The Samurai's Lady by Gaynor Baker Read Free Book Online Page B

nodded.
Fujito set off. He was only a few minutes behind.
The sun was just setting behind the distant hills outside the town. Lanterns advertising the establishment‟s name glowed orange and black. Looking to his right, he saw two yoriki arresting a man who appeared drunk and disorderly. The prisoner shouted in protest.
The entrance to the garden was through a narrow gateway at the back. Thinking it might be locked Fujito had formulated a plan. But when he got there, he found the gate latched but unlocked.
At one end of the row of rooms several lanterns burned dimly behind closed screens. But looking at his diagram, he saw the rooms closest to Katharine‟s were dark; he hoped they remained so.
There was a problem. When he reached the veranda he found the outer doors to her quarter‟s locked. Sighing in frustration he ran his fingers through his hair and looked around wondering which of the doors led to the main hall and prayed he would find the right one. Picking a door at random, he tried to open it. It gave with ease and only a slight swishing sound.
He opened it just enough to let himself squeeze through and sighed with relief when he saw he had entered a long hall with several corridors branching off. At each junction, and at the end of the hall lanterns shone dimly orange. Musky incense filled his
nostrils.
He began to walk slowly down the right corridor hoping the floorboards were not nightingale boards, so named because they squeaked when anyone walked on them to alert residents to intruders.
He stopped outside Katharine‟s door and tested the opening. Like the one from outside it gave easily. He stepped inside and slid into the shadows. The lantern he‟d seen from the garden still glowed dimly in the far corner. In its gentle orange radiance, he could see her and his brother-in-law. The scene sickened him.
    So this was the way it was to be? She thought. Some unknown man would silently enter her room expecting her to know what to do. She lit the lantern on the floor beside the bed and, keeping her eyes closed began to disrobe.
Fujito heard the rustle of cotton as she untied it, but even from across the room the tension could be keenly felt. Dressed only in a thin under kimono that barely covered her slim form, she lay on her pallet and covered herself modestly with the thin quilt, waiting for her first encounter, as this must surely be.
He was standing over her now. She saw the sign of Kazu‟s house and her muscles tensed. No! Please, dear God, not him. She closed her eyes. With trembling hand, she pulled at the string holding his kimono, but it knotted.
Unwilling to wait, he pulled her to her feet, drew her roughly into his arms, and covered her mouth with his.
His lips were as hard as leather and as rough. He lowered her not too gently to the futon.
Kazu pulled his kimono up to reveal the edge of his loincloth and pulled back the quilt. He lowered himself to the pallet and knelt over her. Katharine closed her eyes to block out what was happening.
Fujito‟s jaw was clenched so firmly that it ached. His eyes glared fire in the darkness. He moved out of the shadows.
He grabbed his brother-in-law and pulled him off. Turning the man so their eyes met, in one swift move he twisted around and pulled him over his shoulder. His head hit the wooden boards with a thud. He was out cold.
Katharine kept her eyes closed Hearing the noises she cowered against the wooden beam of the paper wall.
Fujito knelt beside the pallet as he had done so many times as he had nursed her back to health. He wanted suddenly to kiss her; but he restrained himself. She saw the man, but did not recognize him and pressed herself against the wooden beam even more, so that a rough section dug into her back. He caught her hand.
“Katharine.” Fujito whispered.
She opened her eyes and stared into his face. She hadn‟t heard her English name for so long she barely recognized it. But even in the dim lantern light she could see the soft brown eyes