Read Online Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka - Free Book Online Page B

death in Japan as easily as it did in America.
    He stretched his legs for a few moments, to keep them from cramping. Every time he moved, the four samurai on guard became more alert. They knelt in the hallway outside the room. It was not clear if they were there to protect the missionaries or to imprison them. Ever since the shooting, they had been watching him closely. Stark didn’t know why.

    “The bandages will have to be changed frequently,” Dr. Ozawa said. “I have given him medicine that will reduce the bleeding, but it cannot be stopped altogether. Major arteries were severed. The bullet itself is lodged against the base of his spine. It cannot be removed.”
    “How long?” Genji asked.
    The doctor shook his head. “Hours if he is fortunate. Days if he is not.” He bowed and made his exit.
    “How inauspicious,” Genji said. “The American consul will have to be informed. Harris. A most unpleasant individual.”
    Saiki said, “Lord, that bullet was meant for you.”
    “I doubt that. My enemies would not send such a poor marksman. How could he aim at me and hit a palanquin ten feet away?”
    A maid entered with a fresh pot of tea. Saiki impatiently waved her off, but Genji accepted another cup. The hot brew took the edge off the winter chill.
    “I have examined the palanquin,” Saiki said. “Had you been in it, as everyone would expect, you would have been killed instantly. Only her barbaric posture saved the outsider woman’s life.”
    “Yes, I know. I saw that for myself.” Genji smiled at the maid. She colored, embarrassed to receive his attention, and bowed deeply to the floor. She was charming, Genji thought, and pretty enough, though a little old to be unmarried. Twenty-two or -three, he guessed. What was her name? Hanako. He considered the men of his bodyguard. Which one of them was in need of a wife, and was of the proper age to appreciate this maid? “I was not in the palanquin, however. I was in plain sight outside of it.”
    “Precisely my point,” Saiki said. “An assassin who does not know you would not think to find you on foot. What Great Lord walks while a female outsider rides? Also, you were not wearing the crest of your house. That, too, is unheard of. So he expected you to be where you should have been, and put his bullet there.”
    “Tortured reasoning,” Genji said.
    Hidé and Shimoda arrived at the door, breathing hard. They were the bodyguards Saiki had sent after the assassin.
    “Forgive us, lord,” Hidé said. “There was no sign of him anywhere.”
    Shimoda said, “No one saw anything. It was as if he disappeared into thin air.”
    “Ninja,” Saiki said. “Accursed cowards. They should all be put to the sword, down to the last woman and child.”
    “The building belongs to a grocer named Fujita,” Hidé said. “A simple man. No involvement with unsavory characters, no connections to any clan, no debts, no daughters in bondage in the Floating World. He is unlikely to be involved. Of course, he is terrified of your retribution. Without being asked, he insisted on supplying all the provisions for our New Year’s festivities.”
    Genji laughed. “Then he would be bankrupt, and he would be forced to sell all his daughters into the Floating World.”
    “That would not bring him much credit, lord,” Hidé said with a smile. “I have seen the daughters.”
    Saiki slapped the floor. “Hidé! Remember your place!”
    “Yes, sir!” The chastised samurai pressed his head to the floor.
    “We need not be so harsh,” Genji said. “This has been a trying morning. Hidé, how old are you?”
    “Lord?” Hidé was taken aback by the unexpected question. “Twenty-nine, lord.”
    “How is it that you are unmarried at such an advanced age?”
    “Uh, lord, uh . . .”
    “Speak up,” Saiki said, “and stop wasting our lord’s time.” This was all a waste of time as far as he was concerned. What frivolity was Genji engaging in now? With his life in danger and the