Young Samurai _ The Way Of The Dragon - Chris Bradford [91]
With each day that passed, more and more troops loyal to Satoshi arrived. They brought news of skirmishes breaking out across the country and of a huge force advancing upon Osaka. Jack was astounded at the number of foreigners and Japanese converts now gathered inside the walls of the castle. Daimyo Takatomi’s crusade had evidently driven all the missionaries to seek refuge with Satoshi. The presence of so many European faces should have been comforting to Jack, but none appeared to be English or Dutch. Bar the occasional trader or merchant, everyone was either a Spanish friar or a Portuguese Jesuit.
‘This is suicidal,’ whispered Yamato as they approached the first set of gates. ‘My father will disown me for this.’
He and Akiko, dressed in full armour and with menpō covering their faces, escorted Jack up the narrow road towards the inner courtyard.
‘Just march like you’ve got every reason to enter and don’t stop,’ hissed Akiko.
One of the foot soldiers, spear in hand, stepped into their path.
Before he could even challenge them, Akiko ordered, ‘Open the gates!’
The man hesitated, taken aback at hearing a girl’s voice from behind the mask.
‘Now! This boy’s a guest of Father Bobadillo.’
Her tone was so authoritative that the bewildered man hurried to the door. The guards all bowed as the three of them passed through.
‘I told you it wouldn’t be a problem,’ said Akiko smugly. ‘Ashigaru follow orders. They don’t question them.’
They crossed the courtyard to the main entrance of the keep. Two samurai guards blocked their way. Jack realized this would be an entirely different matter. They weren’t lower-status ashigaru.
‘Password,’ demanded the one on the right.
Yamato gave them the answer Jack had heard his guard utter the previous week.
‘That’s an old password,’ stated the samurai.
Yamato stood there, speechless, unsure what to do next. The other guard reached for his sword. Jack began to sweat. While their attempt to enter the keep was unlikely to result in a fight, they would have some serious explaining to do.
‘How annoying!’ complained Akiko, pulling off her mask. ‘Saburo-san has given us the wrong password. I bet he’s done this on purpose to embarrass us.’
The guards looked at her, taken by surprise to discover a young girl behind the menpō. Jack and Yamato exchanged worried glances, as bemused as the guards by Akiko’s outburst.
‘We’re going to be the laughing stock of the school!’ she said, directing her irritation at Yamato. ‘Our first assignment as samurai warriors for daimyo Takatomi and we can’t even escort a boy to Father Bobadillo!’
One of the guards smirked at her anguish. Akiko turned to him, her eyes pleading. ‘Please let us pass. The boy’s been summoned to the keep before. You can’t forget a face like his, can you?’
Grimacing and wrinkling up her nose, she pointed to Jack’s much bigger one and the guards fell about laughing. Jack wasn’t so impressed. He wondered if she really did think that.
Lowering her eyelashes, Akiko gave the man an innocent look. ‘It’ll be so shameful to return without accomplishing such a simple order.’
The guard’s resolve weakened under her gaze. He looked again at Jack and grunted in recognition.
‘Fifth floor, but no further. Beyond that are his lordship’s personal guard and they’re not so understanding.’
‘Thank you,’ she said, bowing and replacing the menpō.
The three of them entered the keep. Slipping off their sandals, they ascended the stairs, Yamato taking the lead.
‘I hope I didn’t offend you,’ whispered Akiko in Jack’s ear.
‘No, of course not,’ replied Jack quickly, feeling his face flush.
‘Which way now?’ asked Yamato as they reached the fifth floor.
‘Um… left,’ said Jack, a little flustered in case his friend noticed his reddened