‘I wonder who lives there?’ she murmured, although she wasn’t actually sure she wanted to know the answer. Sakura hadn’t been able to identify the clan motif that decorated their palanquin and none of the men escorting them answered Hannah’s queries. ‘I guess I’ll soon find out.’
A quiver of apprehension shot through her. In a very short time, perhaps she would come face to face with whoever had ordered her abduction.
Close up, the castle looked formidable, almost like a prison, with large solid foundations. Hannah had to admit, however, that it was also very beautiful with its white-painted walls reflecting the rays of the afternoon sun. It must have been built to strike terror into lesser mortals, and it was certainly awe-inspiring.
Sakura told her the central tower, which was six storeys high, was called a tenshu. This was surrounded by a jumble of smaller towers and buildings of only three or four floors. Hannah had never seen such an impressive dwelling and wondered what kind of man would own a place like that. And what, in the name of all that is holy, could he possibly want with me? She pushed the question out of her mind and concentrated on her surroundings.
All the roofs had corners that turned up at the end, which was a strange sight. Hannah thought it added grace and beauty to an otherwise forbidding structure. An enormous wall, as well as two moats, surrounded the whole castle complex. She decided that anyone wanting to attack this place must surely think twice before attempting it. Her spirits sank. There was no way anyone could come to her rescue here, even if they should manage to find out what had become of her, which was unlikely.
‘Oh, Sakura, what is this place?’ Another shiver of fear went through her at the thought of what might happen to her here, but she tried to square her shoulders and stay calm. She had learned the Japanese considered it cowardly to indicate in any way that you were frightened. She definitely didn’t want to give her captors the satisfaction of seeing her quake before them.
The whole party clattered over a wooden bridge and under a large gatehouse. The guard waved them through, lazily leaning on his lance. When he caught a glimpse of Hannah and her red hair through the window of the litter, however, he was startled into full awareness. She almost laughed at his expression, but she was too nervous now. Instead she tried to compose herself.
They passed over another bridge, then through an outer courtyard and a further, smaller, gatehouse into an inner quadrangle.
‘We’re here, Hannah-san,’ Sakura announced unnecessarily and took Hannah’s hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. Hannah managed a small smile in return, but it was an effort. Inside, she was shaking.
‘Yes, but where is here?’
Chapter Twenty-Three
Hannah was taken to a small room up on the third or fourth floor of the central building and there she was left alone. Sakura was ordered to follow one of the guards.
‘I’ll be fine,’ Hannah told her, doing her best to give the girl a reassuring smile. She wasn’t sure she succeeded because Sakura threw her a look of pity and stretched out her hands towards Hannah.
‘Oh, mistress, I wish I could stay with you.’
‘Come now, I have my orders.’ The guard pulled Sakura roughly away down the corridor and the door was slammed shut before Hannah could reassure the maid further.
Hannah paced the room for some considerable time, too nervous to relax. After what seemed like an eternity her legs gave way and she sank down onto the polished wooden floor. She was worn out, both physically and mentally, and she wanted to scream with frustration. Her captors had continued their refusal to reveal anything about her destination or why she had been abducted, and she’d spent endless hours fretting about her possible fate. Now she was finally here and yet again she was being left in ignorance. It was torture.
The shadows in the room lengthened. She had almost started to believe she’d been forgotten, when suddenly she found herself looking up at a man who had come into the room on silent feet. From her sitting position she couldn’t immediately see his face, but he looked big and powerful, his stance menacing. She shot to her feet and stared at him, struck dumb at first. Her eyes widened as she looked into a face she knew.
‘Lord Kuma!’ The shock of seeing him, of all people, reverberated through her and almost made her legs give way again. She closed her eyes, but when she opened them once more, he was still there. He wasn’t an illusion.
He inclined his head in greeting, but didn’t reply. Instead he stared at her as if he was reacquainting himself with her features. His very calmness and nonchalance infuriated her and her pent-up fear and frustration suddenly boiled over.
‘How dare you? Why have you brought me here?’ she demanded without preamble. ‘We’ve been travelling for ages and no one would tell me why. You can’t just abduct people at will like that. I’m under the protection of the Englishman you called Anjin-san, and he is high in favour with the Shogun, as you well know. You’ll regret this.’
She ran out of breath and glared at him, but he was still busy studying her. He moved slowly towards her, then circled her, looking her up and down. She wondered what game he was playing. Was he trying to intimidate her? Well, he’d catch cold at that.
‘Possibly,’ he conceded at last, presumably referring to her threat that Will Adams would avenge her somehow, but the prospect didn’t appear to worry him unduly.
Hannah willed herself not to swivel her head around to see what he was doing. Above all she mustn’t show fear. She gritted her teeth. I’ll show him that English women are not to be so easily cowed.
When he had completed his inspection he gave her a measuring stare. ‘Haven’t you been told that here no one speaks to me unless I have spoken to them first?’ he asked calmly.
She frowned, but relieved that he was talking to her and not just staring, she replied with spirit. ‘No, I don’t think so and I don’t even know where here is. Perhaps you would care to tell me? Or is it a secret?’
He smiled, showing the dimples on either side of his mouth which had so attracted her the first time she’d seen them. His face, so harsh a moment ago, seemed instantly more gentle. Hannah drew in a shuddering breath, hoping this signified some sort of turning point. Perhaps now they could clear up what was obviously a misunderstanding. Surely he hadn’t meant to abduct her?
‘Very well, I will forgive you this once since you are a gai-jin and not used to our ways,’ he said. ‘In Hirado I tolerated your ignorance since you had only just arrived, but this place is my home, Shiroi Castle, and here it’s a different matter. I am Kumashiro Taro, daimyo of this province,’ he announced in a grand tone, ‘And in this house my word is law, don’t ever forget that,’ he added sternly.
Kumashiro. She translated the word automatically in her mind and found it fitting – the white bear, not just the bear. Right now he looked dangerous enough to be a bear. Hearing the underlying menace in his voice, Hannah decided caution was the better part of valour. ‘I am Marston Hannah from Plymouth in England,’ she replied rather formally, giving him her surname first, just like he had done to her. It was the custom here, she knew that. She also bowed politely the way Hoji-san had taught her, praying she had inclined her head low enough for this man’s rank. She knew she should probably have prostrated herself on the floor before him, but somehow she wanted to show him that she was different.
‘I know, Hana-san,’ he said and gave her the smallest of nods in return. ‘Your name is very suitable, even if, as you told me, it doesn’t mean the same in your language.’
‘Er … thank you.’ Hannah had to admit she rather liked being called a flower. To reinforce the fact that she was not of his people, however, she held out her hand to be kissed.
He looked at it with his eyebrows raised in faint surprise, then back at her face. ‘Nani wa shite imasu ka? Why are you giving me your hand?’ He took hold of her fingertips and lifted them up for inspection, turning her hand this way and that. ‘And not a very clean one either,’ he muttered.
H
annah frowned. ‘We have been travelling for many days, as I said. And in my country a man would kiss a lady’s hand as a mark of respect, just as I bowed to you out of respect for your customs,’ she answered tartly. She snatched her fingers away from his grasp before the tingling sensation she had experienced became unbearable. ‘Insufferable man,’ she muttered in English.
He only chuckled, however, and changed the subject. ‘I see you’re finally dressed as a woman,’ he commented.
‘Yes, but if your men hadn’t abducted me at night, I would have worn more suitable clothing,’ she replied, feeling suddenly ridiculous standing before him in her night clothes.
‘Be thankful they allowed you to wear anything at all.’
Hannah opened her mouth to protest indignantly, then noticed the amused twinkle was back in his eyes. He was making fun of her. Suddenly it was all too much. She couldn’t believe she’d come all this way just to be teased. ‘I didn’t come here to be laughed at,’ she told him sharply, forgetting that she hadn’t come at all, she’d been brought against her will.
‘Perhaps not, but I have a feeling you had better get used to it, Akai Hana-san,’ he replied good-humouredly. ‘Until later.’ Then without further ado, he turned his back on her and left the room, leaving her to gaze after him in speechless frustration.
‘Wait!’ she called after him. What had he meant by that? They hadn’t discussed why he had brought her here yet and what he intended to do with her. But the door had closed behind him, and he didn’t return.
It was obvious why he had called her akai, ‘red’ again, but did that mean he was going to keep her here for others to laugh at? A sort of court jester perhaps? Surely the novelty of laughing at her hair colour and looks would soon wear off? Hannah put her head in her hands for a moment. So many questions and no answers. It was making her temples throb.
She stood up and went towards the door and banged on it with her fist. She refused to sit there meekly and await her fate. If something bad was going to happen, she wanted it finished as quickly as possible. She’d had enough.
Outside the door a fierce-looking guard had been posted. Although he bowed to her, he didn’t answer any of the questions she flung at him. He just said, ‘Come with me, please.’ With a sinking feeling she lifted the hem of her heavy robe and followed him down the steep stairs of the tenshu.
They continued through a veritable rabbit warren of rooms and corridors. Instead of going down towards where she assumed the dungeons would be situated, however, they circled a courtyard. Then they climbed a flight of stairs up to the second floor of one of the smaller towers.
Along the way, Hannah gazed around in amazement. Lord Kumashiro had spared no expense in the decoration of his castle. Each room had exquisitely painted silk screens on the walls. There were the inevitable tatami mats to cover the floors, although most corridors had smooth, wooden planks instead. When she’d first entered the tower, she had been given a pair of soft slippers to wear instead of the straw sandals provided by her captors. She now understood that this was to protect the matting from too much damage. The slippers weren’t easy to keep on though, especially on the smooth wooden floors. She was forced to walk with a sort of shuffling gait which she found awkward, but she managed it without falling flat on her face.
As in her room in Hirado, there was very little in the way of furniture apart from the occasional low table and a few cushions. Hannah had learned that this was usual. Anything else was stored in a cupboard until it was needed, such as the mattresses they slept on. It made the rooms seem empty, but at the same time uncluttered and peaceful. Some tables supported asymmetrical flower arrangements, unlike anything she had ever seen in England. Others displayed shining lacquer ware objects and pottery of great beauty. Hannah couldn’t help but admire Lord Kumashiro’s taste.
The guard came to a halt in front of a sliding door and knocked. It was opened by a woman dressed in a sober dark blue silk kimono and she bowed.
‘Please, come in, Hannah-san,’ the woman said. ‘We have been expecting you. I am Yukiko.’
‘Oh?’ Hannah wasn’t sure she had heard right since there were still times when the meaning of certain words eluded her, but had the woman said they’d been expecting her? To her further surprise, she found there were several other women in the room. One of them was Sakura, who rushed forward to greet her mistress.
‘Hannah-san, isn’t this wonderful? We are the guests of Kumashiro-sama, one of the greatest daimyo in northern Japan.’
‘Yes, wonderful, to be sure.’ Hannah echoed sarcastically. ‘Are we really guests or is it a deception?’ She was still suspicious of the man’s motives. After all, he’d had them abducted and she hadn’t heard him issue an invitation to stay.
‘No, it’s not a lie. Look, these ladies are here to serve you.’ Sakura beamed and the other ladies smiled and nodded. Hannah heard them exclaim over her appearance and she felt sure they were laughing at her, just like the lord had said.
‘What, all of them?’ Hannah stared at them in confusion. ‘Surely I don’t need that much assistance. I have you after all.’
‘Yes, yes, come now. We are going to the o-furo to bathe. There is a splendid one within the castle compound, served by a hot spring straight from the ground. Come, you will see. Wonderful.’
Hannah didn’t have the heart to argue with the little maid. She looked so eager. Besides, after such a long time on the road a bath sounded very welcome, no matter what awaited her afterwards. Lord Kumashiro had been right. She was filthy and she reasoned that she might as well meet her fate clean.
Whatever that fate may be …
It had been over a week since Hannah had last had a bath and now that Hoji had taught her the habits of cleanliness, she felt disgustingly dirty. It was remarkable how quickly one became used to something, she thought. Two years ago it wouldn’t have bothered her in the slightest if she hadn’t washed her body for days. Bathing in a tub had been very rare for her, but now she approached the bath house with eagerness.
The o-furo was every bit as splendid as Sakura had boasted. The hot spring bubbling out of the ground had been enclosed in order to make a bathing hall, and a swirling mist of steam hung in the air.
‘There are many hot springs around here,’ Sakura explained. ‘Unfortunately that means there are also earthquakes sometimes as they occur more often in this part of the country, but hopefully not too many.’
The ladies helped Hannah out of her clothes. Then they washed her from head to toe with water from a bucket before allowing her near the pool of water.
‘Why can’t I wash in the bath?’ Hannah had asked the first time she’d done this in Hirado, but Sakura had giggled and shaken her head as if it was a very silly question.
‘No, no, you’ll make the water dirty,’ she had replied. ‘Everyone has to share.’
‘Surely that’s the point? To make me clean and the water dirty?’ Sakura had giggled again and told her the bath was only for relaxing in, not for cleaning.
The women seemed fascinated by her body and there was a lot of tittering behind raised hands. Hannah didn’t like being scrutinized in this way. She felt very uncomfortable at being naked in front of others, but she thought it best not to antagonise them. After all, they were all women together and surely their bodies couldn’t be much different from hers?
When the servants were satisfied she was clean enough, Hannah was led to the edge of the pool. She was looking forward to luxuriating in the hot water and stepped in quickly, only to yelp in pain and jump out the next instant.
‘Ouch, I can’t go in there, it’s burning!’ she cried. Was this Lord Kumashiro’s way of torturing his captives, she wondered. To lull their senses before boiling them alive? Sakura tut-tutted and led her mistress back to the water as if she were a child.
‘It’s much hotter than it was in Hirado, but this is how it’s meant to be really. Now, put one foot in, then the other, slowly,’ she said. ‘Your body will become used to the
heat. It takes time, but it’s worth it.’
Hannah eyed the maid dubiously, but obeyed. After the first scalding sensation subsided, the heat of the water did become bearable and she inched her way in. It took quite a while, but once there, it was a feeling like no other she had ever experienced. The hot water made her entire body tingle and a langour stole over her, making her close her eyes and sigh with satisfaction.
‘You were right, Sakura, this is wonderful,’ she admitted. ‘I can quite see why the people here want to do this every day. It’s very relaxing.’
She stayed in the water until told to come out. Then the ladies dressed her in fresh clothes and set about combing the tangles out of her hair. There was a small, good-natured scuffle while they decided who was to have the honour of handling the red tresses. Hannah laughed and suggested they should take turns. In the end she had her hair combed no fewer than five times and it was such a luxury she almost fell asleep in the process.
When everyone had finished their turn, her hair was smeared with scented oil and twisted up on top of her head into a strange knot. This was secured with sticks and combs made of lacquer and bone, some of which were exquisitely carved.
‘These are lovely,’ she said, admiring the craftsmanship.
‘Yes, very expensive. Kumashiro-sama ordered us to make you beautiful.’
Hannah drew in a sharp breath and came down to earth with a jolt. The bath had been so wonderful she had almost forgotten where she was. Now the fear and suspicions returned in full force. A lead weight settled in the pit of her stomach.
‘Why?’ she demanded, but the ladies refused to answer her. They giggled in chorus behind their hands and one of them muttered something unintelligible. Hannah drew her own conclusions and despair welled up inside her.
She was definitely a captive, not a guest.
Chapter Twenty-Four
The Scarlet Kimono (Choc Lit) Page 17