Don had taken a break from moving all the drugs that had already been loaded into his trailer back out of the trailer when he spotted Lucy had driven another forklift loaded with the pallet of money around to the side of his truck. Shiki’s upper body was sticking out of the open side door of his cab’s sleeper dragging a bale of the money into the sleeper. Climbing off the forklift he was using, Don stepped over to the edge of the loading dock, “You can’t put that in there!” Don raised his voice so they could hear him.

“Why?” Lucy yelled back.

“Won’t be any room left for us if you pack all that in the sleeper,” Don explained. “Let me put it in the trailer.”

“It won’t be a problem, Shiki has quite the ability to pack things in small places.”

“No, you don’t understand, there won’t be any room left!” Don knelt down, placing on hand on the concrete floor of the loading dock to aid his jump down to the pavement. Walking over to then around forklift Lucy was operating, Don opened the driver’s door of his truck and climbed in as he watched Shiki reach out from the open side door of the sleeper and begin dragging another bale of money into the sleeper. One knees on the driver’s seat, Don leaned in and pulled the heavy fabric curtain aside that separated the cab from the sleeper, “You can’t…” Don stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the sleeper was exactly as he left it, no bales of money and no cute little oriental girl dragging the bales in.

Twisting around so he could sit on the seat, Don leaned out of the open door so he could see Lucy, “What the hell? She’s not back there, nothings back there?”

Smiling over at Don, Lucy raised her voice to make sure she was heard inside by her smaller partner, “Shiki, Mr. Chapdelanie is in our employ. I believe it best you show him what you have done now, rather than at a time when it could cause a problem.”

“Chikushō!” Shiki could be heard from inside, a moment later she leaned out of the side door to the sleeper glaring at Lucy, “Must you ruin all my fun?”

Grinning at Shiki, Lucy spoke softly to her friend, “My life would not be complete without doing so.”

“Alright give me a moment,” Shiki dragged another bale of the money in with her as she disappeared back into the truck’s sleeper. It was close to a full minutes later that Shiki stuck her head out from behind the curtain that separated the sleeper section of the truck from the cab area, “Come Chapdelanie san, I show you.”

“If I’m going to call you girls by your first names then please call me Don, not Mr. Chapdelanie okay?” Don asked as he spun in the driver’s seat so he could follow her through the curtain. Ducking down into the sleeper while Shiki held the curtain to one side Don stopped in mid-step, “What the hell?”

Instead of the narrow bed with compartments under it attached to the rear wall of the sleeper Don was looking at some kind of small village. Several small buildings all rose a few feet above ground on what appeared to be large bamboo posts. The architecture of the buildings made Don think of early Oriental homes he had seen in the movies. Wide covered verandas encircled the buildings while thick thatching covered the gentle sloping roofs. Don noticed that they seemed to be standing in some sort of Oriental garden.

Flat stones laid out in front of them forming a walkway curved back and forth between shrubs and bushes that made Don think of the small bon-sai tree his mother had when he was a kid but larger. Off to one side Don could see two men dressed in what appeared to be ancient samurai armor carrying one of the bales of money into one of the larger buildings off to his left. To the right a good twenty feet away Don spotted a wooden archway built in the same Oriental style as everything else here, a stone laid path lead away from it that intersected the path in front of them, what surprised him the most though, was that it had a door that opened and through the doorway he could see the pallet with the remaining bales of money held aloft by the forklift outside his truck.

Turning around Don saw a similar archway behind them that they had stepped through, although this one had an ornately decorated tapestry covering its opening. Reaching over, Don pulled the tapestry partially open to see the inside of the cab of his truck. Don shook his head, “This is impossible! It’s like I’m on that Dr. Who TV show.”

“Dr. Who?” Shiki cocked her head to one side inquisitively, “I thought Who was an American baseball player?”

Realizing she was talking about the old comedy skit, “No that was, ‘Who’s on first’ Dr. Who was on TV. Had a hat and this big long multi-colored scarf…” seeing the look she was giving him Don gave up trying to explain. Wanting to know how this is possible Don figured the worst she could do was refuse to answer him, “How is all this possible,” Waving his hand out signifying everything he was seeing. “My sleeper isn’t this big.”

“Your sleeper is but a doorway,” Shiki bowed deeply, “This place is known as Nogami-ji, Welcome to my home Chapdelaine san.”

“My truck has a doorway to Japan!” Don gasped.

“No, this is not Japan,” Shiki tried to explain, “Nothing exists beyond the walls. The only way to leave is through one of the Torii,” Shiki pointed at the archway to their right that Don could see the forklift and money through. I give you warning, do not pass through any torii that I have not given you permission to use, there are those that are not safe. The one behind us of course you may use, along with the one you see opens to the outside of your truck. Although I would not suggest using that one when your truck is moving,” Shiki giggled.

“But how can you do this?” Don begged for answers, “What are you?”

“I am the last of the Nogami.” Avoiding further explanation, “Now we must speed our departure of this place before anyone arrives to find what has occurred.” Shiki gently guided Don back toward the tapestry, “Go through the weapons left by our enemies, take what you deem worthy for your use, along with ammunition for them. Once I have finished storing the money that has been so graciously provided for our use I will assist you with the loading the back of the truck.”

Once finished unloading the trailer, Don began going through the crates in the warehouse inspecting their contents to see what was useful and what was not when Lucy and Shiki joined him. Lucy took over inspecting the contents of the boxes and crates while Don and Shiki moved the ones they wished to take with them onto an empty pallet that Don would use the forklift to move into the trailer. One thing they found that Don found startling was military grade weapons.

When Don had found out about the drugs he had neither looked nor questioned further, his only thought was to get away from the people he worked for as fast as he could so he never knew about the guns they also smuggled into the country. Reading the stenciled labels of what was in the various wooden crates Don couldn’t believe the types and quantity of the various firearms in the warehouse. Opening one of the crates Don pulled out one of the rifles, after checking to make sure it was empty, he laid it to the side.

“What are you doing?” Don was startled when Lucy walked up from behind him.

“Shiki told me to pick some of these weapons to bring with us.”

Lucy sighed, “We don’t have time for you to open each box and cuddle each one. Just take the boxes with the ones you wish to bring.”

While many of the firearms were only ones Don could dream of owning he began to wonder why they would want him to have the guns. Don thought to himself, ‘Am I jumping out of the frying pan into the fire here? While I’ve dreamed of having some of these guns to mess around with at a shooting range or even hunting with, will I have to use them working for these two women?’

Seeing his hesitation Lucy spoke, “It is much better to have and never need, than to need and never have isn’t it?” Nodding his agreement Don pulled one of the heavy wooden cases into an empty pallet, thinking to himself, ‘I’m too old to be doing this shit,’ while doing his best to ignore the pain in his knee and lower back.

Over an hour later Don was inside the trailer as he finished securing the pallets when Lucy pulled the bright red sports car across the loading dock and into the back of the trailer. Within the following twenty minutes Don had rechecked the load in the trailer and everyone was climbing into the cab of the truck. Shiki stood between and behind the two seats giving room for Lucy to take the passenger seat while Don climbed in to drive. Turning the key to the on position, Don watched the dashboard until the glow plug light indicated he could start the engine. Turning the key further, Don started up the big Cummins engine hidden under the floorboard as he looked over at Lucy, “So boss where we going?”

“North, but stop at a pay somewhere with a pay phone before we get on the highway. I want to make an anonymous call about the warehouse.”

“Not a lot of pay phone around anymore with everyone having a cell phone,” Don informed her. “Best bet for one of those is at a rest stop on the interstate. Problem is the way the cop’s call centers are set up they can tell where you’re calling form before they answer the phone.”

“Then I must use a phone close by,” Lucy looked out the windshield at all the other large buildings in the area around them. Being a Sunday afternoon none of the buildings showed any signs of cars or trucks parked in their lots. An idea came to Lucy so she pointed down the road between the large buildings, “go that way and stop when I say.”

Don followed her orders slowing down and since the road was deserted, stopped in the middle of the roadway. Lucy climbed down out of the passenger side of the big truck and jogged over to the entrance of one of the closed businesses. From where Don sat it looked as if the door had been left unlocked as quickly as Lucy was able to get inside. Less than two minutes later she was trotting back out to his truck and climbing back into the passenger seat.

“Okay that’s done, put this place behind us,” Lucy said as she snapped the seat belt in place around herself.

Don had tried to get either of the women to give him their story, where they were from, and more to the point what they were. The best answer he got was from Lucy, who told him it was not a story she could relate while he was driving. Most the drive north was spent with the only noise coming from the radio. It was only a few minutes before midnight when Don pulled the big rig into an overnight spot in a rest stop just south of Denver. Setting the brake then shutting down all but the engine and the air conditioner Don turned in his seat to face Lucy, “I don’t know about you, but nine hours of driving after loading the trailer has done this old man in. I need some rest.”

Unlatching her seat belt, Lucy turned sideways and stood between the seats, “Then let’s go to Nogami-ji, where you can rest and I can answer the questions that have been plaguing your conscious today.”

Nodding as he released his own seat belt, Don used the steering wheel to help him rise out of the seat as he tried to ignore the popping and cracking noises the arthritis caused his knee to make. Taking a moment to straighten his sore back he moved toward the curtain that Lucy held aside for Don to enter first. First thing Don noticed was the little village, compound or whatever it was called in Oriental was lit by several dozen paper lanterns hanging in strategic locations throughout the area. He could tell these were not modern light bulbs in the lanterns but the flickering glow given off by a candle within the lantern.

Following Lucy down the stone path they crossed a small but beautifully crafted arched bridge that spanned across a slow moving stream or pond. Looking closer Don could tell it was some sort of circular pond with a small island in its center. The pond’s size was difficult to tell, although it narrowed any place one of several of the ornate wooden bridges spanned across to the small island. In the center of the island was a small structure maybe ten feet square, there were not walls and the four rounded corner posts held up yet another of the sloped thatched roofs similar to the other buildings. Inside on a wooden floor elevated a couple feet above the ground Shiki sat in the center with her knees together and her feet underneath her. At each of the four corners outside of the pagoda, a figure stood unmoving. Each dressed in the armor of ancient samurai warriors with full helmets and masks hiding their faces, each held a long pole that was tipped with a wide scimitar-like sword on the end.

Standing when she saw the two approach, “Welcome again to my home Donald-san,” Shiki bowed deeply. “I am sure an elder such as yourself is tired form the day’s activities. If you will follow me I will give you a place in which you may rest while we provide answers to all your questions.”

Shiki led them across another of the small bridges that arched up and over the water surrounding the little island and over to one of the small buildings, Stepping up onto the Veranda Shiki to face Don and bowed again, “I give you this home to use as your own for as long as you are employed by Lucy.”

As Shiki slid the door open Lucy leaned over and whispered to Don, “Watch and do everything she does when she enters. Their rituals are simple but very important to them.”

Don followed Shiki inside and watched as she slipped off her shoes one at a time and placed her feet into slippers that were placed at the edge on top of a small step up into the rest of the house. Don followed, removing his shoes then putting on the slippers before following Shiki further into the house where she had sat down on a one of the cushions that surrounded a low table in the center of the room. With the exception of sitting Don tried his best to do everything he had seen her do.

Lucy came walking up behind him, “Please sit Don, I have a feeling this will take a while.”

“I’d love to, but between my knee and my back, if I get all the way down there I won’t be able to get back up.”

Shiki looked up at Don, “Please Donald-san, sit. Having heard Lucy’s story I know it will take some time in the retelling. I also believe it is only fair that you hear my story as well, so as Lucy has stated this will take some time. We can give you assistance if you require it later.”

Don listened to Lucy doing his best not to interrupt with questions until she was finished but he found it hard. The story she told him was so outlandish, so utterly unbelievable how he could even begin to believe what she told him was anything but some perverted fairy tale. Before he could even begin to formulate the words for his first question, it was as if she could read his mind when she told him that she could give him proof. But then again it wasn’t hard to know what he was thinking as the story she had related to him had to be utter hogwash.

Leaning over toward him Lucy kissed Don on the lips. “What was that for?” Don asked.

“Your proof,’ Lucy grinned.

“You think a pretty girl willing to kiss and old fart like me is proof of what you told me?” Don couldn’t believe she would think kissing him would prove anything. Don began to feel a warmth on his lips where she had kissed him. The warmth spread out quickly covering his face, migrating down his neck into his body. It felt good, almost like the warmth of a smooth single malt scotch but instead of the warmth sliding down his throat it was very quickly spreading throughout his whole body. The warmth lasted for several minutes before it began to fade.

What, what was that?” Don finally gasped.

“Your proof,” Lucy reached into the pocket of her cloak producing a woman’s compact that she opened facing the mirror at Don. Taking the mirror form Lucy Don inspected his reflection. While it was difficult to see in the small mirror, it was obvious he looked much younger. Reaching up with his free hand Don touched his face, the stubble was there from needing a shave, but the wrinkled sun-baked skin was gone, in its place younger healthier skin. “I’m, I’m a kid!”

Smiling from ear to ear, Lucy said, “Check your driver’s license.”

Fumbling to pull his wallet out, Don finally opened it to look at his driver’s license. It showed a picture of him or what he thought was him at a much earlier age. Reading the date of birth he looked up at Lucy, “It says I’m only thirty-five!”

“Haven’t you always wished that you could be young again but with the knowledge and wisdom of you have acquired through your years?”

“But, I don’t know, I mean why me?” Don was at a loss for words.

“You are a good man Don,” Lucy explained, “I need a good man to help me set things right, to help me aid those that deserve our help and to punish those that have lived a life as an abuser.”