Assassin's Touch (33 page)

They trailed Tama through a marketplace. Vendors were haggling with a few last customers or packing up unsold vegetables. As Reiko hastened past the stalls, she heard a man’s voice call, “Hey, you! Street-cleaner!” A hand grabbed her arm. It belonged to a large, hulking vendor.

“Sweep up that mess,” he ordered, pointing to some wilted cabbage leaves strewn on the ground.

“Let me go!” Reiko swung her broom at him.

The vendor ducked, released her, and cursed. “What do you think you’re doing?”

He lunged at her. Lieutenant Asukai seized him and flung him against a stall that held jars of pickled radishes. The vendor fell; jars crashed around him. Reiko dropped her broom and dustpan and ran. Lieutenant Asukai caught up with her.

“Where did she go?” Reiko cried in panic.

Across the marketplace, one of her other guards waved and pointed. Reiko saw Tama hurrying down an aisle of stalls. She and her escorts resumed the pursuit. It led them out of Nihonbashi, to the northern outskirts of town. Here the houses were farther apart, interspersed with trees and small farms. Dusk tinged with gold settled softly upon the tranquil landscape. Road traffic consisted of a few patrolling soldiers amid peasants carrying firewood or pushing barrows. Reiko lagged farther behind Tama, afraid that the girl would see her and her escorts.

Yet Tama never turned around; she seemed more intent on reaching her destination than wary of being pursued. She hurried along the road, which followed the gradual upward slope of the land. Farms gave way to hillside forest. Birds shrilled loudly in the trees that arched their boughs over the road, creating deep pools of darkness that the fading sunlight couldn’t penetrate. Tama’s figure was as indistinct as a shadow moving swiftly ahead of Reiko. The road was deserted except for their procession. The air grew chilly with the rising altitude and the approach of night. Reiko felt the warmth of exertion seep away from her body; she shivered in her thin garments. She could hear Tama puffing and scrambling uphill, and she stifled the noise of her own labored breaths, her own trudging footsteps. She heard an occasional twig snap or leaf crackle as her escorts followed, although when she looked over her shoulder, they were barely visible in the darkness. Above the road, amid the forest, houses spaced far apart jutted from the hillside, but Reiko neither heard nor saw any signs of human life. A gong boomed in a shrine in the city below. Dogs or wolves howled somewhere too near Reiko.

Suddenly Tama vanished from sight. Reiko hurried forward, anxious because she thought she’d lost the girl. Then she saw a trail that led off the road, cut through the forest, and snaked uphill. She heard Tama panting and stumbling in the distance. Lieutenant Asukai and her four other guards stole with her up the trail. It grew steeper, and although its surface had been smoothed by human labor, fallen branches hindered them. The darkness was almost complete here, and they walked cautiously, but Tama made so much noise that Reiko doubted she would hear them. They emerged from the forest, into open space lit by the sky’s dim glow. Pausing, Reiko saw that the trail skirted a valley. Brush-covered slopes fell sharply away to its bottom, where a stream burbled over rocks. Reiko and her guards watched Tama hurry along the trail, which followed the arc that the valley carved through the terrain. Now Reiko spied Tama’s destination.

It was a mansion built on three levels, upon land cleared of trees. The first level had a veranda that extended across the front and jutted over the valley and stream. Thatched roofs rose in multiple, jagged peaks. The mansion wasn’t huge, but it must have been difficult and expensive to build. In daytime it would have a marvelous view of Edo from the balconies on the back, higher levels. Light shone through a window and spilled onto the veranda. Tama toiled up a staircase that climbed the slope toward the mansion. The sound of her footsteps on wooden planks rang loud across the valley.

“What shall we do?” Lieutenant Asukai whispered to Reiko.

“Let’s get closer. We have to find out if Yugao and the Ghost are there.” Reiko must make sure before she told Sano.

She and her guards hastened after Tama, staying close to the trees that bordered the trail. They hid themselves in shrubbery at the foot of the staircase. Tama sped across the veranda, dropped her bundle, and beat her fists on the door. It creaked open. From her vantage point Reiko could see along the veranda, and she had a good view of Tama, but since the front of the house was parallel to her line of sight, she couldn’t see the figure at the threshold.

“It’s about time you got here,” said Yugao’s voice. “I’m starved. What did you bring me to eat?”

Jubilation filled Reiko. She gave a silent prayer of thanks.

Yugao stepped out the door. Tama backed away from her. The light from the house clearly illuminated both women. “Is he here?” Tama asked in a tone breathless from exhaustion and trembling with nerves.

“Who?” Yugao crouched and started untying the bundle.

“That samurai. Jin.”

Yugao went perfectly still, her profile sharp as a blade. A moment passed before she rose, faced Tama, and said, “Yes. He’s here. So what?”

Reiko stifled a breath of elation. She’d found the Ghost.

“Why didn’t you tell me he was with you?” Tama cried, sounding hurt and betrayed.

“I didn’t think it was important,” Yugao said, but a note of caution crept into her voice. “Why does it matter?”

“You know I’m not supposed to let anybody in this house. I told you that if my master and mistress find out I did, I’ll be beaten. You talked me into letting you stay here. That’s dangerous enough. But for you to sneak that awful man in—” A sob interrupted Tama’s words. “I’ll lose my job. I’ll be thrown out on the street with nowhere to go!”

“Don’t worry,” Yugao said. “No one will ever know. You said your master and mistress never come to this house until summer. We’ll be gone before then. I need you to help us for just a little while longer.”

She reached out her hand to Tama in a supplicating gesture, but Tama recoiled. “He’s not the only thing you’ve kept secret from me. You said you ran away from home and you need a place to live. You didn’t tell me you’d escaped from jail!”

Yugao’s hand froze in midair. She carefully lowered it. “I thought it was better not to tell you. That way, if the police caught me with you, they wouldn’t blame you for helping a runaway prisoner because you didn’t know that’s what I am.”

She was lying, Reiko felt certain, despite her reasonable tone. To protect herself and her lover Yugao had deliberately, shamelessly taken advantage of Tama and lied to her.

“Oh?” Tama was weeping, near hysterics; Reiko could see that she didn’t believe Yugao either. “Is that why you didn’t tell me that you murdered your parents and your sister?”

“I didn’t murder them,” Yugao said, quick, defensive, and firm. “I was wrongly accused.”

A dizzying sense of revelation coursed through Reiko. Again she knew Yugao was lying. She was finally certain that Yugao had indeed committed the crime.

Tama regarded Yugao in tearful bewilderment. “But you were arrested. And if you didn’t kill them, then who did?”

“It was the warden from the jail,” Yugao said. “He broke into our house while we were asleep. He stabbed my father, then my mother and Umeko. I saw him. He had to run away before he got caught, or he would have killed me, too.”

Reiko was amazed at the way Yugao’s falsehoods showed the truth more clearly than her confession had. Reiko might never learn the reason behind the crimes, but she knew Yugao was the murderess she’d claimed to be all along.

“I was arrested because I was there and I was alive,” Yugao continued. “The police didn’t bother investigating the murders because I’m a
hinin.
It was convenient to pin the murders on me. But I’m innocent.” Now her voice took on a pleading tone; she laid her hand over her heart, then reached it out to Tama. “You’ve known me since we were children. You know I would never do such a thing. I couldn’t tell you before because I was too upset. You’re my best friend. Don’t you believe me?”

Even as Reiko silently scoffed at the act that Yugao was putting on, Tama flung her arms around Yugao and wept. “Of course I do. Oh, Yugao, I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through!” They hugged each other. Tama’s back was toward Reiko. The girl couldn’t see Yugao’s face, but Reiko had a good view of her sly, smug expression.

“I’m sorry I was so distrustful,” Tama babbled. “I should have known you could never hurt your parents or your sister no matter how they treated you. When the magistrate’s daughter said you killed them, I shouldn’t have believed her.”

“The magistrate’s daughter?” Yugao asked in surprise and consternation. She withdrew from Tama. “It was Lady Reiko who told you about the murders?”

“Yes. She came to see me yesterday,” Tama said. “She asked if I knew where you are.”

“Did you tell her you’d seen me?” Yugao demanded.

“No.” Frightened and nervous now, Tama said, “I told her we hadn’t seen each other in years.”

Yugao stepped closer to Tama, who faltered backward against the veranda railing. “What else did you tell Lady Reiko?”

“Nothing.”

But Tama’s voice quavered; she looked everywhere except at Yugao. She was a terrible liar. Yugao clamped her hands around Tama’s upper arms, gazed down into the valley, and Reiko perceived her thoughts as easily as if she’d spoken them. Tama was too weak and guileless to stand up to more questions about Yugao. Therefore, she was a danger to Yugao, and Kobori, no matter that they needed Tama to feed and shelter them. One quick heave over the railing, and Tama could never lead their enemies to them.

Get out of there!
Reiko wanted to shout at Tama.
She’s going to kill you!
Yet for Reiko to warn Tama would make Yugao aware of her presence. She couldn’t let Yugao know she’d found her hiding place and give her and Kobori a chance to escape.

Yugao hesitated, then let go of Tama. Once again Reiko knew what she was thinking: The fall might not kill Tama; the bushes on the slope might save her. Knowing that Yugao had tried to murder her, Tama would run away; she might even report Yugao to the police. And then where would Yugao and Kobori go? Reiko sighed in relief.

“You’d better come inside,” Yugao told Tama.

A gasp of fresh alarm sucked the sigh back into Reiko’s lungs. Tama said, “I can’t. I have to go home.”

“Just for a little while,” Yugao said.

A little while would give Yugao time to keep Tama quiet forever.
Run!
Reiko silently exhorted Tama.
If you go in there, you won’t come out alive!

“If my mistress finds out I left the house without permission, she’ll punish me,” Tama said, backing toward the stairs. Reiko sensed that she was afraid of Yugao’s lover, and perhaps of Yugao as well.

Yugao hurried after Tama and caught her hand. “Please stay. I want you to keep me company. At least sit down and rest before you walk back to town.”

“All right,” Tama said reluctantly.

She let Yugao lead her to the door. Yugao picked up the bundle of food, then she and Tama disappeared inside the house. Reiko heard the door scrape shut.

The valley was silent except for the diminishing chorus of birdsong and the wind rustling in the forest. The sky had turned a dark cobalt hue now, glinting with stars, adorned by a moon like a scarred pearl. Reiko felt sick at having placed the sweet, gullible Tama in danger. She turned to her escorts.

“We must hurry back to town,” she said. Five inexperienced fighters and herself weren’t enough to capture Yugao and the Ghost. “We have to bring my husband and his troops.”

They stole quickly down the trail along the valley, then groped downhill through the forest that was now so dark that they couldn’t see each other or the hazardous ground underfoot. But as they emerged onto the road, Reiko saw lights glimmering along its slope below them. She heard stealthy footsteps.

“Someone’s coming,” she whispered.

30

Human shapes erupted out of the darkness and surrounded Reiko, Lieutenant Asukai, and their companions. Reiko felt herself seized by strong hands, her arms pinned behind her with cruel force. She writhed and cried out and kicked. Violent, noisy thrashing exploded around her as her escorts were caught.

“I’ve got him!” shouted a man’s excited voice.

The man who held Reiko said, “This one’s female. Looks like we’ve captured Kobori and his lady love.”

To her surprise, Reiko recognized his voice, although she couldn’t place it. Another familiar voice called, “If you’ve got Kobori, then who’s this I’ve caught?”

A chorus of confusion arose. Lights flared, momentarily blinding Reiko. They came from flames burning inside metal lanterns held by soldiers. There looked to be hundreds of them, a small army crowding the road, encircling Reiko. Some were armed with bows and arrows as well as swords. On the ground near her, Detective Fukida sat atop Lieutenant Asukai. Soldiers wrestled with Reiko’s other guards. Reiko twisted around and saw that the man who’d caught her was Detective Marume. They beheld each other in mutual amazed recognition.

“Sorry,” Marume said, embarrassed and gruff. He released her, then told his comrades, “It’s Chamberlain Sano’s wife and her escorts. Let them go.”

Fukida and the soldiers desisted; Lieutenant Asukai and the other guards stood up and dusted themselves off. Reiko saw Sano striding toward her through the troops who parted to let him pass. Hirata came limping after him. Both men wore helmets and armor, as if in preparation for a battle. Their faces showed the same shock that Reiko felt.

She and Sano spoke simultaneously: “What are you doing here?”

“I followed Yugao’s friend Tama,” Reiko said. “She led me to a house up that way.” As she pointed toward the trail, she rejoiced that Sano had come. He was still alive. He’d not only found her but brought the troops necessary to capture the fugitives. She would have flung herself into his arms, if not for the men watching them. “Yugao and Kobori are there.”

“I know,” Sano said. “We’ve come to get them.”

She and Sano gazed at each other in shock that their separate inquiries had led them to the same destination. “But how do you know?” Reiko asked, astounded by his miraculous arrival.