Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,117
system before I tackle the Dragon Spine.” He stirred the boiling pot with the twig, then leaned back and sighed. “And I’ll need to find Roshi’s wife and family, let them know he’s not coming home.”
“Is there time for that?” Reika asked, not unkindly. But Okame’s mouth thinned, and his voice was steely as he answered.
“We’ll make time.”
Surprisingly, the shrine maiden didn’t argue.
The next evening, we came to the village, tucked in the foothills of the Dragon Spine Mountains. As villages went, it seemed typical, with simple thatched-roof huts spread in a haphazard pattern around the center square and a series of tiered rice paddies set into the grassy hills. I did notice several horses in fenced pastures or tethered to various points in the village, something I’d never seen before.
We were also getting stared at. Villagers stopped what they were doing to watch us as we passed, their gazes a mix of surprise and wary curiosity. No one seemed openly fearful, though I figured a shrine maiden, a ronin, a Taiyo noble and a girl in onmyoji robes didn’t come through this village often, if ever. I smiled and waved at a little girl watching us from the side of the path, and was rewarded with a shy grin before she darted off.
“This village seems to be doing well,” Daisuke remarked as we made our way toward the center square, which was a large dusty area with a single well in the middle. “I wonder, perhaps, if we can acquire the supplies we will need to scale the Dragon Spine.” He gazed toward the distant jagged peaks, silhouetted against the setting sun, and his brow furrowed. “It’s going to be quite cold in the mountains. Some blankets or heavier clothes would not be remiss.”
“Some horses would also be nice,” Okame added, glancing at the scattered mounts milling about the village. “Wonder if we can convince someone to part with a couple?”
“Excuse me.”
A woman stood beside the path, watching us approach. She was a younger woman, wearing simple but sturdy peasant clothes, her hair tied back and a wide-brimmed hat perched atop her head, tied under her chin with a strip of cloth. Below the brim, her dark eyes were both hopeful and apprehensive.
“Forgive me,” she said, dropping into a deep bow as we stopped before her. “I don’t mean to pry, but I must ask—have you, by chance, come from Jujiro? And if you have, I wonder if you have seen a wagon on the road?”
I closed my eyes, as a somber air descended on us all and guilt gnawed the pit of my stomach. “My husband was supposed to have returned last night,” the woman continued, “but he has not yet arrived, and I fear something might have happened to him. Please, if you have any information, I will be in your debt. His name is Roshi, and he drives a one-horse cart from here to Jujiro and back.”
For a moment, there was silence, as each of us wondered who was going to break the news, then Reika stepped forward.
“I am sorry,” she began, and Roshi’s wife’s face crumpled, already guessing the news. “Your husband is dead.”
The woman’s hand rose to her mouth, trembling, before she took a deep breath and lowered it again. “I…I feared as much,” she whispered. “I knew I should have made the journey to pray at the mountain shrine. The kami were merciful when my daughter became sick last season. I should have made the pilgrimage up the Dragon Spine once more. Oh, Roshi.” Her voice broke, and she covered her face with both hands.
“I’m so sorry,” I told her. “It was my fault. Roshi was kind enough to offer us a ride to his village. But we were ambushed by shinobi on our way here.”
“Shinobi?” The woman dropped her arms, her face going pale. “I thought that shinobi were myths,” she whispered. “Stories that court nobles told their children. I didn’t know they were real. Oh, Roshi, what did you get yourself involved in?”
Reika shot me an exasperated look, as if I had said something I shouldn’t have. I didn’t understand. If I was Roshi’s wife, I would want to know how he had died, and who was responsible.
Roshi’s wife took a deep breath, composing herself, then faced us again. “If…if you would be so kind as to tell me where his body is,” she said. “I must go and fetch it before the scavengers take too much.”