Jade Palace Vendetta

CHAPTER 12

Kaze left the body of the assassin in the alleyway and continued walking back to Hishigawa’s villa. He didn’t carve a Kannon statue, but decided he would bring one back to the site the next morning to appease the soul of the dead assassin. Someone would find the corpse in the morning, and it was better if Kaze was not entangled with the Tokugawa authorities as they investigated the killing. He still had much of Kamakura to search for the girl, and he also had the trio to find.

The moon had not yet risen in the sky but, in the center of Kamakura, lantern light shone and people were still wandering the streets in its mellow glow.

As Kaze left the center of the town, the lights and people became fewer, until he was alone on the path to Hishigawa’s villa. Kaze could hear the quiet chirping of insects as he made his way between the dark trunks of trees that lined the path. His footsteps were muffled by the dirt and pine needles on the trail. As he approached the villa, his acute senses detected something besides the insects. He slowed his progress, straining to hear something besides the natural rhythm of the night.

There. He heard it again. The crackling of small tree limbs and the movement of bodies through the trees that bordered the path. Kaze stopped and stared into the darkness, drawing his sword from its scabbard and waiting to see who or what was hiding by the side of the pathway. He wondered if this was the prelude to another assassination attempt.

Suddenly a shape came flying out of the night from the deep woods. It landed on the ground behind him, barely missing his side. It was a spear.

Moving instantly, Kaze dashed into the woods, blending into the darkness and using the tree trunks to shield him from another spear. He could hear the rustling of several bodies in the woods, fleeing. He increased his speed, dodging one dark tree trunk after another, constantly moving in the direction in which he could hear the others escaping.

Ahead he heard a cry and a crash, and he knew one of his assailants had fallen. With the agility of an acrobat, Kaze dodged tree limbs and tree trunks and in seconds came across a dark shape picking himself off the ground. Kaze kicked the shape, and it went flying to the earth again, crying out in pain. Then it started shouting, but shouting something that Kaze could never have imagined.

“Obaasan! Obaasan! Grandma! Grandma! Help me! He’s got me. Grandma-”

Kaze walked up and put his foot on the shape, giving it a second shove before it could scramble to its feet.

“Grandma,” the shape screamed, “please help!”

Suddenly there was a crash to his right, and two additional shapes emerged from the darkness of the forest.

“Let go of him or I’ll kill you!” It was an older woman’s voice, but as sharp and authoritative as any samurai’s.

“I don’t really want to let go of him,” Kaze said. “In fact, I’ve been looking for all of you ever since the last time I saw you.”

“Who are you?” the old woman snapped.

“I’m the samurai you met at the teahouse many days ago. The one who fought a duel.”

“You!” the woman said.

Kaze nodded and realized that the woman couldn’t see him in the dark, so he said, “Hai! Yes.”

“Why are you after my grandson?” the woman demanded.

“Because your grandson plays dangerous games,” Kaze answered.

Kaze let the young man scramble to his feet. “I got scared,” the youngster admitted. “He knew we were hiding in the woods, so I threw my spear and ran.”

“It doesn’t do much good to hide when you make as much noise as you did,” Kaze said. “Stealth requires silence as well as cloaking yourself in darkness.”

“Thanks for the lesson,” the old woman said with sarcastic gruffness. “What do you want?”

“Well, I suppose I could ask the same thing of you,” Kaze said, “because apparently you are watching Hishigawa’s villa.”

“You’re the one who said you’ve been looking for us for days,” the old woman declared. “Now you tell us.”

Kaze smiled. The old woman would have made a good field general.

“I am Matsuyama Kaze,” he said, bowing, even though they couldn’t see his gesture in the dark.

“And I am the Elder Grandma of the Cadet Branch of the Noguchi family,” the woman said.

“When I first met you, you were on a vendetta,” Kaze said. “Did you complete what you set out to do?”

“I don’t think I should tell you,” the woman said.

“Why not?”

“Because Hishigawa is the person we have a vendetta against.”

They sat around a small fire burning on the dirt floor of an abandoned temple not too far from Hishigawa’s villa, where the ragtag trio bent on revenge had made camp.

“So what is it you want?” Elder Grandma said. She was flanked by her young grandson, Nagatoki, a youth of about fifteen, and by her aged servant, Sadakatsu, who was tall and cadaverous. Neither of the two males said a word.

“I want information,” Kaze said.

“What kind of information?” she asked.

Kaze reached into his sleeve and took out a scrape of cloth. He opened it up and held it so that it could be seen in the light of the fire.

“Do you see this crest?” he said, pointing to the design on the cloth. It was the three plum blossoms.

“Yes,” Elder Grandma said, showing no surprise at Kaze’s display of the cloth.

Kaze looked at her and thought that this was a frightening woman. She was as tough as any man and as shrewd in any negotiation as the wiliest of peasants.

“This is the crest of the family I used to serve before they were eliminated in the aftermath of Sekigahara. I obtained this cloth from your grandson. It was wrapped around some rice crackers.”

She gave a quick glance to her young grandson, who seemed frightened at the mention of him.

“Were those from the supplies we brought, Nagatoki?” she asked.

“Yes, Elder Grandma,” Nagatoki said. “I’m sorry, but-”

She cut him off. “Never mind. Don’t speak unless I tell you to.”

Turning to Kaze, she asked, “What is it you want to know about that cloth?”

“I want to know where the cloth came from and if, by some chance, it was associated with a young girl. The girl would be nine now, but she was seven when I lost track of her.”

Elder Grandma sat back. She was sitting on her heels, her legs tucked under her. “I know where the cloth came from. And I will tell you. But you must do something for me.”

“What?”

“Kill Hishigawa.”

“I’m not a murderer,” Kaze said.

“But you’re a samurai.”

“Yes, and as a samurai I kill. But I do not murder.”

“What’s the difference?” Elder Grandma said aggressively.

“Murder is unjust. If I kill, it may simply be the luck of battle or it may be because the world is better off with someone dead. Murdering Hishigawa to get you to tell me about a scrap of cloth is not just. You have a vendetta against him, but I do not. You may have a good reason to wish him dead, but I do not. You must kill him, because I will not.”

Elder Grandma pointed to her headband, emblazoned with the kanji character for “revenge.”

“Do you see this?”

“It’s hard to miss.”

“The Noguchi clan has an official vendetta against Hishigawa. He killed my son and stole one of his daughters. Hishigawa did business with my son before Sekigahara, providing weapons to our clan. He saw my son’s daughter and became possessed by her. If it wasn’t my own blood, I would have said she was a fox-maiden, because Hishigawa was so totally enamored of her that it was almost like a man who is seized by a fox-spirit who is masquerading as a woman.

“He sent an evil hag called Ando to act as his go-between, to arrange a marriage. My son refused. Despite Hishigawa’s wealth, my family saw no profit in linking its long lineage with a grubby merchant like Hishigawa.

“Soon my son’s house was attacked by Hishigawa’s thugs. They killed my son and stole his daughter, giving us the basis for our official vendetta against Hishigawa. Weeks ago, my grandson, Mototane, went to enforce the vendetta against Hishigawa and to bring back my granddaughter, his cousin. He was a superb swordsman and a brave warrior, and he should have been able to kill Hishigawa. If he didn’t have the chance to kill him, he should have been nearby waiting for that opportunity. Instead, I have seen no sign of him.

“If you won’t kill Hishigawa, then I want you to find out what happened to Mototane. If you want to know about this scrap of cloth, you will tell me what happened to my grandson. The moment you tell me what happened to him, I shall tell you where I got that cloth and what I know about it.”

Kaze didn’t bother trying to argue with Elder Grandma. He knew it would be useless to bargain with her. Instead he asked, “And what will you do?”

“We will wait to see if we have a chance to kill Hishigawa and rescue my granddaughter, Yuchan.”

“Yuchan!” Kaze said.

“You’ve seen her?”

“No, but I’ve heard Hishigawa talk about her. She’s his wife. He adores her and is still possessed by her. He even has a special palace for her inside his villa. She seems to be living in luxury.”

“Then I want you to get us information about Yuchan, too.”

“No,” Kaze said. “You said you wanted information about Mototane. If I find information about Yuchan, I will also tell you, but I won’t expand the bargain.”

“All right,” Elder Grandma said. “Done!”

It would take luck to discover the fate of Noguchi Mototane, but Kaze believed you sometimes made your own luck through work and preparation. It was like the story of Oda Nobunaga and the coins. Nobunaga was the predecessor of Hideyoshi, the man who recognized Hideyoshi’s unique talents and raised him from a common ashigaru foot soldier to a general.

Early in his career, Nobunaga and his troops, although outnumbered twelve to one, were marching to Okehazama to have a decisive battle with the powerful daimyo Imagawa Yoshimoto. Imagawa was invading Nobunaga’s territory, determined to crush him. He was launching a bid to march on Kyoto to claim control of all of Japan, and Nobunaga’s small domain was in the way. Imagawa had already destroyed a frontier fortress of Nobunaga’s and the Imagawa army was camped in the narrow and rugged gorge of Okehazama as they prepared to move on Nobunaga’s main castle.

On the way to battle the Imagawa army, Nobunaga stopped at the Atsuta Shrine to offer a prayer for victory. The Imagawa forces were far greater than Nobunaga’s, yet the headstrong Nobunaga chose to go on the offense instead of cowering in his castle. His troops felt that it would take divine intervention to come back alive, much less victorious.

While at the shrine, Nobunaga made an offering of several gold coins. Holding the coins in his hand, he looked at his retainers and announced, “If the Gods want us to win the upcoming battle, then all the coins I now offer will show their heads, to symbolize the heads of the enemy we will soon be taking.” Nobunaga then threw the coins toward the altar. They all landed with their heads showing.

His retainers were amazed and heartened by this sign of divine support, and they soon spread the word to Nobunaga’s troops. Under the cover of a furious thunderstorm, Nobunaga attacked the Imagawa army when they were still exhausted from their march. Imagawa, supremely confident, had not expected to be attacked by the smaller forces of Nobunaga. When he first heard the sounds of battle above the din of the thunderstorm, he thought a brawl had broken out among his own men. Without armor, Imagawa went to quell the brawl. Within minutes, he had lost his head. His troops, completely demoralized and routed, were defeated in a short, violent battle.

This victory marked the rise of Nobunaga. A year later Tokugawa Ieyasu, the same Ieyasu who later first allied himself with Hideyoshi and eventually conquered Hideyoshi’s family at Sekigahara, was Nobunaga’s ally.

The sign of divine favor shown Nobunaga at Atsuta Shrine was marred when it was later discovered that the coins that Nobunaga had used were doctored. They had heads on both sides.

After returning to Hishigawa’s villa, Kaze ate and then quietly slipped out of his room. In the dark, he made his way toward the drum bridge and climbed a tree. Ever since he was a child, Kaze had had an affinity for trees, seeing them as stairways to heaven, a way to separate his body from the earth both physically and metaphorically. Relaxing on a tree limb in the lotus position, he watched the island silently, curious about Yuchan’s lifestyle and convinced that Noguchi Mototane’s disappearance and possible death were linked to her.

Presently, he saw Ando scurrying to the bridge, carrying two nested lacquer food trays. He couldn’t see the contents of the bottom tray, but the top tray looked like it was full of delicacies, much finer than the supper Kaze had eaten. Kaze wondered if Yuchan was enjoying a special dinner. Yuchan seemed to live in cloistered elegance, like a member of the imperial family, her every whim and need catered to. Kaze was a bit surprised that a maid wasn’t taking Yuchan’s food to her, but apparently Hishigawa’s wife received very special treatment from all in the household, including Ando. Kaze mused that this must be a strange life, so much like that of a pampered prisoner. Was the loss of freedom compensated for by the granting of luxury?

Later, Ando returned to the main villa, but a few minutes later she and Hishigawa appeared. They passed the man guarding the drum bridge and crossed over to the island, entering the Jade Palace. What Kaze found interesting was that several hours later they returned to the villa together. Kaze would have expected Hishigawa to spend the night with Yuchan.

The next morning, the maid found Kaze sleeping soundly in his futon, as if he had been in his room the entire night.