A Winter of Ghosts

Chapter Seven

Mr. Sato had spent his entirelife striving for an inner peace and balance that would make his parents proud.At forty-seven years of age, he had found purpose in moderation and attemptedto be a model of tranquility and proper behavior for his students. Once,several years before, he had overheard two students conversing about him; oneof them had remarked that he was as difficult to fluster as the guards atEngland's Buckingham Palace. Though they had been mocking him, there had alsobeen a sense of wonder in their voices, and he had been proud of that. The bestway to lead, he had always believed, was by quiet example.

It was a very good thing his studentswere not with him on Takigami Mountain this morning.

His feet still hurt from thefrigid temperatures and hours of searching from the previous day. He had notbeen dressed warmly enough for the blizzard and its aftermath and the cold hadgotten down into his bones and made him exhausted. Today he had thought aheadand dressed in many layers, including a thick green sweater and a heavy winterjacket he had borrowed from a cousin who was fond of snow sports.

Instead of keeping him warm infrigid temperatures, the layers made him sweat. The sun shone brightly today,making it far warmer than yesterday. With the jacket he was too hot, butwithout it the cold made his teeth chatter. His muscles hurt from a combinationof unfamiliar exertion and winter chill. Several times he had stepped intosmall windblown drifts that were deeper than they looked and snow had slid downinside his boots, quickly melting and soaking through his socks.

Mr. Sato did not feel verytranquil today.

Yet he kept his mouth set in agrim line and continued pushing his way through the trees, ducking branches,peeking into any hidden spot that seemed large enough to hide a boy. His handshad gotten sweaty in his gloves and now they were stuffed into his jacketpockets and he had pine sap stuck to his fingers.

"Sato-san!" calledOfficer Fuwa, the leader of their group of searchers. "Any sign of them?"

"Nothing!" Mr. Satocalled back.

He could vaguely see thepoliceman and another searcher through the trees. The officer checked theirlocations on a frequency so consistent as to be maddening, but Mr. Sato knew itwas necessary to make certain that no area of the mountain would be missed. Yesterdaythere had been far fewer searchers on the mountain and, though they had donetheir best, the net had been too wide. They had relied on the ability of theboys to respond to their shouts. Now, they all knew they were searching forstudents who might be sick, unconscious, or even dead, though no one wanted todiscuss this last possibility.

Officer Fuwa called out toothers in his assigned group and Mr. Sato heard their distant replies as hetrudged through another small drift that had accumulated amidst a thick standof pines. School had been canceled for the day, but he wondered what wouldhappen tomorrow if they still had not found the missing boys. One death wouldbe hard enough for the rest of the students, but if the others also did notsurvive. . it would be awful. The teachers had all discussed the arrival ofthe new year as a kind of cleansing, putting the horrible events of the prioryear behind them. But now it seemed that fate had further ugliness in store forMonju-no-Chie school. If Mr. Sato didn't know better, he would have thoughtsomeone had put some kind of a curse on the place.

He emerged into a clearing ofsorts, the sun far too bright for January, and finally the sweat of exertion onthe back of his neck became too much for him. With a grunt of displeasure, heremoved his jacket, wishing he had never brought it in the first place. Carryingit around was more work than wearing it, but he needed to cool off again. Glancingaround, he spotted Officer Fuwa in the trees off to his right and a man andwoman together at the western edge of the clearing.

A glance at his watch gave himthe strength for one more push. Officer Fuwa had scheduled a break in fifteenminutes, during which they could smoke or have a bit to eat or something todrink and restore themselves for another hour of hiking the mountain. Theirgroup had only been searching two hours this morning, but already his legs feltlike lead. Slim as he was, he had always assumed himself to be in fairly goodphysical condition for his age, but this experience had changed his mind.

With a deep breath he forgedahead, leaving the clearing and plunging once more into the thick woods. Fiftyyards or so later he came upon a fallen tree and paused to look beneath it,just in case one of the boys had tried to take shelter there the night before. Evensome sign of a fire or camp would have given him hope.

Movement in his peripheralvision drew his attention and he glanced to the right, thinking that OfficerFuwa had closed the distance between them. Through the trees he caught aglimpse of a solitary figure, pale and thin. Mr. Sato had worn the same glassesfor too many years as his eyesight had continued to fail, and he neededstronger lenses. He blinked and took a step in that direction, squinting as hetried to figure out which member of his search party had gone so badly offcourse.

The boy staggered out of thetrees, so white he seemed a ghost. Mr. Sato shouted in alarm and took severalsteps backward before he tripped over his own feet. The boy stumbled into himand the two tumbled to the ground together in a tangle of arms and legs.

Shock silenced him for severalseconds as he extricated himself. The boy's eyes were wide and glazed and hislips were blue. His skin felt like ice, but his chest still rose and fell withevery breath and a quick check of his pulse revealed that his heart remainedstrong.

Ren was alive.

"Officer Fuwa!" Mr.Sato shouted, cradling the boy in his arms. "I've found one of them! Overhere!"

His many years of practiced calmhad abandoned him. His emotions overwhelmed him. And yet he was not troubled bythis at all. There were times when tranquility was beyond the reach of mortalman, and perhaps even of the gods.

"I don't understand,"Kara said. "If this Etsoku Reizei was cremated, how could Yuki-Onna haveinhabited her remains?"

They all studied her closely,but she could tell that it wasn't because the question had upset them; theywere troubled because none of them had an answer. Sakura and Miho glanced atKara's father, but he and Captain Nobunaga were now looking at Miss Aritomo.

"The stories are ancient,"she said, pushing a lock of jet black hair away from her eyes with a delicatehand. "In the tale I spoke of, Yuki-Onna inhabited a corpse. Thissituation is different, but — "

Mr. Yamato sat up a bitstraighter, eyes focused on the policeman. "The simple fact that we arediscussing the possibility of Yuki-Onna entering our world and killing peopleon Takigami Mountain means we must be prepared to accept all manner of thingsthat would seem outrageous at first. It may be her, or it may be some otherdemon, or it may be nothing supernatural at all."

"I don't think that's true,"Kara said.

The principal gave her a sharplook and she quickly inclined her head in a short bow.

"With all due respect,Yamato-sensei, I think every single person in this room believes the supernaturalis at work here. If it isn't Yuki-Onna, okay. But it's somethingunnatural. And given the power — the magic — that we have witnessedalready, I can honestly say I would not be at all surprised to learn that ademon spirit might be able to. ." she searched for a word.". .to construct a body out of human remains. The fact that Miss Reizei diedduring the first snow of winter is unsettling. It matches the legend too well. Ihope it's. . well, I hope we're wrong."

"As do I," CaptainNobunaga said.

Mr. Yamato nodded at Kara to lether know her brusque tone had been forgiven. Her father put an arm around her.

"Yamato-san," herfather said, "what are you going to do about school tomorrow?"

The principal frowned, his eyesstormy. "I have a responsibility to educate these children. We need toreturn them to their routine as quickly as possible. We have had far too manydisruptions over the past year. If the boys are found today, classes willresume tomorrow."

"And if not?" MissAritomo asked.

Kara felt sick. If not? What wasshe saying? Of course Ren and Hachiro would be found. They had found Sora andhe had been dead, incapable of searching for rescue. Ren and Hachiro. . Hachirowould be working on getting back to school, back to her. Even if they didnothing but walk in one direction, eventually they would come to the edge ofthe mountain and find a way down, and then they could circle around its baseuntil the found a road or Takigami Park. They would be back today, she feltsure.

Unless they weren't capable oflooking for a way home.

"That is a conversation forlater," Mr. Yamato said firmly.

Miss Aritomo inclined her head. Itseemed to Kara that their worry and grief had made them all seek comfort informality.

Captain Nobunaga's phone buzzed.

"Nobunaga," he said ashe answered.

They all watched him, readinghis body language. His gaze fell and he put a hand to his forehead. Hisexpression fell, his eyes darting from side to side as though searching thefloor for answers. Kara thought he looked a little frightened. By the time heclosed his phone, she suspected they all knew what he was going to say.

"The Reizei grave has beenvandalized."

Silence fell amongst them. Nearlyone hundred percent of deaths in Japan resulted in cremation, with the deceased'sashes buried in a haka, or family grave. But the dead woman's haka hadbeen disturbed.

"Etsoku's urn was broken. Herashes are gone."

"This is too much to be acoincidence," Miss Aritomo said.

"Agreed," Mr. Yamatoreplied. "Until we learn something further, we must assume that the spiritwe face is Yuki-Onna. With these ghosts some of you have seen, she may not bealone, or this might be only one aspect of a demon who can appear in manydifferent guises. It is impossible to know — "

"Not impossible,"Sakura interrupted. "It's just information we don't have yet."

Mr. Yamato did not chide her forher breach of propriety. Instead he nodded slowly.

"We will need thatinformation," he said, glancing around at those gathered in the Harpers'dining room. "Finding those boys is our first priority, of course. Butthere are two other things we must do immediately. First, we must learn all wecan about the various incarnations of Yuki-Onna, but in particular the one towhich Miss Aritomo was referring."

"I will begin doingresearch immediately," Miss Aritomo said, a flicker of fear in her eyes.

"So will we!" Mihopiped up. She glanced at Sakura and then Kara. "There are so manydifferent sources that we should all work on it. If she's taken the boys — "

Kara blinked in surprise. "Taken?"

Miho nodded emphatically. "It'spossible. You can't just assume that she's. . that she's killed them. If shehad, with all those people on the mountain, wouldn't they have found Hachiroand Ren already, the way they did Sora?"

"That makes sense,"Miss Aritomo said, brows knitted in thought. "In several of the storiesabout her, Yuki-Onna is fascinated by handsome or beautiful boys, keeping themlike some kind of collector of precious art."

"Do you really think that'spossible?" Kara asked. "That she would keep them captive just for thecompany or whatever?"

Miss Aritomo gave her a grimlook. "Until she tires of them. Yes, if this is Yuki-Onna, that is part ofher legend."

"Then I pray you're right,"Professor Harper said, giving Kara's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Thatwould give the boys a chance."

Captain Nobunaga tapped on thetable. "I would not like to take officers away from the search parties onthe mountain, but if there is a connection to the curse of Kyuketsuki, the girlswill be in danger."

"We must presume this isall related," Mr. Yamato said. "But the search is of primaryimportance and your people are of most use in that task. It may be sheer luckthat the boys were taken and the girls escaped before Yuki-Onna could claimthem as well, or perhaps she was distracted by the presence of the boys, asMiss Aritomo suggests. Regardless, it was fortunate."

The principal looked at Kara'sfather. "We cannot risk them going anywhere near the mountain."

Professor Harper turned to staremeaningfully at Kara. "They won't."

Mr. Yamato nodded. "Good."

Captain Nobunaga spread hishands on the table, commanding the room with his presence. He looked at Mr.Yamato.

"You said there were twothings that had to be priorities."

Mr. Yamato nodded. "Thesecond is related. It is not enough to confirm that Yuki-Onna is the spirit weface, or how she came back into our world. We must find a way to defeat her."

"More than that," MissAritomo said, eyes narrowed in thought. She glanced up at Kara. "We areassuming that the demon cannot come down from the mountain, or away from thesnows. But we do not know that. It may not be enough for you to stay away fromthe mountain. We must discover some other way to protect you if she comes tofulfill the curse."

Sakura gave a soft, humorlesslaugh. "Yes, we've been so lucky with protecting ourselves so far."

"Actually," Mr. Yamatosaid, "you have been very lucky."

If Sora's death and theirunderstanding of this new danger had not sobered them enough, those wordsfilled them all with dread.

"We should tell Mai andWakana," Miho suggested. "They're not in any danger, but if Wakanasaw a ghost. ."

Kara nodded. "I agree. I'lltalk to them."

Captain Nobunaga's cell phonebuzzed again. They all turned to him, holding their breath, wondering what newsthis call might bring.

The policeman answered,listening intently. Kara saw the way his shoulders seemed to relax and she letherself believe the call brought good news. Nobunaga thanked his subordinateand ended the call, but even as he closed his phone he stood up from the table.

"If you will all excuse us,Mr. Yamato and I are needed elsewhere," Captain Nobunaga said.

"Did they find Hachiro andRen?" Kara asked, almost pleading. "Are they okay?"

Captain Nobunaga looked first toMr. Yamato, then to Kara's father, and at last he answered her question, sterneyes suddenly kind.

"Your friend Ren has beenfound alive. Other than frostbite, it appears he will be all right."

Kara's throat closed on her nextquestion. She could not even put voice to it. Seeing this, Miho spoke for her.

"What about Hachiro?" she asked.

The policeman's eyes went coldonce more. "There is still no trace of him. And according to the officerwho found him, Ren cannot help them. He has no memory of anything that hasbefallen him since the blizzard began."

Kara lay on her side in bed andgazed longingly at her acoustic guitar, which sat bathed in moonlight on itsstand across the room. Sleep felt very far away tonight. Her head ached and herheart hurt, both crammed full with far too many worries. Strangely, she did notfeel afraid, only a little lonely. Her father slept in the next room and herfriends were not far away, but in the darkness of her bedroom, she always feltalone.

Back in the spring, when she hadbeen afflicted with terrifying dreams of dead girls with no faces and cats withdarkly intelligent eyes, she had sometimes longed for home. The life she hadknown, the friends she had grown up with, were so far away. Her mother wasburied back in Medford, Massachusetts, not far from the house she had lived inall of her life until she and her father had moved to Japan.

But though she still missed thatplace, it wasn't home anymore. Her father was here. Sakura and Miho were thebest friends she had ever had. And Hachiro. . she had fallen in love withhis kind eyes and gentle spirit. Yet in spite of her happiness whenever she waswith him, she had still felt herself holding part of herself back whenever shehad been with him, knowing that she would have to leave one day.

Oh, Hachiro. .

Her hands yearned for the feelof her guitar. All of the emotions bottled up inside of her needed release, andmusic could do that for her. It always had. She could play a song, somethingfull of love and anguish. She needed to play. To sing. It was like pulling downa wall between who she was on the outside and what she felt on the inside.

Kara and the girls had spenthours doing research on Yuki-Onna, first online and then at the library, butcome up with very little that seemed helpful. There seemed to be dozens ofvariations on the story, many of which had filtered into modern incarnations. Sheappeared in films and role-playing games and in stories and plays. Variouslegends portrayed her as a blood-sucking, vampiric witch or a demon, but inothers she seemed almost benevolent, or little more than a ghost herself,appearing during the first snow of the year like Jack Frost.

Miho had taken copious noteswhile Sakura had flipped through books, searching for something that would givethem some clue as to how to protect themselves. When they were sick of looking,the found a small storybook of Japanese folktales. Cover frayed and faded,published in 1913, it included the Yuki-Onna story that Miss Aritomo had toldthem about the Woman in White inhabiting the remains of a woman who had frozento death in the first snow of winter, but it told them little that they did notalready know.

At half past three, with the skyalready dimming toward the early winter darkness, they had left the library andhurried back to campus, hoping to see Ren, only to be turned away by MissKaneda, who insisted that they not intrude. Ren's parents had been with himsince the early morning and they had asked not to be disturbed. As far as MissKaneda knew, he had not regained any of his memory of what had transpired onTakigami Mountain.

Walking home from the dorm, Karahad seen Mr. Yamato exiting the school with a couple she recognized from photosas Hachiro's parents. They looked lost, cast adrift from the moorings of theirlife, and she wanted to go to them and try to lend them some comfort, to assurethem that their son would be all right — she would not allow herself toconsider another alternative. But Hachiro had told her they weren't thrilledwith the idea of him dating a gaijin girl, and she suspected that any wordsfrom her would give them no comfort at all.

So she kept walking.

Now she lay in bed, staring atthe moonlight washing over her guitar. She could almost imagine she heard asingle chord of music resonating in the room. Her pulse throbbed in hertemples. The clock read 2:27 a.m. Kara desperately needed to sleep but she didnot want to close her eyes. It seemed to her that as long as she remained awakeand thinking of Hachiro, he was not completely alone out there on the mountain,in the cold.

Ren survived a night on themountain, she told herself. Hachiro will be all right. They'll find himin the morning.

Had Ren seen Yuki-Onna? Had thewinter witch done something to them?

Her thoughts raced. Hachiro wasstill missing, but Mr. Yamato had ordered students to return to classestomorrow. How could anyone focus on learning anything? How could they act likeit was over? Yes, Sora was dead and Ren had come back, but Hachiro was stillout there on the mountain!

Kara sighed. Sleep seemed evenfurther away. The longer she lay in bed, the more agitated she grew, and shehad only a few hours before she would have to get up to get ready for school.

Frustrated, feeling the staccatobeat of her heart in her chest, she threw back her covers and got out of bed. Shelooked in what she thought was the direction of Takigami Mountain, wishing shecould see it from here. That would make her feel closer to Hachiro, which wasall she wanted right now.

In her faded Negima t-shirt andflannel pajama pants, she shuffled to the window and bent to look outside,hoping to see even the mountain's peak. But the angle was all wrong. All shecould see was the houses on her street, bleached white in the moonlight, andthe tops of some of the taller buildings in the city in the distance.

She started to draw back intothe room, but froze as she caught a glimpse of motion. A pale figure passed infront of a house diagonally across from Kara's, headed toward the trainstation.

Kara's mouth went dry. Sheblinked, moving to get a better look. The man had his back to her, but hissilhouette seemed to shift as though ticking in and out of focus. He turned hishead and for a moment she thought he would look back at her, but his face waslost in shadows.

The figure flickered, nearlytransparent for a moment, then solid once again. Another ghost on the streetsof Miyazu City.

Her whole body began to trembleand she shook her head. The height, the build, the thick, unruly hair.

Hachiro?