Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa [222]
“Oh?”
“I asked him what had happened. He said Kōhei was on the road with his henchmen, out to catch him and kill him. He decided to entrench himself where he was and meet the attack there. He seemed prepared to fight to the finish.”
“Are you telling the truth, Sannojō?”
“Of course I am. Why would I lie to you?”
The faces of the three grew pale. They looked at each other nervously, uncertain as to their next move.
“You’d better be careful,” said Sannojō, ostensibly resuming his trip up the hill.
“Sannojō!”
“What?”
“I don’t know what we should do. Even our boss said this Musashi is unusually strong.”
“Well, he does seem to have a lot of confidence in himself. When he came up to me with that sword, I certainly didn’t feel like taking him on.”
“What do you think we should do? We’re taking this woman to Yasugawa on the boss’s orders.”
“I don’t see that that has anything to do with me.”
“Don’t be like that. Lend us a hand.”
“Not on your life! If I helped you and my uncle found out about it, he’d disown me. I could, of course, give you a bit of advice.”
“Well, speak up! What do you think we should do?”
“Um … For one thing, you could tie that woman up to a tree and leave her. That way, you could move faster.”
“Anything else?”
“You shouldn’t take this road. It’s a little farther, but you could go up the valley road to Yasugawa and let people there know about all this. Then you could surround Musashi and gradually hem him in.”
“That’s not a bad idea.”
“But be very, very careful. Musashi will be fighting for his life, and he’ll take quite a few souls with him when he goes. You’d rather avoid that, wouldn’t you?”
Quickly agreeing with Sannojō’s suggestion, they dragged Otsū to a grove and tied her rope to a tree. Then they left but after a few minutes returned to tie a gag in her mouth.
“That should do it,” said one.
“Let’s get going.”
They dived into the woods. Jōtarō, squatting behind his leafy screen, waited judiciously before raising his head for a look around. He saw no one—no travelers, no freebooters, no Sannojō.
“Otsu!” he called, prancing out of the thicket. Quickly finding her, he undid her bonds and took her hand. They ran to the road. “Let’s get away from here!” he urged.
“What were you doing hiding in the bushes?”
“Never mind! Let’s go!”
“Just a minute,” said Otsū, stopping to pat her hair, straighten her collar and rearrange her obi.
Jōtarō clicked his tongue. “This is no time for primping,” he wailed. “Can’t you fix your hair later?”
“But that rōnin said Musashi was at the bottom of the hill.”
“Is that why you have to stop and make yourself pretty?”
“No, of course not,” said Otsū, defending herself with almost comic seriousness. “But if Musashi is so near, we don’t have anything to worry about. And since our troubles are as good as over, I feel calm and safe enough to think of my appearance.
“Do you believe that rōnin really saw Musashi?”
“Of course. By the way, where is he?”
“He just disappeared. He’s sort of strange, isn’t he?”
“Shall we go now?” said Otsū.
“Sure you’re pretty enough?”
“Jōtarō!”
“Just teasing. You look so happy.”
“You look happy too.”
“I am, and I don’t try to hide it the way you do. I’ll shout it so everybody can hear: I’m happy!” He did a little dance, waving his arms and kicking his legs, then said, “It’ll be very disappointing if Musashi isn’t there, won’t it? I think I’ll run on ahead and see.”
Otsū took her time. Her heart had already flown to the bottom of the slope faster than Jōtarō could ever have run.
“I look frightful,” she thought as she surveyed her injured foot and the dirt and leaves stuck to her sleeves.
“Come on!” called Jōtarō. “Why are you poking along?” From the lilt in his voice, Otsū felt certain that he had spotted Musashi.
“At last,” she thought. Until now she’d had to seek comfort