Retreating along the water’s edge, Jack let Araki come for him. Technically perfect as Araki’s sword-work was, Jack realized the samurai was too rigid in his movements.
Jack needed to use his knowledge of the Ring of Water.
Draw your enemy into a river … Force them to fight in the water …
It was a risky strategy. Jack could be taken by the current just as easily as Araki. He could lose his footing first, stumble in the shallows. But he had trained in water combat with the ninja clan. He knew to keep a low stance. To step high and slow. Araki, on the other hand, lacked flexibility and would struggle in the water without experience of the element.
The duel entered the river and the crowd rushed forward to line the bank.
But Jack had underestimated his opponent. Araki still proved strong in the water. Swords clashed and they edged closer and closer to the waterfall. The current grew in strength and it became harder to keep one’s feet. Hana and Ronin watched with increasing concern.
‘Plum flower!’ cried Hana, pointing to behind Jack.
He glanced round and spotted the stepping stones. Immediately he mounted the nearest. Araki, not wanting Jack to have the advantage of height, clambered on to another. He almost slipped on its slimy surface, but quickly recovered.
Jack jumped to the next one and Araki followed. They fought, tottering upon the uneven stones, the river rushing over the lip of the waterfall next to them. Parrying a thrust from Jack, Araki countered with a surprising diagonal cut. The only way Jack could avoid it was to arch his body away and over the cliff edge. For a moment, he appeared to hang in the balance, the slightest breeze able to send him over the cascade.
Find your centre.
Araki moved in to seal his victory as the crowd began chanting, ‘Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!’
‘Time to end this duel,’ Araki declared breathlessly and raised his sword. ‘This is Heaven Crowns Earth.’
‘But we agreed first blood!’ gasped Jack, still teetering on the edge.
‘That was before I knew you were the gaijin samurai,’ replied Araki, grinning maliciously. ‘I’ll go down in history for taking your head!’
31
ON A KNIFE’S EDGE
The blade cut down like a guillotine for Jack’s neck. In that instant, Jack righted himself and leapt to the next stone. The sword missed and, in his fervour to behead Jack, Araki over-swung and toppled forward. Jack drove his sword through Araki’s obi, stopping him just before he lost all balance.
Araki now teetered on the brink, his eyes wide with fear as he stared into the watery abyss.
‘And that was Drunken Fist,’ said Jack. ‘Strike when you appear most vulnerable.’
A small red patch, where Jack had caught Araki in the side, seeped through the samurai’s kimono.
‘I believe that’s first blood,’ noted Jack.
‘Never!’ snarled Araki, in spite of his precarious position.
Suddenly there was a sharp ripping sound as Araki’s attempts to right himself pulled the fabric of his obi against the back of Jack’s katana. He lurched forward, his fate now resting on a knife’s edge.
‘Looks like first blood to me,’ said Jack calmly, letting the petrified Araki hang over the waterfall. ‘But if you’re not sure perhaps I should pull the blade out and have a look.’
‘No! Yes! I mean … Agreed, agreed! First blood! You win!’ cried Araki as the obi tore again.
Jack grabbed Araki’s collar and pulled him to safety. Fuming and trembling with outrage, Araki looked intent on continuing the fight. But, bound by the samurai code of bushido, he sheathed his weapon and stepped away on to another stone, his head bowed in shame.
‘My swords?’ reminded Jack.
Araki wordlessly pulled them from his tattered obi and surrendered them. As soon as they were in his hands, Jack felt a new strength within him. Not only did he have Akiko’s pearl, he now possessed his Shizu swords. He was almost complete. Apart from daimyo Takatomi’s inro case, which was more of sentimental value than anything else, just the rutter remained essential to his journey.
Hana came skipping over the stepping stones as Araki trudged back to the riverbank. Ronin was not far behind. Returning him his daishō, Jack then hurriedly secured his own upon his hip, fastening the sayas with the sageo cord round his obi.
‘That was unbelievable!’ cried Hana, the thrill of Jack’s victory making her forget their perilous predicament for a moment.
‘It isn’t over yet,’ replied Jack, glancing over her shoulder.
The crowd of Yagyu Ryū students had turned into an angry mob at seeing their hero defeated. Kazuki and his Scorpion Gang were at the head of it. They stood upon the bank, swords drawn.
‘Seize the gaijin and kill the two traitors!’ ordered Kazuki.
Raiden stepped on to the first stone, Goro, Hiroto and his brother, Toru, right behind. Taking one look at the baying mob and the beast that was Raiden, Ronin confessed, ‘This looks like one battle we can’t win.’
‘Why not surrender?’ suggested Hana, desperation cracking her voice as Ronin unsheathed his katana.
Ronin didn’t answer. He just passed Hana the bokken and nodded to Jack to draw his swords too.
‘But I’ve never used one of these!’ she exclaimed.
‘You’d better learn fast then,’ he replied.
The Scorpion Gang edged closer. Jack looked around for an escape route, but the stepping stones led only to the shrine and he knew that was a dead end. Returning to the riverbank offered no hope either. They might be able to fight off a few of their attackers, but inevitably they’d be overwhelmed.
Kazuki laughed cruelly at their plight. ‘Nowhere to run now, gaijin!’
Realizing the futility of putting up resistance, Jack sheathed his swords. If he was killed, he couldn’t warn Akiko of the danger she was in.
‘What are you doing?’ exclaimed Hana.
‘Get ready to jump!’ he replied, under his breath.
Hana looked over the edge of the waterfall at the seemingly bottomless drop. ‘Are you crazy?’
‘I’ve done it before and survived.’
‘From here?’ questioned Ronin, incredulous.
‘Not exactly,’ Jack admitted. ‘Halfway down.’
‘But I can’t swim!’ said Hana, her eyes darting in terror between the approaching mob and the perilous jump.
‘You can’t wield a sword either,’ reminded Jack as Raiden stepped within striking distance. ‘NOW JUMP!’
Jack grabbed Hana by the wrist and pulled her over with him. Ronin, shaking his head in disbelief at what he was about to do, leapt after them. Raiden’s sword sliced through the air, just missing his back.
They plunged downwards, Hana screaming all the way and Jack silently praying they wouldn’t hit the butai or crash on to the rocks below. The wind shrieked past their ears, the waterfall thundering around them. Suddenly they were engulfed by spray and a second later hit the water. The roar of the falls became a deep boom. The churning rock pool flipped and rolled them. Then the current snatched Jack, and Hana was ripped from his grasp as they crested the lip of the pool into the river. Just at the point he thought he’d drown, his head popped to the surface and he sucked in air with relief.
A cry alerted him to Hana, who flailed in the waters. She disappeared back under and Jack kicked hard in her direction. Hana bobbed up again, weaker this time. He desperately swam to her rescue, but the river swallowed her again. Diving under, Jack blindly sought the girl who’d once been just a thief to him and was now a friend. His fingers clasped a sodden kimono and he pulled Hana to the surface. She came up spluttering and choking.
The river became calmer, though the current no less strong. Jack let it bear them downstream, holding Hana’s head above the water. A moment later, he spotted Ronin swimming towards them. Then he heard a shout.
From the top of the falls, Kazuki stood screaming his revenge.
‘You cowardly dog! I’ll hunt you down
, gaijin!’
32
BROKEN
The three fugitives kept up a brisk pace as they trekked south along a forest path and away from Kyoto. They had let the river take them out of the gorge and into the main valley, only dragging themselves from the waters when the current had eased. Ronin now took them on a circuitous route that avoided the main road and any settlements. Although their daring escape had given them a head start, they couldn’t risk slowing down or being spotted.
Jack took up the rear, using his ninja skills to ensure their tracks were covered, while Hana maintained a non-stop monologue.
‘I can’t believe we survived! Did you see Raiden’s face as we jumped? He looked more shocked than I was. You were awesome in the duel, Jack. I honestly thought you were beaten. But you tricked Araki! He was livid. Don’t you think the three of us make a great team? We got back your swords and your pearl! Shame about the gambler losing all your money, but I can always steal some more if you want. And I’m sorry I lost your staff, Jack. But I managed to keep hold of the bokken, Ronin! Do you want it back?’
‘Keep it,’ he grunted, quickening his pace more to escape the incessant chattering of Hana than to stay ahead of Kazuki and his Scorpion Gang.
‘Really?’ she replied, and slipped it proudly into her obi. ‘My first sword! Will you teach me, Ronin? I want to be a samurai like you and Jack.’
‘You need to be born samurai.’
‘But Jack’s not even Japanese!’
‘He was adopted by a samurai. And he’s not a thief either!’
‘Oh!’ replied Hana, a little upset by Ronin’s curt reply. She pondered for a moment. ‘You could adopt me!’
Ronin stopped in his tracks, his face blanching. He turned to reply, then thought better of it and strode off.
Hana looked at Jack. ‘Was that a yes? Or a no?’
Jack shrugged noncommittally, but knowing Ronin he didn’t think the samurai was the adopting type. ‘We’d better keep moving,’ he said.
They powered on, not even stopping for lunch. A couple of times they had to backtrack to avoid other travellers and skirt a village. As dusk settled, they worked their way into a lower valley and found a secluded spot beside a stream.
‘We’ll camp here for the night,’ Ronin declared, clearing the ground for a fire.
Hana went off to collect kindling, while Jack cut some branches from a tree and made a simple clotheshorse so they could dry their damp kimono. Ronin opened the cloth sack that held their food and cursed loudly.
‘What’s wrong?’ asked Jack.
Without replying, Ronin angrily shook the bag’s contents on to the earth. A straw container of rice, a small cooking pot, an onion, half a cabbage and a couple of white daikon fell out. These were accompanied by an ominous tinkling as several ceramic shards tumbled out too. The impact of landing in the water had smashed Ronin’s last bottle of saké to smithereens.
Hana returned with the wood and saw the enraged expression on Ronin’s face. The samurai snatched up the cabbage, sat upon a log and began to hack at the vegetable.
‘Let me do that,’ suggested Hana, worried that most of it was going on the ground rather than in the pot. ‘Why don’t you make the fire?’
Grunting moodily, Ronin shoved the mauled cabbage into Hana’s hands and started breaking the branches and throwing them into a pile. Thinking it best to leave Ronin to himself, Jack helped Hana with preparing the food. They heard him curse a few times as he tried to light the tinder and the two of them exchanged concerned looks. But once it caught Ronin settled down and contented himself with prodding the fire with a stick. Although their meal was meagre, the vegetable soup and rice seemed to revive Ronin’s spirits a little.
‘News will travel fast of Araki’s defeat,’ he said to Jack, ‘and with this Scorpion Gang hunting you, you need to make for Nagasaki and home as fast as you can.’
‘I have to go to Nara first.’
Ronin shook his head. ‘Not worth the risk.’
‘But Nagasaki’s the direction Kazuki will expect me to go in.’
‘True. However, he’ll use the main roads to get ahead of you and block your path. Even I would question your ability to defeat an entire gang single-handedly.’
‘I’ll have to take that chance. I must go to Nara. My father’s diary is there. I also want to know what happened to me. Several days of my life are missing. A blank. This Botan will be able to tell me.’
‘You’ve got your pearl, kimono and your swords. Is your father’s diary that important?’
Jack nodded his head, deciding now was the time to fully trust Ronin and Hana. They had certainly proved their loyalty in the past few days. ‘It’s much more than a diary,’ he replied and began to explain the rutter’s true signifiance.
When Jack finished talking, Ronin queried, ‘So this logbook is irreplaceable … invaluable?’
‘Yes,’ replied Jack. ‘But only I can decipher all its content. And I made an oath to my father to keep it safe. It’s my duty to find it.’
Ronin sighed deeply and threw another log upon the fire. ‘I understand a son’s duty. You’ve a responsibility to fulfil your father’s dying wish, and I respect that.’
He stabbed at the glowing embers with a stick.
‘You can’t be allowed to fail your father … like I did mine.’ Ronin appeared no longer to be aware of Jack or Hana. He began to mutter to himself. ‘It was my fault I let that monk in. My fault I didn’t search for weapons. My fault I was fooled by a deceitful disguise. My fault my father’s now …’
Ronin trailed off and said no more. He just stared into the fire, the flames reflecting in his eyes, more bloodshot than ever. He sniffed, a tear rolling down his cheek.
‘Are you all right?’ asked Hana softly.
‘Fine,’ snapped Ronin, wiping a forearm across his face. ‘The smoke’s just getting in my eyes, that’s all.’
33
HININ
The three of them sat round the fire, an uncomfortable silence hanging over them.
‘Nara it is then!’ said Hana in an effort to lift the mood. She picked up her bokken. ‘Botan had better watch out – Hana the samurai’s on his trail!’
Ronin ducked just in time as Hana swung the sword through the air.
‘Put that down!’ he growled, clearly regretting the decision to let her have it in the first place. ‘I told you, you’re not a samurai!’
One look at the scowling Ronin, his hands trembling, convinced Hana to do as she was told. ‘You could teach me how to use it,’ she ventured quietly.
Ronin glared at her.
‘So what’s the quickest way to Nara?’ asked Jack, hoping to divert Ronin’s darkening temper with a change of subject.
‘Through the Kizu Valley,’ replied Ronin.
‘Isn’t there another way?’ said Jack, feeling his frustration rise. They were about to retrace their steps yet again!
Ronin shook his head. ‘The mountain trails would take too long and crossing points over the Kizu River are few and far between. We’ll just have to take the risk.’
‘I’ve been to Nara before,’ Hana revealed. ‘It only takes a day to get there.’
‘Do you know where the Tōdai-ji Temple is then?’ asked Jack, showing her the green silk omamori.
Hana grinned. ‘You can’t miss it. The temple must be the biggest building in the world!’
Noticing that Ronin’s hands were still shaking, Jack shifted along the log. ‘Come closer to the fire, Ronin.’
‘I’m not cold,’ he mumbled, trying to control the trembling. ‘I’d be fine if only I had some saké.’
Hana, frowning, gave Ronin a troubled look. ‘Tell me, why do you always need to drink?’
‘To forget.’
‘You want to forget your … father?’ ventured Hana.
‘That’s none of your business!’ snapped Ronin.
Hana looked wounded by the return of Ronin’s harshness.
Ronin grunted an a
pology. ‘Ironic, isn’t it, Jack? You can’t remember but want to. I can remember and don’t want to!’
With that, Ronin moved away and bedded down against a tree to sleep. Jack saw him shudder and wondered if it was the lack of saké, the chilly night or his troubled past that was the cause.
Jack and Hana sat in silence for a while as the night closed in around them. Only the crackle of wood burning and the buzzing of insects broke the stillness. Their faces flickered in the firelight as Jack poked the embers with a stick and sparks flew into the night sky.
‘I love how the flames dance,’ mumbled Hana dreamily, gazing into its blaze.
Jack stared at the orange glow and lost himself in it too. For a moment, the fire consumed everything in his vision. Just like it had when the Niten Ichi Ryū had burnt. He thought he saw a face in the flames – Kazuki laughing – and recalled his rival’s threat on Akiko’s life.
He grasped his stick, his knuckles going white with fury at himself. How foolish he’d been to let slip that Akiko had survived her injuries.
But then he realized that as long as Kazuki was after him, he couldn’t be searching for Akiko. The problem would arise when Jack left Japanese shores for England – Kazuki would have free rein to carry out his terrible revenge. The thought of Akiko being hurt was too much to bear. Jack knew a final confrontation between him and Kazuki was inevitable. The stick in his hands snapped in a fit of enraged frustration. He blinked, suddenly aware of his surroundings.
‘Can I ask you something?’ whispered Hana tentatively.
Jack nodded and threw the broken branch into the fire.
‘When you’ve found this rutter in Nara, can I come with you to Nagasaki?’
Jack hesitated, not sure how best to reply.
‘I don’t think that would be a good idea,’ he said. ‘It’ll be just too dangerous now. I’m not even sure you should be coming to Nara with me. I’m wanted by the Shogun and hunted by the Scorpion Gang. Besides, once in Nagasaki, I’m leaving Japan for home.’
The Ring of Water Page 13