Laura Rowland - The Assassin's Touch

“You’d better come inside,” Yugao told Tama.

A gasp of fresh alarm sucked the sigh back into Reiko’s lungs. Tama said, “I can’t. I have to go home.”

“Just for a little while,” Yugao said.

A little while would give Yugao time to keep Tama quiet forever. Run! Reiko silently exhorted Tama. If you go in there, you won’t come out alive!

“If my mistress finds out I left the house without permission, she’ll punish me,” Tama said, backing toward the stairs. Reiko sensed that she was afraid of Yugao’s lover, and perhaps of Yugao as well.

Yugao hurried after Tama and caught her hand. “Please stay. I want you to keep me company. At least sit down and rest before you walk back to town.”

“All right,” Tama said reluctantly.

She let Yugao lead her to the door. Yugao picked up the bundle of food, then she and Tama disappeared inside the house. Reiko heard the door scrape shut.

The valley was silent except for the diminishing chorus of birdsong and the wind rustling in the forest. The sky had turned a dark cobalt hue now, glinting with stars, adorned by a moon like a scarred pearl. Reiko felt sick at having placed the sweet, gullible Tama in danger. She turned to her escorts.

“We must hurry back to town,” she said. Five inexperienced fighters and herself weren’t enough to capture Yugao and the Ghost. “We have to bring my husband and his troops.”

They stole quickly down the trail along the valley, then groped downhill through the forest that was now so dark that they couldn’t see each other or the hazardous ground underfoot. But as they emerged onto the road, Reiko saw lights glimmering along its slope below them. She heard stealthy footsteps.

“Someone’s coming,” she whispered.

Human shapes erupted out of the darkness and surrounded Reiko, Lieutenant Asukai, and their companions. Reiko felt herself seized by strong hands, her arms pinned behind her with cruel force. She writhed and cried out and kicked. Violent, noisy thrashing exploded around her as her escorts were caught.

“I’ve got him!” shouted a man’s excited voice.

The man who held Reiko said, “This one’s female. Looks like we’ve captured Kobori and his lady love.”

To her surprise, Reiko recognized his voice, although she couldn’t place it. Another familiar voice called, “If you’ve got Kobori, then who’s this I’ve caught?”

A chorus of confusion arose. Lights flared, momentarily blinding Reiko. They came from flames burning inside metal lanterns held by soldiers. There looked to be hundreds of them, a small army crowding the road, encircling Reiko. Some were armed with bows and arrows as well as swords. On the ground near her, Detective Fukida sat atop Lieutenant Asukai. Soldiers wrestled with Reiko’s other guards. Reiko twisted around and saw that the man who’d caught her was Detective Marume. They beheld each other in mutual amazed recognition.

“Sorry,” Marume said, embarrassed and gruff. He released her, then told his comrades, “It’s Chamberlain Sano’s wife and her escorts. Let them go.”

Fukida and the soldiers desisted; Lieutenant Asukai and the other guards stood up and dusted themselves off. Reiko saw Sano striding toward her through the troops who parted to let him pass. Hirata came limping after him. Both men wore helmets and armor, as if in preparation for a battle. Their faces showed the same shock that Reiko felt.

She and Sano spoke simultaneously: “What are you doing here?”

“I followed Yugao’s friend Tama,” Reiko said. “She led me to a house up that way.” As she pointed toward the trail, she rejoiced that Sano had come. He was still alive. He’d not only found her but brought the troops necessary to capture the fugitives. She would have flung herself into his arms, if not for the men watching them. “Yugao and Kobori are there.”

“I know,” Sano said. “We’ve come to get them.”

She and Sano gazed at each other in shock that their separate inquiries had led them to the same destination. “But how do you know?” Reiko asked, astounded by his miraculous arrival.

“Captain Nakai told me.” Sano gestured toward a big, handsome samurai who stood near him.

“Captain Nakai?” Puzzled, Reiko said, “Wasn’t he your first suspect?”

“He was. Now he’s my newest retainer. But I’ll explain later. Right now, we have to invade that house.”

Sano spoke orders to his troops. They started up the trail, led by Captain Nakai, moving almost without a sound. Only their lanterns, flickering through the trees, marked their presence.

“Wait,” Reiko cried in alarm. “Yugao and the Ghost aren’t alone. Tama is with them.”

Concern rearranged Sano’s expression. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I saw her go in the house.” Tense with urgency, Reiko said, “I think Yugao means to kill Tama. We have to save her!”

“I’ll try,” Sano said. “But I can’t promise. My mission is to capture the Ghost.”

Reiko was stricken by dread, but she nodded. Sano’s orders from the shogun and Lord Matsudaira took precedence over all else, including the safety of civilians. If Tama should become another victim of Yugao, or a casualty of the raid, Reiko must accept fate. Yet she wished there were something she could do to save Tama, who wouldn’t be in danger if not for her!

“I want you to go home now,” Sano told her, then turned to Lieutenant Asukai. “See that she gets there safely.”

“Please let me stay,” Reiko exclaimed. “I want to see what happens. And I can’t leave you!”

“All right,” Sano conceded, partly because he didn’t want to waste time arguing, but also because he didn’t want them to be apart any more than Reiko did. This night might be their last together, even if he spent it hunting down an assassin while she watched from a distance. “But you have to promise me that you won’t interfere.”

“I promise,” she said with immediate, ardent sincerity.

Memories of their past gave Sano serious doubts. He only hoped she would keep her promise this time and not go anywhere near the Ghost. The last thing he needed was to worry about her safety. “Then come on.”

They followed the army up the trail. The soldiers extinguished their lanterns before they reached the forest’s edge. The moon lit their way as they filed silently around the valley. Sano sensed pulses of excitement beating through himself and his men, as though they shared one heart set on battle. He remembered what the priest Ozuno had told Hirata about the Ghost.

Your best strategy is to bring as many armed troops with you as you can. Then be prepared for many of them to die while he’s resisting arrest.

Yet Sano felt confidence in his army and himself; one man couldn’t possibly defeat them all. Sano might already be doomed, but he would win this battle tonight. He felt Reiko’s hand graze his as they walked, and he stifled the thought that this might be their last journey. Now he saw the house, and the light shining in its window, but no other sign of occupation. He joined the army in the woods, some fifty paces from the staircase. He and Hirata and the detectives gazed up at the three levels of the house.

“That’s a complicated building,” Hirata said quietly.

“It gives the Ghost too many places to hide,” Fukida said. “How are we going to find him in there?”

“We could holler at him to come out, and when he does, we’ll arrest him, no problem,” Marume joked.

“There must be just as many ways he can sneak out of it,” Hirata said, studying the numerous windows and balconies.

“That works in our favor as well as his. We’ll use those ways to sneak in on him.” Sano divided his forces into teams of three. “First we surround the property so that even if Kobori escapes from the house, he can’t leave the grounds. Then we go in.” He assigned teams to various positions and duties. “Remember that Kobori is more dangerous than any fighter you’ve ever met. Stick together in your teams. Don’t tackle him alone.”