Читать книгу Samurai Awakening - Ben Martin - Страница 14

Camping in Style

May,

In the darkest moments the memories came. The flashes of places and things so ancient as to be nearly as incomprehensible as my alien environment. The visions were a torture, a taunt, a glimpse of what I had been searching for…

Saturday morning David woke in a panic and unable to breath. Two shadows stood over him. One had put a hand over his mouth, while the other pinched his nose. Frightened, David struggled for a breath. Luckily, one of the shadows let go of his nose, allowing him a deep exhalation.

“It’s just us,” Rie whispered. “Don’t say a word, don’t make a sound. Just put these on and hurry.”

Rie handed David what turned out to be a cross between a ninja’s outfit and standard military camouflage. Under Takumi’s supervision, he donned pants, boots, a shirt, and a pullover that tied at the sides. The ensemble also included a hood and removable facemask. His new outfit was almost black, but with limited and random patterns of dark green and brown for camouflage.

Outside, the two shadows moved along with David, blending into the dark outlines of trees and buildings. David moved slowly, but he lacked the grace and utter soundlessness that the twins were able to achieve. A trickle of stones kicked out from David’s shoes as he stumbled, eliciting a hiss from one of the twins. The trio circled around towards the back of the Estate, avoiding the path to the shrine. Moving through the Matsumoto forest, they quickened their pace until the wall at the back of the Estate loomed before them. With deft movements, Rie scaled the wall and watched as Takumi helped David negotiate a path up the rocks.

“We already disabled the security sensors along the top of the wall. They’re supposed to give us a lead, but that’s no reason we should tip them off to when we leave.” Rie spoke in a less-than-whisper that barely made it to David’s ears as he pulled himself up and over the wall. Once outside the Estate, they struck straight out from the wall.

“Walk straight ahead. Rie and I will go ahead to check for traps. Your job is to create a trail leading off in a direction we don’t plan to follow. Do your best to hide yourself, but don’t go too slow. We need enough time to get to a better spot before this afternoon.” Takumi was busy adjusting his own pack and clothes as he talked, ensuring one last time that everything was ready.

Takumi and Rie backed away, blending into the forest. Within seconds, David was alone in the unfamiliar wilderness with nothing but a knife, his clothes, and water.

‘This is definitely not going to be like camping in Arizona,’ David thought. He took a deep breath and reminded himself of the map and compass courses he had done as a Boy Scout.

Steeling himself, he stepped carefully through the rough terrain, his eyes adjusting slowly to the darkness of early morning. Only the barest light from the still waxing moon remained to guide him as his thoughts turned inward.

There were numerous rocks, streams, and thickets to block his way, forcing him in new directions. The land grew ever more rugged and he soon breathed heavily with every inclining step.

Although it was difficult, David walked for hours alone in the forest. The isolation was surprisingly welcome after being inundated with new people and activities over the last few weeks. Along the way he thought back on his family camping trips, of fishing for crayfish he never ate, and exploring caves with Jess following close behind.

David thought of the twins. He was only just beginning to get to know them. Takumi was obviously determined to carry on his family’s tradition. He was serious and straightforward, at least at the Estate, yet he laughed and joked louder than Naoto at school. When Rie smiled, she engaged the whole room, yet there was something new about the way she acted towards him since the incident at the shrine. He could not quite name the change, and so shrugged the thought away. After all, the responsibilities of being a Matsumoto hung over the twins, maturing them before their classmates.

‘And I just committed to the same life, didn’t I? I’ll just have to be sure to let myself have some fun and relax. No way I want to turn into Masao,’ David thought.

When he finally made it to a dark stand of trees, where he figured it would be safe to take a few minutes rest, David sat down. As he did, the sun began to rise from behind him.

“Well I guess I’ve been heading west then,” David muttered to himself, looking around the dark trees.

“Actually you’ve been heading north, but turned west about ten minutes ago,” Rie said from right behind him. David jumped from his stump in surprise, his head knocking into a low branch.

As he staggered, the branch creaked and fell beside him. David rubbed the painful bump that sprung up and blinked his smarting eyes. Rie steadied him, and then led him to a low stump to sit down.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to surprise you, but sneaking around is kind of a habit out here,” Rie said smiling. “This should give Grandpa and Dad something to think about. You picked a good spot to rest. We can cover your tracks in the stream just on the other side of those trees.”

Once David recovered, they followed the stream, Rie showing him how to shift his center of mass in order to walk without disturbing or slipping on moss. Eventually, they were able to end the trail David had been creating from the start of the trip.

It was an interesting experience just walking through the forest with Rie. They barely talked yet it was the most time they had ever spent alone. The longer they walked, the lighter her steps seemed, the more relaxed her shoulders. She began teaching David how to be truly quiet in the forest.

“Being sneaky is fun,” Rie said as she slid past a tree. “If no one knows you are there, then you have all the freedom. Come on, if you thought I was good at kendo or badminton, just wait until you see what I can do out here.”

Hours later, David was beyond sore and tired as they stopped before another tree trunk near the top of a mountain. From the vantage point, the pair could see most of the surrounding area and nearly every possible approach. The only exception was to the north, where the mountains grew even taller. Being stealthy had made a challenging hike far more difficult. The techniques Rie showed him required the use of rarely used muscles. Despite the jolts of pain in his legs, David was enjoying the trip. As he slid to a sitting position, Rie circled the area.

“This is the place Takumi told me about. It should be a good spot to camp during the heat of the day. We will hunt, then sleep,” Rie said with just a hint of uncertainty and concern in her voice.

“Great! I’m…” David’s words were cut off as he fell back into a hole beneath the trunk. Once again, he found himself with a hand around his mouth and a shadow whispering in his ear.

“Shh, it’s me. You two took forever, I already found lunch.” Takumi’s voice was dull, muffled by the very small space around them.

Letting David go, Takumi opened up the hole covering just enough to signal Rie. She slid in next to him, and then checked the cover for any marks before shutting them in. The hole under the trunk burrowed back into the mountain for several feet.

“I’ve been working on this hidey hole for years. I discovered it a while back, but it was too small so I started making trips to widen it out. I’ve never used it before, so I’m pretty sure neither Grandpa nor Dad will know about it. We probably won’t be able to use it again, but I figured now is when we will most need it. There’s water stashed in the back. Here’s lunch.”

Takumi pulled out an assortment of raw fish and some wild mushrooms. In the darkness of the shelter, David could not be sure of what he was eating and was glad for the ignorance.

“We have some dried meat but we need to save it in case we can’t find anything later. After all, we still have three more days to go and a fire would give us away immediately,” Takumi said.

“You come up here a lot?” David asked between reluctantly convulsive gulps.

“We all do,” Rie said from somewhere in the dark. “In order to prepare for this trip and to work on our other techniques, we all spend time in the mountains. Usually we go alone or in pairs.”

“Rie especially likes coming out here to play with the bugs,” Takumi said. David heard a soft thump followed by a burst of air from Takumi. “I mean she likes coming out here to play with—” David heard another punch and this time a low groan from Takumi. “OK, sorry.”

“For now, let’s sleep,” she said. “We can guard in shifts. David, take the first. We’re probably still safe.”

“Yea, when you can’t stay awake anymore, wake Ms. Touchy up,” added Takumi. Soon all David could hear was the slight sounds of light breathing. David settled himself against the moist wall and stared at the entrance. As the minutes crept by, along with far too many bugs, his mind wandered.

‘Who would have thought I’d be hiding in a hole with two other teenagers while their parents tried to hunt us,’ he thought.

David tried to remember the accident at the shrine. The memory of it was oily, slipping away as he tried to grasp it. So close to a dream, it was intensely difficult to think of it as reality, yet he could speak Japanese.

With no external focus in the darkness of the hideaway, his memories slipped away, his mind playing scenes without his bidding. All his gaijin moments replayed themselves in the dark cave, the instances where cultures clashed and he had made the same mistakes so many foreigners make in Japan.

He nearly laughed aloud remembering the first time he had entered the Matsumotos’ house and had almost stepped up to the wooden floor without first taking off his shoes. Grandpa had run at him babbling in incomprehensible Japanese, scaring him so much he had fallen back outside of the house. Helping him up, Rie had slowly shown him how to take his shoes off and place them in a little locker, and had even shown him his own pair of house slippers.

Rie again helped him during his first meal, showing him how to use chopsticks. While some people had used them back home, he had never quite gotten the hang of them. Using hand gestures, she had shown him how not to pass food from chopstick to chopstick. To use the reverse end when eating from a communal plate, and to never stand his hashi in his food. Takumi seemed to enjoy showing David how not to use them, but only when Masao was not looking. As the memories played in his mind, David closed his eyes to the darkness. Drifting, David found himself slinking though a young forest. The perspective wrong, he crept with a curiously smooth and lithe step through low ferns, mere inches above the ground. His ears twitched. There was a scent ahead. Gliding forward, he caught just a hint of gray. Freezing, David crouched, slowing his heart, and waiting for the perfect moment…

David came to pinned on his back, a knife to his throat and Rie’s hand over his mouth. She pressed against him, every inch of her body locking him into place.

“Jeeze David! I thought you were Grandpa.” She pushed away from him in an instant. “You could have just tapped me on the shoulder. No need to jump me!” Takumi brushed past them as he cautiously checked the entrance.

“It’s still light out, though it’s later than I thought it would be. David?” Takumi asked.

“I guess I must have slipped off to sleep, sorry!” David said, his cheeks flaming red. He hoped they would not ask for more of an explanation.

“It’s alright. Lie down and get a few hours of sleep. We have a long way to go tonight.” Takumi took the next watch as Rie laid back down. As he tried to find a soft bit of damp ground to lie on, David did his best to avoid thinking about the dream. Rie shifted beside him. Luckily, his utter exhaustion had him back asleep in minutes.

David awoke hungry, tired, and sore, but soon they were back to sneaking through the forest. He was thrilled to be away from the cloying smell of moss and dirt that had built up with the three of them in such a small space. As they hiked, he struggled, but with the twin’s assistance, he kept up. Something about the forest seemed to invigorate him. He had more energy and felt motivated in a way he never had in the dusty desert.

As they walked, Takumi asked him about his life in America. David told them of the hot summers and cold winters. How he had grown up with only his father and sister, and how his father, while brilliant, had the attention span of a two-year-old. They laughed when he described the popular TV show his father did for kids. He told them about how his sister had learned how to control and guide their father’s randomness from a young age, something he had never been able to do.

“I probably would have been in something like the technology club here, but I was not really smart enough. Instead I touched many groups without really being a part of any of them,” he said, finishing. Takumi grunted as he cleared a fallen tree in one lithe movement.

Later that evening, the trio began coming up against traps left so that Grandpa and Masao could track their progress. Whenever the trio stopped to rest David spent his watch carving a long stick into a makeshift sword. Although he was not convinced it would be useful, the twins had insisted he have something in case Grandpa or Masao found them. Whenever he slept, his mind seemed to run free, keeping him from getting rest. When he woke, the dreams slipped away. He was unsure why, but he soon developed a fear of sleeping, even though he was exhausted.

The constant relocations and hard surfaces also hindered his attempts to recuperate. Nearly all of Monday disappeared in a haze of sleep deprivation. His only clear memory was the realization that while Takumi often led, this was not his element. Rie seemed to be the one most adept at slinking through the woods and detecting traps. While Takumi was proficient, it came to Rie naturally. Takumi seemed better at the blunt attacks and powering through the forest when they were hemmed in. David realized it was a lot like the badminton games he had seen Takumi play. While he could be sneaky when he had to, Takumi excelled at the straightforward attack.

As Tuesday began, Takumi and Rie began to lead David back towards the Estate. They stopped again during the day, letting David recover somewhat. Waking him as the sun began to set, Rie slid next to David.

“From now on will be the most dangerous,” she whispered. “We’ll have to pick one of the mountain passes, and will probably be attacked. Stay alert.”

His mind clearer from the extra sleep, David nodded. As they moved towards the Estate, the twins detected many lures and traps. Takumi taught David to detect the faint discolorations of the plants and wood that marked them as having been manipulated, letting Rie keep them safe while he taught. The traps set for them were sometimes simple and obvious, to the twins at least. Twice they pointed out nets strung up in the trees with tripwire. Other times, the traps were cleverly hidden rocks set to develop into landsides, or branches set to fling at the heedless adventurer. After seeing so many of the traps, David realized that all they were set to hinder approach to the Estate, but did not prevent anyone leaving it.

As they moved down a hill, a soft flick was all the warning David had before a branch hit him in his face, knocking him back. Simultaneously, the ground beneath him gave way. The twins were just able to jump behind trees as David rolled by upon a bed of loose soil and stones. Exchanging a silent look, the twins hurried after.