Young Samurai _ The Way Of The Dragon - Chris Bradford [89]
Jack sat down, still dumbfounded by the appearance of the room.
‘Do you understand me?’ enquired the priest, slowly enunciating the words as if Jack was an idiot. ‘Or would you prefer me to speak… English?’
Jack snapped to attention, immediately wary of the man. Despite his apparent friendliness, there was something snakelike and conniving about his manner. He’d not told the priest where he was from, so clearly the Jesuit was well aware of how he’d come to be in Japan. Though Jack desperately wanted to speak English after all these years, he needed to make clear he wasn’t to be taken for a fool.
‘Japanese is fine. Or Portuguese, if you prefer,’ replied Jack, thankful his mother, a teacher, had taught him some of the language.
The priest smiled thinly. ‘It is pleasing to discover you’re educated. For a moment I was worried you were a lowly ship’s boy. But we shall speak in English. I’m sure you’ve missed your mother tongue.
‘My name is Father Diego Bobadillo, a brother of the Society of Jesus, the protectorate of the Catholic Church and the head of the missionaries here in Japan. I am also a key adviser to his lordship Hasegawa Satoshi.’
Jack realized this was the very man Father Lucius, the Jesuit priest in Toba, had asked him to deliver the Japanese–Portuguese dictionary to.
‘I was meant to find you,’ interrupted Jack. ‘I knew Father Lucius.’
The priest raised an eyebrow, but otherwise seemed unsurprised at the news. Father Lucius had evidently informed his superior of their meetings.
‘His dying wish was for me to give you his dictionary. I’m sorry to say it was stolen.’
‘That is a great shame, but don’t trouble yourself over it,’ replied the priest, dismissing the issue with a wave of his hand.
Jack was both relieved and astonished by the priest’s indifference. ‘But it was Father Lucius’s life’s work. It took him over ten years. He said it was the only one in existence –’
‘What’s gone is gone.’
‘But Dragon Eye, the ninja, stole it.’
‘I can’t say I’ve heard of the man,’ replied the priest, his brow furrowing. ‘Besides, what would a ninja want with a dictionary?’
‘He wasn’t after the dictionary, he was after…’
Jack stopped. This priest was cunning. He had a way of leading him on. By talking in English, he’d got Jack to drop his guard. If Jack wasn’t careful, he would reveal too much.
‘Go on,’ encouraged Father Bobadillo.
Jack suddenly seized on the idea that this influential Jesuit might be able to instigate an official search for Dragon Eye and this could lead him to the rutter.
‘He was after… me,’ repeated Jack, correcting his answer. ‘But Father Lucius insisted the dictionary was crucial for the Brotherhood to spread your faith in Japan. Surely you want to get it back from the ninja?’
‘If you haven’t noticed, we’re faced with the possibility of war,’ said Father Bobadillo, his voice thick with sarcasm. ‘A dictionary is the least of my concerns. You, however, are a concern.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘I’m right to believe that Father Lucius was unsuccessful in persuading you to follow the true path, am I not?’
Jack answered ardently, ‘I’m already following the true path.’
Father Bobadillo sighed. ‘We’re not here to discuss semantics, or lost causes. I have made his lordship aware of the traitorous tendencies of the English.’
He held up his hand, warning Jack not to interrupt.
‘I want to make it very clear that your presence in this castle is only tolerated because of your adoption by Masamoto-sama. When his lordship’s forces win this war, the Society of Jesus will be made the state religion and heretics like yourself will not be welcome on these shores. Ever.’
Jack wondered how the priest could be so certain of the Jesuits’ rise to power, then remembered