Akitada spread out the scrapand looked at it. The brush strokes looked like something a very small childmight make for a tree, a heavy vertical central stroke which sprouted three orfour dashes angling upward on each side. “What is it, do you suppose?”
“A tree?” suggested Takesuke. “That’swhat my man thought it was.”
Hitomaro came in with asteaming teapot. He and Tora both peered at the strange symbol.
“Some plant,” Tora said. “Seimeimight know it.”
“If the lines were neater, I’dsay a feather,” Hitomaro offered, pouring Akitada’s tea.
“A feather? Part of an arrow?”Staring at the sketch, Akitada raised the cup to his mouth, then remembered hismanners. “Some tea, gentlemen?”
They shook their heads. Tea wasbitter medicine to most people.
Akitada clapped his hands forHamaya and woke up Genba, who yawned, blinked at them, and went back to sleep.Hamaya came in, but shook his head when he was shown the sketch. “If you willwait just a moment…” he muttered, and scurried from the room. When hereturned, he carried a document box which contained carefully drawn lists offamily crests for all recorded landowners in Echigo and its neighboringprovinces. None matched the unknown crest.
“It means nothing,” snortedHitomaro. “The sketch must be wrong.”
Takesuke protested, “He’s agood man, sir. And he swore that it looked like that.”
Akitada nodded. “Curious.Perhaps, like the dragon symbol, it is a new crest. Clearly Uesugi has someone’ssupport, and it is not one of the registered families. Thank you, Hamaya.” Hewatched as the elderly man gathered the documents and left. Hamaya had provedanother staunch supporter during this trying time, refusing to return to thesafety of his house in town. With a sigh, Akitada said to the others, “Well, wehave two hours to find out if Uesugi will attack or withdraw. If he withdraws,tomorrow will be a day like any other. For the sake of reassuring the people,matters must appear as nearly normal as possible. Your soldiers, Captain, hadbest conduct a military exercise outside the city within view of the road toTakata. It will allow you to keep an eye on things.”
Takesuke nodded. “Yes, sir.Tomorrow, sir. But now, if you don’t need me, I shall prepare for battle. Incase there’s an attack tonight.”
When the door had closed afterhim, Akitada said, “A surprisingly good man. He wasted no words. But I amafraid he hopes for hostilities tonight.”
“Well, I’d rather have someaction myself,” snorted Tora. “This sitting around on our haunches is hard onan old campaigner like me. Why don’t the three of us get up some plan to defendthis hall? With the help of Kaoru and his constables, we could hold thisbuilding for days even if Takesuke fails.”
Akitada suppressed a shudder.Should the enemy reach the hall, they would set fire to it. That would leavethose inside the choice of being burned alive or falling to the swords andarrows of the waiting Uesugi warriors. He said, “No. Unlike you and thecaptain, I’m betting on a withdrawal. Meanwhile there is unfinished business.”When Hitomaro and Tora looked blank, he reminded them, “We still have threeprisoners, Umehara, Okano, and Takagi, and the unsolved murder of the innkeeperSato to take care of.”
“We shouldn’t be wasting timeon that now,” protested Tora.
Hitomaro added, “Those threeare happy in jail. They are warm and get three fine meals a day. Besides, they’vemade friends with the sergeant and the constables. Umehara has them running fornew ingredients for his soups and stews. The farmer’s boy does their cleaningchores in return for a game of dice. And Okano puts on a show every night. Ourjail seems like paradise to them, and the constables treat them like theirpets.”
“Good heavens.” Akitada shookhis head in wonder. Then he said dryly, “Nevertheless. Winter is coming andtheir families are waiting. Once the heavy snows start, they will have to stayin Naoetsu till summer. I must remind you that the tribunal budget does notallow us to provide comfortable lodging for extended periods.”
“But what can be done when thatMrs. Sato has disappeared?” asked Tora. “Her people haven’t seen her, and herparents are worried sick. For all we know, she’s been killed, too, and liesburied somewhere. We may never find her.”
“Hmm.” Akitada frowned andtugged on one of the armor’s silk cords that pressed on his injured shoulder. “Thereis another matter that has been worrying me. I noticed a very peculiar reactionby Oyoshi when he misunderstood something you said. It almost looked as if hethought he was suspected of murder. Perhaps we should have asked some questionsabout his background. He visited the Satos frequently to care for the husband.And it was curious that he did not recognize his own patient.”
“You can’t suspect the doctor,”cried Hitomaro after a moment’s stunned silence. “Why, if we cannot trust him,whom can we trust?”
“That is true.” Akitada sighed.He pulled a brocade-wrapped bundle closer and untied the silk cord. Inside wasthe lacquer box he had bought from the curio dealer. He opened it and poured apile of shells onto the desk. Akitada stirred them idly with a long, slenderfinger, then picked out two, holding them up. “In the shell-matching game,” hesaid, “you may pick a shell from the pile and, at first glance, it is a perfectmatch to one of yours, like these two zither players. But when you look moreclosely, you see a slight difference. The pictures are identical except for onesmall detail. One lady is performing on the thirteen-string zither, the otheron an older type with only six strings. A careless player may forfeit the wholegame by jumping to conclusions.”
“I don’t like such trickygames,” muttered Tora.
Hitomaro picked up the pictureof a woman playing a lute and stared at it before laying it back down. Hecleared his throat nervously. “Sir?”
Akitada looked up.
“I, er, met someone. Er, afemale.” Hitomaro stopped, flushing to the roots of his hair.
Akitada raised his brows. “Am Ito congratulate you on this feat?”
“No, sir. That is, we thoughtwe would get married, if… if it is all right, sir.”
Mildly startled, then pleased,Akitada said warmly, “This is a serious matter, indeed! If she has capturedyour heart, my friend, she must be a very special woman. But you certainly don’tneed my permission.” He paused, then asked anxiously, “You are not planning toleave, are you?”
“Oh, no, sir. Quite thereverse. I was wondering if we might have the empty storehouse in the farcorner of the compound?”
“The empty…?” Akitada beganto laugh. “Of course. But please settle your affairs quickly, for I can seethat your mind is not on business. My wife will be of assistance. What is thecharming lady’s name?”
Hitomaro bit his lip, then saiddefiantly, “Her name is Ofumi. She is wellborn, but misfortune has forced herto earn her living as an entertainer. She is very talented, a fine lute player,and well spoken, sir.”
“A lute player, eh?” Akitadastudied Hitomaro’s flushed face. Then he nodded. “I am sure that you havechosen wisely. Ofumi shall be welcome in our family.”
Hitomaro knelt and touched hisforehead to the floor. When he straightened up, he was completely businesslike.“What is my assignment tomorrow, sir?”
Outside footsteps crunchedthrough the gravel. Male voices spoke in rapid exchange. Hitomaro and Toratensed and looked toward the closed shutters.
Akitada frowned and adjustedthe leather-covered plate over his left shoulder. He was not used to wearingarmor and found it cursed uncomfortable, especially with the recent shoulderwound. He hoped there would be no fight tonight.
When all became silent againoutside, Tora asked, “Should I wake Genba, sir?”
“No. Let him sleep. He has hada hard day.”
They all looked at the gentlysnoring mountain and smiled.
Akitada thought. “There isstill Judge Hisamatsu. But I think you are right, Hitomaro; he is merely mad,more of a liability to his fellow conspirators than a threat to us.”
“What about the child?” askedHitomaro. “I could search Hisamatsu’s place in his absence.”