'Afraid not, but there's no need to worry,' Benkei replied confidently. 'Travelling performers don't need them. We should pass straight through without too much question.'

As the procession reached the barrier, a bleary-eyed harbour guard emerged from the hut.

'Halt!' he growled. Unshaven and with hangdog jowls, the man leant wearily upon his spear and gave a huge yawn.

Inside the bunkhouse, Jack could see at least a dozen other samurai snoring away. All were heavily armed, even if they weren't yet awake.

'Why are you all up so early?' the harbour guard demanded gruffly. 'The sun's not even risen!'

'I need to guarantee places for my whole troupe on-board the first ferry,' replied Okuni brightly, introducing her girls with a flourish of the hand.

But the bleary-eyed harbour guard failed to be impressed. 'You're performers, eh? What, all of you?'

Okuni nodded. 'You may know of us. My dance troupe performs kabuki all over Japan.'

The harbour guard snorted. 'Never heard of such a style. You'll have to prove your talents. You, girl, show us what you can do.'

He gestured with his spear, but no one moved. Jack wondered why the performer hadn't begun her dance. Then his stomach knotted into a ball of shock as he realized the harbour guard had pointed at him.

'Suzume is a little shy ... she's still learning the routines,' said Okuni hurriedly. 'How about Junjun? She's our best dancer.'

'A shy performer?' queried the harbour guard, ignoring Okuni and eyeing Jack suspiciously. 'The girl had better dance well or none of you will be on that ferry.'

41.

Jig The harbour guard stood unsmiling, arms crossed, waiting for the show to begin. The other samurai now emerged from the bunkhouse to see what the commotion was all about. They blinked in heavy-eyed surprise at the presence of so many girls, before gathering round in anticipation of the early morning performance.

Jack swallowed nervously as the troupe's three musicians unpacked their instruments and waited for his cue to begin. Akiko and Miyuki reluctantly stepped away from him, wondering what he would do. A refusal to dance would arouse further suspicion and stop them boarding the ferry. Retreating to Kumamoto simply wasn't an option. And drawing their weapons to fight the samurai could only be a last resort since it would risk the lives of the entire troupe.

Jack had no choice but to dance.

Slipping off his geta, Jack took his position in the middle of the road. He gave a hesitant nod and the music struck up. Its rhythm and melody were strange to his Western ears. He couldn't distinguish any definite beat and the song seemed to unfurl with no obvious breaks or repeat of theme.

As he stood swaying uncertainly, at a loss how to even begin, he felt the eyes of the samurai boring into him.

'If this is kabuki, you can keep it. My dog dances better than this girl!' the harbour guard grumbled.

Jack realized he had to attempt something, however lame. He couldn't hope to reproduce Junjun's spellbinding performance, but since none of the samurai had ever seen kabuki before it didn't matter what he did, as long as it was convincing. And Jack knew only one type of dance a sailor's jig.

Taking up his long sleeves in his hands like hankies, he began to skip to the music. Waving his arms backwards and forwards and jumping in the air, he tried to remember the moves Ginsel, the Dutchman on-board the Alexandria, had taught him. He twirled one sleeve then the next. He bobbed up and down. Spun on the spot with his hands planted on his hips. Kicked out with his left foot. Hopped on his right. In his head, he imagined the lively tune of a fiddle and whistle and pranced enthusiastically before the harbour guard, with a fixed grin on his face.

Okuni and her dancing troupe watched his performance with a mix of shock, fascination and utter bewilderment. Akiko and Miyuki both smiled encouragingly, but their expressions were strained to the limit. Saburo shook his head in doomed despair, while Benkei was barely able to conceal his mirth. Only Yori tried his best to clap along, acting as if he knew the dance.

But the harbour guard and his men observed the performance in stony-faced silence.

Jack now threw himself into the jig with an almost desperate energy. Jumping around like a firecracker, he slapped his thighs, clapped his hands, tapped his feet and circled his sleeves above his head. The samurai grew even more dumbstruck by this flailing attempt at a dance. Even the musicians trailed off as his crazy jig distracted them from their playing.

Panting heavily, Jack pirouetted to a stop, then bowed with a dramatic flourish of the sleeves.

A deathly silence hung in the air. The harbour guard cocked his head to one side and looked Jack up and down.

'We're as good as dead,' whispered Miyuki, reaching for the throwing knife hidden in her kimono sleeve.

Of the same opinion, Akiko stealthily edged towards her horse to grab her weapons.

Then a wide-mouthed grin creased the harbour guard's face and he roared with laughter, a full-throated guffaw bending him double. He was quickly joined by the other samurai, who all began belly-laughing at the spectacle they'd just witnessed. Wiping the tears from his eyes, the harbour guard chortled, 'That's the ... funniest dance ... I've ever seen! No wonder your troupe is so famous!'

Almost helpless with laughter, he raised the bamboo barrier and ushered them through.

For a moment, Jack simply stood there, stunned by the samurai's reaction to his earnest efforts at a dance. The jig wasn't supposed to be funny.

Unable to believe their good fortune, Miyuki urged him onwards and the troupe hurried through the checkpoint and into the harbour.

'Well done, Jack,' praised Yori. 'I never knew you could dance so well.'

Jack smiled wryly at him. Yori was a loyal friend but a terrible liar.

'That wasn't dancing,' remarked Benkei. 'That was a lethal form of martial arts death by laughter!'

'Remind me never to ask you for a dance, Jack!' quipped Saburo.

'Who says I'd even accept!' Jack shot back, feigning offence at the jibes.

'Good or bad, your performance saved us a fight,' said Miyuki, glancing over her shoulder to check none of the harbour guards were following them. 'And we certainly don't want to leave any trail for daimyo Kato to follow. As far as he's concerned, you two could have escaped in any direction.'

'Do you think he knows by now?' asked Yori, his staff jingling as they made their way along the harbour side.

'Possibly. But if not, he soon will. They change the guards at dawn.'

'Then let's find this ferry and get out of here,' urged Akiko.

The dock was relatively quiet, with just the local fishermen at work this early in the morning. In no time at all, they found the ferry that was leaving first. Although the captain had barely woken, he was only too keen to have such glamorous passengers on-board his vessel. Lowering the gangplank, he welcomed each of the girls personally and offered them prime seats near the prow. The ferry was a large open-decked ship with room for some sixty passengers plus cargo. The crew helped transfer the troupe's belongings on-board and there was even a stall for Akiko's horse. As the girls made themselves comfortable, Jack had a quick glance round the vessel and was relieved to discover that not only did it possess a large canvas sail but a dozen burly oarsmen sat ready to power the ferry. That meant they wouldn't be reliant upon the wind to depart which could be an essential factor if they needed to make a quick getaway.

Once settled, the troupe could do nothing but wait for the ferry to cast off. But that wouldn't happen until the captain had enough passengers. Jack and his friends sat in silence, aware that every passing minute further endangered their lives. A steady trickle of travellers and merchants began arriving and the captain's crew busied themselves loading the cargo hold with rice, salt, ceramics, bamboo and various other goods for shipment to Shimabara. But their progress towards departure seemed painstakingly slow.

The sun poked its head above the horizon and its golden rays clipped the top of Kumamoto Castle. At that moment, the peace of dawn was shattered by the sound of clanging bells.

42.

Ferry 'Wakey-wakey, daimyo!' said Benkei with a grim smile. 'Your guests are gone.'

Jack and his friends exchanged uneasy looks at the continuing klaxon of noise.

'I doubt they welcome in the dawn like this every day,' said Saburo.

'We've still a little time before any patrol gets here,' reminded Akiko, glancing up the road in the direction of Kumamoto. Clusters of travellers queued for the checkpoint, but there were no samurai charging down to the harbour ... not yet anyway.

'The ferry's almost full,' said Yori hopefully. The crew had finished loading the cargo and the captain was welcoming the last few groups of passengers on-board as the alarm bells rang on.

'Doesn't matter,' replied Miyuki. 'The harbour guard's bound to stop any ships leaving now.'

'They've already closed the checkpoint,' Akiko noted with growing concern.

Jack leant over the side of the ferry. 'There's a small fishing boat moored next to us. We could try to escape in that.'

'Not after last time!' pleaded Saburo, his face turning decidedly green at the prospect of another bout of seasickness, pirates and storms.

'The fishing boat might be our only option,' said Miyuki, directing everyone's attention back to the road.

In the distance, a unit of samurai were marching double-time towards the harbour.

The captain caught sight of the patrol. 'Not another military drill,' he moaned. 'Cast off now, otherwise we'll be stuck here all day.'

Drawing in the gangplank, the crew raised the anchor, set the main sail and unhitched the ropes from the dockside. The offshore breeze proved too light to move the ship, so the oarsmen took up their positions and dug their paddles deep into the water. But the fully laden vessel was slow to pull away from the quay. Meanwhile, the samurai were drawing nearer and nearer.

Jack was reminded of the race between the tortoise and the hare. But this time the hare was going to win.

As the oarsmen got into their stride, the ferry gained momentum and headed for the mouth of the harbour. The samurai, seeing the ship depart, were now running down the road. Jack silently willed the oarsmen to row harder, each stroke promising them freedom. The patrol reached the checkpoint and interrogated the harbour guard. He appeared to shake his head, then could be seen attempting to dance a jig. The patrol leader pushed past him and ran on to the dock, gesturing for the captain to turn back, but by this time the ferry was out of the harbour and beyond hailing distance.

Jack and his friends sat down and breathed a collective sigh of relief. They'd escaped by the skin of their teeth. Sensing this was a moment to celebrate, the musicians took out their instruments again and started to play. The music inspired some of the girls to dance and they launched into an impromptu performance much to the delight of the crew and passengers on-board.

But Jack experienced a growing sense of unease. He wondered whether they had really escaped scot-free. The harbour guard had evidently been convinced by his dance. But would daimyo Kato, when his samurai reported back to him, suspect the kabuki troupe had been involved? Or did he already believe they were? The troupe's appearance at his castle and the simultaneous breakout of his prisoners could arguably be coincidence. There was no obvious connection between the two. But, in the eyes of an astute and cunning daimyo, a well-planned subterfuge might be seen. Whatever the case, Jack would feel happier once he was out of the kabuki costume and there was no clear link to Okuni and her troupe.

While the impromptu show continued, Jack scanned the wide expanse of bay that marked the bottleneck of the inland Ariake Sea. No boats pursued their ferry, which could only be a good sign. And the stretch of water before them was clear all the way to their destination on the opposite side. Maybe they did have a reason to celebrate ...

Once out in open water, the breeze stiffened and the ferry powered steadily through the waves towards Shimabara. The castle port shimmered on the horizon, overshadowed by the mountainous and scarred Unzen-dake. The menacing cone-shaped volcano rose out of the water like a devil's fang, its smouldering peak biting into the clear blue sky and spitting out sulphurous clouds.

An ominous feeling seized Jack, as if something, not necessarily the volcano, would soon erupt with devastating consequences.

'This voyage had better be short,' said Saburo, holding his head in his hands and groaning.

'Still haven't found your sea legs then?' replied Jack, dragging his eyes away from the brooding volcano.

'I must have lost them during that storm!' He attempted a smile but failed miserably.

Jack gave an involuntary shudder as he recalled the ferocious tempest that had nearly killed them all. Despite the favourable conditions in the bay now, being at sea again brought the nightmare vividly back. He looked at his friends. 'I truly thought you'd all drowned.'

'We thought you had drowned,' said Yori, sitting close by his side on the rough wooden deck. 'When you disappeared beneath that wave, I ... I ...' He was unable to finish the sentence as emotion choked his voice.

Jack laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. 'I understand. I felt the same way when I washed up on the beach and found the three of you gone. So how did you survive?'

'Your decision to tie us to the skiff saved our lives,' explained Miyuki. 'Even though exhaustion and the cold nearly killed us, when the storm had passed a fisherman spotted our capsized boat. He hauled us on-board and took us back to shore. For the next few days, we recovered in his fishing village. We believed you were dead until we heard the stories of the Golden-Haired Devil of Beppu.' Miyuki grinned. 'We knew that could only be you!'

'But I've been on the run ever since. How did you find me here?'

As he asked the question, Jack realized he already knew the answer: she was sitting right opposite him.

'Miyuki tracked you, of course!' replied Yori, his tone expressing respect and awe at her skills. 'Your arrest in Yufuin. The missing prayer flag. The cut rope bridge. The search parties around Aso '

'I lost your trail after that,' admitted Miyuki. 'I guessed you were going to Kumamoto; it was the most obvious crossing point for Nagasaki. But there was no sign of you there, even after a few days of searching.'

'You must have gone ahead of me,' said Jack, thinking of the period he and Benkei had taken refuge with Shiryu.

'That's the conclusion I came to, so we began to double back. We were taking the road out of Kumamoto, when Yori spotted Akiko's horse and we bumped into Benkei, who was "looking after" your belongings.'

She raised her eyebrows dubiously at such a notion, but Benkei brushed aside her insinuation with a wave of his hand. 'And lucky they did, nanban, otherwise your friends would never have found you in time. Nor would they have been introduced to Okuni and her kabuki troupe when they arrived in Kumamoto to perform for the daimyo.'

'I have to admit that was a stroke of good fortune,' said Miyuki. 'We'd never have got inside that castle otherwise.'

'We have a lot to thank them for,' said Jack, watching Junjun dance across the deck.

Her performance came to an end and the passengers broke into rapturous applause. Okuni and her dancers were bestowed with so many tokens of appreciation that their passage on-board the ferry was paid for twice over.

Akiko glanced wistfully across the bay towards Shimabara. 'You're almost home free now, Jack.'

'Not quite,' he replied, a shadow falling across his face. 'Kazuki's still out there.'

Yori's eyes widened in shock. 'But I thought he'd given up. Especially after almost dying in that flood.'

'That only made him more determined,' said Jack. 'Kazuki's vowed on his life to hunt me down ... and kill me.'

For a moment no one said anything, the only noise being the flap of the sail, the wash of waves and the splash of oars.

Akiko turned to Miyuki. 'Did you come across Kazuki's path while tracking Jack?'

Miyuki shook her head.

'Then he's ahead of us and waiting to pounce.'

Miyuki's gaze dropped to Jack's injured hand. 'Did Kazuki do that to you?' she asked, her dark eyes narrowing in anger.

'No, that was Sensei Kyuzo,' Jack replied, and told them about his harrowing encounter. Yori could hardly believe a teacher of the Niten Ichi Ry would commit such a betrayal. And when Jack came to the moment the Akita dog ate his fingertip, Saburo's seasickness took a turn for the worse and he heaved over the ferry's side.

Miyuki could barely contain her rage. 'So long as I live, I won't let anyone harm you again.'

'Nor will I,' stated Akiko, with equal determination.