On the far side of the sec gates, it was possible to see the tops of some slender conifers. A murder of crows suddenly flew noisily into the air, circling, etching their black shadows against the sky.
Ryan opened the gate and looked through the gap. They were on top of a steepish hill, the road winding away, lined with a dark mass of pines.
The others joined him.
“Lovely view,” he said, his words punctuated by a hissing sound as two unusually long arrows thunked into the turf a yard in front of him.
Chapter Six
“Ho, gaijin !” The voice had an odd, hollow quality to it, sounding high and strained.
“Nobody move,” Ryan said. “Got us cold.”
“Might only be two of them,” Jak whispered, dropping into a shootist’s crouch, his red eyes darting around the blank walls of the forest.
“Might be two hundred,” Ryan replied. “Best wait and see before we commit suicide.”
“Ho, gaijin . We wish you to accept the hospitality of our lord, Mashashige.”
“What’s he calling us?” J.B. asked, his finger white on the trigger of the Uzi.
” Gaijin .” Mildred had fallen naturally into the classic two-eyed stance of the shootistlegs slightly apart, sideways on to where the voice came from, right arm extended, the muzzle of the revolver describing slow circles, back and forth. “Means a foreigner. An outlander.”
“How come you by such esoteric knowledge, madam? Is there no end to your wisdom?”
“Shared a room at med school with a Japanese woman. Suki Hokashani. Father was a baseball ace. She taught me a few words. Gaijin was what she used to call me when I did something she thought was stupid.”
Doc had turned and walked a couple of paces toward the half-open gates of the house. There was a barked word of command, and two more of the long feathered shafts crossed in front of him, missing him by a scant couple of feet.
“Upon my soul! They nearly kabobed me. Dangerous fellows, these samurai.”
“I said to stand still,” Ryan hissed. “Make a wrong move, and it’s pincushion time all around.”
“I have not heard any reply to let us know whether you wish to encounter the hospitality of our lord, Mashashige. Or whether you wish to take the dark journey to meet up with the spirits of your ancestors.”
“He means kill us,” Krysty whispered.
“I got the picture.” Ryan looked to both sides, shaking his head at the hopelessness of the situation. The consoling feature was that the hidden archers could almost certainly have chilled them all without once showing themselves.
And they hadn’t.
“Got any good Japanese words to accept their kind offer, Mildred?”
“Afraid not. All I know is that they wrap things up a lot when they speak. Sort of flowery.”
“What does the kokujin woman say?” the voice called. “She should keep silent. This is the business of men. Of warriors. Tell her, One-Eye.”
Ryan turned to face Mildred. ” Kokujin mean what I think?” he asked quietly.
“Yeah. They got a special word for us black folks, Ryan.”
“Well, since they got the drop on us, I guess we better do like they say. Sorry about this.”
“Rage ahead, boss,” she said, lowering her head submissively. “I can take it.”
He pointed a finger at her, raising his voice. “You must keep quiet when men speak, Mildred, or I will have to sternly discipline you.”
“Promises, promises,” she breathed, without moving her lips or changing the penitent expression on her face.
Ryan managed not to smile. “We will be pleased to accept the kind offer of your baron, Mashashige. Will you show yourselves to us?”
He was waiting for the hidden enemy to order them to lay their blasters in the dirt and was trying to think up some convincing arguments for not complying.
“Your guns interest us, gaijin .”
“Yeah.”
“When we reach the” There was a slight hesitation as though the speaker wasn’t sure of the right word, “the fortress of my master, he will wish to see them. He has a small collection of the unclean weapons himself.”
“Unclean?” Ryan questioned.
A laugh shimmered all around them on both sides of the trail. “Only the katana the swordis the truly pure weapon to us samurai.”
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