Dendera (26 page)

“Yelling will only make you hungrier.”

“Not that it matters,” Nokobi Hidaka said, sitting up. “The rabbits are dead. The Mountain has nothing for us.”

“If that’s true, Nokobi Hidaka, then won’t you leave Dendera with me?”

Kayu Saitoh hadn’t planned on revealing her idea to the woman, but the words had come out on their own.

She didn’t know if this was the appropriate time, or if Nokobi Hidaka was the woman she should tell first, or for that matter how serious about the idea she was herself, but she knew that once she started to say it, she had to finish. Kayu Saitoh was deeply conflicted, but she hadn’t been able to stop mid-sentence, and she couldn’t pass it off as a joke. She had to say it all.

“Leave … Dendera?” Nokobi Hidaka said with a mystified expression. “What are you saying?”

“Couldn’t we leave Dendera and begin a new life somewhere else?” She found herself believing in each word as she said it, and she pressed on. “Let’s resettle.”

Slowly, Nokobi Hidaka said, “Resettle,” her mouth working as if she were eating the word itself.

“There’s no point in waiting in a place like this for the bear to come. If the bear comes, or if we starve first, either way we die. And if we’re going to die anyway, why don’t we take ourselves somewhere else, to another land? Spring will soon come. The cold will fade. The snow will melt. Come, live with me someplace new.”

“But where would we go?”

“How should I know?”

“Can you guarantee we could find a land more favorable than here?”

“How should I know?” Kayu Saitoh repeated. “I have no idea, but we have to try. It’s better than dying to some bear or starvation.” Stirred by her own words, she stood, if unsteadily. “Tomorrow, I think I’ll tell this to the people of Dendera. If we don’t hurry, someone will die first. Even if our current plan goes off as intended, I question what some starving old women could do when the bear comes. We might lose. So I want to talk about it first—even though I don’t know how many will see things my way.”

“Kayu, you’re the first person I’ve heard suggest that.”

“Dendera has never been in this much peril before. This place is already over. So can’t we abandon it? Can’t we escape? There’s nothing here we need to hold on to.”

“All right, I’ll do it.”

“That’s a big help,” Kayu Saitoh said, meaning it. “That’s a big help.”

“The first question is how many will come with us.”

“I think Kyu Hoshina will.” Kayu Saitoh looked to Shigi Yamamoto, who moved not a bit. “We’ll carry this one with us.”

Now that she had put her new vision into words—even if it had happened on impulse—Kayu Saitoh once again felt fulfilled. As an immense cloud of fear hung over Dendera, her words shone like nothing else. She felt like she might be able to bring about profound and fundamental change. Her plan to resettle could potentially leave all of their problems behind. All their problems were what they’d be leaving. Lost in a contented reverie, a gentle but unyielding need to sleep overcame her. Untroubled by her hunger, she began to sink into a saccharine slumber. She was vaguely aware of the sound of Nokobi Hidaka leaving the hut to go on watch duty, and then, as if abruptly cut off from consciousness, she was asleep.

The next morning, when Kayu Saitoh opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Nokobi Hidaka vomiting great amounts of blood into the stone pot.

Nokobi Hidaka collapsed where she was. Kayu Saitoh rushed to her and held her up, but the woman didn’t respond. Kayu Saitoh ran outside, scooped up some snow, and threw it on Nokobi Hidaka’s face. The woman cracked open her eyes and moved her red-stained lips, mumbling something. A foul stench rose from her mouth.

Unmistakably, the plague had returned.

And unmistakably, Nokobi Hidaka had it.

Kayu Saitoh’s thoughts flashed back to the past, and in her mind’s eye she was back in the slaughter and the blaze that the plague had brought about.

“It’s hopeless,” Kayu Saitoh whispered without thought.

It’s hopeless,
she knew.
If that madness swallows us again, Dendera will really be finished this time. It’s hopeless.
She called out Nokobi Hidaka’s name again and again. The woman continued to mutter, her blank eyes moving weakly about. Suddenly, the life came back to her eyes and she sprang up like a seedling and moved away from Kayu Saitoh.

“No!” she shouted. “W-why … why is this happening to me? No. This isn’t the plague. I just wasn’t feeling well. That’s all. Of course, that’s all. Of course …”

She didn’t say anything after that. Vomiting blood again, she curled up in pain. The torrent of blood pooled and spread, and stained the white robes of Shigi Yamamoto, who remained seated and unresponsive.

“Don’t move,” Kayu Saitoh said, rubbing Nokobi Hidaka’s back. “Just lie down. You need to rest.”

Nokobi Hidaka didn’t stop spewing blood. Her neck muscles spasmed, her back trembled, and the vital fluid seemed like it would keep coming until she had none left inside. Kayu Saitoh didn’t know what she should do aside from rubbing Nokobi Hidaka’s back, and the frustration of it was overwhelming. She looked to Shigi Yamamoto for help, but the woman didn’t move a muscle, even with the blood soiling her, instead sitting still beside the hearth.

At some point Nokobi Hidaka ceased to vomit, and she placed her hands on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Then, with a quivering hand, she wiped her mouth.

Her voice uncannily clear, Nokobi Hidaka said, “No, this is the plague. The plague has … has done me in. Isn’t that so, Kayu? Am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong.”

“Hadn’t we wiped it out? Hadn’t it gone away? This must be because I ate that bear meat.”

“No. The meat wasn’t the source of the plague. Nokobi Hidaka, you did nothing wrong.”

“I did. I did.” Nokobi Hidaka spat out the blood that lingered in her mouth. “I killed the women with the plague sixteen years ago, and I killed them again this time.”

“You’re not a bad person. You don’t need to talk like that.”

“I won’t be able to resettle with you.” Tears welled in her eyes. “I beg you. Don’t tell anyone about this. I don’t want to be killed. I don’t want to be butchered. I don’t want to be set on fire.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone do that to you,” Kayu Saitoh said. “But I have to tell them about the plague.”

“I don’t want to be butchered. I don’t!”

Nokobi Hidaka sat up and reached out her red-stained palms to Kayu Saitoh.

“Calm down,” Kayu Saitoh said, pressing against her hands. “I won’t let them kill you. I promise I won’t.”

“It’s the plague! They’ll kill me!”

“I told you I promised, didn’t I? Killing doesn’t stop the plague. I know it doesn’t, so I won’t let them.”

Kayu Saitoh had proclaimed her resolve, but all she could do for Nokobi Hidaka at the moment was to lay her down and rinse the blood from her body. Then she mopped up the floor with snow and laid the woman to rest, but she did not do so while keeping calm. Inside her, turmoil built upon turmoil. She even started to let out guttural moans. She was a mindless beast, her arms and legs working briskly, but almost entirely of their own accord. As if in confirmation, her mind began to turn off. She felt herself wanting to take out her frustrations on the motionless Shigi Yamamoto, and she hated herself for it. She looked down at Nokobi Hidaka. Wrapped up in bloodstained robes, the woman was breathing raggedly, but soon she reached sleep. Her breathing steadied, but her face was ashen and the corners of her eyes developed an indeterminate twitch.

Kayu Saitoh left the hut and walked through the forlorn morning. Masari Shiina’s manor was her destination. She couldn’t predict the reaction she’d receive, but she felt obligated to inform the chief of the plague’s reemergence. Kayu Saitoh’s thoughts were still in turmoil, but as she stepped across the snow, she vowed to oppose the death sentence should one come from Masari Shiina’s lips. If Kayu Saitoh could do nothing else, she would at least prevent Nokobi Hidaka from becoming a sacrifice. As she swore this to herself, she also felt a duty to talk about the resettlement. Though unsure of the reception any of her words would receive, Kayu Saitoh nevertheless stepped into the manor.

And there she saw that further events had already developed.

Someone had come to the manor ahead of her, and it was Hotori Oze.

The woman’s white robes were stained red and exuded a foul odor.

“What the hell is this?” Hotori Oze was yelling. Kayu Saitoh had never heard her in such a rage. “I’m serious. I don’t want to die to some plague. Listen, Doves, what the hell is this? I didn’t eat the bear meat. We killed the ones who did. So why do I have the plague?”

Hotori Oze directed her hostile gaze on Masari Shiina and Hono Ishizuka. Her eyes were wild, seething in surrender to the heat of hatred. Kayu Saitoh had never seen her like this either.

Masari Shiina and Hono Ishizuka faced the crazed woman head on. They were determined to overpower her with their knowledge and their pride, and without retreat, denial, or deception. Maru Kusachi, on the other hand, was looking anywhere else, uninvolved.

“Well, even if you ask us like that,” Hono Ishizuka said, “we still won’t have an answer for you.” Her expression remained composed, but a twitch in her cheek revealed the effort that took. “Hotori, would you please calm down? We don’t know the source of the plague either.”

“I don’t want to die this way. I need to destroy the Village. Why the plague?”

Trying to placate her, Hono Ishizuka said, “Going forward, I’d like to reinvestigate this plague.”

“Reinvestigate? Nonsense. Utter nonsense. I’ve had enough of your mockery!”

“Wait a minute, Hotori. Why are you yelling at me?”

“Don’t look at me like that! I’ll give
you
this damn plague.”

Hotori Oze lurched for Hono Ishizuka, but Kayu Saitoh restrained her. Hotori Oze flailed about, yelling, “Let me go!” but Kayu Saitoh wrapped her arms around the woman’s. It was only then that the women noticed Kayu Saitoh’s presence.

“Kayu,” Hono Ishizuka asked, “what are you doing over there?”

The woman’s eyes went to Kayu Saitoh’s face, dropped to her blood-stained robes, and then went wide.

“It’s not me,” Kayu Saitoh explained reflexively. “Nokobi Hidaka caught the plague. It happened this morning.”

“Nokobi Hidaka, huh?” Hotori Oze said, putting on an expression not far from a smile. “So it’s not just me, then. Hah, well, well, so the plague attacks Dendera once more. That’s the end now, isn’t it?”

Kayu Saitoh asked, “When did you start showing the symptoms, Hotori?”

“Just a moment ago. I threw up blood,” she replied brusquely. “I didn’t eat the bear, but I still threw up blood. Foul-smelling blood, and a lot of it too.”

“Well, Hono Ishizuka, how are you going to explain this to the rest of Dendera?” Kayu Saitoh glared at Hono Ishizuka, with the thought of Ire Tachibana and Kushi Tachibana on her mind. “Anyone can see that the plague had nothing to do with the bear meat. It’s out in the open now.”

“Again, you can ask us that sort of thing all you like, and we still won’t have an answer. We know next to nothing about the plague, and that’s that.”

“You don’t know what this plague is. Your food reserves have dried up. The Doves’ reputation is plummeting.”

“Kayu, this is hardly the time to be talking like—”

Hotori Oze shook free of Kayu Saitoh’s arms. “What are you going to do? Tell me, Dove. What are you going to do? What are you going to do with me? What are you going to do about the plague? Shall I spread it for you?”

Whether or not the decision was beyond Hono Ishizuka’s capacity, Masari Shiina stepped forward. She swept her single eye across them. Kayu Saitoh couldn’t detect any trace of frustration in the leader’s gaze.

“I commend you for not hiding your condition,” Masari Shiina said, looking to Hotori Oze. “I do not believe that killing you will bring any peace of mind to the women of Dendera. Instead, we would prefer to work toward the discovery of the plague’s cause.”

“Work toward the—” Hotori Oze sputtered. “That’s the best you can say? Well, what are you going to do with me?”

“I’d like you to tell me your actions over the past several days. We’ve been in this besiegement for twelve days. We know the plague couldn’t have come from outside. Therefore, the source must be somewhere within Dendera.”

The leader next looked to Kayu Saitoh. “Bring Nokobi Hidaka here as quickly as you can. I want to hear her story. The plague’s source could be hidden in something both of these women have done.”

Kayu Saitoh hesitated, then looked Masari Shiina straight on and said, “Instead of that, won’t you consider leaving Dendera? It’s not too late. Let’s resettle. Abandon Dendera. Right now.”

“You’re still talking about that?”

“This has happened because you forever persist in clinging to Dendera. Why won’t you even try looking for a new place where there’s no bear and no plague?”

In a menacing tone, Hotori Oze said, “Listen, Kayu Saitoh, you’re only able to talk like that because you don’t have the plague. You think you can start some new life, but it’s only a fantasy that has enthralled you.”

Masari Shiina said, “I won’t abandon Dendera. And I won’t run from the plague. Quit this foolishness and quickly bring Nokobi Hidaka here. And don’t stir up a fuss about it.”

“Shit! How obstinate can you ladies be?” Kayu Saitoh retorted, but it amounted to nothing more than a parting shot. She had said what she needed to say, had behaved how she needed to behave, and had done all she could do, and she recognized that what she now needed to do was listen to Nokobi Hidaka’s story.

Kayu Saitoh turned in anger and left the manor. She was on her way back to the hut when she noticed Maru Kusachi moving ahead of her. What Kayu Saitoh immediately felt was nothing more than a hunch, but she sensed that Maru Kusachi was trying to escape to somewhere far away. She tackled the woman from behind and pressed the back of her head into the snow.

“Don’t try to escape,” Kayu Saitoh said. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“Would you let me go?” Maru Kusachi said through the snow in her mouth. “You’re hurting me, and I’m cold.”