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quietly.
    â€œDid you say there was rice?” I asked, trying to change the subject to something safer.
    She nodded.
    â€œGood, I’m hungry. Let’s go inside and eat.”
    I looked up at the sound of the cabin door opening and was surprised to see my father. I’d been so lost in my studies that I hadn’t seen or heard him come back on board. Despite the fact that I hadn’t been in school for almost two months, the school work hadn’t stopped. Most of the parents in my village had insisted that school work and studying had to continue even if there wasn’t school.
    My father squatted down at the small table we had used for our meal earlier. Without having to be asked, my mother immediately set before him a steaming bowl of rice.
    I closed my books and glanced at my watch. He’d been gone for less than two hours. Did that mean the meeting hadn’t taken place, or that it was short and pleasant, or that they didn’t really have any answers to give as to where we were going? But of course I couldn’t just ask. It wouldn’t be respectful to question my father. I’d have to wait. “Be patient,” I heard in my mind, my grandmother’s words and voice inside my head.
    I studied my father, looking for some sort of telltale sign. He sat expressionless, sipping his tea. I wasn’t surprised. I would have been shocked if his expression ever revealed anything. It never did betray his feelings or emotions. He always looked the same — calm, serious and determined. It wasn’t that he couldn’t laugh, or scowl or get angry. It just wasn’t his way to show his feelings on the outside. Yet, while he could keep his feelings off his face, you could occasionally look into his eyes and see his emotions leaking out.
    I looked hard. His eyes were closed! What did that mean?
    I turned my gaze to my mother. She too was staring at my father. And off to her side stood my grandmother, also watching him, as was Midori. Only Yuri wasn’t studying our father. She was lying on her bedding, snuggled down under the covers. I knew that one or both arms were tightly hugging those dolls. I couldn’t help but smile at our shared secret.
    â€œVancouver,” my father said quietly.
    â€œWhat?” I asked, almost not sure if I’d even heard him speak.
    He opened his eyes but didn’t look at me, instead staring straight ahead. “We are going to Vancouver.”
    â€œWhen? When are we going?” I questioned.
    â€œTomorrow.”
    â€œBut we won’t have time … will we be able to even take all of our stuff?” I was thinking about the limited space on a train. “And what about our boat?”
    My father raised a hand to silence me. “It will not be taken out of the water. We are traveling to Vancouver on board our boat.”
    â€œBut that’s over eight hundred miles!” I exclaimed.
    â€œAnd there are some stretches where we’d have to leave the coast and travel across open waters. And what about the weather and the ocean? It could get rough, really rough. I don’t think it’s very —”
    I stopped in mid-sentence as my father spun his head toward me and caught me in his gaze. This time I had no trouble reading his emotions and his wishes; he wanted me to close my mouth. I looked down at the floor.
    â€œAll the fishing boats will travel together,” my father began. “We will be escorted by a naval ship … it will be towing the boats.”
    â€œTowing. I guess that’ll be good,” I acknowledged.
    He nodded again. His expression remained calm and reassuring.
    â€œA few men are going to send their families … wives and small children … down by train,” he said. “They will meet in Vancouver.”
    â€œI don’t want to go by train!” Midori exclaimed.
    â€œI want to stay with everybody else!”
    â€œMidori,” my mother hissed under her