Looking around, he found a discarded saké bottle. Then, pulling his straw hat over his face, Jack boldly opened the door and staggered inside. In the gloom of the kitchen, he hoped to fool the guard.

‘Got … any … more?’ Jack slurred, holding up the empty bottle.

Barely looking at him, the guard grumbled, ‘You know we’re not allowed any when on guard duty.’

Stumbling closer, Jack was almost on top of the man before the bandit realized his fatal error. Reaching for his sword, the guard went to shout a warning. But Jack drove forwards and struck him with Fall Down Fist – one of the Sixteen Secret Fists of the ninja, the blow instantly knocked the man out. He dropped to the floor like a sack of cloth.

Raising the wooden bar off its mountings, Jack yanked the door open. The girls cowered in the corner, afraid he might be a bandit. Jack lifted the hat from his face and they now stared in awe. Some were even more terrified by his foreign features, clearly believing him to be a spirit.

‘Follow me!’ he hissed. ‘And be quiet.’

Miya was the first to move and the other girls, overcoming their initial shock, quickly fell in line.

Checking the main hall, Jack discovered it had filled with smoke and the air was rapidly thickening into an impenetrable fog. Although the bandits lay below the line of the noxious grey cloud, a few were beginning to cough and splutter in their sleep.

Jack led the girls through the haze as quickly as he dared. They tried to cover their mouths, but it was impossible not to choke on the foul air. One of the girls started having a coughing fit and Jack urged them to hurry before she woke every bandit in the room. But they were frustratingly slow, petrified of stepping on their captors. Reaching the door, he ushered Miya out.

‘Run for the trees,’ he whispered. ‘And don’t stop!’

Directing the other girls after her, Jack helped each of them out. Then the last girl, overcome by smoke, stumbled and fell on to a sleeping bandit.

The man woke angrily. ‘Watch it!’ he growled.

His eyes blearily focused on the girl and a momentary look of confusion passed across his face at seeing her free. Then he noticed the cloud of smoke filling the bunkhouse.

Throwing the girl off, he jumped to his feet and roared, ‘FIRE! FIRE!’

35 Fire Fight

35

FIRE FIGHT

Chaos reigned as the bandits awoke and scrambled for the door in panic. A few didn’t rise at all, having already succumbed to the toxic fumes. The rest barged one another out of the way in a bid to escape first.