Christopher Golden - A Winter of Ghosts

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 ensoku will 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 — "