The Open Road Read online

  “Sounds like an excellent plan.”

  Chiri heaved a sigh, fanning her pale white skin. She was finding the heat extremely oppressive.

  “Well – I suppose we must bide our time until tomorrow morning.” The rat searched for the innkeeper. “I wonder if we might use their bath? A cool bath would be a mercy beyond all measure.”

  “Ah. Now that is also a plan.” Sura heaved herself up to her feet. “Come along, dear rattie. Let’s cool ourselves down a little so we can think. There’ll be a hard day’s bureaucracy tomorrow.”

  The two women levered themselves up out of their seats, plucking sticky clothing away from their skin. They headed off together to ask after the inn’s baths, with Chiri carrying the snoozing elementals inside her upturned straw hat.

  In the forest across the river, leaves stirred in the trees. They moved slowly as something passed through the shadows, moving subtly against the breeze. Sura shook sweat from her brow, before turning towards the forest, feeling something prickling at her senses. But the afternoon sun glared bright. The fox winced, stared across the river for a long, silent moment, then turned away.

  The art of fortification utilised natural terrain to limit an enemy’s approach. Forts were placed atop steep hillsides – the slopes made all the more sheer by carving, grading and careful shaping. Multiple walls and compounds controlled gullies and ditches crossed by narrow bridges. The entire set of structures was a nightmare to negotiate.

  The Spirit Hunters made the difficult hike up the castle hill in the cool hours of the early morning. The sheer hill slopes were bare of cover, and approached by a single road. The group plodded their way uphill with Kuno in the lead. His warrant as an imperial deputy saw the group past the guard posts. The guards – somewhat seedy from too much drinking on the night before – waved them through.

  The main compound was a flat, open plateaux two hundred yards wide and perhaps three hundred long. It was surrounded by wooden curtain walls and firing towers.

  But there were trees planted just behind the walls – designed to screen the residential buildings from any arrow fire. A spring fed a little pond that had been surrounded with flowers. Set some way back from the barracks, the store rooms and stables, there was a terse little administrative building. Beside it, a palatial residence had been built for the castle’s lord. It came complete with a camellia garden, a stream, and an aviary filled with ornamental birds.

  One of the gate guards gave Kuno directions. The Spirit Hunters walked in past tall trees behind the gate – past work parties of foot soldiers clearing away tables and refuse left over from celebrations the night before. They headed on through the busy life of the castle, making their way to the quiet little office building behind the castle pond.

  Kuno was perfectly at ease amongst the castle population. He led the way into the offices, where three clerks were at work with abacus, ink and brushes. The handsome samurai bowed to the clerks and wielded his impressive billet of imperial authority, requiring access to the archives. A clerk looked up in amazement, then hastened to show the Spirit Hunters into a dim room off to one side: a room filled with wooden shelves stuffed full of documents.

  Behind them, the senior clerk leaned over to murmur into the ears of his nearest colleague. The younger man listened, and gave a nod. Keeping his eyes upon the records room, he backed carefully out of the offices, and then hastened off towards the lord’s palatial residence.

  Tonbo caught the entire affair out of the corner of his eye. Clerks bobbed down, pretending to lose themselves in their work as the big man stalked back out into the main office. Settling himself on guard to watch out into the main compound, he leaned on his mighty tetsubo and glowered.

  Inside the musty little storage room, Sura began poking her nose into boxes of documents. Chiri helped Kuno as he carefully inspected storage boxes, then lifted one down onto a table. He removed several old account books and ledgers and placed them neatly on a table for further study.

  He began to flip through the pages of a ledger, running through lists of grants and stipends. Chiri set herself down with a second box of documents, looking for any that were a decade or more old. Daitanishi helped hold down the papers, while Bifuuko fanned dust away from the old, forgotten books.

  Chiri looked at the family crest stamped upon a document. She held it thoughtfully up to the light.

  “Excuse me, Kuno san – but who are the lord and lady here again?”

  “Lord and Lady Tado.” Kuno drew forth a new ledger and opened it up. “The Lady is youngest sister to the new Lord Raiden – if you remember him.”

  “Oh. Yes – I remember him.” The rat was too polite to make a grimace. “And the local lord…?”

  “He was an adopted son of a minor Raiden vassal family. But I am told he was quite a catch! Lady Tado had her eye set on him, and he has prospered immensely since their marriage.”

  Sura was busily at work, flicking through old papers pertaining to local temples and shrines. She eyed a paper, then drew it from the pile.

  “Buddhist temple land grant – back before the big castle was established five years ago…” She lunged back into a thick pile of papers, and found one she had already tagged. “… Land grant after the castle! Those guys tripled their tax free rice land!”

  Kuno nodded. He had found another file: a census showing the modest little settlement that had once been down by the river.

  “Here. The shrine was commissioned eighteen years ago. So the dead samurai’s suicide was probably nineteen or twenty years ago. That narrows our search nicely. I shall look through the local samurai stipends for the time.”

  The fox gave a scowl.

  “Provided they haven’t just removed or replaced the old papers.”

  “Even so – mere omissions may give us leads.” Kuno flicked through a copy of the town charter. “Yes – it would seem Harima was a small town with an ancient charter. They were skilled artists and craftsmen. Then with the arrival of a castle and the settlement of samurai fiefs, the population expanded…”

  Tonbo came quietly into the room, keeping his eye upon the clerks in the next room. He bent down to murmur into Kuno’s ear.

  “Be as quick as you can. I want us out of here.”

  Kuno nodded in acknowledgement. Sura worked with him side by side, while Chiri and the elementals searched the boxes and checked for files.

  Box after box after box. The old records were not kept in any real order – perhaps deliberately muddled? Kuno skimmed carefully from book to book, moving as swiftly as he could. Sura flicked through the looser papers, using her sharp nose to hunt for fakes and frauds.

  There was no way to rush. A long hour passed, dragging in near silence as boxes were hoisted and pages turned. Sura and Kuno worked swiftly. Chiri helped as best she could, checking through account books, and even using an abacus to double check the figures.

  Finally, Kuno found a sheaf of old papers bound into a folder. He read through the document, tracing the spindly handwriting, and tapped a finger to the table in triumph.

  “Here. This is a list of all the fief holders in this region at the time. These are money fiefs – these are land grants…”

  Sura was pleased to finally have some progress.

  “So one of these must be the name we want?”

  Kuno shook his head.

  “There are pages missing. Someone has adjusted these records.” The man rubbed at his tired eyes. “But we can cross reference with other records. Perhaps imperial tax records, temple records – maybe there was a census? Anyone who is on those records and missing from here is a good candidate for our man…”

  Tonbo came into the room, signalling the others to beware. From outside the building there were sounds of rattling armour and soldiers coming to attention. Sura snatched at the list of fief holders and stuffed them into her sleeve.

  Tonbo signalled Chiri, motioning his hands together. The girl immediately turned into rat form, vanishing with her clothes fal
ling beneath a table. Sura snatched Chiri’s clothing and weapons and crammed them into a bag as the two elementals ducked down out of sight.

  The door to the storage room was opened by two kneeling, armoured samurai. Pages and a herald scuttled into the room, moving off to kneel to one side.

  A moment later, two magnificently armoured figures strode into the room. Both wore matching suits of armour laced in orange, red and scarlet. Both were exquisitely outfitted with gleaming silk robes, and swords hilted with solid silver. Their long hair hung magnificently unbound, and they were perspiring from a morning of exertion.

  Kuno, Tonbo and Sura all turned to face the newcomers in the door, kneel and bow. A herald bowed and loudly announced the visitors.

  “Lord Tado and Lady Tado hereby greet the Imperial Deputy!”

  Lord Tado’s short sword had a silver hilt decorated with images of a phoenix and a sparrow. Sunlight shimmered from the polished metal as the man moved deeper into the room. Both Lord and Lady Tado were stunningly beautiful – Lord Tado dark, with high cheekbones and long, elegant hands, while Lady Tado had a sharp, scheming sensuality.

  Kuno bowed again – stiff and militarily precise.

  “My Lord Tado. My Lady Tado. Good morning. I am Asodo Kuno, Imperial Deputy Magistrate serving under command of Imperial Magistrate Masura.”

  Lord Tado gave a suave, genial smile. He opened out his hands.

  “An attaché to the Imperial Magistrate’s office – and in our records room? I trust we are not in trouble?”

  “No, Lord Tado.” Kuno indicated the records on the table. “We are merely making our usual case research. We are Spirit Hunters.”

  Lady Tado raised her eyebrows in mock amazement. She circled Sura, Kuno and Tonbo. The lady looked quite dangerous with her swords and armour. The scent of her was sharp with perspiration and perfume.

  “Spirit Hunters? How colourful.” The woman’s voice was sure and confident. “Why, then, are you interested in historical records?”

  Kuno paused, but Sura sat up, full of ease and charm. She waved a genial hand towards the far hills

  “My lord – my lady. There is a spiritual force in the hills outside of town. It is a potential monster. We are investigating records of other sightings in the area.” The fox shuffled documents into a neater pile – incidentally placing a pile of papers atop the old census records. “Sometimes by researching how other monster fighters have failed, we can discover how to win.”

  Lord Tado nodded as though delighted by the whole idea.

  “Ah – an excellent strategy!” The man tilted his head. “And has your research borne fruit?”

  “No, my lord. But that in itself is also a result. Perhaps this monster is quite new?”

  Lord Tado walked about the table, casting a covert eye over the files that were being examined. He nodded to himself as though deep in thought.

  “We are interested in your progress, Spirit Hunters. Do please keep us informed of your struggle against the monster. Perhaps you will be so kind as to report to our law office every day? Spirit hunting is, after all, a type of peace keeping. The law must be kept abreast of developments.”

  Sura bowed, as though delighted and honoured by the whole idea.

  “Certainly, my lord. It is such a pleasure to deal with a lord who understands the value of care and orderliness!”

  “Quite…” The lord stood with his wife at the door once more. He looked down at the Spirit Hunters, resting his hand upon his sword. “Since you have finished here, perhaps my clerks can be allowed to return to their normal duties?”

  Kuno nodded a short, brisk bow.

  “We shall first clear up our mess, my lord. Anything less would be impolite.” The samurai squared his shoulders. “We shall be gone directly.”

  Lord Tado gave an airy nod. “Then we shall return to our sword practice. Good day, Spirit Hunters.”

  Kuno, Tonbo and Sura all bowed. Lord and Lady Tado made to leave the room. Lady Tado lingered, casting an eye over the massive form of Tonbo – apparently quite pleased with what she saw.

  “I had no idea spirit hunting was so… health giving.”

  The woman departed, taking her pages and herald with her. Sura rose, standing protectively close to Tonbo and glaring in distaste towards the empty door.

  “I want to bite her… and not in a good way.”

  Tonbo looked under the table, but Chiri had managed to vanish. A hole behind a shelf led to the spaces underneath the building’s floorboards. Tonbo peered down into the hole, but Bifuuko, Daitanishi and Chiri had clearly disappeared. The big samurai cocked an eye at Sura – who nudged Kuno – then nudged him harder and jerked her head, indicating that he should sit down. The man sat, and Sura fluttered forward, putting an arm about him in distress. She called out to one of the clerks in the office next door.

  “Alas! My friend has climbed too many hills in the heat! Do you think we might have some cold tea?” Sura dabbed a cloth at Kuno’s scowling brow. “Here! Just sit! Don’t try to move! Your poor human constitution cannot handle the stress!”

  A clerk looked in, saw Kuno with his head hidden by the fox woman’s fluttering sleeves, and lurched off on his way. Sura started off after the man, twiddling her fingers.

  “Oh! And he needs something salty. Fried chicken? Or duck? Or if you have any pork belly with crackling?” The fox clapped her hands together. “And something sweet! Honey cakes! He has to keep his strength up!”

  She sat Kuno down in the doorway, fanning his brow. The remaining clerk watched from the corner of his eye, but it all seemed eminently plausible. Scowling at the possible misdeed, Kuno sat in place an allowed Sura to busily attend to his supposed needs.

  The man gave a low, quiet growl.

  “I comfort myself in the knowledge that this is for a worthy cause.”

  The fox dabbed a little water from her canteen against his brow.

  “Hush dear. Please don’t exert yourself.”

  A walled garden stood behind the long, tall residence. The garden had a broad porch shading an area scattered with pieces of sliced bamboo. Samurai knelt in attendance, and a young page boy guarded a tray containing cold tea, towels and sliced fruit.

  Lord and Lady Tado were still in their expensive, gorgeous armour. Lady Tado knelt before a tall bamboo pole that had been sunk into the ground. There were other poles to her left and right. She breathed out slowly, her hands upon her thighs, her eyes seeming full of hidden delight.

  Suddenly she moved. Her longsword streaked out of its scabbard as she cut at the bamboo to her front. She whipped the sword sideways, slashing down the bamboo to her right and left, before slicing through the first bamboo stalk before it fell. She sheathed her sword with great self satisfaction, and rose silkily back up to her feet.

  Lord Tado stood beside his own splintered bamboo staff as a page carefully slotted a fresh trunk of heavy green bamboo into the hole in the floor. The boy bowed and swiftly withdrew. Lord Tado eyed the bamboo, flexed his hands, and then suddenly shot forward, whipping his short sword from his belt.

  The light blade managed to shear clean through the bamboo once – twice – three times. Tado had a look of glee upon his face, thrilling to the blur of the steel. He held up the sword to admire its silver hilt and its beautifully watered blade.

  “A beautiful weapon. A masterpiece!”

  Lady Tado drew near. She looked back towards the main buildings, frowning in thought. The woman drew back her long hair and let it drape artfully down the back of her armour.

  “Spirit Hunters! A team of Spirit Hunters.” The woman rested herself against her husband, musing carefully. “What are they doing?”

  Lord Tado carefully sheathed his short sword.

  “They are investigating the history of ‘Honours Sacrifice’ shrine.”

  “We must forbid it!”

  “We must not. We must show no overt interest in this matter.” Lord Tado thoughtfully tapped a finger against his chin. “A piling of ung
lamorous obstacles in their path will prove the best dissuasion.”

  Lady Tado possessively gripped her husband. She nodded, then looked back at the office building in cool calculation.

  “Yes, my love. A good plan.” The woman flexed a well manicured hand. “I shall prepare alternatives, if they should prove to be persistent.”

  Lord Tado flicked a glance towards the two samurai who guarded the way into the garden.

  “Can we trust the men?”

  Lady Tado turned and hurtled her own wakizashi at a pillar a dozen yards away. The short sword struck point-on, thrumming as it quivered in the air.

  “If not, we shall merely deal with the matter ourselves.”

  The lord took his wife in his arms, holding her in pride and lust. The woman revelled in it, allowing him to admire her. She reached a hand down to caress the hilt of his short sword.

  “A perfect blade - and in the hands of one who truly knows how to use it.”

  Lord Tado ran fingers through his wife’s long, silken hair.

  “You have a way of bringing out my best…”

  The couple kissed – lusciously and lustfully.

  In the shadows beneath the porch, Chiri watched the entire courtyard in rat form – small, white furred and with delicate little pink feet. Her two elementals were at her side, carefully shielding her from harm. Daitanishi made a face as he saw Lord and Lady Tado kissing. The rat could only twiddle her fine whiskers in agreement.

  The short sword still quivered as it stuck in the pillar. Lord and Lady Tado were clearly occupied. Chiri thoughtfully withdrew beneath the floorboards. She swirled her tail, then twittered swiftly back through the dark – back towards the office and the old storage room. She nosed her way up through the hole in the floorboards – saw that the coast was clear, and came up beneath the table.