‘Is Hoshizuna-no-hama populated?’ Mr Doyle asked.
‘Only by a few people,’ Hiro said. ‘Supply ships service these islands monthly.’
The sun was now straddling the far horizon.
‘We had best make camp,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘Tomorrow will be a big day.’
It only took a few minutes to unpack the vessel. Mr Doyle pulled out the tents. They were made of a super-thin material, designed by the Darwinists, and silver-coloured.
‘Apparently it’s derived from spider’s web,’ Mr Doyle said. ‘Virtually unbreakable.’
The scuba tanks—single torpedo-shaped cylinders filled with compressed air—and goldfish bowl helmets were left onboard the dragonfly, as they wouldn’t be needed until the next day.
The wind began to turn cool as the sky darkened. Jack suspected it would get cold later. After making a fire, Hiro chopped up assorted vegetables at lightning speed and was serving a meal within minutes.
‘You’re so fast,’ Jack said.
‘My parents taught me to prepare meals from when I was very young,’ Hiro explained. ‘They both worked a lot.’
‘So you didn’t have many holidays?’
‘We used to go camping. There was a park ground we visited a lot. They were killed in an accident when I was young.’
‘You must miss them,’ Jack said. He told Hiro about the incident involving his own parents. ‘It’s hard to lose someone you’re close to.’
‘I don’t remember them very well,’ Hiro said. ‘It happened when I was five. After their deaths I went to live with my aunt and uncle, who owned a clothing factory and taught me everything about their business.’
‘Why aren’t you working there now?’ Mr Doyle asked.
‘The business failed.’ Hiro did not speak for some time, swallowing hard. ‘A local crime boss tried to extort money from them, but they would not pay.
‘One day, after working with my uncle at the factory, I went home to help my aunt make dinner. I still remember what we cooked: grilled salmon and vegetables. At first I thought uncle was running late. Putting the meal in the oven to keep it warm, I read a book and waited.’
Hiro paused. Jack watched the boy’s haunted eyes in the dim light. He looked almost like a different person.
‘My aunt finally pointed out how late it was,’ Hiro said. ‘I’ll never forget looking at my watch and the terrible shock I felt when I realised the time. I knew something was wrong. I ran from the house. The roads were congested and it took me almost an hour to get to our factory. When I arrived it was completely dark.
‘My uncle’s body was lying behind his desk. He had been shot by the crime boss. In his hand...’ Hiro swallowed hard. ‘There was a small picture frame in his hand. After he was shot, I think he was able to drag himself to his desk and grasp it. It was a family picture of us all.’
‘What did the police do?’ Jack asked.
‘They were being bribed.’ Hiro sighed. ‘After my uncle was killed, my aunt tried to continue the business, but the workers were afraid for their own lives and left.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that,’ Jack said, gently. ‘And you now make your living as a guide?’
‘It’s good money,’ Hiro said, not meeting their eyes. ‘One day I will have my own business.’
‘I’m sure you will.’
Finishing their meal, they washed up and went to their tents.
Jack lay in his sleeping bag, watching the wind blow against the tent’s walls. He felt bad for Hiro.
We have a lot in common, he thought. Not only have we both lost our parents, but we’re in love with the same girl.
Turning his head, Jack looked through a tiny gauze window at the darkened ocean. Tokyo was very distant, and London even further. He thought about the visit from Anton Drexler. What had the man said?
When the next war begins—and there will be another war—I will personally make certain you and everyone you hold dear is annihilated.
Jack shuddered. What a terrible man.
Closing his eyes, Jack slept, but his dreams were unsettled. He found himself on a battlefield, surrounded by trenches. It was dusk and clouds were scudding across the horizon. Men lay dying all around. Some had been shot. Others had been blown up.
A series of artillery shots exploded on the horizon. Jack stared at them in fascination before realising they were drawing nearer. He ran, but the explosions continued to grow louder. Reaching the top of a hill, Jack saw a fire had started on the battlefield, enveloping everything in its path.
I can’t get away, he thought. It’s moving too fast.
He looked down. A blanket and a sword had mysteriously appeared at his feet. I can use the blanket to fight back the fire. The flames had reached the bottom of the hill and were now racing up on all sides, consuming everything in their path.
Jack beat them back with the blanket, but within seconds the material had begun to smoulder. He dropped the blanket as the flames surrounded him.
It’s not working, he thought. I’m going to die.
Then Jack looked across at another hill. At the top stood a small man—Hikaru Satou. The old man nodded sagely at him.
Hesitantly, Jack picked up the sword.
There is a gap between knowing and science.
His hands shook as he raised it overhead.
The Kusanagi Sword can only be wielded by one who is true of heart and believes in its power.
The sword began to glow.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
‘Jack?’
Opening his eyes, Jack saw Scarlet’s head poking in the door of his tent.
‘Wake up, sleepyhead,’ she said. ‘We’re having a cup of tea before we go diving.’
Outside, the sun had just risen and the sky was similar to that in his dream. Scarlet had said that dreams sometimes revealed things from a person’s subconscious.
‘What do you think it all means?’ he asked her, after explaining the dream.
‘I’m not sure,’ Scarlet said. ‘It sounds like a mishmash of things: the visit from that horrible man, Drexler, the possibility of another war, and the visit to Mr Satou’s garden.’
Mr Doyle had already begun preparing the diving gear.
‘Have you ever dived before?’ he asked them.
Hiro had many times, but it was new to Jack and Scarlet. Mr Doyle explained how the system worked. The metal and glass helmet screwed onto a canvas suit. A pipe ran from the oxygen tank, worn like a backpack, to a flange at the back of the helmet. Mr Doyle pointed at weights on the belt.
‘These will take us down to the bottom,’ he said.
‘And to get back up?’ Jack asked.
‘This is a buoyancy control bag,’ Mr Doyle explained, pointing at an odd sack on the side. ‘It’s a bladder that fills with air that will gradually allow us to ascend.’
They all went to get changed. After clambering into his gear, Jack emerged to find Mr Doyle waiting, staring out at the sea.
‘Mr Doyle,’ he said.
‘I’m sorry, my boy,’ he said. ‘I was just thinking about the possibility of another war.’
‘Do you think it’ll happen?’
‘The last war is still fresh in people’s minds. Most people will do whatever they can to avoid another.’
Scarlet and Hiro climbed from their tents. Hiro pointed at the bottom of Mr Doyle’s suit.
‘You have a problem with your suit,’ he said.
Mr Doyle cursed. ‘This is torn,’ he said, showing them a rip in one of the legs. ‘Dash it all. I’ll need to repair it before I can go down.’
He searched the vessel but ten minutes later returned, frowning.
‘The repair kit’s not there,’ he said.
Hiro looked distressed. ‘I should have checked the equipment,’ he said. ‘This is my fault.’
‘Don’t be too hard on yourself,’ Mr Doyle consoled him. ‘But I’m not sure what we’ll do.’
‘Hiro and I can still go down,’ Jack said.
‘We all can,’ Scarlet said, elbowing Jack.
‘I’m not sure—’
‘We’ll have Hiro with us,’ Scarlet said. ‘He’s done lots of diving. And it means there are three of us if we get into trouble.’
The detective still looked uncertain.
‘Mr Doyle,’ Jack said. ‘We’ve come all this way. We can’t turn back now.’
Grudgingly, Mr Doyle agreed, but he made them promise to be careful.
‘Have you ever known me to take a risk?’ Jack asked.
The detective harrumphed. Then, leading them to the water’s edge, he said, ‘The map is sparse on detail. The next clue is somewhere off shore, but you’ll have to search a large area. There’s only three hour’s worth of air in your tanks.’
‘We’ll divide the bottom into a grid,’ Hiro said. ‘After walking the length of the seabed, parallel to the beach, we’ll head out another twenty feet, turn and return to the starting point. Then we will repeat that until we find the clue.’
Wading into the water, Hiro told Jack and Scarlet to duck their heads and test the gear. Jack found himself peering at a strange underwater world where the visibility faded after twenty feet.
How will we find the next clue?
Lifting his head, he spotted Mr Doyle on the shore. The detective gave him a wave and mouthed something. Be careful. Jack nodded.
He swam after Hiro and Scarlet as the sandbar gradually dropped away. As the water got deeper, it grew clearer, and Jack could see an underwater terrain of sandy hills about fifty feet down. The distant sun cut channels of light through the misty water, reflecting off a school of silver fish that stopped to look at them before darting away.
After a minute, Hiro signalled for them to stop. They turned left and walked three abreast along the length of the sand, then did a U-turn to return.
Jack checked his air tank. He still had over two hours.
They continued combing the seabed. Just as he was beginning to think they would never find anything, he saw a rocky outcrop with a dark shadow underneath.
He signalled the others and they swam to it. The shadow proved to be a tunnel, wide enough for the three of them. The tunnel curved around, heading back towards the island. Soon the light had dimmed to almost nothing.
We’re back under the island again, Jack thought. We’ll be in darkness soon.
Just then, he saw a faint glow ahead, like a distant star. Jack’s head broke the surface and he found himself in a pool adjacent to an underground stone room with a timber door at the far end. It was so dark it was almost impossible to see anything. The only light entering was through a tiny circular hole in the ceiling.
They removed their diving gear. The floor was ankle-deep in old leaves and the air smelt musty.
‘We’re under the island,’ Jack said. ‘That hole must be a location that’s impossible for people to reach, so they’ve never seen this room.’
‘But what is it?’ Scarlet said, peering about.
‘I don’t know,’ Hiro replied. ‘It is not a temple—or not like any temple I have ever seen.’
‘There’s markings on that door,’ Scarlet said. ‘Let’s take a closer look.’
As they started forward, a small alarm went off in the back of Jack’s mind. ‘Maybe we should wait—’
But he was too late.
Boom!
A stone wall slammed into place behind them.
Hiro pointed to the walls on each side. ‘They are moving!’ he cried.
Jack went to the door. It was solid, made of camphor. ‘There are engravings on here,’ he said. ‘Some kind of picture.’
Scarlet’s mouth fell open. ‘Yes!’ she cried, clapping her hands together with excitement. ‘This has never happened before!’
‘What?’ Jack said.
‘The converging walls! It happens in almost every Brinkie Buckeridge novel. She enters a room and the walls start to move in from both sides, threatening to crush her to a pulp!’
‘I’m so glad you’re pleased. So how do we get out of here?’
‘The picture must be a puzzle. Solving it will open the door.’
‘And if we don’t?’
‘Then we’ll all end up a lot skinnier.’
They frantically examined the engravings. A winding line ran from the top of the door to the bottom with six horizontal lines dividing it into twelve sections. An image of a man, fox, bird and pile of beans was in the top left corner, and the same in the bottom right. The pictures were repeated on timber buttons in each of the squares.
Jack groaned. ‘What does it mean?’ he asked, eyeing the converging walls. They would meet in a matter of minutes.
‘I don’t know,’ Scarlet said. ‘It’s never this hard in the books.’
Jack turned to Hiro. ‘What do you think?’
‘We may be in luck,’ Hiro said, thoughtfully. ‘This is an ancient puzzle. There have been many variations over the years, but here is the essence of it: a farmer has to transport a fox, bird and beans across the river.’
A trickle of sweat ran down Jack’s face as the walls continued to converge.
‘So?’ he said. ‘That’s easy enough.’
‘Except he can only transport one item at a time. If he takes the fox, the bird will be left behind and eat the beans. If he takes the beans, the fox will eat the bird.’
‘All right. So he just needs to take the bird across first, then the fox...’ He stopped. ‘Oh, that would leave the fox and bird together while he goes back for the beans.’
The walls were now about five feet apart.
‘Yes,’ Hiro agreed. ‘It is very puzzling.’
‘So how is it solved?’ Jack asked.
‘I don’t remember.’
‘You don’t remember?’
‘Don’t blame Hiro,’ Scarlet scolded Jack. ‘I don’t see you coming up with an answer.’
You’re only defending him because he’s your boyfriend, Jack thought.
‘Wait!’ Hiro said. ‘I know what to do.’ He pointed at the figures. ‘The farmer takes the bird, then the beans, but then he returns the bird and takes the fox back.’
Scarlet shrieked. ‘And then he comes back for the bird!’
‘Yes!’ Jack yelled. ‘That’s it!’
The walls were almost upon them. Hiro pushed the buttons, representing the paths of the bird, beans and fox. The walls stopped and the door clicked open.
‘That was much easier than in The Adventure of the Squashed Guide,’ Scarlet said.
They stepped through.
‘What on earth—’ Jack started.
A cavern lay ahead, lit by another circular hole in the middle of the roof. At its centre was a stone column surrounded by a spidery wooden structure. Timber posts speared up from the ground and intersected with planks that ran from one to another. A few ladders led to the tops of other poles. Half-a-dozen skeletons lay scattered around the floor.
‘I don’t think we’re the first ones here,’ Jack said.
‘I think you’re right,’ Scarlet said.
A click came from behind as the door shut. Jack tried reopening it, but there was no handle.
‘So we’re trapped here,’ he said.
‘This cannot be a dead end,’ Hiro said. ‘Finding the parchment must lead us out.’
‘But how do we do that?’ Scarlet asked, looking at the strange construction in the middle of the cavern. ‘What is that thing?’
‘An obstacle course,’ Jack said. He pointed to the stone column in the middle. ‘I’d be willing to bet the next clue is at the top of that.’
‘You’re probably right, but it doesn’t look easy to get to.’
‘I can do it,’ Hiro said.
Jack felt a flush of anger. ‘Don’t be ridiculous!’ he snapped. ‘I used to be an acrobat in a circus. What experience do you have climbing around like a monkey?’
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