‘Jirokichi was in his house and watched him pay off the three creeps who run the gang. Takeo was one of them. They caught Jirokichi leaving. That’s why they tortured him, to find out what he knew.’
Akitada was even more doubtful about this news. ‘Did they actually talk about setting fires?’
‘Umm, no. Not in so many words. But you can see-’
‘You’re accepting the word of a thief. If he told the truth, he would have been dead by now. It’s just a bunch of hoodlums terrorizing merchants and tormenting the weak.’
Tora snapped, ‘Well, they tried to kill him. Maybe they couldn’t find his hideout. I couldn’t.’ He took a deep breath. ‘All right, don’t believe me. I’ll tell Kobe myself. I think he’ll listen.’ He turned on his heel and stalked away.
Muttering under his breath about Tora’s manners, Akitada went to check on his family. Tamako was nursing the baby, and Hanae sat near her. She was feeding Yuki small bits of melon with a pair of chopsticks. They looked calm and happy.
‘There you are,’ said Tamako with a smile. ‘Please forgive my not rising to make you a proper bow.’
She was teasing. They had both become very casual about such conventions between husband and wife. In fact, they behaved almost like equals these days. He liked that.
He went to sit next to her, peering at his daughter’s rosy face. That small and tender dark head against Tamako’s white breast was to his mind one of the most perfect things of his world. He reached out a finger to caress his daughter’s silken hair and let it stray to Tamako’s warm skin. ‘I will hold you to proper protocol later, wife,’ he murmured. ‘You mustn’t think that you can forget your duty to your husband because you’re a mother again.’ Tamako blushed and bent her face more closely to the baby’s.
‘Should I leave?’ Hanae asked, eyeing Akitada with raised brows.
They said ‘no’ together. Tamako still looked embarrassed, even though she smiled, and he wished he could take his words back.
He desired his wife more than ever, but it was too soon. Besides, he would not be able to come to her bed tonight anyway.
He left the women and went to discuss the arrangements with his retainers. In the morning, Genba would go to hire sedan chairs. Seimei and Tora would accompany the women and children to his sister Akiko.
Tora protested immediately.
Akitada said, ‘Your arm is not healed enough for you to use your sword.’
Tora glared. ‘I’m not useless,’ he snapped.
Akitada tried to soothe his anger. ‘Someone has to guard the women on the journey.’
‘Very well, but I’ll return as soon as they are settled.’ Seimei cleared his throat. ‘I’d like to stay also, sir.’
Akitada threw up his hands. ‘Then who will look after my family?’
Seimei bowed his head and agreed to travel with the women.
Next, they considered how best to guard the house during the night. Only one of the buildings was close enough to the wall so that firebrands could be thrown on to the roof. That was the small house Tora and Hanae occupied. Since the front courtyard and the gate could be watched from there, Seimei would be installed on its porch with a small gong by his side to give an alarm. Akitada and Genba would patrol the rest of the property continuously during the night hours. Tora, who could not be expected to use his sword arm yet, would sit on the ridge of the stable roof to watch the street in front of the residence and the rest of the compound.
Akitada was frustrated that there was no word from Kobe. They could only hope that the night would remain quiet. After that, the women and children would be in a safe place. He inspected the stores of water and sand, and found them inadequate, but there was nothing he could do about that. Perhaps the good soaking from the rain would slow a fire down.
They managed to keep their worries from the women. Akitada shared his evening meal with Tamako and mentioned casually that he wanted to do some work on their accounts and would sleep in his study.
By the end of the hour of the boar, the household had retired. It was fully dark outside, and the lights inside the house had been extinguished. Akitada and Genba took turns walking the grounds. Because of the overcast skies, the darkness was intense.
Akitada finished the first watch and was relieved by Genba. Sitting down beside Seimei, he said softly, ‘I’m very sorry for putting you and the others through this. You must be tired. Why don’t you go to bed? The three of us can manage.’
‘The old need little sleep, sir.’
Seimei sounded alert, and Akitada was grateful for the company. He leaned back against the porch railing, looking up at the dark sky and the even blacker outlines of trees and roofs. ‘Do you think that murder can ever be a moral option for a man? That it would be not only cowardly but also wrong to go on living without killing?’
After a moment, Seimei’s voice came from the darkness. ‘Master K’ung Fu-tzu says, “To see what is right and not do it is cowardly.” Do you plan to kill someone, sir?’
‘No. But I have met such a man: a man who has killed. It troubles me, and I wonder what to do.’
‘Ah. When a frightened bird hides in his sleeve, even the hunter does not kill it. You feel pity for this murderer. That is like you, sir.’
‘But what shall I do, old friend? If I act the way I have been taught by my ancestors, and by the rules of the ancients and by the law I must serve, I will bring tragedy to the innocent along with the guilty. What does your Master K’ung Fu-tzu have to say about that?’
Seimei chuckled softly. ‘They say the master was quite free of words like “shall”, “must”… or “I”.’
‘Lucky man!’
They fell silent. Akitada thought about Fuhito. Something nagged at him: something that did not fit, was still not explained. From the far distance came the sound of the palace bell marking the next hour. If they came tonight, it would be soon. Restlessly, he got up to check Tamako’s pavilion. She had left its doors open to the coolness of the night breeze. He wanted to close them, but was afraid to wake her. Instead, he went to sit on her veranda steps and listened to the night sounds and his daughter’s soft mewling in her sleep.
He thought he heard Genba’s step at one point. A little later, there were the sibilant sounds of a whispered exchange. Who was he talking to?
The whispering troubled him enough to get up and check. He found nothing and returned to Seimei. After a while, Genba emerged from the darkness like a large shadow.
‘Nothing so far, sir,’ he muttered, sitting down.
‘Did you talk to someone just now?’ Akitada asked.
‘No. You said “no talking”.’ Genba sounded astonished.
‘I thought I heard whispering.’
Genba got to his feet again. ‘Where? I’ll go have a look.’
‘No, you rest. I’ve already checked. I must have imagined it.’
Akitada started his second round. He trod the familiar paths of his garden and listened for unusual sounds, but heard nothing. The same silence prevailed in the front courtyard and behind the stable. Only the restless moving of the horses could be heard. Akitada climbed the ladder and raised his face above the roof edge. Tora crouched near the ridge, his head lifted slightly. When he recognized Akitada, he shifted closer.
‘All’s quiet, sir,’ he hissed.
‘Good.’ Akitada climbed back down and resumed his circuit. He hoped Tora did not think he was checking up on him. A moment later, he passed behind Tora’s house and thought he smelled burning again. But the odor was very faint; probably a remnant of last night’s cooking fire.
Near Tamako’s pavilion he heard a rustling in the shrubbery and seized his sword, but it turned out to be the neighbor’s cat. He chased it to the wall and saw it momentarily outlined against the faintly lighter sky before it dropped down. Suddenly, the night seemed full of unfamiliar noises. He peered up to the top of the wall again. There was a slight reddish tinge in the sky towards the west. He decided to climb up to Tora’s rooftop again to get a better view of the city.