Tails High Page 7

  “Thanks.”

  Chiri was lifted out by Daitanishi and Bifuuko, who placed her daintily upon the bank. Sura shook herself dry – causing the usual deluge of water all around her. Daitanishi ducked, then spat out a gush of pipe water straight back at her.

  The bedraggled fox gave a sigh.

  “Right. So much for phase one!”

  They half floated, half towed the sakē barrel downstream, moving with speed as the stream crossed the open ground at the foot of the castle hill. The Spirit Hunters moved forward to a ripple of dead ground a few hundred paces downstream. They clambered out of the stream to follow the dead ground across to the brambles that grew near the edge of the Shinto shrine.

  Their armour, weapons, clothes and packs all lay carefully hidden beneath the bushes. Sura moved into the dark and flashed back into half-human form, standing naked in the gloom. She looked back along the stream, seeing lanterns and dim figures moving here and there all across the castle hill.

  A group of foot soldiers seemed to have found the broken grill at the end of the pipe. Lanterns held high, the men began to search the immediate area around the distant pool. Sura crept back into cover, joining the others as they fumbled with their equipment.

  “Well that wasn’t quite as planned!”

  Kuno looked carefully off towards the castle. “What happened?”

  “Ninja! Someone else is trying to steal Chōisai chan!”

  Suddenly a lantern flooded yellow light into the bramble grove. A strapping young watchman stood staring in amazement at the visitors clustered in the gloom.

  Buck naked and decidedly curvaceous, Sura instantly put a hand on one hip and tried to smile.

  “Hi there! Um – hey! Feeling lonely?”

  The watchman looked in amazement at Sura – than at Chiri standing elegant, pale and naked at her side. Then his gaze settled upon Tonbo, who stood massive and magnificent in his loincloth. The watchman’s interest was instantly piqued, and he gave the samurai an inviting wink.

  Kuno rose up and bashed the watchman on the head with his sheathed sword, knocking him flat. He looked down at the unconscious man with a scowl.

  “I fear that courtly culture has had a strange effect upon the Raiden clan.”

  The group dressed swiftly, clattering into their armour. Poles were run through ropes on either side of the sakē keg. Tonbo and Kuno took up the burden, heaving the load up from the ground.

  Kuno was dismayed by the weight of the keg.

  “I believe our plan may… be suffering from a few essential flaws!”

  Sura gave a snort. She awkwardly slung Tonbo’s tetsubo across her shoulder next to her spear.

  “Look – we did the hard bit. So shut up and carry!”

  Raiden patrols were out on the roads. The Spirit Hunters headed off through the forest and toward the empty hills, moving doggedly into the night.

  Chapter 4

  The grey light of dawn had only just begun to tinge the eastern mountains, lighting the great, rounded backs of the nearby peaks. The forests were still dark with night: only streams glinted here and there.

  The upper level of Lord Raiden’s castle was bright with lanterns. Wall guards and passing samurai all carried lights. Yet more lights could be seen down in the valley, moving out across the hills as patrols checked roads and farms about the castle. They moved slowly – little yellow points creeping gradually through the gloom.

  The lord’s apartments in the inner bailey were surrounded with tasteful gardens, trees and beautifully ordered fish ponds, with bridges that passed over the most exotic of goldfish.

  Hako, titular leader of the Akai Nami ninja clan, walked silently up from the outer bailey. She was dressed in dark robes, her face hidden by a broad hat and veil. A paper signed by Lord Raiden’s own hand passed her by the alert guard posts one by one. She moved past armoured sentries and bodyguards, finally walking up to the private apartments of the lord.

  Lord Raiden Katsura, warlord of the Raiden clan, was seated inside a hall filled with weapons and armour. A sallow man, much given to scowling, he hid behind great, fierce sideburns in an attempt to conceal his youth.

  Bodyguards in full harness were beside him and posted at every door. An attendant carried the lord’s helmet. Lord Raiden listened to reports delivered by a grim-faced guard commander. The sentries at the door saw Hako’s arrival. One quietly opened the door and moved inside, hastening over to bow to Lord Raiden and then murmur to him softly. Lord Raiden immediately dismissed the guard commander and his young attendant. His bodyguards bowed, then departed into the adjoining rooms.

  Once Lord Raiden was alone, the outer door opened. Hako entered softly, her presence dark and foreboding. She bowed – then crossed to kneel before Lord Raiden, removing her broad straw hat.

  Hako knelt in an alert, crouching pose – ready to act. She bowed once more

  “Lord!”

  Raiden Katsura drank tea. His narrow face wore deep, dark shadows in the lantern light.

  “My castle’s defences have been penetrated with contemptuous ease. The prize you secured for me has been stolen.”

  The ninja nodded. “Samurai are poor defence against guile.”

  Hako removed the veil that concealed her face. She was a handsome woman with a tightly-controlled face. A thin pink scar ran clean down her left cheek.

  “My lord should consider retaining Akai Nami ninja to bolster his castle’s defences.”

  “The guile, in this case, is mixed with magic.” Raiden Katsura set aside his cup.

  “A ninja was seen escaping the castle. But we also have a man who saw the prize being taken down the castle culvert by a white rat and a slim red fox.”

  The ninja’s fists clenched tight.

  “I know a fox. I know a rat.” She forced her hands to rest at east. “There will be two others. A huge samurai, and a swordsman.”

  “Yes. The Spirit Hunters…”

  The air was still hot and cloying. Lord Raiden flicked open a fan. He waved it slowly, then scowled, slapping the fan shut.

  “This must be kept discrete! I will lose great face if it is found I have abducted a carp child! I cannot have my men visibly searching for this stolen child!” Lord Raiden pointed his folded fan at Hako.

  “I leave this mission to you. The thieves will be returning the child to his parents. Recover the child at once.”

  “Yes lord.”

  Hako bowed, rearranged her face veil, then rose. She left the room quietly, heading out past the guards and down towards the outer castle.

  Troops were awake and eating a hasty breakfast. The walls were manned with sentries, while swarms of mounted samurai rode out through the gates. Hako passed through the chaos and confusion with barely a glance. She walked to the main gate, where two of her men dressed as merchants waited in the shadows.

  The men looked at her. Hako passed them by, heading for the open fields beyond.

  “Come. We are instructed to go fishing.”

  The men joined with Hako, side-by-side. Together they jogged onward down the road – down into the valley, where more Akai Nami were waiting to obey.

  At the foot of the mountains, steep slopes and a heavy barrel were proving a difficult combination. All four Spirit Hunters fought to keep Chōisai’s sakē keg high off the ground, struggling to mount the steep slope of a grassy hill. They staggered slowly forward, the awkward barrel sloshing fish water back into Tonbo and Chiri’s faces. Chiri made a face and desperately tried to battle on.

  The dawn sun was only just creeping up over the mountain-backs ahead. Trees and hills cast long black shadows into the hollows. The Spirit Hunters fought their way up along faint deer paths into untraveled hills. They clung to the darkness, trying to keep hidden behind folds of ground, slowly leaving Lord Raiden’s castle valley far behind.

  The way was too steep, and the barrel just too damned awkward. Chōisai splashed, flicking water out through a gap beneath the lid. It caught Kuno right in the mouth, making
the man cough and spit. Fish water had a decidedly ghastly after-taste.

  “Chiri san! Are you sure that Chōisai chan cannot be convinced to turn into a human baby, just for a while?”

  She was quite exhausted. Tonbo was holding most of the barrel’s weight, but the rat tried to help as best she could.

  “He does not know how, Kuno san! He is too young!”

  The pole was becoming slippery, and there were increasingly far too many rocks in the path. Sura felt the barrel slipping from her grasp.

  “Put it down! Put it down! I’m going to drop it!”

  They somehow managed to hoist the keg over to a flatter patch of rocks and thumped it down. The Spirit Hunters all released the lifting poles in relief and sank to the ground. Spear and tetsubo, awkwardly carried next to the barrel poles, clattered against rocks. Sura propped herself against the barrel and sucked at a blister on her palm.

  Chiri mopped at her face, feeling utterly worn out.

  “This is no good. We cannot carry this keg across country.”

  Tonbo wearily passed a canteen of cold tea to his friends.

  “We can’t use a road. The Raiden will have men in every village.”

  Sura had been contemplating the local dells and valleys. Smoke rose from somewhere across a nearby rise, and there were vague signs of oxen droppings here and there. She stroked thoughtfully at her chin.

  “We can’t go near a town – we’ll get caught. And we can’t be seen with a barrel. They’ll be searching everything that might contain a fish…” Sura checked her purse for coins, weighing it thoughtfully. “There’s a little woodcutter’s hamlet down there by the stream. Maybe I can buy a cart or a wheelbarrow or something.” The fox heaved herself up to her feet. “Stay here. Rest. I’ll be back.”

  Kuno nodded, then put a hand against his belly.

  “Is there any food, Sura san?”

  Sura waved happily at her pack as she walked off. “Sure! Rice balls!”

  Kuno nodded and waved gratefully. He waited until Sura had vanished across the crest of the hill, then heaved a sigh.

  The day had been difficult enough without resorting to Sura’s rice balls. Chiri handed out a single stale rice cake, breaking it into four pieces to share.

  Tonbo spotted a shade tree nearby. He nudged at the others, then picked up the barrel and walked it over to the tree. The three friends sat down, ate their stale rice cake, and settled back to wait.

  Time slowly passed. The morning light glared white and the day promised to be hot and humid – the air felt thick and heavy as a pancake. Chiri and Kuno dozed while Tonbo kept watch, assisted by the hot, tired little elementals.

  Some late season cicadas came blundering through the air and settled in the tree. The creatures made a low, drowsy buzz, slowly climbing up in volume until Tonbo finally slammed a fist against the tree in irritation. The cicadas moped and went silent, contenting themselves with sipping sap and grumbling about the neighbours. Tonbo heaved a sigh and looked down the hill towards Lord Raiden’s valley, keeping an eye upon the distant trees.

  Sura came walking up across the hill behind Tonbo, dragging a rattling old hand cart with the happy look of a fox with a devilish plan. She looked at her friends all resting peacefully in the shade – and was just in time to catch sight of Tosukingyo Chōisai, the glittering carp spirit prodigy, disappearing down the neck of an enormous white crane.

  Sura dove forward in a wild tackle, grabbing the bird by the neck and sealing its throat shut before it could swallow. The bird madly thrashed its wings, gurgling wildly. Wrestling it to the ground, Sura whacked the bird wildly about the back of its head.

  “Drop it! Drop it, you feather-brained bimbo! Drop it!”

  Sura rammed a hand down the crane’s throat, seizing hold of Chōisai by the tail. Chiri, Tonbo and Kuno raced up to see the fox hauling out the wailing carp spirit. Taking charge of Chōisai, Chiri raced him back into the water barrel, while the crane flopped about on the ground, retching and coughing, shocked quite out of her life.

  It was their old friend the crane spirit – long, lanky and full of airs. The bird sat up, trying to somehow find her voice.

  “Th-that was uncalled for!”

  Sura went back to trying to throttle the crane. “You murdering, greedy little…!”

  Kuno rushed forward to intervene.

  “Sura san!” The samurai dragged the two creatures apart. He bowed to the crane spirit in hasty apology. “Crane san. Please permit me to point out your error. You were swallowing the child of a carp spirit, and were about to unwittingly commit a murder.”

  The crane spirit sat on the grass and went into a magnificent sulk. She slapped her feathers back into some sort of order.

  “Well how was I to know? You people should put up some sort of sign!”

  Sura glowered. “You were willing to steal a fish from a barrel, but would have stopped to read a sign?”

  “Sura!” Kuno glared at the fox, chastising her for her manners. He turned to the crane and bowed briskly in apology. “Tanchō san! We apologise for handling you so roughly, but the situation required swift measures. And I am sure you are sorry for your own mistake.”

  The crane kicked her feet and made a half-hearted, petulant little grumble.

  “Sorry.”

  Sura put a hand up to her ear. “What?”

  The crane spirit rolled her eyes. “I’m very sorry!” The bird grumbled again under her breath. “Hmph. Anyway, I thought that fish tasted funny…”

  Chiri delved into her pack and found a spare robe. She handed it to the crane, draping it about the bird. The crane shimmered and changed into her human form.

  A tall, lanky woman with a long nose and red patches in her long black and white hair, the crane pulled her robes straight and cast a sulky eye over her hosts.

  “No need to ask what all the commotion on the roads is about. What have you stolen this time?”

  The fox was quite indignant. “We haven’t stolen anything! We’ve repossessed that fish, and we’re taking him back to his parents!”

  “Well you’d best hurry.” The crane brushed her rumpled feathers. “There are ninja crawling through these woods. Hundreds of the devils. Never seen anything quite like it!”

  Tonbo gave a frown.

  “Ninja?”

  Chiri clambered up a tree, flitting high into the branches with elementals beside her. She carefully peered out through the leaves and scanned the valley far below.

  On a distant road, a group of peasants had halted to carefully scan the fields and paths nearby. One man was on his knees, clearly checking the grass for tracks. Chiri slid swiftly back down the tree.

  “There’s a group right over the hill! They’re following us!”

  Thinking swiftly, Sura flicked an eye from the fish barrel to the crane.

  “Maybe the crane spirit can fly the fish to safety.”

  Tonbo regarded the crane. The bird had rather too lean and hungry a look about her. “I do not believe that is a workable plan.”

  The bird puffed out her chest in outrage.

  “I protest! My honour has been impugned!”

  “Then redeem it.” Tonbo flicked a hand towards the sky. “Get into the air and find us a way out of here.”

  “Oh very well.”

  The crane spirit turned back into bird form and struggled out of her borrowed robes. She noisily flapped her wings.

  “It is people like you that cause unrest!”

  The bird flapped off and away along the hills. Sura watched her go and gave an irritated sigh.

  “Oven roasted crane… and a wild honey glaze….” The fox shook her head. “Just saying…”

  Kuno scratched his chin. “No bees?”

  “Hmm. Maybe I need less insects in my cooking?” Sura pulled back her hair and headed to the hand cart. “Right – let’s get him in the cart and get moving. I took out some insurance that should cover us for a while.”

  Off they went. The heavy water barr
el was hoisted into the cart. With all four Spirit Hunters pulling on the poles, they had enough power to move up the sharp slope of the hill. They kept to hard ground, with Daitanishi rippling above their trail to cover any tracks, as they put some distance between themselves and the disguised ninja on the valley floor.

  They rumbled the handcart down along a little draw between two crests, finding a likely route that led away from the roads and borderlands. Kuno struggled along beside Sura, hauling at the cart. He tried to make sense out of the fox’s latest scheme.

  “What do you mean, we have no more money?”

  The fox seemed perfectly happy. “I hired six sets of peasants to transport six big water kegs down different roads. It took every coin we had!”

  “Forgive me, Sura san – but why would you do that?”

  “It’s going to be a hoot!” Sura waved her tail. “Trust me – I’m a fox!”

  They kept moving up the steep, grassy slope. Some half an hour later, the crane spirit came circling down from above. She landed on the cart pole with a great awkward flapping of wings.

  Tonbo gave the bird a nod.

  “Greetings, Crane san! Any luck?”

  The bird irritably stropped her bill against the cart handle.

  “Hmph. Well, there’s ninja disguised as woodcutters at the next road junction. Ninja disguised as peasants at the border village…” The crane hopped down to the ground. “You seem to have struck it rather unlucky on the ninja front.”

  Tonbo looked south towards the border. “What other traffic is on the roads?”

  “Oh, a fair variety! Raiden Samurai, monks, priests… And the highland trail is full of yamabushi traveling to the mountain festival.”

  Sura pricked up one ear.

  “What festival?”

  The bird shot a scathing look towards the fox. “I thought you were a sot that at least researched her vice!” The crane spirit waved a wing off towards the west. “I mean the sakē festival! There is a dedication at the Pine-Bough Temple, and sakē is being offered to the Kami.”

  Sura was utterly inspired.

  “There are people trundling sakē barrels in carts along the roads?”