Now it was Miyuki’s turn to look annoyed. ‘We could make more. All we need is charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre.’

‘Do you think these poor farmers have all that?’ mocked Hayato.

Miyuki glared at him and Jack intervened before the quarrel got out of hand.

‘Both ideas are strong,’ he said. ‘If the farmers have what Miyuki needs, then we can go with her plan. If not, we proceed with Hayato’s. Whatever, we’ll have to sacrifice the two houses on the far side and the mill.’

‘You can’t do that!’ said Toge, walking up behind them. ‘Junichi owns the mill. His mother, Natsuko, still lives there.’

‘But we can’t protect everything,’ explained Hayato.

‘Natsuko’s a stubborn old woman.’

‘She’ll be less stubborn when Akuma’s at her door.’

Toge shrugged. ‘I’m telling you she won’t like it.’

21 Locked Horns

21

LOCKED HORNS

As the farmer headed over to deliver the message, Jack asked him, ‘Where’s the next crossing point on this river?’

‘There’s a ford, a few miles to the south,’ Toge replied, pointing towards the paddy fields. ‘That track over there eventually leads to it.’

‘Then that’ll be Akuma’s next route of attack.’

The young samurai trekked across the fields. They followed the network of paths, many only visible as a slight ridge in the snow.

‘Open land is hard to defend,’ muttered Hayato, biting his lip pensively.

‘At least we’ll be able to see them,’ said Jack. ‘And with your bow, you could pick off bandits as they ride in.’

Hayato nodded. ‘But we still need to slow them down. They’ll overrun us otherwise.’

‘We could flood the fields,’ suggested Miyuki.

‘That should work,’ agreed Jack. Such a strategy was part of the ninja’s Ring of Water techniques and he remembered how effective it had been against the army of samurai invading Miyuki’s village.

‘But that won’t stop them,’ argued Hayato. ‘They’ll just use the paths.’

Jack studied the walkways bordering the fields. The ninja would have made them narrow so only one person could pass at a time, and their arrangement would form a maze to slow down intruders. But the farmers’ paths were wide and led directly to the village.

‘How about a ditch?’ suggested Saburo. ‘We could fill it to become a moat.’

‘A far better idea!’ said Hayato, clapping him on the back.

‘It’ll have to encircle the whole village,’ noted Miyuki. ‘That’s a lot of work.’

‘Well, I bet Saburo’s the very man to lead the digging!’ said Hayato, dismissing Miyuki’s objection.

Saburo smiled awkwardly, not sure how he’d volunteered for the task but nonetheless pleased with the praise. Yori saw the frustration on Miyuki’s face at being cold-shouldered again, and stepped forward.

‘Hayato, it may be wise to do both,’ he said.

‘Of course,’ replied Hayato heartily. ‘There can never be enough defences.’