The Ring Of Water Part 7

BREAKING AND ENTERING.

The streets of Kizu were virtually deserted, an autumnal chill to the night air. The merchant's house, a two-storey building with an ornate balcony to its rear, was situated within a walled garden on the outskirts of town.

'Are you sure we should be doing this?' whispered Jack, peering through the impressive wooden gates.

'It's not stealing if it's stolen from you in the first place,' Ronin replied.

Jack couldn't argue with that, but it didn't allay his fears.

'Besides,' Ronin added, 'she's the only one breaking the law.' the only one breaking the law.'

Hana stood sullenly next to Ronin. They had spent the afternoon discussing the best way to retrieve the pearl. A daylight robbery was considered too dangerous. There'd be witnesses, the possibility of a violent and unwanted confrontation, and a good chance of being caught by dos.h.i.+n dos.h.i.+n. A night-time burglary, on the other hand, should give them enough time to make their escape before the pearl's disappearance was discovered.

Jack beckoned Ronin to one side. 'Now Hana knows the pearl's true value, what's to stop her running off with it?'

'Good point. Go with her.'

'Me?'

'It's your your pearl,' remarked Ronin, between swigs of pearl,' remarked Ronin, between swigs of sake sake.

Jack wondered whether it was worth taking such a risk, but he dearly wanted Akiko's gift back. The pearl symbolized their undying bond forever bound to one another forever bound to one another. And its imminent recovery gave him hope that he would eventually find all all his possessions most importantly, the his possessions most importantly, the rutter rutter.

'I'll need the money for the pearl then,' said Jack.

'We need it for food and...' Ronin shook the half-empty sake sake jug. jug.

'I know, but as samurai we must follow the code of bus.h.i.+do bus.h.i.+do and be honest. This money belongs to the merchant, even if he is a swindler.' and be honest. This money belongs to the merchant, even if he is a swindler.'

Acknowledging this fact with a grunt, Ronin handed him the coins and strode over to the treeline.

'I'll keep watch from here,' he said, crouching in the shadows with his dwindling supply of sake sake. 'Off you go!'

Hana looked at Jack. 'He's good at giving orders. Does your friend ever ever lift a finger?' lift a finger?'

Jack wouldn't have described Ronin exactly as a friend, but he remembered how the samurai had saved his life at the tea house. 'Sometimes.'

Leading the way, Hana headed to the lowest section of garden wall.

'You'd better not make a sound,' she cautioned.

'Don't worry, I won't,' replied Jack, offering his hands to boost Hana over.

Little did Hana know that Jack had trained in s.h.i.+n.o.bi aruki s.h.i.+n.o.bi aruki, the ninja art of stealth-walking. He silently slipped over the wall and landed nimbly beside Hana in the moonlit garden. A small tea house was set beside a pond amid well-tended shrubs and bushes. A pebbled pathway wound through this sculpted landscape, pa.s.sing a carved stone lantern before reaching the back entrance to the house.

Avoiding the path and the noise it would make they crept towards the main shoji shoji. The house was in darkness, but they knew the merchant and his wife were at home, having seen them return earlier that evening. As gently as she could, Hana eased the door open and peeked inside. The room was empty, except for an alcove containing a display of flowers and a hanging scroll of two birds perched upon a branch.

Leaving the door open for a quick escape, they entered a darkened hallway, at the end of which was a wooden staircase. Cautiously, they ascended to the second floor. But as Hana stepped on to the landing, one of the floorboards creaked.

They both froze.

For what seemed an eternity, they listened for the alarm to be raised and the sound of pounding feet. But no one came to investigate. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hana and Jack began to check each of the rooms in turn.

The first two were unoccupied and yielded nothing, but from the room overlooking the garden came the rhythmic sound of snoring. Jack put an eye to the crack between the shoji shoji and the frame. The merchant lay on his back, fast asleep. Next to him, on a separate and the frame. The merchant lay on his back, fast asleep. Next to him, on a separate futon futon, was his wife her head raised upon a box pillow, which supported her neck so her elaborate hairdo wasn't spoiled during the night.

As silent as a shadow, Hana tiptoed into the bedroom and began to hunt through the drawers of a finely wrought lacquered cabinet. She seemed to be taking an age rifling through its contents. Concerned the merchant or his wife would wake, Jack joined Hana in the search. But Akiko's black pearl was nowhere to be found among the lady's accessories.

Shaking her head, Hana closed the last of the drawers. As she turned to leave, Jack noticed a gleam of silver concealed in her left hand. During the planning, he'd made it clear that they were to retrieve the pearl, and only only the pearl. He gestured for her to put it back. Grudgingly, Hana returned the stolen jewel to its rightful place. It was then, with a clear view of the merchant's wife, Jack spotted the gold pin still fixed in her hair the black pearl almost invisible in the darkness. the pearl. He gestured for her to put it back. Grudgingly, Hana returned the stolen jewel to its rightful place. It was then, with a clear view of the merchant's wife, Jack spotted the gold pin still fixed in her hair the black pearl almost invisible in the darkness.

He motioned his find to Hana. She grimaced at the impossible task ahead. To remove the pin called for nerves of steel and a very very steady hand. steady hand.

Jack, however, was prepared for just such a job. He'd once been tasked with stealing a pillow from beneath the sleeping head of the ninja Grandmaster. Through a combination of cunning and skill, Jack had succeeded where many others had failed.

Quietening his mind in preparation for the task, Jack crept silently over to the sleeping woman. Crouching beside her, his breathing matching hers so as not to disturb her, he reached for the pearl. Ever so gently, he pulled...

But try as he might, the pin was caught fast in the lady's layers of hair. There appeared to be no way of removing it without waking her. Hana, seeing the problem, moved in to help. Ushering Jack aside, she reached over to undo the lady's artful knot of hair. But a comb she'd secretly stolen slipped from the folds of her kimono and clattered to the floor.

All of a sudden, the lady's eyes opened.

She stared in horror at Jack. A split second later, she let out a piercing scream.

Jack grabbed Hana and they fled from the room on to the balcony, where they jumped to the garden below. Hitting the ground running, they leapt over the wall and disappeared into the darkness.

15.

A NEW PLAN.

'I told you not not to steal anything!' said Jack as the two of them caught their breath in a paddy field outside the town. to steal anything!' said Jack as the two of them caught their breath in a paddy field outside the town.

'It was just a comb,' mumbled Hana apologetically.

Jack fumed. 'I had the pearl in my hand '

A snap of a branch made them both spin round. They were about to bolt when, weaving slightly, Ronin emerged from the cover of the forest.

'Did you get it?' he asked.

Glaring at Hana, Jack shook his head.

'What went wrong?'

'The lady woke up,' Jack replied through clenched teeth. He omitted Hana's blunder, knowing Ronin wouldn't be so forgiving.

'What are you going to do now?' Hana asked Jack in a timid voice. Her eyes flicked apprehensively to the swords on Ronin's hip.

Shrugging, Jack slumped down on an old tree stump, his head in his hands. It would be almost impossible to retrieve the pearl now. The merchant and his wife would be on their guard and would have alerted the dos.h.i.+n dos.h.i.+n to the break-in. to the break-in.

'We simply need a new plan,' said Ronin, handing Jack's staff and straw hat back to him. Then he settled himself against a tree, took a long draught from his bottle of sake sake, and closed his eyes.

'Sleeping's a great great plan!' remarked Jack, his tone heavy with sarcasm. plan!' remarked Jack, his tone heavy with sarcasm.

'Never do anything standing that you can do sitting, or anything sitting that you can do lying down. Now let me think.'

Leaving Ronin to his drunken contemplation, Jack stabbed angrily at the ground with the end of his staff. He considered abandoning the quest altogether. Was Akiko's pearl really worth the risks they were taking? However slim his chances, the sensible thing to do would be to head for Nagasaki as fast as he could instead of wasting time in pursuit of his lost belongings.

Hadn't the Riddling Monk said What you find is lost... What you find is lost... and and What you want is sacrificed What you want is sacrificed? He'd just have to accept that Akiko's precious pearl, though found, was otherwise lost to him.

Compelled by Jack's obvious dismay, Hana crept over to him. 'I'm really sorry...'

'Forget it,' said Jack, his initial anger with her having pa.s.sed. 'This isn't your problem. You shouldn't have been involved in the first place. Listen, you can go if you want.'

Hana laughed nervously. 'Your friend'll slice me into eight pieces if I do.'

'I won't let him.'

Hana didn't leave, though. She stood staring at Jack. She seemed almost reluctant to go, as if she didn't know where where to go. to go.

'This Akiko means a lot to you, doesn't she?'

Jack nodded, smiling at the very thought of her. 'Akiko's my best friend. She's been by my side from the first day I arrived in j.a.pan.'

'Why's she not with you now then?'

Jack sighed deeply. Feeling the ache in his heart, he remembered the time he'd left Akiko in Toba to ensure her family's safety, and then how she had said goodbye to him at the ninja village. 'Akiko needs to be with her mother. A daughter's duty,' explained Jack.

Hana nodded her understanding. 'It must be nice to have a mother.'

For the first time, Jack sensed a hollow loneliness behind the girl's spirited nature. 'Where's your family?' he asked.

Hana shook her head. 'What family? I've survived on my own for as long as I can remember.'

Jack suddenly felt compa.s.sion for this girl thief. Like him, she was an orphan, but at least he'd been fortunate enough to experience family life. Hana had no one. And despite the traumatic loss of both his mother and father, as far as he knew he still had Jess waiting for him in England.

The memory of his sister broke his melancholy and spurred him to act.

Realistically, he couldn't give up on his quest. Without his swords he was defenceless. Without money he'd starve. And without the rutter rutter, he had no future. Although the pearl wasn't essential for his journey, it was for the peace of his heart. Retrieving the gem was the first first step in recovering not only his possessions, but hopefully his memory too. step in recovering not only his possessions, but hopefully his memory too.

A complete blank still remained about what had happened to him. How had Manzo and his friends overcome him? He was a trained samurai warrior who'd fought in major battles and survived. He possessed the skills of a ninja and was in disguise at the time. Perhaps he'd been ambushed? Or maybe there'd been a whole gang of them? The only way to find out was to follow the clues he had, to get his life back piece by piece.

And the first piece was Akiko's pearl.

He vowed to himself to try one more time to retrieve it, then he'd go to Kyoto to find his swords, before hunting down those who had the rutter rutter. Once it was in his possession, he'd resume his journey to Nagasaki.

'I must must get back the pearl,' said Jack. get back the pearl,' said Jack.

'I'll help you,' Hana offered.

'Thank you, but you don't need to,' replied Jack, realizing the girl had enough problems of her own.

'But I want to,' Hana insisted. 'It's my fault you don't have it now. Besides, I want to teach that merchant a lesson. He swindled me... and called me a n.o.body n.o.body!'

Jack saw the defiance in her eyes and, deeper down, the hurt the merchant's cruel dismissal had inflicted.

All of a sudden, Ronin sat up and announced, 'We can make the merchant return your pearl willingly willingly.'

'How?' asked Jack.

'To start with, I need to get a job.'

16.

THE GAMBLER.

Clouds had gathered and a persistent drizzle fell from the sky as Ronin looked for a suitable place to shelter for the night. They kept to the outskirts of town, but most buildings appeared occupied.

'When will it ever ever stop raining?' complained Hana, hugging herself for warmth. stop raining?' complained Hana, hugging herself for warmth.

Suddenly up ahead a door opened and light spilled into the rain-washed street. A man stepped out, looking thoroughly dejected. From behind him raucous shouts of 'Odd!' and 'Even!' punctuated the night air. A moment later, these were replaced by cries of elation mixed with groans of disappointment.

'A gambling den,' Ronin hissed as the three of them ducked into a side alley to avoid being seen.

The man slammed the door shut, then morosely wandered down the road. As he drew near, Hana gasped. 'I recognize him.'

She squinted harder. Dressed in a dark blue kimono, the man's topknot hairstyle indicated he was a samurai, although he wasn't carrying any swords.

'I think he's the man I stole your pearl from,' whispered Hana.

'Are you certain?' asked Jack, feeling a small thrill of hope at their unexpected good fortune.

Hana nodded. 'This isn't a big town. There aren't that many samurai around.'

Ronin strode out of the alley and into the man's path.

'Do I know you?' enquired the man, trying to make out Ronin's face in the darkness.

'No! And you don't want to,' Ronin replied, grabbing the man by the scruff of his kimono and dragging him into the alley. 'But you do know this this samurai!' samurai!'