They climbed into the boat and Tatsushi began to paddle them across the narrow strip of water, heading for one of the lights on the other side of the inlet that they had seen earlier.
“We need a story,” said Tatsushi suddenly, breaking the silence of the still night air. “My father used to calm me down with stories if I ever needed to be distracted. I will tell you about Akira, the samurai who vanished. Akira was the most respected of Lord Kuruyama’s samurai. My father always said that he strived every day to be like him. He was a master of all forms of fighting, both in battle and in individual combat. He never displayed anger. He never even raised his voice. In Lord Kuruyama’s service he won great honour as a warrior but also as a peacemaker. He had attained perfection as a samurai and many people even suggested that one day he might become Lord of the region, for Kuruyama had no sons of his own.
“Then the great traitor, Yosuke Kuroda, raised his army against Lord Kuruyama. A great battle was fought – William Blade was there and my father too, but the hero of the day was Akira. They say that he tore through Yosuke Kuroda’s men like a typhoon. Everyone knew of Akira’s bravery – and they were grateful to him for saving them from Yosuke Kuroda’s cruelty. Then, a few weeks after the battle, Akira was training a group of young samurai at Castle Kuruyama. He told them that they were to pretend he was an assassin and chase him down as he attempted to break into the castle. He began climbing up the castle walls and ten young samurai chased him. They saw him climb all the way to the top. Seconds later they too climbed onto the roof, but when they got there, he had vanished. After that day he was never seen again.”
Arthur and Finn had been listening so intently that they had almost forgotten where they were. Even Tatsushi seemed surprised when he turned his head and saw how close they were to the shore. As they paddled even closer he stared hard at the black rocks they were approaching, looking for a place to make land. Without warning Tatsushi leapt into the water and began pulling the boat towards a tiny patch of sand.
With Tatsushi still focused on pulling the boat along, Arthur turned to Finn and whispered, “How are we supposed to control his temper? He’s in some weird zone the whole time.”
“He saw his father murdered less than twelve hours ago. We stick with him. He knows what he has to do – we just have to remind him if he’s about to lose it. Anyway, he might calm down a bit if we can get Mayuko back.” The boat hissed to a stop as the bottom touched sand and the boys jumped out and helped Tatsushi drag it up out of the water.
“We’ll be there in ten minutes,” said Tatsushi. “Follow me.” And he began scrambling up the rocks and into the darkness of the trees that cloaked the shoreline. After some steep climbing they reached a ridge and Finn stopped to catch his breath. Tatsushi pressed forward immediately, increasing the pace and darting nimbly through the forest, leaping between tree roots and rocks. It was only when Arthur tripped and fell with a curse that Tatsushi looked back. He paused barely long enough for the boys to catch up with him, twitching restlessly as he waited.
“Slow down,” Arthur hissed. “If we’re so close then we need to be quiet. You make much less noise than us!” This was true. For all Tatsushi’s haste he had barely made a sound as he danced along. He nodded, his face taut, and proceeded in a little less of a frenzy but Arthur and Finn still struggled to keep up. When he stopped abruptly, the boys could hear that the night air carried the faint sound of shouts and laughter.
“That is the place,” he said. “That is where Mayuko will be, I know it.” And he began to walk forwards again.
“Wait,” said Finn. “If she is there with Kenji Kuroda’s gang then we need a plan if we are going to succeed in freeing her.” They had barely spoken about what they would do when they arrived here, and now Finn worried that Tatsushi would be too highly strung to think clearly.
“It is very simple – we will go from house to house until we find her. If anyone tries to stop us, we kill them.” Tatsushi replied curtly.
“As soon as one of us draws a sword we may as well be dead, and Mayuko too. We need a story. What do we say if we are seen?” said Finn.
The boys paused for a moment – unsure of how to take their plan any further.
“I have an idea,” said Arthur. “Is this village like yours Tatsushi? With two rows of houses opposite each other?” Tatsushi nodded and Finn prayed that his brother had something that would keep their friend in check.
“This is what we should do. Tatsushi, you should wait just outside the village. Then if we get into any trouble there is still one person left to try and free Mayuko. And anyway, they might recognise you but they have never seen us. Finn and I take one row of houses each. We go from the back of one house to the back of the next until we see or hear something that tells us the Kurodas are here. If we are seen we can say we just washed up ashore after the shipwreck. Then we come back to you Tatsushi when we have some idea of what’s going on in the village and where Mayuko might be.”
Tatsushi seemed about to object, but then his expression changed completely. “Wait, Mayuko and I used to practise bird calls when we were younger. I can make a call that sounds like the cry of a heron. There is a chance she will know it is me and hopefully she will be able to give us some sign that will lead us to her – with any luck we won’t have to search every house in the village at all.”
“Good.” Arthur nodded. “But if we hear nothing back from Mayuko and we still need to search the village then you must let us do the searching. When the time comes to free her you’ll be right there at the front again.”
The plan agreed, they crept on downhill as quietly as they could until the trees began to clear and they saw the first lanterns of the village a short way ahead. Tatsushi stopped and cupped his hands to his mouth, letting out three long, harsh screeches. The boys listened intently for a reply, but all they could hear was the raucous laughter of drunk men. Tatsushi tried again, and again they listened. Nothing.
“Arthur,” Finn whispered, as Tatsushi desperately tried his call once more, “We leave our swords here. Bows and daggers we can explain. Samurai swords we can’t.”
Arthur nodded, laying his sword on the ground next to Finn’s. “Tatsushi, keep your bow at the ready but don’t shoot unless we’re going to be killed. If we get caught it’s better they don’t know you are here.”
“And remember, keep…” Finn paused and frowned. Tatsushi’s face was a picture of excitement. Drifting through the air, above and below the noise of the revellers, there floated the faint sound of a girl singing.
“That’s her!” Tatsushi exclaimed. He put his head back and gave the heron’s cry again. “She’s here and we can find her. Come on!”
“It would still be safer if one of us stayed back,” Arthur cautioned. “Finn, you stay,” said Arthur. Cover us with a bow and if we get caught then at least there’s a chance you can help us.”
Finn nodded, stringing his bow and reaching for an arrow as Tatsushi and Arthur began creeping towards the houses. They made it to the edge of the village, to the place where they would separate to the two opposite sides of houses. That was when the silent figures of four swordsmen stepped out of the shadows and blocked their path.
CHAPTER 5
Finn froze, watching the four swordsmen approach Arthur and Tatsushi. The plan had been not to fight unless absolutely necessary, but would Arthur and Tatsushi be able to talk their way out of this? Their odds in a fight against four grown men weren’t good. He took aim at one of the men and held the bow half drawn, anxious for the situation to develop so that he knew whether to let his arrow fly. Every muscle taut, Finn waited… and waited. Nothing was happening – neither the boys nor the men were moving or making a sound. Then, as Finn’s every sense strained to pick up any signal, he heard the sound of low whispering and moments later Arthur turned and began creeping back towards Finn, while Tatsushi and the four men slunk into the shadows.
“What’s going on?” Finn hissed as his brother drew near.
“What about Mayuko?”
“Those four men are taking Tatsushi to the house she’s in. They said they’ll bust her out but they made us promise we’d help them fight the Kurodas. We had no choice,” Arthur went on before Finn could react. “They said they’d raise the alarm otherwise.”
Finn groaned inwardly. “How many on our side?”
“Don’t know. But Tatsushi told them that they had to free Mayuko first before any fighting started.”
Finn rubbed the bridge of his nose. Their mission to release Mayuko in secret and steal away before the Kurodas knew what was happening, and more importantly before Tatsushi got into a situation where he would lose his cool, wasn’t panning out at all.
“There’s nothing we can do about it for now,” said Arthur pragmatically, filling Finn’s silence. “We’ll just have to wait for them here and then try and persuade them not to fight after all once they’ve freed – ”
He broke off at the sound of shouts from the village, swiftly followed by the cry of a heron. Without a moment’s hesitation the boys snatched up their weapons and raced forward, bows across their shoulders and swords drawn. As they reached the first house the fighting had begun already and they skidded to a stop. Halfway through the village the boys could see Tatsushi and Mayuko alongside the four swordsmen from the trees. They were arranged in two lines of three, one line facing in each direction along the road. At Tatsushi’s feet lay two bodies. Beyond the group were five other men, swords drawn and snarling as they prepared to strike. Blocking Finn and Arthur’s route to their friends was a second group of Kuroda’s men, growing as more of them spilled out from the house in which they’d been drinking. The boys had still not been seen and Arthur thought fast.
“We need to get behind that smaller group at the far end,” he whispered, and darted off the road with Finn close behind him. Arthur led the way to the back of the houses on one side of the village and the boys crept forward from house to house, sprinting each short distance where gaps between the buildings left them exposed to view from the road. They drew level with Tatsushi and his group and passed by unseen. The taunts of the Kurodas rang through the village and it seemed they were sure to attack at any moment. Praying that their enemies would have all eyes on Tatsushi’s band the boys dashed to the last house and crept along its side to the road. Arthur peered around the corner of the house and ducked back again.
“We’re behind them,” he whispered. “I’m going to crawl across to the other side. As soon as I get there we start shooting. We should be able to get two or three of them and then Tatsushi and the others can break through whoever’s left.”
“Then what?”
“Then we run for it.”
Finn nodded and once again notched an arrow as Arthur dropped to the floor and began crawling on his belly and elbows across the road.
The Kurodas were laughing at their enemies now, amused that a group of two children and four peasants would try and take them on. One voice in particular dominated the others – the voice belonging to the samurai who had snatched Mayuko away from her father’s body the day before. Finn was trembling as the adrenalin took hold, but felt sure they would be able to get rid of the five men in front of them. And then, midway across the road, with the dust of the road surrounding him, Arthur sneezed. One of the Kurodas spun around at the sound. The man’s eyes widened as he saw Arthur and he shouted in alarm. It was to be his final breath. Barely had the sound left his lips before he crumpled to the floor, Finn’s arrow protruding from between his ribs.
The whole village burst into action. Arthur leapt to his feet and whipped an arrow onto his bowstring just as Finn prepared his second shot. The four remaining Kurodas of the nearest group leapt to either side of the road, seeking cover behind the houses. Two of them fell as they ran, Finn and Arthur both finding their marks. The larger mob of Kurodas at the other end of the village bellowed in rage and began running towards them, brandishing swords and spears, while Tatsushi, Mayuko and the villagers, seeing their opportunity, exploded into a sprint along the road towards Finn, Arthur and the darkness that engulfed the road beyond the edge of the village.
Spears hissed into the ground around them and they ran for their lives. As their feet pounded the ground beneath them they left the village behind and darkness swallowed them up.
“We should get off the road!” Finn panted.
“Impossible for now,” someone replied – “There are high rocks on both sides. We will be past them soon.” They heard the neighing of horses behind them and each of them tried to squeeze a little more speed out of their burning muscles. And then they heard more horses in front of them and they skidded to a halt. It was only a second before they saw what lay ahead, but the moment seemed to stretch impossibly as their hearts sank to new lows.
“Kuroda’s men are on a rampage,” Tatsushi shouted desperately at the shadowy figures of several horsemen who had begun to take form before their eyes. “Whoever you are please let us past!”
“Hanzo Uchida’s son,” came a familiar voice. “Let them through.”
“Ryu!” cried Mayuko, and the boys could have wept with relief.
“And seven loyal samurai,” Ryu replied.
“The Kurodas are too many,” Tatsushi began. But his voice was nearly drowned out by the roar of the onrushing gang.
“Forward, stay mounted,” someone shouted. The seven samurai kicked their horses on, and the men from the village turned and followed them while Ryu wheeled his horse around, blocking the remaining group.
“We should stay and fight,” Tatsushi protested.
“No,” Ryu snapped. “Stay focussed. You came for Mayuko and now she is free. We run now and plan our next move against Kuroda himself.”
“He’s right,” said Finn.
Tatsushi argued no further and the group pressed forward away from the village just as the shouts and screams of battle began to echo between the rocks behind them.
ORDINARY LIFE IN MEDIEVAL JAPAN
Different types of people are ranked in a strict order in medieval Japan. This is OK if you are near the top of the ranking system, but not so good if you are low down.
LORD
Right at the top of the pile is the Lord or Daimyo. He owns most of the land in the area, lives in a fancy palace and has plenty of servants and an army of samurai to do his bidding.
SAMURAI
They are the warriors who fight for the Lord, so they are respected and feared and many of them become very wealthy (despite their code of honour saying that they should live simply). Nobody of a lower rank is allowed to carry a sword, so you’re safe from jealous commoners.
COMMONERS
Farmers, then craftsmen, then merchants – in that order – make up the ranks of commoners. They are not allowed to use a family name, they pay taxes to the Lord and are generally not able to do much about it, unless they have a particularly good Lord.
OUTCASTS
The lowest of the low, outcasts are tasked with the dirty jobs like executing criminals, butchering animals for food, sorting out the sewage etc. If your parents are outcasts then so are you and you can’t change that. End of story.
CHAPTER 6
Ryu looked on impassively as his four young companions gulped water from a stream and tore greedily through the food that he handed around. They had left the road behind them a couple of hours previously and had scrambled uphill along a rough trail until the trees and air had grown markedly thinner. At Ryu’s insistence they had marched in total silence in case they were being followed, and after their experiences with the Kurodas over the past twenty-four hours, nobody had disagreed with him. Not that they would have been able to say much while they walked in any case – the climb uphill on top of ev
erything else they had endured so far had been utterly exhausting. Ryu had abandoned his horse on the road and marched with them on foot. He seemed impossibly fit for an old man, and it was he who first found the strength to speak.
“Another hour’s walk will bring us to a temple where they will give us shelter I am sure.”
“And the Kurodas?” Arthur asked through a mouthful of rice. “When will we know whether they have followed us? When will we know who won the battle?”
“The seven men who rode with me to your aid are very skilled warriors, but even with help from the villagers they would have been outnumbered by the Kurodas – and they too know how to fight. My guess is that there won’t be many left on either side, regardless of who wins the battle.”
Mayuko lowered her head. “All that death because of me…” she murmured.
“No!” Tatsushi shook his head forcefully. “They brought it on themselves. They killed our father and kidnapped you.”
“Thank you,” Mayuko put out a hand and Tatsushi took hold of it protectively. “But now that I have been rescued we must do something to protect our village. I overheard the Kurodas saying that they have seized Castle Kuruyama.”
“As soon as we have rested that is where we are going,” said Tatsushi, the fire back in his eyes. “And there we will kill Kenji Kuroda.” Mayuko’s pale face was completely expressionless as she nodded her understanding.
“But for now,” said Ryu, getting to his feet. “We are one more hour away from the temple I mentioned, where we will find food and rest, and possibly a new ally.”
Everyone’s ears pricked up at this but Ryu would say no more and began to lead on up the trail in the moonlight with the others strung out in a short line behind him. Talking stopped once more as their muscles began straining, and the only sounds were the panting of the climbers, the clack and crunch of stones underfoot, and the occasional scurrying of a frightened animal.
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