Young Samurai _ The Way Of The Dragon - Chris Bradford [45]
Jack wondered where the leader was in all this. Hearing a clattering sound to his left, he spied a discarded saya out of the corner of his eye. Sensei Kano turned to face his adversary.
But the leader appeared to Jack’s right instead, sneaking silently towards the blind samurai. This was the first time Jack had caught sight of the man. Red-eyed, with a moustache consisting of two tufts of thick black hair either side of his nose, he looked as mean as a devil – and was as devious as one. Sandals in one hand, he crept round the edge of the room so as not to make the boards creak. In the other hand, he held his katana, its blade chipped and battleworn. Throwing a sandal close to where his saya had fallen, he moved even closer to Sensei Kano.
Sensei Kano held his staff out in the direction of the noises, unaware of the approaching man behind.
Tossing his other sandal into the far corner as a final distraction, the soldier thrust his sword into Sensei Kano’s back. But the bō master had already dropped to his knees and simultaneously driven his staff backwards into the groin of his attacker. The soldier, bent double with agony, didn’t stand a chance as Sensei Kano swivelled round and struck him a mighty blow across the temple with his bō. The man collapsed in a pile.
So intent upon the fight, Jack had failed to notice that Broken Nose had come to. The man was crawling towards him. His mouth hung ghoulishly open, all blood, gums and shattered teeth.
‘Die, gaijin!’ he spat.
Jack tried to wriggle away, but Broken Nose was already on his knees lifting the blade to drive it into Jack’s chest.
Suddenly a staff shot across the room like a spear, striking Broken Nose in the side of the head. His eyes rolled in their sockets and he fell face first to the wooden deck. Jack heard a crunch as several more teeth were knocked out of the man’s mouth.
Yamato ran into the room.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked, removing Jack’s gag.
‘I am now,’ coughed Jack. ‘Thanks to Sensei Kano’s bō.’
‘That was my bō!’
‘You threw it?’ said Jack, impressed at his friend’s skill.
‘New trick I learnt today,’ he replied, grinning with pride while he undid Jack’s bonds.
‘But one only to be used as a last resort, since you sacrifice your weapon,’ reminded Sensei Kano, dragging the three unconscious soldiers into a pile. ‘Yamato-kun, restrain these men with the rope. Masamoto-sama will decide their fate.’
‘You were lucky to survive, Sensei,’ said Jack, sitting up and rubbing at his wrists. ‘I thought that last one had you fooled.’
‘Luck had nothing to do with it,’ said Sensei Kano. ‘The man hadn’t washed for a month. It was I who fooled him.’
‘But how did you ever find me?’
‘Yori ran back to the Eikan-do Temple and told us what had happened,’ Yamato explained as he tied the three men’s hands together. ‘To begin with, it was a simple matter of following the water dripping from your kimono. But then the trail dried up. Fortunately, Sensei Kano could smell you nearby.’
‘But I had a bath yesterday,’ protested Jack.
‘Foreigners have a different odour to Japanese,’ explained Sensei Kano, wrinkling his nose and giving a great big belly laugh.
Sensei Kano escorted Jack, Yamato and the prisoners back to the Niten Ichi Ryū. As soon as they returned, Masamoto summoned Jack to the Hall of the Phoenix.
‘Despite my efforts on behalf of daimyo Takatomi, daimyo Kamakura’s campaign against Christians and foreigners continues to gather support,’ began Masamoto solemnly, sitting cross-legged upon his dais.
A maid brought in a pot of sencha and poured them each a cup before being dismissed. Masamoto now toyed with his, appearing too deep in thought to drink any.
‘We had been aware that he was offering rewards to those delivering so-called justice upon Christians. Daimyo Takatomi, being a recent convert to Christianity, was not best pleased. I, however, was not concerned for your personal safety,