The nuns of nara, p.1
The Nuns of Nara, page 1
The Nuns of Nara
Akitada mysteries, Volume 19
I. J. Parker
Published by Ingrid J. Parker Inc., 2019.
The
Nuns of Nara
An Akitada Novel
I. J. Parker
2019
Copyright © 2019 by I. J. Parker.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.
Published 2019 by I.J.Parker and I·J·P Books
3229 Morningside Drive, Chesapeake VA 23321
http://www.ijparker.com
Cover design by I. J. Parker.
Cover image by Kawase Hasui
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and
incidents are a product of the author’s imagination.
The Nuns of Nara, 1st edition, 2019
ISBN 9781096283799
Table of Contents
Copyright Page
The Nuns of Nara (Akitada mysteries, #19)
Characters
1 | Cold as the Moon
2 | Snow at Night
3 | Kosehira Brings News
4 | Akiko
5 | Nara
6 | The Missing Majordomo
7 | On Sanekane’s Trail
8 | Sightseeing
9 | The First Body
10 | Hokkeji
11 | The Imperial Nun
12 | Another Body
13 | The Comforts of Home
14 | Sanekane
15 | A Philosophical Coroner
16 | An Ancient Family
17 | The Yoshido Heir
18 | Tora Eats Well
19 | The Noodle Shop
20 | Kosehira’s Visit
21 | Another Nun Dies
22 | The Coroner’s Opinion
23 | More Heirs
24 | The Abbess Has News
25 | The Noodle Shop Family
26 | The Nun Shosho
27 | Another Death
28 | A Lesson in Temple Politics
29 | The Son’s Dilemma
30 | A Nun’s Tale
31 | The Maker of Shrines
32 | Family Council
33 | More Family Council
34 | The Pharmacist
35 | Family Honor
36 | Suspects
37 | The Governor
38 | Secret Business
39 | Kasuga Shrine
40 | The Poet
41 | The Soldier
42 | Tora Disobeys
43 | Return to Nara
44 | Taking Risks
45 | The Treasure House
46 | The Confession
47 | The Nuns
48 | The Hidden House
49 | A New Year
Historical Note
About the Author
Contact Information
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Also By I. J. Parker
Praise for I. J. Parker and the
Akitada Series
“Elegant and entertaining . . . Parker has created a wonderful protagonist in Akitada. . . . She puts us at ease in a Japan of one thousand years ago.” The Boston Globe
“You couldn’t ask for a more gracious introduction to the exotic world of Imperial Japan than the stately historical novels of I. J. Parker.” The New York Times
“Akitada is as rich a character as Robert Van Gulik’s intriguing detective, Judge Dee.” The Dallas Morning News
“Readers will be enchanted by Akitada.” Publishers Weekly Starred Review
“Terrifically imaginative” The Wall Street Journal
“A brisk and well-plotted mystery with a cast of regulars who become more fully developed with every episode.” Kirkus
“More than just a mystery novel, (THE CONVICT’S SWORD) is a superb piece of literature set against the backdrop of 11th-cntury Kyoto.” The Japan Times
“Parker’s researIch is extensive and she makes great use of the complex manners and relationships of feudal Japan.” Globe and Mail“
“The fast-moving, surprising plot and colorful writing will enthrall even those unfamiliar with the exotic setting.” Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“. . .the author possesses both intimate knowledge of the time period and a fertile imagination as well. Combine that with an intriguing mystery and a fast-moving plot, and you’ve got a historical crime novel that anyone can love.” Chicago Sun-Times
“Parker’s series deserves a wide readership.” Historical Novel Society
“The historical research is impressive, the prose crisp, and Parker’s ability to universalize the human condition makes for a satisfying tale.” Booklist
“Parker masterfully blends action and detection while making the attitudes and customs of the period accessible.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Readers looking for historical mystery with a twist will find what they’re after in Parker’s latest Sugawara Akitada mystery . . . An intriguing glimpse into an ancient culture.” Booklist
Characters
Japanese family names precede proper names
Main characters:
Sugawara Akitada nobleman, official
Sadako his new wife
Akiko his sister
Tora his retainer
Fujiwara Kosehira his friend
Captain Katsuura Nara police officer
Doctor Hayashi Nara coroner
Characters associated with the disappearance of the majordomo:
Sanekane Majordomo for the Nara residence
Sanekata his son
Kiyo widow of a palace guard
Otoyo her daughter
Sachiko owner of a noodle shop
Midori prostitute
Ushimatsu gambler
Kosuke crippled boy
Otomo pharmacist
Characters associated with the case of the missing nun:
Shosho (Lady Hachijo) former imperial concubine
Lord & Lady Yoshido her parents
Yoshido Masatada her brother
Chozen a novice
Enchi an elderly nun
Kanren another novice
Wakita Tsunetaka layman, betto of the temple
Minamoto, Yoshitomo captain in the palace guard
Fujiwara Noritoki nobleman and poet
Fujiwara Korechika governor of Yamato Province
(Also a prime minister, an abbot, an abbess, assorted nuns, pharmacists, bandits, and several dead people.)
1
Cold as the Moon
Her terror was so great she did not notice how the ice cut her naked feet as she ran. The moonlight on the snow had blinded her at first and now she did not know where she was or where she was going. She kept running because she knew she would be killed if he caught her.
The moon was full and brilliant on the new snow, but the houses of the city were dark. So clear and cold was the moon that its light seemed to turn to ice beneath her feet.
She could not scream for help. That would give her away, and he would find her quickly and finish what he had started in the darkness.
Under her loose robe she was naked. She had torn it scrambling through the small, high window. She was ashamed of her nakedness and ashamed of what had happened to her.
Fear and shame outweighed the cold, which she barely felt while she was running. She fell twice but scrambled back up. She wished she had her socks at least, but her new life’s austerities forbade socks unless you walked far in the snow. She had not anticipated the need.
She had not anticipated any of this, though she had known he was angry with her.
Where was she? The night looked unfamiliar. She did not know how much longer she could run. She was gasping for breath and a stitch in her side grew into agony, yet still she ran down streets she did not recognize.
A long way back, she had passed through a gate into the city she did not know. The streets were empty and quiet. She slowed a little and looked back. She saw the dark figure detach itself from behind a tree and start for her. With a small sob, she took off again, clutching her skimpy robe, hoping to see some stranger. Anyone. Because surely there could not be two such monsters in this city.
What he had done to her, brutally, grunting like some animal, had been less frightening than what he said when he locked her in.
“I’ll be back,” he said, baring his teeth. “I might give you another taste of that. Your last. The dead do not embrace, I fear.” He had taken the light with him and left her in the dark. His prisoner.
Now she was running for her life.
She had followed him obediently. It had been farther than she had thought, and when they got there, he had pulled her into his house. His grip on her arm had hurt and she had cried out in protest. He must have hit her, because when she became aware again, she was lying on the floor, naked, and he was on top of her, inside of her, grunting. Her head hurt and she felt sick.
She had lashed out at him feebly, but he had caught her hands, finished, and then struck her again. “Bitch!”
And then he had made his promise to come back and kill her.
Somehow s he had escaped and now was lost in this strange city that was asleep.
Alone with the moon and the sound of him behind her.
Ahead was a river, the water black between the snowy banks. She ran along the shore toward a bridge, sobbing now, calling to Amida and all the saints, praying to the gods, and then she fell again.
The last thing she saw was the cold moon in the water.
2
Snow at Night
Winter moonlight cast black tree shadows on the new snow. Akitada shivered. He had stepped on the veranda to see the brightness of the first snow. The world was silver against the blackness of tree trunks and shadows. When the sun came out, those shadows would be blue.
It was an unearthly beauty — and deadly. Somewhere, someone, far from home, might fall into the white softness to die. A gentle death.
In his own experience, dying had been a terrifying business. There had been no beauty in it. Death had been a violent separation of living human beings from all they held dear. He shivered again and pulled the silken quilt more closely around himself.
A soft voice from the darkness behind him asked, “What are you doing, Akitada? The cold air is coming in. Close those shutters and come back to bed before you catch your death.”
He smiled and obeyed. “It has snowed.”
Sadako held open her cover for him and he slipped in next to her. “Oh!” she breathed. “You are frozen.”
She was warm, warm as life itself. He felt her shiver in his arms. “Let’s get warm together, my love,” he murmured against her soft neck. “Allow me to show you how warm I can become at a moment’s notice.”
She laughed and reached for him, accommodating herself to his sudden urgency.
Later Akitada held her. She sighed contentedly and drifted off again into her interrupted sleep, while he thought how sleep was much like death.
Suddenly fearful, he held her closer and said, “I went to look at the snow in the moonlight. So beautiful. And I thought of death.”
She was startled awake. “Death? No, not death. You are safe, alive, here with me.”
He sighed. “You forget that my work all too often deals with death. And now I have once again someone to lose.”
She sat up. “Oh, Akitada, don’t. It’s bad luck. Don’t ever think of such things.”
He pulled her down into the blankets and murmured, “I’ll try, if you are very kind to me.”
She laughed softly and curled up against him. He listened until her breathing told him that she was asleep again, and then slipped from their warm cocoon to get up. Throwing on his plain house robe, he padded down the cold galleries to the bath. The water was only lukewarm, but he washed and shaved by the light of the wax candle, then walked back to his study, where he used the candle to light two more and an oil lamp.
His desk was covered with papers he had brought home, cases for which he wanted to consult his law books. His father had left him a fine library that had been passed down through generations of Sugawaras and had been added to as every heir took up his court duties.
Now his own son Yoshi was also enrolled at the university, though his father was not at all sure he would please his professors. They made allowances for the very young boys, and Yoshi had had excellent tutors, but the boy’s mind was on horseback riding, kick ball, and stick fighting. Tora was responsible for the last, having been a stick fighter of renown in his day.
Akitada worked for an hour or more, listening to the watchman call the time. When it was near dawn, he got up, stretched, and went in search of a warm bowl of gruel. His study had become unpleasantly frigid and his padded robe failed to keep him warm.
The cook and maid were in the kitchen, hovering near the fire. He startled them and they apologized that they had not looked after him. Reassuring them, he ladled gruel into his bowl. The maid filled a large brazier with live coals and walked with him to his study. The brazier spread its warmth quickly, the gruel warmed his insides, and the maid returned with a steaming pot of tea which she left on the brazier.
A smoothly running household.
Contentment.
Love at long last.
Alas, the dry legal work awaited him. He could have worked at the ministry where the archives held all the legal books he might need, but he had chosen to return to his home, drawn by the happiness it held. This could not go on, of course. Later that day he would have to put on his court robes and report on his work.
But by midmorning he received a visitor and his plans changed abruptly.
3
Kosehira Brings News
Fujiwara Kosehira was Akitada’s oldest friend. They had met when both were students at the university. Kosehira, a short boy, had attached himself to the tall Akitada and together they had faced any number of difficulties likely to terrify young students. Kosehira disliked sports and was mocked by others until Akitada appeared on the scene. And Akitada, who lacked an influential family, had Kosehira, the son of one of the powerful Fujiwara families, to intercede for him whenever professors tried to ignore his achievements while giving awards to the sons of men who would be grateful.
Akitada’s troubles had followed him to his appointments in government service, and even then Kosehira had done his best to smooth the way for him. But now it was many years later and life had created problems and damaged their friendship.
After the death of his first wife, Akitada had been devastated. Kosehira had invited him to spend some time with his own family, and there Kosehira had done his best to bring his lonely friend together with his oldest daughter Yukiko. Akitada was already past forty; Yukiko was eighteen. He resisted, but she had become infatuated with him through the stories her father had told her of Akitada’s past. She had thought him a hero. And Yukiko was lovely and young and full of life. And her father approved. So they had been married.
The real Akitada was a great disappointment to a young woman raised on hero worship. She soon saw he was after all only a dry old stick who spent his days with dull paperwork, while she dreamed of a life at court. Being Kosehira’s daughter, she became a lady-in-waiting to the empress, while Akitada left to serve as governor in another province. Their marriage was predictably headed for disaster. When Yukiko expected another man’s child, Akitada agreed to accept it as his own to avoid a scandal that would have ruined her reputation and reflected on her father. But Yukiko refused to live in his house and, tormented by her influence on own his own daughter, he eventually divorced her.
And now the rift in his friendship with her father could never be mended. Guilt and shame on both sides made their meetings difficult and painful. Kosehira was only too aware that he had wanted the unequal marriage, and Akitada knew that he should have had the sense to refuse.
Kosehira entered shyly, looking embarrassed and apologetic. Akitada put on a smile and said brightly, “What a surprise! How are you, Kosehira?”
It was clearly not what he would have said years ago. He would have gone to embrace his friend and expressed his joy at seeing him.
Kosehira looked for a moment as though he would turn and run. “Erh, I hope I don’t interrupt?”
“Not at all. Please sit down. Is everyone well?”
Kosehira was flustered. “Everyone” in this case surely meant Yukiko and her child. He gave Akitada a shamefaced smile. “Yes, yes. All are well. And you? You look happy. I trust your lady is in good health?”
“Excellent health, thank you.”
“And Saburo and Genba are quite recovered?”
“Genba is doing well. Saburo was far more seriously wounded and still suffers pain and has some trouble breathing. That knife went in quite deeply and he lost a lot of blood. It was a miracle he lived long enough for us to find him.”
“I heard. I’m sorry for him. Brave man.”
“Yes.”
The conversation faltered.
Akitada offered wine, and Kosehira accepted. He seemed grateful for the excuse to make more small talk. Akitada was beginning to smell a rat. He clapped for a servant and gave his order, then asked, “So, what brings you?”
“Oh, umm, yes. Do you like Nara?”
“Nara? I like it well enough. Why?”
“Hmm, yes. Very pleasant place. I have a house there. All those magnificent temples! Our ancestors were brilliant builders. We have nothing like it here.”
