Spider, page 11
“They’re not going to expect to find somebody with a naginata in their hands,” I explained. “I doubt any of the insurgents will have one, so it will give you the advantage of surprise together with a long reach. If any of them are on horseback, it’s the best weapon you could have. You can take a wakizashi as well, in case any of them manage to get past your naginata.” I glanced at Soji and then spoke very softly. “Try and keep his spirits up, if you can.”
Shō nodded.
Ai also had a naginata. I was amused to find that as soon as she had the vicious weapon in her hands, the timid maid seemed to undergo a personality change. She ran her finger along the wickedly sharp curved edge at the end and then thrust the naginata savagely through the air.
“Aim for the middle,” I advised. “Choose the biggest target you can find. Wherever you hit will do some damage, but the head and limbs are easier to miss than the torso. If you can get your man in the belly, you’ll find he won’t come back for more.”
“Yes, mistress. What do you want Hatsu to do?”
“Nothing. She can hide in a storeroom if she wants.”
“She would be better out of our way,” Ai agreed cheerfully.
I was proud of the women. They both had the courage of a samurai. If I had to die, then I would be honored to die by their side.
But I had no intention of dying this day.
Before we settled ourselves, I unsheathed my katana and looked at its gleaming blade sadly. I was sure I felt it protest when I slid it back in its saya. I wanted to use my ancestor’s weapon. Nothing would have given me greater pleasure. But this fight was not going to be an honorable contest. It was a simple battle against desperate men who cared nothing at all for the code of bushido. And because of that, I had to put aside my own honorable onna-bugeisha tradition. I would fight fire with fire and live to regret it. I had almost put the katana back in its place when I had second thoughts. Soji intended to fight with his katana. This whole affair was about protecting my family and dependents. My opponents might not be honorable men, but surely the cause itself was one of great honor.
I took my katana and laid it ready for use. My decision felt right to me. I would have fought anyway, but to have my ancestor’s weapon in my hand gave me great confidence.
Soji raised his eyebrows when I showed him the two arquebuses I had found in the arms room.
“Do you know how to use them?” he asked doubtfully. “I’ve never bothered with them. As far as I know, they’ve only been used when it amused some of my guests to set them off to frighten game birds into the air. Are they any use as a real weapon?”
I stared at him stonily. He appeared to have forgotten that my father and brother had been killed by musket balls fired from an arquebus. These guns were deadly and needed little skill to use them. But they needed to be loaded, and I had no idea how to do that. Fortunately, Shō did.
“I’ve fired one,” he said tersely. “And I know how to load them as well. I worked for a well-off merchant for a while whose idea of hunting was to tell me to shoot off an arquebus to set the wildfowl into flight, just like Soji’s guests. He used to take at least three of the guns out with him and it was my job to reload and shoot until even the birds learned some sense and flew far away. Give them to me, I’ll do it now.”
I handed him a bag of musket balls, and after a hunt in the arms room found a heavy bag filled with some sort of powder. Shō glanced at the contents and nodded.
“That’s the gunpowder. That goes in here.” I observed as he poured the gray powder down the muzzle.
“How do you know how much to use?” I asked.
“Experience,” he said simply. “I did this many times.”
The gunpowder was followed by a thick piece of cloth, on top of which Shō placed a lead ball. I winced as he rammed the ball and cloth down into the arquebus. Surely so much ill-treatment would make the gunpowder explode! But I was wrong. Shō poured finer gunpowder into a depression near the stock, and then handed the weapon to me.
“You need a fuse. A nice, long one can be lit and it will smolder all day. When you need to use the arquebus, pull this cover back.” He demonstrated as he spoke. “Put your fuse in and close the cover. Point at whichever insurgent you fancy sending to the next world and pull the trigger.”
I was annoyed by his levity and spoke sharply. “That’s it?”
“Not quite. When I shot these for my merchant, I used a gun stand. Without it, even a strong man can be knocked flat on his back by the force. Or in your case, you could find yourself with a broken shoulder.”
I stared at him in disbelief. Why hadn’t he told me this first? The arquebus was useless to me.
“I can’t use it, then.” I spoke calmly, disguising my anger.
“We’ll rig something up.” Shō grinned wickedly. He dragged a very tall, heavy chest well away from the wall and positioned it so it faced the shoji and padded it with cushions. When I sat with my back against his contrivance, I could rest the end of the stock against the chest, confident that the force from the gun would be absorbed by the cushions.
I sat down and Shō handed me the sputtering fuse. His work done, I expected him to go off to Soji at once, but he hovered.
“I may not be a gentleman, still less an honorable samurai,” he said awkwardly. “But it doesn’t seem right to me to leave three women in the first line of fire. Wouldn’t it be better if you all went to the back and did your best to take care of anybody who tried to sneak in that way? After all, I have experience using an arquebus, and Soji is samurai.”
Three stony pair of eyes swiveled their gaze on him. Shō jerked his head back as if we had shouted at him.
“You may be familiar with this weapon, but have you ever used it to protect yourself?” I asked. “For that matter, have you ever killed anybody?”
“No,” Shō said miserably.
“I have. And I will have no hesitation in doing it again, if I have to. Go to Soji. Make sure he doesn’t sink into fear. If any of the insurgents come around the back, use your naginata.”
He went without another word.
Sixteen
Are you brave enough
To touch a spider’s web? If
So, you are welcome
Should the gods grant that I live to be a thousand years old, I doubt that I will ever fight alongside comrades who could make me as proud as those who fought with me that day.
It helped that the insurgents were so confident that they barely waited for dusk to fall. They didn’t bother to hide their entrance, either. I heard them as they approached the garden wall, laughing and talking cheerfully.
They were fools, those men. Even if we hadn’t been ready and waiting for them, they had lost the element of surprise.
As we waited for them, I understood my girls’ nerves were prickling. I murmured to them calmly, speaking as if this was any other day. I rose and stretched every few minutes, to make sure I wasn’t stiff when the moment for action came. Niko did the same, and I felt immense love for my younger sister as I watched her instruct Ai to move about, just as we were doing. In spite of my brave words to Shō, I would have been a great deal happier if I had had either Akira or Yo by my side. I shook the thought away briskly and eased myself back into my cushions.
When the time finally came, I felt a deep sense of relief. I heard them as they skirted the garden wall. They were talking amongst themselves quite loudly, as though this was an amusing outing that they had been looking forward to for some time.
“Ai,” I called to her urgently. “Run down to Shō and tell him the insurgents are here. Come back at once and go to the side of the shoji. As soon as I tell you, slide it back as quickly as you can, then get out of the way. Niko, stay to one side until I’ve taken both my shots and then fire as many arrows as you can. Ai, stay here until I get up, and then follow me out. Keep behind me. Use your naginata as if it were a giant dagger. Poke it at any flesh you can see. Niko, once we’re out, if you’re sure you can get a clear shot, keep firing.”
Ai ran off as soon as I finished speaking. When she came back, she crouched by the shoji, balanced by the haft of her weapon. I held my hand up, ready to drop it.
“At my signal,” I whispered.
The insurgents were overconfident. I had heard them even before they got to the gate. Their noise would have woke a sound sleeper. Only one was on horseback; I could hear the jingle of his harness. That would be the leader. I would take him with my first shot. The rest were talking and laughing amongst themselves. I felt my skin tighten as I guessed there were more of them than we had hoped.
I dropped my hand abruptly. Ai slid the shoji back with no hesitation. Before it was even halfway drawn, my fuse was in the firing pan. I pulled the trigger as soon as I had a clear view of the leader. For less than a heartbeat, I saw the astonishment on his face, then he fell backward. His mount reared and then ran; the man’s foot must have been caught in a stirrup as he was dragged along with it.
My ears were ringing from the sound of the blast. I had closed my eyes instinctively when I fired, and I was glad I had. I could feel a burning sensation on my cheek, which I guessed was from a flash of gunpowder. The shot had left an acrid reek that made my eyes water. I was thankful Shō had rigged up my defense; the kick of the arquebus had been so hard that the heavy chest had moved back at least a hand’s span. I threw my still smoking weapon aside and grabbed for the other arquebus. Through my peripheral vision, I saw Niko loose an arrow. Without waiting to see if it hit its target, she placed another arrow and loosed it as well.
In the short space of time it took me to prime and fire the other arquebus, I knew the battle had already turned in our favor. There was no sign of the leader or his horse. Another man was sitting on the ground, staring with apparent fascination at an arrow that was sticking out of his belly. Another of Niko’s arrows found its place in an insurgent’s shoulder. The man screamed like a woman in labor and flailed at it. My second shot caught one of the men as he was turning to run. I was angry—that was the waste of a musket ball.
I got to my feet and drew my katana. “Niko, hold your fire. I’m going out,” I shouted.
The blade shone as I drew it. I raised it high and brought it down two-handed against a man who was moving toward me, his own blade drawn. I felt movement beside me and turned, stopping my katana with an effort that made my muscles sting as I found Ai right at my side. She held her naginata clumsily, but it didn’t matter. She dashed past me and thrust the blade at a man wearing partial armor. She was lucky. The curved knife at the end of her weapon skidded off his shoulder armor and cut a deep slash in his neck. Even as his hand reached to staunch the flow of blood, Matsuo was on him. I turned away; the man would worry none of us again. Niko followed behind me. She had abandoned her bow and was clutching a short sword. Shrieking loudly, she thrust at any male flesh that was foolish enough to come within her reach.
I had been right. Nine men had come through the gate. In the space of moments, we three women had dealt with six of them. We would have taken the last three as well if they hadn’t turned around and run away from us. I grabbed Niko’s shoulder as she started to pursue them.
“Niko, let them go. Let the militia deal with them. We need to get back to the men. Matsuo, here. To me.”
All three of us were filthy. My arquebuses had coated my face with gunpowder. I licked my lips absently; the stuff tasted vile. Both Ai and Niko were splattered with mud from the garden. Amongst the gray were rills and splashes of blood. I desperately wanted to pat both girls down, to make sure the blood was not theirs, but there was no time.
I ran back into the house, with Niko and Ai at my heels. Matsuo paused stubbornly in the shoji. I left him there; if any of the insurgents were foolish enough to come back, he would deal with them. I felt my heart begin to pound in my chest as we approached the back of the house. Everything was so very quiet. I tensed as we walked into the room where we had left Soji and Shō, certain that we would find both men slaughtered and the insurgents waiting in ambush for us.
For a moment, I thought I was right. My senses were alert for any movement. I paused at the screen and then pivoted, my katana raised for the killing blow. Steel met steel and then I sighed, all the tension fleeing from my body. At the same moment, Soji lowered his own katana.
Niko shouted something I couldn’t make out and ran forward. I was about to tell her to take care when I realized she was on her knees, hugging Shō. He embraced her briefly, then climbed to his feet, apparently unhurt.
“How many?” I asked Soji.
He nodded toward the open screen. Bodies were strewn about in the entrance to the garden. If the stink of spilled blood hadn’t been so heavy on the air, the scene might have been the ending of a kabuki tragedy.
“Six came this way,” he said succinctly. “They obviously didn’t expect any resistance. The fools hadn’t even bothered to draw their swords. We got five, but the last one ran off. How many for you?”
“Six,” I said proudly. “Another three turned tail and ran from us.”
I heard the pride in my voice, and I felt that I should be ashamed of myself. But I was not. We had taken out armed men in a fair fight. We had won! That was all that mattered.
Soji obviously felt the same. He buffeted my shoulder in a comradely gesture of affection and I almost screamed aloud with the pain. Although Shō’s support for the arquebus had worked well, I suddenly realized that my shoulder had still taken two incredibly fierce blows from the musket. No matter, we were all alive, and as far as I could see, uninjured. I saw Soji’s eyes widen in amazement and followed his gaze.
Ai was standing proudly behind me, her bloodied naginata still firmly in her grip.
“Ai? That is your name?”
She nodded, lowering both her weapon and her gaze modestly.
“You fought for us? Risked your life against the insurgents?”
Ai was obviously so overwhelmed by being spoken to directly by her master that she was dumb. I spoke for her.
“She did. She got at least one man with her naginata. Niko got two with her bow. They were both braver than any man. I’m proud of them both.”
Soji stared at Ai as if he had never seen her before. Probably, he had not. “You were amazingly brave, Ai. You will be rewarded, I promise you.”
Perhaps it was the aftermath of battle, but I felt immensely light-hearted. I had no doubt at all that Ai would soon find that she was no longer a humble maid. Judging by the gleam in Soji’s eye, he had other plans for her entirely.
We were all smiling. As if we had given each other a signal, we all began to laugh at the same time.
“Ai, would you be so kind as to go and release Hatsu from wherever you put her?” I asked politely. “We all need a bath. Hatsu can make herself useful at last—she can rinse and soap us and then dry us off.”
Preparing all of us for the bath would, I was sure, make Hatsu’s arms ache. The thought that out of all of us she was the only one who would really take any hurt made me laugh even more.
Soji put his arm around my shoulder in a comradely gesture. Despite the pain his action caused, I was honored to be acknowledged by him as a fellow samurai. I felt tears begin to well in my eyes. As I blinked them away, I realized that they were not because I was proud of myself, but because I was proud of Niko and Ai.
The knowledge made me very happy.
Seventeen
I will not eat you.
Do you think me no more than
A hungry spider?
In the hours after our battle, life took on a strange quality. If it hadn’t been for the dead insurgents outside the house, and the agony that flared in my shoulder with every movement, I would have thought that I had slept and dreamed the whole thing. Compared to everything that had taken place, it was trivial, but I was annoyed that both my shoulders were now less than perfect. If I had appreciated that the arquebus could cause such damage to whoever was using it, I would have placed it against the shoulder that Ikeda had slashed with his poisoned blade.
I stared at the bodies piled in what only yesterday had been a beautiful, tranquil garden, and I waited to feel remorse. There was none. The only emotion that the sight aroused stemmed from the memories of my father’s and brother’s deaths. Sorrow for them and the villagers who had been so desperate for food for their families that they had dared rise up against my family only to be killed themselves. All of those men had died for what they believed in. These creatures had wanted nothing except to take what they had no right to. I was certain that had we lost, or given in without a fight, they would have held Soji and me for ransom, and probably have murdered us anyway to cover their own tracks. Niko, Ai, and Hatsu would have been given to the men to play with. When they became bored, the girls would have been sold off as slaves. Shō would have been worthless to them. He would have been murdered at once.
No, these men deserved no pity from me. They knew the risks they faced, and they had died in a fair fight. To my delight, we found my mare and Niko’s pony in the garden. They were skittish but seemed to welcome our approach. We tethered then easily. Shō volunteered to take my mare and ride to the checkpoint to alert the military to what had happened. I told him to take great care. Full darkness had fallen, and I thought it was possible that some of the surviving insurgents might still be close. Shō shrugged off my concerns.
