‘When?’
‘How should I know?’ Mrs Hamada added slyly, ‘Some gentlemen show a pretty young woman a lot more respect than you do. She may decide to spend the night.’
Tora glared. ‘That’s a lie. She’s to be a nursemaid to one of the children.’
Mrs Hamada cackled. ‘You’re a fool, Tora. Hanae’s much too pretty for any lady to hire as a nurse.’
‘And you’re an evil-mouthed hag,’ Tora snapped. ‘And something else: next time stay away from my property. It’s cowardly to beat a poor dumb animal that can’t defend itself.’
She flushed with anger. ‘Good riddance to you and that monster,’ she cried. ‘He killed one of my chickens, and you’d better pay for it.’
‘I don’t believe you. Where is it?’
‘It’s in the soup. Poor people can’t afford to give a chicken a proper funeral.’
‘Then I hope you choke on it.’ Tora turned away in disgust.
She cursed after him as he walked away.
Tora’s anger at Akitada faded. Now he was sick with worry. The neighbor had an evil tongue, but Tora was beginning to doubt the nursemaid story himself. He did not like the idea of the sedan chair. Being too edgy to wait in the little house, and not wanting to leave the dog to Mrs Hamada’s cruel care, he cut a length of rope, looped it loosely about the dog’s sore neck, and got back on his horse.
It was dusk when they reached the Sugawara residence.
Genba let them in, looking anxious when he did not see Akitada.
‘He’s spending the night in Otsu,’ Tora said. ‘With a small boy.’
‘With a small boy? What’s going on? Why are you looking like that?’
Tora did not answer. He dismounted and took the horse to the well to water it. Then he tied the dog to a tree.
‘Whose dog is that?’ Genba asked, his voice a little louder. ‘And the horse looks worn out.’
Tora sagged down on the well rim and put his head in his hands. Where was Hanae? How could he find her? And what was he going to do about Akitada? He had walked out of the inn room in Otsu too angry to think straight.
‘Tora?’
He looked up at Genba. ‘I’ve made a mess of it, brother. But the devil only knows what a man is to do in my case. The master wouldn’t let me get a message to Hanae, and now she’s gone, the gods only know where. I was supposed to question people in Otsu, but instead I went home to Hanae. The dog’s name’s Trouble. He’s mine. Our neighbor beats him, so I couldn’t leave him there.’
‘Trouble?’ Genba’s eyes grew round as he worked through this garbled response and grasped the salient part. ‘You left the master in Otsu? Without telling him? That’s not good. What’s this about a boy?’
Tora rubbed a hand across his eyes and told Genba what had happened at the Mimuras.
Genba’s face lengthened. ‘But that means the master still has the gold with him. And you left him to ride back with all that gold, and with a small child, on an injured horse?’ Genba’s voice rose with anxiety. ‘How could you? You’ve sworn to serve and protect him.’
Tora grasped his head again. ‘I know, I know. I meant to go back as soon as I talked to Hanae. But what am I to do now? She’s gone. Abducted. Hanae’s my wife, and she’s going to have my child. I just thought she needed me more than he did. He’s got his sword. And he should’ve let me explain. Genba, what good is my life if I’m not allowed to look after my own?’
Genba shook his head and sat down beside him. ‘I’d go myself,’ he said, ‘but somebody’s got to look after Her Ladyship and the house.’
‘I have to find Hanae.’
‘What happened?’
Tora explained his suspicions about Lord Sadanori and how she had been taken away in a sedan chair.
Genba brightened. ‘It’s probably nothing. If she says she’s to be a nursemaid, then that’s what she was hired for. She’ll be back later or tomorrow and tell you all about her visit. You need to go back to Otsu.’
Tora shook his head. ‘I’ve a bad feeling about this. Something’s wrong. I wish I knew where to look for her. If she’s been abducted, she’s not going to be in Uji.’
In the end, Akitada was arrested. He even had to bear the humiliation of having his hands tied with a constable’s thin chain and his feet hobbled so he could not run away. The latter would not have happened if he had not made the mistake of snatching up his sword to keep the warden from taking the boy. Raising a weapon against a duly appointed officer of the law while he was carrying out his duty was so serious an offense that Akitada’s rank did not protect him from the ensuing indignities. In any case, the sword was as useless as his arm after one of the constables had disarmed him by delivering a sharp blow with his iron rod.
During the night, which Akitada spent on the floor of one of the cells, his forearm became swollen and throbbed. He slept fitfully, in pain and sick about having been forced to abandon the child again to the vengeful fury of the Mimura family. He was also afraid that Tora would not come back.
Warden Takechi came to see him in the morning. Akitada did not bother to rise. He answered the other man’s greeting with a harsh, ‘I shall see you prosecuted by the law if anything else happens to that child. After I told you about the Mimuras, I expected you to make certain the boy was safe.’
Warden Takechi raised a hand. ‘He spent the night with my family. It was too late to make other arrangements, but my wife will look after him until the matter is settled.’
Akitada got to his feet. ‘Sorry, Warden, I did you an injustice. That was good of you and your wife. What happens next?’
‘The boy’s in the office. Would you like to see him? To make sure he’s all right?’
‘Of course.’
In the office, another surprise awaited him. The youngster who had been arrested for the theft of the matron’s silk was waiting with a short elderly woman. The woman held the boy by the hand. When the child saw Akitada, he turned his head away.
Akitada’s heart sank. He went to the boy and said, ‘I’m so glad to see you well this morning.’ The child hid his face in the woman’s skirt. It was a moment before Akitada remembered to greet the youth. ‘I’m afraid I don’t know your name,’ he said.
‘Manjiro, sir. This is my mother, Mrs Yozaemon. We heard about your troubles and came to see if we could help.’
Akitada was touched. Here he was, a prisoner in Otsu, without a friend or servant, and these two strangers had cared enough to come to him. ‘You honor me,’ he said, choking a little, and bowed to both of them. The mother bowed more deeply and began to thank him. Akitada interrupted her. ‘Thank you for coming, but I hope to settle this ugly matter quickly and return home with the boy.’ He looked at the child again, but met only a baleful stare.
The woman said, ‘Poor little tyke,’ and stroked the child’s hair.
‘At the moment he’s in the warden’s care. I’m worried that he may be returned to the people who tormented him.’
‘We could take him for a while, your honor,’ she said shyly. ‘I’m alone except for Manjiro, and the child would be company when Manjiro’s working. I don’t get about much because of my bad back.’ She paused. ‘We’re poor, but my little house is as clean as I can keep it. We eat simple food, but he would never go hungry.’
Akitada looked at the warden, who nodded. ‘I don’t see why not. Until we know what happened to the child. The parents have a claim on the boy, you know.’
‘ If they are his parents,’ said Akitada. ‘And even then, I believe they have lost the right to this child. I’ll pay Mrs Yozaemon for his care, but I have only a few silver coins and coppers on me. My saddlebags are at the inn.’
Mrs Yozaemon said, ‘Oh, you don’t have to pay us. Not after what you did for Manjiro.’
‘Thank you, but I insist.’
The warden pointed to a corner of his office. ‘Your things have been brought. The innkeeper wanted the room for other guests.’
The man had been in a hurry to get rid of his notorious guest. ‘What about my horse? He is valuable, and I have no intention of losing him. And what happened to my servant, Tora? He was supposed to return to the inn last night.’