Using his fingernails, Akitada exposed a little more of the sharp edge, then raised his arms enough to press the rope against it and started rubbing. The rat bobbed up and down and adjusted his tail a few times, but he seemed to take this activity for an amusing diversion.
To his relief, Akitada felt the first strand of roping part quickly and worked even harder. Another strand parted, and the bonds around his wrists loosened slightly. By now his shoulders were sore, but he did not care. He leaned into his work, scraping the rope against the flint as fast and hard as he could.
His increased effort caused the flint to come loose and fall into the muddy water. Akitada felt like weeping. He sagged back into a sitting position and felt about without much hope of finding the flinty bit of stone. He did not, but this effort caused the rope to loosen further, and now he strained to break the remaining strands. They gave, and he brought his arms to the front, cradling his sore hands and wrists against his stomach while the throbbing pain in his shoulders and arm muscles slowly eased.
The cold and fetid water nearly reached his armpits now. He had no time to lose. Staggering back up, he explored with both hands the seams along the wooden cover. The rat squawked once or twice in protest, but managed to hold on. He found where most of the water came in, a steady flow. Something was slowly draining into his pit. Akitada wondered if it was still raining. The long-desired rain was doing its best to kill him.
On the opposite side, he managed to insert his whole hand between the wooden cover and the ground above. Here he scratched at the dirt, scraping it inside where it splashed into the water. At some point, the rat lost its precarious perch and plunged into the water, which reached Akitada’s upper thighs by now. Akitada stopped scraping and instead felt around for the animal. He found the rat when he sank his teeth into his leg in a desperate effort to save himself. Detaching the creature, he dropped him inside his shirt, a wet, irritable presence that moved about to find a comfortable place as Akitada returned to his work.
His neck and back began to hurt from standing in this awkward position, but soon he could reach outside the pit to his elbow and find the edge of the wooden cover. A large loose splinter caught in his skin, and he broke it off to use for a digging tool.
More fresh air came in, and he could hear some sounds, the rain splashing, a bird’s cry, a dog barking in the distance. He worked away feverishly.
And then he heard muffled voices.
He shouted, ‘Here. Please help. Over here!’
At first there was only silence like last time, but then a male voice shouted, ‘Who’s that? Where are you?’
The voice was vaguely familiar, but Akitada did not think about that. ‘Here! I’m in a pit. I think there’s dirt on top of a wooden cover. Can you follow my voice? Hurry, please. The water’s rising.’
It was indeed. His pushing against the cover must have let in more water, for he was now immersed to above his waist. With his body bent over, there was little room left between his face and the top of the rising water. And he could not feel the rat any longer.
‘Sir? Is that you? Please call out again!’
Genba! Yes, of course. Genba had come back.
‘I’m here. I can hear you clearly, Genba. A few more steps.’
Suddenly the cover above him slid back, then tilted inward, bringing wet soil with it and pushing Akitada down into the water. He fought wildly, but the weight on his back was too heavy.
Then hands reached for him and pulled him out, and Genba cursed and thanked the gods all in the same breath.
Akitada choked, coughed, spat out muddy water, received a couple of painful thumps on his back and a good shaking, and finally drew a decent breath. Genba cut the rope around his ankles while wishing every torment of hell on the perpetrators.
Akitada stood swaying in the dark, or rather in the dusk, for it was getting light, and the steady rain washed the mud off his face.
The rat!
‘Genba,’ he croaked. ‘Go look in the pit… There’s a rat… Fish him out if he’s alive.’
‘What?’
‘Go!’
Genba walked over to the pit, lifted the cover, and reached in. ‘What do you know?’ he said, straightening up. He sounded amazed and held the rat up by its tail. ‘It really is a rat. Ouch.’
The rat had twisted up to bite him. He dropped it and sucked his finger. Akitada gasped anxiously, but the rat found its feet and scurried away.
They were in some derelict yard behind a warehouse. Rainwater gushed from the warehouse roof into a ditch. From a breach in the ditch, a small and steady stream had made its way to the pit.
Nearby huddled silent, staring men with lanterns – four constables, their red jackets nearly black in this rain. He wanted to ask how they came to be there, but his strength finally left him utterly and he collapsed.
KOBE
Genba asked anxiously, ‘Sir? Sir, are you all right?’ Sitting up with Genba’s assistance, Akitada took a ragged breath. His throat still hurt from the near drowning and the gritty filth he had swallowed along with the water. His body also hurt, particularly his bad knee, but he shook his head, as much in wonder that he was still alive as to deny any injuries. ‘Tired,’ he croaked, then raised an arm to point at the constables. ‘What… brought them?’
‘When you didn’t come home by dark last night, Tora got very upset and tried to get up to go look for you…’
‘Tora – how is he?’
‘Better. The fever is coming down, but Seimei wouldn’t let him get up.’ Genba grinned. ‘No need. I was there by then. And by the way, congratulations on your new daughter. She’s a beautiful child. A princess.’
Relief and a tentative joy washed over Akitada. He was alive, and so was his family. Nothing else mattered. He tried a smile. ‘Yes, yes. Thank you. And thank you for saving my life.’
Genba gave a rumbling chuckle. ‘I did little enough, sir. It was all Superintendent Kobe’s doing. And he and I just followed Tora’s directions.’
‘Kobe? You went to Kobe?’
‘Yes, sir. Tora did say you wouldn’t like it, but I could see I would need help.’
Akitada digested that. The amazing thing was that Kobe had agreed to help. But perhaps he had been more interested in catching the gang. Sitting in the drizzle on the wet ground, Akitada considered the situation while idly picking mud from under his finger nails. Genba shuffled and cleared his throat.
Akitada looked up. ‘Oh. You did right. I owe my life to all of you.’ For the first time, he looked at his surroundings. It was still only half light, but he recognized the outline of the abandoned warehouse.
He rose unsteadily and took a few steps towards the gaggle of policemen. They were wet and had tired faces, but they grinned. Though perhaps it was his muddy appearance they found amusing.
Akitada called out, ‘Thank you. That was excellent work.’
A dry voice said, ‘Was it? It seems to me they had a very easy time of it.’
Akitada turned.
Kobe looked as wet and tired as his men. His eyes widened. ‘You look terrible,’ he said. ‘Where were you?’
Akitada nodded his head towards the muddy crater. ‘In there.’
Kobe stepped closer and looked. ‘The dear gods in heaven,’ he exploded.
‘They took exception to my asking questions of a young man in the Fragrant Peach.’ Akitada tried another smile. ‘Thanks for coming to the rescue.’
Kobe nodded. He looked uncomfortable and blustered a little. ‘You do wander into danger with the utmost unconcern. But that doesn’t excuse this. We’ve arrested everyone in the Fragrant Peach and sent them to jail. Time enough to get to the bottom of this in the morning. There was no young man, though, just an under-age girl.’
Akitada nodded. ‘She’s the daughter of the owner. He and two of his friends are deaf mutes. I doubt you’ll get
