While Sano and his men stood immobilized, Lightning grinned malevolently. Wisteria uttered a pleading cry: “Sano-san.”
Her husky voice awakened memories and sympathy in Sano. Her obvious fear of her companion stimulated his need to protect a woman in trouble. Quick action was needed to save Wisteria’s life and Sano’s witness to the murder of Lord Mitsuyoshi.
“Take aim,” Sano ordered his troops. On either side of him, archers raised bows; arrows pointed toward Lightning. “Let Wisteria come out,” he told the gangster.
Lightning’s gaze shifted rapidly. He pulled Wisteria in front of him. Her eyes rolled in panic. “Tell your men to drop their bows,” Lightning said.
“Do it,” Sano told his men, because they couldn’t shoot Lightning without the risk of hitting Wisteria.
The archers obeyed. Lightning drew his dagger and held the blade at Wisteria’s throat. As she squealed and writhed, he shouted at Sano, “Move back, or she’s dead!”
Every part of Sano rebelled against conceding any ground, but he stepped backward. His troops and Hirata followed suit.
“Farther. Farther,” Lightning barked. When twenty paces separated them from the warehouse, he yelled, “Stop!”
Sano and his men halted. “Killing Wisteria won’t do you any good,” Sano told Lightning. “You won’t get away.”
“Oh, yes, I will.” Lightning gave a reckless laugh, then turned and spoke to someone. Activity stirred beyond the other second-floor windows. Into each one stepped a gangster holding a flaming metal lantern.
“This warehouse is full of lamp oil, hay, and other things that burn,” Lightning said. “Either you help me get out of town safely, or I’ll set the place on fire-with me and Wisteria inside.”
Disbelief stunned Sano. He heard his men murmur in surprise, and a stifled exclamation from Hirata.
“What? You don’t want that to happen?” Lightning mocked them. “All right, then: I’ll tell you exactly what to do. First, send your troops away.”
Hirata’s appalled gaze moved from the gangster to Sano. “We’re not setting him free, are we?”
“We can’t,” Sano said, horrified by his dilemma. “If Lightning killed Lord Mitsuyoshi, then he and Wisteria are my only hope of proving beyond doubt that I’m innocent. But I can’t refuse his demands and let him make good on his threats.”
“Would he really burn himself to death?” Hirata said skeptically.
“He’s got samurai blood. And a samurai would rather die than surrender.”
Wisteria cried, “Please give him what he wants! He means everything he says!”
The wind blew with powerful gusts, and dread pierced Sano. Fire was the greatest hazard of the city. If Lightning did set the warehouse on fire, flying sparks would spread the blaze across Edo. Hundreds of buildings might burn; hundreds of people might die. And Sano would be responsible for a catastrophe that made the problem of clearing his name, saving his life, and regaining the shogun’s trust seem minor.
Turning to his troops, he said in a low voice, “Get the men from behind the warehouse, and go order the citizens in the area to prepare for a fire. They should fill buckets with water and wet down their roofs and walls. Then hide someplace close by, keep watch on the warehouse, and await orders.”
The men mounted their horses and hurried off to comply, leaving Sano and Hirata alone. Lightning said, “Very good, Sosakan-sama,” in a tone that revealed how much he enjoyed his authority. “Now your retainer will fetch me a thousand koban.”
“I hate paying off a criminal,” Hirata said.
“So do I,” Sano said grimly.
Lightning continued, “After you pay me, my gang and I will leave town with Wisteria. You won’t follow us, because if you do, I’ll kill her before you can touch me.”
“Bring the money,” Sano told Hirata, “so we can bargain for Wisteria’s life and the safety of the city, while we figure out how to capture Lightning.” Sano called to the gangster: “You’ve got a deal.”
“Not so fast. You come wait inside with me.”
Aghast, Hirata said, “He wants to take you hostage!”
Sano was certain now that Lightning had murdered Lord Mitsuyoshi, and he had no intention of placing himself in the hands of a killer. “I’ll wait out here, or you don’t get the money,” he called to Lightning.
Lightning’s expression turned furious; he muttered a command to the other gangsters. They held wads of hay to their lanterns. As the hay ignited, they flung it outside.
Panic leapt in Sano as the wind tossed the hot, flaming straws. “He’s not bluffing. We’ve no choice but to play along with him.” Fiery wisps caught and burned on the roofs of other warehouses.
Hirata regarded Sano with horror as they stamped on smoking hay that landed on the ground near them. “You’re not thinking of going in there?”
“Have you changed your mind yet?” Lightning shouted.
The gangsters continued to throw burning hay that wafted toward the city. Faced with a choice between putting himself or countless other people in danger, Sano raised his hands in a gesture of assent. “Stop. I’ll come inside.”
At an order from Lightning, the gangsters ceased their activity. Sano started toward the warehouse door. Lightning commanded, “Wait. Throw down your weapons.”
Sano hesitated, loath to enter unarmed, then reluctantly unfastened his swords and laid them on the ground. Hirata blocked his path to the warehouse. “I can’t let you,” Hirata said, his face stricken by alarm.
“If I go in, maybe I can convince Lightning to surrender. Go get the money,” Sano said in a tone meant to reassure as much as compel Hirata’s obedience.
As Hirata unwillingly departed, Lightning and his men closed the windows. Sano beheld the warehouse’s blank facade and deserted surroundings. He felt naked and vulnerable without his weapons, and angry at being manipulated into this position. But there had been too many occasions in the past when he’d blamed himself for deaths that he thought he should have prevented. Wisteria would not be another such casualty. And the warehouse harbored the solution to the murder case.
Sano walked toward impending doom.
The guards stationed outside Sano’s mansion opened the gate for Kikuko and her maid Rumi.
Kikuko skipped gaily across the courtyard toward the big house. She was happy because she liked this place. The little boy and his mother lived here. The boy was so much fun, like a baby doll who could walk and talk. And his mother was so pretty. Kikuko liked them. She was so glad to come again, she hummed a happy song.
A lady opened the door and came out on the veranda. It was the little boy’s nursemaid. Kikuko didn’t like her much. There was something mean about her face, even when she smiled, and she wasn’t smiling now. She looked upset and sad. Mama was often sad, and that made Kikuko sad, too. But after today, they would be happy all the time. Mama had promised.
The nursemaid brought Kikuko and Rumi into the big house, and they took off their shoes and outdoor clothes. She said to Rumi, “You can wait in the parlor.”
Then she took Kikuko by the hand and led her through the house. Kikuko went willingly, but she was puzzled because the house was so quiet and empty today. Where had everybody gone? Kikuko didn’t ask, because the nursemaid frightened her a little, even though Mama had said she was their friend. Kikuko was glad when they went into the boy’s room.
He was sitting all alone, playing with his toy animals. Kikuko was disappointed that his pretty mother wasn’t there, but happy to see him.
“Hello, hello,” she cried, bouncing up and down and waving.
The little boy smiled. “Kiku,” he said.
They laughed together, and the nursemaid stood watching them for a moment. Then she went away. Kikuko remembered the game that Mama had told her to play, and she was happy she’d remembered. She wouldn’t want to disappoint Mama and make her sad. She began to run around the room, flapping the long sleeves of her pink kimono.
