Part 11 (1/2)

He regained control of himself, wiping the spittle from his mouth. ”Forgive me. I have known you since you were born. It is my duty to speak to you, even though it pains me.”

”I will forgive you this time,” she said. ”But it is you who shame my father, through disrespect to his heir. If you ever speak to me in that fas.h.i.+on again, I will order you to slit your belly.”

”You are only a woman,” he said, trying to placate her but enraging her further. ”You have no one to guide you.”

”I have my husband,” she said shortly. ”There is nothing you or Lord Fujiwara can do to alter that. Go to him now and say my sisters are to come home at once. They will return with me to Maruyama.”

He left immediately. Shocked and restless, she could not sit quietly and wait for his return. She called to Hiros.h.i.+ and showed him the house and garden while she checked all the repairs that she had had done in the autumn. The crested ibis in their summer plumage were feeding on the banks of the rice fields, and the shrike continued to scold them as they trespa.s.sed into its territory. Then she told him to fetch the chests of records and, carrying one each, they made their way upstream along the s.h.i.+rakawa to where it emerged from under the mountain. She would not hide them where Shoji might find them; she would entrust them to no human. She had decided to give them to the G.o.ddess.

The holy place calmed her, as always, but its ageless, sacred atmosphere awed her rather than lifted her spirits. Below the huge arch of the cave's entrance the river flowed slowly and steadily in deep pools of green water, belying its name, and the twisted shapes of the calcified rocks gleamed like mother-of-pearl in the half-light.

The old couple who maintained the shrine came out to greet her. Leaving Hiros.h.i.+ in the company of the man, Kaede went forward with his wife, each of them carrying one of the chests.

Lamps and candles had been lit inside the cavern, and the damp rock glistened. The roar of the river drowned out all other noise. They stepped carefully from stone to stone, past the giant mushroom, past the frozen waterfall, past Heaven's Stairway-all shapes made by the limy water-until they came to the rock shaped like the G.o.ddess, from which drops fell like tears of mother's milk.

Kaede said, ”I must ask the G.o.ddess to protect these treasures for me. Unless I myself come for them, they must stay here with her forever.”

The old woman nodded and bowed. Behind the rock a cave had been hollowed out, well above the highest level of the river. They climbed up to it and placed the chests in it. Kaede noticed that it contained many other objects that had been given to the G.o.ddess. She wondered about their history and what had happened to the women who had placed them there. There was a damp, ancient smell. Some of the objects were decaying; some had already rotted. Would the records of the Tribe rot away there, hidden under the mountain?

The air was cold and clammy, making her s.h.i.+ver. When she put the chest down, her arms felt suddenly empty and light. She was seized by the knowledge that the G.o.ddess knew her need-that her empty arms, her empty womb, would be filled.

She knelt before the rock and scooped up water from the pool that had gathered at its base. As she drank she prayed almost wordlessly. The water was as soft as milk.

The old woman, kneeling behind her, began to chant a prayer so ancient that Kaede did not recognize the words, but its meaning washed over her and mingled with her own longing. The rock shape had no eyes, no features, yet she felt the benign gaze of the G.o.ddess upon her. She remembered the vision she had had at Terayama and the words that had been spoken to her: Be patient; he will come for you Be patient; he will come for you.

She heard the words clearly again, and for a moment they puzzled her. Then she understood them to mean he would come back. Of Of course he will. I will be patient course he will. I will be patient, she vowed again. As soon as my sisters are here, we will go to Maruyama at once. And when Takeo returns, I will conceive a child. I was right to come here As soon as my sisters are here, we will go to Maruyama at once. And when Takeo returns, I will conceive a child. I was right to come here.

She felt so strengthened by the visit to the caves that at the end of the afternoon she went to the family temple to pay her respects to her father's tomb. Hiros.h.i.+ came with her, as did one of the women of the house, Ayako, who carried offerings of fruit and rice and a bowl of smoking incense.

His ashes lay buried among the graves of her ancestors, the s.h.i.+ra-kawa lords. Beneath the huge cedars it was gloomy and cool. The wind soughed in the branches, carrying the min-min min-min of cicadas. Over the years earthquakes had s.h.i.+fted the columns and pillars, and the ground heaved upward as if the dead were trying to escape. of cicadas. Over the years earthquakes had s.h.i.+fted the columns and pillars, and the ground heaved upward as if the dead were trying to escape.

Her fathers grave was still intact. Kaede took the offerings from Ayako and placed them in front of the stone. She clapped her hands and bowed her head. She dreaded hearing or seeing his spirit; yet she wanted to placate it. She could not think calmly about his death. He had wanted to die but had been unable to find the courage to kill himself. s.h.i.+zuka and Kondo had killed him: Did that const.i.tute murder? She was aware, too, of the part she had played, the shame she had brought on him; would his spirit now demand some payment?

She took the bowl of smoldering incense from Ayako and let the smoke waft over the tomb and over her own face and hands to purify her. She put the bowl down and clapped again three times. The wind dropped, the crickets fell silent, and in that moment she felt the earth tremble slightly beneath her. The landscape quivered. The trees shook.

”An earthquake!” Hiros.h.i.+ exclaimed behind her as Ayako gave a cry of fear.

It was only a small tremor, and no more followed, but Ayako was nervous and jittery on the way home.

”Your fathers spirit spoke to you,” she murmured to Kaede. ”What did he say?”

”He approves of everything I have done,” she replied with a confidence she was far from feeling. In fact the tremor had shocked her. She feared her father's angry, embittered ghost and felt it attacked all she had experienced in the sacred caves at the G.o.ddess's feet.

”May heaven be praised,” Ayako said, but her lips tightened and she continued to give Kaede anxious glances all evening.

”By the way,” Kaede asked her as they ate together, ”where is the young man Sunoda, Akita's nephew?” This young man had come with his uncle the previous winter, and she had made him remain in her household as a hostage, in Shoji's care. She was beginning to think she might have need of him now.

”He was allowed to return to Inuyama,” Ayako said.

”What?” Shoji had relinquished her hostage? She could not believe the extent of his treachery.

”His father was said to be ill,” Ayako explained.

So her hostage was gone, diminis.h.i.+ng her power further.

It was already dusk before she heard Shoji's voice outside. Hiros.h.i.+ had gone with Amano to his house to meet his family and sleep there, and Kaede had been waiting in her father's room, going through the records of the estate. She could see many signs of mismanagement, and when it was obvious Shoji had returned alone, her rage against her father's senior retainer grew even more fierce.

When he came to her Ayako followed him, bringing tea, but Kaede was too impatient to drink it.

”Where are my sisters?” she demanded.

He drank the tea gratefully before replying. He looked hot and tired. ”Lord Fujiwara is glad of your return,” he said. ”He sends you his greetings and asks that you will call on him tomorrow. He will send his palanquin and an escort.”

”I have no intention of calling on him,” she retorted, trying not to lose her temper. ”I expect my sisters to be returned to me tomorrow, and after that we will leave for Maruyama as soon as possible.”

”I am afraid your sisters are not there,” he said. Her heart plunged to her belly. ”Where are they?”

”Lord Fujiwara says Lady s.h.i.+rakawa is not to be alarmed. They are perfectly safe and he will tell her where they are when she visits him tomorrow.”

”You dare to bring me such a message?” Her voice sounded thin and unconvincing to her own ears.

Shoji inclined his head. ”It gives me no pleasure. But Lord Fujiwara is who he is; I cannot defy or disobey him, nor, I believe, can you.”

”They are hostages, then?” she said in a low voice.

He did not answer directly but merely said, ”I'll give orders for your journey tomorrow. Shall I accompany you?”

”No!” she cried. ”And if I am to go, I will ride. I will not wait for his palanquin. Tell Amano I will ride my gray and he is to come with me.”

For a moment she thought he would argue with her, but then he bowed deeply and acquiesced.

After he had gone, her thoughts were in turmoil. If she could not trust Shoji, whom of the domain's men could she trust? Were they trying to trap her? Surely even Fujiwara would not dare. She was married now. At one moment she thought she should return immediately to Maruyama; the next she realized Ai and Hana were in someone else's possession and she understood what it meant to have hostages held against her.

So must my mother and Lady Naomi have suffered, she thought. I must go to Fujiwara and bargain with him for them. He has helped me before. He will not turn completely against me now I must go to Fujiwara and bargain with him for them. He has helped me before. He will not turn completely against me now.

Next she began to worry about what to do with Hiros.h.i.+. It had seemed like the safest of journeys; yet she could not help feeling that she had brought him into danger. Should he ride with her to Lord Fujiwara's or should she send him home as quickly as possible?

She rose early and sent for Amano. She dressed in the simple traveling clothes she had worn on the journey, even though she could hear s.h.i.+zuka's voice in her head: You can't appear before Lord Fujiwara on horseback like a warrior You can't appear before Lord Fujiwara on horseback like a warrior. Her own better judgment told her to delay a few days, to send messages and gifts and then to travel in his palanquin with his escort, dressed perfectly for him, presented like the flawless treasures he prized. s.h.i.+zuka, even Manami, would have advised her so. But her impatience was too great. She knew she would never endure the waiting and the inactivity. She would meet Lord Fujiwara once more, would find out where her sisters were and what he wanted, and would then go immediately back to Maruyama, back to Takeo.

When Amano came she sent the women away so she could speak privately with him, and quickly explained the situation.

”I have to go to Lord Fujiwara's, but to tell you the truth I am anxious about his intentions. We may need to leave quickly and return to Maruyama at speed. Be ready for it, and make sure the men and horses are prepared.”

His eyes narrowed. ”There will be no fighting, surely?”

”I don't know. I am afraid they will try to detain me.”

”Against your will? It's impossible!”

”It's unlikely, I know, but I am uneasy. Why were my sisters taken away if not to force me in some way?”