Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka Read Free Book Online

polite.
    In the meantime, samurai who had apparently been in readiness poured from the dockside armory onto the pier. A good number of them carried firearms as well as swords. Stark recognized them as muskets of an earlier era. Antique, but still capable of killing at a good distance in the hands of marksmen. Distance, in this case, would not be an issue. Even as they ordered themselves in ranks, another group of samurai arrived, about two dozen of them, wearing uniform clothing of a different color and pattern. Four bearers in the center of the group carried a palanquin on their shoulders. The new arrivals came onto the pier and stopped less than five paces away from the front rank of the Shogun’s men. Their attitude was not friendly.

    “Make way!” Saiki declared. “How dare you obstruct the passage of the Great Lord of Akaoka.”
    “We were not informed that any Great Lord would grace us with his presence.” Saiki recognized the speaker as Ishi, the fat and pompous commander of the Shogun’s harbor police. If it came to violence, his would be the first head Saiki would take. “We are therefore not authorized to allow such a presence.”
    “Mannerless creature!” Saiki took a step toward Ishi, his right hand on the hilt of his sword. “Lower yourself to your proper level!”
    Without any order being given, half of the Akaoka samurai arrayed themselves in battle line alongside their commander, their hands like his on the hilts of their swords. Though there were four times as many men wearing the Shogun’s colors, they were not nearly as well organized. The musketeers were at the back, where their weapons could not be employed without potentially decimating their own ranks. That is, if they had been prepared to fire, which they were not. The swordsmen in the front rank were equally unprepared for conflict. When Saiki stepped forward, they staggered backward as if they had already been struck.
    “Our lord needs to inform wharf rats of nothing!” Saiki was ablaze. Another insolent remark from Ishi and he would cut the oaf down where he stood. “Remove yourselves from our path or we will assist you in your departure.”
    Inside the palanquin, Genji listened with grim amusement. He had come to the harbor to greet visitors. It would not seem to be a difficult undertaking. Yet here he was, on the verge of becoming involved in a life-and-death struggle over simple access to the pier. Enough. He slid open the door of the palanquin with a sharp clack of wood on wood.
    “What is the problem?”
    “Lord, please don’t expose yourself.” One of his bodyguards knelt beside the palanquin. “There are musketeers nearby.”
    “Nonsense,” Genji said. “Who would want to shoot me?” He stepped out. As his feet went toward the ground, his sandals were quickly placed beneath them.
    In the back rank of the Shogun’s men, Kuma, in the guise of a musketeer, saw Genji step into the open. He saw also that there was no identifying crest on Genji’s clothing. This was the opportunity he had been warned to expect. Because Genji wore no crest, it could be claimed that he was suspected of being an impostor involved in some plot against the recently landed missionaries. No one would believe this, nor was it meant to be believed. It was an excellent excuse, however. Kuma stepped back where he would not be seen by his fellow musketeers, raised his musket, and sighted in at the center of Genji’s right shoulder joint. As he had been instructed, he would administer a crippling wound, not a mortal one.
    Saiki rushed to stop Genji from proceeding any farther. “Lord, please go back. There are thirty musketeers not ten paces away.”
    “This is too ridiculous.” Genji brushed past Saiki and stepped out beyond the front rank of his own men. “Who is in charge here?”
    Kuma pulled the trigger.
    The musket did not fire. Kuma looked at it. He should have been more careful when he had rushed out of the armory. He had grabbed someone