• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

SASUMATA

‘Are you certain this time?’ asked Ronin as the three of them discreetly followed the samurai and his entourage around the temple grounds.

‘That’s my inro,’ replied Jack, nodding. ‘Do you think he’s Botan?’

Ronin shook his head. ‘I was under the impression Botan was a low-ranking samurai. This man is of too high a status.’

‘So who is he?’ said Hana.

Ronin approached one of the monks feeding a tame deer to enquire. The monk humbly bowed his head as he answered. ‘That is daimyo Sanada, Lord of Nara Province.’

Jack felt a cold chill run through him. How had a samurai lord come into possession of his inro? This suggested an association between daimyo Sanada and the samurai Botan. Could it be that Botan and his gang had been working for daimyo Sanada all along? If so, this samurai lord might also have the rutter. And if he was aware of its significance the logbook could already be on its way to the Shogun!

Leaving the monk with his deer, the three of them continued to walk down the main thoroughfare, trailing their quarry.

‘I think daimyo Sanada could be behind my attack,’ said Jack.

‘The inro could be a copy?’ Ronin proposed.

Jack shook his head. ‘Daimyo Takatomi had the gift specifically commissioned. It’s one of a kind. Myself, Akiko and Yamato were each given different designs.’

‘Well, perhaps he bought it from Botan.’

Jack considered this. It was certainly possible. Whatever the truth, a connection between the two was indisputable and it might just lead them to the rutter.

‘I could steal it back for you,’ suggested Hana.

Ronin frowned at her. ‘His bodyguards would chop your hands off before you got anywhere near him.’

Her face went pale at the thought and she protectively pulled her hands inside her kimono sleeves.

‘We need to meet with him,’ said Jack. ‘Find out how he acquired my inro. And discover the whereabouts of the rutter.’

‘You can’t just walk up to him,’ said Ronin. ‘We’d need a formal invitation.’

Cautiously, Jack ventured, ‘Would your father’s name hold any sway?’

A shadow passed across Ronin’s face. ‘I doubt it. He was well respected but had his enemies. Besides, you wouldn’t get away with hiding your face in the presence of a daimyo.’

‘Why don’t we just find out where this lord lives?’ said Hana. ‘Then we could sneak in at night and search for the rutter. Like we did with the pearl.’

Ronin dismissed this suggestion with a wave of his hand. ‘A daimyo’s mansion is heavily guarded and likely to be booby-trapped. No samurai, let alone a girl thief, could accomplish such a mission. You’d need to be a ninja to get inside undetected!’

Jack tried not to smile at this. His ninjutsu stealth training meant he could attempt it.

‘It’s our only option,’ he said, much to Ronin’s surprise and Hana’s delight. ‘Let’s at least follow him home.’

Daimyo Sanada was already heading out of the Great Southern Gate and Jack and the others quickened their pace to catch up. Passing between the immense pillars that supported the gate’s curving roof, Jack spotted two fearsome muscular guardians upon either side of the entrance. These wooden statues, Agyō and Ungyō, the protectors of Buddha, glared down at them. They each held out a hand as if in warning to stop. But the warning came too late for Jack, Ronin and Hana.

As they stepped out of the Tōdai-ji’s grounds, the sound of dozens of running feet greeted them. In moments, they were surrounded by a company of dōshin. Each man held either a long bamboo staff or a sasumata – a pole with a vicious-looking U-shaped prong.

Ronin, Jack and Hana went for their swords, but they were immediately beaten with the staves, blows raining down upon them from every direction. Even if they could have used their weapons, their attackers remained out of reach at the ends of their poles. Driven back against the gate’s pillars, the three of them were pinned by the throat and arms with several sasumata.

‘And they said you were dangerous!’ smirked the leading officer, although he still kept a wary distance.

Just as Jack thought the punishing beating was over, his