On the opposite bank, the three plague doctors stood in a line, their frustration apparent in their very stillness.

‘They’ll need to find another bridge now,’ panted Jack with relief.

Akiko glanced up and down the river. ‘And where would that be?’

Jack shrugged and sheathed his katana. ‘Who knows! Let’s not wait around to find out.’

26: The Sleep of the Dead

Jack and Akiko caught up with Rose and Yori taking shelter beneath the branches of a large beech tree, the rain rolling off the leaves in heavy drops. Yori was tending to Rose’s wound, applying a herbal ointment and binding her calf with a strip of cloth torn from his robes. Jack crouched beside them, his brow etched with concern.

‘How bad is it? Do you think you’ll be able to carry on?’ he asked.

Rose winced as Yori tied off the makeshift bandage. ‘I’ll be able to walk, but don’t ask me to dance,’ she said, giving him a pained smile.

‘Luckily for Rose the shuriken wasn’t poisoned,’ said Yori as he packed away his pouch of medicines. ‘The herbs should stop any infection.’

‘Thank heavens for small blessings,’ said Jack, taking out the gleaming ninja star from his pocket and weighing it in his palm. Seeing such weapons in England greatly troubled him. It confirmed his fear that the rumours of killer shadows weren’t rumours at all.

‘Small blessings or not, it hurts a lot,’ Rose complained, as Yori helped her get to her feet. She glanced over at Akiko. ‘I hope that plague doctor you stuck with your hairpin is in as much pain as I am!’

Akiko smiled and nodded. ‘Probably a lot more. Unless the other plague doctors know kyusho-jitsu and the correct pressure points to release him, he won’t be going anywhere!’

Rose nodded approvingly. ‘You’re certainly full of surprises, Akiko.’

‘So are you,’ Akiko replied, raising an eyebrow. ‘I didn’t expect to see you again.’

Rose glared at her. ‘Is it so hard to believe that I came back, when you came back from the dead?’

Akiko shook her head. ‘I just thought –’

‘Thought what?’ snapped Rose. ‘That I’d abandoned you? Betrayed you? Run off at the slightest sign of danger?’

‘Well …’ began Akiko, ‘you did disappear at the same time the constables arrived!’

A prickly silence fell between them, broken only by the soft patter of raindrops on the leaves.

‘We were worried about you, Rose,’ said Jack, trying to ease the tension.

Rose gave him a look as if she only half believed him. Then she explained, ‘I was woken by the horses; something had unsettled them. When I spotted the constables outside the barn, I hid in the hay.’

‘Why didn’t you warn us?’ questioned Akiko.