Grass for His Pillow Read Online Free PDF Page A

storm had cleared the last of the humidity and the days that followed were brilliant, the sky huge and blue above the mountain peaks where every day the maples showed more red. The nights grew cooler, already with a hint of the frost to come.
    The journey wound on and the days became long and tiring. Finally one morning Shizuka said, “This is the last pass. Tomorrow we will be at Shirakawa.”
    They were descending a steep path, so densely carpeted with pine needles the horses’ feet made no noise. Shizuka was walking alongside Raku while Kaede rode. Beneath the pines and cedars it was dark, but a little ahead of them the sun slanted through a bamboo grove, casting a dappled, greenish light.
    â€œHave you been on this road before?” Kaede asked.
    â€œMany times. The first time was years ago. I was sent to Kumamoto to work for the Arai family when I was younger than you are now. The old lord was still alive then. He kept his sons under an iron rule, but the oldest—Daiichi is his given name—still found ways to take the maids to bed. I resisted him for a long time; it’s not easy, as you know, for girls living in castles. I was determined he would not forget me as quickly as he forgot most ofthem. And naturally I was also under instructions from my family, the Muto.”
    â€œSo you were spying on him all that time,” Kaede murmured.
    â€œCertain people were interested in the Arai allegiances, particularly in Daiichi, before he went to the Noguchi.”
    â€œ Certain people meaning Iida?”
    â€œOf course. It was part of the settlement with the Seishuu clan after Yaegahara. Arai was reluctant to serve Noguchi. He disliked Iida and thought Noguchi a traitor, but he was compelled to obey.”
    â€œYou worked for Iida?”
    â€œYou know who I work for,” Shizuka said quietly. “Always in the first instance for the Muto family, for the Tribe. Iida employed many of the Muto at that time.”
    â€œI’ll never understand it,” Kaede said. The alliances of her class were complex enough, with new ones being formed through marriage, old ones maintained by hostages, allegiances being broken by sudden insults or feuds or sheer opportunism. Yet, these seemed straightforward compared to the intrigues of the Tribe. The unpleasant thought that Shizuka only stayed with her on orders from the Muto family came to her again.
    â€œAre you spying on me?”
    Shizuka made a sign with her hand to silence her. The men rode ahead and behind, out of earshot, Kaede thought.
    â€œAre you?”
    Shizuka put her hand on the horse’s shoulder. Kaede looked down on the back of her head, the white nape of her neck beneath the dark hair. Her head was turned away so Kaede could not see herface. Shizuka kept pace with the horse as it stepped down the slope, swinging its haunches to keep its balance. Kaede leaned forward and tried to speak quietly. “Tell me.”
    Then the horse startled and plunged suddenly. Kaede’s forward movement turned into a sudden downward dive.
    I’m going to fall, she thought in amazement, and the ground rushed up toward her as she and Shizuka fell together.
    The horse was jumping sideways as it tried not to step on them. Kaede was aware of more confusion, a greater danger.
    â€œShizuka!” she cried.
    â€œKeep down,” the girl replied, and pushed her to the ground, but Kaede struggled to look.
    There were men on the path ahead, two of them; wild bandits by the look of them, with drawn swords. She felt for her knife, longed for a sword or a pole at least, remembered her promise, all in a split second before she heard the thrum of a bowstring. An arrow flew past the horse’s ears, making it jump and buck again.
    There was a brief cry and one man fell at her feet, blood streaming from where the arrow had pierced his neck.
    The second man faltered for a moment. The horse plunged sideways, knocking him off balance. He swung his