Jack turned on Sora. ‘Why didn’t you say something earlier?’

Wringing his hands, Sora sobbed, ‘I’d given up hope of ever seeing her again. Then when that tea girl appeared, I just thought … maybe …’

‘But Hayato’s set the bunkhouse on fire!’ exclaimed Jack.

Sora’s eyes widened in panic and he began to yank at the barred window. The slats didn’t shift at all. Jack pushed him aside. The girls were crammed into a room separate from the main area.

‘Can you get out of there?’ he whispered to Miya.

The girl shook her head. ‘The door’s locked at night and there’s always a guard.’

Jack studied the bunkhouse wall. It was built of solid tree trunks. He wouldn’t have any hope of breaking through. In the background, he could hear the growing crackle of the fire. He was fast running out of time to save them.

‘Go back to the trees and tell Miyuki,’ he ordered Sora. ‘I’m going in to free your daughter and the other girls.’

Sora nodded. But he remained rooted to the spot, unable to tear himself away from his imprisoned daughter.

Jack gave him a shove. ‘Hurry!’

This broke Sora’s trance and, stealing a final look at Miya, he ran off into the night.

Jack spotted a back door, but it was barred shut. There was another window further along. He was about to try it, when he noticed several dark shapes outlined against the snow. A pack of dogs slept in the far corner of the yard … their bellies round and full.

Jack backed slowly away. He didn’t want to see any more. Nor did he wish to wake the bloodthirsty hounds.

Once he was safely round the corner, he dashed to the front entrance and eased the door open. The bandits lay sprawled throughout the room, straw blankets thrown across themselves. Many looked to be comatose from the effects of too much saké; others were fast asleep and snoring loudly. Above, smoke poured through the thick thatch and formed a deadly cloud in the rafters, but the tang of woodsmoke from the still-burning hearth helped mask the fire in the roof. Jack prayed he could get the girls out before any of the bandits stirred.

Moving silently and swiftly, just as he’d been taught by the ninja Grandmaster, Jack weaved between the unconscious bodies to a shoji at the back of the room. Sliding it open a crack, he spied a large cooking area and over to his left a barred door. Beside it squatted a bandit, who gave a great yawn then began to pick at his teeth in boredom.

Although the man was completely off-guard, Jack realized that, before he had a chance to silence him, the bandit could raise the alarm. Ninja stealth wouldn’t help him in this instance. But a simple disguise might work …