A Winter of Ghosts (The Waking Series) (5 page)

Immediately the excited chatter
began. Kara smiled so wide that her face hurt. It felt like her prayers had
been 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 classes
had just been replaced by a field trip. The English translation of 'ensoku' was
something like 'far feet,' and from what Kara had read, sometimes they literally
entailed much farther journeys than Takigami Mountain Observatory, but as far
as she was concerned, any field trip would do.

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

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

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

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

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

Now they all sat at outdoor
tables around the observatory eating the lunch they had brought along. Kara and
her friends had claimed a table for themselves. She sat between Hachiro and
Ren, with Miho and Sakura across from her with a third boy, Sora, who sat in
front 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 them
from talking about anything having to do with ghosts or curses.

Her father and Miss Aritomo had
been chaperoning their own homeroom classes, but now that the students were all
eating lunch they had managed to take a few minutes for themselves, eating
quietly at a small table for two at the edge of the observatory. They probably
had the best and most romantic view available, and Kara smiled at the thought. The
views from the observatory were spectacular, not only of the city but of the
bay and of Ama-no-Hashidate.

As Kara had predicted, her
father had been unable to take them tubing on Sunday and the snowstorm the
forecasts had been expecting had not materialized, so she had spent the morning
studying and then gone for a long walk and a late lunch with Hachiro before
spending a quiet night at home. But she had not minded at all, considering the
plan for today.

The wind gusted again and Kara
shivered 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 her
head. "I was going to say 'alive.'"

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

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

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

"You scared me there for a
minute," Kara told him.

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

"Would you believe I heard
two 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 to
the top of Takigami Mountain a million times. Ensoku should take us somewhere
we've never been.'"

Sakura shivered as the wind
gusted. She put up the collar of her jacket and pulled her black cap down
tightly around her ears.

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

"That bus ride took
forever," Ren moaned.

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

"This isn't much of a
mountain," 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 more
of a hill. And the mountains in New England are nothing compared to Colorado."

Miho sighed. "I want to
visit America."

"We know why," Sakura
teased.

"Not
just
for the
boys," Miho said sharply.

They all laughed at that, even
Miho, who reddened as she realized she had essentially admitted her fascination
with American boys.

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

"Well, it's more than just
the size. They just look more . . ." She trailed off, looking around. No
matter how proficient she became in speaking Japanese, she still encountered
words that she did not know how to translate and it frustrated her.

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

Sora spread his arms. "Look
around. What is this?"

Kara nodded. "Yes. That's
one 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 hiking
mountain. I just like how intimidating the mountains can be at home, almost
like you're looking at some other world. Or an ancient world. And in northern
New England there's snow on the mountains all winter long."

Much of the snow in the city had
either melted or been cleared, but on Takigami Mountain a light covering
remained. From what Kara had learned of the local winters, the average snowfall
was unpredictable.

Other students were getting up
now, 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 Soccer
Bitches, including Emi and Kaori, who they all believed had taken part in the
beating that led to the murder of Sakura's sister. Without proof there was
nothing anyone could do, and by unspoken agreement they all avoided the
subject. 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 fiftyish
teacher who led the Calligraphy Club. Kara, Sakura, and Ren were all members of
the club and enjoyed it hugely. Miss Kaneda had a voice that made her drowsy
and set her at ease, and a love for the art of calligraphy so strong that it
inspired that same passion in the club members. She was also acting as tour
guide 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 somewhat
troubled. She bowed her head to Mr. Yamato and then glanced up at the sky. The
air had turned even chillier. It felt brisk on Kara's skin and the tip of her
nose was so cold that she reached up to rub it. Even as she did, she took a
breath and realized something she had missed before, something that only people
who had been raised in wintry climates would probably notice.

"It smells like snow,"
she said.

Hachiro grinned at her.

"It
smells
like
snow?" Sakura said dubiously.

Mr. Yamato walked to a spot
roughly 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 trail
together. There are other, less well-traveled paths, but you are all to stay
with your own homeroom teachers. Do not leave the group for any reason. I will
be leading Miss Kaneda's class so that she can move from group to group, giving
you instructions on what you should be watching for. Even in winter there is a
great deal of wildlife on the mountain. There will be assignments in school
tomorrow that will reflect upon your experiences today, so I advise you to be
attentive both to your own teachers and to Miss Kaneda. Enjoy the beauty of the
mountain and its views."

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

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

Kara bumped Hachiro with her
hip. "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. The
weather center predicts clearing skies and even the return of the sun later
this afternoon. And now we go. We will be on the trail for one and a half
hours, including a fifteen minute break. Please do not . . ."

Principal Yamato finished with a
word that Kara didn't understand.

"What was that?" she
asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Kara had not forgotten the
story, but she had not remembered that the woman had vanished here on Takigami
Mountain.

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

That seemed to set him at ease. Miho
smiled at Kara.

"You always know the right
thing to say," she said.

"Not really," Kara
replied. "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 looked
at the trail map in her pocket and seen that there were several scenic
overlooks marked off, places where the woods opened up to apparently
breathtaking views.

As they entered the woods, she
looked up at the sky again, wondering how long it would be before the first
snowflakes started to fall.

Wakana hated being cold, and she
had 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, she
had no idea. If she knew who had suggested traipsing around Takigami Mountain
the first week of January, she would have slapped him in the face. And she was
certain it had to be a him. What woman would be so foolish? She doubted that
even Miss Kaneda, who obviously loved the mountain, and nature, even in the
bleakness of winter, would have come up with such an idea.

She knew that some people loved
winter, and snow, and the kinds of sports and outdoor activities that went
along with them. But she had never seen the appeal. And, certainly, it wasn't
really
that
cold. But it was the principle of the thing.

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

Wakana smiled and they hurried
to catch up to the rest of their group. Another one of their friends from
soccer club smiled as they joined her, the three girls falling into step
together. They called her
Aka
for the coppery red highlights in her
hair, and Wakana had actually forgotten her proper name, if she had ever known
it in the first place.

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

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