Dragon of the Red Dawn: A Merlin Mission

calmly.
“Very good,” said Basho, smiling at him.
“Thanks,” said Jack.
“Let us go now,” said Basho.
Basho folded his napkin neatly and left it beside his plate. Jack and Annie did the same. Basho paid for their meals, and then they stopped at the entranceway to put on their shoes. As they stepped outside, a drum began beating loudly. A huge crowd had gathered on the grassy riverbank.
“What’s happening?” Annie asked.
“Come, I will show you,” said Basho.
People moved aside so Basho could lead Jack and Annie to the front of the crowd.
A large ring had been marked off on the ground with straw. In the middle of the circle,two enormously fat men squatted at opposite sides of the ring. Each man looked as if heweighed more than four hundred pounds. They clapped their hands. Then each began stomping his feet.

“Who are they ?” said Annie, her eyes wide.
“Sumo wrestlers,” said Basho. “Sumo wrestling has been our most popular sport for over a thousand years.”
The two wrestlers were now perfectly still. Crouching down with clenched fists, they were glaring at one another. The whole crowd seemed to hold its breath as the wrestlers stared into each other’s eyes. Suddenly one wrestler lunged forward and grabbed the other. Then the hugely fat men began pushing each other around.
“They are trying to force each other out of the ring,” said Basho.
Grunting and groaning, the two men moved backward and forward as spectators cheered wildly. Then one wrestler made a quick move and shoved his rival out of the circle. The crowd roared. Jack found himself cheering, too.
When the noise died down, Basho turned to Jack and Annie. “The first match is over,” he said. “Shall we go now?”
Before Jack and Annie could answer him, two samurai stepped in front of them. One had a big scar on his face. The other had fierce dark eyes.
“Excuse me,” the scar-faced man said. “May we see your passports, please?”

J ack froze.
Basho stepped forward. When the two samurai saw him, they bowed. “Good afternoon, Master,” one said.
“Good afternoon,” said Basho. “These are my students, Koto and Baku. I am afraid they left their passports at home today.”
“They are your students?” said the samurai with the scar.
“Yes, excellent students,” said Basho. “They have much natural talent.”
“Ah.” The two samurai looked at Jack and Annie with interest. “Will you share your talent with us?” one asked, smiling.
What talent? Jack wondered frantically. Some samurai-warrior talent?
Basho saw Jack’s confusion. “Perhaps you would each recite one of your poems,” he said.
“One of our poems?” squeaked Jack. What kind of samurai talent is that? he wondered. Do samurai warriors have to know poems?
“Sure,” said Annie. “Here’s a poem.” She took a deep breath and then recited:
Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are.
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.
The samurai with the scar nodded. “Very good, Koto,” he said. “The little star twinkles like a diamond.”
The other samurai closed his eyes as if hewere seeing the star. “Yes, yes, very good!” he said. “A sparkling diamond high above the world! Excellent.”
Both samurai then turned to Jack. “And you, Baku?” one said.

Jack stared at them. He couldn’t remember any poem—not even a nursery rhyme!
“Uh … a poem? Right,” said Jack. “Um. Let’s see…. Okay.” He took a deep breath and said:
I love Japan.
Oh, man.
I really love Japan.
The land of Japan
Is cool.
Jack bit his lip. He knew his poem was bad. He glanced at Annie. She looked as if she were trying not to laugh.
The dark-eyed samurai turned to Basho. “An excellent student?” he said.
Basho nodded. “Well, yes…. Baku has a—a special talent. He needs work, but the talent is there.”
The samurai frowned. “You say he left his passport at home, Master Basho? Where is his home?”
Just then the drumbeat started again. The samurai turned to look. A new sumo match was beginning. The two samurai moved closer to the ring to get a better look.
Basho turned to Jack and Annie. “We should leave now,” he said calmly. “I will take you to my home, where you will be safe.”
Jack, Annie, and Basho quickly left the sumo crowd and blended in with shoppers walking down a busy street. Peddlers carried long polesover their shoulders with baskets swinging on the ends. They shouted about their wares: “Shoes and socks!”