A Winter of Ghosts

Chapter Three

By Saturday morning, Kara'sschoolwork was already suffering. She sat in the back of 2-C while her homeroomteacher, the gray-eyed Mr. Sato, droned on about the drop-off in attentiveness — and thus test scores — that many students showed during winter term. Sheknew she ought to be paying attention, since he might as well have been talkingspecifically about her, but his voice was such a monotone that it lulled herinto a stupor.

For the past few days, she hadbeen able to think of nothing but Jiro's ghost, and what it might mean. Shefelt uneasy most of the time, an awful paranoia creeping up on her in quietmoments. Hachiro had been unnerved at first, but with every hour that passed heseemed less and less sure of what he had really seen, and now he acted almostembarrassed by his ghost sighting. Kara had not witnessed it herself, so therewas no way she could know for certain what he had seen, but she had a hard timethinking the apparition had been nothing but Hachiro's imagination, and hecouldn't claim that it had been some other boy who looked like Jiro, since thekid had been barefoot. . on a train. . in the middle of winter.

So either Hachiro hadhallucinated, or he had seen a ghost. And after what they had all experiencedover the course of the school year, the supernatural explanation seemed morethan likely.

Though Hachiro had beenreluctant to talk about it any further, Kara had insisted they tell Miho,Sakura, and Ren. If this were indeed a sign of new supernatural activity, theyhad a right to know. They had discussed whether to mention it to Kara's fatherand Miss Aritomo — and by extension, to Principal Yamato and the police — but decided against it for the moment. If anything else happened, they wouldreport it right away, but Hachiro had sensed no menace in the apparition. Hehad thought it seemed sad, but not evil, and in the days that had followed noneof them had seen anything remotely out of the ordinary. In the past few days,the strangest thing any of them had seen was the bright orange tie that Mr.Sato had worn on Wednesday. Kara took some comfort in that, but still, the ideathat ghosts were wandering around Miyazu City disturbed her.

People were always reportingghost sightings. All over the world there were places that were believed to behaunted. Japanese folklore was rife with ghost stories. And despite what Karafelt, they could not deny the possibility that Hachiro really had beendreaming or half-awake and imagining things. It might not have anything to dowith Kyuketsuki's curse.

Still, much of the excitementand enthusiasm they had all had about the new year had vanished. Kara knew thatshe had not been alone in thinking of the new term and the change in thecalendar as a fresh start, but they would not escape the curse so easily. Suchthoughts troubled her so much that she had been finding it very difficult topay attention in class, so much so that even her father had noticed. Herhomework had been rife with errors and she had started having difficultyretaining what she had read. All of that, and they had only been in school fora few days.

She wished she hadn't had tocome into school today. It had been hard for her to get used to having classeson Saturday mornings. This weekend she really needed a break, and something funto distract her. But at least she would have this afternoon and all of Sundayoff. Maybe she could talk her friends into going to a movie tonight. She hadalready decided to try to persuade them to go tubing. She doubted her fatherwould have time to take them up to one of the mountains tomorrow, but theweather reports had been hinting at a potential snowstorm. If it arrivedquickly enough, they could go someplace nearby. She knew a hill not far fromthe school that seemed promising.

Mr. Sato finished his lectureand glanced at the clock. Soon the bell would ring to signal the end ofhomeroom period and the teachers would all move to their first classes of theday. That was one thing Kara loved about school in Japan. It made so much moresense for the teachers to be nomads, roving from room to room for each class,instead of sending hundreds of students herding into the halls between eachperiod.

"Miho," Sato-senseisaid. "I believe you have responsibility for the toban today."

Hearing her friend's name, Karaperked up for the first time this morning. Miho's shyness had lessened over thecourse of the school year, but as she stood up and went to the front of theclassroom she looked like she wanted to crawl out of her skin. No matter howmuch she might come out of her shell, Miho did not like to be in the spotlight.

She took a clipboard from Mr.Sato and turned to face the class, adjusting her glasses. Her long hair fell ina curtain across her face and she did not push it away, choosing instead tohide behind it as if it were a veil. Toban was a rotating duty schedule for thehomeroom. Every day a different student took attendance and made announcementsand every time it was Miho's turn, she got stage fright, which was funnybecause she loved Noh theatre so much. If she had the opportunity to be on anactual stage, portraying someone else, she would probably be fine. It was onlybeing herself that made her self-conscious.

One by one, she called the namesof their classmates. When she got to Kara, she glanced up and Kara gave her alittle wave, which made Miho smile.

After attendance, she flipped apage to announcements and immediately her eyes lit up. Then Miho grinned.

"This year's ensokuwill be on Monday," she announced. "The entire school will be visitingTakigami Mountain Observatory. Appropriate footwear and winter clothing arerecommended."

Immediately the excited chatterbegan. Kara smiled so wide that her face hurt. It felt like her prayers hadbeen answered. She had just been thinking about how badly she needed a break,something to take her mind off of Jiro's ghost, and now their Monday classeshad just been replaced by a field trip. The English translation of 'ensoku' wassomething like 'far feet,' and from what Kara had read, sometimes they literallyentailed much farther journeys than Takigami Mountain Observatory, but as faras she was concerned, any field trip would do.

Mr. Sato tapped his fingers onhis desk and gave the class a dirty look, which would normally have silencedthem but today only managed to diminish the chatter to whispers. When hefrowned and took off his glasses, that had the desired effect. It was like hehad superpowers or something. Anytime he took his glasses off, they knew thathe meant business and that from that point forward any infraction would lead topunishment. Someone would be kneeling on the hard, cold floor of the corridor.

"I will see you all at theend of the day," Mr. Sato said. "Do not let your excitement dull yourfocus on your studies."

Kara smiled. The news of theensoku would not dull her focus. On the contrary, it finally gave her somethinggood to focus on.

When the wind gusted, it becamequite cold on top of Takigami Mountain. The morning had begun with a clear bluesky, but as the day went on it had gradually turned a stark white and then anominous gray. Even so, Kara did not feel very chilly except when the windpicked up. She had worn her new boots over two pair of socks, so her feet werewarm enough. Her new jacket — which Miho loved while Sakura attempted tohide how much she hated it — had been the perfect choice. When the windstarted to gust she put the hood up and felt very cozy.

Buses had taken them from schoolto Takigami Park, where the cherry blossom festival would take place comespringtime, and they had walked up the long, wooded path to the observatory,which had taken the better part of the morning. Far feet, Kara hadthought. They've got that part right.

Now they all sat at outdoortables around the observatory eating the lunch they had brought along. Kara andher friends had claimed a table for themselves. She sat between Hachiro andRen, with Miho and Sakura across from her with a third boy, Sora, who sat infront of her in homeroom. Having Sora join them had been unexpected but not unwelcome.She was especially glad to have him along because his presence prevented themfrom talking about anything having to do with ghosts or curses.

Her father and Miss Aritomo hadbeen chaperoning their own homeroom classes, but now that the students were alleating lunch they had managed to take a few minutes for themselves, eatingquietly at a small table for two at the edge of the observatory. They probablyhad the best and most romantic view available, and Kara smiled at the thought. Theviews from the observatory were spectacular, not only of the city but of thebay and of Ama-no-Hashidate.

As Kara had predicted, herfather had been unable to take them tubing on Sunday and the snowstorm theforecasts had been expecting had not materialized, so she had spent the morningstudying and then gone for a long walk and a late lunch with Hachiro beforespending a quiet night at home. But she had not minded at all, considering theplan for today.

The wind gusted again and Karashivered as she packed away her bento box.

"It's so beautiful up here,"Miho said, standing up. "And the air is just so fresh. I feel more — "

"Awake?" Sora teased.

Miho gave a shy shake of herhead. "I was going to say 'alive.'"

Kara studied her, wondering ifshe was just having a relapse of shyness or if she might have some interest inSora. Miho loved to talk to Kara about American boys, which were sort of anobsession with her, but had also had a crush on Ren until she found out that hewas gay. Sora did not have Ren's sense of humor and he wasn't quite asgood-looking, but he seemed like a nice enough guy, smart and friendly. Mihocould definitely do worse.

"You're crazy," Rentold Miho. "I'd much rather be in class."

His tone and expression were soconvincing that for a moment he even had Kara fooled, but then he laughed androlled his eyes as if to say, please, you didn't really believe that, didyou?

"You scared me there for aminute," Kara told him.

Ren slipped his bento box intohis backpack and hoisted it onto his shoulders. "Don't worry. I haven'tlost my mind. I'd rather be almost anywhere than in class. And I don't mind theexercise."

"Would you believe I heardtwo girls complaining about being here?" Hachiro said. He had been quiet,but now he grew animated as he mimicked one of the girls. "'I've been tothe top of Takigami Mountain a million times. Ensoku should take us somewherewe've never been.'"

Sakura shivered as the windgusted. She put up the collar of her jacket and pulled her black cap downtightly around her ears.

"I agree," she said."There are so many places we could have gone. But since this is only a daytrip, maybe we'll do more than one ensoku. Last year's trip to Osaka was anovernight."

"That bus ride tookforever," Ren moaned.

"I love the mountains,anyway," Sora said.

"This isn't much of amountain," Kara said, as the rest of them packed their bento boxes away."For a girl who's used to skiing in Vermont and New Hampshire, it's moreof a hill. And the mountains in New England are nothing compared to Colorado."

Miho sighed. "I want tovisit America."

"We know why," Sakurateased.

"Not just for theboys," Miho said sharply.

They all laughed at that, evenMiho, who reddened as she realized she had essentially admitted her fascinationwith American boys.

"So what makes themountains at home so special?" Hachiro asked.

"Well, it's more than justthe size. They just look more. ." She trailed off, looking around. Nomatter how proficient she became in speaking Japanese, she still encounteredwords that she did not know how to translate and it frustrated her.

"Formidable," she saidin English. Then, instantly, she thought of a suitable substitute. "Themountains at home are more impressive," she continued in Japanese. "Someof them are scary. They're huge and have steep cliffs and throw shadows that goon forever. In New England, most of them are covered in forest — "

Sora spread his arms. "Lookaround. What is this?"

Kara nodded. "Yes. That'sone thing Takigami has. Don't get me wrong. I wasn't criticizing. I love it here,and it is beautiful. It isn't very steep and it makes for a perfect hikingmountain. I just like how intimidating the mountains can be at home, almostlike you're looking at some other world. Or an ancient world. And in northernNew England there's snow on the mountains all winter long."

Much of the snow in the city hadeither melted or been cleared, but on Takigami Mountain a light coveringremained. From what Kara had learned of the local winters, the average snowfallwas unpredictable.

Other students were getting upnow, putting their backpacks on. Kara noticed Mai and Wakana a few tables away.She might have smiled at them except that they were with their fellow SoccerBitches, including Emi and Kaori, who they all believed had taken part in thebeating that led to the murder of Sakura's sister. Without proof there wasnothing anyone could do, and by unspoken agreement they all avoided thesubject. Sakura had made peace with her sister's death, as best she could.

Just beyond the Soccer Bitches'table, she saw Mr. Yamato chatting quietly with Miss Kaneda, the fiftyishteacher who led the Calligraphy Club. Kara, Sakura, and Ren were all members ofthe club and enjoyed it hugely. Miss Kaneda had a voice that made her drowsyand set her at ease, and a love for the art of calligraphy so strong that itinspired that same passion in the club members. She was also acting as tourguide today. On the way up the mountain she had marched alongside the group,loudly regaling them with bits of history and folklore related to the mountain.

Now, though, she looked somewhattroubled. She bowed her head to Mr. Yamato and then glanced up at the sky. Theair had turned even chillier. It felt brisk on Kara's skin and the tip of hernose was so cold that she reached up to rub it. Even as she did, she took abreath and realized something she had missed before, something that only peoplewho had been raised in wintry climates would probably notice.

"It smells like snow,"she said.

Hachiro grinned at her.

"It smells likesnow?" Sakura said dubiously.

Mr. Yamato walked to a spotroughly in the center of the picnic area and clapped his hands.

"Gather your things,"the principal said. "We are going to be following a mountain trailtogether. There are other, less well-traveled paths, but you are all to staywith your own homeroom teachers. Do not leave the group for any reason. I willbe leading Miss Kaneda's class so that she can move from group to group, givingyou instructions on what you should be watching for. Even in winter there is agreat deal of wildlife on the mountain. There will be assignments in schooltomorrow that will reflect upon your experiences today, so I advise you to beattentive both to your own teachers and to Miss Kaneda. Enjoy the beauty of themountain and its views."

It seemed he had finished andthe teachers began to address their homeroom students, rounding them up intogroups. But Kara watched as Miss Kaneda went to Mr. Yamato, glancing worriedlyat the sky, and spoke quietly to him. Mr. Yamato seemed to consider her wordsand then nodded.

He clapped his hands again."One other thing. The weather center forecasts a ten percent chance oflight snow."

Kara bumped Hachiro with herhip. "Told you," she mouthed at him, then stuck out her tongue.

"There may be flurries,"the principal continued. "But if we do get a little snow, do not worry. Theweather center predicts clearing skies and even the return of the sun laterthis afternoon. And now we go. We will be on the trail for one and a halfhours, including a fifteen minute break. Please do not. ."

Principal Yamato finished with aword that Kara didn't understand.

"What was that?" sheasked.

Hachiro took her hand. "Itmeans don't 'fall behind.' But don't worry. I won't let you out of my sight."

He made it sound so sweet thatshe felt herself actually blush. Kara did not know how long it had been since aboy had made her blush, but she found that she liked it.

Then they all had to separate. Sheand Miho and Sora were all in Mr. Sato's class, so they remained together whileHachiro, Ren, and Sakura went off to join their own homeroom teachers.

"Sora's nervous," Mihotold Kara while they waited for Mr. Sato to lead them away.

Kara looked at Sora, who gaveher a wan smile. "What's wrong?"

"You must have heard about thatwoman who got lost in the snowstorm up here last month and froze to death,"he said.

Kara had not forgotten thestory, but she had not remembered that the woman had vanished here on TakigamiMountain.

"We'll be fine," shesaid. "All these people? It might not snow at all, and if it does, it willbe just a dusting. You heard Mr. Yamato. If there was any cause for concern, we'dalready be heading down."

That seemed to set him at ease. Mihosmiled at Kara.

"You always know the rightthing to say," she said.

"Not really," Karareplied. "I just try not to say the wrong things if I can help it."

Finally, they got under way,heading off into the forest along a wide, well-trodden trail. Kara had lookedat the trail map in her pocket and seen that there were several scenicoverlooks marked off, places where the woods opened up to apparentlybreathtaking views.

As they entered the woods, shelooked up at the sky again, wondering how long it would be before the firstsnowflakes started to fall.

Wakana hated being cold, and shehad been cold since she had set foot outside the dorm first thing this morning.Why they couldn't have done ensoku during the spring or summer this year, shehad no idea. If she knew who had suggested traipsing around Takigami Mountainthe first week of January, she would have slapped him in the face. And she wascertain it had to be a him. What woman would be so foolish? She doubted thateven Miss Kaneda, who obviously loved the mountain, and nature, even in thebleakness of winter, would have come up with such an idea.

She knew that some people lovedwinter, and snow, and the kinds of sports and outdoor activities that wentalong with them. But she had never seen the appeal. And, certainly, it wasn'treally that cold. But it was the principle of the thing.

"Come on, let's not fallbehind," Mai said, reaching back and taking her hand.

Wakana smiled and they hurriedto catch up to the rest of their group. Another one of their friends fromsoccer club smiled as they joined her, the three girls falling into steptogether. They called her Aka for the coppery red highlights in herhair, and Wakana had actually forgotten her proper name, if she had ever knownit in the first place.

"It's actually been kind ofinteresting," Aka whispered, indicating that they should pay attention tothe commentary their homeroom teacher had been providing during the hike.

Wakana felt guilty. She had beenraised to be courteous and polite regardless of the circumstances. But shefound it impossible to care about anything that the teachers might say todaybecause she was so frustrated by the entire trip. Her feet were cold. Her handswere cold. Her nose might have been coldest of all. Fortunately she had a hatthat covered her ears.

Somehow, Mai seemed not to bebothered by the cold at all. Wakana smiled at that. If there had ever been agirl who adapted to change quickly, it was her roommate. Once upon a time, Maihad been relatively quiet and unassuming, though she had enjoyed the popularitythat had come with being a member of the soccer club and a friend of Ume's,back when Ume had still been the one the others would follow. But when Ume hadleft, Mai had stepped into that role. Most of the soccer club girls, she said,just wanted someone to set the pace, someone to follow, and Mai had decided shewould rather be that girl than follow any of the others.

Wakana had never had aninterest. They had been roommates, but opposites in many ways. Wakana hadremained quiet and mostly innocent. But then their lives had been overrun bynightmares. Daisuke — Wakana's best friend, who might have been herboyfriend if either of them had been brave enough to initiate even a singlekiss — had been abducted and murdered by the Hannya. It had taken Wakanaas well, but she had been rescued by Mai and some others, including that gaijingirl, Kara Harper.

For the rest of her life, shewould be grateful to Mai. The girl wore a scar on her face that would be withher forever, and it would always remind them both of what they had faced, andof what Mai had done for Wakana. Which was why Wakana had decided that thisterm she would join the soccer club. She had not really wanted to make friendswith some of those girls — though they had turned out to be nicer thanshe'd expected — but Mai had asked her. There had been no pressure, butWakana had been happy to be asked, and she knew it would make Mai happy to haveher in the club. They had become inseparable now, almost like sisters. They hadcome close to death together and they shared secrets they could never tell theother girls.

If Mai wanted to lead, Wakanawould gladly follow.

"You two are going to endup off the path and lost in the woods!" Aka said.

"Don't worry so much. We'refine," Mai told her.

Wakana smiled. They both likedAka, but the girl had a tendency to get bossy. Mai wouldn't let her get awaywith it.

"Hey, look," Mai said,tapping Wakana's arm.

The whole group began to slowdown a little, whispers and mutterings rippling through the class. Fat whitesnowflakes had begun to drift lazily from the sky. A light gust of wind sentthem dancing and swirling, but then the breeze died down and the snow eddiedand fell.

"Come along!" theirteacher, Mr. Gushiken, called. "You have all seen snow before. Let's stayon schedule so that we can return to the buses before dark. We will be stoppingfor a break at a clearing ahead with the rest of the school. Ten minutes only."

"Ten minutes," Maisaid. "Mr. Yamato said fifteen."

"It's snowing now,"Aka replied. "They want to get us back."

"I don't see why we need tostop at all. We should never even have come onto the trail," Wakana said."We saw the view. That should have been enough."

"Oh, it's not that bad,"Mai said. "It's only a little snow. And the weather center said it wouldpass quickly. I want to enjoy it while I can. It's very pretty."

Wakana rolled her eyes. "Okay,it's pretty. But I'd rather see it out a window."

Mai laughed and shook her head."If you never bother to explore it, the world outside the window might aswell be a painting."

"Who said that?" Akaasked.

Mai gave her a hard look. "Idid. Didn't you just hear me?"

"I thought you were quotingsomeone. It was a great observation."

"Do you think I'm not smartenough to make such an observation?" Mai demanded.

Wakana dropped back a step,letting the two girls argue. Normally it amused her. She liked to listen tothem spar. But right now her nose hurt from the bite of the cold and her feethurt. So far there was only a little snow, but if it fell harder and much of itaccumulated, she worried that it might ruin her shoes. They were really notmeant for winter hiking, mostly because she would never have been here if she'dhad a choice, so she had never had any reason to buy shoes that would be goodin the snow.

Listen to yourself, shethought, upset by how shallow her concerns seemed. This trip had put her in abad mood from the second it had been announced. Tomorrow would be better. Shewould be back to normal, sitting in a nicely heated classroom, and then a warmdormitory.

The snow began to fall a bitharder and the gusts of wind seemed to come more frequently, and blow a bitharder. If she was not mistaken, the sky had darkened somewhat since the snowhad started. She wondered how recently Mr. Yamato had checked with the weathercenter.

Mai and Aka seemed to havefinished their argument, so she quickened her pace and fell into beside them. Witha glance over her shoulder, she saw that the next group — led by MissAritomo — was only fifty yards or so behind them, many of them out ofsight around a bend in the forest trail.

Through the falling snow, theyseemed almost unearthly.

With her head turned, she wasn'tpaying attention to the path underfoot, and her shoe caught on a raised root. Wakanastumbled and fell to her knees on the snow-flecked trail. Frustration and angerlasted only a moment, replaced by amusement at the absurdity of her situation. Ifsomeone was going to fall, of course it would be the one who most wished shewere anywhere but here.

Smiling, Wakana started to rise.

Off in the trees, a boy stoodwatching her. Even in the deepening shadows of the dimming day, even throughthe veil of falling snow, she recognized Daisuke immediately. For just amoment, her mind distracted by so many other things, she forgot that he wasdead and her smile began to widen.

Then she felt it vanish and shetook a step back, heart filling up with fear.

"Wakana!" Mai asked,grabbing her arm, helping her rise the rest of the way to her feet.

She blinked and looked at Mai,at that thin white scar, their mutual reminder of what they'd seen, andlearned, and lost.

"I asked if you were okay,"Mai said.

Wakana looked back, but theghost was gone. A light gust blew snowflakes into her eyes and she wiped themaway, the chill biting into her skin.

She told herself she hadimagined him there. What else could it have been?

"I'm fine. Let's go,"she said. "I won't be happy until I'm off of this mountain. I need agallon of hot tea and some chocolate."

Mai smiled. "I like thesound of that."

They hurried yet again to catchup to the others, Wakana quietly wondering if even a gallon of tea would beenough to make her warm again.