Chapter 13
I fetched the key and carefully unlocked the gate. I could hear Toyotake chanting the act from the theater. Being very cautious, I slipped past the courtyard and went up the dark staircase at the end of the building. From there, I made my way through the narrow open space toward the light from the single window of the storehouse. Then, I went to the location where Saburo’s sword was previously hidden. I ran my fingers across the broad shelf and was shocked when I did not feel the weapon. WHERE WAS THE SWORD? It had to be there! I ran my fingers across the rafter again and again, but still did not feel it.
What was I going to do? Without the sword, Okada would not believe that Yoshida was Saburo. While wondering what Okada would do, I suddenly realized that I had to be foot operator for Yoshida’s play that was taking place at that moment. I swiftly ran through the narrow passageway toward the steps.
My blood suddenly froze. Someone was coming, someone with a puppeteer hood. I searched for a place to hide, but had no luck. I instinctively backed into the narrow passageway. The hooded figure was getting closer and closer and closer. When it reached the top of the stairs, I could see him carrying a male puppet. The puppet seemed to be peering to the left then to the right in search of me.
I had backed my way almost to the window when the puppet stopped and seemed to be staring right at me.
“Ah,” it said. “There you are. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” There was something in the voice that seemed extremely familiar to me. Who was it?
“Do you know,” the figure continued, “what a dangerous thing curiosity can be?”
I was speechless. “Remember the story of the peasant girl who was courted by a handsome suitor? She was not content that a highborn personage would deign to notice an ordinary girl like herself. She wanted to know what his name was and who his noble parents might be and where his ancestral home might stand.” As the puppet moved slightly, the light from the window caught something shining in its right hand, a puppet sword.
“The girl, as you will remember, asked her nurse how she might learn her lovers identity. And the old woman gave her a needle- as sharp as my sword here. The needle was threaded, and as her lover left, she stuck it deep into his garments. Then giving him a head start, she and the nurse followed the thread. It lead them out of the city and deep, deep, into the forest, disappearing at last into a cave.”
I was tired of hearing this story, but still waited for the puppet to finish.
“The old nurse lit a lamp and the two curious women went into that cave- and what should they find but an enormous serpent writhing in pain, the needle pierced deep into its throat.”
The puppet came toward me in a terrifying dance, holding a sword.
“Poor little Jiro.” It was those words that made me immediately recognize the voice. “Why are you so frightened? It is you who hold the needle to the serpent’s flesh.”
Okada would have been the last person on my list of who Saburo was. How could the blind, old man bee the fast, sneaky criminal???
“Ah, little Jiro. You make the mistake they all do. Yoshida is famous throughout Osaka as the master puppeteer of the Hanza, when it is I who manipulate Yoshida.” Okada laughed as if he were an evil villain. “Yes, Saburo has many puppets. The whole east wing belongs to him as well as Yoshida and a chosen few on the outside who have sworn their life’s blood to his cause. But, Saburo is only one. I alone am the Master Puppeteer.”
I tried hard not to breathe so I could stay invisible to the blind man. However, Okada took another step toward me, with the puppet’s sword glinting in his hand.
What am I to do? I come into my storehouse to find a mouse nibbling away at my treasure? What does the master do when he catches a mouse with its jaw sunk deep into--
I couldn't take it any longer. I snatched the nearest chest and threw it down between Saburo and me. I grabbed another and piled it on top. Then, I swung myself up as if I were a monkey and skidded across above Okada’s head. After I was past him, I jumped from the rafter and threw more boxes and chests into the passageway. The blind man had dropped the sword to the floor and continuously flailed his arms around helplessly, trying to find a way out of my trap.
“Jiro, I command you. Wait. Wait— wait, I say.”
I ignored Okada and ran down the stairs and out the grating. I slammed it shut, and then, half in panic, swung closed from either side the giant iron doors and threw the heavy bolt in place. I had Saburo the bandit, locked behind iron doors, and all I could think of was that poor old man crying piteously for me to come back for him.
I had to find Kinshi. He would know what to do. I ran across the courtyard, but just as I got to the door, someone snatched my arm.
“Where in the devil have you been?” Mochida’s usually placid features were contorted with anger.“Yoshida Kinshi’s disappeared and you have to replace him on Akoya’s feet. Okada’s ill and can’t go on. Believe me”— Mochida smiled grimly— “the master is in a proper mood, so take care.” Mochida shoved me toward the stage entrance where Yoshida and the left-hand manipulator were waiting.
I grabbed Akoya’s hem between my fingers and bent into position. Just then, Yoshida’s high clog banged into my ankle. OUCH!!!! It was a torturous pain. Luckily, I didn’t scream out loud. The next second, all three of us manipulating the puppet were gliding onto the stage behind the puppet. “Torture by Koto” had begun.
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