The Lost Scroll of Fudo Shin Read Online Free PDF

is it to say you’ll be there to save them in ten minutes, if you show up in eleven?”  
    Jimmy watched her walk away, and then ran to catch up.  Who is this woman? He wondered.
    The house might not have looked modern, but it certainly had enough hot water in the tank.  Jimmy showered and enjoyed how the heat felt on his sore muscles.  He soaped and rinsed and then found the clothes that Vanessa had laid out for him.
    Everything fit perfectly.  He slid into new jeans that had already been laundered to break them in, so they felt softer.  He put on a T-shirt and a new sweatshirt.  The tube socks slid all the way up to his calves and he had a pair of soft slipper shoes that felt great on his feet.
    “Not bad,” he said aloud.  That was when he noticed the long thin white box laid across his pillows.  A small red bow was stuck to the box.  Jimmy opened it and found a three-foot long stick inside about an inch in diameter.  The smooth wood staff slid easily through his hands.  He gripped it and it felt good to hold.
    Twenty minutes.
    Jimmy frowned and slid out of his room, marveling at how quiet he was able to walk with the slippers on his feet.  For fun, he kept his knees bent and descended the stairs to the first floor kitchen.  The normally squeaky stairs didn’t make any noise as he almost floated down them.
    That's pretty cool, he thought.
    As he neared the bottom, he heard something.
    Was that Vanessa’s voice?  Was she talking to someone?
    Jimmy couldn’t quite hear her.  He stepped down onto the first floor and crept down the hallway toward the kitchen, carefully breathing and keeping his knees bent to avoid making noise.
    He could see her shadow in the doorway.  Her voice was soft and he still couldn’t make out what she was saying.  He crept closer and risked looking around the doorjamb.
    In the shadow of the pantry, he saw the profile of an older man.  He had white hair, but Jimmy found it tough to make out any other details since the light was bad.
    Vanessa nodded and said a few more things Jimmy couldn’t hear.
    I need to get closer, he thought.
    He took another step.
    Creeeeaaaakkkkk!
    Jimmy looked down at his foot pressing into the wooden threshold of the kitchen.  His stomach sank as he looked back up.
    Vanessa had her hands on her hips glaring at him.
    And the old man had somehow vanished.

Chapter Three
     
    “What, exactly, do you think you’re doing?”
    Jimmy swallowed.  “You told me to come down for breakfast.”
    Vanessa raised one eyebrow and Jimmy thought it made her look all the angrier.  “No, what you were doing was sneaking all around and trying to overhear my conversation.”
    Jimmy frowned.  “Sorry.”
    Vanessa shook her head.  “Honestly, there’s no need for it.  Don’t be a busybody and don’t go sticking your nose into things that you don’t need to know.”
    “All right.”
    “I don’t know how in the world I’m ever supposed to trust you to be able to do what you need to do before-“
    “Who was that guy?”
    Vanessa stopped.  “What?”
    “The guy you were talking to.  Who was he?”
    Vanessa clamped her mouth shut with a frown.  Finally, she took a deep breath and huffed it out.  “Here you go again, trying to figure out things you shouldn’t be concerning yourself with.  No matter I just told you not to ask about it.  You apparently consider it worthy of your time.  Well, it’s not.  And we have far more important things to concentrate on, like your training.  I haven’t a clue as to how you’re going to successfully retrieve the lost scrolls.”
    Jimmy leaned back.  “Lost scrolls?  What are you talking about?”
    But she ignored him again.  “I see you found your present.  Happy Birthday, Jimmy.”
    He hefted the staff.  “Thanks.  I’m not sure what it is-“
    “It’s called a ‘hanbo,’ a three-foot staff used as a weapon in feudal Japan.”  She smiled.  “It’s very old, that one is.  Been in your