd first arrived. It was run by a Chinese family now, and called the Oriental Tea Garden. There were lots of things to do with him, and she was reminded more than once of visits she had made to the city with her cousins.
Within a short time she heard from them. They were happy and well. Reiko was working at the hospital, both girls were in school, and on Valentine's Day, Sally and Tadashi got married. It was the day after she got their telegram, when Mr. Spencer finally had news for her from a friend in Washington. It had taken more than a month to get any information. And the news wasn't good. Hiroko trembled as she listened.
After Paris, they had moved on to Germany. And Peter had been missing in action since a skirmish near Antwerp. No one had seen him killed, and they had never recovered his body after the snipers moved on. But he hadn't turned up again either. It was impossible to say what had happened. Perhaps after the war they would find records of him, or find that he had been held prisoner by the Germans. But for now, all she knew was what she had known before, that he had vanished. His silence had been as ominous as she'd feared, possibly even more so.
She thanked Anne's father for getting the information for her, and silently went back to the kitchen to take care of Toyo.
“I feel sorry for her,” Charles Spencer admitted to his wife after he'd told her. “Is she married to the boy's father?” he asked curiously.
“I'm not sure,” his wife said cautiously. “I don't think so. Anne says she was awfully bright in school, one of the most outstanding students.” In spite of herself, Anne's mother had come to genuinely like her, and could see why Anne cared about her.
“I don't suppose she'll want to go back,” Charles said thoughtfully. One of their gardeners had gone to the camps as well, and Charles had had to move heaven and earth to get him out and sent to relatives in Wisconsin.
“Anne says she wants to go back to Japan to see her parents.”
“Well, do what you can for her while she's here. To be honest with you, from what they said about her …er …friend … I think he's done for.” They hadn't been able to prove he was dead beyond any doubt, but it sounded as though they were almost sure of it. It was one of those mysteries that wouldn't be solved until after the war, when they had all the information. But whatever actually happened, it didn't matter now. The man was gone. And the boy was without a father. It made Charles sorry for her all over again. But Hiroko was very happy there with the Spencers. She thought of Peter all the time, and despite what Anne's father had told her, she refused to be convinced that he was dead. Somehow, she just couldn't believe it.
And the war moved on without him. In February, the Allies destroyed Dresden, and in March, Manila fell to the Americans. Tokyo was being bombed relentlessly, along with other cities in Japan, killing eighty thousand and leaving more than. a million people homeless. And Hiroko worried endlessly about her parents. She spoke to the Tanakas about it on the phone, and they were sympathetic about her concerns, but Hiroko's life seemed far from them now. She was constantly listening for news of the war, hoping to hear something about Peter or her parents. It was her only concern now.
In April, Roosevelt died, and Hitler committed suicide. And the following month the concentration camps were opened, much to everyone's horror. It made Tule Lake look like paradise in comparison, and she was embarrassed to have ever complained about whatever minor miseries they had suffered. Compared to the people who had suffered at the Nazis' hands, the Japanese had been extremely lucky in Tule Lake, and elsewhere.
And then at last, Germany surrendered in May. But Japan still fought on. And in June, they fought the bloody battle of Okinawa. It seemed as though the war in Japan would never end, and she would never be able to go home. But all she could do was wait, and a month after the war in Europe was over, she still had no news of Peter.
Charles Spencer kindly inquired again, but his status was still the same. Missing in action. But still, she refused to believe that she and Toyo had lost him forever.