Chapter 1
Hida Province
Twelfth Year of Tenpo
Fumizuki
Cicada's chirped loudly in the noon sun. Sarumaro clung to the door frame with his small hand. He shifted from one bare foot to the other, hoping it would suffice to keep his little sister on his back from crying. He peered at his mother through the spaces of the threadbare noren flaps. She lay in her futon, covered with heavy blankets despite the crushing heat. By the bed, baby Auntie spoke in hushed tones to Aki who had on her own back their new sister. The fifteen year old girl wiped her face with her hand, unable to hold back tears but trying hard to maintain her composure. A shadow suddenly fell over Sarumaro. He braced his neck, expecting the usual punch in the back of the head from Chiyo. It didn't come.
"Kakama will die."
She'd been repeating this whenever she'd found him alone. A new form of torture, much more painful than her usual. He'd cried at first, then yelled; their mother was going to be alright, it was just a fever! But then, when he'd seen Chiyo and Aki cry in each others arms, he'd started to be very afraid. He didn't remember enough of Tomemaru's birth to know if this was just nature's way, but the worried look on his father's face was enough to confirm that something was amiss.
Not getting the response she'd wanted, Chiyo stepped away from her brother and headed back to the field to help her father. His younger brother started to fuss. Sarumaro linked his hands under the child and shifted him up, readjusting the obi. He took one last peek inside and, confirming that nothing had changed, he decided to go walk along the river. Maybe if he caught a fish, he could feed it to his mother and make her feel better.
xxx
It was almost dawn when they took her away. She was completely wrapped in a white shroud. Sarumaro worried that she wouldn't be able to breathe. He wanted to uncover her face. Aki, the crying babe in one arm, grabbed his wrist and held him back. In Chiyo's arms, Tomemaru slept, oblivious to the solemn scene. The children watched as some men of the village helped their father load their mother on a cart. Motoyoshi's face was a stone mask. It scared Sarumaro. He knew his father's many faces, from anger to glee, but this one was new. He didn't like it. The man gave his oldest daughter instructions then turned around. The cart wheels groaned as the men pushed it. They watched until the cart was out of view. The new baby was still crying. It had been six days now; would the gods get angry if they didn't name her?
He wouldn't remember much of what had followed. His brain would chose to erase the memory of Aki explaining to him that Kakama was gone, just like Tama, the white cat they had kept for a few months and found dead one morning. He would not remember running away in tears and getting lost in the woods, causing his father even more grief. However the image of his sisters washing their mother's bloodstain futon would stay with him all his life. He would never forget how their sobs had echoed in the courtyard.
NOTE
Sorry about the short chapters; they will get longer as Samumaro/Hiko ages. Thank you for your patience!
