The Devil's Footprint [antikvár]

TOKYO BAY, JAPANShe had looked like a bundle of rags bobbing in the sea.They would have passed her by without further thought. But they saw for a brief moment an arm had come out of the water that had seemed to wave. It must have been an illusion, because her eyes were closed and she was quite limp when they approached her.They had hoisted her into the old fishing boat and taken her down to the small cabin below. Her face was cut from forehead to chin and her clothing seemed to have been scorched and burned.They bandaged her face as best they could. Then they stripped her and wrapped her in a quilt and laid her on a futon. The space was cramped and smelled of rotting fish, but it was the best they could do.The old man had gone back to the steering wheel and Hiro to the bow to look for more survivors.Yoshi was left alone with the woman. He stared at the bandaged face, seeing not that but the lithe body and firm breasts and the V between her legs. Her face would be permanently scarred, he was sure, but she had been a beautiful woman.1