Tears and Rain
Chapter Seven -- The road to Kyoto -- Under the protection of a demon
By Gabi
After taking care of a few minor responsibilities (which included buying a whole chicken for the famished Kuri) Soujiro and his "younger brother" headed out to the encampment.
It was easy to spot in the dusk. There was a large campfire and several men gathered around it. There were tents pitched not far off, and horses, some picketed, some hobbled, grazed nearby. Soujiro could also make out the shadowy form of a carriage parked near a small stand of trees.
The camp had a very friendly atmosphere. The fire was warm and cheery, and as soon as he and Kuri drew up to it, several voices called out greetings in a sporadic ripple as the others gathered around the fire noticed them. Soujiro replied politely, and Kuri waved, although she stuck close by his side.
After a minute or so, one of the men decided it would probably be wise to rouse the foreman. One of the younger hands was sent on this errand, and he returned in a few moments, escorting a small and homely man. The man smiled widely and introduced himself Kenji. He formally welcomed them to the camp and informed them that Tanaka-san, whom they discovered was the friendly old man they had met in the restaurant, had gone to bed after telling him to extend every hospitality to their two new guards.
Kenji was very friendly, and also rather talkative. He had been Tanaka-san's foreman for five years now and had worked for him for over fifteen, he informed them, making conversation as he led them around the camp. The first place he brought them to was the camp cook fire. There was still some rice and vegetables left in the pot and Kenji offered them dinner, but both Kuri and Soujiro were quite full, having so recently disposed of an entire chicken. Kenji also informed them that if they were hungry any time during they day, the cook could generally rustle up a cold snake to tide them over until the next meal. Kuri squealed at this and Kenji couldn't help but smile at her enthusiasm.
After the cook fire, they passed briefly through the tents the horse hands shared, but Kenji promised they'd return and tour the sleeping area in greater detail after seeing the horses. Near the tents, six small native ponies were picketed. Some of them grazed undistracted by their guests, but one came as close to them as his picket line would allow. Kenji patted the friendly horse and fed him a stem of greenery he had pilfered from the cook fire.
"These are the horses we ride," he explained, "They're the pick from Tanaka-san's farm. They're all steady and friendly, more reliable horses you can't find anywhere," he rubbed the darker ridge along the bay pony's back, "They're called Hokkaido Washu. These are mainly the horses Tanaka-san keeps. We don't have any European horses at the farm. This group's the first we're bringing in. Tanaka-san hopes to improve our stock by cross breeding them with these new Western horses."
He patted the pony again before turning, "But there's no use rambling on about the new horses. It'd probably do better if I just showed you them. They are something else."
With that, he began the tour again, this time leading them off behind the parked carriage. There, under the supervision of two horsemen, grazed fifteen hobbled horses. They were indeed something, as the moonlight filtered down on them. These horses were much larger than the Japanese ponies that they had just left, and they were finer boned. They were slender, not stocky, and they picked up their feet gracefully, despite the fact that they were hobbled together.
"Don't they beat all?" laughed the foreman, "They're huge, but they're also thin. From the muscles on their back legs they look like they'd be fine jumpers and fast runners. These are soldier's horses, not farm animals. Tanaka-san calls then Dutch Walmubroods," he had some difficulty getting his mouth around the strange foreign words, but he seemed familiar enough using them, "The only problem is, they can be a little skittish. We're hoping to crossbreed the Hokkaido Washu with these horses to produce a fast, reliable, medium sized horse. Now, I love our horses, but just think what kind of horse you'd have then!"
Soujiro agreed that such an animal would be splendid. Kuri was quite interested in examining these mysterious foreign horses up close, but she was reluctant to stray very far away from Soujiro, as their new place in this group suddenly made her shy. Soujiro was amazed because for once she was extremely quite. Still, he kept a close eye on her, even as Kenji led them back to the tents. He had no great desire for Kuri to accidentally stampede the already twitchy herd of foreign horses.
They stopped in front of an unobtrusive canvas tent. This, Kenji explained, was their sleeping quarters. Every morning, one of the hands would come by and back up the tent for storage on one of the pack ponies, and every night, one of the hands would unpack it and set it up for the two guardsmen. Since they were basically soldiers, protectors of the herd, the foreman intoned, the hands were supposed to treat them with respect. They couldn't be bothered with simple things like tent maintenance.
Soujiro smiled politely, but declined the service. He felt that the honor was undeserved, and it somehow didn't fit into his journey as the ronin. He asked that one of the hands come by in the morning to help him take it down the first time and show him which animal to pack it on. He'd take care of it after that. The foreman was a bit abashed, and Soujiro was worried that he'd take the rejection of help as an insult, so he calmly and politely added that it was the least he could do to repay the kindness of their loan of an animal for him to ride all the way to Kyoto.
This pacified the foreman, and also distracted him. He informed them that they'd meet their mounts in the morning, and also warned that they broke camp early, just before dawn. Soujiro thanked the foreman again, and then the little man scurried off, back to his own tent, the boy presumed. By this time, the fire was burning low, and most of the men had already retired to their tents. Soujiro could see nothing else pressing, other than sleep, so he motioned Kuri into the tent.
Kuri's eyes widened, and she spoke for the first time since their entrance into camp, "You want me to sleep in there?!"
Soujiro blinked, caught completely off guard, "Hai, Kuri-san," he managed to reply pleasantly.
Kuri's mouth worked for a moment but no sound came out. She blushed a pale pink before finally managing, "With you?"
Soujiro scratched the back of his head in puzzlement, and nodded again, without thinking about it.
Kuri swallowed and then drew her wrist to her forehead and gazed wistfully at the stars, "Alas, I must bid farewell to my childhood tonight," she sniffled.
Suddenly understanding began to dawn on him and he himself flushed a little, although it was hard to discern in the darkness, "Kuri-san," he began, in an attempt to correct her.
She sniffled again before rubbing the back of her hand across her eyes, "It's all right Soujiro-kun, I'm ready."
Soujiro almost fell over, but he somehow managed to retain his balance. Kuri apparently wasn't connecting all the other nights they'd slept less than two feet apart up with the tent. He sighed and rubbed his temples. There was nothing else for it.
He disappeared into the tent for a moment or two, leaving Kuri extremely confused and shivering in the night air. She fidgeted and played with the hem of her gi, unsure of what she was supposed to do. She had almost steeled her courage to go into the tent, when Soujrio suddenly reappeared with a blanket. This added to her confusion.
"Daijoubu, Kuri-san, I'll sleep outside," he smiled absently, arranging his blanket neatly in front of the tent.
Kuri shook her head, trying to make sense of it all, and Soujiro thought she made quite a humorous picture. He almost giggled out loud. She was so naïve. He took her arm gently and ushered her into the tent, because he wasn't sure if she would go in herself. He patted her on the back, buttoned the tent, and settled out in front of the door, all before she could think of anything to say. When she finally did think of something, her voice was still confused, although her words were to the point.
"Oyasumi, Soujiro-kun," the last note trilled a little high, as if it was a question.
"Oyasumi, Kuri-san. Sleep well."
*
Soujiro rose early the next morning, his uncomfortable bed, perhaps part of the reason. He roused Kuri as well, and they both had a pleasant breakfast of porridge with the other men. Kuri had apparently forgotten (or entirely disregarded) the incident of the previous evening, and chatted on with Soujiro about how happy she was that they could ride instead of walk to Kyoto. She could hardly wait to see their pony.
"Ponies," Soujiro corrected absently, but Kuri either wasn't listening, or hadn't heard him, because she took no notice of his correction and prattled on about how much wear it would save her feet.
The foreman, overhearing their conversation chuckled and said that he had a great surprise of the enthusiastic lad. Kuri couldn't wait to see her promised present, so she hurried Soujiro through the remains of his meal and then dragged him off to see her mysterious surprise. Kenji took great delight in her enthusiasm.
The surprise was a very large, very foreign, very male, stallion. Kenji explained that they only had one extra pony, so one of the boys needed a mount. Tanaka-san had suggested that Kenji cut the hobbles on one of the foreign horses for the younger boy to ride as far as Kyoto, since the lad showed such enthusiasm for horses. Kenji had picked this horse himself, and he assured Kuri that the horse was swift and spirited, yet as gentle as a kitten.
Kuri didn't think he bore any resemblance to a kitten at all, and she clamed up with the presentation of this enormous surprise. Kenji was a little distressed at Kuri's lack of enthusiasm, but Soujiro assured him that Kuri was merely speechless with pleasure. Kenji beamed at this and left them for a moment to find a saddle and bridle that would fit the large horse. As soon as he'd gone, Kuri tugged viciously on Soujiro's sleeve.
"Nani?" he asked curiously, looking over his shoulder.
"Soujiro-kun!" she fretted fitfully, "I don't have any idea how to ride a horse!"
He had not considered this, "But that's all you've been talking about for the past day and a half," he sweatdropped.
"I was just happy that I wouldn't have to walk all the way to Kyoto," she squealed in dismay, "I've never ridden a horse before. I can saddle them up and everything. I know how to curry them down. The innkeeper made sure I knew how to do that so he wouldn't have to pay a stable boy, but I've never ridden a horse before, let alone one that big!"
This presented a bit of a problem, "If people realize you can't ride, they'll know that you're not really from samurai stock, and they may begin to think that you aren't my bother," he intoned softly, "And then they'll begin wondering who you are, exactly. We have to conceal the fact that you can't ride."
She shifted from one foot to another, hopping about like she did whenever she got suitably distressed, "But anyone who sees me on a horse will know, especially these men. They've worked with horses their whole lives!"
He raised up a comforting hand, "It's all right. You'll just ride behind me. I'm sure I can think of some reason why that's necessary. All you'll have to do it hold on."
He turned his attention to the large black stallion, "Now we come to this problem. If we ask Kenji-san to rehobble him and put him back with the rest, I'm sure he'll be offended. We have to avoid that, of at all possible. We want all the people travelling with us to like us," he murmured under his breath, half to himself, "I apparently have enough enemies as it is."
Kuri shivered, "But we can't ride him, can we Soujiro-kun? He's so high off the ground," she did not sound pleased at the prospect.
Soujiro shook his head, determined to pacify as many people as possible, "Iie, we'll ride the Hokkaido Washu they bring for me, but we'll saddle this one up as well, under the pretense that you'll ride him. We'll tell Kenji-san that we both need to be on one horse because it will keep the defensive cluster tight. That's nonsense, but he won't know the difference."
Soujiro kept silent about the other reason he wanted the horse saddled and ready at all times. He knew that the people on his trail might attack again at any time, and in such a situation, he wanted to be able to shove Kuri onto a fast horse and get her out of the situation as quickly as possible. He never again wanted a repeat of the situation they had so recently faced.
Kuri seemed to have been appeased, and she quieted down noticeably after asking one final question, "You're sure everything will be all right?"
He nodded, smiling pleasantly, "Hai, hai. Don't worry yourself."
She forced a nod and let go of his gi.
"I'm going to go and see about my horse. You stay here and wait for Kenji-san to come back," he smiled pleasantly, "But don't go too close to that horse," he warned, before leaving on his own errand.
Kuri stood in place for more than ten minutes, waiting for Kenji's return, but eventually, her curiosity got the better of her, and she slowly crept a little closer to the large horse. He didn't seem to mind at all, so she crept a little closer. She murmured a few soft, gentle words to reassure the horse, as she'd often done while cleaning out stalls at the inn. He shifted positions a little, but was otherwise not disturbed. Kuri tentatively placed a hand on his large flank and stroked the velvet soft skin. The stallion nickered happily and Kuri was delighted. She'd made a new friend. Maybe she'd ask Soujiro to saddle up this horse after all.
While Kuri was happily petting the stallion's flank, he idly nosed over to her low pony tail. She squealed in surprise, but the horse took no notice, he simply calmly grabbed hold of her ponytail with his teeth and gave it a sharp yank.
Kuri cried out and was yanked over backwards. She had to roll to avoid the horse's hooves, as she had fallen underneath him. She tumbled three times and then sprang to her feet, scowling at the horse.
"What'd you do that for!?!! I was just trying to make friends!"
The horse took a few steps forward, clicking it's teeth together so she could hear them.
"Akuma!" she squealed angrily, "You're a devil's horse!"
The horse nickered again and seemed quite pleased with the name.