Dragon of the Red Dawn: A Merlin Mission

is on the other side of the Great Bridge,” he said.
Jack wondered how many mats Basho’s castle could hold.
Beyond the steep cliffs, the boat traffic grew heavier. Now there were many boats floating on the wide river: big sailboats, barges loaded with lumber, and ferries filled with passengers holding parasols.
The fishing boat glided toward a crowded dock next to a market. In the market, thousands of gleaming fish were laid out on tables. Men and women also sold fish and other sea creatures from baskets that hung from poles across theirshoulders. “Shrimp!” “Tuna!” “Octopus!” “Eel!” they shouted.
“Wait for us while we deliver the fish,” Basho said to Jack and Annie. “Then we will travel further on the river.”
The fishermen tied up the boat. Jack and Annie waited on the landing as Basho helped the crew unload the wicker baskets. Then each man put a basket on his head and started up the stone steps that led to the fish market.
“Oh, no!” said Annie. “Look!” She pointed toward the other end of the dock.
Jack looked. He saw several samurai getting off a boat. “Quick! Grab a basket!” he said.
Jack and Annie each picked up a basket of fish. As Jack tried to lift the basket to his head, he tilted it. A couple of fish hit him on the nose as they fell to the dock.
“Leave them! Come on!” whispered Annie.
Carrying the baskets on their heads, Jack and Annie followed Basho and the fishermen up thesteps and delivered their fish to a young woman at one of the tables. Jack glanced back at the river. The samurai were standing on the landing, checking someone’s passport.
Jack looked at Basho. Basho was watching the samurai, too. He turned to the fishermen. “Thank you for the ride,” he said calmly, bowing to the men. “We will walk from here.”
The fishermen nodded and smiled.
Good plan , Jack thought, relieved.
“Come,” said Basho. He led Jack and Annie away from the market. Soon they came to a busy road crowded with pedestrians and travelers on horseback.
As they walked along with the crowd, Jack remembered Basho’s words: “Seek harmony with your surroundings.” He tried to blend in by walking at a steady pace. Keeping his eyes down, he worried about their mission. How will we ever find the secret of happiness , he wondered, if we have to keep dodging the samurai?
“Look at that bridge!” said Annie.
Jack glanced up. A high, arched bridge spanned the river. Hundreds of people were walking across it.
“That is the Great Bridge,” said Basho. “It will lead us away from the heart of Edo to the bank of the Sumida River, where I live.”
“Great,” said Jack. He hoped they would be safer away from the heart of Edo. Then maybe they could focus on their search for the secret.
Jack, Annie, and Basho joined the crowd crossing the bridge. They walked single file, close to the wooden railing. Jack stared straight ahead, careful not to look anyone in the eye. He saw people having picnics on the other side of the bridge. Kids were flying red kites.
“What’s that mountain?” said Annie. She pointed to a snowcapped mountain looming in the distance. The white cone of the gray mountain rose above fleecy, rose-tinted clouds.
“That is a volcanic mountain called Mount Fuji,” said Basho.

“Oh, I’ve heard of Mount Fuji!” said Jack. “That’s the highest mountain in Japan, right?”
“Yes, and the most beautiful,” said Basho.
“It is beautiful,” said Annie.
Jack looked around. Actually, he thought everything seemed beautiful at that moment: the green and yellow parasols of the ferryboat passengers below, the pink cherry trees shimmering at the river’s edge, the red kites and white seagulls gliding through the sky.
“I love Japan,” Jack said softly.
“I do, too,” said Basho. “We call our world ‘the floating world,’ for it seems to float on beauty.”
“It really does,” murmured Jack. Walking across the Great Bridge, he felt as if he himself were floating through the floating world.

B asho led Jack and Annie off the Great Bridge and down a crowded road. They passed huge stacks of lumber. Then they came to a row of stages built along the riverbank. On one stage women were dancing. Their faces were painted white. They wore shimmering kimonos and waved fans.
Musicians played on a second stage. They plucked three-stringed instruments and blew on bamboo flutes. Their music was high-pitched and strange, but Jack liked it.
On another stage was a puppet show.