"Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadows" - Helen Keller
"My name is Shintaro Takahashi, I'm Japanese," he responded, his voice calm and matter of fact.
Frances gave a rather wobbly curtsey.
"Well, Mr Takahashi, my name is Frances Grimes and I will be forever in your debt." She left it at that. "Thank you Caroline, thank you Mister Cantrell... well, I suppose I should do what I came here to do." she said and bravely felt her way to the piano.
Unlike Chubby, who always played rinky-dink jolly tunes when he wasn't accompanying Caroline's singing, Frances had a penchant for the more upmarket stuff, for she was classically trained. She wished she knew some Japanese music, or at least some piece of Western Japonisme, to honour her rescuer, but as she didn't, made do with a bit of Chopin.
Well, when all was said and done, it was no more out of place in a Western saloon than a ronin swordsman.
Shintaro inclined his head slightly as he grunted his acknowledgement in the typical Japanese way. It was good to know he wasn't seen as a villian by other patrons of the saloon.
"I only did what any honourable man would have done," he responded, not wanting Miss Grimes to think she owed him anything. "You don't owe me nothing."
He watched as she headed towards the piano, debating if he should take this opportunity to leave the Saloon before any more trouble happened but he wanted to hear her play. Deciding he will stay just long enough for a song or two, Shintaro returned to his seat.
When Francis started to play he was surprised the music wasn't what he had expected to hear in a saloon. As the notes filled the air, Shintaro focused on the melody, listening to the unfamiliar song attentively. The piano was different from the instruments of Japan he was used to but the sounds weren't unpleasant when played by a skilled pianist.