The Ranger's Apprentice, Book 10: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja: Book Ten by John Flanagan

Author:John Flanagan [Flanagan, John]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 2011-04-18T16:00:00+00:00

29

HORACE WAS STUDYING THE COLLAPSED WESTERN SIDE OF THE palisade with the foreman of the work gang assigned to repair it. This section of the work had lagged behind the rest of the repairs. The greater part of the palisade was in good condition now, the walkways had been reinforced and in some places replaced entirely, and the wall timbers refurbished where necessary with new, strong logs.

But the collapsed section had problems beyond the simple ravages of time.

The foreman pointed to a deep channel cut in the ground beneath the ruined palisade.

“This area becomes a water course when the snow melts, Kurokuma,” he said. “The runoff water has gradually undermined the foundations of the wall at this point and washed them away. We’ll have to set new foundations.”

Horace scratched his chin. “And hope it doesn’t rain. No point in repairing it if it’s all going to be swept away again,” he said thoughtfully. But the foreman shook his head.

“It’s too cold for rain. It’ll snow. But there’ll be no water running through here until spring, when the snows melt. Even then, it would take a few seasons for enough damage to be done. This didn’t happen in one or two years.”

Horace studied the man for a moment. He looked confident, and he certainly seemed to know his craft.

“Very well. Let’s get on with it. I won’t be happy until I know the entire palisade is up to strength.”

“We should be able to fix it in a few days. Now that the other repairs are almost finished, I can assign extra work gangs to this part.”

“Very well,” said Horace. He gestured for the man to go ahead and turned away, heading back up the slope to the small settlement of cabins that had already been constructed by the hardworking Kikori.

A small group of the younger men had been excused from laboring work, and the commander of Shigeru’s personal guard had begun their instruction in the art of Senshi sword technique. He was demonstrating the basic movements to them now, calling a tempo for each cut, block or thrust. Horace stopped to watch, fascinated by the different style. It seemed far more ornate and ritualistic than the drills he was used to. More—he searched for a word and then found it—flamboyant, with its spins and sweeps. But beneath the foreign technique he could discern a similarity of purpose.

Now Moka, the guard commander, ceased his demonstration and called for the Kikori to repeat the sequence. They were armed with swords taken from the raiding party wiped out at Riverside Village.

Moka watched, stony faced, as the young Kikori tried to emulate his movements. They were sadly uncoordinated and clumsy in their execution. Reito was standing nearby, watching as well. He saw Horace and moved to join him.

“They’re not too good, are they?” Horace said.

Reito shrugged. “Senshi begin learning this when they’re ten years old,” he said. “It’s asking a lot for timber workers to learn it in a few weeks.”

“I wonder if they’ll learn in a few months,” Horace said gloomily.

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