Death at the Crossroads

CHAPTER 15

Kaze approached the hut door and called out, “Sumimasen! Excuse me!”

There was a scurrying noise inside, and after a few minutes the door slid back and a sleepy-eyed face poked its way into the sunlight. Although it was afternoon, it was obvious that Kaze had roused Aoi from her slumbers. When she saw who it was, Aoi’s eyes widened. “Chotto matte, kudasai. Please wait!” she said.

She poked her head back into her hut, and Kaze waited for a few more minutes as Aoi scrambled around, fixing her hair and putting on a better kimono. As he waited, Kaze put down the earthen jug he was carrying and looked around the village. Several faces, which were watching him from open windows or half-opened doors, retreated to the darkness of their houses as he looked in their direction. Kaze sighed. A small village has too little to keep it busy when the local economy is bad. The hut’s door slid open.

“Samurai!” Aoi said, stepping outside her hut and bowing deeply. “How can I serve you?” She put a sly smile on her face.

Kaze lifted up the jug he brought with him, and said, “I thought we might drink together. It gets lonely in such a small village, and I’ve heard that you’re good company.”

Aoi stood to one side and bowed again. “That would be nice,” she said. “Please enter, and I’ll stir up the fire to get hot water going. I would love to drink with you.”

Kaze ducked into the low door of the hut and looked around, letting his eyes accustom themselves to the gloom of the hut. Like most peasants’ huts, the interior had a raised wooden floor with two cutouts with dirt floors. One cutout was by the entrance, so people could sit on the edge of the raised floor to take off their sandals, and the other was in the center of the hut, where a charcoal fire could be built for warmth and cooking. The fire was just glowing embers and white ash, showing that Aoi hadn’t even made her morning meal yet, but the hut was still filled with lingering hints of smoke.

Kaze sat on the wooden floor and removed his sandals. He placed the jug of sake next to him, and when Aoi had stirred up the fire, she scurried over to pick up the jug. She removed the cloth cover and wooden stopper from the jug and poured some of the sweet sake into a flask. She placed the flask into a metal pot of water that she had hanging over the fire. She looked at Kaze and smiled, then she filled a second and third flask, placing them into the water.

Aoi prepared a small plate of food. “It will just be a minute for the sake to warm,” she said. “Please sit down and relax.” She put a zabuton cushion on the floor.

Kaze moved to the cushion and sank down. Aoi moved to his side, placing the plate before him.

“What a surprise,” she said. “I’ve seen you in the village. It’s hard to miss such a handsome and manly samurai!”

Kaze said nothing. Aoi leaned into him, the edge of her kimono negligently hanging open so Kaze could see the curve of her breast. “I’ve been hoping you would visit me,” she said in almost a whisper. She placed her hand on his arm. “You are so good-looking, and a gentleman, too. The whole village knows you saved the life of the charcoal seller.” She sighed. “I’m sure all the girls fall in love with you! Handsome, kind, and I’m sure virile and generous!” She rubbed his arm softly.

“No,” Kaze said, extracting his arm from her grasp. “Not handsome, not a gentleman, and too poor to be generous. And today, not even virile. I just wanted some company while I drank my troubles away.”

The smile dropped from Aoi’s face. Kaze took a small, paper-wrapped bundle from his sleeve and placed it down before her. It made a pleasant clink as the coins stacked inside the paper hit each other. “Of course, I intend to pay you for your company.” The smile returned to her face.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Aoi said as she scooped up the bundle and placed it in her sleeve. “It’s my pleasure to drink with you!”

“I’m glad,” Kaze said, amused. “I feel like some company today.”

Aoi returned to the kettle and tested the temperature of one of the flasks. She looked over her shoulder, “Not really warm enough yet,” she said, “but let’s start anyway!” She took the flask out of the water and brought it and two tiny sake cups to Kaze on a woven tray.

She poured two glasses of sake from the flask and handed Kaze his cup, holding the cup with both hands, bowing slightly, and saying, “Dozo! Please!”

Kaze took the cup and sipped the tepid wine. “Ahh!” he said, smacking his lips. “I needed that!”

Aoi filled Kaze’s cup again before picking up her own. She tossed hers down with a practiced hand. “Oishi! Tastes good!” Aoi said. She picked up the flask and poured herself another drink. “Now, if I can’t make you feel better in other ways, why don’t you at least tell me your troubles?”

Kaze looked at her over the rim of his cup. “It’s very frightening.” He finished his drink and held his cup out for Aoi to refill it.

“What’s frightening?” Aoi asked, puzzled. She pick up the flask, shook it slightly to judge the amount of liquor still in it, and filled Kaze’s cup.

“All the things that are happening.”

“What’s happening?”

Aoi expected Kaze to talk about the brigands and the attempt on his life, which the brigands had told her about. Instead, he leaned toward her, his voice a hoarse whisper, and said, “Ghosts!”

Aoi, who was in the process of fishing another flask out of the pot of warm water, paused. “Ghosts?”

“Yes.” Kaze shook his head. “It seems to get worse every place I go, and I think this District may get to be the worst yet.”

“What are you talking about, samurai-sama?”

“On the way here I passed through a village where a kappa had stolen a child. Do you know what a kappa is?”

Aoi, her eyes wide, shook her head no.

“It’s a disgusting creature, all slimy and white. It looks like a jellyfish made into a man. It lives in water or wet places, such as in deep ponds or the still water under a bridge. It has a saucer, made of flesh, growing out of the top of its head.” Kaze touched the top of his head to illustrate his point.

“What for?”

“The saucer contains water. As long as the kappa is near water, he can’t be defeated, so he carries some with him always. The only way to kill him is to knock him off his feet, so the water spills out of the saucer. Then you can kill him.”

“You … you’ve seen such a creature?”

“Of course. I once killed one, but the one in the village near here was too strong for me. I had to leave him, despite the fact that he will steal more children.”

“What do they do with the children they steal?”

“No one knows. The children are found dead, floating in a pond or river, usually drowned, but no one knows what the kappa does with them.” Kaze looked around, as if making sure they were alone in the hut. “I think they mate with the children before they drown them, and that’s where new kappa come from.”

Aoi put her hand to her mouth.

“But that’s not the half of it. In this district much worse things are happening.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you hear about the demon?”

“You mean the story about the demon that rode through Higashi village?”

“It’s not a story. I talked to someone who saw the demon. It had fierce eyes, a twisted mouth, blood-red skin, flowing white hair, and two horns, like this.” Kaze brought his two fists up to his forehead, using his little fingers to indicate tiny horns growing out of his head. “It was awful. A truly bad omen. It was riding a big black stallion, and people say lightning flashed as the horse’s hooves struck the earth. It was out gathering victims and had the soul of an adult strapped across his horse, carrying the poor man to hell.”

“Honto? Truly?”

Kaze nodded gravely. Then he sighed. “It’s a terrible time. This is the wrath of heaven. Under the Taiko we had peace, but the Tokugawas have started their reign with the death of thirty thousand or more. That’s just at one battle: Sekigahara. Think how many more have died and will die soon. The Tokugawas are hunting down all who oppose them and killing them. All that blood! All those souls crying out for vengeance! All those ghosts wandering the land, unable to find rest because of their violent end. No wonder demons are now abroad in our country.”

“Are demons worse than kappa?”

“Of course. You can kill a kappa and you can protect your children by keeping them away from water and damp places. But demons can go everywhere and they can’t be killed. They will break down the door of a hut if they want the person inside. As demons start snatching souls, one by one, other ghosts and monsters will be stirred up. It wouldn’t surprise me to see dragons and other hideous creatures wandering the land. It will simply get worse and worse until the spirits of all the dead are appeased through the sacrifice of the living.”

“You’ve seen such things?”

Kaze’s pleasure at spinning tales was momentarily clouded by the memory of his encounter with the obake of the Lady. “Yes,” he said darkly.

Aoi was no fool. She had long since learned to distrust men and their pronouncements. But the way this samurai affirmed his contact with the supernatural sent chills up her spine. She stared at his tight lips and set jaw. She looked into dark eyes that seemed to know something that stretched beyond the parameters of this life and extended into the period between incarnations. She froze, uncertain about what to do next. Finally, she whispered, “Honto? Is that true?”

As if returning from a dream, Kaze’s eyes refocused and looked at the frightened woman. It was what he was trying to achieve, and now it was no longer fun. “Honto,” he said.

“What can we do?” Aoi said, her eyes wide.

Kaze shrugged, finishing the sake in his cup. “I don’t know. I simply report what I know to be true. In fact, there are rumors that dragon tracks have been spotted in the next district. Once dragons take over a district, there is nothing to do but leave or be eaten.”

Aoi, who had been perched attentively on her calves, collapsed to the side, sitting despondently with anxiety and fear. “What can we do?” she asked once more.

“I don’t know,” Kaze said. “No one has the answers for such terrible times. Under the Taiko we had relative peace and stability. The Taiko had his failed Korean adventure, but at home we did not have wars and we had order. Now with the Tokugawas our entire social order is upset. Their government extends its control into every aspect of the land, usurping rights that are not theirs. It’s even rumored that Ieyasu will declare himself Shogun.” Kaze paused, then sighed. “Do you know what I’m talking about?” he asked, not unkindly.

Aoi shook her head no. To her, talk of the rulers of Japan was like talk of the Gods. They were remote and mystical figures. The talk of ghosts and demons had more immediacy and reality to her. It was much more likely that a ghost would alight in this remote village than a ruler of Japan.

Instead of continuing, Kaze held out his cup. It took Aoi a few moments to react, but finally she picked up the sake flask and reached to pour another drink for Kaze. The rim on the cup made a chattering sound as the shaking flask bumped against it.