The Ninja Apprentice: The Lost Scrolls of Fudo Shin

by Jon F. Merz

  Jimmy smirked. “This will probably sound crazy. But I was told I would know how to find it when the time came.”

  Mitch lifted one eyebrow higher than the other. “Interesting. And who told you this?”

  “A monk.”

  Mitch kicked his horse back into gear and they rode on. “Should have known. Those monks will always get you in trouble.” But he smiled as he said it.

  Jimmy brought his horse alongside Mitch. “Maybe, but I’ve got to try to get there.”

  “What’s so important about the temple?”

  “Not the temple, but what they have there. Something was stolen a long time ago. Something that belongs to my….family.” He smiled. That felt good. He could get used to having a family after all this time.

  Mitch nodded. “I guess I can understand that. But good luck prying it away from the monks up north. I’ve heard strange things about them.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like they’re not all that peaceful and new agey the way most other monks are.”

  Jimmy smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.” He nodded at Mitch’s backpack, which seemed bulky and heavy. “So, where are you off to?” He gestured around them. “Not a lot of ears listening to us now.”

  Mitch sniffed. “True.” He looked at Jimmy. “Can you keep a secret?”

  “I think I already am.”

  “You’re sharp, Jimmy.” Mitch smiled as they rode. “Someone’s doing a good job with you. And you can tell them I said that.”

  “So?”

  Mitch pulled out a small map and opened it up in front of him. “You see where we are now? Here’s Jomsom, which we just left.”

  “Got it.”

  “I’m going here.” Mitch stabbed his finger at a point far to the northwest of their current location.

  “What’s there?”

  “Let’s just say that the American government would very much like to talk to the person I’m supposed to find when I get there.”

  “Looks like you’ve got quite a journey ahead of you,” said Jimmy. “Why not just go in from the other direction.”

  Mitch smiled. “Ever hear about taking them from the place they’d least expect it?”

  “Maybe something along those lines.”

  Mitch nodded. “Then that’s why I’m here. One man, riding hard, and living off the land can come up unexpected and actually achieve what teams of people have failed to do so far.”

  “Can you really do it all by yourself?”

  Mitch shrugged. “I have before. Not that anyone ever hears about it, of course, but that’s the nature of what I do.”

  “All alone.”

  Mitch took a deep breath. “And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  * * *

  At two o’clock, Mitch suddenly called a halt to their progress. “This is where our paths diverge, Jimmy. You keep on this trail and it will take you north to where you need to go. I’m bushwhacking it from here on out.”

  Jimmy held out his hand and Mitch shook it firmly. “Thanks for your help, Mitch. Best of luck doing whatever it is that you’re doing.”

  Mitch smiled. “Same to you, Jimmy. And who knows, our paths might cross again in the future. Although, I’ll probably have shaved this beard off by then. Stupid thing itches like crazy.”

  “Why wear it then?”

  Mitch clicked his horse forward. “Because where I’m going, you need one of these things to fit in with the locals.”

  "Next time, the Pepsis are on me."

  Mitch grinned. "That was my last taste of home for a while. I'm glad we could share it together. Travel well, Jimmy."

  "You, too, Mitch."

  Jimmy watched him go for another five minutes and then urged his own mount further on up the trail.

  Toward late afternoon, the trail grew steadily thinner and more gravel seemed to take the place of dirt. The trees grew smaller and the moss on the ground more abundant. Jimmy found his breathing somewhat labored, but assumed that would be because of the fact that he was climbing in altitude. He’d heard of altitude sickness before.

  The sun crept toward the west and stained the sky with brilliant fiery red and yellows. Night would fall soon and Jimmy realized for the first time that he’d be spending it alone and out in the open.

  He scanned the countryside and spotted a sheltered area he figured would be good for camping in. He led his horse to a nearby thicket of small trees and thin grass and then got himself settled under an overhang.

  In the pack that Khampa had given him, Jimmy found a flint, a knife, and some dried tinder that would take a spark. Jimmy gathered some dried wood he found on the ground and scraped the knife blade against the flint until he threw a spark at the tinder. The spark caught and ignited the dried wood and soon Jimmy had a roaring fire.

  The warmth cheered him and he dug out a water bottle and some dried fruits and meats. The meat tasted like leather and he had to chew it for minutes until it was pliable enough to swallow. But the fruit tasted delicious.

  When he looked back up, night had fallen and the entire area was pitch dark, except for the glow of his fire. Jimmy frowned, realizing that the fire would ward off any animals in the area but would also attract any strangers to it.

  He fell asleep with his hanbo in both hands, ready to defend himself.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  The fire had shrunk to glowing red embers when Jimmy’s senses needled him out of his sleep. He cracked his eyes and saw that the fire had died way down. He promptly threw more wood on it and blew at its base to reignite the flames. As the fire shot back to life, he sensed movement on the periphery of his fire.

  He got to his feet with the hanbo in both hands, held relaxed just the way Vanessa had taught him. He kept his knees bent and brought his breathing under control.

  What was moving out there?

  He heard a howl then, somewhere not too far off in the depths of the night. And it sounded like no other animal he’d ever heard in his life. He tried to remember what sort of wildlife existed in Nepal and realized he had no clue about it.

  But then he remembered that this was Yeti country. Supposedly the abominable snowman stalked this part of the world. And hadn’t he heard somewhere about the strange noises they supposedly made?

  Was there a Yeti lurking on the edge of the firelight?

  Jimmy smirked. There was no such thing as the Yeti, he told himself. There’d never been any real proof of their existence and surely by now someone would have been able to videotape one of them, right? What with Youtube and Facebook, someone most definitely would have seen one by now.

  He hoped.

  He frowned as another howl broke in the night. It was easier trying to convince himself that yeti didn’t exist when he was in a nice warm bed in a hotel somewhere. Being out by himself in the Himalayan mountain range was something else again.

  Shuffling footsteps brought his mind back to the present. “Who’s there?”

  But he only heard the snap and crackling of the fire. He peered out into the dark, trying to pierce the darkness, but his night vision was inhibited by the glow of the fire. He realized then that he should have let the fire die down and he might be able to see better.

  With his back to the wall of the overhang, Jimmy felt reasonably secure. The fire would probably keep any of them away and they couldn’t sneak up behind him.

  He gripped the hanbo and visualized himself battling huge furry snowmen. It seemed ridiculous to him, but then again, he was out here.

  Alone.

  Back in the States, Jimmy would have been tucked back into bed at an orphanage and the authorities would have been aghast that a boy his age was alone in the wilderness. And yet, here he was chasing a rumor about stolen scrolls all over the world while some evil mastermind hunted him down.

  How did I get mixed up in this mess, he wondered. What did I do to deserve this? I'm talking to ghosts. I'm being trained by a former spy. I just shared a horse ride with some sort of
commando. And I'm supposed to become a ninja?

  Is this really what my life is? Is this really what my destiny is made of?

  He thought of Derek and Jamal. The smiles they'd shared. The fun times they'd had in spite of being orphans. There was good in the life he'd left behind him.

  His eyes felt hot again and he blinked them furiously, willing the images of his friends to not vanish amid the flames.

  The flames.

  He saw the orphanage burning again. He felt the rage bubbling up in him at the ease with which Kotogawa unleashed his violence upon the world.

  Derek and Jamal would have died in that blaze.

  Burned up.

  Jimmy kept blinking away the heat in his eyes. Their funerals would have been closed caskets.

  No one would have even seen their faces.

  The flames in front of him grew blurry. The heat in his eyes overflowed.

  If this is what I'm meant to do, he thought, then it's what I will do. I'll see to it that Kotogawa doesn't have the chance to do this to anyone else.

  I promise.

  He caught more movement at the periphery of the firelight. And this time, he saw a shadow.

  “Who are you?”

  He heard a twig break to his right and whirled around, facing that direction and expecting attack at any moment.

  None came.

  Another howl broke the night air and this time it lasted much longer than any of the others.

  Jimmy winced.

  Had something just hit him in the face?

  He bent down and picked up the smooth flat stone. It was gray and light.

  Without thinking, Jimmy out a hand to his face and it came away streaked with blood. Great, he thought, another scar on my mug. No girl’s - or even Merlin for that matter - is going to want to be seen with me in public by the time this is all over with.

  Another sound to his right drew him even further away from the safety of the overhang. Jimmy drew closer to the fire.

  And then sensed something behind him.

  Spun-

  -and felt the sensation of suddenly losing his balance and falling.

  The hanbo dropped.

  And then so did Jimmy.

  * * *

  When he awoke, his head throbbed and his eyes watered when he tried to open them.

  “Take your time. Do not rush things.”

  The voice sounded smooth and cultured, but the accent left no doubt that he did not speak English as his first language. Jimmy tried to sit up and succeeded, rubbing his head as he did so.

  “Where am I?”

  “I believe you are exactly where you wished to find yourself.”

  That sounds like the kind of thing a monk would say, thought Jimmy. He opened his eyes and confirmed his suspicion. Sitting near him was a much older-looking monk dressed in crimson robes. His baldhead gleamed in the light of the candles burning nearby.

  “What is this place?”

  The monk smiled. “A temple. Near to where we found you.”

  “You found me? What happened?”

  The monk tilted his head as if Jimmy had just asked an almost amusing question. “Why you seemed to have fallen a fairly great distance from where you were camped. We were rather amazed that you would go stumbling about in the dark like that. After all, the area has many precarious ledges.”

  “I thought I heard something.”

  “Did you?”

  Jimmy smirked. “Yeah, I thought it was a Yeti.”

  “And you’re so sure it was not?”

  Jimmy opened his eyes wider. “Was it?”

  “I have no idea. There are a great many mysteries and legends in this area of the world. Who knows what you might have encountered.” His eyes narrowed. “Are you here to spy on us?”

  “I’m a friend,” said Jimmy. “I’m not here to spy on you.”

  “Do you know who we are?”

  “No.”

  “Then why would say that you are a friend without knowing who we are and what we do? We might be hostile.”

  Jimmy shook his head and winced. The pain felt like the mother of all headaches. “I have a feeling you guys are good. That’s all.”

  “Don’t move your head so much. The pain will not last, but it will be with you for another thirty minutes or so.”

  “Wonderful.” Jimmy peered closer at the old monk. On the surface, he appeared frail. But Jimmy could sense there was some sort of inner strength within the old body. He was probably a lot more dangerous than his appearance led one to believe.

  “My name,” said the monk, “is Siben.”

  “I’m Jimmy Dolan.”

  “Your wallet indicates that you are Terrence Livingston.” Siben's face grew dark. "Are you lying?"

  Jimmy held up his hand. "That was my cover identification. My real name is Jimmy."

  "Why would one so young have need for false documents?"

  "There are people trying to kill me."

  Siben's eyes opened wider. "Are there? And why would they want to do such a thing?"

  "It's a long story," said Jimmy. "It involves a family I never knew I had until a short time ago."

  Siben said nothing for a moment and then took a breath. “Why are you here, Jimmy Dolan?”

  “I’m looking for something.”

  Siben nodded. “And what is that?”

  “Scrolls.”

  Siben leaned back and Jimmy saw a flicker of surprise wash over his face before it was quickly retracted. “You are here for the scrolls?”

  “Yes. Is this the temple?”

  “It is.”

  “I’m amazed I found it,” said Jimmy.

  Siben regarded him. “But you did not really find it, did you? You merely wandered into our area and we found you. After all, if I gave you a map, would you be able to tell me exactly where you are right now?”

  “Uh, no.”

  Siben grinned. “Good, that is how we prefer things to be.”

  “But the scrolls are here?”

  “They are. We have been entrusted with protecting them for many, many years. And we have waited for the rightful owner to come along and take them back.”

  “Rightful owner? I don’t know if I’m that guy. I was just supposed to bring them back to my family.”

  “Your family,” said Siben slowly. “And who exactly would they be?”

  “The Matsuda-ryu. We lost the scrolls many years ago. They were stolen from us by the evil members of the Kotogawa clan. I am here to return the scrolls to my family.”

  “You are Matsuda-ryu, Jimmy Dolan? With a name like that?”

  Jimmy frowned. “I don’t even know if Jimmy Dolan is my right name. I’ve just always been called that. But now…I don’t know. I mean, I’m doing all of this training and I’ve been speaking with, uh, well, a ghost-“

  “-A ghost, did you say?”

  Jimmy nodded. “Yeah, I know. It sounds crazy, right?”

  “Not necessarily.”

  “Look, I don’t even understand everything that’s going on here, but I was told to find the scrolls and bring them home. And Khampa in Katmandu told me that I had to do this alone.”

  Siben smiled. “So you came here alone?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is dangerous country. You might have been killed in that bad fall. You might have frozen to death.”

  “I thought the Yeti were going to get me,” said Jimmy. He laughed. “But I guess I had more to worry about from myself.”

  “It would seem so,” said Siben.

  “So, anyway, that’s my story. Orphan, plucked out by some woman named Vanessa and told that I’m connected to this Matsuda-ryu family of ninja warriors.”

  "You talk quite freely. It is good that we are friendly, otherwise you might have just revealed a great deal of information that might be secret."

  Jimmy frowned. The monk was right. Sheesh.

  Siben peered closer at him. “I do see the Japanese in you, Jimmy. But it is not much.” He leaned b
ack. “At least not just yet.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means exactly what it sounds like it means.” Siben collected his robe and stood up. “Would you like to follow me, please?”

  Jimmy stood and regretted it. His head throbbed. But then Siben put one finger against his temple and the pain stopped.

  “Now, please accompany me.”

  They walked out of the small room and down a corridor. To Jimmy, it seemed as though all of the temples he’d been in so far had these long, dark corridors. But this one had longer corridors than most. And the walls seemed to made out of solid rock.

  Jimmy stopped to touch one of them and found it warm. “How is it that it’s warm here when we’re in the mountains.”

  “Exactly,” said Siben.

  “Huh?”

  “We are, as you said, in the mountain.”

  “We are?”

  Siben bowed. “Indeed. We stay warm because of the geothermal updrafts that bring heat into the temple. We have filtered water from the snow running through the same rock that shelters us. There is no way to tell that this temple exists from the outside world.”

  “But how do you get out?”

  “We have a few secret entrances and exits that provide us with necessary egress points when we need them.”

  Jimmy followed Siben down another corridor. The candles set in evenly spaced holders threw more shadows as they walked. “You will have a meal before you set about trying to obtain the scrolls.”

  “Trying to obtain? I thought all I had to do was ask for them back and you guys would hand them over.”

  “Is that what you thought?”

  Jimmy felt a little embarrassed. “Well, yeah. Kinda.”

  Siben smiled. “This is the curse of the generation that now walks the Earth. They want everything without having had to work for it. They have lost sight of the necessity of struggle in order to achieve success. But the old ways do not care about what the present generation wants. The old ways still demand that a petitioner work to acquire what he seeks.”

  “So, what do I have to do to get the scrolls then?”

  Siben led Jimmy into a room lined with low tables. A steaming bowl of something sat nearby. Siben pointed. “First you will eat that. It will give you the necessary strength to get you started.”