The Samurai's Daughter by Lesley Downer Read Free Book Online Page A

thinking.
    It was hard to see Nobu as one of the hated Aizu. Of all the northern clans who had fought for the shogun, the Aizu had been the most stubborn and the most feared. It was only when they were defeated that the war finally came to an end. Her father had told her that the shogun and his supporters had wanted to stop Japan moving forward, that if they hadn’t been driven from power, their country would never have had the chance to acquire civilization and enlightenment like the western nations.
    Taka remembered the shogun’s police, thin intense Aizu men with ferocious scowls and burning eyes, hammering at their door in Kyoto while her mother blocked their way, swearing her father wasn’t there. Eijiro had actually fought in some of the battles, it wasn’t surprising he felt strongly about it. But it had all been so long ago – well, five years ago, which to him might not seem so long but to her was almost half her life. She’d been a child then, it hadn’t seemed frightening to her so much as exciting.
    Ever since Nobu arrived Eijiro had taken a dislike to him. Taka saw him every day, sweeping the gardens, scuttling up and down the huge rooms wiping the tatami, taking his turn to serve meals along with the other servants. He was always behind the rickshaw when she and Haru went to and from school. He behaved impeccably, did his work quietly, didn’t give himself airs, but there was something about him that set him apart from the other servants. The family all felt it. If he’d been like the others, Eijiro would have treated him as he did them, ignored him except to bark orders. But for some reason he seemed to see him almost as a rival.
    She narrowed her eyes. She was still not sure that Nobu really was an Aizu. Eijiro’s proof wasn’t convincing at all. But if it was true, if he really was, then the Aizu couldn’t have been so bad after all, she thought.
    It wasn’t her place to speak but the words burst out before she could stop herself. ‘Father’s fair and just,’ she said. ‘You know very well what he would say. I don’t believe Nobu is an Aizu, but even if he is, he was little then. He didn’t fight in the war.’
    ‘He had plenty of family who did. He’s a degenerate like the rest of them. Walks around with a scowl on his face, never says a word. You can’t tell what he’s thinking. Nothing good, you can be sure of that. You told me what he did to that Satsuma samurai at the Black Peony. He’ll do the same to us one of these days – slit our throats while we’re asleep if we don’t watch out.’
    Taka would have laughed if Eijiro hadn’t been so determined. He hadn’t even been there. Nobu had been no match for the samurai at all. ‘He’s not like that,’ she protested. ‘He’s good-tempered and hard-working, isn’t he, Mother?’
    ‘You’ve been kind to him long enough. You’ve more than paid him back for helping you out at the Black Peony. You don’t owe him anything. He has to go.’
    Eijiro set his shoulders. Taka knew women were supposed to obey men, that a woman had to obey her father, then her husband and, when he died, her oldest son. But there was nothing about obeying your brother, especially when that brother’s orders made no sense.
    ‘You shouldn’t have sent her to that school, Mother,’ Eijiro snapped. ‘Filling her head with silly ideas. Girls should know their place. We should be training her to be a good wife and wise mother. She doesn’t need an education.’
    Fujino frowned. She had taken out her fan and was tapping it thoughtfully. ‘Poor Nobu,’ she said. ‘He’s only a child. Taka’s right. Even if he is an Aizu, he’s an honest lad. Your father would agree we should be charitable.’
    Taka could tell by the faraway look on her mother’s face that she was thinking of Ryutaro. He would have been only a few years older than Nobu when he died. The firstborn, Ryutaro had been their mother’s favourite. Taka had hardly known him. By the time