Читать книгу The Stone of Kuromori - Jason Rohan - Страница 10

With no time to think, Kiyomi’s training kicked in. Her reflexes, honed by years of practice, made her tuck her knees into her chest and close her hand on the dagger in her boot as she fell. With a single upward stroke, she slashed the binding around her legs, grabbed the loose rope in her left hand and straightened her body.

Blue sky swam far below her feet and the rocky shore was a hundred metres overhead. The lapping waves were too far away for a splash landing – but she caught sight of a stubby, thick-trunked pine clinging to the face of the cliff.

Kiyomi slung out the weighted end of the rope. The stone glanced off the trunk, rebounded and snagged on a branch, looping over it. She braced herself for the sudden, wrenching stop. The rope snapped tight, a shooting pain lanced through her arms from wrist to elbow to shoulder, and her body jerked upright, whipping towards the craggy surface of the cliff. Twisting round to face it, Kiyomi drew her legs up, slamming both soles hard against the rock. She grimaced in pain before yelling, ‘Kenny! I’m OK. Don’t do anything stupid!’

‘What? Are ye deaf ?’ squeaked the kijimunaa, squirming under Kenny’s trainer. Its eyes were crossed from staring at the sword Kenny had pressed against its throat. At the top of the cliff, the other kijimunaa stood like statues, no one daring to move.

‘See? Girly’s fine,’ said one of the spear-holders. ‘Heh-heh. No harm done.’

‘We’s just playing,’ added one of the archers.

‘Then help her back up,’ Kenny ordered. ‘And no tricks. This sword’s getting very heavy.’

The two creatures that had originally ambushed Kiyomi scurried away and returned seconds later, tugging at the sleeves of her jacket as she crested the brow of the cliff.

‘Friends now?’ the lead kijimunaa said, motioning for the others to lower their weapons.

‘Ken-chan, I’m fine,’ Kiyomi said, tipping her head from side to side and rotating her shoulder joints. ‘Arms are going to kill me in the morning, but I’ll live.’

Kenny took his foot off the little man’s chest and squatted for a better look, leaning on the sword for support. ‘Has anyone ever told you you look just like a troll doll?’

The kijimunaa clambered to his feet and bowed to Kenny. ‘Me Tomba,’ he said, smacking his chest and gesturing for the others to bow too, which they did, their long hair fanning out on the ground.

‘You guys can stop that now,’ Kenny said. ‘I get it. You’re sorry. It’s all a big misunderstanding, right?’

‘Oh, yes. Big mistake,’ Tomba agreed. He pointed at the blade in Kenny’s hand. ‘Me know this sword. Who are ye, big fella?’

‘Kenny. Uh, Kuromori.’

‘Ahhhhh,’ the kijimunaa all said together, bobbing their heads as if this explained everything.

‘Ye’re the one bring back the sun, yes?’ Tomba said.

‘Something like that,’ Kenny said. He shrugged and the sword shimmered in his hand, melting away to nothing.

‘So, why ye bring oni-girly to island?’

‘Will you stop calling me that?’ Kiyomi said, hands on hips.

‘We’re here to find a missing object,’ Kenny said. ‘Maybe you can help.’

The kijimunaa drew closer, their long ears twitching. ‘Ye seek treasure?’

‘Yes. Well, no. Maybe. I don’t know,’ Kenny replied.

‘Ye should stay well clear of the drowned city,’ Tomba said.

‘So, it’s true? There really is a city out there, under the water?’

‘Very bad place,’ Tomba said, shaking his head in warning. ‘Great danger. Kuromori not go there.’

‘Sorry, I have to,’ Kenny said. ‘Otherwise, oni-girl’s going to –’

‘Hey!’ Kiyomi interrupted. ‘I said don’t call me that.’

‘Sorry,’ everyone else said.

‘Going to what?’ Tomba prompted, his nose twitching with curiosity.

‘Slowly go insane as this oni spirit inside of me takes control and turns me into a mindless killing machine,’ Kiyomi said, her voice flat.

‘Which, you’ll probably agree, is a bit of a bummer,’ Kenny said.

‘Ah, me know,’ Tomba said, brightening. ‘We’s kill ye now and fix problem. Yes?’

‘Actually, we’re hoping to find a cure,’ Kenny said. ‘Down in that underwater city.’

‘Ohhh,’ Tomba said, stroking his chin. ‘Me know who ye’s looking for.’

‘You do? Who?’

Tomba’s wide eyes searched the tall grass all around, as if fearful of someone watching. ‘Will not say, but me’ll warn ye. Don’t trust him one bit. He will trick ye if he can.’

PHEEEP! One of the spear-carrying kijimunaa let out a short sharp whistle and the group scattered like rabbits, vanishing into the long grass. Kenny cast an uneasy look around, wondering what had startled them, only to see his father approaching.

‘There you are,’ Charles said. ‘I thought you’d be further up the hill by now. Come on, slowcoaches, we can still make it to the monument in time for the sunset. You might even see Taiwan.’ He stopped to examine something silvery by his foot. ‘What’s a fish doing up here?’

At 05:30 the next morning, Charles, Kiyomi and Kenny crept out of the minshuku and trotted downhill, following the coastal road north towards the harbour. Overhead, the starry veil of the Milky Way laced the glittering sky.

Whispering waves washed the beach and the full moon dusted the horizon with silver while it slipped into the sea. Beautiful as it was, Kenny was secretly glad the moon was setting. After recent events, he was grateful for moonless nights.

Leading the way, Charles scrambled down a bank, across a small car park and on to a concrete jetty.

‘Here we are,’ he said, approaching a small diving boat with a covered cabin. A stocky Japanese man with a leathery tan and closely cropped salt-and-pepper hair was strapping a dozen steel air tanks into position.

‘Kids, this is Captain Mike,’ Charles said, climbing aboard.

‘Yo, dude! Wait up!’ barked a voice from the quay.

‘Oh, great,’ Kenny grumbled, seeing Matt and Dwayne sprinting towards the boat. ‘I thought we’d ditched these guys.’

‘They must have been sleeping outside,’ Charles said, ‘to make sure they caught us.’

‘You guys heading out?’ Dwayne asked, his breathing normal despite sprinting a hundred metres with a heavy backpack.

‘Yes, we are,’ Charles answered.

‘Mind if we hitch a ride? It’d sure be nice to get a last couple of dives in before we head back to base.’

Charles removed his glasses for a quick wipe. ‘Well, we’re on a very relaxed schedule here. It might not work out if you chaps need to catch a flight back.’

‘No problem,’ Matt said. ‘If that’s the case, we’ll just swim back to shore.’

‘With all your gear?’ Charles looked doubtful.

‘Sure. Besides, your boy’s never been scuba-diving before. Strictly speaking, he shouldn’t be anywhere near open water.’

‘I’ll manage,’ Kenny said, his jaw jutting.

Matt grinned. ‘I’m sure you will, kid, but that’s not what the rules say. It’d be a shame if someone blabbed and the captain here lost his licence over something as silly as that. What say Dwayne and I come along? That way, you’ve got two expert buddy divers in case anything goes wrong.’

‘Three expert divers,’ Kiyomi added with a wink. Kenny scowled at her.

‘OK,’ Charles said, after chewing it over. ‘You can come with us.’

Captain Mike opened up the throttle and the small boat set off, kicking up foam in its wake as it headed west to circumnavigate Cape Irizaki.

‘We’ve got about fifty minutes to kit you out,’ Kiyomi said to Kenny. ‘Come here and I’ll measure you up.’

Kiyomi went through the equipment box, finding Kenny a face mask to cover his eyes and nose, a neoprene wetsuit, buoyancy regulator and flippers.

‘Normally, you’d get some classroom study, a dip in a shallow pool to get used to all the gear and then an accompanied dive in open water,’ Kiyomi said, adjusting the straps on the mask. ‘In this case, we’re just going to have to fast-track you.’

‘You know I don’t need all this stuff,’ Kenny smirked. He lowered his voice. ‘After all, I can breathe underwater.’

‘Don’t get cocky,’ Kiyomi warned. ‘That was a pond and a water tank. This is the open sea and we’re going down to about thirty metres. You’ve got currents, sharks, coral, limited visibility . . . Here, try this.’ She held out the mouthpiece of the breathing regulator; the other end was attached to a steel tank. ‘It’s compressed air. Put the rubber flange inside your mouth and breathe through your mouth only. Breathe in and out steadily until you get used to it.’

Kenny did as he was told and felt the dry air push into his lungs. He forced the breath out and inhaled again. It was a weird sensation and it made his throat burn, but with Kiyomi counting time on her fingers, he soon relaxed into a regular pattern.

At Kiyomi’s signal, he pulled out the mouthpiece and worked his tongue round his teeth. ‘Urgh. I sound like Darth Vader with that thing.’

Kiyomi nodded. ‘OK, that’s a good start. Remember, when you’re in the water, always breathe like that, slow and steady. Don’t hold your breath, ever, and if your ears start to fill up, or hurt, you need to pop them like this.’ She pinched her nose, closed her mouth and pushed air out. ‘You can also swallow, waggle your jaw, whatever works.’

‘Like going up in an aeroplane?’

‘Same principle, only you’re going down where there’s greater pressure.’

It was daunting, having so much to remember, but Kenny wasn’t going to let on. ‘What else?’

For the next twenty minutes, Kiyomi walked Kenny through the basics of scuba-diving: hand signals, use of the buoyancy control device, how to clear the mask of water, one-handed weight belt release, where to find the backup air supply.

‘It all looks so easy on TV,’ Kenny grumbled.

‘Do you two know what you’re looking for?’ Charles asked, coming over to the rear of the deck. He aimed a finger downwards.

‘No.’ Kiyomi shook her head. ‘But Susano-wo wasn’t being subtle. The stone is down there somewhere. Who knows? Maybe it’ll find us.’

Dawn painted the sky with pastel fingers of lemon, rose and lavender by the time Captain Mike powered down the engine and chugged to a stop.

‘This is us,’ Kiyomi said, looking north over the gentle waves towards the soaring cliffs of Yonaguni island.

Kenny lay on his back, grunting and wriggling to pull on his wetsuit. He had both legs in, but despite all his stretching and squeezing, he was struggling to pull it up past his waist. ‘This . . . thing . . . is impossible,’ he complained.

‘Let me help,’ Kiyomi said.

‘No, I can do this,’ a red-faced Kenny declared.

Five minutes later, he stopped to catch his breath, one loose sleeve flapping behind like an elephant’s trunk.

‘Shoulda let the girl help,’ Dwayne said, resting his foot on the gunwale. He was kitted out with all his diving gear, unlike Matt who was still in shorts.

‘Oh, wait,’ Matt said, from beside him. ‘He’s trying to impress her.’ He laughed. ‘Real smooth, dude.’ He began to unzip his long holdall.

Kiyomi glared at them both, reached over and, with one firm tug, snapped the wetsuit up to Kenny’s neck.

‘Ow.’ He squirmed. ‘You’ve given me an almighty wedgie.’

‘Here.’ Kiyomi helped him pull the scuba-tank harness on over the buoyancy jacket and then fitted on the weight belt.

‘This stuff weighs a ton,’ Kenny said, holding on to the railing for support.

Kiyomi slipped into her harness, positioned the breathing regulator and checked the instrument panel.

‘What’s the plan?’ Dwayne said. ‘Are you kids just going for a swim round the ruins or is there anything else you want to do?’

‘Just a dive,’ Kiyomi said, reaching for a knife to strap on to her leg.

‘Nuh-uh,’ Matt said, with an unmistakable tone of menace. ‘No knives down there. You might get hurt.’

‘What?’ Kiyomi rounded on him. ‘Every diver carries a knife, in case they get tangled –’ She broke off as she saw the speargun in his hand aimed directly at her chest.

‘But not you. Hand over the knife, real slow, and nobody gets hurt,’ he ordered.