Young Samurai: The Ring of Wind Read Online Free PDF Page B

days! There must be
something
that can be done before then?’
    The boat crested a wave and he vomited.
    ‘There is,’ replied Jack, stepping back a pace as it splattered the rail. ‘Point your head downwind!’
    Leaving Saburo to wrestle with his sickness, Jack returned to sit beside Yori and Miyuki.
    ‘Will he be all right?’ asked Yori.
    Jack nodded. ‘Yes, he’s finding his sea legs, that’s all.’
    Miyuki was staring thoughtfully around the boat. Then she leant close to Jack’s ear. ‘Yori and I have been talking. Rather than making our way to Nagasaki on foot, why don’t we sail there instead? We’d avoid all the samurai patrols, the checkpoints on the roads and hopefully any more trouble.’
    Jack considered this. It seemed so obvious now. Alone, such a voyage was impossible. No captain in his right mind would willingly carry a foreigner, for fear of incurring the wrath of the Shogun. But with his friends to hide and protect him … ‘Do we have enough money to sail that far?’
    ‘I don’t know,’ admitted Yori. ‘Perhaps we could work our passage.’
    ‘Or else
borrow
a boat,’ suggested Miyuki, a sly grin on her lips. ‘Jack, you know how to sail and could teach us. With a ship like this, we could even sail to England!’
    Jack laughed out loud, then shook his head regretfully. ‘This boat sits too low in the water. She’d be swamped in the open ocean. We’d need a ship at least three times the size just to cope with the storms.’
    ‘Maybe we can find a bigger one at the next port,’ insisted Miyuki, unwilling to be put off so easily.
    Jack grinned at her determination and zeal. ‘It’s not that simple, I’m afraid. The distances between landfall are vast. We’d need food for several months. Not just for us, but a whole crew as well, since we couldn’t sail a ship that size without help. The
Alexandria
carried a hundred souls on-board and well over a thousand tons of supplies. To have any hope of making such a voyage alive, we require a galleon – and with the Shogun banishing all foreigners, the only place we might find one is in Nagasaki.’
    Miyuki appeared a little deflated and Jack felt bad at having crushed her idea so thoroughly. But those were the hard facts of attempting to sail around the world.
    ‘It doesn’t stop us getting a boat to Nagasaki, though,’ encouraged Jack. ‘All we need to know is the route and what bearings we’d have to take.’
    At that moment, a deckhand approached them.
    ‘With compliments of the captain,’ he said, putting down a large plate. Cut into thin strips were a freshly caught bream and a couple of mackerel, along with some pickled ginger and soy sauce for taste.
    ‘Thank you,’ said Yori, bowing his head in appreciation. As the deckhand went to depart, Yori asked, ‘What’s the best way to reach Nagasaki by boat?’
    The deckhand thought for a moment. ‘If you cut short your pilgrimage, you could stop at Yawatahama in the south and cross the Bungo Channel to Sagaseki. But then you’d have the long trek across Kyushu.’
    ‘Isn’t there a more direct route by sea?’
    The deckhand whistled through his teeth. ‘That’s the entire length of the Seto Sea and more. It’s risky. But if the winds and tides are with you it could be far quicker.’
    He looked to the horizon where the distant shimmer of Shikoku Island was now visible. ‘Once we dock at Imabari, take a boat due west along the Seto Sea and through the Kanmon Straits to the Sea of Japan. Then bear south-west along the coast to Nagasaki itself.’
    ‘Is this ship going that way?’ asked Jack hopefully, keeping his face hidden beneath the rim of his hat.
    The deckhand laughed. ‘Not likely! There are more pirates in that area of the Seto Sea than mosquitoes.’ He pointed to a small red-and-white striped flag that fluttered from the boat’s stern. ‘See that? The captain pays the pirates along this route not to attack him. The flag guarantees safe passage – but