* * *
The air cooled with the coming of evening. The three of them found the pond just as Tetta described it, in a beautiful, secluded glade. Slanting sunbeams filtered through the leaves to dapple on the water. The pond was perhaps eighty paces across at its widest point, tapering at one end, with much of its bank draped in trees and undergrowth. He had no idea how deep it might be. Most of the waterline was choked with reeds, but as he bulled through the patches of dense growth, he found short stretches where the reeds had been flattened or removed for fishing. In these areas, he found footprints, bits of string, and even a broken fishing pole. Akao disappeared, to perform his own meticulous search. The pond was flanked along one side by a steep rock face that stretched up through the boughs out of sight. As they searched the banks of the pond, Ken’ishi felt the endless weight of the hill above looming over him, an eternal presence in this secluded spot. Water trickled down the rock face, leaving interwoven tracks of many colors, surrounded by patches of deep green lichen. The water was deep and murky in the middle, so Ken’ishi could not see far into its depths.
They searched the banks for an hour, but found no trace of Tetta. They searched the path between the pond and the village for spilled blood or any signs of a struggle, but found nothing. Eventually the gathering darkness forced them to give up.
They returned to the village as the sun was beginning to set. They found Norikage waiting for them at the constabulary. As Ken’ishi entered the office, Norikage said, “I made several inquiries around the village. No one has seen Tetta today.”
Ken’ishi said, “Let’s go and talk to Chiba. Perhaps he had something to do with this.”
“Of course, but he would deny it,” Norikage said.
“Then we will interrogate him until he confesses.”
“Let us not be overzealous. Chiba and his brothers have friends among the other fishermen. We should not turn the town against us. The people of Aoka respect you, Ken’ishi, but never forget that you are an outsider. We are both outsiders. They will turn on us before they turn on one of their own unless our claims cannot be disputed. Do not confuse respect for friendship.”
“They must obey.”
“That is true, but we are two and they are many. Remember our position. We cannot turn to the government for assistance if they turn on us. We must keep order. When there is no doubt, then we will act.”
Ken’ishi sighed, feeling helpless and worried about Tetta. Kiosé stood just behind him, and he could tell from her face that she was even more worried than he was. Despite the fact that Tetta owned her, he treated her better than most women in her position could expect, and he protected her from Chiba. Tetta had a son who would inherit the inn if Tetta were dead, but Gonta was young and inexperienced, and he sometimes ridiculed her without mercy. Ken’ishi knew that she feared what would happen to her if Tetta were gone, even more so now with the impending revelation of her condition.
Norikage said, “I have an idea. We will not arrest Chiba, but he is a stupid boy and does not like pressure. If he believes we suspect him in Tetta’s disappearance, he may inadvertently provide us with what we seek.”
Ken’ishi smiled grimly. “You’re a devious man, Norikage.”
“Remember where I come from.”
Ken’ishi said, “Kiosé, remain here in Norikage’s office. Do not open the door for anyone but us.”
She bowed. “Understood.”
“Now, Ken’ishi,” Norikage said as he began to lead Ken’ishi away from the office, “Let me do all the talking. You merely have to stand and look threatening. Make sure he can see your sword.”
* * *
Darkness had fallen by the time they found Chiba at the docks, securing his fishing boat for the night. The moment he saw them, he stood rod straight and glanced about for a means of easy escape. Ken’ishi and Norikage walked down the dock toward him. If Chiba were going to run, he would have to leap into the water first.
Chiba demanded, “What do you want?”
Ken’ishi caught Norikage’s glance warning him to be silent. Norikage answered, “Your cooperation, Chiba.”
The young man glanced back and forth between them. He was about Ken’ishi’s age, but the fisherman’s hard life had already darkened his skin, worked deep lines into his face, and left thick calluses on his hands. Ken’ishi sized him up. Chiba was strong and well muscled. His features were broad and blunt, like his father’s, with thick lips and an outthrust jaw, close-set eyes, and thick, brine-encrusted hair hanging in ragged strands around his face. Ken’ishi noted that he wore a sheathed knife tied to his waist, perhaps the same boning knife Yoba had used to kill Masahige. Ken’ishi’s fists and teeth clenched. His blood thundered in his ears. How badly he wanted to punish this miscreant for beating Kiosé! Silently he entreated the kami to coax Chiba into giving him an excuse.
“What kind of cooperation, honored constables?” Chiba’s words dripped with disdain.
Ken’ishi clamped his will down upon the rage surging in his belly. He took a long deep breath, focusing his will.
Norikage said, “We only wish to ask you a few simple questions, Chiba. Have you seen Tetta today?”
Ken’ishi noted the flash of panic in Chiba’s eyes. The young fisherman knew why they were here.
“I have not seen Tetta today.”
“When did you see him last?” Norikage said.
“A few days ago. I saw him in the street. He stayed away from me.”
“And why is that?”
“You know why! Because of his whore!”
“What of her? We know where she is. Tetta is the one who is missing. His family is worried about him.”
“Why are you asking me these questions?”
“We are asking everyone questions. We only want to find out where Tetta might have gone. His family is concerned.”
Even through the haze of his own anger, Ken’ishi noted the skill with which Norikage used his voice to alternatively wheedle and demand answers.
Norikage said, “Why are you so nervous, Chiba? Surely you do not think we suspect you had something to do with Tetta’s disappearance.”
Chiba’s jaw clenched so ferociously that the muscles of his cheeks flexed. He said nothing.
“Very well. If you say you have not seen him, then you have not seen him. Let’s go, Ken’ishi.” Norikage bowed slightly, turned, and flashed a coaxing glance at Ken’ishi.
Ken’ishi took a step toward Chiba, and the fisherman took a wary step back. He thrust the hilt of his sword forward. “Chiba, if anything has happened to Tetta, I will kill you. If anything happens to Kiosé, I will kill you. Do you understand?”
Chiba’s face blanched as white as a fish’s belly.
“Do you understand!” he roared.
Chiba flinched, but hatred smoldered like hidden embers behind the fear in his eyes. “Yes, constable! I understand.” His words were subservient, but his bearing was not.
Ken’ishi leaped forward, grabbed Chiba by the collar, and struck him across the cheek with the back of his fist. “Do you understand!”
Chiba reeled from the force of Ken’ishi’s blow, and his knees buckled. The defiance drained out of him like water from a punctured bladder. His voice was quiet and respectful, quivering with fear. “Yes, constable. Understood.”
“Come, Ken’ishi. There are more people we must speak to.” Norikage’s voice was bright and cheery, belying the tension of the moment.
Ken’ishi released the fisherman’s collar and backed away several steps, then he turned to follow Norikage.
When they were out of Chiba’s earshot, Norikage said, “That went well. He is frightened. Frightened men make mistakes. We shall soon see the truth, I think.”
Ken’ishi grunted in agreement, but he was not so sure.
“Now,” said Norikage, “I think we need to speak to Tetta’s son. Gonta may be able to tell us when Tetta was last at home. And there is something else. He is the person most likely to benefit if so
mething happened to Tetta.”
Ken’ishi glanced at him. “Are you saying Gonta might have killed his own father?”
“That is not what I’m saying, but I do not think it is impossible. In the capital, I heard of many far more heinous acts. Perhaps Gonta helped his father into an early grave so that he could take over the inn.”
Ken’ishi thought about that. A son killing his own father was one of the most heinous acts he could imagine. For a moment he considered how things would change if Tetta were dead. Tetta’s family would suffer a grievous loss. Kiosé’s welfare would suffer, too, and Gonta might force her to cease her relations with Ken’ishi. And Ken’ishi would lose one of his most influential allies in Aoka village, the innkeeper.
When they arrived at the inn, they found Gonta hard at work preparing the noon meal. There were no travelers staying in the inn, but some of the villagers occasionally went to the inn to eat or have a cup of tea or sake. There were no customers today, but when they entered, Ken’ishi saw several small baskets of food and gifts placed on tables in the main room, an outpouring of concern from many of the villagers.
When Gonta saw them enter, he hurried toward them. His brow glistened with sweat from his work. He was long and lean, much like his father, with the same forehead and bulbous skull, but with less of the joviality that Tetta put to such good use in his inn. He was a young man, in his early twenties, and had not yet found a wife. Gonta said, “Thank you very much for coming to visit, honorable constables. Have you any news about my father’s whereabouts?”
Norikage said, “I am sorry, Gonta. We have learned nothing yet. In fact, that is why we are here. Perhaps you can help us.”
Ken’ishi did not believe that Gonta had anything to do with Tetta’s disappearance, but Norikage had a devious mind and was crafty enough to consider uncomfortable possibilities. Therefore, Ken’ishi would pay close attention to Gonta’s reactions to Norikage’s questions.
“Of course, sirs! I am happy to do anything.” Gonta appeared surprised and hopeful that he could help find his father.
“When did you last see him?” Norikage asked.
“Yesterday morning, he told me he was going fishing. There is a pond where he likes to fish not far from the village. I often went there with him when I was a boy.”
“But you did not go with him this time?”
“No. I seldom go with him anymore. There is too much work here for both of us to be absent.”
“Did anyone go with him?”
“No, he always goes alone. He says that he goes fishing to be alone.”
“But no one has seen him since yesterday? Are you sure that he went fishing there?”
“He always goes fishing there.” Gonta grew more fearful. “Perhaps something happened to him along the way! Robbers!”
Norikage said, “Or perhaps he did not go fishing. Perhaps he went to Hakozaki.”
Gonta shook his head. “I don’t think so. He would have told us if he was going to Hakozaki.”
“Very well,” Norikage said. His voice sounded as if he had asked enough questions for now.
Gonta said, “Um, honorable constables, there is something else. Two days ago, I saw a tanuki go under the inn.”
“A tanuki?” Norikage said.
“Yes. It saw me, and then it crawled under the inn. It was in broad daylight! Isn’t that strange? Perhaps it is a bad omen.” Ken’ishi imagined a naughty tanuki digging a burrow under Tetta’s inn, and its low-slung, furry body, with the playful-looking black mask over its eyes. Tanuki were well known for their mischievous natures, and they could change into the shape of anything, much like foxes.
“Yes, that is strange.”
“I was worried that the tanuki might harm the family, or the inn, or cause some other sort of trouble, and I told Father so, but he wasn’t worried. I’m afraid my father may have been tricked somehow by the tanuki.”
Norikage rubbed his chin.
Gonta continued. “Or maybe what I saw was a fox that shaped itself into a tanuki so that we would blame the tanuki and not the foxes!”
“Foxes and tanuki usually don’t like each other, but that seems a bit unlikely,” Norikage said skeptically.
“Perhaps,” Gonta conceded, “but it is possible that my father was tricked and lured into the forest, isn’t it?”
A chill trickled up Ken’ishi’s spine.
“Yes, I suppose it is. Well then, thank you, Gonta, for all your help. Rest assured we will find your father,” Norikage said.
With that, Ken’ishi and Norikage left the inn and went to talk outside. When they were out of earshot, Ken’ishi said, “Gonta had nothing to do with what has happened to Tetta.”
Norikage nodded. “You are right, Ken’ishi. That was evident, unless Gonta is an accomplished liar. It looks like the pond is going to be the place we need to investigate. What is it? What are you thinking?”
Ken’ishi said, “I am thinking about Tetta being lured into the forest by a fox. I know what it’s like to be fooled by a beautiful creature like a fox.”
Norikage nodded. “The scars on your spirit are still raw, I see.”
Ken’ishi said nothing, but continued to imagine a beautiful woman, a fox in disguise, leading a mesmerized Tetta into the forest to work some trickery on him.
“Well, anything is possible, isn’t it! We must keep an open mind, yes?”
Ken’ishi nodded, wondering what would come of all this.
Ten
A white swan swimming . . .
Parting with her unmoved breast
Cherry-petaled pond
—Roka
Lady Kazuko sat on her favorite balcony, overlooking Lord Tsunetomo’s cherry orchard. The air would soon grow hot with the approach of summer, but the days were still pleasant with cool, fresh breezes, and lush new greenery. The afternoon breeze was warm, smelling of new life and fresh wonder. She sighed as she remembered the Cherry Blossom Festival here at the castle several days ago. It had been boisterous and joyous and . . . dreadful. How things changed in only one year. She looked back at the way she had been only such a short time ago and saw only a naïve, innocent fool. She had been nothing more than a tool to cement an alliance for her family, and she had served her purpose. Last year, she had been a child. This year, she was . . . what? The barren wife of an aging lord? A wife who had cuckolded her future husband on the day of their betrothal? A woman who had loved so passionately, so briefly, so brightly, that she had become blind to the rest of the world?
The beauty of the cherry blossoms, like the exquisite thrust of a dagger, so delicate, so ephemeral, should have given her feelings of wonder and happiness, but all she could think of were the events of last year, and the exultation and the devastation. She feared she would never be able to enjoy cherry blossom time again, and part of her was angered by that, as if she had lost something precious that could never be regained.
Most days, she was fine. She went about her duties, directing the business of her husband’s house, having tea with Hatsumi or Lady Yukino, practicing calligraphy and painting. She wanted to continue her training with the naginata, but for some reason Yasutoki had forbidden it at first. He said that martial weapons practice was unbecoming the lady of the house. This angered her, and she went to her husband, who intervened on her behalf. She sometimes found that the physical exertion of practice left her with spirits uplifted. Lord Tsunetomo would give her anything if she asked for it. That was a great deal of power she possessed over him, and she tried not to abuse it. She could have acted like a petulant, greedy child, but she chose not to. Sometimes she felt that Lord Tsunetomo was her only ally.
Hatsumi’s behavior had changed in the last year. In the old days, she had been a pleasant and kind-spirited companion; these days, she was usually sullen and mean-spirited. Kazuko wondered if sometimes her own black moods had contributed to Hatsumi’s behavior.
Soon after her arrival, Kazuko had been introduced to her new sister-in-law, Lady Yukino, Tsu
nemori’s wife. Lady Yukino was pleasant and matronly, in her early forties, more than twice Kazuko’s age. Kazuko sometimes enjoyed playing a game of Go with Lady Yukino, but this made Hatsumi angry for some reason. Perhaps because it was apparent that Lady Yukino did not like Hatsumi and treated her like a servant, rather than Kazuko’s friend. For this reason, Kazuko did not go out of her way to spend time with Lady Yukino, but she could hardly refuse when she was invited.
Lady Yukino enjoyed talking about her son, her pride and joy. He was a young samurai in Lord Tsunetomo’s service. Did Lady Yukino have aspirations that her son would become Lord Tsunetomo’s heir, if Kazuko failed to produce a son? If Lord Tsunetomo died without an heir, Tsunemori would be in a position to seize his lands. This sometimes made Kazuko wary of Lady Yukino’s motives, but she had never discerned anything underhanded in her manner or her company.
Yes, some days were passable. But on others, her world was a swirling typhoon of guilt and shame and misery. Some nights she still could not sleep for the sadness that consumed her. Sometimes, she had the same terrible dream, a dream that she longed to live, a dream she wished never to end. But it always did. Sometimes she wished she would die and leave her mortal body behind and slip into the dream world, never to return, never to be reborn. It was the only paradise she could imagine. But her sleep was so disrupted that she never felt rested. She would grow tired at the wrong times, as if her spirit forever wanted to return to that dream.
The breeze caressed her face, and she imagined that it was his touch, listened to the breeze’s susurration as it slid over the castle’s stone walls, rustling the leaves of the trees. Children played somewhere, their laughter echoing among the castle walls like the breath of ghosts. She wished for children again. If she could only produce an heir, her husband would be happy with her. He consulted every astrologer he could find, he prayed daily for a son and requested that she do the same, all to no avail. These days she saw the disappointment in his eyes when he looked at her, even though he tried to mask it. There had been times where his virility flagged, or perhaps his interest in her, or perhaps his hope of ever conceiving a son, and he did not come to her bed for many days. During those times, she was both relieved and disappointed. The closeness of his body, the brief stab of pleasure she experienced at their coupling, helped to stave off the perpetual loneliness, the endless longing for someone else.
Heart of the Ronin Page 29