The Scarlet Kimono (Choc Lit) (17 page)

He shook his head and tried to concentrate on his immediate surroundings instead.

Hannah was not his concern. For the moment.

After the departure of the men, Sakura took over Hoji’s position by the doorway to Hannah’s room at night. Even after they left the ship, he had continued to sleep like that in order to protect her from any harm. Hannah wasn’t sure if Sakura would be of much use in that respect, but at least if someone came she would be alerted. No one could enter the room without tripping over Sakura first, and the noise would be bound to wake her mistress, who slept with the loaded pistol next to her.

She tried to tell herself there was nothing to worry about, but then she’d never heard of the
ninja
.

The first Hannah knew of their presence was when a hand was placed over her mouth, cutting off all sound, and another pushed her chest down into the soft mattress. Panic streaked through her and she struggled instinctively, using every ounce of strength she could muster. She tried to reach her weapon while fighting to escape the restraining hands, but soon realised resistance was futile. The indistinct shape next to her was joined by another, and one
ninja
held her arms while his partner sat on her legs and gagged her with frightening efficiency. They were obviously well-trained and worked in tandem, blocking her every move as easily as if she had been a small child. Soon Hannah was trussed like a chicken ready for the spit.

She only had time to register vague shapes silhouetted in the moonlight before a sack of some sort was pulled over her head. The attackers must be dressed in black from top to toe, she guessed, their faces smeared with soot or black paint, and they were obviously masters of stealth to have entered the house so soundlessly. In the short time she observed them, she also noticed they communicated only with hand-signs and operated without the slightest noise.

Gagged and bound, and with her head covered, she was carried from the room out into the balmy night. The men moved swiftly and silently, taking turns to carry her. As she was flung over yet another person’s shoulders, the air was knocked out of her lungs and she struggled to breathe. Panic gripped her again, but she tried to push down the ripples of fear rising up inside her. She knew she had to stay calm and try to breathe normally if she wanted to survive.

The only small glimmer of hope was the fact that they had captured her alive. Perhaps they would ask Rydon for a ransom. Although this thought led to the more depressing one that he probably wouldn’t want her back and would refuse to pay. She could only hope the kidnappers approached Jacob as well, otherwise she had no chance whatsoever. Her brother might be angry with her, but he would never let her die like this. Or would he?

Hannah began to wish she had accepted her brother’s apology after all.

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sunlight glinting off water woke Hannah the morning after the abduction and she was surprised to find she was on a boat. One of the Japanese kind she had seen in the harbour at Hirado. Although they were quite far out to sea, she could still make out the vague shape of land to starboard. She guessed it meant they were travelling north, since the sun was rising on that side of the boat as well.

She sat up and was relieved to see Sakura sleeping next to her. There was no doubt her captors were ruthless and Hannah had been afraid the little maid might have been killed. Neither of them was bound or fettered in any way either and Hannah stretched her cramped limbs. Before she had time to shake Sakura awake, a man approached her and bowed low.

‘
O-hayo gozaimasu
.’

‘Good morning.’ Hannah stood up warily, wondering if it was the custom in this country to be polite to your captives before killing them. A shiver of pure terror went through her, but she fought down the rising panic and tried to appear calm. It wouldn’t do to show him fear, so instead she returned the bow and the greeting. The man’s eyebrows rose in surprise at her response. She gathered that he, like everyone else she met, hadn’t expected her to speak his language.

‘You understand Japanese, lady?’

‘Certainly.’ Hannah tried to sound haughty. He had called her lady and bowed to her, as if he were a servant, so perhaps he’d been ordered to treat her well for the moment. She took it as a sign they were not to be killed immediately and decided to try and pry some information out of him. ‘What is the meaning of this outrage? Why have I been brought here and where are we going?’

‘Sorry, lady, but I can’t tell you. I have been instructed to look after you on the journey. I don’t know where we are going. Please excuse me.’ He bowed again.

Hannah frowned. He might be telling the truth, but then again he could be lying. With a sigh she decided to accept his answer at face value. If he was only a servant, then he probably genuinely knew nothing. ‘May I speak to your master, please?’ She couldn’t bear not knowing what was in store for them, although finding out might be even worse.

‘He’s not here. Please, would you like anything? Some food?’

Hannah wasn’t hungry in the least, but knew that to admit such a thing would be to show him how frightened she really was. ‘Yes, thank you, that would be most welcome. Is there no one here who can tell me where we are going?’

‘No, sorry. Everyone has orders. Only the captain knows our destination and he will only tell you if it is necessary.’

‘I see. Very well, fetch us some food then, if you please.’

With another deep sigh Hannah set about waking up her maid.

The journey seemed endless and Hannah’s temper was not improved by the fact that no one would tell her anything. The captain of the ship refused point blank even to speak to her, or so the servant claimed. When she tried to insist, the servant pretended deafness or incomprehension every time she asked. Hannah knew her command of the language was far from perfect, but she was sure he understood her well enough.

They sailed for several days, continuing towards the north as far as she could make out. Then they disembarked in a tiny little fishing village where all the inhabitants prostrated themselves on the ground before her captors. Hannah gathered from this that there was absolutely no use in trying to appeal to the villagers for help. Even if she’d had something to offer them in return, which of course she didn’t, they wouldn’t do anything for her.

Was this the place where they would be killed, she wondered. If so, why here? Her nerves were stretched to breaking point as she was made to walk up a narrow street through the village. She was closely guarded and followed by Sakura. The little maid had remained outwardly calm, but Hannah could tell the girl was frightened, especially since neither of them knew why they had been captured.

‘They must want a ransom,’ Hannah said, trying to convince herself as much as the maid. ‘We’ve been treated well so far. Surely there wouldn’t be any point in feeding us if we were going to be killed?’

Sakura shook her head, but offered no opinion.

‘Is this a common occurrence in your country?’ Hannah persisted.

‘I’m sorry, I don’t know. There are many
ronin
, but …’ Sakura shrugged. ‘I just don’t know.’

Hannah shivered as they continued up the hill. The weather had turned cooler the further north the ship sailed. She had been given a plain robe to wear over her night gown, but she still couldn’t seem to get warm, although she realised that might be due to anxiety rather than the weather.

The houses they passed were not of the finest quality, but none were derelict. The few villagers she saw seemed well-fed and content. On the outskirts of the village they were met by a large group of warriors. Hannah stopped abruptly at this sight and shrank back behind some of her captors. There were at least a hundred fierce-looking men, if not more, and an icy knot formed in Hannah’s stomach.

‘Oh, dear Lord, help me,’ she whispered. ‘Please, don’t let me die here, not like this.’ The warriors looked formidable and were armed to the teeth with swords, bows and pikes. Was she to be handed over to them and butchered without mercy? But why so far away from Hirado? Hannah tried to calm herself. It wouldn’t make sense for them to bring her all this way just to kill her. There had to be another reason.

Her captors greeted the warriors calmly and she soon gathered they were only there to act as their escort. Hannah breathed a sigh of relief when the men formed up in front of their little group and behind it. They were in neat orderly lines, some on horseback, others on foot. A palanquin was brought forward for the two women to travel in. Made of black lacquered wood and decorated in gold paint with garlands of leaves interspersed with a crest motif, it was an impressive conveyance fit for any highborn lady. Hannah had never travelled in one before. She was pleasantly surprised to find its bottom lined with
tatami
and several silk cushions provided for her comfort. Although the motion of this strange contraption made her feel queasy at first, she soon became used to it. Had she been given the choice, she would have preferred to ride, but on the whole it was better than walking. It was also much warmer since the shutters could be closed on all sides.

‘Let’s keep the shutters open a crack so we can look at our surroundings,’ she whispered to Sakura. ‘We might need to find our way back eventually,’ she added, although she didn’t hold out much hope of that. Even if by some miracle she could escape and find her way to the village again, she didn’t have the means to charter a boat to take her down south. It was a lowering thought.

The countryside through which they travelled was beautiful, lush and incredibly green. There were thickets of bamboo and fast flowing rivers, which cut into narrow valleys. In these valleys nestled tiny farming villages, and into the steep mountainsides around them had been cut terraced fields, which looked like giant staircases. Hannah was entranced, despite the fear that churned constantly inside her.

‘Sakura, this is lovely. I never imagined your country would look like this. It’s very different from Hirado, isn’t it?’

The maid smiled and nodded. ‘Yes, it is very pretty. We are a very lucky people, these islands are special.’

‘Islands?’

‘Yes, Japan is made up of many, many islands, small and large. Isn’t your country like that?’

‘No. Well, not quite. There is one large island and a few tiny ones around the coast.’

‘
Ah, so neh?
Much smaller, yes?’

‘To be honest, I have no idea. I never travelled around very much. My part of the country is very pretty though.’

Hannah felt a pang of homesickness rise up inside her and found it difficult to continue. She thought about how far she had come and also how she had taken for granted all the things around her in Plymouth. It would never have occurred to her to go out and look at nature, whereas here she found herself appreciating the beauty of it.

‘Well, I suppose we never know what we have until it might be too late,’ she mused out loud. Whether she would see her own country again or not was entirely in God’s hands. She had acted impulsively and without much thought, but she couldn’t undo her actions. She now had to suffer the consequences.

They journeyed through the rough terrain, climbing steep mountains, then descending into the narrow valleys. Sometimes they followed small tracks through the thick forests. The vegetation gave off a moist, earthy smell which was a pleasant change from the odour of fish and seawater that Hannah had lived with for so long. She drew in deep breaths, savouring each one.

She lost count of the number of days that passed. When she and Sakura had exhausted all possible topics of conversation, they dozed most of the time, lulled by the swaying of the palanquin. A few times a day they were allowed out to walk for a while in order to exercise their cramped limbs, but each time it seemed to have grown colder. Hannah was always grateful to return to her conveyance and shut out the weather.

At last a shout was heard from the front of the cavalcade, and Sakura sat up straight, listening.

‘What is it? What’s he saying?’ Hannah struggled out of her torpor to lean on one elbow.

‘I think we have arrived. The man is shouting something about lord’s castle. They must be taking us to a castle.’

‘Why should they do that? We’re not so dangerous they need to lock us up in a dungeon, surely?’

Sakura shrugged her delicate shoulders. ‘I don’t know.’

Hannah opened the shutter and gazed onto a huge plain either side of a river. In the middle of this vast expanse lay an enormous white castle and they were descending a winding road towards it. Everyone appeared to be moving faster all of a sudden. It was as if both the horses and men had scented home and wanted to arrive as quickly as possible and the others had to follow willy-nilly. The palanquin swayed alarmingly, but Hannah barely noticed. She was busy staring at what she assumed was her destination.

‘I wonder who lives there?’ she murmured, although she wasn’t actually sure she wanted to know the answer. Sakura hadn’t been able to identify the clan motif that decorated their palanquin and none of the men escorting them answered Hannah’s queries. ‘I guess I’ll soon find out.’

A quiver of apprehension shot through her. In a very short time, perhaps she would come face to face with whoever had ordered her abduction.

Close up, the castle looked formidable, almost like a prison, with large solid foundations. Hannah had to admit, however, that it was also very beautiful with its white-painted walls reflecting the rays of the afternoon sun. It must have been built to strike terror into lesser mortals, and it was certainly awe-inspiring.

Sakura told her the central tower, which was six storeys high, was called a
tenshu
. This was surrounded by a jumble of smaller towers and buildings of only three or four floors. Hannah had never seen such an impressive dwelling and wondered what kind of man would own a place like that.
And what, in the name of all that is holy, could he possibly want with me?
She pushed the question out of her mind and concentrated on her surroundings.

All the roofs had corners that turned up at the end, which was a strange sight. Hannah thought it added grace and beauty to an otherwise forbidding structure. An enormous wall, as well as two moats, surrounded the whole castle complex. She decided that anyone wanting to attack this place must surely think twice before attempting it. Her spirits sank. There was no way anyone could come to her rescue here, even if they should manage to find out what had become of her, which was unlikely.

‘Oh, Sakura, what is this place?’ Another shiver of fear went through her at the thought of what might happen to her here, but she tried to square her shoulders and stay calm. She had learned the Japanese considered it cowardly to indicate in any way that you were frightened. She definitely didn’t want to give her captors the satisfaction of seeing her quake before them.

The whole party clattered over a wooden bridge and under a large gatehouse. The guard waved them through, lazily leaning on his lance. When he caught a glimpse of Hannah and her red hair through the window of the litter, however, he was startled into full awareness. She almost laughed at his expression, but she was too nervous now. Instead she tried to compose herself.

They passed over another bridge, then through an outer courtyard and a further, smaller, gatehouse into an inner quadrangle.