Free The Way of the Fox by Paul Kidd Page B

– have they been here all evening?”
    “Yes, Kitsune san.” The man was adamant. “The monk has been on the porch, forever ringing his bell. The samurai lady and the merchants have all been in their rooms, or in the dining room.”
    “What of these sword students?”
    “They come and go!” The maid seemed a tad ragged. “There are too many of them to keep track of. I wish they would go for good!”
    Sura waved her fluffy tail. “Tell me – have there been weird events? Any strange deaths or disappearances in the area?”
    The innkeeper flipped his frying fish with impressive speed.
    “No – no, Kitsune san! This village is a place of utter peace.”
    The innkeeper’s wife came bustling into the room, quite irritated by the rowdy youths outside. She called across to her husband, quite incredulous.
    “Dolt! You are going senile! Where has your memory gone?” The woman addressed Sura with great confidence. “Last year, before the big tournament. A traveller was found dead at a camp site just down the road.”
    The innkeeper waved a hand, dismissing the whole affair. “ Well that’s not in the village! It was no one we knew!”
    “Dolt! That is not what she asked. She quite clearly asked about any strange deaths in the area.”
    “How am I to know what happens out there on the roads. Roads are imperial territory. She should ask an imperial deputy!”
    “She is working with an imperial deputy, and they are trying to find out about murders!” The wife positively stamped her foot. “Do pay attention!”
    The innkeeper grumbled and muttered , irritably flipping his fish. Sura lifted a finger to try and still the domestic squabble.
    “Excuse me! Sorry – so there was a dead body last year? Do you remember how they died?”
    The wife carried a stack of empty cups and plunged them into a tub of water. “The head-man fetched in the body. He was so covered in filth he had to bathe – we had to change the water twice!” She tapped at her head, trying to remember. “Strangled. Yes yes – the poor woman had been strangled. A terrible disgrace!” A thought suddenly occurred to her. “Oh! Koichi san’s poor wife! Husband, we must send her sakē immediately – and rice! Give it to one of the girls!” The wife turned to the maid. “Kiko dear – do run across to her now. But be quick – I shall visit her properly in the morning.” She called to her husband. “Now more fish for the merchants. They have an appetite.”
    The kitchen flew into chaos as yet more fish was fried – other meals were arranged on plates, and dumplings were clapped atop a steamer. Sura raised one hand in blessing.
    “ Well thank you! That’s all useful. Please accept our sympathy for your troubled times.” She spied a short, thick bottle marked in painted letters. “Oooh – is that black plum wine?”
    The innkeeper’s wife bustled past, and absently planted the bottle in Sura’s hands. “ Yes. Yes indeed. Here!” The woman hastened off to fetch more dishes. “I shall bring out the duck! And a terrapin hotpot for our bold investigators!”
    S ura absconded with a platter of hot dumplings and headed back to her table. The fox dropped the food into the middle of the table, then poured out wine for all and sundry – serving herself twice. She had only just finished her dumplings when the duck arrived, crispy skinned and sizzling hot, with a hotpot and more noodles for Tonbo. Sura made certain that Chiri’s plate was constantly refilled. She urged the best pieces of duck onto the rat girl, pouring her dark plum wine and filling the room with cheer.
    She began regaling Chiri with one of her youthful triumphs – steeping a rival’s bathwater with green dye just before a temple dance. The other girl – a white fox, most horribly snooty – had turned an utterly charming shade of green: a shade she had failed to notice until she had begun to dress. Sura tried to describe the scene in detail as the other girl had burst