The Harsh Cry of the Heron (43 page)

‘When Takeo returns
from the East, Kaede will have been informed of all this,’ she said. ‘It will
drive them apart. She will never forgive him. I know him: he will flee from her
and from the world; he will seek refuge in Terayama. The temple is barely
guarded. No one will be expecting you. You can surprise him there.’

Akio’s eyes were half
closed. His breath came in a deep sigh. ‘It is the only thing that will assuage
my pain.’

Hana was seized by
the desire to draw him to her, to ease some of the pain: she was sure she could
console him for the death - she hesitated to name it murder - of his wife. Yet
she prudently decided to save this pleasure for the future. She had something
else that she wanted to discuss with Akio.

‘Hisao has succeeded
in forging a weapon small enough to be carried concealed.’ she said. ‘No one
will get close enough to Takeo to kill him with the sword, but the firearm can
be used from some distance, isn’t that right?’

Akio nodded and spoke
more calmly, as if relieved to change subjects. ‘He has tried it out on the
seashore. It has a longer range than a bow, and the bullet is much faster than
an arrow.’ He paused for a moment. ‘Your husband is particularly interested in
the use of this weapon, because of the way his father died. He wants Takeo to
die as shamefully.’

‘It has a certain
justice about it,’ Hana agreed. ‘Quite pleasing. But to be completely certain
of success, surely you will give Hisao some rehearsal? I would suggest a trial
run to assure everything works, that he does not lose his nerve, that his aim
is true under stress.’

‘Does Lady Arai have
anyone in mind?’ Akio looked directly at her, and as their eyes met her heart
jumped with excitement.

‘As a matter of fact,
I do,’ she said quietly. ‘Come a little closer and I will whisper his name.’

‘There’s no need,’ he
replied. ‘I can guess.’

But he moved closer
anyway, so close she could smell his breath and hear his heartbeat. Neither of
them spoke or moved. The wind rattled the screens, and from the port came the
cries of gulls.

After a few moments
she heard Zenko’s voice from the courtyard.

‘My husband is back,’
she said, rising to her feet, not sure if she was relieved or disappointed.

Lord and Lady Arai
moved frequently between Kuma-moto and Hofu: their arrival in the port city
shortly after the foreigners’ return was therefore no cause for surprise. The
ship the foreigners came in had left almost at once for Akashi with Lady
Maruyama Shigeko, Sugita Hiroshi and the fabled kirin, which was farewelled
with pride and sorrow by the people of Hofu, who had taken a proprietorial
interest in it ever since its first astonishing arrival in their port. Terada
Fumio set sail shortly after, to join his father, Fumifusa, off the cape, along
with the Otori fleet.

The foreigners had
often been guests at Lord Arai’s residence: the fact that they were invited
again immediately seemed unremarkable. Conversation flowed more easily, for the
interpreter had grown bolder and more confident, and Don Carlo had become quite
fluent.

‘You must think us
very foolish,’ he said, ‘for we did not know of the Emperor. Now we realize we
should ha\ e approached him, for we are the representatives of our king, and
monarchs should deal with monarchs.’

Hana smiled. ‘Lord
Kono, who has recently returned to the capital himself, and whom you have met
here, I believe, is related to the imperial family, and assures us Lord Arai
enjoys the Emperor’s favour. Unfortunately, Lord Otori’s assumption of the
leadership of the Three Countries could be considered unlawful, which is why he
has gone to plead his case.’

Don Joao in
particular looked interested when this was translated. ‘Then perhaps Lord Arai
can help us approach His Imperial Majesty?’

‘It will be my great
pleasure,’ Zenko replied, flushed with anticipation as much as with wine.

The woman, their
interpreter, translated this, and then said several more sentences. Don Carlo
smiled somewhat sorrowfully, Hana thought, and nodded his head two or three
times.

‘What did you say?’
she questioned Madaren directly.

‘Forgive me, Lady
Arai. I spoke of a religious matter to Don Carlo.’

‘Tell us more. My
husband and I are interested in the ways of the foreigners, and open to their
beliefs.’

‘Unlike Lord Otori,
alas,’ Don Carlo said. ‘I had thought he would be sympathetic, and I held great
hopes for the salvation of his beautiful wife, but he has forbidden us to
preach openly or to build a church.’

‘We would be
interested in hearing about these things,’ Hana said politely. ‘And in return
would like to know how many ships your king now has in the Southern Isles, and
how long it would take to sail here from there.’

‘You have some new
scheme,’ Zenko said that night when they were alone.

‘I know a little
about the foreigners’ beliefs. The reason why the Hidden have always been hated
is because they obey the Secret God rather than any worldly authority. The
foreigners’ Deus is the same, demanding total allegiance.’

‘I have sworn that
allegiance many times to Takeo,’ Zenko said. ‘I do not like the idea of being
known as an oath-breaker, like Noguchi; to tell you the truth, it is the only
thing that still restrains me.’

‘Takeo has rejected
Deus - it is clear from what we have heard tonight. What if Deus was to choose
you to punish him?’

Zenko laughed. ‘If
Deus brings me ships and arms as well, I’m prepared to make a deal with him!’

‘If both the Emperor
and Deus order us to destroy Takeo, who are we to question or to disobey?’ Hana
said. ‘We have the legitimacy; we have the instrument.’ Their eyes met, and
they were both seized again by the same uncontrollable mirth.

‘I have one more
scheme,’ Hana said later, when the town was quiet, and she lay in her husband’s
arms, drowsy and sated.

He was almost asleep.
‘You are a treasure house of good ideas,’ he replied, caressing her lazily.

‘Thank you, my lord!
But don’t you want to hear it?’

‘Can’t it wait till
morning?’

‘Some things are
better spoken of in the dark.’

He yawned and turned
his head towards her. ‘Whisper your scheme in my ear and I will consider it
while I dream.’

When she had told
him, he lay for a long time so silent he might have been sleeping, yet she knew
he was wide awake. Finally he said, ‘I will give him one more chance. He is,
after all, my brother.’

Despite Sada’s best
efforts, and Ishida’s sticky salve, the wound in Maya’s face left a scar as it
healed, a faint mauvish outline on the cheekbone, like the shadow of a perilla
leaf. She was punished in various ways for her disobedience, made to perform
the lowliest tasks in the household, forbidden to speak, deprived of sleep and
food, and she bore all this without rancour, fully aware that she deserved it
for attacking and wounding her father. She did not see Taku for a week, and
though Sada cared for the wound she did not speak to her or give her the hugs
and caresses that Maya longed for. Alone for much of the time, shunned by
everyone, she had many opportunities to reflect on what had happened. She kept
returning to the fact that when she had realized her assailant was her father
the tears had burst from her eyes. Yet usually she never cried: the only other
time she could remember had been in the hot spring, with Takeo and Miki, when
she had told him about putting the cat to sleep with the Kikuta gaze.

It is only in Father’s
presence that I shed tears, she thought.

Perhaps the tears had
been partly of rage. She remembered her anger at him, for the son he had never
mentioned, for all the other secrets he might have kept from her, for all the
deceptions between parents and children.

But she also
remembered that her gaze had dominated his, that she had heard his light tread
and perceived him when he was invisible. She saw how the cat’s power added to
and enhanced her own. The power still frightened her, but every day, as the
lack of sleep, food and speech honed her, its attraction grew, and she began to
glimpse how she would control it.

At the end of the
week, Taku sent for her and told her that they would be leaving the next day
for Hofu.

‘Your sister, Lady
Shigeko, is bringing horses,’ he said. ‘She wants to say goodbye to you.’

When Maya simply
bowed without answering, he said, ‘You may speak now: the punishment is over.’

‘Thank you, Lord
Taku,’ she replied submissively, and then, ‘I’m really sorry.’

‘It’s the sort of
thing we’ve all done; somehow children survive these episodes. I’m sure I’ve
told you of the time your father caught me in Shuho.’

Maya smiled. It was a
story she and her sisters had loved to hear when they were younger. ‘Shizuka
often told us, to remind us to be obedient!’

‘It seems to have had
the opposite effect! We were both lucky it was your father we were dealing
with. Don’t forget, most adults from the Tribe will kill without thinking
twice, child or not.’

Shigeko brought two
elderly Maruyama mares, sisters, for Maya and Sada, one bay, one, to Maya’s
delight, pale grey with black mane and tail, very similar to Taku’s old horse,
Ryume, Raku’s son.

‘Yes, the grey can be
yours,’ Shigeko said, noticing the light in Maya’s eyes. ‘You must take good
care of her during the winter.’ She looked at Maya’s face: ‘I will be able to
tell you and Miki apart now.’ Drawing Maya aside, she said quietly, ‘Father
told me what happened. I know it is hard for you. Do exactly what Taku and Sada
tell you. Keep your eyes and ears open when you get to Hofu. I am sure you will
be useful to us there.’ The sisters embraced. After they’d parted, Maya felt
strengthened by Shigeko’s trust in her. It was one of the things that sustained
her during the long winter in Hofu, when the cold wind blew constantly from the
sea, bringing no proper snow but sleet and icy rain. The cat’s fur was warm,
and she was often tempted to use it, at first still warily, then with
increasing confidence as she learned to make the cat spirit submit to her will.
There were still many elements of the spaces between the worlds that terrified
her: the hungry ghosts with their insatiable cravings and her awareness of a
kind of intelligence that sought her, only half knowing it. It was like a light
shining in the darkness. Sometimes she glanced towards it and felt its appeal,
but mostly she shunned its gleam, remaining in the shadows. Occasionally she
would catch fragments of words, whispers that she could not quite make out.

Something else that
occupied her thoughts throughout the winter was the matter that had made her so
angry with her father: the mysterious boy who was her half-brother, of whom no
one ever spoke, who Taku had said would kill him - her father! When she thought
about this boy, her emotions became confused and uncontrollable; the cat spirit
threatened to take over her will and do what it desired: run towards the light,
listen to the voice, recognize it and obey it.

She often woke
screaming from nightmares, alone in the room, for Sada spent every night now
with Taku. Maya would lie awake till daybreak, afraid to close her eyes,
shivering with cold, longing to feel the cat’s warmth and dreading it.

Sada had arranged for
them to live in one of the Muto houses between the river and Zenko’s mansion.
It had formerly been a brewery, but the increase in customers as Hofu became
more prosperous had made it necessary for the family to move to larger
premises, and this building was used now only for storage.

As in Maruyama, the
Muto family provided guards and servants, and Maya continued to dress as a boy
outside the house but was treated as a girl within. She recalled Shigeko’s
instructions and kept her ears open, listened to the whispered conversations
around her, wandered through the port when the weather was good enough, and
told Taku and Sada most of what she heard. But she did not tell them
everything: some of the rumours shocked and angered her and she did not want to
repeat them. Nor did she dare question Taku about the boy who was her brother.

Maya saw Shigeko
again briefly in the spring, when her sister sailed with the kirin and Hiroshi
on their journey to Miyako. She had become closely acquainted with all the
details of Taku’s passion for Sada, and she studied her sister and Hiroshi to
see if they also showed the same symptoms. It seemed a lifetime ago when she
and Miki had teased Shigeko about Hiroshi: had it only been a young girl’s
crush, or did her sister still love the young man who was now her senior
retainer? And did he love her? Like Takeo, Maya had noticed Hiroshi’s swift
reaction when Tenba had shied during the ceremony at Maruyama, and had drawn
the same conclusions. Now she was not so sure: on the one hand, Shigeko and
Hiroshi seemed both distant and formal with each other; on the other they
seemed to know each other’s thoughts, and a kind of harmony existed between
them. Shigeko had assumed a new authority, and Maya no longer dared tease her
or even question her.

In the fourth month,
after Shigeko and Hiroshi had left with the kirin for Akashi, Taku became
preoccupied with the demands of the foreigners, who had returned from Hagi and
were eager to establish a permanent trading post as soon as possible. It was
around this time that Maya became fully conscious of changes that had been
happening slowly since the first days of spring. They seemed to confirm the
disturbing rumours she had started hearing in the winter.