He was just about to call off the search when there was a whirring sound followed by a sudden rush of something white among the trees behind them. They took immediate cover behind their horses, and loosened their swords.
A whistle sounded, and some branches cracked. Then silence.
“We are trapped here,” muttered Akitada. “The ravine is behind us.”
“And swords aren’t much use against arrows,” Hitomaro added. “If I’m not much mistaken, that was an arrowwe heard.”
They tried to keep their horsesquiet and waited.
Suddenly the shrubbery near them parted and a fierce shaggy animal appeared, its ears laid back, and its nose slowly wrinkling up to reveal ferocious teeth. It growled and crouched.The horses backed nervously.
“A white wolf,” Tora gasped. He drew his sword and fumbled for his amulet. Dropping the reins, he jumpedforward.
“No, brother!” cried Hitomaro,snatching at the reins as Tora’s horse reared. “It’s a dog. It’s White Bear.”He called to the dog, then shouted, “Ho, Kaoru!” The dog raised its ears, then looked back over its shoulder.
They heard a shout from the forest, and then a tall young man dressed in furs appeared. He was carrying a longbow and a dead rabbit, and he grinned at Hitomaro. “It’s you again, is it?”Taking in their defensive posture, he chuckled. “I see you were expecting hostilities, but it was just me shooting a rabbit.” He held it up.
“This is Kaoru,” said Hitomaroto Akitada.
Akitada nodded. “Yes, Igathered that. I am Sugawara Akitada, the governor, and this is Tora, my other lieutenant. We are grateful for the assistance you gave Hitomaro.”
Kaoru’s teeth flashed. Tossing back his long hair, he bowed. “It was nothing, Excellency. Are you lost?”
“Not really. I have reason to suspect that something was thrown from that gallery above, but there doesn’tseem to be a way to get to the other side.”
“Some object?” Kaoru stared at Akitada, then looked up at the pavilion. He muttered, “By the Buddha!” then said, “Follow me. I know a path.”
They tied up their horses,leaving Kaoru’s dog to guard them, and climbed down into the ravine. As Akitada picked his way among the loose rubble, he scrutinized the ground, followingKaoru, who had found a rough trail leading up the other side.
Once there, they moved slowlyalong the foot of the massive rocks, poking at the snow piles with their swords. Kaoru was slightly ahead when he suddenly stopped beside a small mound.Akitada compressed his lips. He joined him and bent to brush away the snow.Clothing appeared, stiffened by frost, and then the snow turned red, and therewas a thin, aged hand, made rigid by death and the cold, with frozen bloodcaking the fingers and palm.
“Amida! A corpse!” gasped Tora.“Wonder how long it’s been there.”
“Since the night of the banquet,” Akitada said, cleaning more blood-soaked snow away with Kaoru’s help.The body belonged to an old man. His thin white hair was encrusted with ice and blood, as was the face except for patches of skin discolored by purplish-blue bruises. The eyes stared sightlessly at the sky above, and the mouth gaped in a permanent silent scream. His limbs lay at odd angles and the body had twisted unnaturally. A pool of blood had frozen to the earth under the corpse.
“It’s old Hideo,” said Kaoru,bowing his head. “Poor old man. He was the old lord’s personal attendant.”
Tora stared up the looming gallery above them, and said accusingly to Akitada, “You expected to find him, didn’t you? Did he fall or jump?”
“Neither, I suspect, though we cannot be certain it wasn’t an accident.”
Tora frowned. “He could’ve jumped. If he was a faithful servant to the old man all his life, he might want to kill himself after his master died. It would bring honor to his family and makes more sense than an accident. He’s lived here all his life. How could he tumble over that high balustrade?”
Kaoru fidgeted, and Akitada did not answer immediately. He cleaned off the old man’s face with gentle fingers.The skin was broken and puffy about the jaw and cheekbones. And the bruising suggested a systematic beating rather than the sort of haphazard damage done by a fall. Akitada bent to inspect both hands. Bloody crystals had formed aroundthe fingertips. He breathed on a thumb until the ice melted.
“Ah!” he murmured and removed a small sliver from under the fingernail.
“What is it?” Tora leaned forward curiously.
Akitada dabbed at the fragment with a bit of saliva. “Wood.”
“What’s it doing under hisnails?” Tora bent closer. “There’s blood under the other fingernails, too. Holy Amida! When I was a soldier, they caught a fellow spying. They drove bamboo slivers under the nails of his fingers and toes to make him talk. You think this poor guy’s been tortured?”
Akitada straightened up,looking puzzled. “Perhaps, but not the way you think. The nails are broken and torn, and so is the skin of his fingers and palms. I believe he was questioned and beaten, but he hurt his hands when he was heaved over the balustrade and tried in vain to grasp at something. I wonder what he knew. And if he talked,and to whom.”
They all stood and stared down at the contorted face of the dead man. There was terror in its expression, but also something else, stubbornness, even a sort of exultation.
“He didn’t talk,” said Hitomaro. “Not this one.” He asked Akitada, “Do you think Makio did this?”
“Who knows? But we must leave him here. This is Uesugi territory. I have no jurisdiction in Takata.”
Hitomaro and Tora protested,and Akitada raised a hand. “Wait. Perhaps there is a way.” He turned to Kaoru,who had remained silent. He looked grim now, and the cheerful smile was gone.
“You knew and liked this man?”Akitada asked him.
Kaoru nodded.
“I believe he was murdered. If you want to see justice done, I will need your help.”
“I want justice. What do you want me to do?”
“You would have to bring the body into the city, ring the bell outside the tribunal to report a crime, and later testify in a court hearing. Think before you agree, because the murderer may be someone close to the Lord of Takata and will almost certainly try to prevent this. He may even turn on your family. And I shall be unable to protect you or them.”
The woodsman met his eyes. “I’m no friend to the Lord of Takata, and a man’s life is useless unless he can be of service to his people.”
“Good,” said Akitada. “I am grateful for your help. But you will need a horse, and we cannot offer you one of ours.”
“I can borrow one.”
Akitada reached into his belt for some silver, but the woodsman held up a hand. “No money is needed among friends.”
Akitada nodded. “Forgive me.Hitomaro tells me that you might be willing to serve as sergeant of constables?”
A strange, almost mocking smile passed over the young man’s face, but he said quite humbly, “I would welcome the opportunity if you think me capable.”
Akitada nodded. “Well, let’ssee how you handle your first assignment.” He glanced up at the sky. “We must return now, but you had better start your journey after dark.”
Kaoru bowed, and they parted.When they reached the other side of the ravine, Akitada looked back. The woodcutter had removed his fur vest and was laying it gently over the corpse’s face before covering him again with snow.
When they reached their horses,the white dog wagged its tail, then perked up its ears and dashed off.
“Kaoru must’ve called him,”Hitomaro said. “They say dogs have much finer hearing than men.”
They had put some distance between themselves and Takata when Tora brought his horse up to Akitada’s. “You could’ve told us from the start what we were looking for,” he complained.
“I wasn’t sure myself.”
“But you knew where to look. Ibet you knew whose body it was, too.”
“I suspected.”
“Well, it wasn’t fair.Sometimes you ask a lot, sir.”
Akitada felt a pang of guilt. “Iam sorry,” he said humbly. “I should have trusted you, Tora.”
