The boatman poled his narrow barge to the dock. A young woman and her henpecked husband stepped into the prow of his vessel and settled themselves onto one of the seats.

  “That will be three bu,” the boatman said.

  “You pay the man, husband. I’m sure I don’t want to traipse around this filthy boat,” she said.

  “A shrew,” the boatman thought. “If I was married to her, I would have to beat her once a day just to remind her of her place.”

  “Well, go on. We do not have all night. If it were not for your incompetence, we would have been home by now. Pay the man!” She commanded.

  The downtrodden husband nodded his head and reached for his pipe and tobacco. She was having none of it. She batted the pipe out of his hand and overboard into the canal. “Do as I tell you. Pay the man!”

  The husband watched the sinking pipe for a moment and sighed. Then he turned slowly back to his wife and backhanded her. She let out a loud yelp as her head snapped to the right at the resounding smack and collapsed in the bottom of the boat.

  The boatman laughed aloud. “Aieii, by the Buddha, she had that coming.”

  The husband stood and moved toward the boatman to pay the fare. He reached under his tunic, but instead of the purse, produced a razor sharp tanto and thrust the knife into the ribs of the unsuspecting boatman. Then the husband collected the pole from the dying hands of the boatman and removed the boatman’s wide straw hat and top tunic, letting the lifeless body of the dead boatman slipped into the canal’s depths. Myo stayed in the bottom of the boat where she reversed her kimono to reveal ninja garb. No words were necessary. One sentry was.

  It was the hour of the ox, about three o’clock in the morning. The streets were quiet. Myo had received the signal from the roof across the street as the last guard died. The hard part came next. She had the choice of entry from the roof or through one of the large doors. She had been down these halls and into the sleeping quarters previously, so she knew that there were no nightingale floors.

  She sent one man into the overhead anyway, just to cut off that avenue of retreat. Her five two-man teams were stacked in the hallway outside the sleeping quarters of the Foxes. One man held the sliding door still while another poured oil into the grooves at the bottom and along the side. Once liberally lubricated, the man holding the door slid it open enough to allow entry. One by one on padded tabi, black-clad ninja entered the room. They silently placed themselves beside the sleeping figures. Each was carrying the straight, ninja short sword. They simultaneously raised it above the sleeping targets. Standing at the entrance to the room, Myo noticed one of her men had no one to kill. Six Foxes slept here, but one futon was empty. She nodded and five Foxes died, swords plunged into their hearts.

  Once completed, Myo signaled the next phase. She and her team moved to the back of the warehouse and two moved to the boat yard to start a fire. Once the fire was blazing, she sent her men back into the shadows. She remained hiding in the overhead, wanting to see how Hideki handled this portion of the plan. If she were honest with herself, she wanted to be close by so she could help him if need be.

  This was a new emotion for her. She was supposed to be a professional. She planned the job and she executed the job; she should be long gone. However, something about this boy aroused her. True, the sex was good, but sex was a tool. Was their relationship good for the Five Families? Maybe that is why her father was not prying into the relationship. She was not thinking with her head. Thinking with her heart usually meant doom for a ninja. She started to turn and leave. Then she stopped. She would wait for Hideki.

  She knew she would have to face Hideki’s disappointment at not having a prisoner. However, once she was in the hall outside the sleeping quarters, she knew capture was too risky. The missing man bothered her. Had he escaped? Was he bringing reinforcements? She needed to wait and be prepared to help Hideki with her own reinforcements. She could not be troubled by prisoners. Five dead Foxes. That should at least please Naga and that old bastard Hanzo, she thought.

  Nichi’s men came on the run. The ten Yamakai-gumi were in various stages of undress fighting the blaze. While there were many dangerous things that lurked in the Edo night, fire was the most terrifying. The wood and paper construction combined with live flame (the main source of illumination) coupled with overpopulation in a small area ensured fires usually resulted in the loss of many buildings and much life. That is why in the evening hours each community had a fire watchman who walked through the streets clacking two blocks, calling out the hour, and reminding everyone to put out all flames. To fall asleep with a candle still burning often ended in tragedy.

  Nichi divided his men into two groups. One element dashed into the boatyard and began arresting the men in the midst of their firefighting act. The other half broke into the main door on the canal street and made for the second-story sleeping quarters. Hideki went with this group; Jubei went with the group in the boatyard. Hideki did not have to utter a command. Nichi led flawlessly. It was over in a matter of minutes with all Yamakai on the ground and tied.

  The timing was perfect. The Edo fire brigade that had responded to the sighting of fire met the boatyard police. Nichi seized the initiative by yelling to the battalion fire chief his name and position and the fact that they had just captured the arsonist. That was enough for the firefighters. The chief grunted his approval at such swift work and proceeded to put out the fire. Nichi had the captives marched to jail.

  Hideki congratulated Nichi and his men, and Nichi excused himself and entered the large warehouse to ensure they had missed no one. Jubei returned and asked if anyone had ventured into the Fox den in the adjacent building. No one had, so he and Jubei went up the stairs to see the results of Myo’s work.

  “Why did she have to kill them all?” Hideki asked.

  “Maybe she had no choice,” Jubei replied.

  “There is always a choice, Jubei. We needed a prisoner.”

  “There is one empty bed. Maybe she captured one,” Jubei suggested.

  “Let us hope so,” Hideki said. “There is too much at stake here.”

  As they climbed down to the first floor, they saw Nichi pointing to a chest and giving commands. The chests were loaded onto a pushcart.

  “Spoils of war, Nichi?” Hideki asked.

  “Yes, Lord. Most of it will go to the Hatchobori as evidence for the magistrate. However, one chest contained money. Each man will receive a share. If they’re going to risk their lives, they should be justly paid.”

  “Take it up with my brother, Nichi. I am not here to tell you how to run the police. Just be sure your men are not setting a dangerous precedent by taking spoils from innocents,” Hideki warned.

  “There are no innocents here, Lord,” Nichi said.

  “Has anyone seen Myo?” Hideki asked.

  “She must’ve done her job. I see no Fox Gang, and the fire was set as planned,” Nichi said.

  Myo stepped from the shadows. “I am here, Lord.”

  “Myo,” Hideki smiled. “I am glad you are not hurt.”

  “I am fine, Lord,” she said, happy that he seemed genuinely concerned.

  “Were you able to collect a prisoner for me?” Hideki asked expectantly.

  Myo paused before replying. She was searching for words that might lessen his disappointment. She was opening her mouth to speak when a nearly naked man dropped into their midst on a hemp rope. Hideki leaped back and drew his sword. Jubei did not move, but his sword was magically in his hand. Myo knelt and drew a throwing star. As the man dangled inches off the floor of the warehouse, Yoshi slid down the rope and jumped to the ground at Hideki’s feet.

  “Greetings, Lord,” Yoshi said. “I’m delivering the prisoner as Myo directed.”

  Hideki sheepishly relaxed and returned his sword. Then he looked at Myo. “I knew you would not let us down.”

  Myo looked at Yoshi. Yoshi winked at her. Then Myo looked at Hideki and smiled. “We aim to please.”

  Hideki motioned Nichi over. “Take him to the Hatchobori, but keep him separate from everyone. Let him have no food and no drink. I want to question him myself.”

  “Yes, Lord,” Nichi said as he moved off to get more police.

  “Yoshi, you stink,” Hideki said. Myo and Jubei stepped back from the smell.

  “Why is it Lord, that you get cherry blossoms and I get binjo?” Yoshi asked.

  Hideki thought a minute, then replied, “Because I am the Prince of the Yoshinobu and you are a lowly ninja. Besides, I am much better looking than you and the Buddha smiles upon me. Go jump in the water and get some of that stench off. We can’t have you going back to the mansion smelling like that!”

  The next morning at the hour of the snake, about nine o’clock in the morning, Hideki and Jubei entered the Hatchobori. They walked back to the cell of the Fox ninja. He was tied securely to a post in the center of his cell, sitting on the straw with his arms and hands securely bound behind him. Hideki and Jubei pulled their katana swords from their belts with their left hands and ducked down when entering the open cell door.

  “Are you hungry or thirsty?” Hideki asked.

  “Thirsty,” the ninja said.

  Hideki signaled to a guard, and a bucket of water with a ladle was brought and set at the prisoner’s feet.

  “I will not talk,” the prisoner said.

  “I do not expect you to,” Hideki responded.

  With that, Hideki ladled water and brought it to the prisoner’s lips. The man did not attempt to drink. Hideki looked perplexed by the man’s reluctance.

  “He thinks it is poison,” Jubei said.

  “Oh, I see,” Hideki reversed the ladle and took a drink from it himself. Then he offered the rest to the prisoner. This time the prisoner drank long.

  “I am still not talking,” the prisoner said.

  “I know,” Hideki said.

  “You are wasting your time,” he repeated.

  “I know,” Hideki said.

  Outside the cell and several feet away, a doshin turned to Nichi. “What kind of torture is this?”

  “The smart kind,” Nichi replied.

  Back inside the cell, Hideki asked, “Are you hungry?”

  “I could eat,” the ninja said.

  Hideki signaled and a bowl of steaming rice and several smaller bowls of tofu and pickles in lacquered trays appeared. They were placed at the prisoner’s feet. Hideki sat down and picked up the rice bowl.

  “I will have to feed you. We cannot let you free to eat. You might escape.”

  “I still will not talk,” the ninja said.

  “I understand,” Hideki said.

  Hideki used chopsticks on the tray and took a mouthful of rice for himself as well as a pickle and some tofu from the bowls. He then cleaned off the ohashi with the cloth from inside his robe and started feeding the prisoner.

  “Is it to your liking?” Hideki asked.

  “Why are you being so kind to me?” the ninja asked after he swallowed.

  “We will discuss that later.”

  “Who are you?” the ninja asked.

  “I am Yoshinobu Hideki. Pleased to meet you.”

  “Even if you are relatives of the Tokugawa, I will tell you nothing.”

  “As you wish,” Hideki said.

  “So why am I getting the nice treatment? I expected to be boiled in oil.”

  “Because I wanted to have a discussion with you.”

  “Why?”

  “So I could listen to your patterns of conversation and see if I could determine from which part of the country you come,” Hideki said.

  The ninja scoffed. “And has it worked?”

  “Oh yes,” Hideki replied. “You are definitely speaking with the Shikoku dialect. You are most likely from Shikoku.”

  “What of it?” the ninja asked. “There are many people from Shikoku.”

  “You are correct. There are many people from Shikoku. However, there are very few in Edo Castle from Shikoku. All I must do now is find them, and I have located a traitor within the government.”

  The ninja clamped his mouth shut so hard, his teeth clicked.

  “You do not want to eat anymore?” Hideki asked. “Well, never mind. I must go to Edo Castle. You try to enjoy the rest of your stay here.”

  Hideki rose out of a cross-legged sitting position. “Let’s go, Jubei. We have some grammar to check.”

  As they passed Nichi, Hideki addressed him. “No visitors and no torture.”

  “Yes, Lord, it will be as you say.”

  “Jubei, who do we know in the castle that speaks with a Shikoku bin?” Hideki asked.

  “It is said that O’Fuku does,” Jubei replied.

  “That is what I remember as well. I remember those calculating eyes, birds on her kimono—and a Shikoku dialect,” Hideki said.

  Chapter 24: Romancing the Nin

  Hideki stopped at the sliding wood-and-paper door. “Moshiagemasu,” he said to announce he was reporting.

  From inside the room, Jii responded. “Come in, Hideki. Is Jubei with you?”

  “Hai,” Jubei said.

  Both Jubei and Hideki entered the room. Jubei stopped once inside the threshold, turned around, and slid the door closed behind him. Both men held their katanas inside their protective sayas in their left hands. Once in the room, they bowed to Jii and Naga. Already seated, both Musashi and Yoshi bowed to the two new arrivals.

  Jubei and Hideki sat cross-legged in front of Naga and Jii, placing their swords to their left, blades away from the old man.

  “So what are you reporting?” Naga asked.

  “The results of my interrogation of the Fox prisoner,” Hideki replied.

  “What did you learn?” Jii asked.

  “I learned that the ninja is from Shikoku.”

  “Is that important?” Jii asked.

  “I think so,” Hideki replied. Then he turned to Musashi. “Do you remember the young boy we saw on the Tokaido with the goblin mask on his back?”

  “Vaguely,” Musashi said.

  “You told me he was going to the Shinto shrine of Kompira on Shikoku Island.”

  “I may have,” Musashi admitted. “It is a favorite spot for travelers and locals alike.”

  “Do you remember what pattern was on the young boy’s kimono?”

  “I am sorry, Hideki. I do not seem to have your eyes for detail,” Musashi said.

  “It was a tan color with prints of a brown thrush. I remember it because it has a black hood and a red breast. The bird’s habitat is almost exclusively on the island of Shikoku,” Hideki said.

  “All very enlightening, I am sure, but how does any of this help us?” Naga asked.

  Hideki was about to speak when a bird chirped and whistled loudly very close by.

  Musashi, Jubei, and Yoshi all reached for their swords.

  “Relax! It is not a Fox ninja. I brought this bird with me,” Hideki said.

  Hideki clapped his hands and a young woman slid back the door, placed the birdcage inside the room, followed it, and closed the door. She picked up the cage, brought it to Hideki and then left the way she had come, having met no one’s eyes.

  “What is the meaning of this?” Jii demanded.

  “Jii, did you see how Musashi, Jubei, and Yoshi reacted to this bird’s chirps?”

  “Yes, it was disturbing. I thought we might be under attack,” Jii said.

  “As did they; this bird is why they reached for their swords. They are highly trained swordsman. They reacted subconsciously to the noise they heard when last being attacked. They heard the bird chirps and remembered the Kyoto ambush and the Nihonbashi attack.” Hideki pointed to the caged bird. “Here is the culprit; the black headed brown thrush.”

  “Where did you get it?” Yoshi asked.

  “Good question, Yoshi. I found this one at the Ikegami Temple here in Edo. A monk there is something of a bird enthusiast. He takes in sick birds brought in by the followers of the Nichiren sect and nurses them to health. He also imports birds and has a very fine collection as well as a very large aviary.”

  “Is there a point to this, Brother?” Naga asked.

  “Yes. He raises black-headed brown thrushes.”

  Naga lean his head back slightly. “So the leader of the Fox Gang is a Nichiren monk?”

  Hideki looked at Naga in surprise and then over to Jii. “Maybe I should be shogun, Grandfather. Naga is obviously too dense.”

  “Maybe I am too,” Jii said. “What is the point?”

  “His best customer is O’Fuku of Edo Castle.” Now Hideki saw recognition in their eyes.

  “Not really proof you could take to the shogun,” Naga said.

  “No,” Jii said. “But it is very fine detective work. How did you ever find this monk?”

  Yoshi answered for him. “Nichi.”

  “Yes,” Hideki confirmed. “What use is there to having a smuggler as police chief if you don’t use him?”

  “Does this help us?” Yoshi asked.

  “Yes,” Jii said. “Now the enemy has a face.”

  “But if it is O’Fuku, how did she come to command a defunct ninja sect? She is a highborn samurai,” Naga said.

  “Not necessarily, my lord,” Musashi interjected. “Remember what the shogun’s wife said of O’Fuku? She inferred O’Fuku to be a person of low birth.”

  “You are right Musashi. I had forgotten,” Hideki said.

  “But she need not be low born,” Jubei said. “My father has directed the Iga ninja for years, and he is a samurai.”

  “True, Jubei. My own fiancée was trained as a ninja and she is wellborn,” Naga added.

  “Well done, Hideki. I believe we now know who the enemy is,” Jii said, “but doing something about it will be a different matter entirely.”

  “Yes, and we better do something about it very soon,” Naga said. “I am due back in front of those vultures at the end of this week. We better get some evidence soon.”

  “Well, either we will have it or we won’t,” Jii concluded. Then he changed the subject, “How goes the training?”

  “Nichi is working his forty-five men very hard,” Hideki replied. “Bringing them to the Yoshinobu compound to practice every day turned out to be a good idea. Not only do they get away from the prying eyes of the city, but the close proximity to Naga has made them feel special, almost as if they were retainers of the Yoshinobu.”