She tried not to toss and turn, and breathed a silent sigh of relief as the first slivers of light stole into the room at last and she began to make out shapes in the darkness. Ko was snoring and didn’t stir when Temperance made her way stealthily out of bed. There was no sound from the room next door where the other ladies slept either. For the last two mornings, Ko-san hadn’t moved so much as a muscle when her charge went into the garden, and Temperance prayed the woman would remain asleep today as well.
Wearing only a bed gown and tabi, the strange socks with a separate section for the big toe, she walked quietly towards the verandah just as she had done every morning for the past few days. She made no less noise than usual; in case Ko woke up she wouldn’t want her to think there was anything special about this day’s sunrise viewing. Once out in the garden, Temperance made her way to the spyhole, then waited, on tenterhooks in case Kazuo didn’t keep his word.
All was silent, save for the chirping of a few birds who appeared to be clearing their throats, ready for the day’s singing. As Temperance strained to hear the slightest sound, she caught only the sighing of the breeze and the occasional call of an animal. At last a voice whispered outside, ‘Temi?’
‘Yes, I’m here.’
‘Then climb, and quickly please.’
She didn’t need to be told twice. Making her way over to the tree, she cast one last glance towards the verandah, but Ko didn’t appear to have moved at all and no one was watching her. She grabbed a sturdy branch and pulled herself up, grabbing the trunk of the tree with her legs as much as possible. Thanks to the self-defence training Midori had given her, she had developed hitherto unused muscles. She sent a silent thank you to her cousin now as she managed to heave herself up to the level of the wall’s crest.
She felt as if she’d been making a terrible racket, the leaves on the branch rustling and her feet scrabbling for a foothold against the bark, but when she paused for a moment to listen, there was still no movement from inside the building. With one last enormous effort, she flung one leg over the top of the wall, then pushed herself into a sitting position and looked down. In the semi-darkness below she saw Kazuo with his arms stretched up towards her. ‘Jump!’ he urged, and she hesitated only briefly before she let go of the tree.
Kazuo caught her, but the impact was such that they fell to the ground together, with him underneath taking the brunt of it. He made a muffled sound then embraced her quickly before pushing her upwards. ‘There is no time to talk,’ he whispered. ‘We must leave immediately, before my absence and yours is noted. Come.’
He took her hand and together they set off at a half-run in the direction of the lake. Temperance let him lead the way without questioning him as to their destination. She didn’t much care where they were going, as long as it was away from here. Another wall blocked their way out of the garden, but Kazuo took her to a small back gate which was only manned by a single guard, who was yawning behind a half-raised hand.
‘Wait behind this tree,’ Kazuo whispered and Temperance nodded, peeking out from behind the trunk to see what he would do. The poor guard was half asleep, and it proved easy for Kazuo to sneak up behind him and hit him on the side of the head with the handle of his sword. The man went down without a sound and Kazuo beckoned Temperance forward. ‘Hurry.’
Outside the wall was a moat, but a bridge spanned it nearby and they made their way to it stealthily. Presumably the guards were all on the inside of the closed gate at night as there was no one about here either. They ran on silent feet across to the other side as fast as they possibly could. After that, it didn’t take long to sprint down to the edge of the lake and Kazuo led her along the shore a little way to a place where they were shielded from view by trees, before he stopped.
‘Now we swim,’ he said.
‘What?’
‘It will throw anyone following us off the trail. If we don’t steal a boat nor any horses, they will assume we’ve left on foot and will look for us along the roads or in the forests. I doubt they will imagine us swimming, so that is what we must do. Besides, if they bring dogs to track us, there won’t be any scent for them to follow.’
Sunrise was coming ever closer and the grey sky had turned a paler shade of silver, but over the lake hung little clouds of mist, floating sleepily just above the surface of the water. Temperance realised this would provide excellent cover for them.
‘Go on, take your clothes off. This is not the time to be modest,’ Kazuo chided, while divesting himself of his own clothing. From behind a small bush he retrieved a large wooden tub, which he must have hidden there previously, and Temperance saw that it already contained a bundle. Kazuo added his clothes, swords and shoes, then picked up the garments Temperance had removed and put them in the tub as well. Shivering in the chill of the early morning, she waded into the water after him, and saw him unfurl a rope that had been tied to the tub, which he looped around his wrist.
‘That was well thought of,’ she murmured and he grinned at her.
‘I didn’t want to have to walk around in wet clothes for the rest of the day. Now swim, as fast as you can. It will keep you warm if nothing else.’
The water felt cold and Temperance had to clench her teeth together in order to submerge her body without shrieking. She swam after him with quick strokes, shuddering as the icy water enfolded her, but she knew it wasn’t just the cold which was making her body act like that. Part of it was a reaction to the escape and fear that they would be discovered any moment now. She tried to listen for sounds of pursuit, but couldn’t hear anything other than the shushing noise of the tiny waves rushing by.
Dear God, please help us now, she prayed. He had helped her once before, would he do so again?
Kazuo knew that Temi was a good swimmer as he’d witnessed this for himself the day they met, but he was still impressed when she managed to keep up with him for a long time without complaining. They both kept their splashing to a minimum, which made it more difficult to swim fast, but they soon settled into a rhythm that took them away from Tanaka’s domain in a short space of time. Kazuo kept the shore in sight as much as possible, but stayed as far out as he dared so that the thick mist hid them from view.
He could see the tops of the trees by the lakeside, but hopefully no one there could see them. The foggy tendrils could have been interpreted as an extraordinary piece of luck, aiding their escape, but he believed it was his ancestors’ way of assisting them. He had been born on an extremely misty day and his mother told him it was a sign that mist would always be his friend thereafter. He hoped she was right. The swirling mass was certainly helping now. It must mean the kami of those who had gone before them had come to give him their blessing. He was extremely grateful.
He glanced at the woman by his side, wondering what it was about her that had captivated him to the extent that he was now risking his mission for her sake. Had he gone mad or had she perhaps cast a spell on him? From the moment he’d set eyes on her, he had been fascinated, and when he saw her at the mercy of Tanaka and the loathsome Imada, he just knew he had to help her somehow. It was sheer madness and he had, as yet, not even a fixed plan as to where they were going. His main concern had been to spirit her away from Tanaka’s estate before it was too late. Now what was he to do with her?
As if she’d read his thoughts, she glanced at him, her lips quivering slightly with cold. ‘How much further?’ she whispered.
‘As far as we can manage. We’re not far from the shore, so we can stop any time, but the further away we are, the better. Can you continue a while longer?’
She nodded and clamped her teeth together so hard he saw a muscle in her jaw twitch. He could tell that she was trying to be brave, but he was asking a lot of her and he needed to make sure she stayed strong as they weren’t out of danger yet. Far from it, in fact.
‘We can rest for a moment if you wish, just float. Here, let us share our body heat.’ He stopped swimming and pulled her into his arms, treading water, as
he’d done in the sunlit bay where they first met. Lake Biwa on a cool early autumn morning was a far cry from that warm haven, but as he held her close the heat between them was, if possible, even more intense in comparison to the cold all around them. He felt her relax her tired muscles, letting him do most of the work of keeping them afloat, and her soft curves moulded themselves to his hard body as if the two were meant to be one. It was a surreal moment, enveloped as they were by moisture of one kind or another on all sides, and with the tub containing their belongings bobbing nearby like a child’s toy boat.
Pale slivers of daylight had begun to reach through the mist and when Temi turned her face up to his, Kazuo saw the trust in her eyes and was deeply moved. Acting on impulse, he buried his face in the hollow of her throat, savouring the feel of her soft skin against his cheek and mouth. She responded by leaning into him and he felt her quivering again, although not with cold this time. With an inward sigh he moved his head away, then just held her. This was not the time, he told himself sternly, and he couldn’t abuse her trust, no matter how fierce the desire that raged inside him. He knew that she relied on him to guide her to safety and this thought spurred him on.
‘Can you continue now?’ he asked gently, releasing her from his grip, but not letting go of her arms until her legs started to move.
She nodded and wordlessly they began to swim once more. Kazuo closed his eyes and prayed for strength of mind and help from his ancestors and the goddess of the lake.
He would need all the assistance he could find this day.
Chapter Thirteen
It had been a long and tedious journey and Haag wasn’t the only one to heave a sigh of relief when the Dutch party arrived at the inn in Nihonbashi Hongokucho where they were to stay. It was situated not too far from Edo castle, where the Shogun held court, but the inn’s location didn’t really matter because, as always, the foreigners weren’t allowed to leave its confines. The only time they were permitted to set foot outside was for their obligatory visit to the castle.
‘What’s the point of coming all this way if we can’t even see the sights?’ Haag grumbled, but he knew the rules as well as everyone else. The Shogun didn’t like foreigners and they were there on sufferance. If they wanted to continue to trade with Japan, they had to accept all the edicts and restrictions put on their movements. There was no other choice.
Haag knew that a few coins could work miracles, however, and he had no intention of staying cooped up here, kicking his heels for weeks on end. As soon as all his fellow countrymen had taken to their beds, he went in search of the innkeeper’s son, whom he’d seen earlier loitering in the courtyard. Most youths were always ready for a bit of fun and in Haag’s experience they were usually kept short of money by their parents. Hopefully, that would make this one more amenable to a little bribery. This proved to be the case.
Haag’s grasp of Japanese wasn’t very good, but he managed to make himself understood with a few words and a lot of gestures. ‘Women. Drinking. Music.’ He mimed enjoyment of these essentials. ‘Pleasure district?’ He’d learned the word for that early on as there was one in Nagasaki where most of the whores came from.
The youth, who’d said he was called Kenji, nodded with a knowing grin. ‘Yoshiwara,’ he said. ‘Follow me.’
Either he wasn’t aware that the foreigners weren’t allowed out or the bribe made him turn a blind eye. Haag didn’t really care which. He sneaked out of the inn via a back door and stayed in the shadows, happily wearing a strange hat and a belted jacket the youth provided as a disguise.
Once in the pleasure district, he hoped to find others to bribe. Perhaps someone there would know of a gai-jin lady with ash blonde hair? If she was in the city, she’d stick out wherever she went. Someone had to have seen her. All Haag needed to do was find that person.
He was still angry at having lost his prize, just when she was so close to being in his grasp. And he dreamed of her every night – tortured dreams where he caressed her creamy flesh, buried himself inside her, made her pay for all the frustration she’d caused him – then woke in a state of painfully unfulfilled lust. It hadn’t helped that Noordholt wouldn’t let them engage the services of any whores along the way to Edo. Haag couldn’t remember the last time he’d been without a woman for this long and it was driving him insane.
It was yet another thing he’d make the Chief Factor pay for eventually.
But first he’d enjoy a night on the town at last.
By the time they waded ashore, Temperance was aching all over from the unaccustomed exercise and her breathing was coming out in short, painful gasps. Kazuo picked up the tub and, looking round to make sure this part of the shore was truly deserted, nodded for her to follow him into the dense forest. Feeling ready to collapse, she stumbled after him and sat down on a large stone as soon as they were sheltered from view by the trees.
‘Oh, dear God,’ she panted. ‘I can’t move another step.’
‘We can have a short rest, but we’ll have to keep going all through the day if we are to stand a chance of evading capture. Here, dry yourself and put some clothes on.’ Kazuo held out a piece of cloth and some garments. ‘I brought you some men’s clothing. It will be easier to walk in. You don’t mind?’
Temperance shook her head, too tired to even reply. She lifted her arms to dry herself, but they refused to obey her and in the end she just sat on the rock holding the cloth against her. Kazuo finished dressing himself, then looked up and saw her.
‘Here, give me that.’ He took the cloth back and pulled her to her feet, then began to rub her briskly. ‘We must get your blood moving or you’ll catch a chill. Turn around.’ Temperance stood meekly while he dried her all over, then helped her into the clothes. There was a strange pair of breeches, similar to the ones Midori had given her, which were very comfortable, and a tunic and belt. Deftly, he dried her hair as much as he could, then twisted it into a knot and secured it on top of her head by tying a piece of material around it. Finally he handed her the broad-brimmed straw hat he’d been wearing at Imada’s house, and wriggled a pair of straw sandals onto her feet. ‘There, you’re ready.’
‘Thank you. You are very kind. I see now that I definitely must have been wrong about you.’ Temperance sat down on the rock once more as Kazuo handed her some sembei and told her to eat it quickly.
‘What do you mean you were wrong about me?’ He looked puzzled.
‘I thought maybe you’d sent those ronin to capture me in the bay the week after you left. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that I should meet with two lots of outlaws in such a short space of time. Or am I wrong? Is Ryo a friend of yours?’
‘Never heard of him.’ Kazuo was frowning now. ‘And why would I send someone to kidnap you?’
‘Well, for the money I suppose, but it’s clear that you are not like Ryo and the others.’
‘I most certainly am not. I don’t know who they are, but they must have happened to come along just as you were in the bay. Perhaps they were the ronin I saw when I turned back to escort you home? Why did you go back there? I would have sent word if I had returned.’
‘You would? I didn’t know. You said something about a sign …’ It seemed stupid now, the idea of going back to look for him, and Temperance was too embarrassed to admit how desperately she’d wanted him to be there. ‘I suppose I wasn’t thinking clearly,’ she finished lamely.
‘What’s done is done, now we have to concentrate on evading Tanaka’s men. He’ll be in a towering rage when he finds you gone, on top of everything else that’s just happened to him. It will probably be the final straw as far as he’s concerned.’
‘Do you know if he found his wife?’
‘Of course he found her. She was being guarded by his brother and I was told she was sent back to her family in disgrace. She’s probably committed seppuku by now.’
‘Seppuku?’ Temperance knew this was a form of ritual suicide only practised by people of the samurai class. Her cousi
n had told her about it a long time ago. ‘Surely they wouldn’t expect a woman to do such a thing?’
‘Why not? It is the only way to restore her honour, although Tanaka might have wished to deny her even that small mercy. He’s a cruel man. I know that he went after her lover and he will have killed him and his entire family, but then the slight to his honour had to be avenged, of course.’
‘Dear Lord! Did he have to kill that many people?’
‘Of course. The provocation was great.’
Temperance didn’t really understand this concept and shuddered to think it might be directed at her now. ‘Where I come from we have a saying, “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”, which basically means that revenge should be the same as the provocation. That doesn’t seem to be the case here.’
Kazuo shrugged. ‘It is more complicated than that, but there’s no time to discuss it now. One day I will tell you about the code of the samurai, then perhaps you will understand.’
Temperance doubted this very much, but was too tired to do more than nod in agreement. ‘Let’s go then. I feel rested now,’ she said, although that was far from the truth.
‘Very well. Just wait one moment while I dispose of the tub.’ Kazuo took it to the edge of the lake and filled it with stones before throwing it as far out as he could. It sank beneath the waves, leaving no trace.
Warmth and movement soon returned to Temperance’s limbs and she was able to follow Kazuo towards the mountains. They headed west first, in order to confuse anyone following, as they would probably be expected to head either north towards Edo or south towards Kobe and the coast.
‘They will think you’re trying to go back to your family. At least I hope so, then they will concentrate their search in the south and thereby give us more time.’
‘Where are we going though? I mean, I do want to go back to Dejima eventually, if possible, but I understand that it would be dangerous to try to aim for that immediately.’
The Jade Lioness Page 13