40: Last Stand

‘Let us out!’ shouted Jack, hammering his fists on the bedroom door. At gunpoint, they had been forcibly marched back to Rose’s bedroom, where all six of them – Jack and his sister, Akiko, Yori, Signor Horatio and Rose – were now being held captive. ‘We need our weapons!’

From the other side of the door, Sir Edmund grunted a laugh. ‘I’m sure you do. That’s exactly why Sir Henry has you locked up, you dullard!’

Jack beat his fists upon the wood again. ‘You don’t know what you’re dealing with!’ he insisted. ‘You need our help.’

More snorts of laughter, and this time Sir Francis replied. ‘You’re the one in need of help, Jack. You’ll be strung up by your neck, good and proper this time. Reckon they’ll hang, draw and quarter you!’

Jack grabbed the door latch and rattled it – but it was futile. The lock was cast iron and the door solid oak. It wouldn’t budge an inch. ‘They’re not plague doctors,’ he cried. ‘They’re NINJAS!’

‘What did he say?’ mumbled Sir Francis to his friend.

‘I think he said they’re whingers!’ replied Sir Edmund, before collapsing into a fit of laughter.

Jack kicked out at the door. ‘Idiots!’ he muttered.

‘Aren’t we safer in here?’ said Jess, who was perched at the foot of Rose’s bed. ‘I mean, if we can’t get out … then those ninjas can’t get in either.’

Jack shook his head. ‘We’re like fish in a barrel in this room. Without our weapons, those ninjas will hunt us down and slaughter us.’

‘I still have my rapier, signor,’ reminded Signor Horatio. In Sir Henry’s haste to deal with the plague doctors, he’d overlooked the sword master tending to Rose at her bedside. Rose was now propped up against the pillows. Her cheeks had regained some colour and her strength was gradually returning.

‘One sword against four ninjas? Our chances aren’t good,’ said Akiko, shaking her head. ‘We’re dealing with trained assassins.’

‘What about the window?’ suggested Rose, wheezing slightly. ‘Can’t one of you climb out … and over to the next bedroom?’

‘Maybe,’ said Jack. He looked at Akiko, knowing that out of all of them she had the necessary skills.

‘I’ll try,’ she said, securing her kimono.

Yori was already peering through the glass. ‘There’s something very strange going on …’