Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa [567]
“Ushinosuke! What’s going on here?”
Ushinosuke quickly hid behind Sukekurō, leaving the samurai face to face with Gonnosuke. For a moment, it appeared that a clash was inevitable. Sukekurō’s hand went to his sword; Gonnosuke tightened his grip on the staff. “Would you mind telling me,” asked Sukekurō, “why you’re chasing a mere child as though you wanted to kill him?”
“Before I answer, let me ask a question. Did you see him knock that boy down?”
“Is he with you?”
“Yes. Is this one of your attendants?”
“Not officially.” Looking sternly at Ushinosuke, he asked, “Why did you hit the boy and run away? Tell the truth, now.”
Before Ushinosuke could open his mouth, Iori raised his head and shouted, “It was a bout.” Rising painfully to a sitting position, he said, “We had a bout and I lost.”
“Did you two challenge each other in the proper way and agree to fight it out?” asked Gonnosuke. There was a trace of amusement in his eyes as he looked from one to the other.
Ushinosuke, deeply embarrassed, said, “I didn’t know it was his mat when I picked it up.”
The two men grinned at each other, both aware that if they had not acted with restraint themselves, a trivial, childish affair could have ended in bloodshed.
“I’m very sorry about this,” said Sukekurō.
“So am I. I hope you’ll forgive me.”
“Don’t mention it. My master’s waiting for us, so I think we’d better go.” They went out the gate laughing, Gonnosuke and Iori going to the left, Sukekurō and Ushinosuke to the right.
Then Gonnosuke turned and said, “Could I ask you something? If we go straight down this road, will it take us to Koyagyū Castle?”
Sukekurō walked over to Gonnosuke and some minutes later, when Hyōgo
joined them, told him who the travelers were and why they were here. Hyōgo sighed sympathetically. “That’s too bad. If only you’d come three
weeks ago, before Otsū left to join Musashi in Edo.”
“He’s not in Edo,” said Gonnosuke. “No one knows where he is, not even his friends.”
“What’ll she do now?” said Hyōgo, regretting he hadn’t brought Otsū back to Koyagyū.
Though he held back his tears, Iori really wanted to go somewhere all alone and cry his heart out. On the way down, he’d talked incessantly of meeting Otsū, or so it had seemed to Gonnosuke. As the men’s conversation shifted to events in Edo, he slowly drifted away. Hyōgo asked Gonnosuke for more information about Musashi, for news about his uncle, for details about the disappearance of Ono Tadaaki. There seemed to be no end either to his questions or to Gonnosuke’s supply of information.
“Where’re you going?” Ushinosuke asked Iori, coming up behind him and laying a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. “Are you crying?”
“Of course not.” But as he shook his head, the tears flew.
“Hmm…. Do you know how to dig wild potatoes?”
“Sure.”
“There are some potatoes over there. You want to see who can dig the fastest?”
Iori accepted the challenge, and they began digging.
It was getting late in the day, and since there was still much to talk about, Hyōgo urged Gonnosuke to spend a few days at the castle. Gonnosuke, however, said he preferred to continue his journey.
While they were saying their farewells, they noticed the boys were missing again. After a moment, Sukekurō pointed and said, “There they are, over there. They seem to be digging.”
Iori and Ushinosuke were absorbed in their work, which because of the brittleness of the roots, involved digging carefully to a great depth. The men, amused at their concentration, walked quietly up behind them and watched for several minutes before Ushinosuke looked up and saw them. He gasped slightly, and Iori turned around and grinned. Then they redoubled their efforts.
“I’ve got it,” cried Ushinosuke, pulling up a long potato and laying it on the ground.
Seeing Iori’s arm sunk in the hole up to his shoulder, Gonnosuke said impatiently, “If you don’t finish soon, I’m going on by myself.”
Placing his hand on his hip like an aged farmer,