CHAPTER 5

Finn froze, watching the four swordsmen approach Arthur and Tatsushi. The plan had been not to fight unless absolutely necessary, but would Arthur and Tatsushi be able to talk their way out of this? Their odds in a fight against four grown men weren’t good. He took aim at one of the men and held the bow half drawn, anxious for the situation to develop so that he knew whether to let his arrow fly. Every muscle taut, Finn waited… and waited. Nothing was happening – neither the boys nor the men were moving or making a sound. Then, as Finn’s every sense strained to pick up any signal, he heard the sound of low whispering and moments later Arthur turned and began creeping back towards Finn, while Tatsushi and the four men slunk into the shadows.

“What’s going on?” Finn hissed as his brother drew near.

“Those men were villagers,” Arthur panted. “They’re on our side. The Kurodas are holed up here alright. It seems to be the same thing as back at Tatsushi’s village. They told a samurai to sacrifice his life and said they’d spare the rest.”

“What about Mayuko?”

“Those four men are taking Tatsushi to the house she’s in. They said they’ll bust her out but they made us promise we’d help them fight the Kurodas. We had no choice,” Arthur went on before Finn could react. “They said they’d raise the alarm otherwise.”

Finn groaned inwardly. “How many on our side?”

“Don’t know. But Tatsushi told them that they had to free Mayuko first before any fighting started.”

Finn rubbed the bridge of his nose. Their mission to release Mayuko in secret and steal away before the Kurodas knew what was happening, and more importantly before Tatsushi got into a situation where he would lose his cool, wasn’t panning out at all.

“There’s nothing we can do about it for now,” said Arthur pragmatically, filling Finn’s silence. “We’ll just have to wait for them here and then try and persuade them not to fight after all once they’ve freed – ”

He broke off at the sound of shouts from the village, swiftly followed by the cry of a heron. Without a moment’s hesitation the boys snatched up their weapons and raced forward, bows across their shoulders and swords drawn. As they reached the first house the fighting had begun already and they skidded to a stop. Halfway through the village the boys could see Tatsushi and Mayuko alongside the four swordsmen from the trees. They were arranged in two lines of three, one line facing in each direction along the road. At Tatsushi’s feet lay two bodies. Beyond the group were five other men, swords drawn and snarling as they prepared to strike. Blocking Finn and Arthur’s route to their friends was a second group of Kuroda’s men, growing as more of them spilled out from the house in which they’d been drinking. The boys had still not been seen and Arthur thought fast.

“We need to get behind that smaller group at the far end,” he whispered, and darted off the road with Finn close behind him. Arthur led the way to the back of the houses on one side of the village and the boys crept forward from house to house, sprinting each short distance where gaps between the buildings left them exposed to view from the road. They drew level with Tatsushi and his group and passed by unseen. The taunts of the Kurodas rang through the village and it seemed they were sure to attack at any moment. Praying that their enemies would have all eyes on Tatsushi’s band the boys dashed to the last house and crept along its side to the road. Arthur peered around the corner of the house and ducked back again.

“We’re behind them,” he whispered. “I’m going to crawl across to the other side. As soon as I get there we start shooting. We should be able to get two or three of them and then Tatsushi and the others can break through whoever’s left.”

“Then what?”

“Then we run for it.”

Finn nodded and once again notched an arrow as Arthur dropped to the floor and began crawling on his belly and elbows across the road.

The Kurodas were laughing at their enemies now, amused that a group of two children and four peasants would try and take them on. One voice in particular dominated the others – the voice belonging to the samurai who had snatched Mayuko away from her father’s body the day before. Finn was trembling as the adrenalin took hold, but felt sure they would be able to get rid of the five men in front of them. And then, midway across the road, with the dust of the road surrounding him, Arthur sneezed. One of the Kurodas spun around at the sound. The man’s eyes widened as he saw Arthur and he shouted in alarm. It was to be his final breath. Barely had the sound left his lips before he crumpled to the floor, Finn’s arrow protruding from between his ribs.

The whole village burst into action. Arthur leapt to his feet and whipped an arrow onto his bowstring just as Finn prepared his second shot. The four remaining Kurodas of the nearest group leapt to either side of the road, seeking cover behind the houses. Two of them fell as they ran, Finn and Arthur both finding their marks. The larger mob of Kurodas at the other end of the village bellowed in rage and began running towards them, brandishing swords and spears, while Tatsushi, Mayuko and the villagers, seeing their opportunity, exploded into a sprint along the road towards Finn, Arthur and the darkness that engulfed the road beyond the edge of the village.

Spears hissed into the ground around them and they ran for their lives. As their feet pounded the ground beneath them they left the village behind and darkness swallowed them up.

“We should get off the road!” Finn panted.

“Impossible for now,” someone replied – “There are high rocks on both sides. We will be past them soon.” They heard the neighing of horses behind them and each of them tried to squeeze a little more speed out of their burning muscles. And then they heard more horses in front of them and they skidded to a halt. It was only a second before they saw what lay ahead, but the moment seemed to stretch impossibly as their hearts sank to new lows.

“Kuroda’s men are on a rampage,” Tatsushi shouted desperately at the shadowy figures of several horsemen who had begun to take form before their eyes. “Whoever you are please let us past!”

“Hanzo Uchida’s son,” came a familiar voice. “Let them through.”

“Ryu!” cried Mayuko, and the boys could have wept with relief.

“And seven loyal samurai,” Ryu replied.

“The Kurodas are too many,” Tatsushi began. But his voice was nearly drowned out by the roar of the onrushing gang.

“Forward, stay mounted,” someone shouted. The seven samurai kicked their horses on, and the men from the village turned and followed them while Ryu wheeled his horse around, blocking the remaining group.

“We should stay and fight,” Tatsushi protested.

“No,” Ryu snapped. “Stay focussed. You came for Mayuko and now she is free. We run now and plan our next move against Kuroda himself.”

“He’s right,” said Finn.

Tatsushi argued no further and the group pressed forward away from the village just as the shouts and screams of battle began to echo between the rocks behind them.

ORDINARY LIFE IN MEDIEVAL JAPAN

Different types of people are ranked in a strict order in medieval Japan. This is OK if you are near the top of the ranking system, but not so good if you are low down.

LORD

Right at the top of the pile is the Lord or Daimyo. He owns most of the land in the area, lives in a fancy palace and has plenty of servants and an army of samurai to do his bidding.

SAMURAI

They are the warriors who fight for the Lord, so they are respected and feared and many of them become very wealthy (despite their code of honour saying that they should live simply). Nobody of a lower rank is allowed to carry a sword, so you’re safe from jealous commoners.

COMMONERS

Farmers, then craftsmen, then merchants – in that order – make up the ranks of commoners. They are not allowed to use a family name, they pay taxes to the Lord and are generally not able to do much about it, unless they have a particularly good Lord.

OUTCASTS

The lowest of the low, outcasts are tasked with the dirty jobs like executing criminals, butchering animals for food, sorting out the sewage etc. If your parents are outcasts then so are you and you can’t change that. End of story.