Anna was walking very fast, trying to put as much distance as possible between Morrison and herself. She had no illusions that he would keep silent. He naturally wouldn't tell anybody the truth about their encounter, but she was sure he was going to accuse her of something or other. If for nothing else, just out of pure spite.
The sun had risen soon after she left the city walls and now more and more people were around her on the road.
The original plan had her leaving at night, so she would have had plenty of time to find a nice sheltered spot to wait over the busiest time. But the circumstances were not in her favour and now Anna found herself surrounded by farmers going with their produce to the market and merchants on their way to other cities.
She had covered her hair with a bandana and pulled her straw hat lower over her face, but there was no guarantee that she wouldn't be recognised as a foreigner. She tried to blend in, not driving attention to herself and at the first opportunity she stepped off the road and hid in some bushes to wait for the heaviest of the traffic to pass and calm down.
When she was satisfied that the road was clear, some hours later, she stepped out of her hiding spot and started walking again. Soon she would abandon the road to travel the rest of the way unobserved, but for the moment she chose the speed over security.
The road was empty as far as she could see, except for a lone horse rider far behind her. She didn't worry about him though, as he was too far away for the moment. But after some time she wondered why he had not caught up with her yet.
She turned to look. He was now walking beside his horse, with about the same distance between them as before. This seemed strange to her. It was still quite early and the horse wouldn't be tired, in need of a rest just yet.
She sped up, noting that the rider fell slightly behind, but stayed in sight. If he was following her, she had little chance of losing him on the straight and now empty road. There was nowhere to hide. So she decided that the best thing to do was to confront him and to deal with the situation straight away.
Utilising her experience from the Wild West, she chose a place, where a bend in the road and a small copse of trees obscured his view and allowed her to briefly disappear. She sneaked through the undergrowth and with a gun in her hand waited for him to pass.
The rider reached the bend and, realising she was not ahead any more, stopped and looked carefully around.
She stepped out of her hideout and came behind him, aiming her gun at his head. "Who are you?!" There was no need to hide her face or her accent. If he was following her, he knew very well who she was.
He stood there motionless, not to provoke her in any way. He raised his hands slightly to prove he had no weapon.
"What do you want?!" She demanded, when he didn't reply to her first question.
Slowly he turned around to face her. There was a vague smile on his face. He appeared to be quite young, her age perhaps. Dressed well. A merchant?... Or an assassin?!...
His hair was cut just above the shoulders, not in the usual Japanese fashion. His features were soft and delicate, but the narrowed eyes and a grin gave his face a permanent ironic expression.
"My Lady." He bowed slightly, keeping his hands visible. "I have expected an ambush, yet you still managed to sneak behind me." There was appreciation in his low voice. "You are indeed a skilled warrior."
"Who are you?" She repeated. She was not deceived by his friendly manner. "And why are you following me?!"
"My name is Kazuki and I am in service of Lord Takeda."
Her face twitched on hearing that name. "Anybody could claim that!" She cut him off. "I have never seen you before."
"My Lord has many servants. You wouldn't remember me, but we met once before... In a moonlit garden."
Her brow furrowed, but then she remembered the shadowy figure from the Lord Matsuda's garden. She lowered her revolver, but still held it at the ready. "So it is you who has been following me for the past month?"
"You knew?!" He was quite impressed now.
"I could never quite see you, but I felt someone's presence."
"Lord Takeda left me behind to protect you. But I have seen that you can well take care of yourself."
"You were there when I spoke to Morrison?!" She was stunned. "How?!"
"I have a unique skills set." He shrugged. "I felt really sorry for that soldier."
"You shouldn't!" She cut him off again. "But that's not important now. I don't need any protection, so you can go back."
"My Lady, my orders are clear. I am to protect you until you safely leave Japan."
"I don't want you to follow me."
"My Lady, if you so wish, I will remain in the shadows, as before, and you will never see me. But I must follow my orders." He said calmly. "Besides, it would be much easier to travel together... Despite your excellent disguise, you do not look much like a peasant." His eyes crinkled in a smile.
"Are you a samurai?" She asked.
"Used to be." He shrugged. "Nowadays this serves me better than a sword." He pointed to his bÅ, a long wooden staff that was secured to his saddle.
"So you are Ronin... How can I trust you?"
"You don't have to. But My Lord did."
She still hesitated. What he said had a ring of truth. Lord Takeda might well have assigned a man to secretly protect her.
The memory of Hikaru brought sadness to her eyes. But she forced it away and composed herself. "Are you sure nobody followed you?"
"Reasonably. There is nobody else here." He was openly mocking her.
"What will you do when we arrive at my destination?"
"Depends on where you are going." He replied calmly.
"You don't know where I am going?" She was surprised.
"No. But I will stay close to protect you, My Lady."
"And if I decide to stay there?"
"I will also stay." He shrugged again. She was a strange woman.
She turned away from him and went to retrieve her travelling bag. Not waiting for him or encouraging him to follow, she just walked away.
He walked a short distance behind, watching her with curiosity. She was slim and tall, looking more like a young boy than a woman. But her hips swayed as she walked and nobody who looked properly would have been fooled by the disguise. Besides, her whole posture and body language projected pride and confidence, which was most certainly not a peasant characteristic.
She refused his offer to ride the horse and mostly just ignored him as they walked in silence.
She was both touched and annoyed with Lord Takeda for leaving a man to protect her. She didn't need a nanny! She could take care of herself!... But she was forced to admit that with Kazuki in tow things would be much easier.
Soon they left the big road to travel across the country, in order to avoid any unwanted attention.
The next day passed in exactly the same way - she ignored her companion and relentlessly pushed ahead.
When they finally stopped for a rest at the end of the second day and were preparing a simple meal, she got a whiff of Kazuki's smell and wrinkled her nose. "Man, you need a bath!" She grumbled.
"Forgive me, My Lady, but... so do you." He grinned.
She sniffed herself and had to admit he was right. "True." She smiled for the first time. "Tomorrow we need to find a stream and clean up a bit."
During the meal Kazuki observed her casually. In the glow of the fire she looked quite pretty. When he had seen her chopped hair the previous day he'd almost gasped, but now he decided it didn't make any difference. She was still pretty...
"So," She said eventually, bored with the silence. "How did you become Ronin?"
"It's a long story." He murmured, not looking at her. "Let us both keep our secrets."
"What secrets? You seem to know everything about me."
"I don't know anything of your past." He countered.
"Do you want to know?" She asked. "I can tell you, as you are going to find out anyway soon. I was shipwrecked in Japan when I was seven years old and brought up by simple people who took pity on me. I lived there for the next ten years, before returning to my country... This is where I am going. To the fishing village where I grew up. To find people who saved my life." She fell silent.
Kazuki looked at her with an unreadable face.
They were silent for a long time.
"I am honoured by your trust, My Lady." He spoke finally, inclining his head.
"Great!" She grumbled. "Now let us go to sleep. We have a long journey ahead of us."
She wrapped herself in a blanket and turned away from him...