She watched them as they walked toward her and maintained a noble reserve when they arrived, but her eyes were quick and bright with interest.
Lieutenant Saeki addressed her. “Tell this gentleman what you told me, auntie.”
She studied Akitada’s tall figure in a leisurely fashion. He had the odd fancy that she searched for outward signs of depravity in his face, proof of physical weakness in his body, and bad taste in his clothes. When he cleared his throat, her eyes came back to his face, and she cackled.
He said, “Please, grandmother, if you have any news of the young man I lost, tell me. He is my responsibility. I must account for his welfare to his parents.”
She nodded. “Good! Parents should take care of their children. Children should take care of their parents. The Ancient One teaches this.” Her voice was high and strident, and she spoke in a singsong rhythm.
He said, “I also admire Master Kung-fu-tse. I see you are a wise woman.”
She pursed her lips. “He didn’t have any liking for women, the Ancient One.”
“Possibly his only mistake,” said Akitada politely.
He must have passed the test, for she decided to answer his question. “I sit here most days. I like to watch the sailor boys come and go.” She cackled again. “Such bodies! Young. Strong. Such muscles. Give me a muscular man any day. They make the best lovers because they don’t get tired.”
The women around her squealed and giggled. One of them covered her face and said, “Mother, please don’t say such things.”
The old one opened a toothless mouth and burst into more cackling laughter. “Stupid girl,” she told her daughter. “You with that weakling of a husband, what do you know?” She looked Akitada up and down again. “You’re tall for one of the good people. Do you please your wives in bed?”
Akitada kept a straight face. He had only one wife, who had ideas of her own on the subject. “As often as I possibly can.”
“Hehehe!” She slapped her thighs, then got serious again. “Well, I was sitting here when the boys from the Black Dragon passed by. Time for them to go home to Kyushu. I know them all. We pass comments as they walk by.” She grinned. “They like to show off to the women, even old ones like me. Those thighs and buttocks!” Her hands made grasping motions and she smacked her lips. “Sailors use those legs and hindquarters extra hard on a ship.” She winked at Akitada. “And elsewhere, too.”
The women covered their mouths and giggled again.
The old woman shot them a glance. “You know what I mean, don’t you girls? Hehehe. So long as your husbands are at work, what do they know?” Her daughter pulled her sleeve and muttered, “Please, Mother!”
Lieutenant Saeki was getting impatient. “Never mind all that. Get on with what you saw.”
The old woman glared at him. “Thighs and buttocks! That’s what counts in a man,” she said firmly, giving the lieutenant’s a disparaging glance. But she relented and turned back to Akitada. “There was a youngster with them. A city boy, wearing a prissy robe and hat, like you.” She grinned. “Couldn’t see his thighs and buttocks, but he was young and tall and eager. The kind of boy a woman can teach a thing or two.”
It must have been Sadenari. Akitada asked the lieutenant, “Where is the Black Dragon now?”
“It left hours ago.”
Akitada thanked the old woman, and took Saeki aside. “We must go after that ship. I believe my clerk was tricked and is on board.”
Saeki shook his head. “Can’t be done, sir. If he’s really on the Black Dragon, and there’s no proof of that, he’s on his way to Kyushu. You can’t catch that ship. It’s one of the fastest. And on its homeward journey, it’ll be even faster.”
Akitada bit his lip. What if the Black Dragon was run by pirates? Otherwise, surely they would have brought Sadenari back. He said, “Perhaps Watamaro could help us.”
Saeki grinned. “The Black Dragon’s not a pirate ship. It belongs to Watamaro, sir.”
*
Akitada and the lieutenant stopped at the Kawajiri harbor to ask if a young man of Sadenari’s description had been seen climbing into a boat with some sailors returning to the Black Dragon. They found no witnesses, perhaps because the ship was already in the channel and on the point of departure.
It was after dark before he reached Naniwa again. Although he was tired and his arm throbbed again, he went straight to Nakahara’s office. He almost did not recognize the room. Someone had removed the disordered piles of confiscated goods, and the space was now large, spare, and businesslike. All the empty space and the flickering light of candles and oil lamps emphasized the impression that he was walking into a court session. Governor Oga, Nakahara, and Munata awaited him, seated side by side like judges of the underworld awaiting the souls of wrongdoers.
Oga, his corpulence compressed in a stiff brown brocade robe and his double chins nearly strangled by the collar, sat in the middle and addressed him coldly and without preamble.
“Finally! Whatever the details and circumstances of your assignment, sir, it seems to me that it should have been handled differently. I don’t hold with secretiveness and prevarication. You should have reported to me when you first arrived here.”
He had a point. Courtesy as much as proper protocol required that the highest ranking official be apprised of problems immediately. But Akitada’s instructions had been to speak with Nakahara and investigate the matter quietly. The trouble was that it had not remained quiet.
Akitada bowed. “My apologies, Governor. I arrived here with specific instructions from the Ministry of the Right to check out an internal matter connected with the foreign trade office. Since that office is separate from the provincial administration and operates directly under the Ministry of the Right, I was not required to notify you. Things got out of hand when my clerk was abducted and I was attacked while searching for him in Kawajiri.”
Oga huffed rudely.
Akitada ignored this and continued, “I’m afraid the situation has become dangerous. I thought it best to notify you. Provincial forces may be needed to arrest and punish the guilty. It turns out that Sadenari may have been taken away on a ship and must be rescued. His father is a court official who is much respected. I think any indifference shown by the province or the prefecture would not sit at all well with his friends or the central government.”
This was an exaggeration. Sadenari’s family was of very minor importance, but Oga might not know that. More importantly, Akitada had reminded Oga of his authority in the investigation.
Oga hooted his derision. “The young fool probably just went off on a little jaunt. It’s ridiculous to link his going on board a ship with some sort of conspiracy or with pirates. Ever since the Sumitomo rebellion, certain people have nursed unreasonable fears about a few ambitious fishermen who try to improve their lot by stealing small items from careless skippers. There have always been cases of piracy on the Inland Sea. It’s our version of the thieves and robbers in the capital who terrify the courtiers in their very offices.”
It did not help that the comment about the lack of security in the capital was deserved. Akitada fully agreed with Oga that flagrant crimes committed in the very heart of the government enclosure were a shameful sign of a lack of control. But a far bigger problem for the emperor and his ministers was the threat of an uprising in the provinces. That might topple the government and cost thousands of luves.
Munata and Nakahara, their faces were stiff with disapproval, agreed with Oga. Akitada’s anger and his worry about Sadenari had caused him to speak much too harshly to Nakahara and Munata earlier. It had got him nothing but stubborn non-cooperation and hostility. Now the governor had joined their faction. He felt defeated.
“What is it that you recommend doing, Governor?” he asked after a moment.
“Nothing at all. The police have done all that needed to be done. Your clerk has gone on a sea voyage. The young have an adventurous spirit and get carried away by foolish notions. My own son . . .” He stopped himself. “When your clerk gets tired of his explorations, he’ll return. And you were careless and tangled with some rough men from the waterfront. Fortunately, nothing much happened. As for the notion of someone selling shipping information to the pirates, it seems to me if that were the case, the information would have come from Hakata in Kyushu where the ships originate, and not from here. I propose informing His Gracious Excellency, the Minister of the Right, that we have met, discussed the situation, and found that the reports were mistaken. No doubt, you will wish to return to your duties in the capital.”