Free Death at the Crossroads by Dale Furutani Page B

the night and looked out to see it. Since then, the master’s been reciting sutras every spare moment he can find to ward off evil spirits from this house. Most of the village has been doing the same.”
    “Where did the demon go?”
    “No one knows for sure. Did you happen to see it on the road?”
    “No. I just came from Uzen prefecture. I’m on my way to Rikuzen prefecture, but last night I stayed in Suzaka village.”
    “Oh, then you took the wrong road at the crossroads.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “You remember the crossroads where four roads meet?”
    “Yes, I remember it very well.”
    “One of the roads is from Uzen.”
    “That’s the road I came on.”
    “Yes. One of the roads goes deeper into the mountains, toward Mount Fukuto. Another road goes to Suzaka village, and the fourth comes here, Higashi village.”
    “So you don’t have to go through Suzaka to get to here?”
    “No. That’s where the District Lord has his manor, but most people don’t go through Suzaka. That’s why it doesn’t even have a teahouse. Most people go directly from the crossroads to here.”
    “So the roads form a kind of triangle, connecting the crossroads, Suzaka village and Higashi village?”
    “Yes.”
    “And up ahead is a branch in the road where I can continue toward Rikuzen or go back to the crossroads?”
    “That’s right.”
    “Is that so …” This time Kaze’s intonation conveyed that he was genuinely interested in what the girl was telling him. “I understand that the Lord of this District has only governed it for two years,” he continued.
    “Yes. That’s Lord Manase. He got the District as a reward for killing the famous general Iwaki Sadataka at the battle of Sekigahara. He took the general’s head to Tokugawa Ieyasu himself and presented it and got this District as his reward.”
    “The District doesn’t seem very peaceful.”
    “It’s terrible! Ever since Lord Manase took over things have gone from bad to worse. The teahouse business gets less each year because people are afraid to travel through here. No one is safe. Everyone is suffering!”
    “Is that so?” Kaze said. The words were the same as before, but this time the tone conveyed sympathy.
    The girl then leaned forward, almost whispering. “Tonight I’ll come visit you in your bed. We’ll have to be silent, so the master won’t know, because I’ll do it for free. I wouldn’t charge you, samurai-sama.”
    Kaze studied the stumpy body and rough, red face of the serving girl and swallowed what he was going to say. Instead, in a kind tone, he said, “I won’t be staying the night. I want to return to Suzaka village.”
    “But it’s late,” the serving girl protested. “You’ll have to travel in the dark! The roads are full of bandits, and the demon might still be about.”
    “Yes, I know.”
    W hen Kaze finally got back to Suzaka, it had been dark for several hours. As he approached Jiro’s hut, he could see the glow of the fire peeking through some gaps in the door. Kaze rapped on the hut’s sliding wooden door and said, “Oi! Jiro! Wake up! It’s the samurai. I’ve returned and want to spend the night.”
    Kaze heard movement in the hut. Then he heard the stick that prevented the farmhouse door from sliding open being removed. The door was shoved ajar slightly.
    “Jiro?” Kaze said. There was no response. He waited for a few minutes, but there was no more sound from inside the farmhouse. Silently, Kaze loosened his sword and slid it out of its scabbard. With his free hand he slid the door of the farmhouse fully open.
    Inside, he could see the glow of the charcoal fire in the firepit and smell the bubbling porridge in the pot. Otherwise, he could detect nothing in the darkened farmhouse.
    Cautiously, Kaze stepped into the hut, saying, “Jiro?”
    A net dropped down on his head, trapping his sword arm under its heavy skein. Kaze brought his sword up and had sliced through two ropes of the net when the first