AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Which is why taking her makes no sense and keeping her makes even less.”
“I told you what happened. Do you not trust in Bushido?”
“Of course. We all do.” The man turned to watch Hana as she approached. “Here comes your soul mate now.”
Hana scowled. She did not like it when Kojiro referred to her as his soul mate. She liked it less that he was spreading the news to his people.
“I thought we were fishing,” she said to Kojiro.
“We are fishing. As soon as the sun sets, we will head out.” Something moved in the basket and Hana started, taking a step backward. “What's in there?”
Rather than answer her question, he opened the basket and removed a large, black bird from the container. He held it with one hand around the creature’s long neck and the other under its belly. “It's a cormorant.”
She had heard of this method of fishing, but had never actually seen it before. “You use these to fish?”
“Correct. I was not always samurai. I earned that distinction. My father and his father were fishermen.”
“My father is also a fisherman,” she said. She knew it was not easy for a common man to earn the distinction of samurai. Kojiro must be an uncommonly brave warrior.
“And your brother?” Kojiro asked. “Was he a fisherman?” Hana shook her head. “He did not have the patience.” Nor had he had the patience to be a great ninja, but that did not make Hana love him any less.
Kojiro put the bird back in its basket and turned to one of the men loading them on the boat. “Musame, do you have an extra cloth for her head?” A man dressed in a black kimono handed a long piece of black cloth to Kojiro. He wrapped it around Hana's head. “To protect you from sparks,” he explained. “Can I trust you enough to remove your bindings?”
She hesitated.
“Apparently, not,” he said. “Perhaps I should leave you on the shore. If you fall overboard while bound like that, you will assuredly drown.”
“You could tie her to the boat,” Musame suggested.
Kojiro glanced at him. “That has merit. I wish she were trustworthy. I would like to teach her to prepare the birds. They seem calm in her presence.” That was almost tempting enough to get her to behave. She had heard of people who could fish using birds, but she’d never seen it done. Perhaps the skil would be of use to her people. Food was rarely in abundance. Hunger was common.
“Or I could just leave her on the shore,” Kojiro said.
“No,” she said hastily. She dropped her eyes respectfully. “I would like to accompany you.”
Kojiro lifted a hand a wiped a smudge from her nose. When she looked up at him in question, he smiled warmly. “This is good news, Hana.” The crew of men readied themselves by wrapping black cloths around their heads and putting on grass skirts over their kimonos.
Kojiro lifted Hana and put her in the boat. He untied the bonds from her hands and surprised her by not tying her to the boat. This was good, because the rocking of the vessel had her clinging to the side of the fairly flat boat with both hands. Ten baskets, each containing a bird had been loaded onto each boat. A huge lantern was lit at the bow where Kojiro stood steadily. Two other men used long paddles to propel the boat forward and turn it on its proper course. The second boat drifted behind them. Hana watched, too fascinated to consider a defensive move, as Kojiro removed a bird from one of the baskets and worked a noose around the creature's neck.
“Are you trying to kil it?” Hana asked. She wouldn't put it past him.
“The col ar must be tight enough to prevent him from swallowing our fish,” he explained. “But we do not wish him harm.” Kojiro set the bird in the water, holding a long string attached to the bird's neck in his left hand.
“Why do you have that fire blazing?” she asked. “Won't it frighten the birds?”
“It draws the fish towards the boat.” He lifted a second bird from a basket and began the same process of tying nooses around their necks and attaching them to long strings in his left hand. By the time he had all ten birds in the water, several were swimming back towards the boat. Kojiro lifted the birds and forced the fish from their throats into a basket, before placing the cormorant back in the water.
Hana's mouth watered at the sight of the fish. “Those are Ayu. Will we eat them for supper?” she asked enthusiastically. She'd rarely had the opportunity to eat the succulent, sweet meat of that variety of fish. She would be in for a treat.
Kojiro chuckled. “That we will.”
The birds swam in front of the boat, diving frequently, resurfacing with fish in their beaks and then choking them down. The fish got trapped in their distensible throats above their noose and when they became uncomfortable, they would swim towards Kojiro, and he would remove the fish from their throats before returning them to the water. When the basket was ful , Kojiro began to bring the birds back in. He removed their leash, fed them several fish and left them standing on the edge of the boat, with their large webbed feet curled over the hull and their wings spread wide.
“What are they doing?” Hana asked.
“Drying their feathers,” Kojiro said, tossing another of the birds several fish from the basket.
“Why do you give them the fish?”
“They're hungry, too,” he said. He stroked the nearest bird, before tossing him several fish. The birds were placed back in their bamboo baskets and the boat was directed to shore. The other two men in the boat unloaded the birds, while Kojiro brought the fish ashore and then reached for Hana. She had not considered escape until that moment, but an opportunity now presented itself. She stood up in the boat, wishing now that she'd had the foresight to untie her ankles. Stil , she had use of her arms. It was a far cry better than before. When Kojiro reached for her, she punched him twice in the face before diving for the water on the far side of the boat. She'd thought her punches would give her enough time to escape. She was wrong. Her head and upper body was submerged in water before something grabbed the back of her tunic and pulled her back onto the boat. She struggled for all she was worth, but a short blade under her chin made her still.
“For that, one person in your clan shal die. Give me a name,” Kojiro whispered harshly in her ear.
“No!” she cried, immediately regretting her action.
The other five men were laughing as she was dragged back to shore. “Give me a name, or I'll chose someone myself.”
“No, please, I'l do anything you say,” she said, dropping to her knees at his feet and pressing her forehead to the ground.
“My choice?” he said. “Even better. I'l bring back the body to show you the consequences of your actions.”
Intense revulsion grabbed her stomach in a fist. She couldn't bare it. “Kill me! If you must take another of my people, then kil me.”
“That is not an acceptable compromise.”
“Then what? I will do whatever you ask. I will be ful y obedient. I will not try to escape again. Just, please, do not harm any of my clan.” He was
silent for a long moment. “Remove your tunic,” he said.
She lifted her head from the ground. “What?”
“Remove your tunic.”
Was he planning on raping her? Al owing his men to rape her? They were al watching with interest.
“Why?”
“Someone who is obedient doesn't ask questions. She simply does what she is told.”
“I will do as you say. I just want to know why.”
“It is wet and I told you to.”
Wel , she had her answer. She removed her tunic, and crossed her arms over her bare chest. She was glad it was dark so he couldn't see the heat of embarrassment flush across her face.
“Let's go, Onihana-chan.”
He started back towards the village and she fol owed, her head hung low. Of all the times for Lara to feel in control, she would have picked this as being her least favorite moment. She was sure this was directly attributed to Murphy's law.
“Reece, this guy is a serious jerk,” Lara whispered harshly.
“You shouldn’t let her hit him in front of his men. He didn’t feel like he had a choice but to save face by humiliating her.” Reece turned to look at Lara. “Nice outfit,” he teased. “Now, all you have to do is everything I tel you to do, and you won't find yourself in this situation again.”
“Why does Kojiro keep taking control of you, and why does Hana have the upper hand with me most of the time?”
“I'm not sure, sweetheart. I think it must have something to do with the strong feelings these people are experiencing.”
“Or maybe they really are soul mates.” Lara shivered. “It's cold. Are you real y going to let me walk al the way to the village topless?”
“It wasn't my idea,” he said. “And I wish the women walked in front of the men in this culture, so I'd have a nicer view on my journey home.”
“Kojiro’s severe case of asshole-ism isn’t wearing off on you, is it?”
“I could never be this much of a dick. I’ve considered punching him in the balls three of four times already.”
Lara chuckled. “Won’t that hurt you?”
“Yeah, but it will hurt him, too.”
“I miss the twenty first century,” she said, rubbing her hands up and down her upper arms for warmth. It was spring, but the nights were still chilly.
