Young Samurai _ The Way Of The Dragon - Chris Bradford [88]
‘Then why give us armour?’
‘We’re the reserve. That’s why we’ve been stationed in the inner bailey. It’s the safest place before the keep itself.’
‘But what if the enemy gets in?’
‘That won’t happen. You saw the defences. No army can cross two moats and scale these fortified walls. Osaka Castle will never fall.’
As they were talking, four castle guards approached Jack. The lead guard addressed him.
‘Jack Fletcher, you are to accompany us to the keep.’
38
FATHER BOBADILLO
Jack was frogmarched along a narrow road, the walls closing in on either side of him as they approached a huge iron-clad timber gateway, guarded by foot soldiers with spears. The doors swung open and they entered an inner courtyard bordered by plum and sakura trees. The keep was much closer now and Jack had to incline his head to see the uppermost floor.
Passing a tea garden with an oval pond, then a central well house, they crossed to the main entrance of the keep. As they approached the large fortified doorway set into its immense stone base, samurai guards challenged them, their hands ready on their swords. The Council were clearly taking no chances with Satoshi’s safety. Jack also noticed a patrol circling the donjon. The lead guard gave the password and the gate was opened.
Once inside, the guards kicked off their sandals and Jack did likewise. The wooden interior was dark and it took a few moments for Jack’s eyes to adjust. Off to one side, Jack spotted a storeroom stacked with gunpowder, muskets, arquebuses and spears. Expecting to find stone steps leading up to the main floor, Jack was amazed to discover there were three levels within the base of the keep alone. Ascending several wooden staircases, they passed more guards and countless rooms, but only when they reached the fourth floor were there any windows.
The sun was now low on the horizon and Jack could see for miles across the Tenno-ji Plain. Below were the three main encircling walls of the castle and beyond that the city, stretched out like a patchwork quilt to the harbour and the sea. It was so tantalizingly close. Perhaps, thought Jack, when this was all over, he could find a Japanese ship in the harbour bound for Nagasaki and from there make his way home.
His escort abruptly halted before a large wooden door on the fifth floor. There were no guards here and Jack had no idea what to expect. The samurai hadn’t spoken a word to him since the barracks, so Jack didn’t know whether he’d been arrested or was about to meet the ruler-in-waiting. The uneasy sensation in his stomach returned as the door was pulled back.
‘Come into my study,’ said a voice, thick and oily as tar.
Before him stood the European man from Satoshi’s retinue, his hair slick and shiny in the lamplight. No longer dressed in a Japanese kimono, he wore the distinctive buttonless cassock and cape of a Portuguese Jesuit priest. Jack tried to suppress the surge of fear he felt at discovering a sworn enemy of England held a position of power in the castle.
Jack entered the priest’s study and was momentarily disorientated. It was as if he’d stepped to the other side of the world. The room was fashioned in an entirely European manner. The walls and ceiling were wood-panelled. A heavy oak table with intricately carved legs dominated the room. Upon its surface were two silver candleholders and a pewter jug containing water. Behind was a large wooden chair, in which the priest now seated himself, its headrest decorated in the floral swirling pattern so popular among the courts of Europe. In one corner was a dark mahogany casket secured with a large lockplate. Above it on the wall was an oil painting, a portrait of St Ignatius, the founder of the Jesuits; and in a recess were a number of thick leatherbound books. The furnishings were so wholly un-Japanese that Jack experienced an overwhelming pang of homesickness.
‘Sit down,’ instructed the priest as the door was closed.
Jack instinctively knelt down on the floor.
‘In the chair,’ the priest said,