Rashomon Gate (36 page)

Mrs. Kurata had listened, stone-faced. Now she turned to Kobe. "Captain," she said, "you have your confession. Please remove this person from the premises. The sooner I can get back to work, the better. I have customers waiting outside. As a single woman, I cannot afford to alienate them. Kurata's has a reputation to maintain."

Even Kobe looked stunned at her words, but he nodded and clapped his hands. The constables surrounded Kurata and jerked him to his feet. "Chain him and take him away!" Kobe ordered.

Kurata started screaming. He was bound and dragged away, still screaming, and the sound receded slowly in the distance.

They waited silently. Then Kobe turned to look at Akitada. "Unpleasant," he said, "but I thought you should see how it's done by us. Shall we go?"

On their way home, Akitada and Tora stopped by the university to pick up some student papers Akitada had forgotten.

It was getting dark, though not noticeably cooler. Tora glanced at the sky and remarked, "We need rain. I haven't seen it this dry in years. It's a wonder there haven't been more fires."

Akitada nodded. The streets and courtyards of the university lay deserted, grass and weeds browned and dusty. The students were either in their dormitories or had left for visits with friends and relatives in the city. Guiltily Akitada remembered the little lord.

When he had gathered up the papers in his office he told Tora, "Let us pay a visit to Lord Minamoto. If he is not doing anything tomorrow, he might like to come for a visit."

They found the boy in his room, reading a book. He looked small and forlorn, but cheered up when he saw them. Bowing to Akitada, he said, "You are most welcome, sir. Have you come to report some news?"

Akitada smiled and sat down. "In a manner of speaking. We have solved the case of the murdered girl. It was mostly due to Tora's work. A silk merchant named Kurata was the culprit."

Lord Minamoto clapped his hands. "Oh, good for you, Tora!" he cried. Turning back to Akitada, he said, "So it was not poor Rabbit! I am glad you took an interest, sir. Is there no news about my case?"

"No. Not yet." Akitada looked around the small room. He thought again of the boy's great-uncle. Could the man not have done something for this child? Aloud he asked, "And you? Any plans for tomorrow?"

The boy's face darkened. "No, sir."

"Well then, perhaps you might like to visit us?"

The young face lit up. "Oh, could I? Thank you. Will you be there, Tora?"

Akitada answered for Tora. "Probably. Also my mother, my two sisters, and I."

Blushing, Lord Minamoto apologized, saying politely, "Please forgive my rudeness, sir. I am looking forward to meeting your family and having an opportunity to converse with you."

Akitada rose. "Good. Tora will come to pick you up right after your morning rice."

The boy stood also. "I shall be very happy to get away for a while," he confided. "There have been some new men working outside. They keep staring into my room and they give me the shivers. I think they look more like rough types, bandits or pirates, than servants. One of them was sweeping the veranda, but he does not know how to use a broom."

Akitada exchanged a glance with Tora. "How long have they been here?" he asked the boy.

"Since yesterday."

The thought that Sakanoue had sent thugs to watch the boy, or worse, crossed Akitada's mind instantly. Sesshin must have warned Sakanoue about Akitada's visit. Once again Akitada was reminded that only this child stood between Sakanoue and total control of the Minamoto fortune. It had been a terrible mistake to tell that old fake of a priest about his suspicions!

"Take a look outside, Tora," he said.

Tora disappeared and returned shortly. "A big rascal with an ugly face is out front. There's nobody out back."

"Sadamu," said Akitada to the boy, lowering his voice, "I don't like the idea of leaving you here until we have checked out the new help. I think we will take you home with us tonight."

The boy was on his feet in an instant, his face bright with excitement. Tossing a few books and clothes into a large square of silk, he knotted it and handed the bundle to Tora. Then he took up his sword and said, "I am ready, sir."

"Perhaps," said Akitada softly, "it would be better if you left quietly the back way. Tora and I are going out by the front. Tora will then double back and meet you at the back door."

The young lord's eyes flashed with the thrill of danger. He slung the strap of his sword over his shoulder, tested its readiness, and then took the bundle back from Tora, whispering, "I shall be waiting."

The maneuver was carried out with great success. Akitada and the boy walked quickly out of the dormitory enclosure and down the deserted street to the gate, while Tora lingered behind, making sure they were not being followed.

At home, Akitada installed his guest in his own room and went to inform his mother about their visitor. He was nervous about her reaction to the unannounced guest. It would be very awkward if she retaliated by refusing to receive Lord Minamoto.

But he should have known his mother better. As soon as he mentioned the boy's name, her eyes sparkled with interest.

"Prince Yoakira's little grandson? How charming! Finally you are cultivating the proper connections. You never mentioned that the poor fatherless child is your student. Nothing could be better! I shall ask him to consider this his home from now on. It is absolutely incomprehensible to me how his family could allow a boy of his background to mingle with unsuitable companions in a common dormitory." She made it sound as if young Sadamu had been condemned to live in an outcast village.

"It is a temporary arrangement only," said Akitada, "as is his visit here. I am merely giving the boy an outing, since tomorrow is a holiday."

"Don't be foolish!" snapped his mother. "This is your chance to become his private tutor. Then, as he rises in the world, so will you." She clapped her hands.

An elderly maid appeared and fell to her knees, waiting for her mistress's instructions with her head bowed to the floor. Akitada cringed inwardly. The woman, Kumoi, had been his nurse and his mother's before him. She was getting old and frail. His mother's insistence on proper respect struck him as unnecessarily cruel.

"Ah, Kumoi," Lady Sugawara said briskly. "Make haste to ready the large chamber next to my son's room for our noble guest. Have the maid scrub the floor and then move in several of the best grass mats from other rooms. Then you may go to the storehouse and select suitable furnishings. The best of everything— screens, scroll paintings, braziers, clothes boxes, lamp stands— you know what is necessary. And look for some games suitable for a boy of eleven as well. The bedding is to be of quilted silk only. Arrange everything tastefully and then return. Now hurry! I will inspect his room personally."

Kumoi wordlessly knocked her head against the floorboards and scuttled from the room.

"There was no need to burden the poor woman this way," said Akitada. "She is getting too old— and besides, young Minamoto is merely a child."

His mother fixed him with a cold eye. "Clearly you do not know what is owed to someone of that child's standing," she snapped. "Treat him well, and he may reward you some day. Treat him shabbily, and you have made an enemy for life. To people of his background, nothing is more disagreeable than low surroundings."

Akitada remembered the student dormitories and suppressed a smile. "Oh, I don't know," he said insidiously. "His lordship has become very fond of Tora since they flew kites together. He looks forward to spending most of his time with our servant."

His mother was taken aback. Then she snorted, "You should never have permitted that association! The boy's family will be shocked to the core. You will think up something to distract the child from Tora. Teach him football or something!"

Akitada smiled. "I hope to spend a little time with the boy," he said, adding as an afterthought, "In fact, the situation is a little like my own first stay with the Hiratas. I was not much older than he."

His year in the Hirata family was a sore subject between them, and his mother stiffened. With a frown she said, "That reminds me. Someone brought a letter for you from Tamako. She very properly enclosed it in a cover note to me. Here." She fished a slim, folded sheet from her sash and passed it to Akitada.

His heart skipped. The old pain, the many unanswered questions, were back in an instant. Struggling to maintain his composure, he said, "Thank you, Mother." The note he tucked, unread, in his sleeve, adding, "I had better go now and see to our guest." Bowing, he withdrew quickly.

Out in the corridor, he unfolded Tamako's letter with trembling hands. Whatever he had expected— and should not have expected in a letter meant to be read by his mother— he was disappointed. The note was extremely short and the form of address clearly put him in his place:

"Dear Honorable Elder Brother. Forgive this importunity, but could you look in on Father? His health is poor and we fear the worst. Your obedient younger sister."

Akitada refolded the paper in a state of confused unhappiness. He recalled guiltily the drawn face of Hirata and his repeated attempts to speak to Akitada. Could he be truly ill? Akitada blamed himself for the cold distance he had put between them the last few days. What if the older man's collapse had been more than indigestion? He really should have taken him home and explained matters to Tamako.

But seeing Tamako was more than he could face. It was impossible! It would open up too many old wounds. Akitada recalled bitterly that it had been her wish to discuss her father's condition that had started the whole miserable affair.

Twisting the letter in his hands, he wondered what to do. He walked out into the garden and started pacing. After some thought, he decided that Tamako intended him to look in on her father at the university. He would make it a point to see Hirata on the very next day of classes. Afterwards he could communicate the results to his "younger sister" by letter.

This problem settled, he tucked the letter in his sash and returned to his room and offered the boy some hot tea and sweet plums.

"Where is Tora?" asked Sadamu through a full mouth.

Tora! Akitada had forgotten all about him. What could have delayed him this long? He excused himself and headed for the courtyard to look for Tora. To his relief, the gate opened the moment he stepped out, and the truant slipped in.

Now that he was no longer worried, Akitada became irritated. "Where have you been all this time?" he snapped.

Tora was breathing hard. "They followed us," he said. "I saw them as soon as I passed through the university gate. You and the little lord had already turned the corner."

"Did you lose your pursuers?"

"Not right away. The bastards were good. And there may have been more than two. One of them is the big guy with the ugly mug who was outside the dormitory; another one is skinny, with a sneaky face and the longest legs I ever saw. I swear that rat can jump over whole city blocks. I must have spent the last hour running up and down streets and alleys. They almost caught up with me twice. I had to double back again and take another street. I think I lost them."

"You
think?
" Akitada felt a lump in his stomach. "I don't like this," he said. "Sakanoue means the child harm. If he felt any parental concern for the boy's safety, he could have contacted the university authorities." He paused. "We must consider what to do if they find their way here. This house is not safe."

Looking around the compound, Akitada saw that the mud walls were tall and in good repair, but an agile thief could climb them. The gates could be secured, but not against large numbers.

He shook his head. "I am afraid I may have exposed the child to much greater danger here than in his dormitory. Besides, I am jeopardizing the lives of my family. You and I are the only able-bodied men here. Seimei is too old and the boy too young to be much use against trained bandits. We must hire men to help us keep watch and, if necessary, defend the women and the boy."

Tora's face lit up. "I know the very guys, sir."

Akitada raised his brows.

"Hitomaro and Monk."

"Don't be ridiculous. After what they did to you? That is all we need, two known criminals inside our gates."

"They aren't criminals. They were only helping Spike and Nail because they thought the police had killed Umakai, and they figured I was one of them. Sir, they need the work and they'll do anything. They told me if they don't find some work quick, they'll have to eat what Monk can beg."

"It serves them right. If they had not broken some law, they would not be in this fix. Desperate men are capable of anything. Would you set a hungry cat to guard your fish?"

Tora's eyes flashed. "That's what Seimei said when I needed a job."

Remembering the incident, Akitada wavered.

Tora touched his arm. There were tears in his eyes. "Please, sir, trust me in this. At least talk to them."

Akitada was so astonished that his jaw dropped. "Very well. Bring them here and I will talk to them, but no promises. And I hope you know what you are doing."

Tora jumped up. "Thank you, sir! You won't regret it!" He dashed to the gate, slipped out and was gone.

Lady Sugawara chose to preside over the evening meal. Considering the short notice it was surprisingly splendid, including in addition to the customary rice and salted vegetables, steamed fish and eggs, and square rice cakes filled with vegetables.

She directed most of her conversation to their young guest, and her manner held an admirable balance between subservience to him as a person of imperial descent and motherly, or grandmotherly, warmth towards the orphaned child.

The boy accepted this as no more than his due, but had the good manners to compliment her on the food and the appointments of his quarters. He showed similar poise in chatting with Akitada's sisters, who responded with monosyllables and subdued giggles. Everything considered, the evening was a success, and Lady Sugawara was charmed.