Laura Rowland - The Iris Fan

Sano felt sick at heart as he nodded. His actions had already caused Reiko and Masahiro enough pain. They would never forgive him for this. He would never forgive himself. And he could see no way out of it … except to kill Yanagisawa.

The solution was so simple, would be so satisfying.

But he didn’t have his swords, and he was trapped in Yanagisawa’s domain, surrounded by Yanagisawa’s men.

He didn’t have any other friends able to help him. Unless Masahiro married Kikuko, the whole family was at Lord Ienobu’s nonexistent mercy.

Yoshisato poked his head in the door and said to Yanagisawa, “Sorry to interrupt, but the word from the palace is, Lord Ienobu has been officially reinstated as the heir and Acting Shogun, and he’s issued orders for our arrest.” He looked at Sano. “Yours, too.”

In their house in the banchō , Reiko waited anxiously in the parlor with Masahiro, Midori, Taeko, and the other children. Masahiro had told them that Lord Ienobu was back in power. When Sano burst through the door, distraught and breathless, everyone jumped up in alarm. Reiko asked, “What is it?”

“Lord Ienobu is coming after us. There’s no time to explain. Pack your things!”

“Where are we going?” Akiko asked.

“You’ll see,” Sano said, heading out of the room.

Midori put her arms around her children. “Us, too?” She and Taeko looked frightened, the younger children puzzled.

“Yes. And the servants. Hurry!”

Reiko followed Sano, blinded by heart-hammering panic. She didn’t know what to do first; she didn’t have time to be angry at Sano. Lists of which items to bring, and things to do before she went, unspooled in her mind. “My father-we can’t leave him!”

Reiko’s father was the only family that Reiko and Sano had in Edo. Since his forced retirement he’d lived in a little house in town. Reiko and the children visited him often. Magistrate Ueda never reproached Sano, but Reiko felt guilty, and although Magistrate Ueda was always glad to see them, he was sad about losing the work he loved. He had a new hobby-growing bonsai. Now Magistrate Ueda, too, was in danger from Lord Ienobu.

“Marume’s getting him.” In the bedchamber, Sano bundled up spare clothes, swords, and the small iron box of money he kept for emergencies. He packed the cloth-wrapped iron fan he’d brought from the castle. Reiko hurriedly packed her belongings.

Soon the household was on the road. Sano and Marume led on horses laden with baggage. Reiko, Midori, Taeko, the children, and the servants went on foot, bundles on their backs. Masahiro and two retainers, also mounted on laden horses, brought up the rear.

“Mama, I didn’t say good-bye to my dogs,” Akiko cried.

“You’ll see them later.” Reiko didn’t know if they would ever return to their house. Once again Akiko and her needs had been shuffled aside; the family had no attention to spare for her. It was unfair to the little girl, Reiko knew, but it was unlikely to change any time soon.

In the daimyo district, sunlight sparkled on the black-and-white geometric tile patterns that decorated the long barracks surrounding the estates. Thousands of troops milled in avenues wide enough to parade an army. The news had spread: Lord Ienobu was in charge, and the daimyo clans expected trouble. Sano stopped outside a gate with a double roof and brass-trimmed double portals. Reiko felt her heart thump and a flood of horrific memories assail her. Staggering under her bundle, she panted up to Sano.

“This is Lord Mori’s estate,” she said. “This is where we’re staying?”

Eleven years ago she’d been framed for a murder in this very place. She saw in her mind a naked man lying dead, a red wound where his genitals had been, and a white chrysanthemum in a puddle of blood.

“Yes, we’re staying here.” Sano identified himself to the sentries in the guardhouse.

“Do you know Lord Mori?” Masahiro asked.

“Slightly,” Sano said.

Lord Mori had been a suspect in that long-ago murder that Sano had investigated. Everybody was acting as if everything were normal. All the while, Reiko was caught in a nightmare deeper and more real than when she’d gone to the castle to see Lady Nobuko.

“Yanagisawa’s messenger said you would be coming.” The sentry opened the gate and said with cool courtesy, “Welcome to you and your people.”

Surprise joined the horror, nausea, and panic that gripped Reiko. “Yanagisawa got us invited here? He’s friends with Lord Mori?”

“That’s right.” Sano dismounted and told his household, “Get inside.”

“But why would Yanagisawa protect us?” Masahiro asked.

“He and I are allies now,” Sano said.

It was an alliance made in hell. But Reiko had more immediate cause for objection. “I can’t go in there!” she cried.

Sano grabbed her shoulders, brought his face close to hers, and said urgently, “I know why you don’t want to, but this is the only place that would take us in. The people who hurt you aren’t there. Go in or you’ll be arrested!” He pushed Reiko.

As she stumbled with Midori and the children into a courtyard, she retched. Only water mixed with bile came up; she’d been too anxious to eat today. Mori troops loitered outside the barracks and around the inner gate to the mansion. She wiped her mouth on her sleeve and kept her head down, afraid someone would recognize her. More memories fed the panic that squeezed her chest; she couldn’t breathe. She’d been pregnant with Akiko when she’d been framed for murder here. Had she not been exonerated, they both would have died.

Sano and his few retainers and Masahiro led in their horses. He asked a guard, “Has Yanagisawa arrived?”

“Not yet.”

“He’s staying here, too?” Reiko couldn’t believe this horror on top of everything else. “With his family?”

“Yes.” Sano seemed even more uncomfortable than the occasion warranted. He glanced around, as if seeking something to distract her. “Look-here’s your father.”

Magistrate Ueda rode through the gate with Detective Marume. His stout figure bounced on a horse laden with bulging saddlebags. He cradled a little potted bonsai pine tree in one arm. Akiko ran to him, calling, “Grandpa!”

He handed her the pine tree and grunted as he climbed off the horse. “This is my favorite. I didn’t want to leave it behind.” Tatsuo and Chiyoko danced around him. Shunned by their own relatives, they’d adopted him as their substitute grandfather. He patted their heads, hugged Akiko, then greeted Sano and Reiko.

Reiko clung to her father, a source of comfort. He put his arm around her, but he didn’t seem to notice that she was upset or recall what had happened to her inside this estate. “Well.” He looked around with lively interest. His topknot was white, he was short of breath, and his mind wasn’t as sharp as it had been before his retirement. “This is a nice change.” He was happy to be in the thick of the action.

“We all got away just in time,” Marume said. “On our way here I ran into a friend of mine from the army. He warned me that Lord Ienobu’s sent troops after us.”

From the street came the sound of hooves and footsteps pounding, men yelling. In the distance a war trumpet made from a giant seashell blared like the voice of a sea monster. Reiko heard Yanagisawa shout, “Open up! Let us in, damn it!”

Into the courtyard galloped Yanagisawa and Yoshisato on horseback, then their mounted troops and two gangsters on foot. An oxcart carried in three women wearing hooded cloaks. One was Yoshisato’s mother. The others clung to each other, a homely older woman pressing a younger one’s face against her bosom. She gazed at Reiko with flat, expressionless eyes.