Gloria Oliver (28 page)

“Enough!”

He cringed under Asaka’s whispered command, knowing he’d been babbling like a fool.

“The kettle has already been found,” Asaka told him in an emotionless tone. “You are needed to remove it. We will leave now.”

Dizzy with relief that his life wasn’t quite yet over, he hurried to his feet. He heard the rustle of silk in the darkness as Miko took his arm. “This way, Toshi-kun,” she said.

He stepped quietly through as she led him into the garden on the other side of the wall. Asaka followed, a long, covered bundle on his shoulder.

Numerous questions bubbled up in Toshi’s mind as they followed the garden’s cobbled path toward the building. He forced himself to keep silent as they came to an open door.

Stepping into the building, he could see vague shapes of things by the moonlight streaming in from outside. The building was quiet, and he saw no sign of guards. After many turns, Miko pulled on his arm and brought him to a stop as they reached the sliding door of a common-looking room. Asaka knocked on the frame three times. The door opened.

Toshi was taken inside, and instantly he felt the presence of a number of the others there. Bright dual points of light stared at him from a number of places in the small room.

“Toshi-kun, it’s over here,” Miko said. She laid his hand on top of his strap-rigged basket. He put it on.

As he turned around, he felt something wet and sticky beneath one foot. He jerked away from it, but didn’t ask what it was. He didn’t want to know.

“We have what we came for,” the samurai said. “Let’s leave.”

Miko grabbed his arm again as the group stepped out of the room. They swiftly made their way back to the garden.

With a touch of unplaced dread, he noticed four of the men before him were carrying something rather large over their shoulders. He forced his gaze away, wanting no clue as to what they were carrying, or why. The size was much the same as the bundle he had seen Asaka carrying with him before.

Upon reaching the back wall enclosing the garden, the skeletons slipped out the hole in the wall one by one. The rest of the group crowded in close, awaiting their turn. Toshi ended up beside one of the men carrying a bundle.

He turned away, still not wanting to know what it was. Instead, he stared into the face of a fresh corpse.

He tried to stumble back but was impeded by a hand on his arm. With a pale face, he looked back at who had stopped him and found Miko staring at him.

“Toshi-kun, it’s our turn,” she said.

Looking at nothing as he followed her lead, he slipped through the hole in the wall out into the street beyond. He stood shivering, trying to ignore everything around him as he waited for the others. He almost jerked away as Miko leaned close.

“Do not worry. They died while carrying out their duty to their lord. There is no greater honor.”

He shook his head, knowing she didn’t understand. Life was cheap. It was a fact they all grew up knowing. But those men, those samurai, had died because of him, a peasant. It was wrong. It wasn’t the way things were supposed to work in the world. He had caused it, but he’d had no right. If not for his stupidity, it would never have happened. He had no one to blame but himself.

He didn’t resist as Miko signaled for him to go on. He saw nothing but the dark street beneath him as they quickly made their way through town. His gaze wavered as exhaustion seeped into both his body and soul.

The group kept to the shadows and slowed down as they neared the edge of town. Toshi tripped as they crossed a small bridge over an outlying river, the sounds of his steps loud in his ears. Several pairs of hands reached out to keep him from falling. He never noticed.

Though his exhaustion deepened even more, he kept going, drawn on by Miko’s gentle pull at his arm.

Pine trees, bamboo and giant ferns began filling up the side of the road, hiding them from view.

They’d run down the intense darkness for some distance when Asaka led them off the road and into the surrounding trees. Toshi was forced to pay attention. The way was uneven and filled with unseen obstacles. The brisk pace made it difficult for him to stay on his feet. Whenever he faltered, those around him would grab and lift him until he was running on his own again.

“Hold on. It shouldn’t be much farther.” Miko’s voice rang close to his ear.

He didn’t acknowledge her words, needing all of his concentration just to keep standing. Miko was forced to hold him back as he tried to go on when the others came to an abrupt stop.

He allowed himself to collapse. With aching arms, he removed the straps of the basket from his shoulders. As soon as he’d gotten them off, he lay flat on the ground.

Orders hastily flew around him, but he paid them no attention. Miko knelt down next to him and with a gentle caress began to numb his screaming shoulders. After a short while, she persuaded him to sit up long enough to retrieve his blankets out of the basket. Taking them out, he ignored the food he saw inside, though his stomach grumbled loudly. He set the blankets out and lay down, happy to let exhaustion take him.

“You mustn’t leave once you awaken,” Miko said. “Remain here for the day and wait for us.

Asaka-sama has found a better way for us to get you to our destination. Wait for us. Toshi?”

He nodded as she pressed him, though his mind had barely registered what she’d said. When she said nothing more, he gave in fully to his exhaustion and soon dropped off into a dreamless sleep.

Toshi’s eyes fluttered open. With a start, he sat up as he realized it was full daylight. Berating himself for having overslept, he got up. He groaned as his shoulders and back protested. It didn’t look like it was going to be a good day.

He pushed the hair out of his eyes and glanced around. It took a moment to realize he had no idea where he was. With a gasp, he remembered how he had gotten there and why.

His throat burned as he stared at his muddied clothes and body. It had all been such a useless waste. He was worse off in many ways than when he’d first reached the town. It’d been a terrible mistake.

The forest pressed in all around him, no evidence of his rescuers anywhere at hand. Opening the basket, he stared for a moment at his folded set of clean clothes and then ignored them. He scooped out some rice cakes and smoked fish and made himself eat. After that, he cleared a small place before the largest tree he could find and put some food before it. In this makeshift shrine, he prayed for the safe journey of the dead guards’ souls to their next life. He also asked their spirits to please not hold a grudge against his lord. He told them their deaths had been all his doing.

As he left the tree, guilt still lay heavily inside him as he made his way back to his blankets. The rising heat and the dried mud on his body made him itch, but he did nothing to alleviate it. He climbed back into his dirty blankets and stared at nothing.

A faint rustling sound brought him awake. He was amazed to be surrounded by darkness, not remembering ever falling asleep. He sat up, wondering if his companions had returned yet.

“Good evening, Toshi-kun.”

“Miko-san!” Though he couldn’t see her form, there was no mistaking the twin blue points of light staring his way.

“Are you hungry?” she inquired.

His stomach rumbled at the question. “Yes, I think so.”

Miko took his hand and placed a bowl in his palm. In the other hand she placed a pair of chopsticks.

Thanking her, he began to eat, hungrier than he could have ever imagined. Miko continued to give him food until he finally declared he’d had enough.

“Thank you, Miko-san. I needed that,” he admitted.

“How do you feel?”

“Better,” he said quietly.

“That doesn’t quite answer my question, Toshi-kun.”

He lowered his eyes. “I’m still a little tired, I guess. My arms and shoulders still hurt from all the digging, but only a little. My back feels fine.”

“Hm, I guess you’d better let me take a look at them and see what I can do to help.”

He sat still as Miko removed his shirt and examined his shoulders and arms. Her light touch numbed all of his immediate pain. He glanced back at her, surprised when she then put a cool substance on his sores. Somewhere she’d found a healing salve for him.

Feeling both glad and guilty for his respite from pain, he stared at the darkness around him and found only a few pairs of glowing eyes. “Miko-san, where is everyone?”

“A few are in the trees and others are keeping watch by the road. Asaka-sama and three others returned to Kyuiji.”

“Kyuiji? The town I was in?”

“Yes.”

He felt a shiver slither down his spine. “Why did he go back? He’s not fighting more samurai, is he?”

Silence hung between them for a long moment.

“No, that’s not why he returned. There has been too much death already. Our lord is not that wasteful.”

He realized from her tone he’d offended her. He’d known for some time he shouldn’t expect the worst from Asaka. Yet, it was a habit he was finding hard to break.

“Please forgive me, Miko-san, I meant no offense. I’ve been very foolish of late.”

She caressed his cheek before she put his shirt back over his shoulders.

“Lord Asaka fears the disappearance of the guards and your escape will come to be connected. He is afraid spies of our enemies will recognize this as a clue if their attention is called to it. Things have now become too uncertain to let you travel alone.”

He sighed heavily, feeling guilty.

“While trying to find you,” she continued, “we came across the perfect thing to allow you to travel with us. This new idea will also allow us to make better progress, since we do not tire as you do. Lord Asaka has returned to Kyuiji to acquire it.”

“Oh.” He straightened his shirt, wondering what it was they’d found. “Miko-san?”

“Yes, Toshi-kun?”

“How did you find me last night?”

He heard her get up in the darkness and shift to sit before him.

“Our fates are tied to the kettle you carry. We can feel its presence in a way we can’t explain. We followed that presence into Kyuiji. We began searching for you once we’d found the kettle, hoping you’d be nearby.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “So, if I’d been taken somewhere else and not been able to escape, you wouldn’t have been able to find me?”

“It would have been difficult.”

He sat and stared at nothing for a short while. “Miko-san, if you and the others can feel the kettle, wouldn’t it mean the ninja can, too? His fate is tied to yours and the kettle’s.”

He saw her eyes flare.

“I don’t know,” she said. “It had never occurred to me to think about it before. We are much closer to the kettle than he is likely to be, though. The ship would have brought us to the coast faster than he could have managed to travel in the water on his own. I would doubt he’s been able to catch up with us as yet.

Perhaps he cannot feel it move from far away.”

Toshi didn’t think she was convinced by her own answer.

“Well, it’ll do no good to worry about it. Whatever the answer is, it’s too late to do anything now. What does concern me, however, is how in the world I am going to get you clean.”

They’d yet to find an answer to her question after several hours had slipped past. All conversation stopped as the sounds of something moving through the forest filtered into their camp. Toshi felt his tensed muscles relax as he saw a number of familiar floating pairs of small lights approaching.

As the men poured into the camp, he spotted a pair of green-lit dots moving in his direction. He bowed deeply and could feel Miko doing the same.

“There are still close to five hours left before daylight, so we will make use of them. Gather your things,”

Asaka commanded.

“Hai, Asaka-sama.” He hurried to do as he’d been bid and groped in the darkness for his blankets so he could put them back into his basket. With Miko’s help, he followed Asaka across the camp once he was through.

“Duck down, Toshi-kun.”

He reached out until his hand landed on a smooth wooden surface. Using it as a guide, he ducked and crawled into what seemed to be a box with padding inside. As he got settled, a panel was pulled shut beside him. Still wondering where he was, he saw a small window on the panel open. Within moments, he was lifted off the ground.

“Miko-san, is this a palanquin?” he asked with some surprise.

“Yes, it is. It’s a rather nice one, don’t you think?” He saw her eyes flash on the other side of the window.

Toshi had never been inside one of the elegant traveling contrivances in his life. Sure, he’d seen them before, the wood box supported by two long poles that extended over the front and back. The passenger would ride in comfort inside it as two to four men lifted the palanquin and carried them to their destination. He would have been more excited if the reason for having to use one wasn’t so glum.

“Why don’t you try and rest, Toshi-chan? It would be safer if you didn’t sleep during the day.” The geisha’s bells rang in the palanquin’s all-encompassing darkness. “I will sing you to sleep if you like.”

“That would be wonderful, Miko-san. I have missed your songs very much.”

He saw a flash of blue beyond the small window as she broke into song. He let himself be lulled to sleep by her sweet voice and the even movements of the palanquin.

Hours later, a soft touch brought him awake. As he rubbed his eyes, he realized the palanquin had stopped moving. Straightening up as best he could in the small compartment, he grabbed hold of his basket as Miko opened the door the rest of the way.

Darkness reigned outside, but seemed bright when compared to that residing inside the palanquin. He stumbled out and tried to stretch his stiffened muscles.

“Greetings, Mitsuo-san.” He looked up at hearing Miko’s voice to find two points of white light bobbing toward them.

“Asaka-sama wished you to know this is where we’ll be stopping for the day,” Mitsuo said. “There is a stream not far from here to the east. There are a number of clefts in the rocks there that can be used as hiding places, if necessary. But, best of all, there’s a small clearing by the stream amply suited for sword practice.”