“That’s never stopped him before,” said Amy.
“My fist in his mouth’ll stop’im in the future,” mumbled the big teen as he shoveled the fork-full of food into his mouth.
“Anyway, he’s not mad at you because you did anything wrong, per se,” explained Shawna. “He’s mad because Laura took such an interest in you.”
Dave looked up at her, the corners of his mouth curving into a smile that he could not hide. “Really? She did?”
Amy took a bite of her eggs. “Hey! Where’d he get real eggs?” The school used a powdered egg product.
“He didn’t,” replied Pete, between chews.
“Then how did he get’em to taste like real eggs?” was Shawna’s cousin’s next question.
Jamie swallowed his second bite. “He just has a knack for cooking.”
Amy looked to the head of the room to see Buster taking off his apron in preparation to join his friends. “Cute and he can cook. A winning combination.”
Jamie and Shawna each looked at her. “I thought you said that ‘personality and a bod’ were a winning combination,” murmured Shawna.
Amy smiled at her cousin. “Men have so many winning combinations, don’t they?”
Steve and Max Adams and their friend, Jeremy, moved from another table to join Jamie and the others. “Did you consider the Boat House?” asked Steve.
“What about it?” Yoshi asked.
“We could use some of the boats from there to get across the river,” explained Max.
Buster seated himself across from Steve. “It doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”
Jamie swallowed his bite of eggs. “While we’re in the boats, we’d be sitting ducks. Besides, wouldn’t that be stealing?”
“Not really,” was Max’s response. “Fred Corbett, the owner’s son, is a friend of mine.”
“As for the danger factor,” added Max’s brother, “you could just leave some of your friends on the shore on this side of the river to keep us covered. After that, the ones that made it to the other side can keep the people who come across last covered.”
“Sounds like a plan,” commented Dave.
“But the danger is something that we should all choose for ourselves,” countered Yoshi. “Let us put it to a vote.”
Without another word, Dave pushed his tray aside and climbed on top of the table. As Jamie and the others watched in awe, he called out, “Dudes and dudettes!” Every voice in the room quieted. “This dude,” he gestured to Max, “has come up with an idea. He thinks we should get some boats from this Boat House on the river and use’em t’get across.”
“That doesn’t sound like a bad idea,” commented Laura Blanton from her place next to John, who glared at her. Under his gaze, she lowered her eyes to the floor.
“Why does it sound like there’s gonna be a big ‘but’?” asked a sophomore.
Jamie stood. “Like any option we have, it’ll involve some risk.” He sighed. “Even staying here will be dangerous.”
“Then we put it to a vote?” asked Shawna.
“We do,” was Jamie’s reply.
The young ninja asked for a show of hands. The vote was nearly unanimous, with John, Freddy and some of their friends the only holdouts, in favor of the boats.
As the last two students exited the cafeteria and headed for the bus, they failed to notice the lone figure, dressed from head to foot in black, drop from the rafters of the ceiling . . ..
* * *
The Chevy Blazer raced up Highway 21. Tanemura Funakoshi, from his place in the passenger’s seat, glanced at the speedometer. “I do not believe that I have ever seen you break the speed limit before.”
“The laws are there to protect people, Tanemura,” commented Donnie Isaac. “But my boy’s in that town somewhere and I won’t rest 'til they’re out.”
The jonin turned his gaze back to the road ahead. The plan was for the two of them to head east of Sera, then go north toward Doniphan and leave the SUV near the road and hike back west. It was their only hope to get into the town since the bridges had been destroyed.
Thinking they might have to camp, they’d brought Don’s camping gear. They were also armed. Don’s pump action shotgun and his police pistol were on safety in the back seat. Tanemura was wearing a camouflage ninja suit (minus the mask) and carried his favorite ninja-to and typical ninja weaponry. “I do hope that you will have enough ammunition, should a conflict with the Warui arise,” commented the leader of the Funakoshi clan.
“I’ve got plenty,” was the reply. “Don’t you worry about that.”
They rode eastward in silence for a few moments. Finally, his eyes still on the road, Tanemura again spoke. “Why are you here, Don?”
“What?” Donnie took his eyes off the road long enough to glance at Tanemura. “I’m trying to help you get to the kids.”
“That is not what I mean,” responded Tanemura.
“Then what do you mean?”
Tanemura’s eyes regarded Dave’s father coolly.
Donnie cringed under the old ninja’s gaze. “I hate it when you do that.”
Tanemura raised his eyebrows in feigned innocence. “And what is that?”
“When you give that you can’t hide anything from me look of yours.”
“You are still somewhat early for deer season,” commented Tanemura. “You usually only come up to hunt. Otherwise, you visit your sister, leave Dave with Jamie and go home, then come back for him at the end of the weekend.”
“How do you know that I didn’t hear about the ninja and turn around to come back?”
“Zack said that you rented a motel room in Aurthur,” was the response.
"I could have just wanted to spend more time with my sister than I usually get to,” said the camouflage-jacketed man defensively.
“The newspaper in your back seat is open to the real estate section and several entries are circled.”
Donnie looked at the old jonin in wonder. “Is there anything that you ever don’t catch?”
“The flu,” smirked the older man. “And I didn’t notice the children who were sleeping in my living room until this morning.” He smiled warmly. “Jamie would love for Dave to live close to him.”
“We were thinking about moving up here,” muttered Don. “The police academy has me teaching classes in St. Louis and Kennett and that drive’s a killer.”
“Yes,” replied Tanemura. “You used to speak of that when you lived closer to St. Louis and would drive once a month to Kennett.” His smile was replaced with a look of concern. “But you moved to Jameston to be closer to Kennett when you were officially transferred there. Why would you move closer to St. Louis now? Are they transferring you back?”
Donnie sighed. “Those three kids who started that street gang are being sent home to Jameston.”
Tanemura’s eyes widened. “How did you discover this?”
“A friend in the juvenile corrections department in Kennett told me. Said that he figured I might want to spread it to Dave and Jamie and their friends who were fighting with them before they were sent away.”
“Have you told the children yet?”
“No.” He glanced at Tanemura. “I did tell their parents, though.” He set his eyes back to the road. “The Goodmans are considering a move, since Buster’s dad doesn’t want to run for chief there again. The others are talking about moving, too.”
“They will be scattered?”
Donnie chuckled bitterly. “Actually, for safety reasons, everybody’s been talking about moving up here.”
Tanemura raised a questioning eyebrow.
Don explained, “If those kids are as vindictive as we think they are, we want to get our kids away from them. But what’s to stop them from following us? The chief and I have gathered a general consensus that there’s safety in numbers.”
* * *
Colonel Peters saluted the private who guarded the large prisoner
. “Has he said anything, yet?”
The private returned the salute and replied, “He’s been talking since we caught him. He won’t shut up, sir.”
Peters removed his army green hat and rubbed the top of his completely bald head. “Let me in to see him.”
The private obediently opened the flap of the tent and held it so the colonel could enter. Seated in a wooden chair in the center of the tent, illuminated by various lanterns that sat on tables around him, was a large man. His black T-shirt covered a well-muscled upper torso, though one could tell he had a not so muscled stomach, which gave him an almost jolly appearance. This, however, was over-shadowed by the scowl that he wore on his red-bearded face. His muscular arms ended in massive hands that were handcuffed behind his back His large legs were similarly tied at the ankles to the chair. A pair of smiley-face boxer shorts could be seen under the checkered skirt that he wore in place of pants.
Peters groaned and stepped forward. “What’s your name, son?”
The man looked at him in irritation. “I’ve given my name to somethin’ like ten soldiers so far this morning.”
“Humor me.”
The prisoner sighed. “Deck Pendragon.”
“Okay, Mr. Pendragon,” muttered Peters, “what were you doing swimming across the river last night?”
“I was trying to get t’the school. I was s’posed ta be a chaperon for the dance.”
“Were you aware that some kind of terrorists have taken over the school?”
“Ninja.”
“Now, how the bloody blazes did you know that?” demanded the colonel.
“Head t’toe in black . . . Japanese . . .” recounted Deck. “Shall I continue?”
“You were going to the dance soaked, huh?”
“I was going to fight the ninja. I was hoping to get you guys t’help me.”
Peters looked skeptical. “Have a lot of experience fighting ninjas?”
Deck sighed again. “I have three good friends who are ninja.”
The colonel’s eyes narrowed. “Do they live around here?”
The large man nodded. “Why?”
It occurred to the colonel that this man’s friends could be the three enemies mentioned in the note. The fact that a ninja clan had happened to attack a school dance in Southern Missouri was hard enough to swallow. Throw in three more of the blasted assassins and the coincidence was just too much.
Peters examined the prisoner again. “Why are you wearing a dress?”
Deck looked at the officer indignantly. “It’s not a dress. It’s a kilt.”
Chapter Thirteen
Saturday, 10:57 AM
The bus pulled between the Boat House and the office. The office was a small trailer with fake wooden siding to make it look more elegant. Mrs. Corbett had complained about how tacky the former owners were and was always considering the purchase of a new office, but she was so busy with the business and the raising of her son that she never seemed to find the time.
The Boat House was actually two warehouse buildings that were each about the size of the gym at the school. One could rent canoes, motorboats, tubes for floating, or lifejackets.
Buster pulled the bus as far back from the road as possible. “Y’know, the ninja aren’t very likely to use the road ta look for us,” muttered Dave. “It’s not like hidin’ back here’s gonna do us a lotta good.”
“True,” stated Yoshi. “But Jamie and I are the ones that they want and we will be moving away from the bus to check on the boats.”
“I don’t feel comfortable with this,” commented Buster, his right hand going reflexively to the cross that dangled from the chain around his neck.
Yoshi smiled. “Pray for us.”
Jamie looked around, more worried about the fact that they had not seen any of the Warui ninja. “Buster, you take the point. Circle around the bus and watch out for anything suspicious. Dave . . .,” he looked at his large cousin, “ . . . you stay in the bus and guard the students. Max Adams is a pretty good fighter, too. Use him.”
Yoshi stepped down the stairs and off of the bus. Jamie followed, but was stopped on the bottom stair by Shawna’s voice. “Be careful.”
Jamie cocked a half-smile and gave her a “thumbs up.” He hoped he looked more confident than he felt.
The two made their way along the gravel that surrounded the two buildings, each scanning the area for signs of any ninja.
* * *
Hidden behind a group of three trees on the side of the warehouse farthest from the office, there was a ninja. He watched them with great interest, his gaze moving back and forth from the male to the female.
He smiled cruelly. I have improved since our last confrontation, gai-jin, he projected silently. This time, it is YOU who will be humiliated . . ..
* * *
Buster walked calmly around the large, yellow vehicle. He swirled a pair of nunchaku in each hand as he prayed silently to himself. So far, he had seen no sign of the ninja. He thanked God for that. Maybe this would be an uneventful excursion after all . . ..
* * *
Yoshi swore in Japanese. “I do not believe this!”
Jamie groaned and ran his fingers through his light brown hair. “I’m not the least bit surprised.” He surveyed the wreckage that used to be the inventory of the Boat House. “If they blew up the bridge, then don’t you think that they’d think to do this, too?”
Yoshi stomped her foot in frustration. “I was hoping that . . ..” She stopped, having heard the sound of metal moving ever so quietly against wood . . . the all too familiar sound of blades being unsheathed. And there were many of them. Jamie’s alert eyes told her that he had heard, as well.
Jamie’s ninja-to leapt into his hand. Yoshi followed suit with one of her own. The two padded quietly outside, their senses on full alert.
“I know I heard that,” muttered the boy.
“As did I,” responded the kunoichi.
Without warning, a dozen ninja came running from the office. Another dozen leaped from the top of the warehouse. Another two dozen splashed out of the river. Each had his blade drawn.
“Back to back!” commanded Jamie as he and his clan-sister moved into a defensive position.
“Twenty-four to one,” commented Yoshi as she pulled her second blade. “Dave would like these odds.”
“Well, I don’t,” murmured Jamie as he pulled his shinobi-to, a miniature version of the ninja-to, from its sheath at his hip.
With that, the Warui attacked . . ..
* * *
Dave sat sideways in the driver’s seat, his head resting back on the side window in boredom.
“What’s taking them so long?” wondered Shawna aloud.
“I think I just saw something!” called Jeremy from the back of the bus.
“What?” demanded Max.
“My reflection!”
George groaned. “Can’t you take anything seriously?”
“Why would I want to?”
“Maybe because my cousin’s in danger right now,” replied Pete.
“No more than us,” was Jeremy’s response.
Pete, however, was not looking at him. He was looking past Jeremy at the space between the trailer and the warehouse. “I just saw a ninja.”
* * *
Buster circled around the front of the bus. He’d lost track of the number of times he had done this. He prayed ceaselessly, interceding for Jamie and Yoshi. As he circled around the bus this time, he caught a glimpse of a black-clothed figure moving from the office to the warehouse. Then he saw another. Then another. Finally, he stopped counting at eight as he yelled out, “DAVE!!! START THE BUS!!!”
The engine roared to life as Buster turned about and, after two long strides, jumped aboard the vehicle. He was thrown against the front of the top step as Dave slammed the bus into reverse and shot it backward, then into first, circling around to face the two buildings.
“Watch it!” yelled the kensai, as he climbed into the aisle. “You’re going to kill us before we ever get to them!”
“Don’t worry, dude,” replied Dave calmly, though his steering of the bus was anything but calm. “I know what I’m doin’.”
Buster was knocked into the seat behind the driver’s seat, landing across Amy and Shawna’s laps. Looking up at Amy, whose stomach his face had been buried in, he blushed and said, “I’m really sorry.”
She just smiled.
Climbing to his feet, Buster yelled at Dave, “You’re gonna hit those boards!” Indeed, the bus bounced over an area of 2X4s that were being used to repair some damage to the back of the warehouse in the off season.
Many of the students nearly bounced out of their seats.
Dave grabbed the microphone to the bus’s intercom and his voice could be heard over the bus. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is yer captain speakin’. We’re experiencing some turbulence . . ..” The bus hit some more boards and the big teen could be heard muttering, “That can’t be good on the axles.”
“Where’d you learn how to drive?” raged Buster as he finally settled into the empty front seat to the right of the girls.
Dave’s smile nearly took in his ears. “From Army dudes in tanks! Best teachers in the world!”
Buster rolled his eyes . . ..
* * *
Jamie worked his blades furiously. The shinobi-to, he used for blocking, saving the longer ninja-to for striking back. The Warui field ninja, known as genin, weren’t particularly skilled when compared to the two Funakoshi chunin, but there was a veritable army of them.
He risked a glance over his shoulder to see how Yoshi was faring. She was fighting admirably. Most of the intelligent ninja were staying back from her, or, rather, from those deadly blades of hers. She’d already taken down five to Jamie’s three.
One of the ninja slipped past his defenses and swung his blade wildly. Jamie moved his head back in time to keep from losing it, but the blade scored a hit on his right cheekbone, just below the eye. The attack threw his antagonist off balance, however, and Jamie slammed his knee into his stomach, crumpling the genin to the ground like a rag doll.
“I do not think that we can hold out much longer!” yelled Yoshi from behind him.
Invasion of the Ninja Page 9