Risuko: A Kunoichi Tale (Seasons of the Sword #1)(20)

When I heard a clatter behind me.

Glancing back I saw no one. I ran along a few more steps.

Another clatter. I turned around again. Nothing.

Then, from out of the trees downhill on the opposite side of the road, I saw a grey speck lancing toward me. Not pausing to think, I ducked.

The arrow hissed over my head like an angry snake.

I dropped down into the juniper.

I heard another arrow thud into a branch just ahead of me.

Crouching just below the top layer of branches, I tried to think. I needed to warn Masugu-san and the rest of the party. But I was too far away to shout, and if I tried to climb above the canopy again, the archers would be looking for me. I could try to make my way back on the ground, but the going would be slow, and—not going straight downhill, as I had before getting caught earlier—I would have a hard time keeping my sense of direction.

I could just hear the clatter of our party’s hooves on the stony road, and knew that they would be in the bandits’ range soon. Still, I had to be closer to Masugu and the rest than the bandits were. If only I could scout out a direct—

I gasped, stunned that it had taken me so long to remember. Placing my hands in front of my mouth—holding on to the branch with my knees, I let out three owl hoots—not caring what kind of owl this time, just making sure that they were as loud as I could make them.

I listened. The hoof beats continued.

Hoo! Hoo! Hooooo!

I thought I heard Masugu’s voice, but it sounded as if the horses were still clopping toward the bandits’ trap.

I breathed deep, squeezed hard with my knees, and hooted louder than any owl could have.

I heard the lieutenant’s voice again, shouting this time. “Attack! We’re under attack! Form up!”

Then there was yelling and shouting, and the clash of swords, and horses and men screaming, just as there had been at the Mt. Fuji Inn.

Only this time, I had absolutely no intention of sticking my head out where it might get shot.





11—The Full Moon


The battle, if that’s what it was, didn’t last very long.

Quickly, the sound diminished to almost nothing. There was still some shouting, but it was growing more and more distant.

I snuck carefully out of my hiding place and made my way downhill toward where I knew the road must be.

It was not quite the scene of carnage that had met us that morning when we had first met Masugu-san and his soldiers. There were three dead men I assumed were part of the bandit gang. They’d been piled by the side of the road. There was also one dead horse, and one of the lancers was growling in pain as one of his comrades pulled an arrow through his thigh.

Most of the rest of the Takeda soldiers were missing. Aside from the wounded man and his nurse, only Masugu was there. Lady Chiyome and Mieko were talking with him. Mieko held an arrow in her hand.

The Little Brothers stood guard while Aimaru, Emi, and Toumi were holding the horses. All three looked as if they were waiting for another attack.

“Ah, there’s the little rodent!” said Chiyome-sama. “Come here, Risuko.”

Uncertain, I slid down the bank to the road and walked, trembling, to my mistress. “Yes, Chiyome-sama?”

“Mieko here tells me that you’re the one we have to thank for warning us before those ruffians attacked.” The old woman squinted at me. “Is this true?”

Her expression made me feel very much as though I had done something wrong—though I had been feeling, as I thought about it, rather proud of myself. “Y-yes my lady. Mieko-san told me to.”

She peered at me some more, smirked at first Mieko, and then Masugu, and walked toward where the Little Brothers were guarding her palanquin.

Blinking, I looked up at Masugu-san and Mieko-san. The lieutenant smiled at me. “Good job, Murasaki-san. I was just telling Lady Chiyome and Mieko that if they’d let you go, I’d find a job for you in the scouts today.”

My cheeks burned at the compliment.

“And I was telling the lieutenant,” said Mieko brightly—almost too brightly—“that you are very badly needed where you are going, and so that he would have to find his scout somewhere else.”

“Um. Thank you,” I said to both of them. Badly needed?

“Mieko,” said Masugu-san, and seemed about to say something more, but didn’t speak.

Mieko lifted her chin. “Masugu?”

After looking back and forth between them for an awkward moment, I was just about to excuse myself when Mieko sighed and held up the arrow for Masugu to look at. “Did you notice the fletching?” She ran a finger over the feathers, which were from a snowy owl—white, with brown spots.

He frowned. “You think this was an enemy raiding party? It’s awfully far from their territory.”

“I think,” said Mieko with an impatient sigh, “that they probably weren’t bandits.”

—

Once Masugu’s soldiers had returned from chasing the attackers—one more of the enemy dead, but the rest evaporated into the mountains—and once a bier was lit for the three dead men and the horse, we resumed our descent into the valley.

I did not mind riding in front of Masugu-san now.

We made our way through a narrow valley with muddy fields. The farmers came out to their fences and bowed to us as we passed.