Akitada sighed and closed his eyes.
The next morning began badly, because Akitada’s body, unused to the previous day’s labors, rebelled against movement of any sort. He had to grit his teeth to get up and make his way to the outside. He was determined not to be a burden to Haseo again.
But every step eased the stiffness, and for the first time he felt ravenously hungry. They ate with the others at the mouth of the mine. Akitada looked his fill at the blue sky and the tips of trees gilded by the rising sun, listened to the sound of birds and of water running down the sluice, and drew in the clean sharp scent of the forest.
The goblin brought his food, staring at him intently. He nodded his thanks and smiled. To his surprise, her fierce color-ing deepened to a more fiery red and she scurried away with a giggle. He was too hungry to wonder at her behavior, especially when he saw that his portion was unusually large and contained several generous chunks of fish.
Work was no easier this day, especially since he took care not to burden Haseo again, but he managed to get through it, and that night he decided to ask Haseo more questions.
“Have you been here long?” he began as they settled down to their evening meal.
“Came right after we met.”
It struck Akitada that Haseo, though still taciturn, spoke rather well for a common criminal. “What sort of life did you lead before they sentenced you?”
The bearded face contorted suddenly. “Amida, how can you ask a man that? How about you? Did you leave a wife and children to starve? This”-he waved a hand around to encompass mine, prisoners, sleepy guard, and empty food bowls-“is hell, but it’s nothing compared to the fear for those you leave behind.
They took my land and drove my family into the streets.”
“I am sorry for you and for them.” Akitada felt vaguely guilty. He was an official himself, and had on occasion pronounced sentences like Haseo’s. His crime must have been very serious to warrant not only exile at hard labor, but confiscation of his property. To judge by the man’s speech he was no commoner, and the confiscation of his land implied that he belonged to the gentry. Hoping not to offend again, he probed cautiously, “Sometimes a man’s allegiances may be held against him.”
“Sometimes a man’s greed may cause him to take another man’s property.” Haseo gave a bitter laugh. “If I had known what I know now, I would have left my land with my family before it came to this.”
“What happened?”
Haseo snorted. “You wouldn’t believe it. Forget it.” Akitada whispered urgently, “Don’t you want to escape?” Haseo merely looked at him.
Akitada looked around the room. Nobody paid attention to them. The guard was busy arranging a bed for himself.
Moving closer to Haseo, Akitada whispered, “I know there are problems, but once we are out of this mine, I believe I can get us off the island. What I need to know is if there is another way out of this place. You’ve been here longer than I and you seem an intelligent man.”
Haseo glanced at the figure of the guard who lay across the tunnel opening again and was about to blow out the lamp.
Akitada caught a speculative look on Haseo’s face before they were plunged into the dark. “There might be,” Haseo breathed in his ear.
“How?” Akitada breathed back.
“Old tunnels. The ones they stopped working. Nobody goes in them anymore. There’s one where air is blowing in through the planks that board it up. Fresh air!” Akitada had noticed that the smoke had cleared out of the mine rather quickly, and that cool air currents passed through the tunnel all day and night, but he had not thought why this should be so. Now he realized that the air came from the outside and moved back to the outside, and that meant there were other openings in this mine.
“Of course!” he said, and sat up, causing the chains around his ankles to rattle.
The guard in the tunnel entrance growled sleepily, “Quiet there, filth, or I’ll put you on night shift.” Total silence fell. Even the snorers held their breaths.
There was no chance of further talk that night or during the following day, but Akitada was alert to the air currents as he made his way back and forth with his basket. He found the place Haseo had mentioned, and the next time they passed the boarded-up section, he caught up to him and gave his basket a small nudge. Haseo paused for the space of a breath, then, without looking back, he nodded his head.
The opening was slightly smaller than the tunnel they were in. They would have to crawl, but it was not as tiny as the badger holes and might even widen out later. The boarding-up had been done in a makeshift manner, more to mark this as an abandoned working and to keep people from getting lost than to prevent entrance.
Akitada spent the rest of the day memorizing the location and trying to picture the direction of the abandoned tunnel in relation to the cliff and the rest of the mountain they were working. He thought it likely that somehow one of the workings of a vein of silver ore had led from the interior of the mountain back to its surface. Each time he passed the blocked tunnel, he sniffed the air, and imagined that he could detect a faint tang of pine trees and cedars.
That night he waited impatiently for the guard to go to sleep, then murmured very softly to Haseo, “Are you willing to try?” There was no answer. He opened his mouth to repeat his question more loudly, when a callused hand fell across his lips.
Haseo whispered, “When?” The hand was lifted, and Akitada breathed, “Tomorrow night?”
There was a very soft snort, almost a chuckle, and, “You’re a fool!”
Akitada was not sure what that meant. He spent most of the night considering how they might accomplish such a mad endeavor. And mad it surely was, for no one knew if they would really find a way out. But what did they have to lose?
And staying here longer while he slowly regained his strength was even more foolhardy, for Kumo’s order to put him to death might arrive any moment.
He was methodical about his planning. Their only chance of getting away was at night. Only one guard stayed with them and, certain that the prisoners were too exhausted to attempt anything, he slept. To be sure, he slept with his body blocking their only way out, secure in the knowledge that the chains on their feet would warn him of any improper movements. The guard was the first obstacle, but not an insurmountable one.
Next Akitada considered whether they should invite the other prisoners to join them. He rejected the thought-
reluctantly, because help was useful. The abandoned tunnel might contain obstructions, and Akitada was not really strong enough yet for what might await them inside. He suppressed a shudder at the thought of becoming lost and dying a slow death of starvation in utter darkness. There was also safety in numbers, because the guards would have a much harder time chasing down twenty men than two. But the trouble with taking the others was that they would make too much noise and slow them down. Besides, the cowed creatures he had observed might well give the alarm and draw the guards after them.
So it had best be just the two of them. After overcoming the sleeping guard, they would make their way up the main tunnel to the boarded section. They would need a few tools.
Fortunately, the workers left their hammers and chisels lying about. They would also need an oil lamp and some flint.
And they would need a lot of luck. A great deal depended on whether the boarded-up tunnel led out of the mine, preferably without emerging near the front. Akitada whispered some of this to Haseo, who responded merely by squeezing his shoulder.
The next morning there was little chance for communica-tion with Haseo except through eye contact. Among the discarded debris were rags and remnants of frayed rope. Akitada cast a meaningful glance at one such pile and bent to touch his chained ankle. Then, in passing, he scooped up a handful of the torn material, tucking it inside his shirt. He noticed that Haseo did the same later. They dropped their gatherings near their sleeping places, where they attracted no notice because the floor was already covered with all sorts of litter. At one point, Haseo surreptitiously slipped a chisel under their small hoard, and before the light was extinguished, Akitada marked a
