Seas of Fortune(157)
A fallen tree swept down the river, and it spun in the eddy of the inside bend, striking Lord Matsudaira in the head. He went under, as did the man he had been trying to save.
The remaining samurai then dived in after them.
Lower American River
Downstream, where the miners were active, the rise of the river was more gradual, but the samurai guard refused to untie the men, or let them leave the riverbank, without orders.
Kiyoshi bowed. “Then run down to Shigehisa-san, ask him to bring up the boats.”
“My orders say that I am to stay here.”
“Then let me go!”
“My orders say that you are to remain here and supervise the miners.”
“Supervise them doing what? Drowning?”
“Orders are to be obeyed, not questioned.”
Kiyoshi bowed even more deeply. “You are right, of course, I will go back to mining.”
The samurai didn’t answer.
Kiyoshi picked up his shovel. “Cave in!” he shouted.
The samurai looked at him, perplexed.
The miners, still roped together, ran up the bank, toward Kiyoshi. The rope, strung taut, caught the samurai’s legs behind the knees, and he fell backwards into the water.
Kiyoshi slammed the shovel down upon him.
The samurai fumbled for his katana, but it was trapped underneath.
Kiyoshi struck again. The samurai was dead.
The miners stood silent.
“He fell in the water. He was dashed against the rocks.”
The miners nodded.
Kiyoshi pushed the dead samurai’s body into the river. The miners had pulled out their belt knives and were already cutting themselves free.
By now, the water had lapped over the riverbank, and was swirling about their ankles.
Kiyoshi pointed northward. “Run for the hills!” They ran.
Unfortunately, they were still far from high ground. When the water came up to their calves they despaired of reaching it in time, instead seeking out the nearest of the oak trees that dotted the lowland. Soon, they were huddled precariously in the branches.
And then, one by one, the trees toppled into the water.
* * *
“Row, damn you, row!” yelled Shigehisa. The sailors labored at the oars of the Ni-Ban, the first mate handling the tiller. Even Shigehisa was rowing. “Our comrades are depending on you!”
The captain, in the Ichi-Ban, didn’t bother appealing to the crew’s finer sentiments. “You sluggards! You good-for-nothings! Put your backs to it, you cockroaches!”
But neither approach was particularly successful. The American River had, within hours, gone from a trickle to a torrent, and they couldn’t make any headway against it.
At last, exhausted, they turned the boats westward and let the current carry them back downstream.
January 1635,
Carquinez Strait
“You are the only survivors?” Iroha’s voice was matter-of-fact, but her gaze seemed haunted.
“Yes, milady,” said Shigehisa. “Only those of us who were in the boats, or very close to them, at the time of the flood. The others wrestled with the kappa . . . and lost.” Kappa were the malicious river-spirits of Shinto mythology, who often drowned travelers attempting to cross the swift, dangerous mountain streams of Japan.
Iroha-hime frowned at the pagan reference but didn’t object to it directly. “I will pray to São Vicente for my lord’s soul.” Saint Vincent of Saragossa was the patron saint of Lisbon, and the Romans had thrown his body into the sea.
“After the disaster,” Shigehisa continued, “I thought it best that we make our way down to the South Bay, to reinforce you. But of course you intercepted us here, while we were still on our way.”
Shigehisa lowered his voice. “There is one more thing, Iroha-hime. He gave this to me.” He handed her the nugget.
“Why haven’t you shown this to Captain Haruno, or Commander Yoritaki, or Mr. Tokubei?”
He looked away from her. “Because they are in the service of your father, the Grand Governor Date Masamune, and your husband was in that of the shogun, Tokugawa Iemitsu.”
“And you weren’t sure that the two were, ah, quite the same thing?”
“I thought that perhaps it was best that you decide who should know about this discovery.”
“Thank you, Shigehisa-san. What will you do now?”
“Now? I am masterless, a ronin, once more. An old ronin. Perhaps I should join my lord in death.”
“Serve me instead, and live.”
“You? Forgive me, but women have not commanded men since the time of Sengoku, and then only rarely.”
“My father has only one son, and two daughters, in this land. I do not think he can afford to treat us like ornamental plants for his garden. And even if it has not been ‘official,’ in the Time of Troubles, a wife sometimes had to hold a castle against an enemy while her lord was in the field.