The Masuda Affair (37 page)

Akitada limped home as quickly as he could, frantic with worry. There were many fires in the city. In the west, the evening sun was setting against a lurid sky. Clouds of thick gray smoke turned its light to a copper glow. The scene was as frightening as any Akitada had known.

And everywhere he heard cries and shouts as people dealt with their individual disasters and tragedies. Earthen walls that once had hidden the mansions of the powerful had tumbled down and revealed leaning roofs and fallen galleries. Fine horses ran free in the streets, terrifying people who had fled their homes. A wailing woman came towards him with a child in her arms. The child looked dead. A monk wandered aimlessly, mumbling,
‘Namu Amida butsu – Namu Amida butsu,’
over and over again.

W
hen Akitada reached his house, he saw that the outer wall had fallen here also, but the rest still stood. Tora and Genba had brought the horses out and tied them to a pine tree. Now the two men were drawing water from the well. Tora dropped his bucket back into the well when he saw the half-naked, bloodied appearance of his master.

‘Amida,’ he cried, ‘Are you all right, sir?’

‘Yes. What about the others?’

‘All safe. Trouble made such a racket that everyone came out to see what was happening. So when it started, they just ran down from the veranda. Your lady and the others are in the garden. We thought it was safer there.’

‘Thank heaven.’ Akitada looked around dazedly, but was suddenly lighthearted. ‘And give my thanks to your dog.’

Genba asked, ‘What happened to you, sir? You look terrible.’

Akitada laughed. ‘Never mind. We’re alive.’ His heart full with happiness, he hobbled into the garden, where he was greeted with cries of concern. Seimei inspected him and went for his medicine box.

Akitada smiled at his wife. ‘Thank heaven. I had such fears.’ Over her shoulder, he saw the boy sitting in the grass and he remembered their son, but even that memory was bearable. He was filled with such gratitude and hope. ‘How did Nori fare?’

She chuckled. ‘Very well. He thought it was a game.’

Seimei returned to treat his wounds. When Tora and Genba joined them also, Akitada told them what had happened and about Sadanori’s confession and his death. ‘The boy is young Masuda’s son. We must return him, or
at least make the attempt. I don’t think he will be very welcome there.’

‘No.’ Tamako had tears in her eyes. ‘You cannot be so indifferent as to abandon him again to the cruelty of others?’

‘We have no choice, Tamako.’

‘But if they don’t want him?’ she murmured.

‘If they don’t want him, I shall do my best for the boy.’

Perhaps she guessed how his feelings for the boy had changed. She pleaded, ‘He’s so small and has been hurt so badly.’

‘The law demands that lost children be returned to their parents or relatives. But if it will make you feel better, you can come along. If no one in the Masuda household offers the child a home, we will bring him back with us.’

She said earnestly, ‘You have always taken on the lost and wretched. First Tora, and later Genba and Hitomaro. Then our very ill-tempered cook. And now Hanae and Trouble.’ She paused. ‘And me, too.’

‘No, not you. You found me, and I, fool that I was, almost lost you.’

Akitada was up early the next day to inspect the damage to the house. Old as it was, it had withstood the earthquake well. The stable, often patched, needed repairs, and there was the collapsed wall. He felt very lucky.

The old carpenter wandered in with his satchel of tools. ‘Ah,’ he said, contentedly looking around, ‘I thought Your Honor would need me.’

‘I’m very glad to see you, but surely today you can find work anywhere,’ said Akitada.

‘Oh, they’re clamoring all right. Sent to my house last night, and then tried to hire me on my way here. And, for that matter, my own roof has fallen down, but I said to myself, “Go to him who helped you when you needed work,” and here I am.’ He gave Akitada a toothless grin.

‘You are an honorable man,’ Akitada said, his faith in human nature restored.

*   *   *

Life returned to normal – except for the visit from the monk.

Tora answered the knock at the gate to the barefooted figure in the drab gown, basket hat, and staff. He snapped, ‘What do you want?’

The monk flinched when he recognized him, but said in a steady voice, ‘I came to see your master.’

‘Take off that hat.’

The monk sighed and removed the basket.

‘Ha! I thought it was you. You’d better explain, that’s all I can say.’

‘I intend to.’ The young monk’s eyes narrowed. ‘Did you have anything to do with the murder of the woman they called Little Abbess?’

‘I was going to ask you the same thing.’

The monk gave a bitter laugh. ‘She was a friend. I only wanted information.’

‘So you say. What information?’

‘I really must speak to your master. I came to get my nephew.’

‘Your nephew?’

‘The boy your master found in Otsu. I’ve been trying to find out what happened to my sister and her son and have only now traced the boy here.’

Tora wrestled with his surprise. It might be a lie, or it might be the truth, but their struggle for the boy had been too hard to give him up to this beggar monk. He glowered. ‘You’d better leave or I’ll make you sorry you ever bothered us.’

The monk rolled up his sleeves. ‘I’ll fight for what is mine.’

Akitada interrupted them. ‘What’s going on here, Tora?’

‘He’s the monk I told you about,’ Tora said angrily. ‘He says he wants his “nephew”.’

Akitada nodded. ‘Yes. I’ve been expecting him. Bring him in.’ He turned and went back inside.

Tora muttered, ‘Now what?’ He looked at the monk. ‘Does the master know you?’

The monk shook his head. ‘I don’t think so.’

‘Oh, well, if you’re here on legitimate business, sorry,’ Tora said ungraciously and led the way to his master’s study.

The monk’s eyes were watchful and his expression guarded. ‘I’m Shinyo,’ he said. He fished some tattered papers from his robe. ‘My travel permit, signed by my abbot, and letters of introduction to monasteries near the capital.’ Akitada examined them briefly before returning them. The monk said, ‘I’m told you have a homeless child in your care.’

‘Yes. You must be Peony’s brother. You led Tora a merry chase. No wonder he’s taken a dislike to you.’

‘An unfortunate mistake. I came for the boy. How did you know who I am?’

‘You kept showing up, and Peony’s long-lost brother was unaccounted for. Few other people could have such a persistent interest in her affairs. Your outfit is a useful disguise, but it raises suspicions.’

Tora pursed his lips and studied the ceiling.

‘I wanted to find out about my sister’s death and what happened to her child. It became obvious that someone didn’t want people to know.’

‘I gather you eventually suspected Ishikawa?’

‘Yes, he killed the doctor. I was going to see him about my sister’s death when he came out of the gate, leaving it open. When I went in, I found the doctor murdered.’

Tora asked, ‘Why didn’t you report that?’

‘I thought it more important to find out who the killer was, and so I followed him.’

Akitada shook his head. ‘We’ve worked at cross purposes. Why has it taken you so long to look for your sister?’

‘I live in a monastery on Mount Gassan in the far north. When I finally received permission to travel south, I found my sister dead and her child lost.’

The monks of Mount Gassan were ascetics who lived strictly cloistered lives and saw nothing of the outside world. ‘I keep wondering if this tragedy could have been avoided. Your father was a nobleman.’

Shinyo stiffened. ‘When he died, I was sixteen, and my sister fifteen. His family rejected us and we had to fend for ourselves. I became a monk, and my sister a courtesan. We did not choose freely. Such choices are given only to a few, and never to people like us.’

Akitada said gently, ‘I don’t know how much of your sister’s story you know, but the two men responsible for her tragic end are both dead. It’s time to let the past go.’

‘You’re right. I’m grateful that you found the child. I have come to take him with me.’

Akitada looked at the ragged robe, the bare, calloused feet, the thin body. ‘How do you propose to take care of a child?’

The monk lowered his head. ‘I shall take him back to my monastery with me. He will be safe there.’

‘To be trained as a mendicant monk, or a mountain priest? You made it very clear that you would not have chosen such a life for yourself. Why force the child to follow it?’

‘The ways of this world are filled with death and pain. I’ve found contentment in the Buddha’s way. The boy is my responsibility.’

Akitada shook his head. ‘You can do nothing for him. Your nephew is a Masuda. His grandfather still lives.’

‘The Masudas mistreated my sister and sold her son.’

‘I know the old lord loved his son very much. For that reason, if for no other, he will adopt his grandson. But, in any case, by law paternal family ties take precedence over maternal ones.’

Shinyo frowned as he thought this over. ‘Very well,’ he finally said. ‘Do this if you must. But promise that you will not leave the boy there if he’s not made welcome.’

‘You have my word. Would you like to meet Nori?’

The monk shook his head. ‘I saw him in Otsu. If he’s to live there, it will be better if I don’t. Tell him that I shall visit him when I’m permitted to do so.’

The next day, the minister paid Akitada a surprise visit. He found him in a dirty old robe, carrying timbers to the carpenter. Tora was on the stable roof, hammering nails into boards, and Genba had gone into the city to bring back more supplies.

His Excellency gaped at Akitada. ‘Is that you?’ he asked, taking in the hatless topknot, the stained cotton robe and the short pants that revealed badly-scratched bare legs and dusty feet in straw sandals.

Akitada laughed, a new sound even to his own ears. He dropped the armful of wood, awkwardly because his left arm was still swollen and sore, wiped his hands on his robe, and bowed to his superior. ‘Good morning, Excellency. Since I’m on leave of absence, I make myself useful.’

‘Oh, dear,’ murmured the minister, absent-mindedly brushing at his own fine green silk robe. ‘Oh, dear, I had no idea you were reduced to this. I am so sorry, my dear fellow.’

‘I like to keep busy,’ Akitada said cheerfully. ‘But perhaps we’d better go inside.’ He stepped to the well, pulled up a leather bucket and rinsed the dirt off his face and hands.

Seimei was already waiting on the veranda, holding a drying cloth and Akitada’s second best robe, trousers, and socks. The minister followed Akitada up the steps and watched as Akitada changed.

‘Do you engage in violent exercise, Sugawara?’ he asked, staring at the cuts and purple bruises.

‘Not the kind that involves earthquakes. I do hope Your Excellency’s home and the ministry were spared serious damage?’

‘Just minor damage, thank the gods.’

More suitably attired, Akitada led his guest through his study and out on the veranda. His small private garden with the fishpond was very pleasant at this hour of the morning. They sat on cushions, and Seimei brought wine and some small rice cakes. Akitada waited for the news.

‘How very nice,’ said the minister, after tasting the wine and looking about. ‘I am sorry that you suffered in the collapse of Sadanori’s pavilion. It must have been a terrible experience.’

‘Being trapped was unpleasant, especially after I smelled smoke.’

‘I can well imagine. The chancellor was very impressed that you should have risked your life to save his cousin.’

‘Oh?’ Everything considered, Akitada felt a bit guilty about Sadanori’s death. He had relived his time under the pavilion repeatedly, especially those last moments, and knew that in the end he had worked to save himself without giving
a thought to Sadanori. In fact, he thought his moving of that heavy beam could have caused the collapse that crushed Sadanori. He said, ‘I regret that I failed to do so.’

‘My dear fellow, you did what you could. It’s a miracle you got out yourself. It is well-known in the highest circles that Sadanori had those ridiculous charges laid against you. I suppose you had gone to ask him to withdraw them?’

Akitada was momentarily speechless. He was not going to be dismissed or sent into exile after all. Amazingly, the chancellor’s anger at him had changed to gratitude. He stared at the minister in surprise.

The minister fidgeted. ‘I do hope you will forgive me for speaking to you the way I did?’

Akitada found his voice. ‘There is nothing to forgive, sir. You acted very properly under the circumstances.’

The minister said warmly, ‘That is very kind. Yes, I didn’t have much choice, but I did not like doing it.’ He flushed. His round black eyes became a little moist. ‘The fact is, hmm, I like you, Sugawara. Your hard work is much appreciated. I don’t know how I – how the ministry would manage without you, and that is the truth.’

Akitada was touched. ‘You do me great honor, sir. I am deeply grateful for your patience. Losing my son as I did … Well, I see now that I must have been a great trial to you. I apologize.’

The minister’s round face widened with a smile. ‘Not at all. Not at all. And about those charges, that has all been cleared up. The Otsu judge sent a report clearing you completely. Those people had no claim on the child you found. In fact, it appears the man was a notorious smuggler. The judge expressed great satisfaction with your help in the case.’

A smuggler? Akitada recalled the fine new storehouse next to the Mimuras’ hovel. Of course. He should have guessed it. That would have gone a long way towards clearing his own character and freeing the boy.

‘What about the poor child?’ the minister asked. ‘Will you keep him?’

‘My wife has charge of him, but he should be returned to his family’

The minister opened his mouth to ask, but said only, ‘Ah,’ and, ‘well, I wish you success. Perhaps you will tell me what happens?’ He rose. ‘Time to get back. May we expect you when you have settled the matter?’