Jihei and the guards in front were halfway down the corridor after the ghost when they heard the sound of the clash behind them. By the time Jihei realized his mistake and struggled back, the prisoners were already at the top of the stairs. Zenta seized the lantern from Saemon and hurled it into the face of the nearest pursuer.
The man flung up his arm to protect his face. His sleeve caught fire and he screamed with terror. Losing his footing, he fell tumbling down the stairs and sent the men behind him toppling.
The castle walls were plastered, but the basic building material was wood. Fire, therefore, never failed to cause unreasoning panic. For some moments complete confusion reigned at the foot of the stairs as the men tried to beat out the flames. Groans came from the men bruised from their fall down the stairs.
The three men at the top of the stairs did not wait to see what was happening. With Zenta leading the way, they ran through the corridors of the upper floor. Down a different flight of stairs they went, through one corridor after another, one turn after another, then up and down some more stairs.
“I hope you know where you are going,” Matsuzo managed to gasp with bursting lungs.
Zenta finally stopped. He opened the door of a small guard room, found it empty, and entered it quickly, followed by the other two men. After catching his breath he said, “I think we’ve lost them for the time being.”
“We can’t stay here,” said Saemon. “Jihei will sound a general alarm soon and search every room. I must gather my men together and find a place where we can defend ourselves.”
“I suggest that we try to occupy some tower of the outer fortress,” said Zenta. “It is fortified, and much easier to defend than one of the residential buildings. Since most of the samurai there have been ordered to the inner fortress, we can take the place easily.”
Suddenly the three men tensed. They heard the sound of running feet. But the men, instead of searching the rooms one by one, rushed past their door. Matsuzo could overhear snatches of conversation.
“Did you see how close the White Serpent was this time? I saw it before I even heard the flute music.”
“We’d better hurry. Jihei will have our heads if we fail to catch the ghost again.”
Inside the room Matsuzo stared in amazement. “I thought I could run pretty fast,” he muttered, “but Lady Tama can run much faster, even trailing a silk floss snake!”
Saemon smiled. “That was not Lady Tama you saw earlier. It was her double. They have two White Serpents, and this is the reason why the ghost hunters were so confused. Each time they started after the ghost, the flute music would come from a totally different direction.” “Then the men that just went by were not pursuing us at all,” said Zenta. “They don’t even know about our escape.”
“That’s right,” said Saemon. “Lady Tama is distracting the attention of the castle men and scattering them with a ghost hunt, so that Jihei will not be able to round up his men and issue orders.”
Matsuzo remembered that earlier Zenta had said Lady Tama had the mind of a strategist. It was no exaggeration. Zenta now frowned, however. “Lady Tama is courageous, but she’s utterly reckless. If she should fall into the hands of the ghost hunters, she would be treated mercilessly. Even worse, the chamberlain may seize the opportunity to violate her, claiming that he didn’t recognize her. She would be forced to marry him, then.”
“I’ve already told her this,” said Saemon. “But she’s very stubborn, and she insisted on playing the White Serpent Ghost one last time. I agree that she is in very great danger. Let me go and rally my men to storm the outer fortress. Meanwhile you and Matsuzo should bring Lady Tama to safety.”
There was no time to be lost. After checking that the corridor was clear, Saemon sped off to his waiting men. Zenta led Matsuzo down some stairs, through a series of dark and narrow passages until they came to a small door that opened into the courtyard. This was the clearing between the inner and outer fortresses. Their problem was to find Lady Tama and then cross the moat, and they could expect the bridges to be heavily guarded.
Hearing cries in the distance, they turned and saw a white figure flying toward them. Matsuzo recognized the ghastly face which he had seen earlier, with the same huge staring eyes and blue painted lips. Behind the figure trailed a silk floss tail, somewhat shortened by clutching hands.
The figure almost reached them before Matsuzo recognized Lady Tama. Far from being terrorized by her pursuers, she seemed to be in a state of exhilaration. She had recovered completely from her grief, and Matsuzo had the feeling that her love for the dead envoy had not been very deep.
One of her pursuers reached out a hand and grasped her sleeve. She turned and dealt him a sharp blow across the bridge of his nose with her flute. While the man covered his nose and howled with pain, Lady Tama calmly examined her flute. “What a pity! I made a crack in the flute, and it’s my favorite one.”
Zenta rushed up and made short work of two other pursuers who had run over to help their comrade.
Lady Tama flashed a fierce grin at her rescuer. “Come on. There are a few more men over there that we can finish. Who knows? Maybe we can take over the castle!”
“Don’t be silly,” snapped Zenta, sparing no time for courtesies. “We have only one sword among the three of us, and your flute is a limited weapon.”
As they ran across the courtyard Lady Tama asked, “What are our plans now? Did Saemon say anything after he freed you from Jihei’s men?” “We have to find shelter, a place that we can temporarily defend,” said Zenta. “The best place is . . .”
“The outer fortress, of course,” finished Lady Tama.
A cry to their left drew their attention. They saw Ume carrying an armful of weapons, and beside her a figure in white. Matsuzo blinked. He was looking at an exact duplicate of Lady Tama. When the figure came closer, he recognized the little maid. Her makeup and white gown were identical to Lady Tama’s.
Zenta, however, had eyes only for the weapons in Ume’s arms. “My swords!” he cried joyfully. Snatching his two swords from the old woman, he pulled the long one from its sheath and ran his fingers down the perfect blade. He almost crooned with happiness.
Lady Tama chose one of the halberds that Ume had brought and impatiently pounded its butt on the ground. “A touching reunion! Have you finished fondling your swords? We have some fighting to do before we can cross the bridge over the moat.”
Running once again, Zenta asked Ume, “Have you seen Saemon?”
It was the little maid who answered. “Saemon and his men should be attacking the outer fortress by now. I had all the guards at the southern gate on my trail, and Saemon’s men slipped through easily.”
The progress of the little party was slowed by Ume, who gasped for breath and stumbled with fatigue. “Please forget about me! First get Lady Tama into safety!” she panted.
Zenta and Matsuzo picked her up and between them carried her as they ran. “She looks like a bundle of dry sticks, but she’s heavy,” thought Matsuzo.
They reached the bridge over the moat and found it guarded by a dozen of the chamberlain’s men. Zenta dropped Ume unceremoniously, and with three vicious sweeps of his sword cleared a way for the women.
Instead of crossing the bridge, Lady Tama swung her halberd joyously and joined the battle. Yoshiteru had been right. His sister was a formidable fighter with her halberd. Her ancestors, after all, had risen to their high position through sheer love of fighting.
The engagement did not last long. Zenta alone would have routed their opponents easily. His ferocious female assistant with her ghostly makeup and her whirling halberd reduced them to terror. The chamberlain’s men turned and fled.
Lady Tama was in favor of pursuing them, but Zenta pulled her back. “There’s no time for that!” he said. “The chamberlain will call out his archers at any moment, and we have to find shelter immediately. You’re a perfect target in that white gown.”
“They won’t dare to shoot at me!” she cried indignan
tly.
“How can they recognize you in that makeup? They can’t tell you and the little maid apart, and they won’t hesitate to shoot either of you.”
Picking up Ume once more, they hurried on, meeting only scattered parties of castle men whom they easily brushed aside. When they finally reached one of the towers of the outer fortress, they found the battle there almost over.
One of Saemon’s men was at the door, and he greeted them triumphantly. “You’ve managed to get through! Saemon will be delighted to hear this!”
“Did you succeed in occupying the tower?” asked Lady Tama.
The man nodded. “We had very little trouble. There were only a few men stationed here, and we took them completely by surprise.”
Recovering his breath, Zenta said, “Since you don’t need my help here, I’m going back. I must see that Yoshiteru is safe.”
“What?” exclaimed Lady Tama. “After all the trouble we took to get you out? You must be insane!”
“Of course I’m grateful for the rescue,” said Zenta. “Now that I’m fully armed, there’s no need to worry. With all the confusion caused by the ghost hunt and the escape of Saemon’s men, I should be able to reach Yoshiteru.”
Matsuzo took Zenta by the arm. “Lady Tama is right. It would be suicide to go back. The whole garrison is out looking for you.”
“I know why you are going back!” said Lady Tama furiously. “It’s not for Yoshiteru’s sake. You’re in love with his mother!”
There was a hiss and a thud.
“They’ve called out the archers. Stop arguing and get in,” said Zenta, swinging Lady Tama behind him.
There was another hiss, and Zenta stiffened. He reached up to pluck weakly at the shaft buried in his left shoulder. Then with a faint sigh, he dropped his hand and began to fall.
Arrows came faster. With the help of Lady Tama, Matsuzo dragged Zenta inside the door of the fortress. They were followed quickly by Ume and the little maid. Lady Tama slammed the door shut.
The first thing that Matsuzo saw in the dim light was Saemon’s face.
“Please honor our humble home,” he said.
Chapter 13
“The chamberlain’s men are completely bewildered,” said Lady Tama with satisfaction. “Half of them are searching for the escaped prisoners, and the rest are hunting for the White Serpent Ghost. It will be a long time before they realize that Saemon and all of his men have broken out of the inner courtyard.”
After arriving safely in the tower, she had scrubbed her face clean. With her hair tied back, she looked like a mischievous page boy of some daimyo. She seemed thoroughly at home in the crowded guardroom full of men and weapons.
“Perhaps the chamberlain will think that Shigeteru has finally arrived and started his insurrection,” said Matsuzo, grinning. He was unprepared for the reaction to his joking remark. Saemon stared at him with narrowed eyes, and Lady Tama turned rather pale.
Saemon recovered himself and said briskly, “We must have our defenses ready before the chamberlain discovers what the true situation is. Our position here could be worse. We have a number of good archers among our men, and more arrows than we need. We can defend every entrance to this tower. The castle men will find it very costly if they try to rush either of the bridges across the moat.”
So far, several small parties of the chamberlain’s men had tried to enter the tower in pursuit of the fugitives, but they had been mercilessly cut down by Saemon’s archers. After viewing their losses, the chamberlain’s men had decided that it was not worth the trouble of going after the two escaped prisoners. They were still under the impression that the fugitives would be easily subdued by their men in the outer fortress.
But sooner or later they would discover the exodus of the envoy’s men and learn that a portion of the outer fortress was in their hands. Saemon was losing no time in marshaling his small army. He quickly scanned the list of names compiled by one of his men. “We have thirty-seven fighting men, two killed and three wounded.”
“Count me as one of the fighting men,” declared Lady Tama.
Saemon smiled at her. “Very well, thirtyeight fighting men. We can’t afford a pitched battle since we are badly outnumbered, but our position here is not hopeless.”
He looked down regretfully at Zenta, who was having his shoulder bandaged by Ume. “The chance arrow that hit you was our worst piece of luck so far. We had been counting heavily on having your sword on our side.”
“I can still manage a sword with one hand,” said Zenta.
“So long as the chamberlain’s men don’t know that I’ve been hit, I can be useful by just frightening them a little.”
“You need more practice in looking fierce,” said Matsuzo, and the others laughed.
Zenta did not share the general cheerfulness. He was in pain from the extraction of the arrow, and he was chafing with frustration at not being able to return to the inner courtyard.
Lady Tama merely laughed at his ill humor. She said, “Something amusing has just struck me: In a sense, we are standing siege here.”
There were some chuckles in the room, and one man remarked, “We are the besieged, but we are outside of the besiegers in the inner fortress. This will make military history.”
“We’re well prepared to stand siege,” said Lady Tama. “There are plenty of arrows and spears here, and enough armor to outfit each man.”
Matsuzo looked at Zenta and smiled. “I hope we didn’t forget to provide ourselves with plenty of food.”
Zenta did not return the smile. “Before you see yourselves as the victors of White Serpent Castle, you should remember that we are outnumbered roughly ten to one. Furthermore, our windows facing the inside are all cut wrong for effective shooting. After all, the castle was not constructed for the purpose of helping people in the outer fortress attack those in the center.”
Saemon said impatiently, “There is no question of our attacking the chamberlain. We are not cut off. Whenever we wish, we can send men down into the village to collect help.”
Something had been puzzling Matsuzo since the discussion had started. If even Lady Tama joined freely in the council of war, why should he be too shy to speak up? “What is to prevent us from leaving the castle?” he asked. “Then you and your men can go back to the daimyo and report the envoy’s murder to him.” For a moment, no one spoke. Lady Tama and Saemon exchanged glances.
Saemon seemed to choose his words carefully as he replied, “There is the question of vengeance. My master has been foully murdered, and I cannot leave until I see his murderer punished.”
“But without help you have no hope of defeating the chamberlain and arresting the murderer,” objected Matsuzo. “You need reinforcement from the daimyo. When he hears of his envoy’s death, he will rush a strong force here. While I admire your determination to take action yourself, you would only die in vain.”
Again there was an odd little silence.
It was Zenta who finally broke the silence. “No, we can’t leave the protection of the fortress here. If we abandon our position and retreat to the village, there is nothing to check the chamberlain’s men from cutting us down in the open. We’re trapped here for the moment.”
Matsuzo was surprised. It was uncharacteristic of his friend to be so pessimistic.
Lady Tama glared at Zenta. “Really, I don’t know why we bothered to rescue you at all when you just sit there spreading gloom and despondency. If this goes on, we’ll be defeated by your talk alone!”
Zenta struggled to his feet. “Then the best thing is for me to return to the inner fortress and spread gloom and despondency to the chamberlain’s men.”
Saemon quickly barred his way. “You are not going anywhere. Sit down!” he ordered curtly. Some of his men stirred.
Zenta’s eyes flashed and his hand dropped to his sword. For a moment violence seemed about to erupt. Then with an obvious effort he controlled his temper, and when he spoke his voice was level. “What plans have you
really made for conducting your little war here? You are temporarily safe because the chamberlain doesn’t know the full extent of what has happened. But it won’t take him too long to find out. And Jihei is no fool. What if he organizes his men and starts a general attack on you? Your archers won’t hold them. I should be surprised if you lasted more than half an hour.”
Ignoring the angry and defiant muttering from the men around him, he continued, “Very well. To avenge your master’s death you are resolved to die heroically. But have you thought about Lady Tama? What do you think her fate will be?”
“I’m prepared to die with the men,” declared Lady Tama.
“But the chamberlain might capture you alive,” said Zenta. “He might do anything to you then. Afterwards he could claim he was carried away by the heat of battle. Do you expect the White Serpent to come and rescue you?”
“I will never let them take me alive!” she cried fiercely.
In spite of himself, Zenta had to laugh when he saw her warlike expression. “Now who is being gloomy and despondent?”
“I will never marry the chamberlain,” muttered Lady Tama. “Death is preferable!”
“Before you all resign yourselves to a heroic death, listen to my plan at least,” urged Zenta. “We can’t afford to sit here and allow Jihei time to organize an attack on us. We have to start winning the castle men to our side at once.”
“But how?” demanded Lady Tama. “We can’t just shout, ‘Come and join us!’”
“Of course not,” said Zenta. “What I plan to do is approach the men a few at a time and use quiet persuasion. Although the castle men have been hired by the chamberlain, they have officially sworn allegiance to Lord Okudaira. We can appeal to them as samurai to honor this allegiance.”
Several people nodded agreement.
“Until he marries Lady Tama, the chamberlain is not the legitimate ruler here,” continued Zenta. “I shall tell the men that their first duty is to Lord Okudaira’s family. That family now consists of Lady Tama and Yoshiteru, and no other. The men of the castle also have a duty to help the envoy’s men, who were forced to flee from the inner fortress because they were afraid for their lives. If we succeed in getting a sizable portion of the men to our side, we may have a chance.”
White Serpent Castle Page 9
