The Return of the Warrior

by Chris Bradford

  Of that Jack had no doubt, not only because the man kept announcing the school’s name so loudly and emphatically, but also because of the spectacular skill he had shown earlier with his rapier. Aside from Masamoto Takeshi himself, Jack had never witnessed such a consummate display of swordsmanship.

  ‘I hope one day I can repay the courage and kindness you have shown me,’ said Jack with a grateful bow, ‘but I must go now.’

  ‘You should rest, signor,’ Signor Horatio advised, as Jack limped over to the arena. ‘Those cuts are deep and need tending.’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ said Jack, wincing. His only thought was to find his friends and rescue Jess, and he began carefully climbing down into the baiting pit to recover his swords.

  By now, the bulldog had died from its injuries, but the same couldn’t be said for its last victim. Hazel lay moaning and weeping beside the animal, her arm still clamped in its jaws. Jack took his daishō back from her, and her knife for good measure, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave her like that. Prising the dog’s jaws apart, he freed her arm, then tore a strip of cloth from her ragged sleeve and bound her wounds to stem the bleeding.

  ‘You have a good heart,’ observed Signor Horatio with approval. ‘Not many men would show such mercy to their enemies.’

  ‘She’s not my enemy,’ replied Jack, his mind fixed on his real foe: Sir Toby. As he tied off the makeshift bandage, he heard the familiar jingling of a prayer staff. Then Yori appeared in the arena, followed by Akiko and Rose.

  ‘We heard about the bear-baiting …’ panted Rose, ‘and someone being thrown into the pit … and knew it could only be you!’

  Yori’s eyes widened at the carnage of matted fur, spilled guts and bloody carcasses strewn across the arena. ‘You survived this?’ he gasped.

  ‘Barely,’ replied Jack, handing Rose the knife. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘you have this, Rose. It could come in useful.’ Then, with Akiko’s help, he clambered out of the pit.

  Akiko stared, aghast, at Jack’s tattered and bloody shirt. ‘Are you badly hurt?’ she asked.

  Jack grimaced in pain. ‘My chest feels like it’s been raked with a hoe and my back whipped with a cat-o’-nine-tails, but I’m alive, thanks to this gentleman.’

  Rose cast an admiring eye over the fancifully dressed stranger. ‘And who might you be?’ she asked curiously.

  ‘Signor Horatio Palavicino, at your service, signorina!’ replied the swordsman, bowing low with a flourish of his feathered hat. He took Rose’s hand and kissed it lightly. ‘Ah, un angelo mandato dal cielo!’

  Rose’s cheeks flushed. ‘I’ve no idea what he said, but it sounded divine!’

  Yori inspected Jack’s wounds. ‘Jack, we should go back to the inn so I can tend to these.’

  ‘They can wait,’ said Jack firmly. ‘I’ve found Jess!’

  ‘Really?’ exclaimed Akiko, her face lighting up. ‘Where is she?’

  ‘That I don’t know!’ Jack replied in fierce frustration. ‘She was taken away in a coach – by Sir Toby Nashe!’

  Akiko, Yori and Rose all stared at him in dumbfounded disbelief.

  ‘What would Sir Toby be doing with your sister?’ asked Yori.

  Jack’s expression turned thunderous. ‘I fear he’s the one who’s been courting her.’

  Rose gasped. ‘So that “young filly” we heard him talking about at the party must have been your sister!’

  ‘No wonder Mrs Winters was so scared,’ said Akiko. ‘Sir Toby must have threatened her.’

  ‘If he’s laid one finger on my sister,’ said Jack vehemently, gripping the hilt of his katana, ‘I swear on my life that I will run Sir Toby Nashe through with my sword!’

  ‘Wait, did you say … Sir Toby Nashe?’ enquired Signor Horatio.

  Jack nodded. ‘Why, do you know him?’

  A sharp look of distaste flashed across Signor Horatio’s face. ‘Let’s just say I have crossed swords with him!’

  ‘Me too,’ said Jack with equal bitterness. ‘The pompous idiot challenged me to a duel, and despite all my years of samurai training he danced rings round me.’

  ‘No wonder,’ said Signor Horatio, glancing at the daishō on Jack’s hip. ‘With those swords you’ve little chance against a rapier.’

  Jack stiffened. ‘A katana is the ultimate sword,’ he argued, feeling defensive in face of the insult to his prized weapons. ‘No steel is sharper!’

  Signor Horatio shrugged. ‘Maybe in the Japans it is the ultimate sword, but here the rapier rules – as you discovered to your cost. That katana of yours would appear deadly when it comes to slashing and cutting, but it’s no match for the rapier’s speed and reach.’

  Jack opened his mouth to argue further, then closed it. He had to accept the hard truth: he’d been resoundingly beaten in the duel and had yet to get over the shock. Setting aside his samurai pride, he muttered, ‘Well, if only I’d known that before I fought that knighted imbecile.’

  Signor Horatio studied Jack closely, then seemed to come to a decision. ‘We share a common enemy, Jack Fletcher. When Sir Toby wounds one of my students, he wounds me too!’

  Jack frowned. ‘But I’m not a student of yours.’

  ‘You are now!’ declared Signor Horatio, clapping a hand on Jack’s shoulder. ‘And as your sword master, it’s my duty to ensure you’re never at that low-life’s mercy again. So the next time you encounter him, to take back your sister, you’ll have the skills to defeat him in open combat. For I shall instruct you in the fine art of fencing!’

  ‘Buongiorno! I hope you’re well rested, for your training now begins at Signor Horatio’s School of Fencing!’ announced Signor Horatio the next day, as Jack and his friends joined him in a cloistered courtyard of a large timber-framed building off the High Street. Galleries overlooked the paved area on three sides, and a path led behind the house through to a well-tended garden of herbs and vegetables.

  ‘This is where we train,’ Signor Horatio explained, sweeping his hand round the courtyard. A row of rapiers, their tips capped with leather, lined one of the walls. A suit of battle-worn armour was mounted on a stand and, in one corner, a dummy stuffed with straw and barley hung from a beam like a convict from the gallows. ‘And in here,’ continued the sword master, opening a wooden door and showing them a dimly lit room with a long table, ‘is where we dine. And up there –’ he pointed to the galleries – ‘is where you can sleep.’

  Jack exchanged a hopeful look with his friends. After their betrayal by Harold, the courtesy-man, it was refreshing and reassuring to meet someone genuinely on their side. Signor Horatio had invited them to stay at his premises until they located Jess and Sir Toby. Despite being desperate to start the search, Jack had accepted the offer. He realized that if he was to have any chance of overcoming Sir Toby, he needed the sword master’s rapier skills.

  Signor Horatio planted his hands on his hips. ‘So, what do you think?’

  Jack nodded enthusiastically. While it couldn’t compare to the Niten Ichi Ryū with its awe-inspiring Butokuden, its exquisitely decorated Hall of Butterflies, and its incense-infused Buddha Hall, Signor Horatio’s school boasted all the necessary facilities required to live and train under one roof. ‘It’s impressive,’ said Jack.

  ‘You’ve a fine collection of weapons,’ added Akiko, showing an interest in a long sword and heavy chain mace that were mounted next to the armour.

  Signor Horatio beamed. ‘A student must learn to defend himself against a wide range of attacks. You can’t expect everyone to fight with a rapier!’

  ‘I see you’re an accomplished gardener too,’ remarked Yori, looking down the path at the flourishing plot to the rear. ‘May I explore? There might be some herbs that can help heal Jack’s wounds.’

  ‘But of course,’ replied Signor Horatio. ‘La mia casa è la tua casa!’

  As Yori scampered off, Rose glanced round the deserted courtyard. ‘Where are all your students?’ she asked.

  Signor Horatio’s beaming smile falte
red. ‘Ah, well, you see … I’ve only been open for a few weeks … and it seems people are more interested in drinking beer and gambling than in learning the noble art of fencing.’ He took a deep breath and thrust out his chest. ‘But I am confident that my reputation will bring in students from far and wide.’

  ‘I’m sure it will,’ said Rose kindly. ‘But given England is at peace, I’m not surprised at the lack of interest.’

  Signor Horatio snorted. ‘Peace is but a fragile gift, and with this country no longer helmed by your dear departed Queen Elizabeth, it will surely run into a storm sooner or later.’ He nodded in the direction of Yori, who was picking leaves from a primrose bush. ‘As I tell my students, it is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war.’

  ‘You sound like my old Zen master, Sensei Yamada,’ said Jack, smiling at the memory of his wise mentor.

  ‘Why didn’t you set up your school in London?’ Akiko asked. ‘Everyone there seems very eager to duel.’

  A dark cloud passed across Signor Horatio’s face. ‘I did, signorina. And my school was full, my skills were respected, my reputation was untarnished.’

  ‘What happened?’ asked Jack.

  Signor Horatio stared at the straw dummy in the corner, as if weighing up an old enemy. ‘I was challenged to a duel by none other than Sir Toby Nashe! He considered that, as a foreigner in England, I’d got above my status. He insulted me and my students. So I had no choice but to accept the challenge, for the honour of my school.’ Signor Horatio’s eyes narrowed. ‘To give him his due, he was an accomplished swordsman – talented yet arrogant. Still, I bested him. He was furious at losing, couldn’t accept that I’d beaten him fair and square. So he took a pistol from one of his fawning followers and shot me … in the back!’

  Rose gasped, putting a hand to her heart.

  ‘That sounds like Sir Toby to me,’ said Jack. ‘No sense of bushido at all.’

  Signor Horatio scowled. ‘He has no grace, no valour, no honour. Such men aren’t worthy of the title Sir. And, although I survived, I discovered he’d blackened my name – he claimed that it was I who’d lost and that I’d tried to shoot him! My school was forcibly closed by the Defence Guild and I was hounded out of the city.’ He looked Jack square in the eye. ‘That’s another reason I want to train you, Jack. I have a score of my own to settle with Sir Toby.’

  After a light breakfast of buttered bread, sage and fresh blackberries picked from the garden, Jack and his friends returned to the courtyard for the first lesson of the day. Yori and Rose elected to watch from the sidelines, but Akiko was keen to learn this Western style of sword-fighting, especially in view of her painful encounter with Sir Francis. She took up a position next to Jack as Signor Horatio emerged from his lodgings, now attired in black breeches, a fine white shirt and a tight leather jerkin, his slender rapier slung on his hip. Upon seeing Akiko, he stopped and blinked in surprise. He offered her an awkward smile, before saying, ‘I must confess, I’ve never instructed a woman before.’

  Akiko held his gaze. ‘Well, I’ve never been taught by an Italian before, but I’m willing to take that risk.’

  Signor Horatio stared at her a moment, then laughed. ‘Touché, signorina. You shame me with your wit and virtue.’ He inclined his head. ‘I apologize for my small-mindedness. You are a most welcome student.’ He glanced in Yori and Rose’s direction. ‘In fact, everyone is invited to train at Signor Horatio’s School of Fencing.’

  Bowing his gratitude, Yori excused himself. ‘I thank you, Signor Horatio, but I need to blend some more herbs for Jack’s wounds.’

  Thanks to Yori’s medicinal skills, Jack was recovering fast from his ordeal in the bear-baiting pit. After just one night the scratches across his chest and the claw marks on his back were already beginning to heal, and Yori had assured him that within a week he’d be fighting fit again – although a week seemed a long time in the search for his sister.

  ‘How about you, Rose?’ asked Signor Horatio, inviting her to take a sword from the rack.

  Rose shook her head, her red hair blazing like the morning sun. ‘No,’ she replied. ‘I’m just watching you.’

  Signor Horatio raised an eyebrow at her, and Rose smiled coyly. ‘Besides,’ she added, ‘my leg still needs to heal.’

  With a gentle inclination of the head, Signor Horatio strode over to the sword rack and selected a pair of leather-capped rapiers. He presented them to his two students. ‘You’ll find that the rapier handles very differently to a katana. Feel how the weight is concentrated in the hilt. This allows the blade’s tip to make rapid, agile and long-reaching attacks.’

  ‘It’s almost weightless,’ Jack remarked, balancing the sword in his hand.

  ‘And so it should be. The rapier,’ Signor Horatio explained, unsheathing his own sword, ‘should be a natural extension of your arm. While I can appreciate your katana’s superiority as a cutting blade, in a fencing duel the shortest distance between two opponents isn’t the curved line of a cut – it’s the straight line of a thrust.’ And in one fluid movement he lunged at the straw dummy hanging in the corner of the courtyard. Covering the distance in a single bound, the rapier’s tip plunged into the heart of its target. The straw dummy bled several grains of barley as Signor Horatio swiftly withdrew the slender blade and returned to his position in the centre of the yard.

  ‘As you can see,’ he said, ‘the rapier combined with a lunge has a range well beyond the effective reach of a katana. That’s why, Jack, you found yourself at such a disadvantage duelling Sir Toby. Before you could even begin to attack, he would have been able to land a potentially lethal strike.’

  Jack grimaced, recalling the peppering of small wounds Sir Toby had inflicted on his body, face and hands.

  ‘But once you’re past the tip of a rapier, the blade is relatively harmless,’ argued Akiko. ‘All you need to do is evade the first attack, then move in.’

  Signor Horatio gave an arch grin. ‘Ah, signorina! That’s why we carry a parrying dagger in our other hand,’ he said, patting the slim stiletto blade on his hip. ‘We can parry or bind the opponent’s blade, disarm them or deliver a strike – but we’re getting ahead of ourselves. You may be experienced in sword work but one step at a time. Let’s begin with the basic warding posture and a straight lunge.’

  Signor Horatio took up a duelling stance: his left leg to the rear, his right foot pointing forward; his sword arm out in front, his left hand close to his chest. ‘Notice how I lean back and hold my head as far away from my opponent as possible,’ he explained. ‘Most sword masters’ stances are more centred, but with my stance the vital organs of head and heart are kept at a safer distance from my opponent’s rapier. Moreover, when I make a lunge, my range is very deceptive – and far greater than anticipated.’

  Jack and Akiko imitated his stance. Signor Horatio examined them both, making small adjustments as he went. ‘Hold your left hand higher … it’s a secondary guard for your body and head … Point the front foot forward, your back one at right angles for maximum stability and power … good … Now I want you to lunge like this …’

  Signor Horatio took a step with his front foot, leaning sharply into the attack and extending his sword arm out straight, while flinging his left arm back. He looked like an arrow in flight. The sword master repeated the move several times until he was certain his students had understood the technique. ‘Now lunge!’

  Jack and Akiko leapt forward, their rapiers thrusting at imaginary enemies. To Jack, who was used to a more upright and guarded posture in kenjutsu, the sheer boldness and apparent overreach of the lunge felt distinctly unsettling.

  ‘Don’t extend your knee past your toes, signor,’ advised Signor Horatio. ‘It results in a slower recovery. And you, signorina, throw your left hand back for balance … Both of you, hold the sword hand a little higher – the hilt needs to protect your face …’

  And so it went on. The rest of the morning was taken up with warding and lunging, until
Signor Horatio was wholly convinced that both his students had mastered the two techniques. He then moved them on to the straw dummy, ensuring their thrusts were true and straight and would penetrate their target each and every time. When their teacher finally called a break, the muscles in Jack’s legs and arms were aching and a blister had formed on his thumb where he’d been gripping the hilt. But he felt a deep satisfaction at having learnt the basics of a new sword style, as well as a renewed confidence that, under Signor Horatio’s tutelage, he would be more of a match for Sir Toby.

  As they returned their rapiers to the rack, he smiled at Akiko. ‘It’s like being back at the Niten Ichi Ryū!’ he said.

  Akiko nodded and smiled too. Yet in her eyes there was also a longing. An undeniable yearning for her homeland.

  ‘Come on, Jack – we can’t sit here all afternoon,’ said Akiko, getting to her feet. ‘We need to train.’

  ‘But this is where I spotted Jess,’ he replied, not taking his eyes off the people passing by. He was perched on an empty beer barrel at the corner of the High Street, a position that afforded him clear views of all Stratford’s main thoroughfares and the marketplace. Signor Horatio had made enquiries with a number of town officials about Sir Toby and Jess, but so far they’d come to nothing. No one appeared to know the gentleman or to have seen a blonde girl fitting his sister’s description. Jack realized that his task would be a whole lot easier if he still had the locket to show people her portrait. So with no clue as to where the coach might have been heading, beyond due west, Jack felt his best option was to stand watch and hope Jess or Sir Toby made a return visit to town.

  ‘Signor Horatio will be waiting for us,’ urged Akiko. ‘It would be disrespectful to turn up late.’

  Jack didn’t move. He was torn between the need to find his sister and the need to learn to handle the rapier. Jess was being held against her will – of that Jack was sure – which meant he needed every skill he could get in order to free her. And yet … what if he missed seeing his sister in town?