Young Samurai: The Ring of Wind (19 page)

Cheng laid a hand upon his shoulder. ‘Let me take over,’ he said, seeing Jack sway with exhaustion.

Jack shook his head, knowing the pirate boy was equally tired. ‘I can keep going a little longer –’

‘Land!’ cried Miyuki, her voice cracked and parched.

Jack stood. He couldn’t see anything, but Miyuki’s sharp eyes glimpsed the rise of an island on the horizon. With a renewed burst of energy, Jack and Saburo started paddling again.

‘I can see it too!’ shouted Cheng.

Gradually the dark outline of a peak grew against the sky. Several seabirds circled above, calling out as if beckoning them towards the safety of shore. With every pull of their paddles, the raft floated nearer to land. But Jack became aware that they were approaching far faster than was possible simply by rowing. The raft was caught in another current.

This was good news … until Jack realized that it was sweeping them
beyond
the island. At this speed, however hard they paddled, they wouldn’t be able to break away from its drag.

‘We’re going to miss the shore!’ he exclaimed in alarm. ‘Miyuki! Cheng! We have to swim for it.’

The three of them jumped into the water, leaving Yori and Saburo to keep paddling. Holding on to the raft’s stern, they began kicking as hard as they could.

The combined power of feet and paddle drove them across the tugging current. To their immense relief, the island drew steadily closer, with their raft on a direct course for a sandy cove.

‘Not far now!’ encouraged Yori, paddling for all he was worth.

They were going to make it … then Jack spotted the distinctive shape of a grey dorsal fin rising out of the water.

White Death

‘SHARK!’ cried Jack, kicking harder for the shore.

Miyuki and Cheng pumped their legs too. Yori and Saburo paddled frantically. But they were still far from the safety of the cove. The fin cut through the water towards them. There was little hope of out-swimming the shark. Yet if they stopped now, the raft would drift past the island and back out into open sea.

‘FASTER!’ urged Miyuki, glancing over her shoulder at the approaching fin.

Then the shark disappeared.

‘It’s gone,’ said Saburo with relief.

‘But
where’s
it gone?’ Cheng panted, looking round in panic.

‘Get out of the water!’ cried Yori, ditching his oar and putting out his hand to pull them on-board.

The three of them scrambled on to the raft. As Jack lifted himself out, the plank beneath him snapped and he felt his heart lurch as he fell back into the sea. His head went under. The swirl of water filled his ears. He sensed the malicious shark coursing straight for him. Bursting to the surface, he flailed for the edge of the raft. Yori and Miyuki seized his outstretched arms and yanked him on to the deck.

‘Stop paddling,’ spluttered Jack to Saburo.

‘But the island –’

‘The shark’s attracted to the splashing.’

Saburo immediately stopped.

The five of them huddled in the middle of the flimsy raft, the waves lapping around its sides. A foreboding silence descended. No one dared breathe, their eyes fixed on the rippling surface of the sea. A slate-grey shape with a pointed snout slid beneath them. Jack shuddered at the sight, feeling his blood run cold. The shark was at least double the raft’s length.

They waited for the inevitable attack, all the time their raft slowly drifting further from the cove.

‘Let’s make a swim for it,’ said Miyuki. ‘Before it’s too late.’

Jack shook his head. ‘If we do, one or more of us will surely die.’

‘Maybe that’s the sacrifice we have to make to save ourselves,’ said Saburo.

Jack looked at his loyal friend. The resigned yet valiant expression on his face told him that Saburo thought he’d be the slowest and most likely victim, his belief in the code of
bushido
giving him the courage to make such a suggestion.

‘No, we
all
survive,’ said Jack, unsheathing his
katana
. ‘We didn’t come this far to be beaten by a shark.’

He gripped its red handle tightly with both hands, steeling himself to fight off the fearsome predator. His eyes hunted the surrounding waters. But no fin re-emerged.

After a while, Miyuki asked, ‘Do you think it’s actually gone?’

Risking a closer look, Jack peered over the sides of their raft. The sea dropped away into inky blackness, but there was no sign of the shark.

‘Shall we start paddling again?’ suggested Cheng, glancing towards the receding shoreline.

Jack shook his head. ‘Not just yet –’

‘Jack …’ interrupted Yori, pointing to his forehead. ‘Your cut’s reopened.’

They all watched in horror as several beads of blood dripped from the wound into the sea. They spread across the water like a blossoming rose.

For several moments, no one spoke or dared move. There was just the lap of the waves against the raft as they drifted further and further from the salvation of the island.

‘It
must
have swum on,’ said Cheng, picking up Yori’s paddle. ‘Let’s go before it comes back.’

But, as he plunged the paddle into the sea, a shadow rocketed upwards from the depths. Jack and the others flung themselves to the other end of the raft as a huge mouth bristling with serrated teeth burst from the water. Its jaws snapped through the wooden beams, the timber cracking like brittle bones. As the monstrous beast shot clear of the sea, its long white underbelly was revealed. A stink of rotting fish filled the air before the shark slammed back into the water, sending a small tidal wave across the remains of the raft. Jack and his friends clung to each other, desperate not to be washed overboard.

The shark, robbed of its prey, dived back down to unseen depths.

‘White Death!’ exclaimed Cheng in between hysterical gasps. ‘The Wind Demons … told tales … of such a shark … that eats men whole!’

Jack had never seen a great white shark before. But he too had heard stories of how this bloodthirsty creature split boats in half and devoured entire crews. Now that he had stared directly into its malevolent black eyes, Jack believed the gruesome legends. This was the most feared shark of the seven seas. Cruel, vicious and cunning, the great white was an unstoppable force of nature. Gripped by an almost overwhelming terror, it took all Jack’s willpower not to lose his nerve entirely. Panic would only get them killed quicker.

‘Grab any weapon you can find,’ he instructed. ‘And form a circle.’

Miyuki eased her
ninjat
ō
from the crumbling deck. Cheng shakily held his knife, Yori his
shuriken
-tipped staff and Saburo the paddle. His samurai swords were bound to their packs, still secured to the raft, but he couldn’t risk reaching for them. While the raft wasn’t yet sinking, any sudden movement could tip them all into the sea.

They raised their weapons as the great white made a pass. Rolling slightly so that its snout and saw-like teeth emerged, the shark’s cold fathomless eye regarded them with menace. Then the beast sank beneath the waves without a trace.

Jack knelt beside the others on the fragile raft. His heart thumped in his chest, the blood rushed through his veins. He tried to calm his breathing, but the thought of that ravenous shark circling them petrified him to his very core.

The sea erupted behind him. The great white clamped its jaws on to the corner of the raft and furiously shook its head from side to side. In a matter of moments, the deck was being torn apart. Saburo smashed his paddle on to the shark’s snout. Still the beast ripped into the raft, getting closer with every bite. Saburo struck at it again as Miyuki went for its gills. The double attack convinced the shark to release its grip and the monster swam off.

‘The raft won’t survive another attack like that,’ panted Saburo, wiping the salt water from his eyes with the back of his arm.

‘Maybe it won’t have to,’ said Yori hopefully, pointing to the retreating shark. ‘You’ve scared it off.’

Cheng shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. We just made it angrier.’

With a flick of the tail, the shark turned and came back at them. The fin scythed through the waves, picking up tremendous speed.

‘Brace yourselves!’ cried Jack, grabbing hold of Yori and Miyuki.

The great white rammed the raft. The deck buckled, broke and was tossed into the air. Together Jack, Miyuki and Yori were flung from the raft and splashed down into the sea, the breath knocked from them. Gulping in salt water, Jack spluttered as he broke the surface. He heard a cry. Saburo and Cheng somehow had managed to cling to the remains of the raft, now little more than a few planks of wood held together by their sodden packs.

‘It’s coming for you!’ cried Saburo in alarm.

Jack whipped his head round. A grey dorsal fin sliced through a wave. But it wasn’t headed in his direction.

‘Yori, watch out!’

Turning to face the shark, Yori held out his
shakuj
ō
. Yet it was obvious that the great white would chomp through it like a toothpick. Jack thrashed his way towards his friend, desperate to protect him with his sword. But he was no match for the frightening speed of the shark.

The great white broke the surface and opened its jaws wide to devour Yori in a single bite.

Stay of Execution

As the great white closed in for the kill, there was a deafening bang like a thunderclap overhead. Flesh, bone, teeth and blubber splattered across the water and the raft. Yori floated, unmoving, among the bloody remains.

Wiping seared shark meat from his face, Jack couldn’t believe his eyes. The
Black Spider
was sailing up right behind them, Captain Kurogumo at the helm. Leering over the side was Skullface and his surviving gang members. Tiger was clutching a smoking handheld cannon.

‘Look, it’s our floating treasure chest!’ exclaimed Snakehead, laughing in delight. He threw them a line. ‘I’d hurry if I were you,’ he said, pointing to three grey fins cutting through the water. One was already ripping into the bloody carcass of the great white.

Jack grabbed Yori, still in shock from his near-death experience. Together with Miyuki, they swam for the rope. Saburo and Cheng paddled for all they were worth, the raft slowly sinking beneath them. Clambering on-board, they were immediately relieved of their packs and weapons.

‘We thought we’d never find you,’ said Skullface cheerfully.

‘You came looking for
us
?’ said Jack, astounded.

Skullface gave a black-toothed grin. ‘Of course, you’re far too valuable for shark bait.’

The pirate gang escorted them across the deck towards the stern. The
Black Spider
was battered and broken from its battle with the Sea Samurai. Arrows still peppered the planks and blood stained the wood. They had to skirt the large hole blasted into the deck by the
horoku
bomb, and a group of pirates were working hard to fix the shattered starboard gunwale. Manzo was among them, holding a new beam in place. He glared at Jack as they passed. The giant pirate had a bandage round his head and a large cut across his upper arm. In fact, few of the pirates had escaped the sea battle unharmed. Jack guessed at least half of the crew had been decimated in the attack or tortured to death by Captain Arashi.

Climbing the steps to the upper deck, Jack and his friends were met by Captain Kurogumo. Still clad in his green and black dragon-scale armour, he appeared unscathed and in surprisingly good humour.

‘Welcome back!’ he said, opening his arms wide as if greeting old friends. ‘Why the sour faces? I’ve just rescued you from certain death.’

‘Only to face an
uncertain
death with you,’ retorted Miyuki.

Captain Kurogumo smiled, revealing his set of pointed teeth. The resemblance to the great white shark was unsettling. ‘True, I’m not in the habit of rescuing samurai or ninja.’ He approached Jack and laid a hand on his shoulder. ‘But when
you
are prized so highly and coveted by the Shogun no less, then I can’t resist doing good.’

Jack shrugged the captain off. ‘So you’re turning us over to the Shogun’s samurai?’