Takesuke had arrived, and theymust move, but attempting to open the gate would be certain suicide. When wouldthe enemy notice the fire? And would they care enough about a fire in a kitchenyard to abandon their watch on the gate? But fires spread. They could notignore this. At least some of the men in the courtyard would rush to put itout.
One of the archers on thewatchtower finally turned his head and saw it. “Fire!” he screamed, and again, “Fire!”his arm pointing. Akitada stepped back from the shutter. The men in thecourtyard turned, cried out, and after a moment’s consternation, an officershouted orders, and they began to run in all directions. Tora came to look andlaughed out loud.
Akitada slammed the shutter. “Comeon.”
They ran to the end of thecorridor and into an open gallery crossing a walled interior garden. Sleet haddriven in to gather against the walls and whiten the few shrubs and rocks. Agate led from the garden. Akitada found the stairs, and they ran down. Just asthey reached the small gate, it burst open and a warrior came rushing through.He saw them, cried, “Tell his Lordship there’s a big fire in the kitchens.Lieutenant Imazu has gone to put it out.” He turned, then paused and swungback, puzzled. “Who are you?”
Hitomaro’s blade flashed. Therewas a sickening sound, and the man’s head rolled into the shrubbery, his bloodspurting over Hitomaro and Akitada as the body sagged at the knees and fellacross their path. Hitomaro stepped over it to the gate. Akitada gulped andwiped at the warm wetness on his face.
“Go on, sir,” urged Tora behindhim, and Akitada gripped his sword, stepped over the fallen man, and followedHitomaro through the gate and down more steps. He saw that they were in thebarracks courtyard now and no longer alone. Soldiers ran this way and that,shouting to each other. Nobody paid attention to three armed men coming fromthe direction of the main house.
They moved quickly andpurposefully and passed unhindered through the inner gate, down more steps andinto the gate courtyard.
Here there were fewer soldiersthan before, though the watchtower was still fully manned with archers who sentvolley after volley of arrows down at Takesuke’s men outside. The arrows foundtheir targets. Screams came from outside, and triumphant shouts from above.Akitada thought of the narrow space outside and how any attempt on the closedgate meant almost certain death.
He hurried, trying to rememberwhat Kaoru had said about the gate-something about its being counterbalanced sothat one man could open it. There was another bloodcurdling scream, and hebroke into a run. Tora and Hitomaro followed. Someone shouted at them, but allthree made it under the gateway, and there, in the shadows, Akitada saw theropes and pulleys. Huge stones hung suspended by ropes that ran over wheels.The gate itself was massive, iron-studded, and barred with an enormoushorizontal timber. He could faintly hear the sound of battle-axes against themany layers of wood-Takesuke’s brave men dying in a shower of arrows fromabove-and felt defeated by the massiveness of the structure. Where was Kaoru?Tora was already pushing at the bar, and Hitomaro ran to give him a hand. Thebar did not budge. Akitada turned to look up at the ropes and stones, trying totrace their path, hoping to understand the crude but effective mechanism. Threeof Uesugi’s men rushed in, shouting questions. Akitada grunted something inanswer, but it was no good. They had realized the truth and attacked. One ofthem, a big, bearded man, ran at Akitada with the wicked steel blade of thehalberd aimed at his belly. Akitada moved aside, felt the blade slice throughhis trousers, took his sword in both hands and swung down, severing the halberd’swooden handle-a foolish move, because his attacker simply dropped it and drew ashort sword instead. For a moment they grappled. The other was bigger andstronger and forced Akitada back against the wall. Another soldier appeared behindhim, grinning too soon, because suddenly Kaoru was there beside Akitada andslashed at the man’s legs. As he fell screaming, Akitada managed to break freeand shove his sword into the man’s chest with such force that it disappearednearly to the hilt. An almost comical expression of surprise passed over thebearded face, then he sagged, skewered, a dead weight on the sword. Akitada hadto put his foot on the dead man’s body to pull out his weapon. He turned away,dazed by the violence.
“Get back, sir. Get outside!”Kaoru shouted to him and jumped for the largest of the suspended stones.
“Where have you been?” demandedAkitada.
Kaoru missed and jumped again. “Notnow,” he gasped. This time he grasped the stone and brought it down with him.The wheels spun, ropes creaked-
“Sir!” shouted Tora.
Akitada swung around and lookedinto another halberd coming at his chest. Uesugi’s people had finally graspedwhat was happening, and the fight was on. Akitada brought up his swordinstinctively and deflected the halberd. Equally instinctively- for nowhere hadhis past training involved fighting with swords against these viciouslong-handled weapons carried by most foot soldiers-he drove forward and wasmildly astonished how easily his blade slid into the other man’s belly.
“Sir-watch out!”
Tora again, and Akitada jerkedback, bringing the sword with him followed by a gush of blood and his victim’sscream. The gate enclosure had filled with men. There was no time to think,just to fend off the attack and kill. His lessons forgotten, Akitada slashedand swung, two-handed, at wild-eyed shouting men, making a path to the outside,dimly aware of Tora’s curses and Hitomaro’s broad shoulders and flashing blade.They beat them back, one by one, into the courtyard.
Others came running, but a loudclanking and grinding signaled the opening of the gate, and then came thetriumphant din of shouting men as Takesuke’s soldiers streamed into Takatamanor. They carried the Sugawara insignia of the white plum blossom on their redbanners, and Akitada felt a moment’s dizzy pride-until the slaughter began.
The passage was narrow, and asthe men emerged in groups of three or four at a time, a hail of arrows fromabove greeted them. The archers felled every second man. Akitada saw one of thearrows pass through a banner and into the man’s unprotected skull. As hewatched the soldier topple forward, another arrow glanced off his own helmet,making his ears ring, and Hitomaro pulled him into the shadow of the wall.
“Stay here, sir. Tora and I aregoing up.”
Akitada gulped some air andglanced up. Stairs led to the tower platform above him. From there, the Uesugi’sarchers were taking out Takesuke’s men as easily as the courtiers back in thecapital used to shoot the deer driven into an enclosure by beaters. He cried, “Comeon!” and made for the stairs.
“Wait, sir.” Tora caught hissleeve.
Akitada wanted to tear awayangrily, but then he remembered his place and stepped aside. A retainer’s dutywas to protect his master. Shame attached to him if he failed to do so.Hitomaro was already running up the steps, Tora at his heels, when Akitadafollowed.
The first steps were of stonebut where the tower began, they changed to wood and the space narrowed so thatonly one man could climb. Akitada could see the gray sky ahead. Then a faceappeared against it. Tora flung himself against the wall, and Hitomaro ducked.An arrow hissed past Akitada’s ear, hit the wooden wall behind him with a sharpthwack. The shaft hummed as it vibrated from the impact.