Christopher Golden, Thomas Randall

A Winter of Ghosts

Chapter One

Winter had come to Miyazu City,yet instead of the silence and darkness it so often promised, it had broughtKara Harper happiness and renewal. Most people making their way through theshop-lined streets of downtown Miyazu seemed trapped in a long, grim hangovernow that the holidays were over. The city had to return to business as usual. Intwo days, school would start again and Kara would have to do the same, but shewas looking forward to it.

A new year. After the nightmarescome to life that had plagued her first two terms at Monju-no-Chie school, sherelished the idea of a fresh start.

"Hey, lovebirds, wait up!" she called in English, hurrying to match stride with her father, Rob, and hisgirlfriend, Yuuka Aritomo.

Her dad and Miss Aritomo were bothteachers at Monju-no-Chie, a private school on the outskirts of Miyazu City,where he taught English and American Studies, and she taught art. Theirrelationship had taken Kara a lot of getting used to — her mother hadbeen dead only two years — but she had come to accept it. For a long timeshe had worried that her father would never be happy again, but it had stillbeen hard for her when he had fallen in love. Now, though, she knew that hislove for Yuuka didn't mean he had stopped loving, or missing, Kara's mother.

It helped that Kara had alsofallen for someone. After all that they had endured, it seemed so improbablethat she and her father would both be so happy at the same time, but she neverspoke about the unlikeliness of their good fortune because she did not want tojinx it. Kara had definitely had enough of curses to last her a lifetime.

"You're speaking English?" her father said, arching an eyebrow. "Do you want to look like a tourist?"

Kara grinned, switching toJapanese. "Dad, it isn't like they can't tell we're tourists."

Miss Aritomo chuckled softly. Karaliked it when she laughed. She was a very pretty woman, delicate and graceful,but being around Rob Harper had seemed to allow Yuuka Aritomo to exhale alittle. Japanese culture had so much to do with what was proper and correctthat, to Kara, most of the adults always seemed stiff and serious. But herfather and Miss Aritomo had given each other reasons to smile.

"I don't know how youtalked me into this," her father said.

"I didn't talk you intoanything," Kara insisted. "I need boots. It's winter, in case youhadn't noticed."

"It's not like we've hadmuch snow — "

"My feet are cold!"

"You have boots, Kara,"he said.

Kara rolled her eyes and lookedto Miss Aritomo for help.

"Her boots are old and uglyand barely fit her," the art teacher said.

"Exactly!" Kara said,linking arms with Miss Aritomo. "See, Dad, women understand this stuff."

He sighed. "All right,where's the shop again?"

Kara made a small, gleeful noiseand linked her other arm through her father's, hurrying the two adults alongthe street. "It's just up here!"

Miyazu City seemed to have ahundred different neighborhoods, from lovely parks to teeming businessdistricts, from upscale suburbs to moldering apartment complexes, and from busyroads lined with markets to gentrified shopping areas. Kara found them allinteresting in their own right, and nearly always took her camera with her whenshe went into the city. What she loved most of all was the way that ancientarches and temples and shrines could be found in the unlikeliest of places, andthe juxtaposition of the cityscape with the low mountains on one side, or theblue waters of Miyazu Bay on the other. Visually, it was a fascinating place tolive.

Now she marched her dad and MissAritomo along the sidewalk of a street lined with markets and noodle shops,passing a fabric store and a butcher's. The aroma of cooking noodles and fryingfoods wafted from stalls and open doors. She could still taste the squid she'dhad for lunch. They were fried in long strips that reminded her of churros, andthough they were nearly always chewy, she had come to like squid prepared thatway.

Men in uniform swept the streetand people rode in all directions on bicycles, the last snow having melted fromthe stone street days before, although the mountains were still capped withwhite. Telephone wires crisscrossed above them, poles and lamp posts onlyslightly more numerous than the vending machines that popped up on every block.

On the corner ahead, three pinetrees had been left standing around a small shrine. Kara steered her dad andMiss Aritomo to the right and onto a street that sloped gently down towardMiyazu Bay. From here, they could see Ama-no-Hashidate, the finger of whitesand and black pines that jutted across Miyazu Bay and was considered one ofthe three most beautiful sites in Japan. Kara had taken hundreds of photos ofthe bay and of Ama-no-Hashidate, and though she thought she had probably usedenough film on it, she still found the sight beautiful. It cheered her evenmore and she picked up the pace.

"Slow down, daughter,"her father said. "What's the rush?"

"It's not my fault you'reold."

"Okay, that's enoughteasing me around my girlfriend," he said.

Kara laughed. "Yuuka lovesyou anyway. Don't you, Yuuka?"

Miss Aritomo blushed slightly asthey hurried along, arm in arm. "I think I love him a little more when youtease him. I want to protect him from abuse."

Kara bumped her gently as theywalked. "No you don't."

"But I do!" the womanprotested.

"Maybe you should keep itup then, Kara," her father said.

They passed a music shop, asmall bookstore, and what seemed like a dozen clothing stores. Two feudingpizza restaurants stood on opposite sides of the street, facing one another. Karahad tried them both and thought the crappy little joint down the street fromher favorite noodle shop was much better, and much cheaper. Her two bestfriends, Sakura and Miho, had showed her the best places to buy clothes andhair accessories and music, but her boyfriend, Hachiro, could be counted on tobring her to the tastiest and most out of the way restaurants in Miyazu City.

"Kara," Miss Aritomosaid, "I've been meaning to remind you. School starts again in two days. Whenwe are around other teachers and students — even your friends — youcannot call me Yuuka. It isn't — "

"I know," Kara said."It isn't proper."

The temptation to tease MissAritomo about Japanese propriety, especially when it came to sleeping with herfather, was great, but she knew the woman would be absolutely mortified and didnot want to embarrass her like that. After the horrors they had endured at thebeginning of the fall, the death they had seen and the curse that had nowtouched them all, the rest of the fall term had passed so quietly as to allowthem a cautious optimism. And the holidays had been nothing short of joyful.

Only a tiny fraction of theJapanese population identified itself as Christian — most were Buddhistor Shinto — but Japan had long ago embraced Christmas. People ate aspecial cake on Christmas Eve, which was considered a night of romanticmiracles. Being with your significant other that night was a big deal, andHachiro had called her from home and spent an hour telling her how much hewished he could be with her to celebrate the night. It meant a lot to herbecause she knew it meant a lot to him.

She and her father had chosen tocelebrate as Japanese a Christmas as possible, exchanging small gifts with eachother and with Miss Aritomo, who had joined them for dinner both on ChristmasEve and Christmas Day. Kara had received a locally made Teddy bear and a smallemerald ring from her father, and Miss Aritomo had brought her flowers and ahand-knit scarf. Kara had bought Yuuka a small handbag with her own money, andher father had given her a necklace that Kara had helped pick out.

Yet, though Christmas displayswere often up just as early as they were in America, the New Year was a muchbigger deal in Japan. People started preparing for New Year's celebrations evenbefore Christmas, sending tons of New Year's cards called nengajo totheir families, friends, and colleagues. Marking the passage of the old yearand recognizing the affection or support that others had given them, as well astheir hope for the relationship to continue in the new year, was a major partof the celebration. People spent the time leading up the end of the yearcleaning their homes and offices, inside and out. The faces of buildings — even temples — were cleaned, painted, or refreshed in some other way.

It had all sounded sweetlysentimental to Kara, right up until New Year's Eve, when she and her father hadgone out for a dinner of toshikoshi soba noodles at a sobaya shopand encountered an almost comical number of drunken people. Almost comical,because it stopped being funny when she saw a man walk into a lamp post,bloodying his nose and lip. It turned out that New Year's Eve in Japan wassoaked in even more alcohol than the holiday was back home in Massachusetts,and that was saying something.

Still, they had enjoyed it. MissAritomo had gone to her uncle's for dinner, but returned to watch the variouscelebrations on television at their house and ring in the new year with a toastat midnight, stepping outside to listen to the bells tolling from the city'sBuddhist temples. There were other traditions, of course. Many people would beat the shrines, offering prayers and hoping to receive a promising fortunescroll from one of the maidens in white kimonos who looked after the shrinesthat night. But Kara and her father and Miss Aritomo had opted to stay at home.Yuuka had spent the night for the first time, and had made them ozoni,the traditional New Year's soup, the next day.

They felt like a family.

Kara tried not to think of itthat way — she still struggled with the idea that she was somehowbetraying her mother — but sometimes she couldn't help it. She liked thather father was happy. He deserved it. She thought they both did.

Now, as she made her way towardthe shop where she had seen the perfect boots for winter, arm-in-arm with herdad and Yuuka, several older people looked at them oddly. They did make aninteresting trio. Miss Aritomo usually tried to hold on to her very Japanesepropriety when out in public with them, but at the moment, she apparentlycouldn't keep the grin off of her face.

"Here we are," Karasaid, guiding them into the shop.

"How much are these boots,anyway?" her father finally thought to ask.

Kara gave him an innocent look."Dad, they're lined and waterproof. Can you put a price tag on keepingyour loving daughter's feet warm and dry?"

He gave a good-natured sigh."That much, huh?"

Inside the shop, where severalcustomers were lined up at the register and others milled about, trying onwinter coats and boots, Kara stopped and batted her lashes at him.

"Not that much, but.."

"But?"

"There's this jacket you'regoing to love just as much as I do. White and gold and puffy — "

Her father turned to MissAritomo and hung his head. "Save me."

The art teacher laughed and noddedto Kara. "Go on. Show us these boots."

Kara gave a little squee anddarted through the racks, leaving the adults to weave a path behind her. Shereally did need boots and a new jacket, and had known that her father would buythem for her, but she always enjoyed tormenting him just a little bit. Theyteased with love, never with malice.

Fathers and daughters,her mother had often sighed. They'll indulge each other forever.

Kara thought maybe her mom hadbeen right.

After persuading her father thatthe white coat with the fake fur around the hood was an absolute necessity — with a little help from Miss Aritomo — Kara waited in line with him topay. Someone had apparently gone on a break and left an old woman with acranky, pinched face as the only clerk. Kara dared not complain about the wait.Instead, she leaned her head on her father's shoulder.

"Thanks, Dad."

"It's okay," he said."I don't want my little girl's toes freezing off."

"Yuck. Me either."

"So, everyone's due backtomorrow, right?" he asked.

Kara smiled. By 'everyone,' hemeant her two best friends, Miho and Sakura, and Hachiro, but he tried not topry too much into her feelings for her boyfriend. She didn't mind talking aboutHachiro with her father, actually, but he seemed very wary about seeming toocurious, which was probably for the best. As long as she was happy and Hachirowas treating her well, he didn't need to know any more than that.

Despite what her mother hadalways said, boyfriends were the one area where fathers didn't always indulgetheir daughters.

". . that's terrible,"Miss Aritomo said. "How did she die?"

Kara and her father both turnedto see the teacher talking to a short, fiftyish man whose glasses were too bigfor his face. His expression was grim.

"She became lost on themountain during the first snowstorm we had last month," the man said,shaking his head slowly, mouth set in a thin line. "They searched for herafter the storm, but two days passed before they found her. She had frozen."

Kara flinched at the word."God," she whispered, in English.

Miss Aritomo expressed hersorrow at the news and the man with the big glasses — who Kara nowrealized was an employee here, but also someone the teacher knew — noddedagain. Or perhaps they were small bows, accepting her condolences.

The conversation went on, butKara had had enough.

"I'm going to look atgloves," she said, forcing a smile.

"You already have gloves,"her father said.

"I didn't say 'buy.' I'mjust looking," she replied, and then she was off, heading over to acircular display upon which hung what seemed hundreds of pairs of gloves.

Things had been going so well. Theywere happy. Kara had had enough of death and ugliness and did not even want tohear about any more of it.

As she searched for a pair ofgloves that would match her new jacket, not really intending to ask her fatherto buy them, but curious, she heard soft voices whispering behind her, and thenone of them spoke up.

"Well, hello, bonsai.Happy New Year."

Mai Genji had seemed to be hernemesis for a while. She had inherited the position of Queen of the SoccerBitches when the reigning queen, a girl named Ume, had been expelled during thespring term. Ume had told Mai about the impossible, awful things that hadhappened in April of last year — about the curse that the demonKyuketsuki had put on Kara and Sakura and Miho — and for a time Mai hadblamed Kara for Ume's expulsion and for the horrible things that had followedit, during the autumn term.

Now Mai knew better, and she hada long, thin white scar on her right cheek that would remind her every time shelooked in the mirror. Now she knew that it had all started with Ume, whom theyall suspected of having murdered Sakura's sister, Akane.

Kara's first year in Japan hadbeen long and strange and sometimes awful. And though the curse still lingered,and she worried that it would draw even more evil to her and her friends, shewanted to focus on the new beginning that the winter term offered.

So she smiled at the Queen ofthe Soccer Bitches, and at her roommate, Wakana, who had nearly been killedherself back in the fall.

"Happy New Year," Karasaid.

They shared a dreadful secret,something other students at Monju-no-Chie school would never believe and shouldnever have to learn, and it had created a strange bond between them. Mai andWakana weren't her friends, and they never would be, but maybe they weren'tenemies any more, either.

"Your father and MissAritomo look very happy," Mai said, an edge to the words that seemed onthe verge of mockery.

Kara bristled. No way would sheput up with anyone saying anything about her dad and Yuuka.

"They are," shesaid.

To her surprise, both girlssmiled. They looked at each other and then back at Kara.

"They're really cutetogether," Wakana said.

"We're glad for them,"Mai added, and then her smile vanished. "I'll see you in home room."

"Yeah," Kara said."I'll see you."

The two girls turned andmeandered off through the racks, whispering to each other in a way that sheknew she should have assumed meant they were gossiping about her. But she didn'tthink they were. They had lives, just like she did. Families. They had probablyenjoyed the holidays with the people they loved, and now it was a new year.

No, they would never be friends.

But maybe it really was a newbeginning for all of them.

Hachiro had seen a lot ofimpossible things since Kara had come into his life, but never a ghost. The oneon the train back to Miyazu City to begin the winter term was his first.

Late that Monday night, just acouple of days after New Year's, he sat aboard the busy train, head lollingagainst the window, lights strobing across the dark glass as the express shotthrough some commuter station without slowing down. His parents had struggledtrying to decide when to drive him back to school and who would take him, soHachiro had suggested they let him take the train back to Miyazu. At first theyhad balked, but he had appealed to reason. He knew they loved him, but theyboth worked and he could take care of himself. Logic triumphed, and now hefound himself returning to Monju-no-Chie school a day earlier than he'dplanned.

The early return would be apleasant surprise for Kara, so he had not told her. And Hachiro had quicklydiscovered that he did not mind traveling alone. A couple of hours on a trainhad offered myriad options. He could have played a video game or read baseballmagazines or manga. Instead, he listened to music and read from To Kill aMockingbird in English. Professor Harper had assigned it over break andexplained that the subject matter would be addressed in his American Studiesclasses and that it would be a challenge for his English language students. Hachirohad read it twice. Kara's Japanese was excellent, and he wanted to surprise herby improving his command of her language.

Now, though, as nine o'clockcame and went and the long winter night was well under way, he could not helpclosing his eyes. He drifted in and out of wakefulness, barely aware of themurmured conversations around him, of the old couple attempting to retain theircomposure while their granddaughter exhibited a wild imagination and bursts oflaughing energy, of the rock-star cool university guy with two gigglinggirlfriends fawning over him. They were all just vague background as he dozed.

The train slowed a bit as itrattled onto older tracks, and so he knew they were not far from Miyazu City. Theride would not be as smooth from here on in, but still he rested his headagainst the window, skull juddering against the glass. Sleepy as he was, Hachirocould not fall into a full slumber because he knew that once he arrived inMiyazu he would have to change to the local train that would take him out alongthe bay to the station just down the street from Monju-no-Chie school.

The little girl let out a mischievoussqueal, forcing her grandmother to snap at her. Drifting, Hachiro listened, andfelt badly for both the girl, who only wanted to play, and the old woman, whocould not help being embarrassed by what she would see as improper behavior.

Eyes closed, head jouncingagainst the window, he listened. The too-cool university guy whispered thingsto his female companions that were doubtless far more improper than anythingthe little girl's grandmother could even imagine. There were giggles and morewhispers, and Hachiro began to drift off again.

A cold draft caressed his faceand slipped like a scarf of silk and snow around his neck. He opened his eyes,wondering where the breeze had come from. Had someone opened a door that letthe winter in?

He glanced around at thewindows, then at the doors at either end of the car, but saw nothing that couldhave been the source of the draft. Only when he lowered his gaze, shifting inhis seat, did his mind process what he had just seen. A familiar face, spikyblack hair, bright eyes. A face he knew very well.

Hachiro's heart raced and atentative smile touched his lips. Impossible. He was sleepy, half in a dream. Therewere plenty of teenaged boys with spiky hair, and the kid was half-turned awayfrom him anyway. He could be anyone.

Curiosity driving him, thatchill caress running up the back of his neck, he turned again and looked towardthe back of the car. The kid had his chin down, almost as if he were dozing offas well, but his eyes were open and he stared at the floor. The lights in thetrain car flickered and in each lightless moment it almost seemed that thedarkness outside the windows was trying to get in.

Jiro.

But it couldn't be Jiro, ofcourse. Jiro had been murdered on the shore of Miyazu Bay, his body founddrained of blood, his shoes missing. Hachiro had been there when they hauledhis corpse out of the water. He could still feel the hollow place inside wherehis friendship with Jiro had once been.

The resemblance was uncanny. Hachirowanted to look away but he couldn't stop staring. The train rumbled over arough section of track and outside the windows he saw the lights of shops andoffices — they would be arriving at Miyazu station in moments.

The wan, yellow luminescenceinside the train car flickered again, off and on, off and on, off for severallong seconds, and then on again. The kid had not moved.

Hachiro leaned forward to get afuller view of the kid, slid almost off his seat so that he could see pastbriefcases and small suitcases and outstretched legs. Then he froze, ice racingthrough his veins. His breath came in tiny, hitching gasps and he slowly shookhis head.

The kid had no shoes on. Hisfeet were so pale.

He turned to look at Hachiro,not in some random fashion but in a slow, sad glance that said he had beenaware all along of being watched. And when he smiled wistfully and gave a tinynod of acknowledgement, Hachiro could not lie to himself anymore.

Jiro.

The train began to slow. Hachirocould not breathe. He locked eyes with the ghost — for what else could itbe? — and felt all of the sadness of his friend's death return. He wantedto speak, to ask questions, to say that Jiro had been missed. He wanted to run,to hide, to nurture the fear that rose in him. The lights flickered again andnow, for the first time, he realized that Jiro had faded, his presence thin asdelicate parchment, the shapes and shadows of the floor and the seat and eventhe window visible through him.

The conductor's voice filled theair. The train lurched three times in quick succession, but the third was theworst, rocking Hachiro forward, breaking his eye contact with Jiro. He had toput a hand out to keep from being thrown from his seat as they came to anabrupt halt.

As he turned, the doors shushedopen and people began to rise, grabbing their bags, chatter erupting as theybegan to herd out.

"No," Hachiro said,grabbing his bag and standing.

He thrust himself into the flowof disembarking passengers, searching the crowd for that spiky hair, thatfamiliar face. He caught a glimpse of a silhouette he thought might be that ofthe ghost.

"Jiro!" he called.

Several people gave himdisapproving looks, but most simply pretended not to hear him. Hachiro calledout again, fear and confusion warring within him, and he pushed through thecrowd and stepped off the train.

On the station platform hestopped and looked around. Hachiro was tall and broad-shouldered, so he stoodhis ground and peered over the heads of the other passengers. He called Jiro'sname again, but already his hopes were fading. Someone bumped him from behindand he staggered two steps forward.

People streamed away, reunitingwith family and friends and lovers and then vanishing from the platform. Onlystragglers were left when the train hissed loudly and the doors closed and itbegan to glide away.

Jiro stood just inside thedoors, staring out at Hachiro as the train pulled away. He hadn't been there amoment before. The ghost watched him with sad eyes, and as the train rattledout of the station he faded from view.

Gone again.

Hachiro stared along the tracksfor a long time after the train had gone, frightened and glad all at the sametime, and he wondered if, perhaps, he should never have come back to MiyazuCity. To Monju-no-Chie school.

To Kara.

Chapter Two

Kara knew there had to have beena time in her life when she had been more bored, but she couldn't think of one.Her father had gone into school to make final preparations in his classroom andoffice for the new term, which started tomorrow. His lesson plans were done,but the principal, Mr. Yamato, wanted all of the teachers to organize their ownmaterials so that all was in order when classes began. They were also takingturns overseeing the return of the boarding students to the dormitory behindthe school. Kara had wanted to go along — she couldn't wait to see herfriends — but her father had discouraged it. Mr. Yamato would havefrowned upon it.

So she waited, and the wait wastorture. She fiddled with her guitar for a little while, but found it impossibleto focus long enough to play any song all the way through. Television in Japanusually bored or appalled her, depending on what was on, and she didn't havetime for a movie. . she hoped.

Finally, she logged on to hercomputer and started to upload her favorites among the most recent batch ofphotos she had taken in and around Miyazu City. Her friends back home inMedford loved when she posted them on her Facebook page.

As she studied the pictures onher computer screen, she shivered. December had been chilly, but now thatJanuary had arrived, it really felt like winter. The shirt she had on had beenfine this morning, yet for some reason she felt colder now. A glance at herwindow showed her that the day had turned gray, as though threatening snow. Theforecast hadn't called for any of the white stuff, but with the sun gone, itcertainly was cold enough.

Kara jumped up from her chairand pulled a green, V-neck sweater from a drawer, tugging it on over her head.

Tea, she thought. Niceand hot.

The photos temporarilyforgotten, she went out into the kitchen, and as she reached for the teapot, asoft knock came upon the door. She glanced up, smiling, and hurried to answerit.

Kara opened the door to discoverSakura and Miho on the stoop wearing matching grins. For once the two girls,polar opposites in so many ways, looked almost exactly the same in their graywool coats and winter hats.

The three girls let out a chorusof squees and threw themselves into each other's arms as though they had beenseparated for months instead of weeks. They all began speaking at once, talkinginstead of listening, and then laughing at the absurdity of it. Somehow in themidst of this Kara managed to usher them inside and close the door, and thenthey were taking off their boots and jackets and hats, and suddenly they werethe Miho and Sakura she knew. Sakura was tall, with eyes the color of brass andspiky hair. Miho was a couple of inches shorter and had a shy, bookish demeanorthat was punctuated by her glasses and her long hair, clipped up on one side tokeep it from hiding her pretty face. The two girls had become her closestfriends in the nine months since school had begun.

"Okay, okay, let's allbreathe," Kara said. "Come in and sit down. I was about to make tea. Doesanyone else want some?"

Miho raised her handimmediately, tucking a lock of hair behind one ear.

"Me, too," Sakuraagreed. "It's cold out there. I think winter should be over on New Year'sDay."

"It's just starting,"Miho said, frowning at the impracticality of the statement.

"I know. I'd just like itto end now."

"No way," Kara said asshe put water in the teapot. "I look forward to snowball fights andsnowmen. And there will be tubing."

Miho and Sakura shared a dubiousglance. Kara pointed at them with the teapot, water sloshing inside.

"There will betubing!"

The girls laughed, raising theirhands in surrender, and another giddy wave went through Kara. She was sograteful to have them back. As the girls chatted to her about their New Year'sEve activities — they had all updated each other about Christmas already — she put on the teapot and then joined them at the table.

"My father and I got up tosee the sunrise on New Year's Day," Sakura said. "It's good luck."

Kara blinked in surprise. "Youdidn't tell me that. Was it your idea or his?"

Sakura gave her a tiny, sheepishshrug. "His. I know. It is strange."

"Not strange at all. It'samazing that he actually noticed you were there," Kara said.

"Actually, Sakura had agood time with them," Miho said.

Kara looked at her, then atSakura. Her hair had been freshly cut but she had not altered the style. Shortin the back, but longer in the front, it framed her face in two slashes ofblack hair, highlighted by dyed streaks of bright red. Yet she wore a black andwhite checked sweater, and her face had an uncharacteristic softness about it,a lightness that took some of the edge away from her rebellious image.

"That's huge," Karasaid. "That's great!"

Sakura nodded. "I suppose. Idon't want to make too much of it. I'm back, now, and it will be easy for themto forget me again."

Even before her sister, Akane,had been murdered, Sakura's parents had not paid their children much attention.And with Akane's death it had only become worse. Kara had spoken to her fatherabout it once and he had suggested that their grief might have made theMurakamis afraid to love Sakura. But Kara refused to let them off the hook. Theyhad lost a daughter, but they had one still alive and they barely acknowledgedher existence, traveling on business or on holiday, leaving her at boardingschool even when she was on break, hardly ever coming to visit. Their neglecthad reached a level where Kara had been genuinely surprised when Sakura hadtold her she was going home for the holidays. And now to hear that her fatherhad made an effort to spend time with his daughter came as an even greatersurprise, but a welcome one.

"I don't think they'llforget you again," Kara said. "If they're trying to. ." Shecouldn't think of the Japanese words for 'amends.'

"It's a start, at least,"Miho said.

"It's great," Karasaid, but she could see that the conversation had begun to make Sakurauncomfortable, so she changed the subject. "Anyway, I have something Iwanted to talk to you both about."

Flashes of worry flickered inthe girls' eyes and Kara realized they had misunderstood her.

"No, no," she saidquickly. "No demons, no curses. Nothing bad. Something good, I hope."

"Don't scare us like that,"Sakura said, her tough-girl core resurfacing.

"Sorry."

Miho smiled. "It's not yourfault. We're all trying not to think about the curse, but it is always in theback of our minds. I guess it always will be, even if nothing happens foryears."

An awkward, dreadful quietdescended upon the house. It lasted only a few, nervous seconds before Kararose and went to get them tea cups.

"A new year, a newbeginning," she said. "We can't live with that shadow over us all thetime. And nothing's happened for months."

"I know," Mihoreplied. "It is just difficult to put it out of my mind."

Miho was right. Kara had to workat forgetting. It took an effort not to be afraid of the dark, to be able to goout at night or feel safe being home alone. It helped that they weren't theonly ones who knew about the events of the spring and fall. Her father and MissAritomo had been involved, and Mr. Yamato, the principal, knew. So did theMiyazu City police, who had instructed them all to report anything unusualimmediately, but otherwise not to discuss it with anyone. Officially, those thingsthey had experienced had never happened. The deaths of the students andteachers who had been killed in both instances were attributed to human causes.Human killers.

Last spring, they had stopped anancient demon called Kyuketsuki from entering into the modern world. In theprocess they had learned that some of the spirits and gods and demons that hadonce been worshipped in Japan still existed, weak and nearly extinguishedbecause most people did not believe in them anymore. They were kept from vanishingentirely by legends and songs and plays, but most did not have the strength tomanifest in the real world anymore.

The combination of Akane'smurder and Sakura's grief over her death, and an act of pure happenstance — or fate, if such a thing was to be believed — had been enough to stir thedemon Kyuketsuki. Kara and her friends had stopped the demon and driven it fromthe world, but not before it had cursed them.

Little remains in the worldnow of the darkness of ancient days. . but what there is will come to you,and to this place. All the evil of the ages will plague you, until my thirstfor vengeance is sated.

Kara shuddered at the memory,the words burned into her mind. There might not be many supernatural evils lefton Earth, but Kyuketsuki had marked them all for death. For months, nothing hadgone wrong. Nothing strange had occurred. And then students had begun todisappear. A new demon, the Hannya, had possessed Miss Aritomo and nearlykilled them all.

They had destroyed the Hannya,but not before it had confirmed that the curse had drawn it to them. If therewere other ancient evils still strong enough to manifest in Japan, they mightappear at any time.

Kara and her friends knew this,but they still had lives to lead.

"So what was it that youwanted to talk to us about?" Sakura asked as Kara set their cups in frontof them and went to get the teapot.

"Well," Kara said,excitement dispelling the shadows from her mind. "My dad and I areplanning to go home for a visit at the end of winter term, before the newschool year starts."

"You're going to be gonethe whole time?" Miho asked, her disappointment obvious.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "You'renot listening. It's great news! That means they're coming back for next year!"

Miho's mouth dropped open andthen she clapped her hands like a little girl. "I wasn't thinking. That isgreat. That's wonderful!"

"Hey, I couldn't pass upthe chance to be seniors with you two," Kara said as she poured their tea."But there's more. I talked to my father about it, and he agreed. If youcan get your families to pay for plane tickets, you can come with us."

This resulted in an eruption ofbabble, some of it so fast that Kara could not translate, as the girlsspeculated on whether or not their parents would let them go, and if they wouldbe willing to pay for airfare. Sakura felt fairly certain she would be able togo, but Miho seemed less sure. Still, they started making plans about all ofthe things they would do and see if their parents could be persuaded.

The shadows had been driven backfor all of them, at least for a while.

The house Kara shared with herfather was just up the street from Monju-no-Chie school. There were times whenit still felt awkward to her, being the only gaijin girl — the onlywestern student, period — at the school, but she loved the foreignness ofthe whole experience, the challenge and constant stream of new culturalinformation that came with each day. Like any school, there were teachers thatshe liked better than others, there were mean girls and jocks and cliques, andthere was gossip galore. But she enjoyed her classes and her calligraphy club,and she had made the best friends of her life.

Kara would not have wanted tostay in Japan forever but, as much as she missed her friends back home, when ithad come time to discuss staying another year she had not hesitated a moment. Shewanted to graduate with Sakura and Miho. Her father wanted to see where hisrelationship with Miss Aritomo would lead, and Kara wondered as well.

And then there was Hachiro.

Growing up, she had had crusheson any number of boys, and once or twice she had thought she had fallen inlove. Now, though, something was growing inside of her that made her think thatthose other times had been just her wishing to be in love. Maybe thereal thing was something entirely different, not just the space between akitten and a cat but between a cat and a Bengal tiger.

She tried not to think about it.Over the past few months, the idea of love had started to frighten her almostas much as Kyuketsuki's curse. All she knew was that, just as her father wantedto see where things would go with Miss Aritomo, she was curious to discoverwhat the future had in store for her and Hachiro. And she couldn't wait to tellhim she would be back for her senior year.

For a long time, they had done akind of dance, hesitant to open their hearts fully when they knew that shemight be returning to America in the spring. After their encounter with theHannya, knowing that life was too short for such hesitations, they had becomecloser than ever, but the question of the future remained.

Now she hurried down the streettoward the school, hoping that his parents had already left, though that seemedunlikely. If they were gone, Hachiro would have called her by now. She slippedher cell phone out of her pocket and double-checked — with her hat on andthe thickness of her new winter coat, perhaps she hadn't heard the ring tone — but there'd been no calls.

She crossed the street to thearch at the edge of the school property, but immediately veered off of the paththat would have led to the front door. With the short winter day's lightalready dimming toward late afternoon darkness, she passed beneath the shadowof the school building, its architecture still so reminiscent of some ancientfortress out of feudal Japan.

A cold wind blew off the baybehind her, whipping around the corner of the school, but now she put thebuilding between herself and the bay and the wind dropped to almost nothing. Thelast of the day's sunlight glowed gold through the trees to the west. Her newboots crunched in a patch of snow left over from the last storm, though most ofit had melted away from the low-lying areas for now.

Sakura and Miho had only visitedfor a couple of hours. They had rushed right over to visit her upon theirarrival, and had to get back to prepare for the next day's resumption ofclasses. Plus, they wanted to eat dinner in the dormitory's dining hall withthe rest of the boarding students.

Kara had hung around at homeuntil her father had come back, about two-thirty in the afternoon, and they haddiscussed their own dinner plans. But then Kara had finally gotten a text fromHachiro telling her that he was back on campus. Her father had recognized thelook on her face immediately and told her to go, but to be back by six o'clock.

She walked across the quad tothe dormitory, noting the cars in the lot to the right of the building. Someparents were only just now dropping their children off, and several studentswere walking up from the parking lot. A guy she vaguely recognized used his keyto unlock the dorm's front door and Kara picked up her pace to catch it beforeit closed again.

Hachiro's parents couldn'tpossibly still be here. He hadn't brought anything but a suitcase home, sodropping him off should only have taken a few minutes. But he hadn't calledyet. She told herself he was just putting his things away, but a part of herfelt hurt by this. Miho and Sakura had rushed over to see her first thing, notbothering even to unpack, but Hachiro seemed in no rush. Had he had secondthoughts during the holidays? Had he met someone in those two short weeks?

She told herself she was beingfoolish, but still quickened her pace up the stairs and down the hall to hisroom. After hours, girls weren't allowed in the boys' halls, but for now thecorridors were busy with friends getting reacquainted, laughing and gossipingand trading small New Year's gifts. She and Hachiro had agreed on no gifts atthe holidays. People tended to put too much weight on such things, interpretingany gift as if it defined the relationship, and she didn't want that kind ofpressure for either of them. Now she regretted it a little. A sign of hisaffection would be nice.

Oh, great. Doubting him already.He just got back. She rolled her eyes at her own insecurity, even as sherealized that she had never cared so much about what anyone else felt abouther, except for her parents.

Amused at her own nervousness,she rapped on his door. She waited eight or ten seconds before knocking again,bouncing impatiently. Kara glanced up and down the hallway, wondering if hemight be visiting Ren or one of his other friends. That wouldn't bode well,either, priority-wise, though he had texted her, so that counted for something.

As she debated whether to knockagain, the door opened.

In his Boston Red Sox cap and arumpled sweatshirt, he looked very cute. She had often told Hachiro he was herown giant Teddy bear, which always got a shy smile from him. But for a moment,as he pulled the door open, she caught sight of a look on his face that wasanything but a smile. He seemed sad and tired.

And then he saw her, and hisface lit up in a grin, and she knew that all of her angsting had beenpointless.

Without a word he pulled herinto his arms, crushing him in his massive embrace, and she squeezed back forall she was worth. Hachiro kissed the top of her head — receivingwhistles and hoots from other boys in the corridor for the effort — andthen took a step back, holding her hands in his as he looked down at her.

"Hello," he said.

Kara exhaled contentedly. "Hey."

Hachiro lifted her chin and gaveher a gentle kiss. She pulled off his Red Sox cap, revealing his unruly mess ofhair, and donned the hat herself, setting it backward on her head.

"You gonna let me in?" she asked.

"Of course," he said,standing a bit straighter.

Hachiro had been raised to be aproper Japanese boy, with all the courtesies and formalities that implied. Karahad broken him of some of those manners, but he still treated her as a guestwhenever she visited his room. Now he stepped back to let her in, and she wentto his desk and slid herself up to sit on top of it.

He left the door open. Theschool had rules governing all areas of conduct, and were very strict about theinteraction between male and female students, but Kara thought he would haveleft the door open anyway so that no one would get the wrong idea about whatwas or wasn't going on behind closed doors.

Not that she would have minded alittle time behind closed doors. But that was what late night walks were for.

"Happy New Year," shesaid.

Hachiro gave her a very formalbow, but she knew that now he was overdoing it for effect. "Happy NewYear," he said in English.

"I'm sorry I didn't waitfor you to call, but I have news and I really wanted to share."

Hachiro sat on his bed, lookingmore than ever like a giant bear. The bed was too small for him. "Whatnews?"

"Well, there's a littlebad, but also some good. Which do you want first?"

His smile faded and she saw atrace of that uneasiness and exhaustion again. "Bad first, please."

"Don't worry, it's not thatbad," she said, swinging her legs where they hung over the edge of thedesk. "At the end of this term, my father and I are going home — "

Hachiro glanced downward,disappointment etched into his face.

" — for two weeks. Andthen we'll be back for senior year."

He laughed out loud. "You'restaying?"

Kara nodded. "Staying."

Hachiro got up and went to her,picked her up off the desk and swung her around. When he set her down, she feltlike she was still flying. He brushed a lock of her blond hair away from herface and traced his fingers along the cheek and the curve of her jaw. Karaswallowed hard, staring into his eyes, and for several long seconds she wasspeechless, despite a thousand unsaid things that blossomed in her heart.

He kissed her again, not nearlyas gentle as before, and they only stopped to breathe.

With a quick knock on the opendoor, Ren stepped into the room. "Hachiro, can I borrow — " hebegan, halting abruptly when he saw them and covering his eyes. "Ahhh, I'mblind."

Kara and Hachiro both laughed.

"What do you need?" Hachiro asked.

Ren shook his head, longbronze-dyed hair falling across his eyes. "Nothing. Go back to what youwere doing. I'll come back later."

Before either of them couldargue or ask him to say, he darted off down the hall. Kara hugged Hachiroagain, but as she did she found herself looking around the room, realizing thatsomething was out of place. Or, rather, not at all out of place. Hachiro'ssuitcase had already been stowed away, whatever clothes he had brought homealready integrated back into his school wardrobe. Even his books for the newterm were organized on his desk.

A little tremor ofdisappointment went through her as she stepped back from him.

"You've been home forhours."

Hachiro's happiness fell awaylike a mask and she saw again the sadness that weighed on him. He seemedexhausted by it.

"Since last night,actually," he confessed.

Her heart sank. Part of her mindimmediately started making excuses for him, mostly to make herself feel better,but the hurt was too much.

"What? You didn't. . whydidn't you tell me? Or come see me?"

"I meant to," he said."I came back on the train. I wanted to surprise you, but somethinghappened on the train and I've been trying to make sense of it, trying tofigure out if I really saw what I think I saw."

Kara felt a chill dance alongher spine. "What do you think you saw?"

Hachiro looked away from her,out at the darkness beyond his window. When he looked back, his face had gonepale.

"Jiro's ghost."

Her breath caught in her throat.Jiro's ghost. Oh, my God.

"Are you sure?"

"I'm not sure of anything,"he said. "Once I would have said it was impossible, but — "

"But 'impossible' doesn'tmean much anymore," Kara finished for him.

"What do you think itmeans?" Hachiro asked. "Do you think it's just. . I don't know,symptoms of the curse? That we've brushed up against so much of thesupernatural that we're more aware of it now? Or do you think it's somethingelse, that something else has come to try to finish what Kyuketsuki and theHannya started?"

Kara shook her head. "I don'tknow. But we've got to keep our eyes open. We have to be on guard."

"I'm always on guard thesedays."

He took her hand, then, and shestepped into his embrace, relishing his warmth and strength and how safe shefelt in his arms. But she knew it was an illusion.

As long as the curse remained inplace, they were never really safe.

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.

Chapter Four

Kara scraped snow off the groundand packed it in her hands, giddy with mischief. Hachiro and Ren were busyhurling snowballs at Sora, so her boyfriend did not see her approaching. Shethrew it straight and true, pegging Hachiro in the back of the head.

He spun around, eyes wide withsurprise, ready to retaliate. But when he saw that she had been his attacker,he grinned and gave chase, pursuing her through the snowy clearing while shetried to stop laughing long enough to plead for mercy. Hachiro grabbed her bythe hood of her new jacket, stopping her short, and threw a handful of snowdown the back of her shirt.

Kara went rigid and cried out asthe freezing snow slipped down her back, melting against her skin.

"Oh, you're dead!" shesaid, untucking her shirttail to let the snow fall to the ground. She stalkedtoward Hachiro and he backed away, hands raised, grin growing wider.

"You started it," hesaid. "Good aim by the way. You should play baseball."

"Flattery will not saveyou," she said.

Hachiro stood his ground,surrendering. "Do what you will."

Kara smiled. If her father weren'twandering around amongst the students and teachers, she would have kissed him. Instead,she just shook her head.

"Sorry, Hachiro. It isn'tme you have to worry about."

He frowned, confused, but onlyfor a moment. Sora and Ren bombarded him with multiple snowballs. Kara had seenthem sneaking up on him and had maintained his attention to give them thechance to make extra snowballs.

Miho and Sakura walked over,applauding lightly.

"I love this," Karatold them. "It feels like home."

"How much does it snow inMassachusetts?" Miho asked.

"It depends on the year,like anywhere else," Kara said. "But some winters there's snow fromlate November until the beginning of April. A few years ago we had so manystorms in a row that in my front yard it was above my waist."

"It must seem like anotherworld, like something magical," Miho said, with a dreamy look on her face.

Sakura scoffed. "It soundslike torture. I'd throw myself in front of a bus."

Kara laughed and looked around. Theboys were tiring of snowball fights, but other students were not ready to giveup yet. In the gently falling snow they raced around, chasing one another. Somemade snow angels and others were building tiny snowmen out of the inch or sothat had already fallen. Miss Kaneda and Mr. Yamato had paused the group hereso that they could take a short rest before hiking back to the observatory andthen down to the buses waiting in Takigami Park, but nobody seemed inclined torest. The falling snow made them want to play, as if they were still muchyounger children. Only a handful had taken snacks out of their backpacks,probably because with the fresh snow on the ground there was nowhere to sitdown.

Kara glanced around in search ofher father and Miss Aritomo, eyes narrowed to slits as a gust of wind blewsnowflakes into her face. She didn't see them, but knew they wouldn't be farfrom their students.

"Hey," Sora said asthe three boys trudged over to them. "I just saw Reiko. She said there'san amazing view from an overlook down a path over there."

He pointed vaguely toward thetrees.

"She shouldn't have leftthe group," Miho said.

"It wasn't just her,"Sora explained. "We should go look."

Kara glanced toward the trees,searching for an opening. The snow had started to fall a bit heavier, obscuringher vision, but still did not seem to be amounting to much of a storm.

"How much time do you thinkwe have?" Hachiro asked.

Sakura tugged her hat tighterdown over her ears. "At least five minutes before they try rounding anyoneup, and you know it'll take at least that long to get everyone organized and getthem to stop fooling around. They won't be leaving for at least ten or fifteenminutes."

Miho frowned, wiping snow fromher cheek. "Are you sure?"

Ren put his arm through hers. Thetwo had become close friends during the previous term. "You'll be fine. I'llprotect you from the Yeti."

"The Yeti lives in theHimalayas!" Miho said, arching an eyebrow at him.

"There, you see?" Renreplied. "Nothing to be afraid of."

"Come on," Kara said,looping her arm through Hachiro's in imitation of Miho and Ren. "I want tosee."

The six of them trekked acrossthe clearing together. When Hachiro spotted Mr. Yamato, they gave the principala wide berth, not wanting him to stop them before they got started. When theyreached the trees it took them only a moment to find the path that Soradeclared must be the one Reiko had mentioned, and they followed it with morepurpose and energy than any of them had shown during the rest of the day'shiking.

At first, Kara liked thestillness of the path. In the gray winter light, with the snow falling, eddyingin gusts of wind, it was so quiet that it felt as though the six of them wereentirely alone on the mountain. She liked that idea, being with her friends onan adventure. Ren marched Miho forward, still arm in arm with her, leading thegroup. They laughed and bumped each other. Sora and Sakura had been paired upby default, and Kara thought they seemed a bit awkward together.

Kara and Hachiro brought up therear, hand in hand, and for a few minutes, it felt like a winter wonderland.

Then, out of nowhere, the windgusted hard enough to bend the trees. Kara and Hachiro staggered and he let goof her hand as the huge gust subsided.

"Wow!" Kara said,reverting to English in her surprise. "What the hell — "

The wind blew again, branches swaying,and with a crack a thick bough broke off of a tree just behind them, fallingacross the path. The gusts continued, settling into a powerful gale that swayedthe trees all around them. Snow blew into their faces and across the path,falling even heavier than before.

"We should go back!" Miho said.

"I'm sure it's just alittle further," Sora replied, glancing around at them. "We all haveto hike back in this. What difference does it make?"

Kara shrugged and looked atMiho. "At least we'll have a story to tell."

"All right," Mihoagreed. "But everyone stay together."

Ren snuggled up beside her andthey marched on. The wind continued to blow and the snow to swirl, but it feltas though they were traveling through a tunnel. She glanced up and saw that abovethe tree line the sky had turned completely white.

On impulse, she tugged Hachiro'shand, pulling him to a stop. When he glanced down, she stood on her tiptoes,wrapped a hand around the back of his neck, and pulled him down for a long,lingering kiss.

"It does feel like magichere," she said.

Hachiro looked nervous andunsure, and when he spoke up, she understood why.

"I love you, Kara."

Her breath caught in her throat,her heart skipping a beat. She swallowed, now just as he nervous as he seemed. Thenshe nodded. "I love you, too."

"Hey!" Sakura shoutedfrom up ahead on the path. "Come look at this!"

Kara took Hachiro's hand againand they raced after their friends, who had become gray silhouettes in thesnow. They had reached an opening in the trees and now Kara and Hachiro emergedbehind them and joined them all on a rocky outcropping that fell away justahead into a steep slope down to the city below. They could see only awhite-veiled hint of lights far, far beneath them.

"Wow," Hachiro said,grinning at Kara to let her know he was imitating her.

She didn't mind. Anyone who didn'tsay 'wow' at such a view in the midst of a snowstorm had to have somethingwrong with them, as far as she was concerned. Now, though, she had other thingson her mind.

"It's getting really bad,"she said.

Glancing around, she saw in herfriends' eyes that they felt the same. What had seemed like an adventure tenminutes ago now seemed like a terrible idea. But they could never havepredicted the storm would grow so much worse so quickly. To Kara it seemedalmost unreal that a gentle snowfall could turn into a blizzard in such a shorttime, but the weather had turned on them.

"We've seen it. Let's goback," Ren said. Despite how much he had liked the idea before, he nowseemed as anxious as any of them.

In unspoken agreement, they allstarted back toward the trees, which had become little more than strangeapparitions in the storm. Long, bare branches reached skeletal fingers into thewhite sky, and black pines were blanketed in snow.

"Wait," Sakura said."Which one?"

"Which what?" Mihoasked.

But Kara saw immediately whatSakura meant. This overlook must have been very popular, because as theyapproached the trees she could see the narrow openings of at least fourdifferent paths — no, five — without any way to tell which one hadbrought them here.

"I think it's the middleone," Hachiro said.

"It's not either of the twoon the right," Sora added quickly.

"No. It's that one,"Sakura said, pointing to the second from the left.

A ripple of fear went throughKara. With all of the other things she had reason to be afraid of, it had neveroccurred to her that she would encounter such fear in such an ordinary way. Butas they looked around at the various paths and the wind gusted harder and thesnow accumulated almost impossibly fast at their feet, piling up on top oftheir jackets and hats and hoods, she felt real terror growing inside of her.

"We have to get back,"she said.

Hachiro grabbed her hand. Throughher glove, she felt him squeeze tightly. "We'll be okay. I promise."

Kara pulled the collar of hershirt up over her mouth and nose, hoping to block the wind. The temperature hadplummeted in minutes. Even with gloves on her fingers hurt, and the hood on hernew jacket kept blowing back, forcing her to hold it closed with one hand.

"Which is it?" shesaid, voice muffled. "Let's just pick one. At least the trees will keepsome of the wind off of us."

They all studied the entrancesto the paths. Sora shook his head, throwing up his hands, and his eyes werefull of dread and panic.

"This one," Miho said."I agree with Hachiro. The middle."

She didn't sound entirely sure,and Sakura hesitated. But when the others all forged ahead onto the path,grateful for the shelter, Sakura followed. Kara linked arms with her, both ofthem hiding in the windbreak that Hachiro's size provided. They hurried alongthe path, ducking low branches and following a slight curve that Kara did notremember — though she hadn't been paying very much attention. With thesnow whipping around the woods became a blur of dark lines in the white staticof the storm. Snow stung her eyes and, driven by the wind, it managed to sneakinside her hood and down her neck.

Sakura said something that Karacould barely hear through her hood and the howl of the wind.

"What?" she called.

"Where's that branch?" Sakura repeated. Her cheeks were red and blotchy from the cold. Snow had builtup on her hat and clung to her eyelashes. "The one that broke off when wewere coming through here?"

Kara scanned the path ahead,searching. Somehow they had taken the lead, with Hachiro just behind them andthe others bringing up the rear. Panic seethed inside of her. How could thestorm have turned into a blizzard so quickly? Could it subside just as fast? Maybeso, but she knew that they could not risk waiting to let it pass. If not forher father, she would have feared that in the storm, the teachers might nothave realized they had wandered off and might have headed back for theobservatory without them. But her father was with them. No way would he leavewithout making sure that Kara was accounted for.

"Kara?" Sakura called."Where is it?"

The girl's voice soundedfrantic, now. Any traces of her rebellious nature had been obliterated by fear.

Kara had continued to watch thepath but found no sign of the fallen limb, and she knew that if they had comeacross it before she would have noticed. They would have had to step over oraround it. Still, she kept on walking, telling herself that they simply had notbacktracked far enough yet, that the storm made it seem that they had traveledfurther than they actually had.

When they reached a fork in thetrail, with one path veering sharply to the left and the other continuing along, gentle curve to the right, she knew for sure.

"This is wrong!" shesaid, turning to Sakura, heart hammering in her chest. She saw in her eyes thatSakura had realized the truth as well.

"What do we do? Go back?" Sakura asked, glancing around wide-eyed as the others gathered around them.

Hachiro stood close to Kara,still trying to shield her from the storm. She just wanted to be back at home,inside and warm, with her arms around him.

"We don't have time!" Hachiro called over the wind. He pointed to the sharp left-hand fork. "Let'sjust go that way. We picked the wrong trail, but we know the clearing is inthat direction. This path must meet up with the one we took originally, ormaybe it leads straight to the clearing."

"You don't know that,Hachiro!" Ren said, his words almost lost in a gust of snow.

"We can't go back,"Miho said. "I can't even feel my feet now!"

Kara looked at Sakura, searchingher eyes. Sakura had been right about which path they should have taken, or sothey all now believed. If she said to go back, then Kara would go back. Sheknew they all would.

"She's right," Sakurasaid. "We can't spend any more time up here than we have to."

The wind stole some of herwords, but Kara understood. She nodded. "All right, we go — "

"Hachiro!" Renshouted.

They all turned to see that hehad backtracked several paces. In the gray-white tunnel formed by the trees oneither side and the blotted out sky, he looked like little more than a shadow,though he stood only ten feet away.

"What's wrong?" Hachiro called to him.

Ren threw his arms wide. "Where'sSora?"

Kara's heart went as cold as therest of her. She stopped breathing a moment. They all turned round in circles,looking into the trees and both ways up the trail.

"Oh, my God," Karasaid.

"He must've turned back!" Hachiro said.

"Or wandered off the trail!" Kara called, half-turning her face from the wind.

Miho had covered her face withher hands, but now she lowered them, revealing the desperation in her eyes."We've got to go back for him!"

Kara glanced at the trail they'dbeen about to take, the one she thought would lead them back to the rest oftheir group, but then she pulled her gaze away. She nodded and started pastHachiro.

"No!" he said.

Kara stared at him. "We can'tjust leave Sora out here alone!"

Hachiro pointed to the trail."You and the girls go. Ren and I will get Sora and catch up."

Ren took a couple of steps backtoward them. "We will?"

Kara grabbed Hachiro's arm. Somewherein her brain she knew the Japanese word for 'sexist,' but was too cold to thinkof it.

"You're not sending usahead just because we're girls!" she shouted into the wind, blinking awaysnowflakes.

Hachiro shook his headvigorously. "No! Yes, I want you safe, but someone needs to get back tothe group and tell Mr. Yamato we're still out here."

Kara hated parting from him, butHachiro was right. Someone had to go back. As much as she would have liked tostay with him, she worried about Sakura and Miho as well and wanted to makesure they reached the group safely.

"If you get back to therocks and you haven't found him, don't search. Not in this. I'm going to bewaiting for you," she said.

Hachiro gave her a quick kissand then he turned and started back down the path, shouting for Sora. Renjoined in the shouting and the two of them picked up their pace, jogging intothe whiteness until it swallowed them completely.

"Kara, come on!" Sakura said.

With one final glance — thesnow already filling in the prints Hachiro and Ren had just made — sheturned and started up the left-hand trail. Miho and Sakura linked arms with heron either side and the girls raced along this new path, branches droopingoverhead, the storm buffeting them.

They rushed along, huddledtogether, but had gone no more than a hundred yards before their path joinedanother. Kara thought it might be the one they had originally taken to get outto that stony bluff overlooking the city, but she dared not express her hopealoud. They kept on, trudging through the deepening snow. Her fingers and toesand face were numb, her legs like blocks of ice, and she knew that her friendsmust feel the same, though they traveled in silence.

One moment the trees weresagging and swaying in the storm all around them, and then they were surroundedby nothing but white. They had arrived in the clearing without even realizingit. Through the storm she could see vague figures all around them.

"Dad! Mr. Yamato! Someonehelp!" she called.

Shouts came in reply and thefigures rushed through the blizzard to reach them. She heard her father's voicecalling her name, and then he appeared out of the storm and took her in hisarms, asking if she was all right, tearing off his gloves and using his handsto rub her cheeks and warm her face.

"I'm okay," she said,barely aware that she had reverted to English. "We'll be okay. But theboys are still out there. We lost Sora somehow, and Hachiro and Ren doubledback for him."

She quickly described the pathsthey had taken, the rocky overlook they had found, and where she thought theboys would be. By that time Mr. Yamato, Miss Aritomo, and Mr. Sato had joinedthem and listened carefully. With their hats and jackets coated in snow theylooked like they were being slowly whited out, erased from the world.

"Where is everyone else?" Sakura asked, for the clearing was nearly empty.

"I sent the rest of thegroup on their way to get the students off the mountain," Mr. Yamato said.He looked scared and confused. "I don't know how the weather turned soquickly. There was nothing in the forecast about a blizzard like this. Justlight snow, and even that wasn't supposed to come until tonight."

Her father cupped her cheek inhis hands. "Keep moving, Kara. Go down with Mr. Sato and Miss Aritomo. Therest of us will find the boys and follow."

"No!" Kara said."Dad, please. Come down with us."

Hachiro was already out there inthe blizzard. Now that she had her father back, the idea of leaving him behindup there on the mountain made her frantic. She didn't even want to go back downwithout Hachiro, but she knew that they all risked frostbite if they stayed uphere much longer.

"Kara, Mr. Yamato and I aregoing to — "

"Harper-san," Mr. Satosaid, his big glasses spider-webbed with ice, "please go with Kara. I willsearch with Mr. Yamato.

Kara's father hesitated and shegrabbed his hand, silently pleading with him. Then he nodded.

"All right," he said,looking up at Miss Aritomo. "Let's get these girls off the mountain."

Hachiro's throat was raw fromshouting. His head pounded, the cold like a vise on his skull. His gloved handswere stuffed into his pockets and he could no longer feel much at all in hisfeet. He thought he might have to stop and take his boots off, use his hands torub some life back into his feet, but didn't know if that would help or if theexposure would only make it worse.

"Sora!" Ren shouted athis side. "Where are you? Can you hear us? Sora!"

They struggled along togetherside by side, Ren peering into the trees to the right of the path and Hachiroscanning the woods to the left. Another thirty yards and they would be out ofthe woods and back at the rocky overlook whose allure had gotten them all intosuch trouble in the first place.

"Sora!" Hachiroscreamed into the storm.

He opened his mouth to yellagain, but paused, thinking he'd heard some kind of reply from the thickness ofthe snow-covered woods. It might have been the wind, or the creak of a treefelled by the blizzard, but he did not think it had been either.

"So — " Renbegan.

Hachiro clamped a hand on hisshoulder, shushing him. "Quiet. Listen."

They stood still and silent forthe count of ten, but heard nothing but the cry of the wind. Hachiro glanced atRen and nodded and the two of them shouted again, this time in one voice,calling Sora's name into the storm, into the woods.

A voice cried out in reply.

"Tell me you heard that!" Hachiro said, turning to Ren.

Ren nodded. "I heard it. Idon't know what I heard, but something. Someone."

"Who else would it be?" Hachiro snapped, but he understood. The cry he had heard might have belonged toan animal. He'd been unable to make out any words, only a voice, calling out.

He stepped off the trail,glancing back at Ren, who swore and set off after him. The two boys crashedthrough the trees, snapping branches and tramping in snow that seemed somehowdeeper. The pines brushed against them as though attempting to hold them backand Hachiro tore his coat on the sharp hook of a thin, bare branch, but theyrushed onward, shouting Sora's name.

That cry came twice more, stillwordless, and Hachiro faltered slightly at the realization that it sounded morelike pain than panic. But further shouts received no reply and soon they beganto slow and finally came to a halt.

"Sora!" Hachiro roaredone last time in frustration.

Regret filled him, weighing himdown, and he turned to Ren, whose eyes revealed that he had come to the samedecision that Hachiro had.

"We have to go back,"Hachiro said.

Ren nodded. "I agree. Thatmight've been him, or it could've been a bird. Sora might have gone back tothat cliff and used the right path. He might already be with the others in theclearing. We have no way of knowing."

Hachiro felt sick, but he knewit was the truth. Sora might have made it back to the group already, but ifnot, Mr. Yamato would tell the authorities and they would get a search partyonto the mountain. He and Ren had done all they could do.

"Sora!" he shoutedone, final time. Then, hating the feeling of helplessness that filled him, heturned to Ren. "Let's go."

Together they made their wayback the way they had come, retracing their steps in the snow, snapping offmore branches, the storm raging even there amongst the trees. Hachiro had takenhalf a dozen steps when he looked up and saw a figure standing between twinpines off to his left.

"Ren, look."

"Sora?" Ren said,quietly at first, and then louder. "Sora!"

The boys barreled through thesnow, running toward those twin black pines, but when they reached thesnow-dusted figure they were brought up short. Hachiro tried to halt but hisleft boot slid out from under him and he fell, tumbling in several inches offresh snow.

Ren had started to pray.

Hachiro rolled to his knees,staring up in disbelief at the statue, there in the midst of the woods and thestorm. Only it wasn't a statue. Somehow, in the short span of time since theyhad seen him last, Sora had frozen to death, his entire body covered in a coatof glistening ice and frosted with snow.

"How is this possible?" Hachiro whispered, though the wind stole his voice so that even he could nothear his own words.

And yet he received an answer.

"All things,"said a voice in his ear, a cold breeze that carried words, as though the winditself were speaking to him. "All things are possible."

Ren spun around in terror, backto one of the pine trees, gazing about wide-eyed for the source of the whispery,insinuating voice. Hachiro watched him with a fresh jolt of fear. Ren had heardit, too. It had not been his imagination, nor was it the voice of some ghost. Somethingwas here with them.

"Show yourself!" hecried.

And it did. Gusts of wind cametogether, spinning the snow into a white, swirling vortex. Hachiro and Renstared as the snow began to sculpt itself into a figure, and when at last thewind subsided for a moment, the snow drifting lazily in the lull, neither ofthem could speak.

She floated atop the snow,leaving no impression. Hachiro could barely breathe. In all of his life he hadnever seen a woman so beautiful. She wore a white kimono, her long hairmatching its color, as though both were made of the snow itself.

"I know this story,"Ren whispered, stepping up beside him. "Hachiro, run!"

They turned to bolt but the windblew up so hard that it knocked them both off of their feet, tossing them intothe snow. Hachiro struck the trunk of a bare, skeletal tree. He started torise, saw Ren doing the same, and then they both glanced up at the Woman inWhite.

Hachiro stared into her eyes,inhumanly black and bottomless, like holes torn in the fabric of the world. Hisheart filled with such terror that he could not move. Her gaze alone had frozenhim with fear.

And then she smiled, her teethsharpened pearls.

Chapter Five

By the time they had reached theobservatory and started down the long trail to where the bus waited in TakigamiPark below, the intensity of the storm had begun to wane. The snow slowed andthe wind began to relent at last. By the time they were halfway down, themountainside and the park below had been transformed into an idyllic winterscene. Any other day it would have been beautiful. The heart of the storm hadcome and gone, and the aftermath was white silence. But until she knew Hachiroand the others were safe, Kara could see only menace in the snow.

Her father walked beside her,grabbing her arm when she stumbled but otherwise not trying to hard to protecther. He didn't baby her, and Kara felt grateful for that. She wondered aboutfrostbite, but until they reached the heated bus there was nothing any of themcould do for themselves or for each other. They were in this together and herfather knew that.

Miho and Sakura walked ahead ofthem, accompanied by Miss Aritomo and two other teachers who had beenchaperoning the ensoku. The roommates huddled together, trying to share amodicum of body heat as they hurried down the mountain. From time to time MissAritomo glanced back at Kara and her father, worry etched into her face.

They talked very little, focusedon their descent and conserving energy. Kara's legs had started to feel likelead weights. She felt strangely sleepy, and soon the white silence around herbecame a kind of dreamlike blur.

She trudged downward, one footin front of the other, and the veil of snow thinned even more, so that soon shecould make out the bus waiting below. The others had already departed, headingback to Monju-no-Chie school. Yet now she slowed a little, staggering to astop, seeing the bus as the enemy.

"Kara, what's wrong?" her father asked.

In his eyes she saw all of thefear for her that he had been keeping bottled up during their trek. He musthave been half-frozen himself, but he took her arm to steady her and seemedabout to pick her up into his arms, as though to carry her the rest of the waydown the mountain. Love for him filled her up, but it could not drive away theterrible, icy certainty that had spread through her.

"I can't leave withoutHachiro," she said.

Miss Aritomo and the others hadhalted as well and Kara saw Miho and Sakura staring back at her in concern,though their teeth chattered and their lips had turned blue.

"Go on, Yuuka!" Kara'sfather called. "We'll be right there."

Miss Aritomo nodded andreluctantly got the rest of them moving again. Kara's father held on to her,forced her to meet his gaze.

"What are you doing, honey?The exposure you've already suffered could be dangerous. We've got to get — "

Kara searched his eyes, franticand filled with growing desperation. "Dad, I can't. I just. . I can'tleave without him. I look down at that bus and all I can think — I can'tget it out of my mind — is that if I get on board, if I let them closethe doors behind me, then I'll never see him again. He's going to die up there."

Her father held her face in hishands, his gloves rimed with half-melted snow. "No, he's not. They'regoing to find him, Kara. And it will do him no good if you end up losingfingers or toes from frostbite. The storm is already starting to slow and there'llbe a couple of hours of daylight left for people to search. . people who arebetter equipped and prepared for the elements than we are."

She took a deep breath, takingthat in, and stared at the bus waiting ominously below before meeting herfather's gaze once again.

"How does something likethis happen?" she asked. "What Mr. Yamato said about the forecast.. I mean, it was nothing, not much more than flurries at first, and then.."

Overwhelmed, Kara could notfinish the sentence.

"A squall," her fathersaid. He took her by the arm and guided her down the trail, getting her walkingagain. "I've read about freak weather before. It happens. Like 'thundersnow' and things like that. When weather fronts collide the weather is alwayswild."

As he spoke, police cars beganto pull into the parking lot of Takigami Park below, their lights spinning,reflecting off of the snow. They were followed by an ambulance and two SUVs. WhenKara saw police officers and other people start to pile out of the vehicles,relief swept over her. The snow was subsiding. Mr. Sato and Mr. Yamatowere still up there, and soon the search would expand. There might not be morethan a couple of hours before dark, but maybe that would be enough. It waspossible that they had already found Hachiro and the other boys and that noneof this would turn out to be necessary.

She turned to say as much to herfather, and saw Sora standing beyond him, perhaps fifty feet from the path. Hestood amidst a copse of cherry trees, their bare branches interwoven like aspider's web. His red jacket had turned pale, bleached of color the same waythe winter storm had turned the whole world gray, but Kara could see himclearly enough.

"Oh, my God," shesaid, a laugh bubbling out of her.

"What is it?" herfather asked.

But Kara started running, bootssinking into four inches of fresh snow. A grin spread across her face and sheglanced past Sora, searching for Hachiro and Ren, putting it all together in aninstant — they must have found some other path that led them to a placewhere they could see the bus waiting in Takigami Park and started down towardit.

"Sora!"

"Kara, wait!" herfather called.

She glanced back at him for onlyan instant, but when she looked toward the cherry grove again, Sora hadvanished. There were only the bare trees and contorted interweaving ofbranches.

All of the air went out of herin a single breath and she faltered, staggering to a stop. Suddenly she feltmore exhausted than ever. Falling to her knees in the snow, she felt all of herfear and worry overflowing, rushing out of her. Somehow it became a laugh, evenas tears began to spill down her cheeks.

She heard footsteps crunching inthe snow and a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Kara?" her fatherventured, so softly.

She wiped at her eyes and lookedup at him. "I saw Sora. He was right over there."

But there was nowhere aroundthose bare trees where anyone could have hidden themselves — even if Sorahad some reason to do so — and they were close enough now to see oneadditional detail that filled the hollow place inside Kara with dread andgrief. There were no footprints in the snow beneath the cherry trees.

"Did you see him?" sheasked.

"I was watching you,"her father said. "I'm sorry."

Kara turned to see Sakura andMiho approaching them. Miss Aritomo and the other teachers waited back on thepath, watching curiously.

"You saw Sora?"

Kara couldn't answer. Sheswallowed hard. All she could think of in that moment was the story Hachiro hadtold her about seeing Jiro's barefoot ghost on the train into Miyazu Station.

"Hey," Miho whispered,kneeling beside her in the snow, neither of them paying any attention to thedampness soaking through the knees of their pants — they couldn't feel itanymore.

"I think I saw him, too. Justfor a second," Miho went on.

Kara stared up at her, thenglanced at Sakura and her father. "He's dead."

"You don't know that,"her father said quickly, brows sternly knitted.

But she did. What she had seencould only have been a ghost. She bit her lip, took Miho's hand, and the two ofthem stood. They exchanged silent glances with Sakura and then, as one, thethree girls started back toward the path.

"Come on, Dad. I'mfreezing."

Her father followed, but she sawhim glancing back at the cherry grove, although there was no longer anythingthere to see.

All through the rest of the walkdown to Takigami Park, where they boarded the bus, Kara felt torn by warringemotions. She grieved for Sora, whom she'd liked very much, but she alsonurtured a flickering, guilty hope that Hachiro and Ren would be all right. Shehad not seen their ghosts, after all, only Sora's.

On the bus, she sat with herfather. Miho and Sakura had each other, so Kara did not feel like she was abandoningthem. Miss Aritomo busied herself with the grim business of making sure thereweren't any other students unaccounted for and then got off the bus to talkquietly with a police officer for several minutes. When she boarded again, shesat behind the driver and told him to take them home.

Kara turned to look up at herfather. "We can't leave them up there."

"We aren't. I promise you,honey. The police are heading up onto the mountain now with a bunch ofvolunteers, and more on the way. But my first responsibility is to you. Let'sget you into something warm and dry, and by then, the boys will be down offthat mountain."

Not all, shethought.

As the bus rattled out of theparking lot and back toward school, feeling began to return to her feet and herbody started to warm up at last, but inside she felt more numb than ever. Shehuddled against her father, taking comfort from the solidity of his presence. Hespoke to her with quiet strength that soothed her far more than the words hechose. Any other day she would have been embarrassed at such a display, a girlher age being so dependent upon her father, especially in Japan. But she couldnot bring herself to care.

Kara opened her eyes, jostled asthe bus went over a pothole, and was surprised to see the outline ofMonju-no-Chie school through the window. The snow had stopped falling and thesky had lightened somewhat, though cloud cover still blotted out the sun. Momentslater, they turned into the drive that ran alongside the school and led to thedormitory beyond.

"Did I fall asleep?" she asked.

"Maybe for a minute or two,"her father said.

Fresh anguish filled her. "Howcould I do that? Hachiro and Ren are — "

"Kara," he replied,taking her hand and squeezing it. "Rest is good. You're not going to beany help to your friends if you're falling apart."

She took a long, shuddery breathand then nodded. "Okay. You're right."

"Honey. ."

If any sleep lingered in her,his tentative, almost secretive tone banished it. "What?"

He glanced around as though tosee who might be listening and when he spoke again, he had lowered his voice. Fora moment she thought he would speak in English, but then she realized thatdoing so might draw more attention rather than less.

"What did you see while wewere coming down the mountain?"

Kara understood what her fatherwas asking her. Once upon a time, she had been afraid to talk to him about thesupernatural things she had encountered since they had moved to Japan, fearfulthat he would think she was losing her mind. And for a time, after she had toldhim, he had believed she was making up stories as a way to interfere with hisrelationship with Miss Aritomo. It had put a wedge between them.

But all that was in the past,now. Rob Harper had seen things that he could not deny, and nearly paid theprice for that epiphany with his life. Any tension between them had been burnedaway by the danger they'd faced together. They were a team now.

None of which meant that hereally wanted to know the answer to the question he'd just asked.

"You know what I saw,"she whispered.

Something flickered in his eyes,and then he nodded. "I guess I do."

The bus's brakes screeched to ahalt. When the doors opened, Kara stood up first, stepping into the aisle. Mihoand Sakura had been sitting right behind her and both of them looked as drainedas she felt. Behind her glasses, Miho's eyes were red from crying.

They filed off one by one, thestudents gathering in small clusters in the parking lot. All but one of theother buses had already departed, the last one standing empty just a few yardsaway, the driver talking on his cell phone outside the door. He seemed agitatedand Kara noticed that he kept looking at a paint-scraped dent on the side ofthe bus, which she assumed was new. The parking lot had not been cleared ofsnow, and her feet grew cold again immediately.

"Kara," her fathersaid. As she turned to him, he pulled her into a tight hug. "We're goingto need to talk about this later, and what it might mean. But right now — "

"I know. You have to help geteveryone situated."

"And then I want to findout what's going on back at the mountain. If I can't reach Mr. Yamato, I'm suresomeone will know. Hopefully they've found the boys already, but if not, I'mgoing to go back there."

Kara looked at the dimming sky."Dad, by the time you get there, you might have an hour of daylight left."

The rest of the conversationwent unspoken, and Kara was glad. She did not want to think about the chancesof anyone surviving the night on the mountain.

"Can you stay with Sakuraand Miho for now?" he asked. "I'm sure they have something warm youcould put on. And when the teachers are free to go, Yuuka will come get you andtake you back to the house."

Kara glanced around, surprisedthat he was talking about his relationship with Miss Aritomo so openly. "Areyou sure that's — "

"It'll be fine," hepromised. "Go ahead. And make sure your phone is on. If I learn anythingat all, I'll call."

Students had been shuffling pastthem, streaming from the parking lot to the dorm. Kara thanked her father, toldhim she loved him, and then hurried over to join Sakura and Miho, who had beenwaiting for her. Miho's eyes had lost some of their redness and both girlslooked more awake than they had while getting off the bus. Sakura stamped her feetand Kara looked at them, noticing for the first time that the girl's boots weresoaked through.

"Oh, no. Are you okay?" she asked.

Sakura glanced down as thoughshe'd forgotten her feet were even there. "I can't feel them, but I'mstill standing up, so I know they still work."

"Can I stay with you guysfor a while?" Kara asked.

Miho nodded. "Of course. Besides,I think we all need to talk, don't you?"

Kara swallowed the emotion thatthreatened to well up inside of her. She nodded. "Yeah. We do."

The three girls turned andstarted up toward the dormitory together. As they approached, Kara noticed thatMai and Wakana had not entered the dorm but were waiting outside, watching themapproach. Mai wore an expectant look, but Wakana had the most awful hauntedexpression in her eyes.

"Someone wants to talk,"Sakura sniffed. Her tough-girl mask had slipped during the blizzard, but now itreturned.

Kara pushed aside her sourfeelings toward the girls and left the path, trudging through the snow to jointhem. Miho and Sakura followed and the five of them faced one another beneaththe tall windows of the dormitory.

"You saw something,"Kara said, fixing Wakana with a hard look.

Wakana flinched, frowning."How did you know? Did you see him too?"

Kara glanced at Mai, whosearrogance had completely vanished. She looked frightened, just as she had whenthey had all faced the Hannya together, and that was good. They might not befriends, but in sharing the secrets they did, they had become allies, and Maitended to be far more ordinary and human when something had scared her.

"Him?" Miho replied."You mean Sora?"

Mai frowned. "Sora? No. She. ." and then she let the words trail off, glancing at her roommate."They didn't see it."

"'It' or 'him?'"Sakura asked. "Make up your mind."

"See what?" Karaprodded, her frustration growing. She wanted to be inside, to put on warm, dryclothes, to find out what had become of Hachiro and Ren. "If you'retalking about ghosts — "

"You did see him!" Wakana said.

Sakura and Miho started talkingat the same time, still trying to make sense of what Wakana was telling them. Maihad just said they hadn't seen Sora, and if they had encountered his ghost,their reaction would have been entirely different. So if not Sora. .

"Jiro?" she asked,thinking again of Hachiro's experience on the train.

"Are you just being cruel?" Mai snapped.

Wakana seemed to wonder the samething. She wore a hurt expression as she replied. "Not Jiro. Daisuke. Isaw Daisuke."

Kara stared around at theothers, mind whirling. Jiro, Daisuke, and then Sora. The ghosts of dead boys.

"What the hell is going onaround here?" she asked.

But nobody had an answer.

Kara followed Miho and Sakurainto their dorm room, grateful to be alone with her friends. Mai and Wakanamight be linked to them because of the unnatural events that had unfolded atMonju-no-Chie School over the past few seasons, but none of them were willingto pretend that their connection to each other was anything like friendship. Karahad no interest in joining forces with them to try to figure out what was goingon, and she knew the feeling was mutual.

When she and Miho and Sakurareached the dorm, the foyer had been full of students who were awaiting pickupby their parents, most of them discussing the missing boys. Those who knew Karaand Hachiro were dating had fallen silent and watched her curiously as shepassed, as though they expected her to break down or something. She hadexpected the stairs and corridors to be quieter, with most of the boardingstudents resting or getting warm, but instead they had walked through agauntlet similar to what they had faced downstairs. They were all buzzing withnervous energy and needed to talk.

When Miho closed the door,shutting the rest of the world out, Kara let out a long sigh. She knew that sheand her friends needed to talk, but she had no interest in discussing the day — or the fate of Hachiro and the other boys — with the girls talking behindtheir hands in the common area down the hall.

Once they'd all hung their jackets,Sakura stepped out of her sodden boots and stripped off her pants. Her legswere pale and dappled with white and red splotches and she rubbed themvigorously before peeling off the rest of her clothes. In seconds she stood inonly her underpants, entirely unself-conscious about her body.

"I am going directly topajamas," she said.

"What about dinner?" Miho asked, trying not to look at her.

"I can have dinner in mypajamas."

Miho gave the tiniest shake ofher head to show that she didn't approve. Sakura ignored her, pulling on along-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms covered with some kind ofschool symbol that Kara thought came from one of the manga that Sakura loved toread. She tugged a sweatshirt on over that comfortable ensemble and then turnedto Kara.

"What do you want to wear?"

"Anything soft and dry."

Sakura started tossing clothesat her — t-shirt, sweatshirt, pajama pants — and she laughed as shesnatched them out of the air. It was good to laugh, but immediately she feltguilty, knowing the guys were still out there on the mountain.

"Pajamas," Sakurasaid, arching an eyebrow at her roommate.

Miho rolled her eyes and turnedaway from them. She had been working on her shyness for months, but some thingsshe could not change. Modest to a fault, she kept her back turned as shedisrobed and quickly pulled on dark green pants and a beige sweater. Her hairhad been made wild by the storm but she brushed it out and put a clip into it.

"You look ready to go on adate," Sakura said.

"And we look ready for anap," Kara added, as she tugged on the borrowed pajama pants.

Sakura flopped onto her bed."I would love a nap, almost as much as I would a cigarette."

The dorm rooms were all small. Twobeds, tatami mats, two tiny desks, a small futon, built in closets and amirror. Kara folded up her cold, damp clothes and put them in a pile underSakura's desk and then settled onto the futon.

Miho slid into the chair at herdesk. "So, are we going to talk about this?"

Sakura lay on her side, legspulled up beneath her. "Nap first, talk later?"

Kara frowned at her. "Sakura,how can you joke? They're still up there! Sora is — "

"You don't know that."

Miho crossed her arms, almosthugging herself. "What else are we supposed to think? Hachiro saw Jiro'sghost, Wakana saw Daisuke, and on the mountain, Kara and I both saw. . wesaw him, but he wasn't there."

A knock came at the door andthey all looked up, but for several seconds, no one made a move to answer it. Whenthe visitor knocked again and they heard a girl call "hello" from theother side of the door, Miho rose and opened it to find Reiko, from thecalligraphy club, standing in the hall.

"What's wrong?" Mihoasked.

"Nothing," Reiko said."Miss Kaneda asked me to let all of the third floor residents know thatdinner is going to be served an hour early tonight. They want to get somethinghot into us, she said."

Kara had thought she wouldn't behungry at all — a cup of tea to warm her, perhaps — but at theprospect of imminent dinner her stomach started to growl.

"Excellent," Mihoreplied. "I'm sure a meal will do us all good."

"Thank you," Karasaid.

"Some people are alreadydownstairs," Reiko added. "I'll see you all down there."

When she left, Miho closed thedoor and leaned against it, looking at Kara and Sakura. "Don't think we'rehurrying down to the cafeteria. We need to talk about this."

"I agree," Kara said.

Sakura had not moved from herfetal position on the bed. She lay there with her eyes open, but did not lookat them when she spoke.

"What are we supposed totalk about?" she asked. "Okay, there are ghosts in Miyazu City. Maybeit has something to do with Kyuketsuki's curse and maybe it doesn't. How doesthat help the boys?"

A note of despair filled Sakura'swords. Emotion she had been holding back spilled forth and she sat up, lookingfrom Miho to Kara and back again, eyes pleading. "How do we help them?"

There came yet another knock onthe door.

Sakura glared at it. "Goaway!"

"Sakura? Miho? It's MissAritomo. Is Kara there with you?"

All three girls froze. Kara feltall of the blood draining from her face and the winter chill that she thoughtshe had dispelled returned. Her pulse quickened and she jumped up from thefuton and went to open the door.

One look in Miss Aritomo's eyesand she knew that the teacher brought only pain.

"Yuuka?" Karawhispered.

Miss Aritomo glanced over hershoulder and stepped into the room, closing the door behind her. Then she facedthe girls.

"The search has been calledoff until morning," Miss Aritomo said. "It is too dark in the woods,now. If the boys are not conscious, the searchers could walk right by them andnot know. At first light, they will begin again, with as many as four hundredpeople combing the mountain for any sign of Hachiro and Ren."

Kara noticed immediately whatthe woman had not said.

"And Sora?"

Miss Aritomo lowered her gaze amoment, then looked back up at them, eyes damp. "They found Sora a shorttime ago. It seems he wandered off the path and deeper into the woods duringthe height of the storm."

"He's dead," Mihosaid.

It was not a question, but MissAritomo nodded to confirm it.

"He froze to death thatquickly?" Kara asked, grief and confusion whirling inside of her. "Howcan that happen?"

"That is the question weare all asking," Miss Aritomo said. "And it's why I have come tospeak with you three, though the rest of the students will not learn the newsuntil morning. There will be no school tomorrow. Most of the teachers will beout helping with the search. But Mr. Yamato wishes to speak with you threefirst thing in the morning."

Kara glanced at her friends andthen nodded. "Of course."

"He will visit your house,Kara, to be sure that our conversation is private," Miss Aritomo said."Miho? Sakura? You are to be at the Harpers' home by nine o'clock. We willspeak of curses and of ghosts, and if this is connected to the troubles we allhad last year, we will find a way to stop it before anyone else dies."

Kara had a great deal of respectfor Yuuka, and she had grown very fond of the woman.

She only wished she couldbelieve her.

Chapter Six

Sakura lay in bed, tryingdesperately to fall back to sleep. After dinner, with Kara gone, she and Mihohad come back to their room and tried to read a while. Miho was about a hundredpages into the fattest novel she had ever seen, while Sakura had sought comfortin her favorite manga series, Cherry Blossoms. Both of them had fallenasleep reading, emotionally and physically drained, but Sakura had woken justafter one o'clock and had spent the better part of the last hour attempting todrift off again.

No such luck.

Frustrated, she turned over forwhat felt like the hundredth time, facing the windows. The night had anuncommon brightness, moonlight reflecting off of snow to create its ownillumination. Once upon a time she would have thought it magical, beautiful,but the experiences of the past year had changed her. Now what others mighthave seen as beauty struck her as eerie and unsettling. It seemed like theperfect weather for ghosts.

Sakura closed her eyes and letout a long breath, steadying herself. Her eyes burned and her head felt as ifit were stuffed with cotton; she needed to sleep. But her brain was notcooperating, her thoughts racing ahead, not prepared to shut down againtonight.

Had her friends really seenghosts? Whatever Hachiro had seen on the train, had it really been Jiro, orjust some phantom image of him left in the world like the lights she saw behindher eyes after a camera flashed. Kara and Miho — even Wakana — hadseen ghosts, too, and somehow Sakura felt cheated. But mostly she just wantedto know if they were truly the spirits of the dead, or just some. . echo.. of the time those people had spent in the world.

What were ghosts, really?

Sakura sighed and turned over,turning her back to the windows and burrowing deeper under her covers. Everysound seemed louder in the dark, even Miho's soft breathing. She could hearelectricity humming in the walls and the steady ticking noise of the heatingpipes in the old building. Instead of trying to shut the sounds out shewelcomed them, attempted to make them her lullaby.

Slowly, her awareness began toblur, all of the edges of the world growing soft. Sleep coalesced around herand as Sakura began to doze at last, she felt grateful for its gift.

But then she felt a burst ofwarmth against the back of her neck, her skin prickling as she stiffened. Hereyelids were heavy with sleep, now, but she forced them open. Something hadshifted in the room, the air itself changing and gaining a strange weight. Shefelt sure, suddenly, that someone was watching her, could feel the focus ofattention upon her like added gravity.

She listened intently, thinkingthat Miho had gotten out of bed and now stood behind her, staring in silence. Butshe could still hear the soft almost-snore coming from her roommate's bed onthe other side of the room.

Sakura turned over and sat up,eyes wide, heart pounding in her chest. Every detail in the room could bediscerned in the wash of winter moonlight, but nothing was there that did notbelong. Miho still slept. Everything remained in its place. The tatami mats onthe floor were undisturbed.

She shivered, looking around."Hello?" she whispered into the shadows.

But whatever she had felt therehad gone, if it had ever been there at all.

That did it. She had managed toget through the entire day without a cigarette, but now she had to have one. Sakuraknew it was an addiction, had never denied it, but had usually managed to keepherself from needing to smoke. Now she felt compelled as never before. Sheclimbed out of bed, pulled on the sweatshirt she'd worn earlier, and borrowedMiho's boots, since her own were still soaked through.

Slipping her coat on, pattingthe pockets to make sure her cigarettes were still there, she went out into thecorridor, closing the door as quietly as possible behind her. If any of theteachers caught her she would definitely be punished, unless it was a fellowsmoker who would take pity on her.

None of that mattered. Sheneeded to walk and smoke and think.

Sakura descended the stairs insilence. This was far from the first time she had encountered trouble sleepingand decided to walk the grounds, and she had learned that the small check-indesk in the foyer tended to be abandoned between midnight and six a.m. Theschool relied on their students' adherence to the rules of conduct, counting onthem not to want to bring dishonor to their families. Foolish, really. Sakurawas far from the only student who had parents she would not mind embarrassing.

Even as the thought crossed hermind, however, she hesitated. Her mother and father had been very differentover the winter break. They had first astonished her by seeming glad to see herwhen she arrived home. Her mother had actually embraced her, and that nightwhen she had gone to bed, her father had kissed the top of her head. Oninstinct she had nearly cracked a joke about aliens replacing her real parents,but for once she had bitten her tongue. Cynical as she might be, she had notwanted to drive them away again.

They had been distant even whenAkane was alive, but after her murder they had seemed intent upon forgettingthey even had a second daughter, and frustrated when she did anything to remindthem. Now that seemed to have changed. All three of them still grieved the lossof Akane, but she thought they might be able to do it together from now on.

Sakura found the foyer as darkand abandoned as she had expected. The school seriously needed a securityupgrade, but she hoped they did not figure that out until she had graduated. Sometimesshe needed to get out of there.

Patting her pockets to make sureshe had keys, cigarettes, and her lighter, she slipped out, making sure thedoor locked behind her. The last of the storm had long since passed and, thoughit was quite cold, the wind had died completely. The night was crisp and cold,but so very still. Her footfalls upon the moonlit snow were the only sounds sheheard as she crossed the field between the dorm and the school.

On the east side of the school,perhaps thirty feet separated the building from the tree line, and the nightusually transformed it into a tunnel of darkness. Tonight, however, themoonlight shining off of the fresh snow illuminated even that dark alleyway. Shepassed the ancient prayer shrine tucked against the trees. On the left was arecessed doorway, long since painted over and forgotten, that had become herfavorite smoking spot. But she surprised herself by walking right past it andaround the front of the building.

Monju-no-Chie school stood on aslight hill which sloped downward to the shore of Miyazu Bay. Sakura stuckclose to the line of trees at the edge of the school's property as she walkeddown to the water, passing the place where — more than a year before — students had made a different kind of shrine to remember her sister.

Akane had been murdered righthere on the shore. Sakura could not walk down to the bay — or even glanceat this spot — without picturing the savage beating that the police saidher sister had received. Akane had been forced under the water, drowned righthere. And yet it had never occurred to Sakura's parents the torment to whichthey consigned her, leaving her at this school, where she would run thishideous scenario through her mind every single day.

Not that she would have wishedto go elsewhere. Sakura felt at home here, and loved her friends. But Akane'smurder always felt fresh to her, no matter how much time had passed. She hadlet go of the rage toward her sister's killer, helped by the fact that Ume wasno longer at Monju-no-Chie school, but she had not forgiven the girl, and neverwould. And her sorrow remained.

Yet she alone, among all of herfriends, had not seen a ghost.

Sakura took out a cigarette andlit it. The tip flared a bright orange and then dimmed to an ember's glow. Shedrew smoke into her lungs and then exhaled, smoke mixing with the mist of herwarm breath in the cold air.

"Are you there?" shesaid, speaking softly in the dark.

The only answer came from thelapping of the bay upon the shore. No ghosts revealed themselves to her.

It didn't seem fair.

Hachiro had never been so cold.

He huddled on the ground withhis knees drawn up beneath him, his back against a thick tree trunk. Twiceduring the long afternoon he had found the strength to force himself to hisfeet and he had tried to run, but both times she had caught him. Her touch hadbeen as light as a breeze, but it froze him rigid, as though ice had formed onhis bones. In his mind he could picture ice floes forming on the surface of ariver, the water slowing and then ceasing altogether, and he knew that shecould have done the same to his blood.

Winter had such beauty, and yetit could be fierce. Winter could kill so easily.

The Woman in White had a touchof winter, but her gaze was far worse. It had drained his will, turned him intolittle more than a puppet, a marionette held up by icicle strings. Twice he hadmanaged to summon enough willpower to break those strings, to attempt escape,but now he had used the last vestiges of that will, and the last of his hope.

The tree against his back wasthe only thing he trusted, now. The only thing that did not seem intent uponmaking him suffer. The rest of the world was winter. Moonlight streamed throughthe bare branches above, making long finger-shadows that seemed to reach forhim across the snow. His body felt stiff and if he shifted even an inch, hisbones ached so much he feared the marrow had frozen. Hachiro felt brittle, asthough a fall or a blow might shatter him.

Safer, then, to stay right here.

Hachiro's teeth chattered andhis whole body shook from the cold. When he closed his eyes, the lids andeyelashes stuck together, threatening to freeze. His hair was frosted with ice,his pants covered with a coating of snow that clung to the fabric, almost asthough the winter hoped to consume him, draw him down into the snow and makehim a part of it forever.

The night seemed to go onforever.

He thought of his parents andwondered if he would ever see them again. In his heart, he knew the answer, andit filled him with grief, as much for them as for himself. He thought of Karaand knew that she must be terrified for him. Hachiro would have given anythingto have been able to hold her, to touch her hair and whisper softly to her, totell her it would be all right.

But it wouldn't be.

Even now, he could hear Rencrying, begging to be set free. Hachiro hated himself because he could not makehis legs work, could not make himself stand and fight, could not save Ren fromthe Woman in White.

She did not want Hachiro towatch. It had been she who placed him here, against this tree, facing into thewoods and the cross-hatching of moonshadows that spread across the snow.

Ren called his name.

Hachiro closed his eyes, wishinghe could close his ears as well, and his heart. Instead he forced himself totry again to move, and was surprised to find that he had the power to turn hishead. A spark of hope rose within him and he took a moment to muster hisstrength and his courage before twisting around to see, to help. But as hetried to get his feet beneath him, his body would not obey him. The Woman inWhite had sapped his will and the cold had sapped his strength. He realizedthat he could no longer feel his feet, or his lower legs. His hands were likeclubs, no longer even connected to his body.

He lay on his side in the snow,unable to move even to lift himself into a sitting position again. He managedto twist his head to keep his face out of the snow, and there in the moonlightand winter shadows, he saw the Woman in White. Her beauty stole his breathaway.

She stood just a few feet awayfrom Ren, who floated above the ground, tossed to and fro by the winds that shecontrolled. Snow whipped at him, turning him round and round, toying with him. Hachirohad thought of himself as a marionette, but the Woman in White had turned Reninto a real puppet, and now she made him dance even as she caressed him withthe wind and the snow at her command.

"Beautiful,"she whispered. "So beautiful."

Hachiro closed his eyes and theicy grip of winter carried him down into the darkness.

On Tuesday morning, Kara woke tothe sound of the doorbell. She squinted against the sunshine that floodedthrough her window as she dragged herself out of bed, and when she lookedoutside and saw the lovely, gauzy blue sky, a terrible guilt descended uponher. How could she have slept so soundly, so well, when Hachiro might be dead? Hemight be frozen, like Sora, still lost upon that mountain, and she had manageda wonderful, restorative sleep without a single nightmare.

She leaned her forehead againstthe window, staring out at the bay across the street, and the cold glass numbedher skin. Sadness threatened to overwhelm her. She could so easily crawl backinto bed and succumbed to her fear for Hachiro and her guilt at leaving himbehind.

But he would still be lost.

No, something had to be done. Aglance at the clock told her it was just after eight o'clock. Searchers wouldalready be starting up the mountain, spreading out, looking behind every treeand in every hollow. The urge to be among them, to be up on that mountainlooking for him herself, was powerful. But if she believed there was somethingother than nature at work here — and she could not deny it seemedprobable — then the best way for her to help him was to figure out what,exactly, that might be, and figure out how to combat it.

When impossible things had firstbegun to happen to her — terrifying, supernatural things — she hadfelt more alone than she ever had before. But slowly others began to getinvolved, to learn the truth, and now Kara did not have to face this byherself.

Pulling on a robe, she left herbedroom. In the kitchen she found her father and Miss Aritomo embracing, Yuuka'scheek pressed against his chest as if she were listening to his heartbeat. Karafroze, hating to disturb their intimacy, but as she began to take a stepbackward a creaking floorboard gave her away and her father looked up.

"Good morning, sweetheart,"he said, as he and Miss Aritomo broke their embrace.

"Sorry to interrupt,"Kara said sheepishly.

"You're not interrupting,"Yuuka said, smiling. "You live here, remember?"

Kara returned her smile. Onceshe had thought of Miss Aritomo as an intruder, but now she liked it when shewas with them. Kara knew she would never be able to think of Yuuka as hermother, even if her father ended up marrying her, but she felt a certaincomfort when the three of them were together. It felt like family.

They had breakfast together andKara helped them clean up afterward. By the time she had showered, dressed, anddried her hair, Mr. Yamato had arrived and Miho and Sakura were both there,helping to set out cups for tea. In the eyes of her friends she saw her ownfears reflected back at her. They were all suffering from frayed nerves, and sothere was little of the usual polite chatter as they waited for the finalattendee to arrive for the meeting Mr. Yamato had called.

After the events the past springthat had led up to Kara and her friends being cursed by Kyuketsuki, she hadbeen astounded by the utter incompetence of the Miyazu police. They seemed tohave an absurd explanation for every inexplicable thing and to willfully ignoreany information that would have cast those explanations in doubt. Only after theirencounter with the Hannya in the early fall did she realize that the policewere not stupid, they were simply deceitful.

The Miyazu police had understoodthat supernatural forces were at work in their city, and they had worked tocover it up as completely as possible, swearing to secrecy everyone involvedwith Monju-no-Chie school who knew anything about it. And Mr. Yamato hadsupported those efforts completely. They police did not want to terrify thepeople unnecessarily, or to lose face by publicly acknowledging something thatmany would never believe, and for which they would be mocked without mercy. Mr.Yamato merely wanted to make sure the parents of his students did not panic andwithdraw their children from the school.

As long as there was no danger,they demanded silence and secrecy.

But now Sora was dead, and Mr.Yamato was no fool. The boy had been frozen solid in the middle of a freaksnowstorm, and there had been talk of ghosts, which must have gotten back tohim as well. Kara assumed her father had told the principal about the ghosts. Theyhad all vowed to inform him and the police if they encountered anythingremotely supernatural, anything that might indicate that Kyuketsuki's curse haddrawn yet another evil entity to Miyazu City.

And now. . ghosts.

At half past nine, on the dot,the doorbell rang. Her father answered the door and led the policeman into thedining room to join them. Tea had not yet been served; they had been waitingupon this grim man. They had all met Captain Nobunaga before, but he did notgreet them as friends. The policeman gave them a small, formal bow and waitedto be invited to sit. His uniform was crisp, his graying hair clipped short,and his lips seemed eternally pursed in an expression of disapproval. He andhis colleagues in the Miyazu City police department did not enjoy having anyopen discussion of such things as ghosts and curses, which was likely why themeeting was being held here, in the Harper home, and why the captain had comealone.

Over tea, the girls told thestory of the previous day's storm. Kara told Captain Nobunaga what Hachiro hadtold her about seeing Jiro's ghost, and about the apparition of Sora that sheand Miho had seen on the mountain the day before, and how she had been certainthat the boy was dead, even then. Though she felt embarrassed at showing thedepth of her feelings for Hachiro in front of the principal and the policeman,she revealed her belief that Hachiro and Ren were alive. If they were dead, shesuspected that their ghosts would have appeared as well.

Miho related the news thatWakana believed she had seen Daisuke's ghost on the mountain, just before thestorm. Sakura remained strangely quiet during all of this storytelling, butwhen Kara shot questioning glances in her direction, she only nodded for themto continue.

When all of the tales had beentold, that shifting, nervous silence returned to the house. No one seemed towant to begin to dissect what they had learned or to be the first to suggestexplanations. Captain Nobunaga glanced around at each of them in turn, lettinghis gaze linger on Kara for a moment, and then he turned to Mr. Yamato.

"Has anything happened todirectly link these 'ghosts' — if that is what they were — to thecurse of Kyuketsuki?" the policeman asked, his words clipped and sharp.

Mr. Yamato gave a single shakeof his head. "No."

"Not yet," MissAritomo added, her voice firm.

Kara loved her for that. Thepolice were so used to denying things they did not want to have to deal with,but Yuuka had no intention of letting the captain explain this all away.

"With all due respect,Captain," her father added, "you asked us to keep you informedwhenever anything. . unnatural. . occurred."

Captain Nobunaga nodded. "Yes,Harper-san. But other than these 'ghost sightings,' there is no indication thatanything supernatural is at work here. The young man, Hachiro, saw a boy wholooked like his dead friend on the train. He was apparently half-asleep at thetime."

"But Kara and Miho both saw-" Sakura started, angrily.

Mr. Yamato shot her a hard lookthat silenced her. Her rudeness reflected poorly on him as her schoolprincipal, whether the captain had earned it or not.

"They were and exhaustedand already had the suggestion of ghosts in their minds from the story Hachirohad told them," the policeman said. Then he waved a hand in the air asthough erasing the words. "I assure you, I am not entirely discounting thepossibility of a supernatural explanation for all of this. I simply think wecannot assume one exists without further exploration."

"What of the storm?" Professor Harper asked. "I know that violent changes in weather and freakstorms are not unheard of, but those of us who were on the mountain yesterday feltsomething."

Kara shot her father a look. Thiswas new information. He must have talked to Mr. Yamato and Miss Aritomo aboutit, but had not mentioned it to her. Protecting me, she thought, bothloving him for it and frustrated with him at the same time.

"A feeling is not evidence,Harper-san," Captain Nobunaga said. "And even if the girls did seeghosts, that does not mean that what happened on the mountain is supernatural. Theboys were lost in a blizzard. The one you have found, Sora, is already thesecond to die in such a fashion this winter."

Kara realized he was talkingabout the woman who had frozen to death in the first storm of the season. Sheglanced at Miho and Sakura and saw that they had both reacted to the captain'swords.

"Could her death berelated?" Kara asked.

"How do you mean?" thepoliceman said.

Mr. Yamato quietly cleared histhroat. "Captain, it does seem a bit unusual. I have lived in Miyazu Cityfor a quarter century and have never heard of anyone freezing to death in asnowstorm, on a mountain or otherwise."

The principal glanced at MissAritomo. "Some of us have encountered demons before. That is why we arehere together now, after all. And there are winter demons, are there not? Spiritsof ice and snow?"

Miss Aritomo began to nod, andthen her eyes widened.

"What is it, Yuuka?" Kara'sfather asked worriedly.

The woman's gaze dropped. "Ican't believe it didn't occur to me before," she said, and then looked upat Mr. Yamato. "But you've already guessed, haven't you?"

The principal cocked his head,studying her. "There are many different legends, stories about variousspirits. But I was thinking of one in particular, yes. These boys have gonemissing in a snowstorm. How could I not think of the childhood stories I readabout Yuki-Onna?"

Kara frowned. She had neverheard the name before. But it seemed obvious to her that Sakura and Miho knewit well. They looked confused and then almost amused.

"Yuki-Onna is only a story,"Sakura said.

"So was the Hannya,"Mr. Yamato replied.

Kara thought they all shudderedat that.

"What is Yuki-Onna?" she asked. "I don't. . can one of you tell me, please?"

To her surprise, it was herfather who spoke. "I've read the story, or one version of it, at least. Yuki-Onnais the Lady of the Snows. She's sometimes referred to as a witch or a demon — "

"Like in The Snow Queen,"Kara said.

"She is a popular figure inJapanese stories," Miss Aritomo said, her eyes haunted, her face pale, asthough she might be sick at any moment. "But my favorite version of hertale is one of the rarest, an ancient story in which a woman is killed by thewinter's first snow — "

Kara gasped. "Oh my God."

Miss Aritomo nodded and went on." — and the spirit of winter joins its essence with the ghost of thedead woman, inhabiting her corpse and transforming it from within to become Yuki-Onna,the Lady of the Snows. The Woman in White."

They were all staring at her asif entranced, and Kara realized that none of them had known this variation onthe legend.

The policeman broke the trance,rising quickly to his feet. He pulled out his cell phone and hit a singlebutton, speed-dialing.

"This is Captain Nobunaga. Sendsomeone to the family grave of Etsoku Reizei immediately," he said intothe phone, turning to regard the others in the room. Kara thought even thecaptain's eyes look haunted.

"Why?" he said. "Tellhim I want to know if the urn containing her ashes is still there."

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?

Chapter Eight

Forgetting the winter, Kararushed from her room and down the short hall, through the living room, and tothe front door. She unlocked the door and flung it open, letting in a blast offrigid wind. The door banged against the wall but by then she was alreadystepping out onto the stoop and then onto the sidewalk.

The January night embraced herwith fingers of ice, cutting deeply. Her teeth chattered and her skin prickledwith gooseflesh. Her thin t-shirt and pajama pants did nothing to protect herfrom the winter. A gust of wind whispered past her and she hugged herselfagainst the cold. The frozen street hurt the soles of her feet.

She ignored it all.

The ghost had paused a moment,just out of reach of the gloomy yellow light thrown by a streetlamp. It seemedalmost to be waiting for her, but did not turn to look at her. Instead itglanced up at the night sky, head tilting as though it searched the stars forsome vital truth that had eluded it.

Then it started toward the trainstation again.

"No!" Kara said,barely hearing her own voice.

She bolted down the street, barefeet slapping the frigid pavement, stumbling a bit when she stepped on a rock. Herface felt flushed despite the deep chill settling into the rest of her body. Herbreath plumed from her lips, drifting away behind her as she ran, and her legsfelt like brittle sticks that might snap out from under her. Still she ran,lungs burning with cold, heart clenched along with her fists.

Cold heart, she thought. Gotto keep a cold heart.

She kept her lips pressedtogether in a tight line, refusing to let herself feel, but she could not stopher mind from rushing into dark places. Please don't be Hachiro. And atthe same time, her thoughts spiraled along other avenues. This was the secondghost she had seen, but who else had seen them? Wakana, Hachiro, and Miho. Allof them people who had previously been touched by the supernatural. Not justKyuketsuki's curse — the curse didn't affect Wakana — but peoplewho'd had their eyes opened to the things lurking behind the curtain of theworld. Had that given them some kind of sight, enabled them to see thingsothers could not? Or was it all coincidence? Or were there people who had seenghosts that she just didn't know about yet?

A block from the train station,Kara stumbled to a halt, feet painfully cold and raw. She looked around, panicsurging, but did not see the ghost. Up ahead, an old man with a white beardrode a bicycle toward her. Truly peculiar at going on three o'clock in the morning,but he was no ghost. Just strange.

No, she thought. And thenshe said it aloud.

"No. I can't not know,"she whispered into the winter night, each word a wisp of icy breath. And nowher trembling had nothing to do with the cold. She'd tried to make her heartturn to ice but her breath began to hitch and her lower lip quivered and shehated to cry, hated how weak and foolish it made her feel.

"Kara!"

She turned.

The old man's bicycle squeakedas it approached, but she had her back to him now, looking back the way she'dcome. Her father must have heard her, for he had come out after her. He woreslippers, a white t-shirt, and sweatpants, and a giddy, frazzled part of hermind realized that the two of them must seem just as peculiar to the old man onhis bicycle as he did to her, that anything might happen in the small hours ofthe night, and every street, and every night, was a quietly bizarre midnightcircus.

"Kara!" her fathercalled again, concern in his voice. Even fear. And why not, given all they hadbeen through.

But she could not focus on herfather.

The ghost stood between them. Somehowshe had passed right by it without noticing. Moonlight and shadow made it seembarely there and even as she watched it faded further, slipping into nothing,vanishing. But she had seen its face and it was not Hachiro.

Tears did come, then, but theywere tears of exhaustion and relief in equal measure.

And then her father was thereand he pulled her into his arms.

"Sweetie, what are youdoing?" he asked. "You scared me, running out like that. Are youokay?"

They both jumped, startled bythe sound of a bicycle bell as the old man rode by. The tension inside Karabroke like a wave on the sand and she laughed, heart still pounding. But thatrespite lasted only a moment, the presence of the ghost so fresh in her mind.

"Did you see him?" sheasked, staring into her father's eyes.

She expected a look ofconfusion. Instead, his concern turned to uneasiness.

"I think I did," hesaid. "Just for a second, when I was running after you, I thought youweren't alone, that there was someone in the street with you."

He's been touched by thesupernatural, too, she thought. The Hannya had nearly killed him.

"A ghost," she said.

"But it wasn't. .?"

"No," she saidquickly. "It wasn't Hachiro."

Her father took that in, thenlooked at her more closely. "God, you don't even have shoes on. You'regoing to get frostbite. Come on, let me carry you back."

Kara frowned. "I'll befine. Let's just hurry. It's freezing out here."

Knowing how cold Hachiro must beup on that mountain, she would not let this brief exposure get to her. Or soshe thought. By the time they were halfway back to the house, her feet were sonumb that they felt like blocks of wood. Kara's father insisted that she lethim carry her, and she went along with it gladly. Thin as he was, Rob Harperwas still strong enough to lift his daughter in his arms.

For the first time in days, shefelt safe.

All through Wednesday morning,Kara felt as though she was holding her breath. School felt surreal. Why werethey here? Books and pencils, notes and quizzes. How could they all go on withthis ridiculous pantomime of normality? Miho kept glancing back at her with sadeyes, and Kara knew she was worried. Kara loved her for it, but Miho could notcomfort her.

Outside the windows, snowflakesdanced on gusts of January wind. She had woken this morning to a light coat ofnew fallen snow across Miyazu City. The white swirl looked beautiful over theturgid surface of the bay, but the sight of it had made her feel like throwingup.

She should be on the mountainwith Hachiro. Searching for him. Just sitting here, all she wanted to do wasscream.

It had taken her no time at allto get used to the Japanese system, in which the students remained in theirhomerooms all day and the teachers moved from class to class. Ordinarily shethought it a much more sensible way of doing things, but today she would havegiven anything to be able to get up out of her seat. Her eyes burned from lackof sleep and her head felt stuffed with cotton. Teacher after teacher enteredthe room and droned on, but to her they sounded like the adults in old CharlieBrown cartoons, their voices an unintelligible drone.

The seat in front of her wasempty. Sora's seat. She wondered what would happen to it. No one would want tosit there and the empty seat seemed forbidding, a constant reminder of hisdeath. Hours ticked by. At lunchtime, Kara turned away so she would not evenhave to look at it. She decided to talk to Mr. Sato at the end of the day andask if he could just have the desk removed.

The afternoon crept by even moreslowly than the morning. Several times she found herself nodding off. When herfather came in to teach his American Studies course, she tried her best to stayalert, but kept rubbing her eyes. He couldn't help but notice. Several times itseemed he was about to say something, but then he stopped himself. Kara knewthat he would be worried that it would be improper for him to interrupt classjust to ask her if she was all right, and she was glad. The conversation shewanted to have with him — needed to have with him — would have towait until school was over.

As she drifted between sleep andwakefulness, feeling a bit sick to her stomach from struggling to stay conscious,she thought of ghosts. Hachiro had seen Jiro, shoeless, on the train intoMiyazu City back at the beginning of this horror. Kara studied the back of Miho'shead and from time to time she glanced over at Mai, who sat in the front of theroom by the window, and she wondered.

The ghosts had to be connected.

Her father and Miss Aritomo wereworrying like mad, trying to figure out how to hide the girls from Yuki-Onna. Yesterdaythat quest had been a useful diversion, helping her keep her mind off of Hachiroat least part of the time. But today, she couldn't care less about the curse ofKyuketsuki. What the winter witch might do to her meant nothing — notwith Hachiro still missing.

No, she had to solve this. Figureout the mystery. They still didn't know for sure that it was even Yuki-Onnathey were dealing with. But with the woman who'd frozen to death on themountain and the way her haka had been disturbed, her ashes removed, it sureseemed to match the legend.

So why had Sora been killed, butRen still lived? Why was Hachiro still missing? What did the Woman in White doto them? And what did the ghosts have to do with anything? Studying the back ofMai's head, thinking of Wakana seeing the ghost of Daisuke, she fell asleep.

The bell woke her with a start. Shesat up, sucking in a ragged breath, her heart slamming in her chest. None ofher tension had eased. She still felt like she could not exhale. Kids weremoving all around her, rising from their desks, some of them muttering abouthow Mr. Yamato should not have resumed classes so quickly after Sora's death,and with Hachiro still missing. Kara agreed, though some of those she heardseemed to be complaining more because they wanted additional days off thanbecause they hadn't felt ready to focus on school again.

Another major adjustment in themove to Japanese education had been the tradition of o soji. Monju-no-Chieschool employed maintenance staff to do repairs and things, but the basiccleaning of the premises was conducted every day by the students themselves. Afterthe final class and before club meetings began, they swept the floors, took outthe garbage, cleaned the boards, washed windows in need of attention, andperformed many other tasks. While it had taken some getting used to, Kara nowprided herself on the results of o soji, pleased to leave the school as cleanas they had found it.

She caught up to Mr. Sato in thecorridor, a trash bag in each hand.

"Sato-sensei," shesaid, "could I speak with you for a moment?"

He gave a tiny bow of his head."Of course."

Kara asked him about moving Sora'schair and the teacher agreed that it should be removed, but expressed concernthat it not be done so quickly that some of Sora's friends might take offenseand think they were attempting to erase the boy's memory. Mr. Sato decided hewould move the desk himself while the school was closed over the weekend. Twomore days with it in the classroom would not be intolerable.

"Sensei, there is somethingelse."

Mr. Sato frowned, his eyebrowslike furry gray caterpillars above his eyes. His glasses seemed too small forhim, suddenly.

"What is it, Kara?"

"When you found Ren, hereally didn't remember anything?"

The teacher stood up stiffly,what little expression he had shown vanishing. "I'm sorry, Kara. It is notproper for me to speak with you about this. I know you are concerned for — "

"Sensei, please. Did he sayanything? Anything at all?"

Mr. Sato seemed to deflate alittle. He glanced around to be sure they were not overheard.

"He said 'thank you,' manytimes. Nothing more than that until long after we had come down from themountain," Mr. Sato said. Then he lowered his gaze, hesitating.

"What?" Kara prodded.

"Nothing," Mr. Satosaid. "He barely seemed to realize I was there at first."

"But he thanked you."

"It was almost as if hewere talking to someone else," the teacher said. "That is what I amtrying to explain to you, Kara. He was delirious. If Ren knows anything aboutwhere we might find Hachiro, he cannot yet remember it. We must hope that hismemory will return."

Kara dropped her gaze, lost inthought. If Ren hadn't been thanking Mr. Sato, who had he been thanking?

"Is there something else?" the teacher asked.

"No, sensei," shesaid. "Thank you."

And she hurried away, trash bagsin hand, wishing that she could confront Ren at that very moment. According toKara's father, Mr. Yamato had offered to let the boy's parents take him homefor the rest of the week, but Ren insisted that he would be all right andwanted to stay at school. He had not come to class today, but perhaps tomorrow,according to Sakura.

Kara needed to talk to him. Somehow,she had to make him remember.

As she hurried down thecorridor, she spotted Mai and Wakana coming out of the girls' bathroom withcleaning supplies. Mai carried herself with an air of superiority that madeWakana seem to fade into the background, though in many ways she was prettierthan her roommate. She had kinder eyes, her hair lighter and more suited to thewarmth of her features. Mai had once been quiet like Wakana, and had smiledmore, then. But now that she was Queen of the Soccer Bitches, her arrogancemade her striking, if not pretty.

The two girls were whispering toone another about something when Kara walked up.

"Can I talk to you two fora minute?"

Mai and Wakana looked up at her,both troubled, but then Mai turned chilly, almost sneering at her.

"Bonsai," she said."What do you want?"

Kara bristled. "Not thatattitude, that's for sure. I thought we were past this. You don't have to likeme, Mai, but we have shared interests. We had a truce. What is your problem?"

As she spoke, Mai grew more andmore rigid and obviously uncomfortable.

"I thank you, bonsai, forgiving me permission not to like you," Mai said, even more haughtily.

Kara threw up her hands. "Youknow what? Sora's dead and Hachiro's still missing. You might hate me, but Ithought you might actually care, but I guess I was — "

Mai narrowed her gaze, loweringher voice. "We do care, you stupid girl."

Wakana squirmed withawkwardness, glancing past Kara, who turned to see what she was looking at andsaw Emi and Kaori sweeping the corridor three doors down from them. The girlswere unmistakable, Emi with her square glasses and Kaori with her perfectathlete's build.

Kara felt like throwing up. Shespun on Mai and Wakana.

"Are you kidding me?" she said, her whispered voice practically a hiss. "You're seriouslyworried about those girls seeing you talking to me? We all suspect that theytook part in Sakura's sister's murder, or at least stood by and watched and didnothing, and it's their approval you care about? What is wrong with you?"

Mai exhaled, seeming to deflate.Wakana had the sense, at least, to look ashamed.

"Kara," Mai said, "justas I do not have to like you, you do not have to like me. Wakana and I havemanaged a certain status at this school and it has value to us, both now and aspart of the foundation for our futures. You are a gaijin. You cannot possiblyunderstand — "

"Please, don't," Karasaid, holding up a hand to stop her. "Trust me, we've got shallow bitchesback home in America, too."

"It isn't like that,"Wakana protested weakly.

Kara glanced back and saw thatEmi and Kaori had vanished from the corridor, probably to dump what they'dswept up or already headed off to their after school soccer club meeting. Maiand Wakana would see them there.

Sadly, Kara gave a small shakeof her head and looked at Wakana. "Keep telling yourself that. Look, Ijust wanted to ask you a question, test a theory, and then I'll stay far awayfrom both of you, okay?"

"Have you heard anythingabout Hachiro?" Mai asked.

Now that the other soccer girlsweren't there to see, Mai's mask had dropped, and she seemed genuinelyconcerned. But Kara could not forget that mask. At heart, Mai might be a goodperson, but the word 'shallow' fit her all too well, and by her behavior sheforfeited any right she had to sympathy.

"None," Kara said,putting ice in her words.

"Have you learned somethingabout the ghosts?" Wakana asked quickly.

Kara studied her. The girlseemed nervous and frightened.

"No," she replied, "butI think the ghosts we've seen are connected somehow to what's happening onTakigami Mountain."

Mai asked what she meant. Karareminded herself that the girls had not been privy to the conversations aboutYuki-Onna, so she quickly filled them in on all that had transpired and aboutthe ghost she had seen the night before. She knew that they would not darebreathe a word of it to anyone for fear of incurring the wrath of PrincipalYamato or the police, who wanted anything supernatural kept quiet to avoidpublic panic. But more than that, no one would likely believe them, and girlslike Mai and Wakana would never run the risk of being mocked and ostracized.

"This is all guessing,"Kara warned them. "But as far as I know, only those of us who haveencountered other supernatural things have seen ghosts. My father and me,Hachiro, Miho, and you, Wakana."

Kara looked at Mai. "Whatabout you? Have you seen anything?"

Mai shook her head. "No. Notyet. And I hope I don't."

"They're so. . sad,"Wakana said.

Kara frowned. "You've seenmore than one?"

Wakana nodded. "Yes."

Mai shot her a dark look. "Youdidn't tell me you had seen another."

"Last night," Wakanaexplained, her gaze falling. "I got up to go to the bathroom and saw ithad started to snow again. When I looked out the window, Daisuke's ghost wasstanding by the trees, looking up at me. And he wasn't alone. Yasu was withhim."

Kara and Mai both stared at her.Yasu had been the first to be killed by the Hannya last year.

"I'm really scared,"Wakana said, her voice small.

"Don't be," Kara said."If we're right about what this is, it's not the ghosts you need to beafraid of."

Sakura hurried along thehallway, the duties of o soji forgotten. She kept her eyes forward, focused onKara, Wakana, and Mai. All through the school day she had tried her best toavoid looking out the classroom windows. Just the sight of the falling snowkept her nerves on edge and made her shiver. She didn't want to think aboutHachiro out there on the mountain. Even worse were the dark places her mindwandered when she allowed it to do so. The snow itself held menace. Even theoccasional gust of wind that rattled the windows made her jump and suck in herbreath.

It had been her grief and ragethat had first woken the ancient evil of Kyuketsuki and led to this curse. Sakuraknew that she had done nothing wrong, that fate had played a role and that itwas natural for her to feel sorrow and fury, but so many had died and they allweighed on her. It had begun with Akane's murder and her mourning, and nowMiyazu City and Monju-no-Chie school were being haunted by ghosts. And yetSakura had not seen one. Many of these spirits had died horrible, grisly deathsbecause of a chain of events she had helped to begin, but the ghosts did notappear to her. She knew she ought to consider it a blessing, but somehow itfelt like yet another curse, like some kind of punishment.

Stupid, she told herself.Who wants to be haunted?

Whatever conversation Kara hadbeen having with Mai and Wakana, it ended. As Sakura strode quickly toward her,Kara turned away from the other girls, a desperate look in her eyes. Normallythe blond American girl looked cute, almost perfect in her sailor fuku schooluniform. Today she looked like some kind of impostor, like she belongedanywhere but in the halls of this school.

"Hey. What's the hurry?" Kara said in English as Sakura approached.

And that said a great deal initself, that she had forgotten to speak Japanese.

Sakura gestured after the departingMai and Wakana. "What was that about?"

"Ghosts," Kara said,reverting to Japanese, blinking in surprise at her own lapse. "I'llexplain later. What's up? You look like you're rushing somewhere."

"Here, actually,"Sakura said. "Your father sent me to find you. Mr. Yamato wants us in hisoffice right now."

Kara frowned. "Who's 'us'?"

"You, me, and Miho, Ithink."

Sakura watched hope ignite inKara's eyes.

"Is it about — "

"I don't think so,"Sakura said quickly. "As far as I know there's been no change in Ren, andno word on Hachiro, but you know it's got something to do with that. He's notcalling us to his office to talk about our grades."

The two girls fell into stepside by side, headed for the stairs at the middle of the second floor hallway.

"As soon as this is over,can you and Miho take me back to the dorm?" Kara asked.

"Of course. But why?"

The two of them hurried down thesteps, Sakura sliding her palm along the railing. They passed other studentswho were finishing up their o soji duties or rushing to club meetings. Many ofthe clubs did not start meetings until next week, but obviously some had begun.

"I need to talk to Ren,"Kara said. "I want to hear for myself what he does and doesn't remember. Hemust recall something. If he doesn't, I don't know, we've got to hypnotize himor something, or even take him back up onto the mountain and see if it jars hismemory. He could lead us right to Hachiro."

Kara practically burned withintensity. Sakura agreed with her, but hesitated to admit it. Kara seemed morefrayed and on edge than Sakura had ever seen her, practically shaking with herneed to do something, anything, to help Hachiro. Kara's eyes were not merelydesperate, they were frantic and lost, as though she saw threats in everyshadowy corner that nobody else could see. Sakura thought that might be true.

"What if his parents arestill there?" Sakura asked, as they reached the bottom of the steps andturned left, headed for Mr. Yamato's office.

"I don't care. I'll talk myway in, somehow," Kara said.

Sakura knocked on the officedoor and a moment later it was opened by Miss Aritomo. The art teacher steppedback to let them enter and the two girls moved past her and into the small,very orderly office. Mr. Yamato sat behind his desk. Miho perched, birdlike, onthe edge of a small chair against the wall. Kara's father stood by the window,deep shadows of concern and exhaustion under his eyes. Come to think of it,Kara looked exhausted as well, and Sakura wondered how much sleep the residentsof the Harper home had gotten last night.

"Girls, please sit down,"Mr. Yamato said, indicating two other chairs beside the one where Miho sat. Normallythey were reserved for students who had caused trouble or whose grades hadfallen, kids who needed the principal's personal attention.

Miss Aritomo closed the door,but stood by it, presumably in case anyone else knocked. But Sakura didn'tthink anyone else had been invited to this meeting.

Sakura sat down, but Kara didn't.

"Yamato-sensei, is thereany word about Hachiro?" she asked.

The principal's anger showed inhis eyes, but then he softened. "No, Kara. Nothing yet. Please sit down."

Still, she did not obey. Karaturned to her father. "I can't do this. I can't just go to class andpretend everything is all right. I need to be up on that mountain with thesearch team. I feel like I've abandoned him. Either that, or you've at leastgot to let me talk to — "

"Kara!" her fathersaid sharply. "Please sit down."

Sakura winced on her friend'sbehalf. They would forgive her only so much, no matter how much they mightunderstand how agonizing it was for her to be able to do nothing but wait.

Forlorn, Kara went to the chairand sat down.

"I'm sorry, Yamato-san,"she said. "I forget myself."

Mr. Yamato acknowledged this withonly a nod. He glanced at the three girls, then at Kara's father, and finallyat Miss Aritomo. The principal leaned back in his chair.

"Miss Aritomo. Please goahead."

They all turned to look at thedelicate-looking woman. She also seemed tired, but somehow the vulnerabilitythis produced made her seem even prettier.

"Mr. Yamato, Mr. Harper,and I have all done a great deal of research about Yuki-Onna in the pasttwenty-four hours," Miss Aritomo said. "I know you girls have donemuch yourselves. With deepest regret, I must tell you that there is nothing wehave found that suggests there is any way to destroy or even defeat Yuki-Onna."

Sakura stared at her in shock,and knew the other girls must feel the same.

"What?" Kara said."You're just giving up, after one day?"

"If she really has comebecause of the curse of Kyuketsuki. ." Miho began.

None of them needed her tofinish that sentence, and the words trailed off.

"Yuki-Onna is a monster,yes," Miss Aritomo said. "But she is also an elemental spirit. Onceshe has been woken, she will remain for the entire winter, or as long as thereis snow on the ground. And if she has come because of the curse, youthree are in grave, grave danger."

"The curse includedHachiro, too," Kara said, her voice sounding hollow.

Mr. Yamato interlaced hisfingers on top of his desk. "We know that."

Kara looked up at her father."We have to find him. No matter what."

"My only concern isprotecting my daughter," Mr. Harper replied.

Miho cleared her throat. "Withrespect, Harper-sensei, Miss Aritomo just said there was nothing we could do tostop Yuki-Onna. If she has come for us, we will all soon be dead."

Sakura stared, unable to believethat Miho would say such a thing, and then she let out a long, shudderingbreath as she realized it must be true.

"Not necessarily,"Miss Aritomo said. "We may not be able to stop Yuki-Onna, but there may bea way to protect you from her, to hide you all. Mr. Yamato and I have foundsomeone who may be able to help."?"Who?" Sakura asked.

Mr. Yamato stood up from behindhis desk.

"That was our purpose incalling you here. Come along, girls. We will take you to meet the Unsui,the cloud wanderer."

Chapter Nine

Kara knew she had to breathe, tocalm down and sort out her thoughts, but she felt out of control in a way shenever had before. The mystery of the ghosts gnawed at her, even as she was tornin two directions, needing to talk to Ren, but wanting to be searching TakigamiMountain for Hachiro. Miho had put voice to her own feelings: with no way tostop Yuki-Onna, they were all pretty much dead soon. Now, nothing matteredexcept finding Hachiro. If they were going to die, she wanted to see him first,at least to say goodbye.

But she rode in silence in theback seat of her father's car, because she knew one thing above all. . ifHachiro was still alive, the only way to save him would be to also saveherself. Just because none of the ancient stories revealed a way to destroyYuki-Onna that did not meant it was impossible.

So, torn as she was, she triedto breathe, to stay calm and tell herself that this was exactly what she neededto be doing for Hachiro right now.

"I don't understand whothis man is supposed to be," she said. "'Cloud wanderer?' What doesthat mean?"

Miss Aritomo had ridden with them,while Miho and Sakura had gone with Mr. Yamato in his car, which her father nowfollowed, driving a curving road into the hills outside of Miyazu City.

Yuuka turned sideways in herseat to look back at Kara. "An 'unsui' is a kind of monk. It means 'cloudand water wanderer.' Normally it is applied to novice monks, often those whoare on a pilgrimage, searching from monastery to monastery for a master toteach them. But Kubo is often called the Unsui, because he has beenwandering for his entire life in search of the master he believes will teachhim true purity of spirit, but has never found such a teacher."

Kara listened in amazement,contemplating such a life.

"He must be so lonely."

Her father glanced back at her,concern etched into his face, and then looked at Miss Aritomo.

"How did you and Mr. Yamatofind this man if he is always wandering?" he asked.

Miss Aritomo smiled. "He isat least eighty years old. No one seems to know exactly how old. Though Kubo isstill the Unsui in the minds of the local people, and possibly in his own mindas well, he does not wander far these days. He has a small house in the hills. Hegrows his own vegetables and likes to fish. You might have seen him yourselves.He is constantly riding his bicycle around Miyazu City, still wandering alittle every day, but never so distant that he cannot sleep in his own bed atnight. It seems he will never find the master he sought."

"And you know him?" Kara asked.

Miss Aritomo shook her head."No. Mr. Yamato's grandfather played with him as a boy. Whenever The Unsuiwould wander through Miyazu City, he would stop at the Yamatos for tea and thenbe on his way, off to the far corners of Japan. When he reached seventy-fiveyears of age, he built his house."

"He built it himself? Atseventy-five?"

"So they say," the artteacher replied.

They lapsed into silence, allthree of them alone with their thoughts. As the car climbed a road that ranalongside a stream, she stared out at the gently falling snow and tried toimagine that she could speak to Hachiro, and that he could hear her.

This will help, she toldhim in her thoughts. This cloud wanderer can help us all.

"Do you think he'll be ableto tell us why some of us are seeing ghosts?" Kara asked.

Miss Aritomo dropped her gaze."I hope so."

Kara stared at her. "You'veseen one, too?"

Rob Harper glanced at hisgirlfriend with the same kind, worried look he had given his daughter. "Morethan one."

"Yuuka?" Kara said.

"This morning," MissAritomo said. "Just before dawn. I was up making my morning tea and lookedout the window from my kitchen. The streets were empty except for an old man Isaw walking by and a teenaged girl who seemed to be watching my house. It mademe uneasy; it felt as if she were looking at me. So I went closer to the windowto get a better look and I saw that neither she nor the old man had any snow onthem at all. It continued to fall, but it drifted right through them. And asthe sky lightened, I realized I could see through them a little bit, too. Thetea kettle whistled, startling me, and when I looked back outside, the ghostswere gone."

Kara shook her head. She studiedthe back of her father's head, watching his hands on the steering wheel. Upahead, Mr. Yamato had turned off onto a road that was little more than a rutted,snow-covered path running alongside the stream, which was edged with ice onboth sides.

"Do you have any idea whatthe connection is between Yuki-Onna and these ghosts?" Kara asked.

Miss Aritomo shook her head."No. But maybe the Unsui will."

She turned around in her seat toface front, and bent to peer through the windshield. Kara looked as well, andsaw the brakes on Mr. Yamato's car glowing bright red in the white swirl of thesnow.

They began to slow, and up aheadKara saw a small cottage with a black, sloping, tiled roof and many slidingdoors, some of glass and some of wood.

The home of Kubo, the cloudwanderer.

Light snow continued to fall asthey walked toward the front of the cottage. Remnants of the previous season'sgarden made strange shapes in the snow off to one side of the house. On theother side, the stream trickled by, a hushed burble that slipped over rocks andbeneath expanding shelves of ice. Across the field behind the house, the hillsrose further, covered in trees that must have made for a beautiful view insummer.

In front of the house, a stonewalkway and wooden bridge separated two sides of a rectangular man-made pondwhich winter had turned to ice. On either side of the pond were bare-branchedcherry trees. Snow coated the black tile roof, which extended out above thewooden porch — really a walkway that ran the length of the house. Slidingdoors, some of wood and others of glass, made up nearly the entire front of thehouse, but Kara knew from looking at them that they would all be removable. Thatwas the most interesting facet of Japanese houses. . the way that nearly anyspace could be transformed by the removal of doors or partitions to some otherpurpose.

A bicycle leaned against theside of the house, protected by the overhanging roof.

Mr. Yamato led the way,determined and yet respectful, approaching the main door without hurrying. Sakuraand Miho hung back, waiting for Kara and her father, and for Miss Aritomo. Karafound herself thinking about what an unsui was supposed to be. This monk hadwandered for almost his entire life without finding what he had been searchingfor and had eventually found his way home. Instead of living out his waningyears in a monastic seclusion, he had chosen an even more solitary life.

Maybe in all of thatsearching for the right person to become his teacher, he figured out that hewas his own best master.

They went up two steps to theporch. It reminded her of the sort of wooden walkways she'd always seen in oldwestern movies, where the facades of the buildings in every town were builtwith walkways elevated a foot or so off the ground so that people didn't haveto walk through mud and horse crap.

Through a glass door she couldsee that another walkway ran around the inside of the cottage, parallel to theone outside. This was called a roka,and in good weather it would usually be open to the elements, the sliding doorsremoved and the interior protected from the rain by the extended roof. Moresliding doors separated the rokafrom the inside of the house, but these were made of wood and paper so thinthat it would allow sunlight to pass through.

Mr. Yamato rang a small bellthat hung by the door. Kara could not imagine that the old man would actuallyhear the sound unless he were standing right behind the door, but just beforeMr. Yamato would have rung the bell again the door swung inward, snowflakesdancing across the threshold.

"Yamato-san," Kubosaid. "Honorable friends. Welcome to my home."

The elderly monk stepped back tolet them enter, watching them as they stepped through the door one by one, hisstance and expression evoking a birdlike curiosity. His hair was thin and whiteand long enough that he tied it into a knot at the back of his head. His beardand eyebrows were shaggy and matched the color of the snow, as though he mightbe a winter spirit himself, some male counterpart of Yuki-Onna. If he had beenwearing a kimono or any sort of robe, Kara would have thought she had steppedback in time, or into some samurai movie. But the cloud-walker apparentlypreferred more modern clothes. He wore loose-fitting tan trousers that wereragged at the cuffs, a thick cobalt blue sweater, and a pair of black slippers.

His outfit made her smile, anddistracted her enough that it took Kara a moment to realize she had seen himbefore.

The moment of recognition wasmutual. Kubo smiled.

"I take it you have seenmore ghosts," he said.

Kara took off her shoes in thegenkan, just as the others were doing, but she could not help staring at TheUnsui. It had been him she had seen riding his bicycle along her street in theearly hours of the morning, when she had been chasing ghosts and her father hadcome out after her. A quick glance at her father told her that he hadrecognized the elderly monk as well.

Tempted to barrage him withquestions, she nearly forgot to pay him the proper respect. Mustering herself-control, she bowed her head.

"It is nice to see youagain, Kubo-san," she said. "I was surprised to see anyone on thestreet this morning."

Sakura and Miho were staring ather in confusion and Miss Aritomo and Mr. Yamato were watching her father,obviously surprised that the Harpers seemed to know the old monk.

"I am restless when theworld is most quiet," Kubo said. "Old habits are difficult to break. Fortunately,the fattest, tastiest fish are also restless in the quiet hours, and so I rideto the bay to retrieve them for my plate."

He gestured toward the others."Please, come in."

Kubo walked along the roka to the nearest of the shoji- the thin paper doors — and slid it open. Another step up broughtthem into the old man's i-ma, or living space. The house Kara lived inwith her father had movable partitions and sliding doors called fusuma,which were something like shoji butthicker. The layout of the house could be changed to suit any purpose, and eachroom except for the kitchen and bathroom could become bedroom, living room,dining room, or office with very little effort. But most of Kubo's cottage wastaken up by a single large i-ma. Tatami mats covered the floor in squaresections. At the center of the room was a large table that she recognized asthe sort that came with an electric heater beneath it that would emanate warmthto those around it.

"If you will makeyourselves comfortable, I will serve tea," Kubo said.

"We would be most gratefulfor something to warm us," Mr. Yamato replied.

Kara knew that respect and honorwere paramount in Japanese culture, but still she was impressed by thereverence that Mr. Yamato showed to the Unsui. The old monk had been a friendof his grandfather's, but she thought his deep respect came from a deeperacknowledgement of the spiritual nature of the old man. Or maybe she wasreading too much into it.

Miss Aritomo busily arrangedpillows and indicated where the girls should sit, and then the adults sat, too,so that by the the time a fusuma slid aside and the old man shuffled into theroom, slippers shushing on tatami mats, they were all settled there. Karawatched the way he balanced the tray, thinking someone should help him. And yetthe cups did not rattle and the teapot did not seem too heavy for him.

Kubo set the tray upon the tableand went back to slide the door closed.

When he had settled down on apillow of his own, he poured tea for his guests. No one spoke. Kara felt theurgency of Hachiro's predicament, as well as the sense of peril that hung abovethem all thanks to the curse of Kyuketsuki, but no one would rush him. She usedthe time, instead, to study the old monk.

Despite the whiteness of hishair and beard, she would never have guessed his age to be above seventy, andeven then only becaues of the lines on his face. They seemed more like echoesof all of the smiles and curious frowns of his life than like wrinkles. Physically,he seemed almost as fit as her own father, who could not have been more thanhalf Kubo's age. And the simple way he dressed warmed her to him as instantlyas had his smile upon greeting them.

But now, as he regarded each ofthem in turn, she saw a sad gravity in his eyes.

"Please," Kubo said,picking up his own tea cup.

He sipped, and the rest of themfollowed suit.

"Master Kubo," Mr.Yamato began, "we are honored that you have invited us into your home, andhumbled by your hospitality. My grandfather liked to say that he never had abetter friend than Kubo, and I hope that we will continue that traditionbetween our families."

The Unsui smiled. "I haveno family, Yamato-san, and your grandfather was a better friend to me than I tohim." The old monk tipped a wink at Miho, who smiled shyly. "I gotyour sensei's grandpa in a lot of trouble, once upon a time."

Mr. Yamato smiled as well."Any help you can offer would be gratefully received."

Kubo flapped a hand in the air,once again reminding Kara of a bird.

"I require no gratitude,"he said, as though offended. "If these snows have brought Yuki-Onna to ourcity, I will do all that I can to help. I have not heard of the Winter Witchappearing in my lifetime, though my grandmother claimed that her mother's mosthandsome brother had been taken by the Woman in White one cruel December."

Kara held her breath. With thosewords alone he had commanded their attention. A year ago she would have heardthe story as nothing more than superstition and folklore, but now she took itas a given that others had encountered Yuki-Onna before.

"Do you know how we canmake her go away?" Kara asked.

Kubo sipped his tea. The othersall ignored theirs, waiting for his reply.

"I do not know of any wayto drive her back to the spirit world," The Unsui said, and Kara felt herheart sink. "If the weather turns and the snows melt, then she will vanishwith it."

"But that might not beuntil spring," Sakura said.

Kubo nodded grimly and sippedhis tea again. Holding the small cup in his hands, he surveyed his gatheredguests.

"Tell me the story of howyou believe we have come to this moment. Leave nothing out."

Mr. Yamato and Kara's fatherlooked at Miss Aritomo.

"It began with Kyuketsuki,"the art teacher said. "Kara, you should tell it."

Kara shook her head. "No. Itreally started with Akane, and that isn't my story to tell."

Sakura fidgeted, glancing aroundas though searching for an escape from this moment. Miho pushed her glasses upon the bridge of her nose and tucked a lock of her long hair behind her ear,retreating into her old shyness, her sympathy for Sakura making her unwillingto push the matter.

At last Sakura looked up atKara, who pleaded with her silently. But they all knew that Sakura would haveto tell it. Too much was at stake for her to refuse The Unsui's request.

Sakura looked at Kubo. "Mysister's name was Akane Murakami," she said. "And she died for a boyshe did not love."

It pained Sakura to tell thestory. When she had finished, she sat in numb silence and listened to theothers unspool the rest of the tale. Kara began with her arrival atMonju-no-Chie school and talked of death shrines and cats and nightmares. Mihotalked about the Noh play they had intended to do in the fall. Mr. Harper andMiss Aritomo told the story of the Hannya that had possessed the art teacherand nearly killed them all. And they all shared the telling of the blizzardthat had killed Sora, with Mr. Yamato explaining the efforts of the police andother searchers to locate the missing boys.

Through all of their words,Sakura only listened. She thought about Akane, and how she had made peace withher sister's death, and a truth began to take shape in her mind, sharpening andclarifying itself with every passing minute. She had come to terms with Akane'sdeath, but would never be able to make peace with the fact that her sister hadbeen murdered. She had let her anger go and given in to her sorrow, but nowthat her parents had finally begun to break out of the spell that grief had putthem under, Sakura's own anger had begun to resurface.

It had been hard enough to standat her sister's funeral and know she would be gone forever, but she had movedon the best she could.

Yet how could she move on whenthe echoes of Akane's death continued to wreak havoc upon her life? All oftheir lives. As she listened to the stories being told, it only drove home evenmore that her sister's murder was the axis upon which all of this death andanguish spun. How could she move on, as long as the curse of Kyuketsuki loomedover her?

The answer was painfullyobvious.

She couldn't.

The voices around the table hadfallen silent. Everyone watched Kubo, the air thick with expectation. Sakurastudied his thick, wiry eyebrows, perhaps the most expressive part of his face.They had dipped into frowns and leaped with smiles throughout the visit thusfar. Now, though, those eyebrows gave no hint as to his mood.

When at last he began slowly tonod, Sakura felt a small flame ignite within her, though it took a moment forher to recognize it as hope — the hope that one day soon they could putall of this behind them. She had become accustomed to being cursed, and evenbegun to accept that they might have to all leave Japan to escape it, and toleave Miyazu City right away to get away from Yuki-Onna. . though she wasn'tsure that would even work.

"Master Kubo?" MissAritomo said, prompting the Unsui.

The old monk looked at her,those bristly eyebrows came to life again, tilting downward in a solemnexpression of contemplation.

"Yes," he said. "Theremay be a way."

"Please, Kubo-san,"Kara's father said quickly. "Tell us."

"In a moment," Kubosaid.

He unfolded himself from thefloor and stood, hurrying to the same door he had used when he had made themtea. Moments later, he shuffled back in and across the tatami mats with onefist closed and the other holding lengths of black twine.

Seating himself once more uponthe pillow, he laid the twine across his lap and opened his clenched fist. Uponhis palm lay four stones of a dull gray hue. They would have been entirelyordinary except for two characteristics that all four shared. Each had a singlehole directly in its center, and each was a perfect circle. They varied insize, but not in the perfection of their roundness.

"These come from the streambeside my home," Kubo said, as he strung the first of them onto a lengthof twine and handed it to Kara's father. "Emperors have been born and diedin the time they have spent there, the water wearing them smooth. The holes Ihave made myself."

They all watched in confusion ashe strung a second and handed it to Miss Aritomo, and then a third, which hegave to Mr. Yamato. The fourth he strung and then tied the ends of the twine tokeep it from falling off.

"I don't understand,"Mr. Harper said.

"Go on," Kubo said,gesturing to Kara. "Tie them around the girls' necks. They are simplecharms, but will help protect them from Yuki-Onna."

"They're rocks!" Sakura found herself saying, and more sharply than was proper. "Whatshould we do, throw them at her when she comes to kill us?"

The Unsui sat up straighter,expression darkening, and suddenly the kindly old man had been replaced by agreat master.

"I have wandered in fleshand spirit for longer than you three girls have breathed the air of this world.There are things in it which, even after all you have seen, you will likelynever understand — a delicate balance between earth and sky, between bodyand mind, between seen and unseen. And the unseen requires faith."

Ashamed, Sakura lowered herhead. "Forgive me, Kubo-sensei."

The old monk smiled. "Ofcourse. Now listen, and behave. The stream made the stones round and smooth,but I put the eyes in them — "

Mr. Yamato tied one aroundSakura's neck and she held it between thumb and finger, realizing that by 'eye'Kubo meant the hole in the center.

"There are old words, oldprayers, that can provide protection, and I have spoken those words over thesestones myself. They are defenses. Wards against evil. Ancient spirits do notsee humans for their faces, but for their essence, and your essence can be hiddenbehind masks or with the help of certain charms."

Sakura immediately thought ofthe masks they had worn when they had stopped the Hannya, and understood atlast how the masks had helped them. From the look on Miho's face, she saw thather roommate had made the same connection.

"But we can't wear masksall of the time," Kara said. "In school or in the city, for instance."

The Unsui nodded. "Exactly.But with these. ." he gestured to the necklaces. "If Yuki-Onnacomes for you, even if she stands in the same room with you, she will be blindto you. Her terrible gaze will slide away from you, slip off of the stone orthrough its eye. She may know something is there, but she will not see you, andthat will give you time to escape her."

Sakura saw Mr. Harper take Kara'shand and squeeze, obviously relieved and hopeful but also so frightened for hisdaughter. She almost wished her own father were here, but if he had been, sheknew he would never have believed, or understood. This was something she had todo on her own.

"The fourth is for yourfriend Hachiro, when you find him," Kubo said, handing the stone on itsstring to Kara.

Kara lit up. "Then youthink he's alive?"

Kubo nodded once. "He maybe. If so, he may need this."

"But, Master Kubo, thiscannot work forever," Miss Aritomo said. "If Yuki-Onna can't bestopped or driven away, more people will die. Even if we save these girls, thedemon is still on the mountain and it may be a very long winter."

"And Hachiro is still upthere," Kara said quickly, looking around at her friends and then herfather. "But with these. . wards. . we could help look for him andYuki-Onna wouldn't know we were there."

Kubo raised both hands to calmthem. When he had their attention, he poured himself another cup of tea andlifted it to his lips.

"I have not heard any storywhere Yuki-Onna was defeated or banished," he said, before sipping his teaand putting the cup back down. "But this is different from the tales Ihave heard. Such spirits are ancient and faded. They are quiet now, driftinginto the past like smoke rising into the sky. It was not simply the death ofthe woman during the winter's first snow that brought Yuki-Onna here. It wasthe curse that Kyuketsuki placed upon you, the call for vengeance which thatdemon sent out into the spirit world. The power of Kyuketsuki's curse seems tohave helped guide and summon both the Hannya and Yuki-Onna, given them thestrength to manifest. If we can break the curse — "

They all bolted upright.

"You can break the curse?" Miho squeaked.

"It may be possible,"Kubo allowed.

The adults all exchangedglances. Miss Aritomo took Mr. Harper's free hand, gazing at him hopefully.

"Then Yuki-Onna would goaway?" Mr. Yamato asked.

The Unsui shrugged. "If Iam correct, yes. Without Kyuketsuki's curse to help anchor her, she will not bestrong enough to remain in our world."

"Can you do it?" Karaasked. "I mean, can you do it now? They haven't found Hachiro and all Ican think is that she's hiding him somehow, and if you could break the curseand send her away — "

Again, the old monk raised bothhands and they all fell silent.

Sakura felt her heart poundingin her chest. Was it possible this could all really be over?

"I believe I can performthe ritual needed to break Kyuketsuki's curse. But there is one element that isout of my control, and which you must arrange before it can be done."

"What is it?" Mihoasked eagerly.

"If your friend Hachiro isalive, she has kept him so because she something about certain handsome boysintrigues her, as though she seeks some young man to be her eternal companion. Butthe stories that speak of this also say that when she tires of these boys, shedestroys them. Hachiro must be retrieved from the mountain. But not only forhis own sake. You must all be there when I conduct the ritual, includingHachiro, because you were there when Kyuketsuki was defeated and driven fromthe world. It will not work unless each of those who were present take part inthe ritual."

Sakura felt her face flush withhorror and her breath caught in her throat.

"But that means. ."she began.

"Yes," Kubo said, andin his eyes she saw that he knew precisely what he was asking of her, and howmuch it would hurt. "You must find Ume, the girl who murdered your sister,and ask for her help.

"Without her, you willcarry this curse with you forever."

Chapter Ten

Boredom was bad for Mai. Overthe past year, whenever she had grown restless or distracted, she had tended toget herself into trouble. One of the favorite punishments meted out by theteachers at Monju-no-Chie school was to make the offender sit on her knees inthe hall for long stretches of time. Not only did it hurt after a while but itwas probably the most interminably boring thing Mai had ever experienced. Soshe tried to control herself in school even though the temptation to talk orwrite notes to friends or draw horribly insulting sketches of teachers in hernotebooks was often too much to resist.

It was a vicious circle, really.Boredom led to misbehavior, which led to punishment, which led back to boredom.

Outside of school, it wasn't sobad. The teachers gave plenty of homework, which kept her mind busy. Mai hadalways managed good grades — she was smart and happy to work and studyhard — and when she wasn't doing homework she could always go shopping inthe city or play soccer with her friends.

Winter created problems for her.The soccer club could still play in the school gym, but they never felt likereal games to her. Snow was the hated enemy of soccer players everywhere. Andthough most days the weather wasn't so cold or stormy that she would beprevented from going into Miyazu City to go shopping, the gray skies weren'texactly inviting. They didn't make a girl want to link arms with her bestfriend and wander from shop to shop trying on new outfits.

Which probably explained why shewas dancing to awful J-pop in the middle of her dorm room in short-shorts and atiny tank top, filming herself on her laptop's webcam. She tried to sing alongto the song — some silliness about boys on motorcycles by a girl groupcalled Kuza — but kept laughing at her own ridiculousness instead. She'dput her hair up in pigtails and wore bright, sparkly red lipstick, and theentire effect was to make her look like the happiest prostitute on Earth, butlooking at herself in the mirror had made her giggle at her own ridiculousness.

Boredom.

From the other side of the smalldormitory room, Wakana shouted at her. Mai glanced at her. The words had beendrowned out by the music, but she got the gist. Wakana was working on theresearch paper that Harper-sensei had assigned for his American Studies class,which seemed entirely pointless to Mai, considering that classes were currentlysuspended.

Wakana shouted again.

Grinning, Mai broke off from herhip gyrating dance to race over to the bed and grab Wakana by the wrists.

"Stop it!" Wakanasaid, brow furrowed in a deep frown. "No, Mai. I'm trying to — "

Mai hauled her off the bed andpulled her into view of the webcam. Wakana wore pajama pants and a faded pinkt-shirt that she often slept in, a clip holding her hair out of her face. Shelooked very cute, but Mai knew it was the last outfit in the world she wouldwant anyone to see her in. Soon enough they would have to go downstairs fordinner and they would both get changed, but Wakana's eyes flared with alarm atthe thought of being on camera. She tried to pull away but Mai gave her a poutylook and tugged her back, raising her arms and dancing like she was in anightclub in some sexy movie scene.

Then she made silly faces andWakana laughed.

"Come on!" Maipleaded.

Wakana thrust out a hip,shifting into a dance pose. Mai clapped her hands in glee, and seconds later,they were dancing side by side. Wakana strung a few moves together by sheerinstinct — for a shy girl, she knew how to move — and Mai mimickedher. They shimmied up and down against each other in mockery of boys' obsessionwith girls who kissed other girls — though none of the boys they knewwould likely have noticed the irony — and then collapsed together in fitsof embarrassed giggles. Mai pulled Wakana out of view of the camera just as thesong came to a close.

They fell onto their beds, flushwith exertion, and only then did they hear the banging on the door.

The two girls cast anxiousglances at each other.

"Who is it?" Maicalled, as the next song began.

Wakana jumped up and spun thevolume down as Mai closed the laptop and started for the door. As she reachedfor the knob she remembered what she looked like. It would take too long to doanything about her hair, but she darted back across the room and grabbed a pinkrobe, tugging it on even as Wakana handed her a tissue, with which she wipedher lips.

There was another round of bangingon the door, but now Mai had grown irritated. She stormed to the door andunlocked it.

"What is the crisis?" she demanded as she pulled it open.

The sight of the schoolprincipal standing grim-faced in the corridor actually made her flinch and backup a step.

"Yamato-sensei?" sheasked. "What are you. . what's wrong?"

Mai had barely taken note of thepresence of Miss Aritomo and Mr. Harper, but now she noticed the two teachersin the corridor behind the principal. Despite the tight, angry expression onMr. Yamato's face, she knew that he had not come to discipline her. She andWakana were not in trouble. This combination of Monju-no-Chie's teachers couldhave only one purpose for visiting them.

Mr. Yamato arched a disapprovingeyebrow at her pigtails and what she could only assume was a smear of sparklylipstick left on her mouth.

"Your music was very loud,"he said.

Mai gave him a tiny nod ofapology. "I am sorry. I did not realize — "

"May we come in?" MissAritomo interrupted.

Mai stepped back to clear theway, thinking that it would be cramped with all five of them in the small room,and wondering what could be so important as to prompt them to visit her andWakana here in the middle of a snowy afternoon. With the loud banging on thedoor, the other girls at this end of the hall would already be gossiping abouthow much trouble she must be in; they'd never assume Wakana was the one introuble. The rest of the students would assume that Mr. Yamato had brought theother teachers as witnesses or something.

As Mr. Yamato and Mr. Harperentered the room, Miss Aritomo hung back in the hall a moment. She shot asidelong glance at someone else, one of Mai and Wakana's nosy neighborspresumably.

"Go back into your room. Thisdoesn't concern you," the art teacher said, as sharply as Mai had everheard her speak to anyone.

Then Miss Aritomo entered andclosed the door behind them.

Wakana looked like she wishedshe could climb under her bedsheets and hide.

"This will take only amoment," Mr. Yamato said, shifting his gaze from Mai to Wakana and backagain. He lowered his voice before continuing. "There may be a way tobreak the curse of Kyuketsuki."

"Why would we — "Mai began, then cut herself off. "My apologies again, Yamato-sensei."

"You can ask the question,"Mr. Harper said. "Why would you care? Is that what you were going to say? Youdon't like my daughter and her friends, Maiko. I understand that — "

"Harper-san." Mr.Yamato gave the American teacher a grave look.

"Mai," Miss Aritomosaid, "many people have died because of the curse of Kyuketsuki, some ofthem your friends." She glanced meaningfully at Wakana and then looked atMai again. "Do you mean to tell us that you are not willing to helpprevent more of your friends from dying?"

Mai swallowed. Her embarrassmentand discomfort at their sudden arrival fled. She had carefully crafted apersona of arrogance and confidence around other students, and she had greatambitions for her future that she thought that persona would serve. But whenshe was alone with Wakana, she always let that mask slip to reveal her trueself. Now she discarded it willingly.

"Of course not," shesaid. "If there's a way that I can help you break the curse — "

"We," Wakana said."If we can help."

Mai nodded. "We'll dowhatever you need."

Mr. Yamato nodded withsatisfaction and approval. "Excellent. You are still in contact with UmeChosokabe?"

An icy knot formed in the pit ofher stomach. "Yes."

"Can you reach her bytelephone?"

"I'm not sure," Maisaid. "If not, she is usually online at night. I could e-mail her, orinstant message her later. But Ume's been gone since last spring. What couldany of this have to do with her?"

The moment she asked thequestion, she felt like a fool. She knew the answer. Everything that hadhappened — the curse, all of it — stemmed from the murder of AkaneMurakami.

But Miss Aritomo surprised her.

"The ritual that couldbreak the curse requires the participation of all of those present at the timeof Kyuketsuki's defeat," the art teacher said.

"You've got to get Ume tocome back to Miyazu City immediately," Mr. Yamato said.

Wakana shook her head. "Withrespect, sir, wasn't she expelled?"

"She could come to visitthe friends she left behind," Mr. Harper said.

"But she's in school,"Mai argued. "Wouldn't it be better to contact her parents? She would needtheir permission."

Mr. Yamato sighed, shaking hishead. "Mai, listen to me. I cannot contact her parents. How would Iexplain a request for Ume to return to Monju-no-Chie school, and in such ahurry? Tell her that she is needed here, that she must come immediately."

"But how will sheexplain, sensei?" Wakana asked.

Miss Aritomo knitted her brows. Prettyas she was, the expression made her look anything but. "Ume has alreadyproven her cunning by managing to get away with murder. She'll have to figuresomething out."

Mai blinked in astonishment atthe teacher's uncharacteristic directness. Adults so often talked around thingsthat were awkward or unpleasant that the words had shocked her.

"What if she doesn't wantto come?"

"If she doesn't want toprevent people from dying?" Mr. Yamato said. "Then tell her a memberof the Miyazu City police will be happy to go and retrieve her, and she canexplain that to her parents."

The dormitory at Monju-no-Chieschool was separated by a wide stairwell that divided it evenly into two sides,with the girls on one side and the boys on the other. Each floor had a commonarea near the stairs, but the one on the first floor was the largest, with theexception of the cafeteria. All of that common space was meant as consolationto the students for the strict rules governing gender relations in theirdormitory rooms. Boys were not allowed in girls' rooms with the door closed,and vice versa. After nine p.m., they weren't even allowed in the oppositewings.

As Kara strode along the secondfloor corridor toward Ren's room with Miho and Sakura in tow, she thought aboutthe absurdity of the rule, especially when it came to Ren. He was gay. Thoughhe claimed not to be interested in any of the boys on his floor — most ofthem didn't know about his sexual orientation — she was still sure he wasmore than content to be trapped after dark with a few dozen other guys.

Or not. That's a prettyignorant thought, she realized. As long as she'd known him, Ren had alwaysseemed to get along much better with girls than other guys, Hachiro being thelone exception.

A sickly feeling rippled throughher gut as she passed the door to Hachiro's room. No light shone beneath thedoor. It felt still and empty, as though it had been abandoned and waited for anew resident to give it life again. Even just a quick glance at the door madeher want to shout with frustration and anticipatory grief. But she refused togive up on Hachiro yet.

Ren's room was three doors downon the left. She rapped several times in quick succession, her knucklesstinging.

"What if his parents arestill here?" Miho whispered.

"Then we tell them,"Sakura said. "We're running out of time to do this quietly."

"Hachiro's running out oftime," Kara corrected.

The door remained closed, buthere there was light underneath the door. Kara could practically feel thepresence of someone inside. She knocked again, harder this time.

"Ren, it's us," shecalled. "Kara, and Sakura, and Miho."

"We need to talk to you,"Sakura added.

Still nothing. Kara felt heranger ramping up. She made fists of her hands and rocked on the balls of herfeet, needing to let out the maelstrom of emotions that were storming aroundinside of her.

Miho must have seen it coming. Sheput a hand on Kara's shoulder. "No. Let me," she said. And then shestepped up to Ren's door and knocked much more softly than Kara had. "It'sMiho. I know you're hurting. Maybe you're scared or embarrassed or mad, ormaybe it's all of those things. I know you're afraid for Hachiro. But we'reyour friends and we need you."

Sakura and Ren had a greatcamaraderie. They were buddies, fond of giving each other a hard time. But eversince Miho had revealed her feelings for Ren and discovered that he had noromantic interest in girls, the two of them had developed a gentle intimacythat had nothing to do with sex. If he would listen to anyone, it would be her.

"Ren, please?" Mihoadded.

Several seconds went by. Karabegan to grow frantic. What would they do if they couldn't get Ren to talk tothem? She glanced at Sakura, then Miho, and she thought about trying to kickthe door in but knew she didn't dare. They'd have to get Mr. Yamato down hereinstead.

Just as she was about to give upand go away, Ren spoke at last.

"I don't remember anything,"he said.

They all looked at one another. Karagestured for Miho to speak.

"Please, Ren," Mihosaid. "We need to talk to you."

A few more seconds passed as hecontemplated that, and then at last he opened the door. Kara blinked insurprise and felt all the anger drain out of her. Normally, Ren was strikinglygood-looking, with his long, spiky bronze hair and copper eyes and amischievous smile that seemed to work on nearly everyone. So often she hadthought how much he reminded her of a fox in appearance.

That Ren had vanished and beenreplaced by a pale, thin, unsmiling creature. His hair was clean but hungstraight and dull, and he wore a white shirt and tan pants that gave him analmost monastic look. Silhouetted against the early winter darkness outside hiswindow, he might have been Kubo's sickly grandson.

"Ren?" Miho said,putting all of her anguish at his appearance into that single syllable. Shehurried into the room and embraced him, leaving Kara and Sakura to watch.

Ren seemed awkward with the hug,and when Miho stepped back, neither of the other girls attempted the samegreeting. As they had agreed before paying this visit, Sakura stayed at thedoor, halfway in and halfway out. They weren't supposed to close it, but theydid not want to be troubled by the kind of gossip that eavesdroppers mightinspire.

Kara leaned against Ren's desk."Your parents left?"

"For now," Ren said."They wanted me to go home with them, but I told them I would be allright."

"Will you?" Miho asked,perching on the end of his bed. Behind her glasses, her eyes were wide withsympathy.

Ren sank down beside her,seeming almost grateful not to have to stand. "I don't know."

Kara glanced at Sakura and sawhesitation and regret in the other girl's eyes. She felt the same emotionscreeping up on her and shoved them away. Hachiro's life hung in the balance;they couldn't afford any more hesitation.

"You know why we're here,"Kara said.

Miho shot her an admonishinglook. "Don't be so cold."

"Ironic choice of words."Kara kept her focus on Ren. "Listen, I know you don't want to talk aboutthis — "

"I would if I couldremember," Ren snapped, but he couldn't meet her gaze for more than asecond, glancing down at the floor.

Kara nodded, took a deep breath,and forged on. "Okay, I get that you don't remember exactly what happened.But I'm sorry, Ren. I just can't believe there isn't anything, not a singledetail, lodged in your brain that would help us. Hachiro's been up there twonights now. This'll be the third. Unless you tell me he's dead — "

"I don't know," Rensaid, voice full of despair.

" — then I have tobelieve he's alive. And that means we can find him. But you're the only personwho can help us with that and you say you don't remember anything." Sheheld up a hand to forestall any more arguments or denials. "There's moregoing on here than you know."

As she told him what theythought they knew about Yuki-Onna, his eyes grew wide. She could see fear inthem, but also hope, and she knew he wanted to talk to her.

"What aren't you tellingus, Ren?"

Even Miho looked at himdifferently. She reached for his hand but he edged away from her on the bed.

"Does that make youremember something? Did you see her?" Miho asked.

Ren pressed his lips togetherlike a child and shook his head. Kara truly cared for him — he was herfriend — but she couldn't take it anymore.

"Damn it, Ren!" sheshouted in English.

"Sssshhhh!" Sakurasaid from the door, frowning.

Kara took a calming breath butit only succeeded in quieting her anger. Her eyes began to fill but she refusedto cry, wiping the moisture away.

"He's going to die!" she said, biting off each word as she returned to Japanese. "I love him. He'syour friend. And he's going to die. You say you don't remember, well I think you'relying. I don't know why, but you are. And I'll tell you something else. Otherpeople are going to die, too."

Kara fingered the round stonethat hung on a leather thong around her neck and noticed Miho doing the same. Sherubbed it between her thumb and forefinger.

"We're protected for now,but Yuki-Onna is looking for us. Sora's dead. And she'll keep killing until thewinter snows are gone, all because you won't tell us where Hachiro is. If he'sdead, that's on you. And everyone else who dies. . well, you'll have theirblood on your hands, too."

"Kara, that's not — "Miho began.

"Stop it!" Renshouted. "I can't!"

"Can't what?" Karademanded.

Ren buried his face in hishands.

"We can stop it, Ren, butwe need Hachiro to do that. We need everyone who was there when Kyuketsuki putthe curse on us. Mr. Yamato is getting Ume here, but all of it's for nothing ifwe can't find Hachiro, alive, and get him down off of that mountain."

He looked up through spreadfingers. "How? How can you stop it?"

Miho spoke up, telling him aboutKubo, the cloud wanderer, and the promises the monk had made to them.

Ren looked sick. He shook hishead.

"Maybe he really doesn'tknow," Sakura said, though she didn't sound convinced.

Kara stared at Ren. "Heknows."

As handsome — beautiful,really — as Ren was, at that moment he looked like a broken angel,tarnished with misery. He seemed about to speak and she saw the truth in hiseyes, but it never made the journey to his lips. Slowly, he shook his head.

"I'm sorry."

The tragedy in his voice did herin. Kara raised a shaking hand to cover her mouth to stop her from screaming athim. Her eyes filled with tears that began to slide down her cheeks and sheturned away, headed for the door, trying to find some way to accept the factthat Hachiro would die if he hadn't already, and that the curse on her and herfriends would never be lifted.

Sakura stopped her at the door,pulled Kara into her arms, and all Kara could do was try not to make any noisewhile she cried. A moment later Miho joined them without another word to Ren. Theystarted to file out into the corridor.

Over the internal roar of herown despair, Kara barely heard Ren's voice.

"She let me go," hesaid.

Miho grabbed Kara's wrist andstopped her. It was a moment before it all registered, and Kara turned backinto the room to face him. Ren sat on the bed, seeming to have shrunk in size. Hewiped away tears.

"She?" Kara said.

"You mean Yuki-Onna?" Sakura asked in a hushed whisper of disbelief.

When Ren nodded and stared,shamefaced, at the floor, Sakura reached out and closed the door. Miho openedher mouth to protest but Kara shook her head and the girl said nothing. Thiswasn't a time for rules.

"Tell us, please,"Kara said, swiping at her own tears with the back of her hand.

Ren shuddered. "If I do,she'll. ." He paused, and then a determined look came into his eyes andhe looked up, meeting Kara's gaze fully for the first time. "The storiesdo not do her justice. She is awful. The cold isn't just in your skin or yourbones, it's down inside you, in your thoughts.

"She killed Sora rightaway. Hachiro and I saw it. But we had looked into her eyes and we couldn'tmove. Frozen, but not. . not the way she froze Sora. Then she took us awayin the storm, in the wind, tossed us in the air like we were puppets, and for atime I don't think we were anywhere except in the storm. It felt as if thestorm wasn't even a part of this world."

He held his hands up as if insurrender and gave a strained laugh.

"I know how that sounds."His smile was something awful. "But it's true. She said Sora's life — his death, I mean — made her strong. It was as if somehow she hadsatisfied some hunger through killing him. But with us. . it was like wewere pets or. . or toys. She said she would take us, too, eventually if shegrew hungry enough or bored enough."

His voice cracked on those lastwords and he took a deep breath, looking as though he might be sick.

"I shouldn't be doing this,"he said. "Shouldn't be talking about it."

Confused, Kara went and knelt infront of him, taking his hands in her own.

"You got away, Ren,"she said, searching his eyes. "Was Hachiro still alive when you escaped?"

"Yes. But you are notlistening. I'm trying to tell you that I did not escape. Yuki-Onna let me go."

Kara sat back on her haunches,staring at him.

"She what?" Sakurasaid.

"Why would she do that?" Miho asked.

Ren stared at his hands as if hewere so ashamed he could not even lift his eyes. "She said I was toobeautiful to kill," he said bitterly. "That eventually she would betoo tempted and she would devour my spirit, and I would be dead and she wouldregret that. So she let me go."

"But she kept Hachiro,"Kara whispered.

Ren nodded. "She made mepromise not to speak of her, or to tell anyone what happened on TakigamiMountain."

A chill raced up Kara's spineand along her arms.

"But you just told us,"Sakura said.

"Did she say what wouldhappen if you did tell?" Miho asked.

Ren looked up. "She saidshe would come for me again and I would be in the storm forever."

The chill in the room was notKara's imagination. Gooseflesh formed on her arms and as she exhaled, herbreath fogged the air.

Chapter Eleven

A rush of alarm swept throughKara as she glanced at the window. She saw ice spreading on the glass, and shestood up, staggering back from Ren. He had broken his promise and now Yuki-Onnahad come for him.

"No," she said. "Wecan't let this happen."

Sakura shoved past her, grabbedRen by the hand and hauled him to his feet. Miho yanked the door open and thefour of them raced into the corridor together. Doors were opening up and downthe hall, boys poking their heads out, shivering in spite of their sweaters andsweatshirts. Some of the rooms would be empty — a lot of students wereprobably in the common areas or heading down to the cafeteria for dinner — but there were enough of them to get in the way.

"Why is it so cold?" one of them asked. "Is the heat broken?"

"Ren?" anotherventured. "What's wrong? Why are you — "

"Out of the way!" Sakura shouted, shoving the boy outside.

Kara led the way, racing downthe corridor to the central stairs. Her thoughts were awhirl, her heartslamming in her chest. Sakura and Ren came right behind her, with Miho bringingup the rear.

"Anything behind us?" Kara shouted.

"Not yet!" Mihoreplied.

"Where are we going?" Sakura snapped. "How are you going to outrun her?"

"I'm working on it!" Kara replied.

They reached the centralstaircase. The temperature had dropped so low that ice had begun to form on theinside walls. Her eyelashes stuck together when she blinked. Ice crystalsfloated like tiny snowflakes in the air.

"My God," Karawhispered in English.

"No," Miho said."Not your God."

Think, girl, think! Thewindows in the stairwell rattled as storm winds gusted against them. Snow andsleet pelted the glass. With another gust, a crack appeared, and then another. Windows.

"Kara, look!" Rencalled.

They all turned. Down the hall,back the way they'd come, a pair of ghosts stood in the corridor staring atthem. Sora looked just as he had the last time they had seen him, except thathis presence seemed little more substantial than Kara's pluming breath in thecold air. The other spirit was female and it took Kara a moment to place her — Chouku, one of the victims of the Ketsuki.

Before any of them could react,a blast of winter air filled the hall. Back along the corridor, the door to Ren'sroom froze over and then shattered, blown outward in a splintering of ice andtimber.

Kara grabbed Miho's hand. "Go!"

They hit the stairwell and shenearly fell. The steps were slippery but the metal railing was so cold that itstung to touch. She hurried down as quickly as she could without falling, awareof the cracks that lengthened and spread in the stairwell windows above herhead.

At the far end of the girls'wing, glass shattered. Kara heard screams. Doors banged and as they descendedthe stairs, the storm seemed to rush in behind them, snow whipping through thesecond floor, a blizzard filling the hall and blowing out from the landing,sweeping into the stairwell.

Miho slipped and fell backwardonto the stairs, crying out in pain as her back hit the steps. She slid andtumbled the last few stairs to the landing between floors. Kara crouched byher, fear racing through her at the thought of Miho hurt, or dying.

"I'm all right," Mihosaid. "Go!"

Even as the girl spoke, herglasses frosting over, she struggled to stand. Pain etched itself across herface but she started down toward the first floor. Kara glanced up at Ren andSakura, saw they were all right, and beyond them she noticed the ghosts in theswirling snow, untouched by the wind, unmoved by their plight.

The lights flickered and shefroze. No, no. We need light. Please not the lights.

But the wavering light glintedoff of something around Sakura's neck and then Kara remembered the wards Kubohad given them. Her hand flew to her throat and she touched the round, smoothstone that hung from the thong around her neck. What had the old monk said? Demonsdidn't see faces, they recognized essences. Something like that. She and Mihoand Sakura were hidden from Yuki-Onna for now, but they had to hide Ren aswell.

Kara slipped and nearly fell. Shecaught herself on the railing and her fingers froze to the metal in an instant.Skin tore away as she pulled her arm back and she cried out, swearing loudly asshe kept going. Injured hand tucked under her arm, she turned to Sakura.

"The ward Kubo gave us forHachiro! Do you have it?"

Understanding flickered acrossSakura's eyes, following by regret. "It's back in my room!"

The long cathedral window in thelanding shattered at last. Storm-driven glass shards sliced the air aroundthem, blown in with snow and sleet, wind whipping at them, stinging as much asglass splinters. A jagged piece slashed Kara's shoulder, and she stared inshock as blood began to seep from the wound. She was so cold she could barelyfeel it.

"Where are we going?" Sakura shouted to be heard over the howling wind.

"Not outside!" Mihosaid. "That would be insane!"

Kara faced them. . and beyondthem, through the shattered window up the stairs on the landing, she sawYuki-Onna hovering in the air, swaying with the wind. Her white kimono seemedto dance with the snow and her long white hair flowed around her.

Don't look! Kara thought,remembering the stories, knowing that Yuki-Onna could freeze her with a glance.

"This way!" shecalled, racing down the next flights of steps toward the basement level. As shedid, she realized that the White Woman had not been staring at her, but at Ren.Kubo was right. She can't see us!

The others had not seenYuki-Onna, but they felt the storm moving in, the temperature dropping, thestorm thickening around them. They all had cuts from the flying glass, but theair was so cold their blood barely dripped at all. Their fear drove them on,and Kara knew they had only one slim hope.

"Where are you going?" Ren called.

Kara hurried down the steps tothe basement. "Somewhere with no windows!"

The others pursued her, and shesaw realization ignite hope in their eyes. Behind the cafeteria was a kitchenwith heavy wooden doors and no windows. A bank vault would have been better,but they had very little to choose from.

"It isn't going to work!" Ren said.

Kara shot him a hard look."It has to!"

Other students were coming outof the cafeteria now, loudly complaining about the cold. The real storm reachedthem now, snow and sleet whipping around them, wind roaring into the cafeteria,blowing the doors in, scraping tables across the floor, and people started toscream.

Kara led her friends through thescreaming and the chaos of the storm. Another scream cut the air, but this wasdifferent, and when she turned she saw Yuki-Onna glide into the room, iceforming on the walls around her, crystallizing the floor and the nearest tables.A girl in a ponytail had looked at her and now stood frozen as Yuki-Onnaapproached, then bent to kiss her.

The kiss seemed to go on aneternity, though it was only a brush of lips. When it ended, the girl had beentransformed, her body coated in ice, a statue carved of winter and death.

"Kara!" Sakurashouted, grabbing her roughly and pulling her along.

Then they were barging into thekitchen. But as her friends set about slamming and locking doors, sealing theminside, Kara could not get the image of the frozen girl out of her mind. Shethought of Sora, who had died the same way, and of Hachiro.

Just a kiss.

When Ren embraced her, she didn'tresist. The four of them huddled together for long seconds, the fog of theirbreath combining into a cloud, their body heat all that was keeping them fromfreezing completely.

Then ice began to crawl andspread on the inside of the kitchen door, just a few feet away from them, andKara knew that they were out of places to run.

Rob Harper raced down thecorridor, windblown snow stinging his face. He had to fight against the cold,which weighed him down. His arms and legs felt like lead, but he forced himselfto run. He had left Yuuka and Mr. Yamato back in the dorm room shared by Wakanaand Mai, protecting the girls and themselves. They were safer there, behindclosed doors. The windows and the door were rattling in their frames but thestorm in the corridor was much worse.

He had seen the smoke-serpentform of the demon Hannya, and its more monstrous, solid form as well. He hadseen a ghost, at least once. His daughter had told him stories of worse things,of blood-drinking monsters and evil spirits and curses. But he had neverimagined anything like this.

How is it possible? hethought. This wasn't just a blizzard gusting in through broken windows, but astorm raging inside the dormitory. The wind barreled through the halls with itsown momentum, churning the air, leaving ice and snow everywhere.

He slipped, barely catchinghimself before his feet could shoot out from under him. Students cowered in thehall. Others poked their heads out of their rooms. Through one open door he sawthat the windows had shattered and a bloody girl sat sheltered by her desk,pulling shards of glass from cuts in her arms.

As he reached the stairs at thecenter of the building he shielded his eyes from the storm and looked around. Karaand her friends had been going to visit Ren. His room was up ahead, in the boys'wing. But even from here Rob could see the shattered door that had blown off ofits frame. It jutted, half-buried, from a snow-drift in the hall.

"Harper-sensei!" a boyshouted to be heard over the wind. "In here!"

Rob looked up to see a familiarface, one of his students, leaning out of an open door. The boy was gesturingfor him to enter the room to get out of the storm in the hall. But Rob barelyregistered the kid, focused on the ruin of the door ahead. He slowed to a walk,struggling against the gusting wind.

"Kara!" he shouted.

"She's not there!" theboy called over the wind.

Rob spun to look at him. "Yousaw her?"

The boy pushed his too-long hairaway from his eyes and pointed back at the stairwell. "They went down!"

One glance at the steps told himthe descent would be treacherous. The arched, cathedral window had shatteredand the wind funneled in from outside, battering the walls, driving sleet andsnow in. He gritted his teeth against the cold as he tore off his jacket. Thecold cut right through his clothes, biting deep, but he forced himself onward. Atthe top of the stairs he threw his jacket over the railing, using it to keephis flesh from touching the metal as he started down.

The soles of his shoes skiddedon the steps but he managed to steady himself on the railing. Broken glasscrunched underfoot as he rounded the corner of the landing and descended to thefirst floor.

"Kara!" he called, andhe listened for a reply.

No one was in the foyer and fora moment hope withered in his heart. Then he glanced down the next flight ofstairs toward the basement and saw a dark figure there, huddled in the cornerof the stairwell. The storm had dusted over any tracks they might have leftbehind, but maybe this kid could tell him something. Rob rushed down to thelanding between the first floor and basement.

"Have you seen — "he began, but then he snapped his mouth shut.

Ice crusted the dead boy's face.The corpse's eyes were open and staring in terror. Something had gone down thesteps past him and frozen him to the spot. It could only be Yuki-Onna. Themoment the impossible storm had begun, he had known that the Woman in White hadcome down from Takigami Mountain, but now he knew that the demon was hunting.

Professor Harper shouted hisdaughter's name again as he rushed down the last few steps. His skin burnedwith the cold and his bones felt brittle, as if they might snap at any moment.

The cafeteria doors hung open,one torn from its hinges but pinned to the wall by the storm. Snow coated thefloor and walls, and drifted in corners. A shape that might have been a bodylay under the layer of white and he tore his gaze away, refusing to believe itcould be his daughter. A dead girl stood frozen solid less than ten feet away. Aboy, alive and terrified, had curled up beneath a cafeteria table. Rob couldhear him whimpering.

On the far side of the room, theWinter Witch stood in front of the thick, wooden door that led into thekitchen. The door was coated in ice and had cracked down the middle, and Robcould hear girls screaming on the other side. Yuki-Onna gestured with her handand a gust of wind swept through the cafeteria and slammed against the door,shoving it open further, widening the crack. The girls were on the other side,trying to keep it closed.

Rob stared at Yuki-Onna. He hadnever seen anything so beautiful. Her kimono and her hair were both of thepurest white. The curve of her neck and the line of her jaw, even at thisangle, were incredibly sensual. She moved with the grandeur of angels, anotherworldly thing, and looking at her stole his breath away.

Then he heard his daughterscream again, and he wanted to kill the witch. Only then did the emptiness ofhis hands occur to him. How could he fight her? He had no weapon to attack her.But he could not allow her to kill Kara.

A metal chair had been blownagainst the wall and upended. Half-covered in snow, its legs thrust upward. Robpicked it up, brushed it off, and rushed at Yuki-Onna, raising the chair overhis head. The snow crunched underfoot as he cocked it back and began to swing.

Yuki-Onna turned and stared athim. With a flick of her wrist the wind gusted and the chair was torn from hisgrasp, clattering onto a table a dozen feet away. Her eyes were totally black. Ifthere had ever been color there, it had been entirely eclipsed. Those gleaming,oil-black eyes stared at him and then the beautiful creature smiled at him,showing a mouthful of tiny, jagged shark's teeth.

"Are you one of the cursed?" the Winter Witch asked, her voice the mournful howl of the storm.

The wind shoved him from behind,lifted him off of his feet, twisted and swirled him over to fall in a heap onhis knees before her. Yuki-Onna bent, studying him with those soulless,eclipsed eyes.

"You feel like one of them,"the witch said, frowning. "But you're not, are you?"

"Leave them alone!" Rob shouted.

Yuki-Onna smiled that dreadfulsmile again. "Oh, I think not," she said. And she lifted Rob off ofthe floor as if he were a child's plaything, pulled him close, and opened herjaws. Those shark teeth darted toward his throat. .

"Dad!" Kara shouted.

The door had split in two. Theyhad been trying to hold it back, knowing that it would be only seconds beforethe storm drove the splintered halves aside and Yuki-Onna swept in. Now Karasaw the demon — vampire, witch, whatever the hell the ice queen truly was- and she acted.

Thrusting her fingers into thecrack in the door, she pulled inward.

"What are you doing?" Sakura shouted.

"Her father! It's.." Miho started, but she could not find the words.

Ren helped Kara, pushing hisfingers into the gap and hauling the door open. Sakura and Miho got out of theway, now that they saw the horror unfolding just outside the door. Kara's handswere numb, with no feeling in her fingers. She could barely move them and onlyknew they were doing what she wanted because she could see them. Her nose wasclogged with ice. Tears had frozen on her cheeks.

Yuki-Onna sank her teeth intoher father's throat and Kara screamed.

Blood squirted, but only a fewdrops. The Winter Witch's tongue darted out and licked it up and then she beganto suck. Several crimson spots appeared on that pure white kimono, and thenfaded into the cloth as though absorbed from within.

Kara lunged at the demon. Yuki-Onnadid move. Kara passed right through the witch's body as if it were part of thestorm itself, mist and snow puffing out and then reforming. Kara hit the floor,her mind still working, still raging to rescue her father, but her body wouldnot work. She began to tremble and then to shake.

Is this a seizure? shehad time to wonder, and then her head began to slam against the floor. Only thesnow that had piled up around them saved her from caving her own skull in.

As it subsided, she sawYuki-Onna drop her father's still body to the snowy floor. Trickles of bloodran from the dozen small punctures on his throat. Breathe, she thought,staring at his chest. Breathe, Daddy!

She saw his chest rise and falland would have screamed in relief and gratitude, except that Yuki-Onna wasthere now, bending over her, the black pits that were the witch's eyes staringdown at her, blind and unseeing.

"What are you?" theWoman in White said, her voice like the crack of brittle ice about to give wayunderfoot.

Kubo had said the wards wouldblind the demon, but Yuki-Onna saw her. The witch didn't know what to make ofKara, but she saw her. Or did she?

Yuki-Onna frowned. Thehideousness hidden inside of her beauty subsided, the teeth hidden behinddemure, if bloody, lips. The Woman in White glanced around.

"Where are you?" sheasked.

Hope flickered in Kara's heart.

But then Yuki-Onna turned towardthe shattered door, and even at this angle, Kara saw the evil of her smilereturn. Sakura and Miho stood there with Ren, and they had nowhere to run.

"You broke your promise,beautiful one," the witch whispered.

Ren did not even try to flee.

"Hide him!" Kara said,her voice quavering. Her whole body twitched as she began to rise.

Miho gave a cry of anguish asshe stepped in front of Ren. "How?"

Kara staggered to her feet. AsYuki-Onna glided toward her friends, she edged around the witch, keeping pace. Yuki-Onnareached a hand out toward Ren, but Kara stepped in the way.

The demon froze, a troubledexpression on her face. Yuki-Onna frowned and moved her head to one side, hersmile returning.

"Surround him," Sakurawhispered, grabbing Kara's hand.

The warmth of the contact withher friend sent pain shooting through her. Her skin was so cold, now, that anymovement, any warmth, hurt her.

"Don't do this — "Ren began.

"Quiet!" Miho snapped."Crouch down."

The three girls surrounded himas best they could. Teeth chattering, they blocked Yuki-Onna's view. No, nother view, Kara thought. Demons see the essence of someone, right? So we'rehiding him behind whatever nothing she sees when she looks at us.

If only they'd had Hachiro'sward.

Hachiro. Thoughts tumbledinto place inside Kara's head, making a terrible kind of sense. If killingsatiated the witch's hunger, then she wouldn't be hungry right now. Even thoughshe would want to fulfill the curse of Kyuketsuki, Yuki-Onna might not kill herright away. She might take her to wherever Hachiro was now. If Kara could keepRen safe, he might be able to lead them all up to the mountain and save them.

Numb hands shaking, fingerslittle more than useless stumps, she pulled away from her friends and reachedup to remove her ward. She could give it to Ren. Save him, and then he couldsave both her and Hachiro in return. Insane, but the only option she could see.

"Kara, no!" Sakurashouted.

Sakura batted at her hand. Karaglanced at her, saw tiny icicles hanging from the jagged cut of her hair, sawSakura reaching up to untie the thong from her own neck.

Sakura took off Kubo's ward,eyes alight with fear and purpose. She turned, reaching out for Ren with bothhands to put the thong around his neck. Miho and Ren were shouting at her,telling her to stop, to put it back on, but Kara barely heard their voices.

She felt the winter's breath onthe back of her neck, and heard the perverse pleasure in Yuki-Onna's voice.

"One of the cursed, righthere in front of me. Delicious," the Winter Witch said.

"No!" Ren shouted,trying to get the ward back around Sakura's neck.

Yuki-Onna contorted her fingersand the snow and wind lifted Sakura from the ground and twisted her around sothat she faced the witch.

"Leave her alone!" Kara screamed.

She and Miho and Ren attacked,but they might as well have been tearing at the wind, their frozen handsuseless, passing through Yuki-Onna as though the witch were a ghost made ofsnow, made of storm.

"My sister will be gratefulwhen I steal your life, cursed girl," Yuki-Onna said, studying Sakura'sface with her black eyes. "But my vengeance comes before hers. Tonight Itake the pretty one, but I shall come for you and yours soon enough."

And with a gust of wind shehurled Sakura across the cafeteria. Sakura flailed like a broken doll, struckthe wall, then fell onto a side table before rolling onto the floor andbeginning to bleed into the snow.

Miho screamed.

Yuki-Onna grabbed Ren and hecried out, frost forming on his face and hair. Kara caught his wrist, trying topull him back, but as the icy wind carried him into the air she was lifted aswell. The storm embraced her. If she had thought she was cold before, that hadbeen nothing in comparison to the pain that screamed through her now, slowingher blood and dulling her thoughts.

Her hand could not grip. Herfingers would not close.

Kara fell, slumping to the snowyfloor. As her consciousness began to retreat, she saw the cafeteria windowsshatter and the storm flowed out into the darkness, carrying Ren with it.

The shadows coalesced at thecorners of her eyes, and then swallowed her, and her mind went dark.

Chapter Twelve

Even in her dreams, Kara couldn'tget warm. Her unconscious mind was filled with the sound of shattering glassand the high, keening wail of the wind. It sounded so much like a scream ofanguish.

From time to time her eyes wouldflutter blearily open and she would see the hospital room around her — thewhite curtain, the metal piping on the guardrail of the bed, the darksilhouette of someone passing by in the brightly lit corridor — and thenshe would surrender to the cold dreams again. Voices reached her, evenunconscious, but the words were impossible to decipher. She recognized them asJapanese, but her brain was too tired to translate.

Sometime during the night shewoke more fully, aware of a terrible weight on her, and she looked down to seethe heavy blanket over her. She still felt cold, but her skin was clammy and itpanicked her a little to be constricted like that. Still, she moved the partsof her body slowly, testing out her feet and ankles, her hands and wrists, herneck and even her spine. She ached all over and there were apparently stitchesin her arm where flying glass had cut her, but otherwise she seemed all right,certainly well enough to move.

As she sat up, turning theblanket down, a slender figure blocked much of the light from the hallway.

"Oh," the nurse saidin a small voice. She hurried into the room, which was lit with a gloomy yellowthat Kara understood was some kind of hospital nightlight. In the semi-dark,Kara could barely make out a stream of blue in the woman's shoulder-lengthhair, and still half-asleep she let out a small laugh.

"You are awake andlaughing?" the nurse said. "The doctor will be very happy."

Kara couldn't say anything. Ifshe did, she feared she would blurt out the source of her amusement, which wasthe streak of blue in the attractive young woman's hair. It had made her thinkof Nurse Joy on all of the old Pokemon episodes she and her friends had watchedwhen they were little. Or was it Officer Jenny with the blue hair? Not that itmattered.

"I'm cold," she toldthe nurse.

Immediately the woman nodded andtried to pull the blanket back up, but Kara shook her head.

"Not that, please? I'm coldinside more than out. Is there any way I could have some tea?"

The nurse looked doubtful. Sheglanced at the clock and only now did Kara see that it was almost two o'clockin the morning.

"Maybe something from thenurses' station?" Kara asked. "Anything hot, really."

The blue-streaked nurse pickedup her chart from the end of the bed and cocked it so that she could read it inthe light coming in from the hall. Apparently satisfied, she set it back down.

"I will see if there isanything that the doctor would not object to."

Kara gave a nod of her head, atiny bow, and the nurse retreated from the room. Only after she left did Kararemember the hundred questions she should have asked upon waking. Where wereher father and her friends? Were they all okay? How many people had died at theschool? She needed to see someone, talk to someone who could tell her what hadhappened.

But with the nurse gone, she layon her side and brought her knees up beneath her, trying to warm herself. Bitsand pieces of memory began to surface. The image seared across her mind was ofthose shark teeth plunged into her father's throat, but others warred for spacein her mind. Yuki-Onna's bottomless black eclipse eyes. Sakura hitting thewall, then slamming down on top of a cafeteria table. Ren being sucked out theshattered caf windows.

Kara shuddered, alone in thedark. She had to know they were all right. If she'd had some kind of telepathicpowers she could have reached out for them, found them with her thoughts andher worries.

Be all right, Dad. Be allright, Sakura, she thought. And then, Hachiro, are you out there?

But of course she received noanswer. She was no telepath, just an ordinary girl dragged through a hell ofextraordinary circumstances. Still she kept reaching out for them with herthoughts, and it occurred to her that she was praying.

By the time the nurse returned,she had slipped back into dreams.

. . Wake up. .

Something jostled her. Kara cameawake slowly, her eyes not quite open but still aware of activity in the roomaround her. Daylight filtered through her slitted eyelids and she heardfamiliar voices.

". . would want to bewoken," Miho was saying. "The doctor said she'd be okay."

"But he did not say weshould wake her," Miss Aritomo replied. "We have all been through aterrible ordeal. We are fortunate to be alive. You and I might be just fine,but the doctor said that Kara needs her rest."

"Aritomo-sensei, pleaselisten," Miho said, her patience obviously wearing thin. "Kara is oneof my best friends. I know her. Decisions are going to be made this morningthat concern her, and she would not want to sleep through them. She would wanta voice."

A flicker of a smile touchedKara's lips as she finally shed the groggy remnants of sleep. Both Yuuka andMiho were so concerned about her, she could not help but appreciate theirconcern. But Miho's pleas had her worried.

Miss Aritomo was notsurrendering. "Miho, Kara's father has made his wishes clear. She needssleep."

Kara tried to speak but hervoice came out in a rasp. As she cleared her throat, they both turned to lookat her, first in surprise and then delight.

"You're awake!" Mihosaid hopefully.

Miss Aritomo shot her afrustrated look, obviously blaming Miho for waking Kara, but then herexpression changed. Yuuka shifted from art teacher to her father's girlfriend,just happy to see Kara awake and apparently well.

"I think I've slept enough,"Kara said, sitting up and reaching for a pitcher of water on the tray table besidethe bed. She fumbled a moment before realizing that the fingers of her righthand were bandaged.

"I'll get that," Mihosaid, hurrying around the bed to pour her a glass of water.

They both studied her curiously,even eagerly, as she drank. When she had put the glass down and cleared herthroat again, she threw back the covers and looked down at her body.

"I'm all in one piece,right?" she asked.

Miss Aritomo nodded. "Youhave — " and she said a word Kara didn't know.

"What's that?" Karainterrupted.

Miho and Miss Aritomo looked atone another.

"When your skin or theflesh is frozen and dies?" Miho ventured.

Kara shivered, a wave of nauseapassing through her. "Frostbite?" she said in English. Then sherepeated the word Miss Aritomo had used for it in Japanese. "Frostbite. Ihave frostbite?"

"Just in your right hand,"Miho said quickly. "And the doctor says it isn't bad. They got the bloodmoving again. You're going to be all right."

A darkness closed around Kara'sheart as she flexed the fingers of her right hand and remembered holding on toRen's wrist, trying to keep Yuki-Onna from taking him away. She could still seethe fear in his eyes as the witch flew out into the snowy night, carrying himalong in the embrace of the storm.

"But Ren's gone," Karasaid.

"Yes," Miss Aritomoagreed. "Ren's gone."

"And without him we can'tfind Hachiro, or break the curse, and. . poor Ren."

"You don't know any of thatfor certain," Miho said.

Kara frowned. "Don't I?" She shook her head and then, remembering the melee in the dormitory, looked upat Miss Aritomo. "What about everyone else? Is my father all right? AndSakura? Are they all right?"

Ever since she had woken in themiddle of the night, a grim suspicion had weighed upon her but she had barelyrecognized its presence. The tone in Miss Aritomo's and Miho's voices duringtheir conversation had been full of dreadful acceptance, the tone of people whohad already suffered tragedy and simply did not want any more of it. All ofthis occurred to her only now, as they both hesitated to answer the question.

"Tell me," Kara said,crossing her hands over her chest and laying her head back on the pillow."Don't do this to me, Miho. Yuuka. Don't do this. Just tell me. Is myfather dead?"

The shock and alarm in MissAritomo's eyes made Kara sigh in relief even before the woman spoke.

"No, no, Kara. Your fatheris here as well. His room is at the other end of this corridor. The doctorintended to move you into his room today, once you were awake and feeling alittle better."

"And he's all right?"

Yuuka brushed a lock of hairaway from her delicate, pretty face. "He had frostbite as well. Worse thanyours. The doctors had to remove two of his toes and the little finger of hisleft hand. He has several broken ribs. Otherwise he is going to be all right. He'sbeen asking for you, but the doctor won't let him get out of bed. He's on painmedication and his ribs are much too tender."

Kara nodded slowly, taking thatin. Awful, but her father would survive. They would be all right.

"What about Sakura?"

Miss Aritomo glanced at Miho,who wore a thin smile, her face partially veiled by her long hair. Miho tookoff her glasses and opened her mouth to speak, and then her smile shattered. Herlower lip quivered and she began to cry.

"Oh, no," Kara said."Miho, come on. Don't. ." She looked at Miss Aritomo. "What'swrong with Sakura?"

Miss Aritomo put her arm aroundMiho for a moment, then broke away and came to sit on the edge of Kara's bed. Shetook Kara's undamaged hand in her own.

"Sakura is stillunconscious," the art teacher said. Her smile was kind, but Kara barelyregistered it. "Miho tells us that Sakura was thrown into a wall. Her headmust have hit the wall. There is damage to her skull and she had a number ofinternal injuries. The doctors have not. . they are not willing to makepredictions about Sakura's condition for at least another twenty-four hours,unless she wakes up before then."

Kara held Miss Aritomo's hand,but she threw her legs over the side of the bed and forced herself to stand.

"Wait, Kara. You cannot — "the teacher said, holding her arm.

"Yuuka," Kara said,more sharply than she'd intended. "I need to see her. I want to see myfather, talk to him. And then. . Sakura."

Just the thought that her friendmight never wake up sapped the strength from her, but Kara refused to sit backdown.

"I'll take you," Mihosaid.

"We should summon a nurse,"Miss Aritomo warned.

"I'm fine," Kara toldher.

She pulled on the hospital robeand followed Miho out into the hall. Her feet were bare and the tiles were verycold underfoot. The loose hospital clothes flapped around her, but she ignoredit all. Miss Aritomo followed, only pausing to explain their destination asthey passed the nurses' station. A grumbling nurse pursued them but seemed moreinterested in keeping an eye on Kara than on forcing her back to bed.

"It is this way," MissAritomo said, guiding them along a corridor that branched off to the left.

When they reached Kara's father'sroom, Miss Aritomo stood back to let her pass, and Kara preceded her throughthe door with Miho following close behind. There were two beds in the room, oneof them empty and awaiting Kara's arrival, except that the old monk, Kubo, satperched on the edge of the bed with the air of a little boy waiting patientlyuntil he could depart.

Kara glanced in surprise at themonk and then turned to her father, barely noticing the presence of the thirdman in the room, Mr. Yamato, who stood near the window, looking out at the grayskies — perhaps watching for any sign of snow.

"Honey, what are you doingwalking around?" her father asked, frowning. He glanced at Miss Aritomo.

"Don't blame Yuuka,"Kara said quickly. "She tried to get me to rest. But you know me betterthan that, Dad. I'm all right. And time is running out. It's. . it mayalready have run out."

Her voice cracked and sheclenched her jaws together a moment, refusing to cry.

"Last night was Hachiro'sthird night on Takigami Mountain. And she's got Ren again. Sakura is pretty badoff, I'm told. We've got to put a stop to this."

Kubo perked up, eyebrows archingas though he had something to say, but he glanced at Mr. Yamato and then atKara's father, awaiting some signal of approval that did not seem to beforthcoming. The old monk cocked his head to one side and continued his patientvigil.

"Kara. ." herfather began again.

She stared at him a moment,taking in the bandaged left hand, knowing when the bandages were removed hewould have one less finger. She couldn't see his feet, and perhaps that was forthe best.

He tried to sit up, and she wentto him.

"No, Dad. Your ribs,"she said, touching him gently on the shoulder, keeping him down.

"With respect, Harper-san,"Mr. Yamato said, "Kara is right. It might be better if she rested, but youare under strict instructions. Your ribs will not heal properly if you do notobey them."

Kara saw the frustration in herfather's eyes and she understood it. He was furious at being so powerless. Butshe also saw his eyelids droop with exhaustion and wondered how tired thepainkillers might be making him.

"Are you all right?" she asked, unable to erase the little girl she'd once been from her voice.

"I will be," herfather replied, gaze fixed upon her eyes. "As long as you are."

"I'm not," Kara saidquickly, turning to Mr. Yamato and Kubo. She gestured to Miho. "None of usare until this curse is over. It's killed so many people already. How many diedlast night?"

"Kara — " MissAritomo chided her.

"Four," Mr. Yamatoreplied grimly. "Seventeen were injured, some of them badly. Your friendWakana fell on the stairs. She broke her arm and suffered a concussion."

"I did not know that,"Miho said.

Miss Aritomo gave her asympathetic look. "You've been with Kara and Sakura all night."

Kara took a deep breath, glancedaround the room, and then looked at the old monk. "Ren was supposed tolead us to Yuki-Onna. Now she has him again. Is there any other way to findthem? To find her?"

Kubo steepled his hands in frontof him, almost as if he were praying. "If we go to Takigami Mountain, Imay be able to find her. Such power as hers leaves echoes in its wake."

"But what will we do then,Unsui?" Mr. Yamato asked. "Yuki-Onna will never let us take the boys."

"If I can find her, andthem, someone will have to lure her away to another part of the mountain. Iwill have wards for both boys. It will be difficult for her reclaim them if shecannot see them."

"How do we lure her away?" Miho asked.

Miss Aritomo shook her head."Not you, girls."?"Who better?" Kara asked, reachingup to finger the smooth stone that hung from the thong around her neck. "Shecan't see us. So, how do we lure her?"?Kubo nodded thoughtfully. Asyouthful as he often seemed, in that moment his eyes seemed very ancientindeed.

"There is a summoningspell. Though if she realizes that you are one of the cursed ones she seeks,you would be in terrible danger."

"I'll do it," Karasaid instantly.

"Kara, no!" her fathersaid, trying to sit up. He hissed in pain and Miss Aritomo helped lower himback to the mattress. Kara thought that his ribs must be pretty badly bustedup, and whatever the doctors were giving him, it wasn't enough.

"Dad, what choice do wehave?" Kara asked. "It's me or Miho. Unless Master Kubo has enough ofthese perfect stones to protect a bunch of police officers, too."

In his eyes she saw that heunderstood the logic, and that he hated it.

"The search on the mountainhas been suspended for the day," Mr. Yamato said. "Captain Nobunagahas most of his officers at the school, or talking to the parents of thestudents who were injured or. . or killed."

They all hesitated at thosewords, but only for a moment.

"I'll keep her safe, Rob,"Miss Aritomo said, clutching his uninjured hand.

Miho cleared her throat. "Withapologies, I believe we have forgotten an important element. I understand thatwe want to rescue Hachiro and Ren no matter what might happen after that, butif Kubo is to lift Kyuketsuki's curse, we will still need to persuade Ume tocome back to Miyazu City."

Kara let out a breath, wearinesscatching up to her. She had forgotten about Ume for a time.

Mr. Yamato turned to gaze outthe window. "Not to worry. Ume should be here shortly. She decided thatshe would rather come by choice than in police custody."

Mai sat on the tatami mat floorin her dorm room, leaning against her bed, and stared at Wakana's desk. Thegirl kept everything perfectly neat. Even the pen on the desk had been laiddown in a vertical line parallel to the edge of the desk.

Why did you try to help?she thought.

Moments after Mr. Harper hadleft the room in search of Kara, Wakana had insisted on following him. They hadall worked together to save each other from the Hannya, and she said she wouldnever forgive herself if she stayed safe in her room when something was out therehunting their friends.

Part of Mai wanted to argue thatthey were not friends with those girls, but she knew what Wakana meant. Theyshared a bond with Kara and the others; it might not be friendship in theday-to-day definition, but it meant something. Wakana had opened the door. Evenwith Miss Aritomo arguing with her that the best thing they could do foreveryone was to stay safe, Wakana had insisted, and so Mai and Miss Aritomo hadgone along with her.

The storm had buffeted them onthe stairs as they descended, and then Wakana had lost her footing. Now, alonein the room that they shared, Mai stared at her hand. She had reached out tograb Wakana, but her fingertips had just grazed the girl's sleeve. Even overthe roar of the wind, she had heard the crack of bone as Wakana's arm broke. ThenWakana had reached the landing between floors and hit her head.

Moments later, the storm hadsimply ended, wind dying, temperature in the building rising despite theshattered windows. But Wakana had not moved.

Mai had feared the worst. Fortunately,Wakana would be all right, but the same could not be said of Sora, or of thefour students who had died last night. In her walk to the bathroom to shower,Mai had heard weeping coming from behind many doors. She would have gone overto the hospital already this morning to be with Wakana, except that she waswaiting.

She dug her cell phone out ofher pocket and checked the time. Her anger, which had been simmering allmorning, began to rise. Waiting didn't suit her, but there was nothing shecould do about it.

Twenty minutes later, just asher patience was about to reach its end, a knock came upon the door. Mai jumpedup and ran to open it, swung the door inward, and there she was, standing inthe corridor, awaiting an invitation like some movie vampire.

"Ume," Mai said,unsmiling.

The girl had lost none of herpoise. She was tall and slender, her long hair perfect, her face like that of aporcelain doll. With a toss of her hair, she lifted her chin with her typicalsuperior air, and smiled as falsely as ever.

"Did you miss me?" Umeasked.

Mai laughed. The reactionstemmed from disbelief rather than amusement, but Ume was too shallow andself-serving to notice, for she stepped into the room and gave Mai aperfunctory hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"You managed to persuadeyour parents to let you take the car, I see," Mai said as she closed thedoor.

"It was not easy," Umereplied, glancing around the room. "But Mr. Yamato did not leave me muchchoice."

The girl — once queen ofthe soccer bitches and as imperious as ever — sat down on Wakana's bedand looked up expectantly.

"All right," Ume said,"here's what you're going to say."

"No," Mai said curtly.

Ume laughed, though she seemed abit unsure now. "I have not even told you, yet."

"You don't tell meanything. You don't go to this school anymore. I will not follow your lead andit shames me to know that I ever did. You were always cruel and small andpetty, but you are a murderer, as well. I have nothing but contempt for you."

Ume flinched. Her nostrilsflared and her eyes narrowed in fury.

"I didn't kill anyone,"she lied, rising from the bed. "And for someone who needs my help, youhave a strange way of showing it."

Ume started toward the door butMai blocked her way. Ume reached out as though to push her, and Mai slapped heracross the face. The sound echoed in the small room. Ume blinked in shock.

"My roommate. . myfriend, Wakana, is in the hospital. Sakura may not survive her injuries. Hachiroand Ren are missing. Sora is dead. Daisuke. . do you remember him? Probablynot, because he was quiet and not handsome and he was kind. Daisuke is dead,because of you. All of them, because of what you started. Jiro, who you claimto have loved, is dead because of you."

Ume's face reddened, and notonly where Mai had slapped her. Her gaze shifted around as though she soughtsome escape. Her lip quivered and she shook her head in adamant refusal of thetruth.

"That is ridiculous."

So Mai laid it all for her,everything that had happened, and what Kubo thought might be able to be done tobreak the curse.

"You may not have beencursed by Kyuketsuki," Mai said, "but you share the blame for all ofthis death. It's as if you planted some seed and evil grew from it. Youmurdered Akane Murakami, and you need to atone for that. You should confess,Ume. For the sake of your own soul.

"Everyone knows you'reguilty. I would wager that even your parents know, deep inside, that you killedAkane. You set it all in motion, and now it is time for you to do something — a very small thing — to help stop it."

Ume looked as though she mightcontinue to argue, but then she sagged backward, all the fight leaving her. Shetook several deep breaths, and then she stood a little straighter.

"I'll help. If it meansbreaking the curse and preventing others from dying, and this Master Kubo needsme at his ritual because I was there when Kyuketsuki was defeated, I will help.

"But I admit nothing."

Kara had expected Sakura to bein intensive care. Years of watching American television had prepared her forbreathing tubes and blinking machines, so she was surprised to find very littleof that apparatus when she entered Sakura's room.

"She's been like this sincelast night," Miho said, stepping up beside Kara.

They stood there a long moment,staring at their friend's unmoving form. An IV dripped fluid into Sakura's armand a single monitor beeped along with her heartbeat. Another — like asmall television screen — seemed to be measuring her body temperaturealong with her pulse. Her left arm was in a cast and where her pale bluehospital top had ridden up, bandages showed from underneath. The left side ofher face was bruised and swollen, but there were no stitches. Only the bruisesand bandages hinted at the trauma beneath. To someone who didn't know better,she looked as though she might wake up — in quite a bit of pain — anymoment. Kara wondered what her parents would do if she died. After Akane'smurder, Sakura had been all they had left and they had ignored her for a year. Noone should have to lose a child, but to have them both die. .

Miho took her hand and Kara heldon tight, squeezing.

"Kara?" Miss Aritomobegan. She knew the teacher was about to ask if she was okay, and she was verymuch not okay. But the time for thinking about herself had passed.

Kara stood up straighter,ignoring the aches and stiffness and the lingering chill in her bones. Shereached up with both hands — bandaged and not — and pushed her hairback out of her face. The hospital gown she wore gaped at the back and she wasgrateful for the robe, but she still felt exposed and vulnerable. She ignoredthe feeling, narrowing her focus down to only the tasks that were ahead ofthem.

"There's nothing we can dofor her here," she said, and let go of Miho's hand.

"But — " Mihobegan.

Kara turned to her. "She'sin the doctor's hands. The only thing we can do for is get Hachiro and Renback, get Ume here, and make sure Kubo lifts the curse, so when Sakura wakes upshe can have a normal life again."

Miho fixed her with a hard look.She wasn't ready to leave.

"I talked to her, lastnight," Miho said. "And this morning. And I talked to you as well."

Kara frowned. "What do youmean? I don't remember — "

"I wasn't sure if you weregoing to wake up," Miho said, her voice firm, despite the sorrow in hereyes. "The doctor said you would be all right, but I couldn't be sure. SoI talked to you. And to her."

Miho nodded at Sakura. Karalooked at the unconscious figure on the bed, saw her chest rising and falling witheach breath, and for a moment all of her defenses were stripped away. She hadbarely acknowledged that this was Sakura, a girl who had become more than afriend to her, almost a sister. The harsh cut of her hair had been softened bydisarray. All of her rebelliousness, her spirit, was gone.

She could die. Kara took thatin, brought it close to her heart as though holding it in her fists. Her motherhad died and the loss remained with her, hurting her every single day. Thehardest part of dealing with such loss was in looking to the future and knowingthat she would never see her mother again, never hear her voice or herinfectious laugh, never have another hug or do a weird, goofy little dance inthe kitchen the way they often had when some silly television commercial jinglegot stuck in their heads.

Sakura could be gone.

Kara did not dare sit on theedge of the bed, unsure how delicate her friend's condition might be. She knelton the floor and took Sakura's hand in hers.

"It's me, Kara," shesaid, voice softly, feeling faintly ridiculous and grateful that only Mihocould hear her. "I just. . I want you to know. ."

She hesitated. In an apparenteffort to give Kara privacy, Miho walked across the room and stood looking outthe window.

"I love you, Sakura,"Kara whispered. And then she said it louder. "You and Miho are the bestfriends I've ever had. I could not bear to lose you. And I won't. We won't. Ipromise you that we are going to fix this. . all of it. . and there willbe no more curses, no more demons, no more — "

"Ghosts," Miho said.

Kara started to nod inagreement, but then she frowned. Something was odd about the way Miho had saidthat. It hadn't sounded like she was being helpful, but more like she wasmaking an observation.

"Come over here," Mihosaid, her voice small.

As Kara stood, she watched Mihobend close to the window, peering out and squinting as though trying to makeout something at a great distance.

"Ghosts?" Kara echoed."Do you mean more than one?"

Miho stood back and gestured forher to look. The view showed the street in front of the hospital, a busy MiyazuCity avenue with cars, people on bicycles and on foot, and a man selling fruitfrom a small cart in front of a boarded up, abandoned shop across the road.

She saw Daisuke's ghost first,standing by the fruit seller, but he wasn't alone. There were at least a dozenothers, most of whom Kara did not recognize. Sora stood in the middle of theroad, and a little electric car carrying the implements of a street sweeperbuzzed right through him. The ghost did not even seem to notice.

"I see Jiro," Mihowhispered. "And Hana."

Kara had not known Jiro, but shesaw Hana as well, along with Chouku, another girl who had been a victim of theketsuki, the monster that Kyuketsuki had set loose upon the school.

"No one else sees them,"Miho said.

Kara nodded. She had noticedthat as well. People strolling or riding or driving by did not seem to registerthe presence of the ghosts. It confirmed what she had previously suspected,that only those already touched by the supernatural could see the ghosts.

"What do you think theywant?" Miho asked.

"I have no idea," Karasaid.

And that much was true. Butwhatever the ghosts did want, she thought it must be important for them all togather like this. She hoped that Kubo would have an answer, because she fearedthat if they could not figure it out, very soon they would all beghosts.

Chapter Thirteen

Sakura knew she was dreaming,but only in that distant way which never seems to make the dream feel any lessreal. Standing on the shore of Miyazu Bay, she gazed across the bay at theblack pines that grew thick on Ama-no-Hashidate and at the horizon beyond. Theair shimmered with a dim gold light that made it feel like twilight, or likethat moment just before a storm broke, when the air grew thick with static andmoisture and the promise of rain, and thunder would roll in from the distance,like a stampede of horses about to come over the rise.

But there were no horseshere. No thunder. Just the quiet lap of water against the shore.

She wore her school uniform,and yet not hers. Sakura personalized hers as much as possible with pins andbadges, and it had never really fit her well. But what she wore now waspristine and crisp, brand new and a perfect fit. Perfect. That was her. Theperfect student. The perfect child. The perfect sister.

But, of course, she had neverbeen any of those things. That had always been Akane.

"Where are you?" she asked, her voice echoing over the water.

But Akane did not answer. Thetrees whispered back in her stead, and as happened so often in dreams, Sakurarealized that she had not noticed them until now. She stepped back from thewater and turned to study the trees. They were so close that their branchesseemed to be reaching for her, but it wasn't the trees that frightened her.

The ground sloped up from thebay and at the top of that slope stood the silhouette of Monju-no-Chie school. Yetwhen she glanced at the school she frowned, narrowing her gaze. Somethingseemed off and it took her a moment to realize that the building seemed to haveshrunk.

No. It's not smaller. Justfurther away.

Of course. So far. Toofar. When the killers came for her, there would be no safety to be found therefor the girl who would die on the muddy slope.

Muddy? she thought, glancingdown. And then it was. She could smell fresh rain, as though a storm had justpassed, and the ground was soft and spongy underfoot. The grass on the slopewas slicked down. In places — where it had been worn away by generationsof students making a path down to the bay — the soil had turned dark andmalleable. Mud.

Fear rippled through Sakuraand her breath came too fast, matching her racing heart. This was all wrong. Sheglanced at the bay again, then spun toward the trees, wondering if that waswhere the attack would originate. Who had killed her? Who would killher?

Not you. They killed Akane.

And then the memories swarmedin. She looked out at the water where they had drowned her sister, but it hadnot started in the bay. It had begun here, on this muddy ground. They hadbeaten her savagely, kicking her nearly to death even before they got her tothe water.

But Akane was still here. Somehowshe knew that.

Grief rolled in like thestorm she had felt before had finally arrived. She wanted to shout at thenight, to cry to the heavens, to tear her hair and scream. Out of the corner ofher eye she saw something white flutter in the darkness and she spun to seewhat it had been. A length of black hair flew behind as the figure darted intothe tree;, branches swayed, and it was gone. But Sakura knew the girl wouldn'tstay hidden for very long and she did not want to see her. . the killer. Perhapsthey were all there, the faceless, merciless girls who had murdered her sister.

She found herself walkingtoward the trees.

Maybe they've come for me thistime, she thought. Immediately the idea took root and grew. She stoodstaring into the trees, breathing hard, something rising up inside of her, ascream, a plea, a certainty she had never put into words before. And, at last,turning toward the water, she let it out.

"Why did you leave mebehind?" she screamed.

I did not leave you, a voicewhispered in her ear — Akane's voice. I'm still here.

Slowly, Sakura turned, andshe saw Akane standing on the muddy slope, a red bow in her hair, her smileironic and teasing all at the same time. Sakura rushed to her sister, crushedAkane in her embrace, thinking of all of the times that they had fought andsaid cruel things to each other, times she wanted to take back. The scent ofripe plums filled her nose, Akane's favorite perfume, and Sakura laughed outloud.

"It really is you!" she said.

"Yes," Akaneagreed.

But Sakura felt her joyshatter, felt the darkness flooding into her heart, and she stepped back fromAkane, shaking her head. After all, she knew. The school was too small, theworld too quiet, the light too surreal.

"You're only a dream,"Sakura said, and even asleep, she began to dread waking. Grief wracked her withsorrow.

Akane reached out and heldSakura's face in her hands, held her tightly so that they were eye to eye, andshe shook her head.

No, she said, withoutspeaking. I am here. You are dying, but I am here with you.

"Like the other ghosts?"

Akane nodded, and now what floodedinto Sakura's mind were not words at all. They were images, moments, spillingout of her head and shifting the landscape around them. Sora's ghost on themountainside, in the falling snow. Daisuke on the train. She had not been thereto see Daisuke's ghost, but she could imagine it vividly. . or perhaps itwasn't imagination at all. Perhaps the image came from Akane.

"I don't understand,"Sakura said. "What does this have to do with Yuki-Onna?"

Akane smiled. "Winterghosts. She's a ghost herself, in a way, the spirit of the woman who died onthe mountain during the season's first snowfall. And when Yuki-Onna comes, andthe snow falls, the spirits who have not yet moved on can rise with her."

Sakura shook her head. "Butwhy haven't you moved on?"

"I wasn't ready to letgo," Akane said. "None of us were. It was too fast, too soon. We hadpeople here to look after."

The world shifted aroundSakura. Akane still stood in front of her, but now they were little girlsagain, no more than eight and nine, and they were in the bedroom they hadalways shared growing up. Music played, but as it happened so often in dreams,Sakura could not make out the tune. She inhaled the scent of ripe plums yetagain.

"I've been looking aftermyself," Sakura said.

A terrible sadness filledAkane's eyes. "Not very well."

Sakura felt cold. Her chesthurt with every breath. Pain swept in, lancing through her side and clutchingher skull in an iron grip, and slowly sounds began to filter into her bedroom. Pokemonlined shelves on the walls. Her little Catbus purse hung from the back of achair.

They had been so happy here.

"Am I really dying?" she asked, her voice so small inside her own head.

Akane smiled. "Nottoday. I told you, I am here to look after you. You need strength. You need toheal. You need life, and I can give you mine."

Sakura recoiled, shaking herhead. She didn't like the sound of that.

"No. What do you mean,life? Akane, what do you — "

The carpet became a muddyslope by the bay, the room vanished around them.

"You need to live,"Akane said.

She reached out to touch hersister's face, her hand passing right through flesh and bone, and. .

Sakura woke, inhaling sharply,pain clamped around her skull. Her eyes darted back and forth but she couldbarely move. Machines beeped. She tried to speak but her voice failed her.

She closed her eyes tightly. Herthoughts were blurred but she wondered if this was what it felt like to die.

And then she opened her eyes tosee the ghost of her sister, Akane, standing over her bed. Sakura feltsomething break inside of her. For days, others had been seeing ghosts and allshe had wanted was to see a ghost of her own, to be in the presence of hersister one last time.

"I miss you," Sakurarasped weakly.

Akane did not speak, only shookher head with that smile.

Though she had put aside so muchof her rage and grief already, Sakura had been holding on to a small, burningshard of fury, hidden deep inside. Often she had hidden it even from herself,because this anger was not directed at Akane's murderer, but at Akane herself,for leaving. It made no sense and it was not fair, but Sakura had nursed thepain and anger for a year and a half, ever since Akane's death.

Now she felt it leave her, andfresh sadness filled her. She wanted to apologize somehow, but already herstrength was fading and the darkness swirled around the edges of her thoughtsagain, unconsciousness about to claim her once more.

Whatever toughness Sakura hadtried to nurture in her outward image, whatever rebelliousness might be in hernature, in that moment she felt her heart laid bare.

"I love you," shesaid, tears welling in her eyes.

Akane reached down to touch herface, bent to kiss her forehead, and even as Sakura's eyelids flickered and shebegan to drift off, she thought she saw Akane begin to vanish. It seemed almostas if the ghost were vanishing into Sakura, and as this thought occurredto her, a surge of new vitality flooded through her. The pain in her headabated dramatically, if not completely.

"Akane?" Sakurawhispered, touching a hand to her chest.

The ghost had disappeared, butSakura thought she knew where her sister had gone. She didn't know how, but sheknew why. Her sister loved her, and something had to be done about Yuki-Onna. Shecould feel the thoughts in her mind, although they did not feel like her own.

Though the pain in her head hadabated, still she felt exhausted, perhaps from the painkillers, and sleep beganto claim her again.

As consciousness slipped away,she felt sure that she smelled ripe plums.

Kara and Miss Aritomo hadoriginally planned to go all the way to the observatory on Takigami Mountain tosummon Yuki-Onna. They worried that if they did not go far enough up themountain that they would not truly be on it, and then the summoning might notbe successful, and then Kubo and the others would have no chance of findingHachiro and Ren. It was Kara's father who had prevailed upon them tocompromise. Halfway up from the parking lot to the observatory and no further.. about the point where Sora's ghost had first appeared. If they could drawYuki-Onna there, it would bring her even further from wherever she was keepingthe boys, but leave Kara and Miss Aritomo closer to the car.

Nobody bothered to point outthat the car would be poor protection from the Woman in White. She could freezethe windows so hard that the glass would be brittle as eggshell. Or smash themout with a gust of wind.

Better all around, Kara thought,if Yuki-Onna did not attack them at all.

She knelt in the snow, rubbingthe smooth stone ward that Kubo had given her between her thumb and forefinger.The leather thong around her neck smelled nice and she relished that for amoment, then let it drop.

"This is the strangestritual I've ever heard of," she said aloud, shivering as an icy breezeblew up, glancing around to make sure that was all it was.

From a small stand of pines offto the right of the path, a polite voice replied.

"Master Kubo is the Unsui,"Miss Aritomo said, poking her head out from between two thick pines. "Hewould not mislead you."

Kara stared at her. Miss Aritomohad once had a great love of Noh theater, until an attempt to perform a Nohplay at school — combined with the curse of Kyuketsuki — had led toone of the most famous demons of the Noh stage coming to life and possessingher body. Now, though she still advised the Noh Club at Monju-no-Chie school,her passion for the art seemed diminished.

Today, however, she had worn amask from her vast collection. Masks were an integral part of Noh theatre,vital to performance and storytelling. Kara knew she must have seen thisparticular mask before — with a wisp of white beard, green horns, goldand black eyes, and a bright red tongue, it had to be a demon or evil spirit — but she could not place it or remember its name. Not that the name matteredmuch. Kubo had said that the wards would be powerful, but that spirits saw theessence of a person, not really their face, and that masks might help hide theperson's essence.

It wouldn't hide Yuuka, but itmight buy her a few minutes of confusion if the Yuki-Onna discovered her hidingthere. Kara had wanted to take the mask for herself and give Miss Aritomo theward, but no one would agree. She and Sakura and Miho were cursed; they — and the boys in whom the Winter Witch had taken such an interest — werethe ones who needed the most protection. But it frightened Kara to have MissAritomo there with only a mask to hide her.

She prayed that Kubo really didknow what he was talking about.

"What are you waiting for?" Miss Aritomo said. "You need to begin."

Kara glanced at her cell phone,saw the time, and knew that Yuuka was right. Kubo, Miho, and Mr. Yamato were onthe mountain, waiting for Yuki-Onna to leave the boys behind. It was time tobegin the summoning.

She took a deep breath and letit out. Her every exhalation plumed into icy mist in the air. The sky hung lowand gray, thick with unfallen snow. But she knew that the storm could begin atYuki-Onna's merest whim.

Working quickly, Kara scoopedsnow from the ground and fashioned a crude snow-woman. From her pocket shewithdrew two black stones Kubo had given her, which she pressed into the snowfor eyes, and then a small swatch of white silk, which she wrapped around hersnow-woman's neck as a kimono.

With a thumb-tack she prickedher finger and she squeezed out a few drops of blood, which soaked into thesnow-woman instantly. Several more drops dribbled onto the snow around it, andthen Kara reached into the pack she had brought and withdrew the book. It hadcome from Mr. Yamato's library, but there was nothing at all special about it. Thetitle translated as Popular Japanese Folktales and the contents werejust as boring and ordinary as described. This was no grimoire full of arcanerites, but something taught to school children.

Kubo had said that it didn'tmatter what the book was, as long as the story was about Yuki-Onna. There weredozens of incarnations of the story, but this was apparently one of the mostcommon.

Kara held the book open to thefirst page of the story in question and dripped three more tiny splashes ofblood onto the paper. Then she picked it up, and began to read aloud inJapanese.

Telling Yuki-Onna's story.

Giving it life.

Kubo had told them all that inthe absence of real worship, storytelling was the modern world equivalent. Theblood, the snow-woman. . they made the story an offering, and such thingswere so few and far between in the twenty-first century that they would turnthe story — when told aloud — into a powerful summoning. Yuki-Onnawould not be able to stay way. Curiosity alone would have compelled her, evenif the power of the summoning did not.

And so Kara read:

"Two woodcutters were ontheir way home one very cold evening when a great snowstorm overtook them. Whenthey arrived at the ferry, they found that the ferryman had gone away, leavinghis boat on the other side of the river. It was too cold to swim, so thewoodcutters took shelter in the ferryman's hut. They had nothing with which tobuild a fire, and so could only cover themselves with their coats and lay downto rest and wait out the storm, which they though would end soon.

"The old man quickly fellasleep, but the boy lay awake a long time, listening to the howl of the windand the battering of snow upon the door and roof. At last, in spite of thecold, he too fell asleep.

"He was awakened by ascattering of snow upon his face — "

Kara paused, frowning deeply,for the wind had picked up. She glanced about, heard some shuffling in thepines — though Miss Aritomo stayed well hidden this time — and onlythen did she notice the snowflakes that floated gently down to alight upon thepages of the open book.

Swallowing her fear, shecontinued to read.

Her hands shook as thetemperature dropped sharply. It was working. If she kept reading the sky wouldchurn and the storm would blast through and them Yuki-Onna would be there. Karatook a deep breath and she thought of Hachiro, and of Ren, and of the peoplewho had already died because of the Woman in White. For several seconds sheclosed her eyes, halting her reading, trying to muster up her courage, soafraid that she would end up like Sora, frozen solid, dead in an instant.

"Why did you stop? Keepreading," a voice like the sighing of the wind said, just beside herear.

It was not Miss Aritomo.

Miho leaned against a tree, itsknots and bare, broken branches jabbing her back. She had sat on the ground inthe snow for a while, but it had gotten too cold for her. The snow did not seemto bother Kubo, however. The old monk sat cross-legged in the snow, barelyseeming to make an impression. His eyes were closed and his expression one ofutter serenity. His hands lay open and palm upward on his lap, and if it werenot for the straightness of his spine, Miho would have thought he had fallenasleep.

Mr. Yamato stood a shortdistance away. The principal had gone from anxious to jittery. He held an unlitcigarette between his lips and from time to time he would take it out and holdit between his fingers, just as he would if he were actually smoking it. Whenthey had first come up the mountain, the old monk had warned him not to lightit, and so instead the principal used it as a personal comfort, like a childmight hang on to a favorite stuffed animal.

They had driven north and comeup to the base of Takigami Mountain from that side. The climb was a bit steeperand the forest there thicker, but it was not really that much more difficultthan the observatory side. What drew tourists to that spot was the convenienceof it, the well-kept observatory and the nearness to the rest of Miyazu City,not to mention the view.

Kubo had guided them up throughthe trees, sometimes following established paths and other times forging hisown trail through areas of the mountain that showed no sign of human intrusion.The silence on the mountain made Miho uneasy. She felt as though spirits lurkedbehind every tree, watching them pass as they journeyed further fromcivilization and from safety. She told herself that was just in her head, thatshe was just being paranoid, but she knew that a girl with a curse on her had agood reason to think that everything was out to get her.

From time to time, Kubo wouldstop, give a little croaking cough, and then spit into the air. At first Mihohad flinched in revulsion and worried about the old monk's health, but then shenoticed that each time the Unsui performed this tiny ritual, he would watch theway the wind took his spittle, studying it as a tracker would study the printsof an animal on the ground. Several times he had stopped for several minutes,closed his eyes, and seemed to be listening to something Miho could not hear.

Not listening, she haddecided after a while. Feeling.

Those weren't the only peculiarthings Kubo had done in their search for Yuki-Onna, and the place she kept Renand Hachiro. The monk had taken out a sheet of rice paper, torn it into tinyshreds, and blown the pieces out of his palm in order to watch them swirl awayon the breeze and skitter across the snow. Some small writing had been scribbledon the paper, but she had been unable to make out even a single character. Kubohad chanted softly under his breath and then, each time, taken a swig of whathe said was plum wine from a small ceramic flask. He claimed that this was partof his search for Yuki-Onna and, watching him, Miho actually believed him.

Perhaps twenty minutes afterthey had started up the mountainside, Kubo had seemed to lock on target,somehow. After that it was not a matter of searching, but of rushing. The oldmonk moved with speed and agility, skipping over fallen trees and duckingbeneath jagged branches so swiftly that both Miho and the cigarette-craving Mr.Yamato had difficulty keeping up, losing sight of Kubo several times as theyfollowed.

The higher they climbed, the colderthe air. But there was more to it than that. If Miho looked carefully, shecould see that in some places the snow seemed more significant, the treesfrosted with ice. Every time she studied their path ahead and tried to guesswhere Kubo would lead them next, she was correct. Yuki-Onna was a creature ofwinter, and she left her mark.

Perhaps an hour had passed sincethey had come up a steep rise where an outcropping of stone jutted from thesnow, walked past a few bare trees that seemed to lean together into a kind ofarch, and found Kubo sitting just as he was now. The old monk had looked up atMiho and spoken a single word: "Call."

Miho had done as she was told,using her cell phone to call Kara and tell her to get in position for thesummoning. Kubo had explained that no return call would be necessary; if thesummoning worked, he would know, and sense Yuki-Onna's departure.

But for Miho the waiting wastorture.

She pushed away from the treeand walked over to Mr. Yamato. He held his unlit cigarette down low as if tohide it, though that was impossible. Obviously the principal did not wishanyone to know that he smoked, so Miho did him the courtesy of pretending shedid not see it.

"I wonder — " shebegan.

Kubo thrust himself from theground so abruptly that he startled them both. The cigarette fell from Mr.Yamato's hand and Miho uttered a squeak of surprise, reaching up to reassureherself that her glasses would not slip off.

The old monk turned to them,grim and commanding. "We must hurry."

And then he was off, dartingthrough the trees, and Miho and Mr. Yamato ran to catch up to him. Brancheswhipped at Miho, the forest blurring around her, her entire focus on followingthe cloud wanderer, whose shoes barely seemed to touch the snow. Mr. Yamatobreathed heavily as he struggled to keep pace with her, but he began to fallbehind almost immediately. Miho did not slow to wait for him; if she had, shewould have lost Kubo's path.

For several long minutes theyran, and before Miho truly understood what had happened, she realized they hadentered a storm. The wind blew. Branches swayed and cracked. Snow whipped ather face. Terror seized her. The storm had come on even more suddenly than theone during their field trip, when Sora had been frozen to death.

But then the truth struck her. Thisstorm had not found them, they had found it.

She came around a thick stand ofevergreens and nearly collided with Kubo. He stood and stared at a formation ofice and snow. It had the shape of a giant ant hill, but twisted and pitted andscoured by the wind. A large, dark, cave-like hole yawned in the face of thething and Miho could only stare at it.

The snow had begun to subside. Didthat mean Yuki-Onna had left?

"We may not have much time,"the old monk said.

But Mr. Yamato came stumbling upbehind them, and he stared at the ice hill. "Impossible."

Kubo sniffed. "Very fewthings are impossible."

"This wasn't hereyesterday," Mr. Yamato said, taking several steps toward the ice hill."The police and volunteers have been scouring the mountain. They wouldhave found this."

Kubo shook his head. "Itisn't always here."

Miho turned to stare at him."What?"

The cloud wanderer looked backat her with eyes like thunderstorms, full of lightning. "Yuki-Onna is anancient thing. She exists now in a world that is neither here nor there,neither spirit nor flesh. The winter she brings is not the winter you know, andit is with her always. Your friends have been with her in that storm, but nowshe has gone to see who has summoned her. But Kara will not be able to distracther for very long. We must be gone before the witch returns. Do you understand?"

Miho nodded. "Enough."

Mr. Yamato ran past them, headedfor the dark cave in the face of the ice hill. Kubo and Miho hurried to catchup. As they reached the hole in that strange, tapered hill of ice, Miho felt afresh wave of fear wash over her, but Kubo did not hesitate and she knew thatshe could not, either.

Mustering her courage, Mihofollowed Kubo and Mr. Yamato into the ice cave. Snow crunched underfoot. Onlywhen she had gone ten or twelve feet did she realize that a dim gray lightfiltered in from somewhere, holes in the twisted surface of the ice hill,perhaps.

Mr. Yamato had paused in frontof her, but once he started moving again, she saw that they had entered a smallchamber, whose floor was dark and textured. It took her a moment to realizethat this was not ice or snow, but earth and scrub and roots — theground.

Two figures lay curled up on theground as though sleeping. Mr. Yamato rushed toward them, but Miho was faster.

"Hachiro, wake up!" she said, crouching beside him, jostling him hard. She glanced over at Ren, whoshivered with the cold, even asleep.

Mr. Yamato shook Ren. "Boys,let's go!"

Kubo remained at the chamberentrance. His breath plumed in the freezing icebox the ice hill had turned outto be. Not far away, Miho could see a sort of menagerie of human statuary thatshe felt sure had once been actual people. But the boys. . she felt Hachiro'spulse. Slow, but his heart was beating. They were alive.

"Come quickly," Kubourged.

"Hachiro!" Mihoshouted.

His eyes opened. He flinchedwith surprise, then scrambled backward as if fearful of them. For a moment itlooked as though he had thought he might be dreaming, and then relief andhappiness lit his face.

"Is Kara-?"

"She's fine," Mihosaid. "Put this on!"

Miho held up the ward Kubo hadset aside for Hachiro, then quickly helped him tie the leather thong around thehulking kid's thick neck.

Ren sat up as well, andsubmitted to Mr. Yamato tying the last of the wards around his own neck, buthis gaze was dark and hopeless.

"You shouldn't have come,"Ren said. "She'll never let us leave her. You're all as good as dead."

Miho smiled. "You'rewelcome," she said, reaching out and pulling him to his feet. "ButYuki-Onna is occupied elsewhere at the moment, so start running, and try not todie!"

The book of folktales fell fromKara's hands and dropped into the snow. A gust of wind picked it up, whirlingit around, lifting it on air until Yuki-Onna plucked it out of the gentlyswirling snow with pale, beautiful, slender fingers.

"What is your name,girl?" the Woman in White asked.

The words gripped Kara with afear deeper than any she had ever known. Yuki-Onna could see her. Girl! Thewitch could see her. The ward had worked before, in the cafeteria kitchen, butnow somehow it had failed.

The snow woman flipped throughthe pages of the book with a gentleness and delicacy that seemed like littlemore than a mask. Kara took a deep breath and studied Yuki-Onna's beautifulface, so perfectly sculpted and so beautiful except for the black pits of hereyes. Her hair moved in the breeze as if she were underwater, swaying andfloating. Her feet did not touch the ground. Her skin was whiter than thewhitest snow.

Yuki-Onna threw the book and agust of wind carried it away, spinning the book, fanning its pages and sendingit soaring up over the bare branches of the skeletal trees around them. Thenthe witch looked at her and -

No. Those black eyes werehard to read, but Kara was certain they were not focused on her. The witch wasclever. Kara had been fooled at first. Yuki-Onna could not see her after all.

But that did not mean the Womanin White could not kill her. Or could she? If Yuki-Onna only saw human essence,and Kara's was masked, would the witch even see her footsteps in the snow ifshe walked away? Kubo had instructed her to say nothing and to stay completelystill, but she could not help the tremors of fear that went through her or theurge to flee. This close to Yuki-Onna, she could feel the cold at the heart ofthe witch, could sense its otherness and its malice.

A rustle came from the trees andKara held her breath. No, no, Yuuka. Stay still, she thought, prayingthat Miss Aritomo would not give herself away. If she believed Yuki-Onna wasabout to attack, Kara knew that her father's girlfriend would try to save her. Please,stay still. I'll be all right.

Yuki-Onna looked over at theplace where Miss Aritomo had hidden herself, with only a mask over her face todistract the witch and no guarantee, even from Kubo, that it would work.

The witch began to glide towardthe trees.

"No!" Kara said.

Yuki-Onna spun, her triumphantsmile revealing rows of little shark teeth. "I asked your name, girl? Whoare you?"

"If you are winter, then Iam spring," Kara said.

Hatred contorted the witch'sface, making beauty hideous. "You are nothing. Just a little girl witha sprig of magic."

Yuki-Onna came for her, then,her fingers elongating into icy knives. Her jaws opened too wide, revealingonly blackness and those shark teeth within. Her eyes sunk deeper, turnedblacker. Kara's lower lip trembled and she thought she might scream or cry. Instead,she held her breath and shrank down, crouching as the witch grasped at the air,searching for her, head cocked to one side. Her icy fingers missed Kara byseveral feet, but they kept clutching at nothing and eventually they would findher.

But then the witch faltered andlifted her chin. Her beauty and poise returned and in seconds it was as if themonster had never been there. Even her eyes seemed soft and almost ordinary inthat moment.

Until the witch's savage grinreturned.

"Stupid girl. I amancient, but I am no fool."

Kara saw it in the witch's eyes.Yuki-Onna knew that she had been lured away, knew that she had been tricked. Thewind whipped into a raging storm, snow churning around Yuki-Onna for a fewseconds before it subsided, but when the moment had passed and the windreturned to normal, Yuki-Onna was gone.

"Oh, no," Kara said."She's going back for them."

Chapter Fourteen

Mai and Ume stood over Sakura'sbed, only the injured girl's breathing and the soft beep of machines breakingthe quiet in the hospital room. Though Ume continued to insist that she haddone nothing wrong, her air of superiority had begun to crack. She had beenhesitant to even enter Sakura's hospital room, but Mai had insisted. And nowMai watched as Ume fidgeted uneasily, not wanting to even look at theunconscious girl on the bed. . the dying girl.

Ume reached up and tucked a lockof her hair behind her ear. In all the time Mai had known her, Ume had movedand spoken with a swagger that sometimes verged on arrogance, and other timesfully embraced it. Now, for once, Ume seemed at a loss for what to say or do.

"This has nothing to dowith me," Ume said, almost as if she were arguing with herself.

Beside her, Mai stiffened, angersparking in her again. "It has everything to do with you. You may not haveintended for the chain of events that followed — there's no way you couldhave guessed at the power you were invoking, the evil that would come from it — but you committed murder."

Fear and anger flashed in Ume'seyes and she shot Mai a bitter look. "She was never meant to die." Ina blink, her uncertainty returned. "Not that I'm admitting anything. I'mnot."

Mai almost laughed. "Youdon't have to admit anything. I told you. Everyone knows you're guilty. Thatyou're a killer."

What flickered in Ume's gazethen, Mai could not interpret, but she wondered. Had she seen regret there? Sorrow?Grief? Or just varying shades of anger and ego?

"Listen, I have nointention of just hanging around the hospital all day waiting for the littlebonsai to call and tell us it's time to chant a magic spell around thecampfire." Ume arched an eyebrow, glancing down at Sakura, whose breathhad quickened. The beeping of the machine seemed to have sped up. "And Ididn't come here to watch this girl die."

Mai could feel a sharp retortforming on her lips, but as Ume's words hung in the air she heard the pain inthem. The mask of arrogance was slipping further, revealing another personunderneath, maybe the person Ume had been before she had perfected the identityof the queen soccer bitch. She had made herself ruthless in order to stand out,to be popular, to create a perception of herself as elite.

So what are you? Maiasked herself. You took the bitch crown quickly enough when she was out ofthe way. A sick feeling roiled in her gut. Yes, Mai had assured herself andWakana that she had only filled the void left by Ume's departure becausesomeone had to, and she thought she could protect herself and others and holdthe reins on Reiko and the girls by being queen bitch herself. But how much ofthat was true, and how much of it rationalization?

She had been demonizing Ume evenas she became her. And if that was true, then what was really in Ume's heart,now? Unless the girl was a complete psychopath, she really had not intended forAkane Murakami to die, which meant that her life now must be utter torment. Badenough that her parents suspected, that all of her friends and teacherssuspected her of murder — but worse, she had taken a human life.

She must by dying inside. Rottingfrom the inside out.

Mai shivered at the thought.

"What did you come herefor, then?" she asked.

Ume began to bristle, turning toher, but she must have seen the sincerity of the question in Mai's face,because she hesitated before speaking.

"Mr. Yamato threatened tosend the police," Ume replied.

"But it wasn't just that,was it?" Mai asked.

Ume pushed her hair back again. Sheseemed to want to speak, but to be struggling with the words. Had she come backto face what she had done? Mai believed so.

"You might feel better ifyou tell her you're sorry," Mai suggested.

Ume glared at her. "Who? Akane?Don't be stupid, girl. Akane Murakami is dead."

"Not Akane," Mai said,nodding toward the hospital bed. "Sakura. You took her sister from her. Yourcrime and her rage and grief brought Kyuketsuki here. She and her friends arecursed because of you."

Ume's face contorted withclashing emotions. Her eyes began to fill with tears.

"I am cursed! I am!" Ume said.

"By guilt," Mai said,her voice low.

"Yes, by guilt! I never.. it wasn't my. ." Ume said, but she could not find the words toexpress the emotion welling up within her. She wiped her tears away even as heranger drained away. Her breath hitched and she let out a terrible sigh ofsurrender.

Surrender to the truth.

Ume turned her back on Mai andreached down to take Sakura's hand.

"I'm sorry," she saidquietly, shoulders quaking as she wept.

And then she stiffened, a smallnoise coming from her throat. Mai frowned, wondering what had happened to her. Umehad frozen as though something had frightened her. But then Sakura began toshift on the hospital bed, the beeping on the machines began to speed up, andMai saw that the comatose girl had gripped Ume's hand and started to pull herdown.

"Is she — " Maibegan.

But then Sakura's eyes flutteredopen and Mai fell silent. The injured girl had bleary eyes, but she blinked afew times and she came fully awake. Something shone in those eyes, atranquility and happiness that seemed incredible in that moment.

"Sakura's friends are introuble," Sakura herself whispered, but her voice sounded so strange, notunlike her at all.

"What?" Ume asked,trying to step back but unable to break the girl's grip. "What do youmean, 'Sakura's friends?'"

Sakura smiled weakly, thennodded. "A small mistake. My friends, of course." She shifted hergaze toward Mai. "Kara and Miho and all of those with them. . they arenot going to be able to make it back for the ritual."

Mai shook her head. "How doyou. . how could you know that? You've been unconscious."

Sakura blinked and for a momentshe seemed disoriented again, and then that strange light inside her eyes hadgone.

"I dreamed it," shesaid, sounding as surprised as Mai felt. "But it's true. We have to go tothem."

Sakura threw back her covers,reached over and pulled out her IV needle.

"What are you doing?" Ume demanded. "You were dying!"

That gave Sakura pause. "Dying?" she asked, sounding sad and afraid. She looked down at her body. "Maybe Iwas, but not anymore."

Mai stared at the girl, shakingher head. "But how is that possible?"

Sakura smiled. "You've allbeen seeing ghosts. I finally saw one, too. The one I've been waiting for."She turned to look at Ume. "She doesn't like you very much."

Ume began to back away, huggingherself as if she were cold, looking around the room. "Akane?"

Sakura tapped her chest. "She'sin here." Then she put a hand across her forehead. "And in here."

"And you're. . better?" Mai asked, wondering if Sakura might actually be losing her mind. But shedismissed the thought immediately. Her sudden strength and healing were nohallucination.

Sakura glanced from Mai to Ume."The ghosts are here to help. But Kubo was right. I hate you, Ume. Youneed to pay for what you've done. But if we're to break Kyuketsuki's curse, theUnsui is going to need us both there. We need to go now!"

Kara ran, snow crunchingunderfoot, arms up to protect her face from branches whipping by. Her hearthammered in her chest and her skin felt flush with terror, not for herself, butfor her friends. Behind her she heard a grunt and glanced back to see MissAritomo stumble and fall, sprawling across a bush. Without a thought she dartedback, grabbed Yuuka's upraised hand and hauled her to her feet, and MissAritomo fell into step behind her again.

"Where are we going?" Miss Aritomo asked, struggling to catch her breath.

"I don't know exactly,"Kara told her, not for the first time.

She expected Miss Aritomo toargue, but the woman said nothing more. They ran through a clearing amongst acircle of pines where the snow was deeper and it slowed them down, but momentslater they emerged into the open area of the Takigami Mountain Observatory. Thesnow had started to come down hard, driven by the wind.

"Okay, we're here,"Kara huffed.

They had gotten off the path butshe had not wanted to spare even the few moments it would have taken for themto find it again. Now they sprinted past snowpacked picnic tables and reachedthe far side of the observatory area, and Kara could not believe it had beenonly days since they were here last, days since the field trip that had endedwith Sora dead and Hachiro and Ren missing.

Wiping snow from her eyes, Karawhipped out her phone, hit the button to dial Miho, and was answered instantly.

"Hey," Miho said,breathing hard but trying to be quiet just the same.

"We're at the observatory. Whereto now?"

"Head northwest. Kubo saysthere's an old trail. You'll find it, he says. It leads down at an angle. We'llmeet you on the west face. There's a cave there — "

"A cave! We should beheaded for the car!" Kara said. "This is crazy!"

She started into the trees,searching for the trail Miho mentioned. Yuuka Aritomo followed, and Kara couldn'tbelieve she did not speak up. They'd spent precious seconds arguing afterYuki-Onna had left them behind on the southern slope of the mountain. MissAritomo was right, Kara knew. They should have headed back down to the parkinglot right then. But when Kara had called to warn Miho and Kubo and Mr. Yamatothat the witch had figured out their plan and was on her way, Kubo had insistedthey all be together.

Kara had hesitated, but then sheheard Hachiro's voice in the background and her heart leapt. "Is that him?He's alive?"

When Miho confirmed that bothHachiro and Ren were alive, Kara had started running up the mountain toward theobservatory. She hadn't given Miss Aritomo another second to argue. Whateverhappened, she and Hachiro needed to be together.

But now. . a cave?

"Kubo says not to worry,"Miho said.

"How can he say that?" Kara demanded. She pushed a branch out of the way and saw a kind of naturalpath through the trees that must have been the trail the old monk wanted themto take.

The line crackled. The windwhere Miho was must be blowing hard. Kara could hear it roaring loudly now. Mihosaid something else, but Kara had trouble making out the words.

"What?" Kara said."What was that?"?"The storm. . Yuki-Onna. ."

"She's there?"

Kara started down the trail,barely aware of Miss Aritomo following. The snow had started to pick up aroundthem as well, the wind gusting, trees swaying.

"Not yet. But she's near. Wehave to hide. Just get to that cave. The ghosts will show you the way."

"What do you mean?" Kara asked.

But all she heard was the hissof static. She shoved the phone in her pocket, picking up her pace, rushingalong the old trail, ducking branches that were weighted down low with snow. Theworld had turned to a white blur around her.

Over the wind, she almost didn'thear Miss Aritomo calling her name. But then Yuuka shouted louder and Karaturned to see the teacher, buried inside her thick winter coat, running tocatch up to her, eyes wide.

"What is it?" Karaasked, stopping to wait for her. A ripple of fear went through her. "Yuki-Onna?"

Miss Aritomo shook her head. Shetried to speak but had been running so hard that she did not have the breathfor it. Instead she pointed into the trees on the side of the path. Kara lookedover and caught a glimpse of a figure in the woods, but with the wind and thesnow turning everything a ghostly white, it took her a moment to realize thatthe elderly woman she saw amongst the trees was not alive.

The ghosts will show you theway.

Another stepped up beside thefirst, this one the spirit of a young man. She did not recognize either ofthem, but stared in fascination at the way the snow passed right through them.

As one, they pointed along thepath. Kara looked at Miss Aritomo, saw an expression of astonishment that sheknew must match her own, and then they both looked toward where the ghosts werepointing.

"I know that girl,"Miss Aritomo said, her voice like a whisper in the roar of the storm.

"Chouku," Kara said. Once,the girl had been one of Ume's soccer club friends, but that was before herblood had been drained from her body by the creature Kyuketsuki had sent toprey on Monju-no-Chie school.

In life, Chouku had been apretty girl with a full, round face and intelligent eyes. Now she had nosubstance at all. As gusts of wind swept curtains of snow across the path, sheseemed to fade in and out of the world.

The ghost gave Kara a meaningfulglance and then turned, leaving the trail and hurrying through the trees. Karastarted to follow and Miss Aritomo grabbed her arm.

"What are you doing?"

Kara took her hand. "Theghosts will show us the way."

"The way to what?"

There were a dozen answers tothat, but Kara did not feel certain of any of them. She pretended that the windhad stolen the words away and ran along the trail and into the woods, chasingghosts.

Miho tripped on a snow-coveredstone and nearly fell. Mr. Yamato caught her by the arm and they ran together. Herface stung with the cold and the speed of the snow pelting down around them. Thestorm had kicked up only seconds after Kara had first called her to say thatYuki-Onna had figured them out and was on her way back, and they'd been runningever since. Now it raged around them, the wind so strong that it had knockedher over twice.

They bent against the storm, allof them fringed with snow and ice, their hair crested white. The cold bit deepinto Miho's bones and her teeth chattered and her eyes watered, tears freezingon her cheeks.

Ren and Hachiro straggledbehind, both of them weak. The storm beat at them but they kept running,practically stumbling down the mountain. Hachiro held Ren by the arm, but Mihowasn't sure if this was to maintain his own balance or to keep the smaller boyfrom behind swept off into the trees by the screaming wind.

"Look out!" Mr. Yamatoyelled.

Soundless, a huge tree fellacross their path, branches snapping off, shards tossed into the maelstrom andwhipped up into the storm. The gale was roaring so loudly that they had noteven heard the crack of the old tree giving way.

Up ahead, Kubo climbed over thefallen tree without slowing. When Miho and Mr. Yamato tried to follow, the principalslipped and scraped his knee on the bark.

"I can't see anything inthis!" he said, reaching up to tear away the mask Kubo had insisted hewear once they knew the witch had discovered their ruse. Miho and the boys hadthe wards the monk had given them, and Kubo had whatever mystical defenses hehad mustered, but Mr. Yamato had only the mask.

"No!" Miho shouted,grabbing his wrist. "The Unsui said you cannot remove it!"

Mr. Yamato swore, shocking her,but he kept the mask on as they scrambled over the tree. By then, Ren andHachiro had caught up and came right behind them, and then they were allfollowing Kubo down into a thicket of dense brush. They forged their waythrough, the sky growing darker.

"I'm so cold," Mihosaid, too quietly for any of the others to hear over the storm. She especiallydid not want Ren and Hachiro to hear her, knowing that however cold she mightbe, it would be nothing compared to what they had endured at the hands of theWoman in White.

Miho watched Kubo, careful tofollow his every step. Beyond him she could see several ghosts urging them on,racing ahead and then beckoning for them to follow. The old monk seemed able todo more than see them. Miho thought he could hear them as well, or understoodthem some other way, for he insisted they were here to help, that the presenceof the winter witch had given them a kind of anchor in the world, had wokenthose who had not yet accepted their own deaths. Ren had wondered why theghosts would help them, then, since that sounded to him like a good thing, andthe answer had been simple. Death — at least until their spirits passedfrom this world into the next — was hollow and cold, and if Yuki-Onnameant to kill, they meant to stop her.

Especially if she meant to killpeople they loved.

One of the spirits ahead wasSora. Miho had seen Hana earlier as well. Now she glanced back through thestorm and saw three figures rushing after her and Mr. Yamato, two living boysand one dead one — Jiro's ghost. In life, Jiro had been Hachiro's best friend.Now the boy's spirit raced along between Hachiro and Ren as if he were alive aswell and in just as much peril. But he did not feel the cold that clawed theirbones and slashed their skin.

"Are they still here?" Mr. Yamato asked. "The ghosts?"

It wasn't the mask blocking hisvision. Of all of them, Mr. Yamato was the only one who had never encounteredthe supernatural directly before. He could not see the ghosts. He had to taketheir presence, and Kubo's words, on faith.

"Yes," she said."They are."

Up ahead, she saw Kubo turn tothe left in front of a steep, rocky ledge, and she realized that they hadreached the cave he had asked her to tell Kara about. Hope gave her a spike ofrenewed vigor and she picked up her pace, pulling Mr. Yamato by the hand. Ifthey could get out of the storm they would have a moment to think, Kubo mightbe able to create some kind of mystical shield to hide them completely, Karawould catch up to them, and then they would just have to somehow get back toSakura, find Ume, and -

The wind scooped her off theground, her boots dangling beneath her. Miho spun, arms outflung, breath stolenfrom her lungs, ice crusting her whole body. And then she fell, hit the snowand rolled. When she looked up, she saw that the others had all been tossedaround as well. They lay sprawled in the snow, trying to climb to their feet,as the ghosts scattered to hide in the trees.

Kubo stood alone, unmasked,unprotected.

As Yuki-Onna glided toward him,floating above the snow, the storm carrying and caressing her. Her jaws openedwide, rows of teeth stained with blood, white hair flowing.

With a gesture, she stole Kubo'sbreath. He clutched at his throat, and ice began to form around his face andhands, covering his eyes.

Mai sat in the passenger seatwhile Ume drove them toward Takigami Mountain. At the hospital, only a fewflakes had fluttered lazily from the sky. But now she leaned over to lookthrough the windshield and could barely see the mountain ahead. The snow wasnot coming down terribly hard, but the mountain was a white blur. Winter hadclaimed it, hidden it, almost as if it had been dragged from this world intoanother.

"Don't go to the parkinglot," Sakura said from the back seat.

"What?" Ume said,frowning. "Why?"

"Take the next left. Whenit forks to the right, go that way. I will tell you when to stop."

Mai shuddered. She thought sheheard something different in Sakura's voice. Something. . other. She turnedin her seat and studied the girl in the back seat. Sakura had changed quicklyin the hospital, pulling on a thick sweater and jacket, black pants and boots. Shehad removed the bandages wrapped around her head. They were spotted with blood,which had gotten sticky and matted her hair in one spot. Mai thought someonehad said there were stitches in her scalp, but that the doctors had not beensure how much damage might have been done to her brain. Her skull had beencracked or fractured or something like that.

But not anymore.

"Sakura?" Maiventured.

The girl in the back seat lookedlike Sakura. Same eyes, same nose, same severe, jagged haircut. But somethingin her expression seemed different, and the voice. . she did not sound thesame.

The girl in the back seat shookher head.

"You're not Sakura?" Ume asked, a fearful tremor in her voice.

"Ume!" Mai yelled.

The storm had become blindingnow, the visibility perhaps ten feet beyond the nose of the car, and with herattention on the rearview mirror, Ume had nearly driven them into a ditch.

She spun the wheel to rightthem. The tires skidded, the rear of the car slewing sideways. One or twotense, heart-pounding seconds passed and then they were shooting along the roadagain. A road appeared on the left.

"There," Sakura said,pointing.

Ume braked carefully and tookthe turn onto the side road, then rolled onto the side road bent over thesteering wheel, looking for the fork.

"So where is Sakura?" Mai asked. She hadn't meant to, wasn't sure she wanted the answer, but thewords had just popped out.

Sakura looked at her — orsomeone did, using Sakura's eyes. "She's here. We're both here."

Ume's voice, when she spoke, wasa mouse-squeak. "Akane?"

The ghost, the girl in the backseat, said "Keep your eyes on the road."

"I'm sorry," Ume said,voice still small and broken.

Mai wasn't sure if she wasapologizing for nearly crashing the car or for something else, for her greatestsin, and she did not ask. This was between Ume and her heart, between Ume andthe ghost of the girl whose life she had taken.

A moment later, Ume turned rightat the fork and they were driving through several inches of snow, the tiresslipping, then catching. The mountain loomed up on the right, the bottom of theslope and the woods less than a hundred yards away.

"What now?" Mai asked.

"Follow the ghosts,"said the girl in the back seat.

Mai was about to ask what shemeant, but then Ume squeaked again and Mai looked up, and they all saw theapparitions looming in the storm ahead. They were pointing to a small pull-offthat looked to lead up the mountain.

Ume went where the spiritsindicated. Neither she nor Mai said a word. Mai's breath was caught in herthroat. But she could not truly say she was surprised. After all, it had been awinter of ghosts.

Kara and Miss Aritomo approachedthe cave from the south. Snow had gotten into their clothes, up sleeves andinside collars, and with the cold came a terrible despair. More than once Karathought of turning around, but her friends needed her and it was a long wayback to the parking lot, now. Miss Aritomo must have considered it as well, butneither gave voice to the temptation. Or if Yuuka did speak, Kara did not hearher over the rage of winter that churned around them. They had given up tryingto talk to each other. Kara trudged after the ghosts and Miss Aritomo trudged afterKara, and in that way they found themselves on a trail that seemed almost cutinto the mountain slope, and then the dark mouth of the cave was there, loomingup on the right.

She saw Kubo first. The old monkseemed frozen, jagged ice forming on his arms and snow frosting his beard andhair. And yet he was still moving. Kara saw his hands in motion, fingerscontorting, and suddenly the storm seemed to die around him. Not everywhere.. not where Kara stood, or anywhere else on the mountain. But suddenly itseemed as though Kubo stood inside some protective sphere. The snow partedaround him, blew past him, and like a wet dog he shook off the ice that hadclung to him.

Only then did Kara seeYuki-Onna. She had been hidden by the pines above the mouth of the cave but nowshe glided into view, her beautiful face contorted into ugliness by fury and byevil. Her jaws were wide, her teeth bloody, and she screamed in frustration andpointed elongated fingers at him.

"Kara, hide!" MissAritomo said, trying to pull her into the mouth of the cave.

The snow on the ground flowedtogether like crashing waves, freezing into a solid ridge of jagged ice, allrippling across the ground toward Kubo. The old monk seemed to inflate asthough from a deep breath, held out his hands in a meditative pose, and hunghis head. Two feet from where it would have impaled him, the ice ridgeshattered and fell away.

Kara wanted to cheer. As shemoved nearer, she saw others in the snow beyond Kubo. At first she thought theywere more ghosts, but they began to rise from the snow and her heart soared atthe unmistakable sight of Hachiro. She knew him by size alone, by the tilt ofhis head and the way he held himself. Ren and Mr. Yamato and Miho were withhim.

Hachiro's alive! Shecouldn't believe it. She had not allowed herself to believe anything else, butin her secret heart the doubts had started to grow. Her body flooded withrelief and then that was washed away by an overwhelming surge of love thatfilled her so completely that she could barely breathe. It warmed her, burningthe cold from her bones, at least for a few moments.

But then Kubo turned to lookdirectly at her — somehow he had sensed her there — and she saw theurgency and the pain in his eyes. What are you doing just standing here? shethought. Kubo had made it clear he did not believe he could destroy Yuki-Onnaand Kara had just stood watching.

She spun toward Miss Aritomo."The ritual. We've got to do the ritual."

"How? We don't have Sakuraor Ume!"

Kara heard a cry of pain echoacross the mountainside, and then the storm swept it away. She turned to seeYuki-Onna and Kubo. The witch gripped the old man by the throat, lifting himoff the ground, and whatever mystic rite had protected Kubo from her could notprevent a physical attack. The snow spun around him now, and Kara stared inhorror as the old monk's flesh began to turn blue in the snow woman's grasp.

Kubo was freezing to death.

Miss Aritomo grabbed Kara's armand spun her around again, pointing down the mountain at a group of ghostsmaking their way toward them. They passed through the trees, insubstantial,untouched by the storm. . or at least some of them did.

Kara wiped snow from her eyes. Threeof the figures were not ghosts. She saw Mai and Ume, and then she recognizedthe third.

"Sakura?" she said,jaw dropping in astonishment. "But how — "

"The ritual!" MissAritomo shouted.

Kara glanced at Kubo — sawice crystals and gray, dead patches of frostbite blossoming on his cheeks — and then she ran to meet Sakura and the ghosts.

Chapter Fifteen

The ghosts were insubstantial,but Yuki-Onna existed in two worlds at once. She was both tangible andintangible, spirit and storm and flesh, and when the ghosts attacked her, shescreamed and began to beat at them, snap her jaws at them, tear bits of themaway with those shark teeth.

But they had diverted her, andher grip on Kubo broke. He fell to the ground.

The storm faltered, the snowslowing, the wind lessening. . but only for a moment. The Woman in Whitestretched out her arms as though conducting a symphony and suddenly the windcould touch the ghosts as well. . and yet Kara could no longer feel it. Thewind had begun to blow in another place, a world between life and death wherethese spirits had lingered, clinging to the lives they did not want to leavebehind.

"Hurry!" Kara snapped.

But she need not have bothered. Sakuragrabbed Ume by the hand and dragged her toward Kubo, and Kara's mind spun withthe sight. Sakura had been unconscious, even comatose, with major damage to herskull. How she was up and running Kara had no idea. It seemed impossible. Karahad grown used to impossible things, but they were always terrible, and herewas something that was both impossible and wonderful. She had to force herselfto focus on the ritual, on Kubo, instead of on Sakura and Hachiro and Ren, andthe fact that they were all, for the moment, still alive.

Because Kubo was dying. A sweet,funny, venerable old man, this monk, but also a mystical adept, the only onewho could perform the ritual that would break the curse on them.

"Master Kubo!" Karacried as she ran to him and dropped to her knees in the snow.

He looked ancient, now, sicklyand shaking with cold. His eyes were tired and almost opaque, but not blind. Hesaw her, and he glanced around at the others. Mai and Ume hung back, but Sakuracame close, almost gliding herself, a kind of ethereal beauty about her and aserenity in her eyes that seemed so strange in the midst of the rage of thisstorm, with the ghosts trying to restrain Yuki-Onna so close by.

Miss Aritomo ran to Mr. Yamato,the two of them shouting to be heard over the wind, telling Kara and the othersto hurry. Miho and Ren came over to Kubo and dropped to their knees oppositeKara.

Hachiro knelt in the snow besideher. His eyes were haunted, his face gaunt with starvation, and she knew he hadbeen through hell these last three days. But he reached down and took her hand,held it tight, fingers twined with hers, and she saw that the Hachiro she lovedwas still there, deep down inside this tormented boy.

All those who were there whenKyuketsuki had been destroyed and driven from the world, Kara thought. Notjust the cursed — her and Miho and Sakura — but all of them. Hachirowas beside her, but Ume had still not approached.

"Ume, come on!" Karashouted to be heard over the storm.

But the tall, statuesque girl,the former Queen of the Soccer Bitches, only shook her head. She tried to backaway but Mai put an arm around her and urged her forehead. Ume stared at the ghostsand Yuki-Onna, tearing at one another, and she began to cry, her tears freezingon her cheeks.

"Ume, it must be now!" Sakura said.

Kara frowned. It had sounded asthough two voices spoke in unison, two people speaking from one mouth. Was thatjust the storm, some weird echo? Kara studied her face and realized it had ahardness, a grim twist of the mouth, that were nothing like Sakura at all.

And then in an instant, herexpression changed, softening. Even her eyes seemed to lighten with a kindnessand understanding that hadn't been there a moment before. Sakura held out ahand.

"Ume, please," Sakurasaid, and now her voice, and her face, were hers alone.

Yuki-Onna tore free of theghosts and rushed at them. The ghosts howled like the wind — Kara realizedshe had heard them before but they had sounded so far away and now they wereright here with her, closer than ever somehow. The spirits grabbed hold ofYuki-Onna again.

"Little monk, I will haveyour flesh and blood!" the witch screamed, reaching out to slash at theair with her elongated fingers, now icy claws. She could not see Miho, Sakura,Ren, Hachiro, or Kara thanks to the wards Kubo had given them, but Mai wasunprotected, and so were the teachers. . and so was Kubo.

Mr. Yamato and Miss Aritomo ranforward, trying to help the ghosts protect the old monk, reaching forYuki-Onna.

"No!" Kara shouted,but they couldn't hear over the wind.

The witch shot them a singlelook that paralyzed them both. Their masks had not helped them. They had lookedher in the eye and, like the victims of Medusa, paid the price. Seconds moreand she might freeze them solid, ice inside and out, but the ghosts grappledwith her again.

"Ume, please!" Sakurasaid again.

Ume took her hand and togetherthey knelt in the snow by Kubo's head.

"What do we do?" Hachiro asked, gripping Kara's hand tightly.

Kubo struggled to get up on oneelbow, wheezing. From inside his robe he unsheathed a small, thin knife andhanded it to Kara.

"You bleed."

Kara took a deep breath. Theothers all stared at her. Hachiro and Ume looked horrified, but the others hadall been warned. Ren backed away from the old monk. The ritual to break thecurse did not involve him, and he seemed very relieved at that.

She tugged off her gloves. Placingthe small blade against her palm, she turned to look at Hachiro. Staring intohis eyes, she sliced her palm. As numb as her hands were, pain seared throughher and she hissed through her teeth but did not break her gaze as she gave theknife to Hachiro.

He kept his eyes glued to hersas he followed suit.

The moment the first drop ofKara's blood hit the snow, Kubo began to sing. How he knew the precise moment,she did not know, but he opened his mouth and began a chant that became akeening, almost mournful song in some dialect she could not translate at all.

One by one they all took theknife — Hachiro handed it to Miho, who gave it to Sakura, who in turnpassed it on to Ume — and one by one they cut, and bled, even Ume. Herexpression had become one of resignation, of guilt, and of sorrow. One by onethey each made a fist.

Yuki-Onna thrashed against theghosts. Kara could not help looking, and she saw that there were perhaps twodozen of them, maybe even more. Most she did not know, but the familiar faceswere there — Jiro and Hana, Chouku and Daisuke, and poor Sora — andthey were fierce and terrible to behold, but she loved them all so much in thatmoment.

Kubo's song grew louder and herose, gesturing to Mai and Ren, who rushed in to help the old man up to asitting position. He gestured to Kara, who put her bleeding fist forward, andthen to the others, nodding as he sang, and they opened their hands andtogether they bled. A crimson stain spread on the snow, steam rising from it,their blood merging.

The storm raged harder,buffeting them. Ren went down on his knees but managed to keep Kubo sitting up.Face and clothes coated in frost, the old monk glanced around at each of themin turn, his eyes weary, body swaying in the wind.

"Now you must be together,"he said, and somehow the wind brought his voice to Kara's ears instead of away."No matter what you feel for each other, in this. . you must betogether. Repeat after me. .

"I feel the wind as itpasses by, and I bend with it.

"I feel the rain as it runsdown my face, and I drink of it.

"I feel time rush by like ariver, and I flow with it.

"They touch me and aregone.

"Shadows vanish at sunrise.

"All things move on, exceptfor those I hold in my heart.

"The mark of evil is washedaway in blood,

"And cleansed by the watersof the river of time.

"The wind and the rain andthe river and the darkness touch me,

"But the seasons give way,the snake sheds its skin, and I am made new.

"Dark eyes and dark heartsturn from me.

"They have no power overme.

"And I am made new."

In unison they repeated thewords after Kubo, their voices rising in a forceful wave somewhere betweenchant and song. Wakana, Miss Aritomo, Ren, and Mr. Yamato looked on, but Karasaw they were only half-paying attention to the ritual. In the midst of thestorm and the rage of Yuki-Onna, the ghosts tormenting her, holding the witchback from finishing the job she'd begun of killing Kubo, they were terrifiedand freezing. They warmed each other, comforted each other, and stared, perhapseach praying his or her own private prayers.

Halfway through the chant, Karalooked up and saw something beautiful and unsettling. Sakura had become twopeople. She was there, across from Kara, open palm bleeding into the snow infront of Kubo, but beside and within her, a part of her and yet sliding away,was the ghost of a girl who seemed to be an older, sadder version of Sakura. Theghost had longer hair, thinner features, and eyes dark with a terrible wisdom,but as Kara watched, the spirit — it could only have been Akane Murakami — looked at Sakura with such love that Kara nearly wept with the heart-achingbeauty of it.

Kubo looked up when the chanthad finished. "It is done," he said.

As if in reply, the storm roaredand Yuki-Onna screamed with such ferocity that they all looked over at her. Thewinter witch tore away from the ghosts, leaving parts of herself behind. Herbeauty had fled and all that remained was her hunger for death, the cruelestpart of winter. She whipped toward them over the snow. They all scattered,forgetting for a moment about Kubo, before Hachiro and Ren rushed in to try todrag him away.

Yuki-Onna lifted Ren with awhirling funnel of snow and raging wind and hurled him into the trees. Karaheard something snap and hoped it was branches. She reached out long fingerstoward Hachiro's face and Kara screamed, knowing she would freeze him solid andhe would be just as dead as Sora, just another of the winter's ghosts.

Kubo stood in the way. Yuki-Onna'sfingers touched him and frost covered his chest, but the old monk smiled sadly,as though with pity.

"What's happening?" Miho yelled beside Kara. "It's supposed to be over! The curse is gone."

Kara's heart clenched with afresh dose of fear. Miho was right. Kubo had told them that if the ritual worked,the power that had summoned Yuki-Onna would be erased, and without that as ananchor, the Woman in White could not remain in this world. But he had also saidno one had ever driven Yuki-Onna away before. Had he been wrong about theritual?

Yuki-Onna lifted Kubo off theground, pulled him to her, and sank those rows of shark teeth into his fleshyet again. Ice crystals formed on his flesh as the witch drank his blood, andKara felt sure she was grinning all along. Kubo had been half-drained already,his vitality gone, withered away, and now his blood ran down the white flesh ofYuki-Onna's chin and throat.

"No!" Kara screamed,and she ran at the witch.

Hachiro shouted her name,reached out to stop her, but only managed to snag her jacket before she broke freeof him.

The ghosts darted about,grasping at Yuki-Onna, but they were not working in concert, now, their effortsin disarray, and the witch drove them off one and two at a time. If the spiritsdid not work together, they would not be able to restrain her again.

As Kara rushed toward Yuki-Onna,she saw Mr. Yamato doing the same from the other side. The old monk was theonly living connection between the principal and his dead father. Mr. Yamatohad deep respect and love for Kubo, and it showed on his face as he reached outtoward the Woman in White. Kara saw his hands take up fistfuls of the materialof Yuki-Onna's kimono and for a second it looked like he might get a grip onher, but then the fabric turned to snow.

Kara tried to grab the witch buther hands, too, passed right through, plunging instead into icy snow and air socold that she screamed in pain. But when she tried to pull her hands away, shecould not. They were freezing in place, inside Yuki-Onna.

The witch tossed Kubo away, theold monk little more than skin and bones where he landed in the snow. ThenYuki-Onna grabbed Mr. Yamato by the hair and turned to stare down at Kara, thewitch's black, bottomless eyes locked on hers.

"The monk's power is gone,"the Woman in White said with a bloodstained grin. "I can see you now."

The ghosts tore at Yuki-Onna'sface and hair and kimono. They existed in this world and the next, likeYuki-Onna, and so they could touch her. But Kara could not. Hachiro and Mihowere behind her now, trying to pull her away. Miss Aritomo and Ren were doingthe same with Mr. Yamato. Ume knelt in the snow by Kubo's still, unmoving bodyand wept, while Mai and Wakana screamed to the spirits of their dead loved onesto do something.

Then, Kara could move her hands.She could barely feel them, but she could move them.

"The storm is dying!" Miho shouted.

And it was. The wind's howlbegan to quiet. The snow lightened. Hachiro and Miho pulled hard and Kara'shands came free, the three of them tumbling to the ground together. Her handsand forearms were red and raw and bloody, and she couldn't feel them, but shecould move her fingers.

The ritual had worked. Yuki-Onna'spower was fading.

The witch spun around, staringin horror at the dying storm, the rest of them forgotten.

"No!"

She began to change, almost toshrink down upon herself. Her fingers became delicate and beautiful again, andher face followed suit. The wind danced around Yuki-Onna, her hair and herkimono flowing with it. As her power diminished her elegance and quiet, surrealloveliness returned.

Kara wondered if this was theface of Yuki-Onna, or the face of Etsoku Reizei, the girl who had died on themountain during the winter's first snow and whose ashes had been used to helpcreate a body for Yuki-Onna in this world.

The ghosts left her alone, then,standing by to watch as the winter witch glared at them all with eyes full ofhate.

"I still have the powerto kill you all," Yuki-Onna said, her voice like the wind, caressingthem, gusting around them.

"But you won't," Sakurasaid, stepping forward.

They all stared at her, thisgrim, hard-edged girl with her bandages, most of her face hidden by the jaggedveil of her hair. Kara did not know if the others could see it, but to her eyesthere were still two of Sakura, Akane's ghost blurred beside her, half joinedto her.

And then Sakura spoke in anothervoice.

"We won't let you,"said the ghost of Akane Murakami.

And she left her sister, theintangible spirit only a silhouette against the snow as she rushed towardYuki-Onna. The Woman in White staggered backward in confusion but could donothing to stop it. Akane's ghost entered her, vanished inside of her.

Yuki-Onna cried out, but itsounded more like anguish than pain. The witch doubled over, and for the firsttime, Kara saw that she had left footprints in the snow.

Then she straightened up, andher eyes had changed.

They were no longer eclipsedwith bottomless black. Instead, they were a soft, gentle brown, and they werefilled with a quiet melancholy.

Sakura started toward her. Mihoseemed about to try to stop her, but Kara held up a hand to forestall anyinterference.

"Akane?" Sakura asked.

The snow woman shook her head. No.This wasn't Akane. But it wasn't really Yuki-Onna, either. Not the creature whohad longed to drink life and to kill with the cruelty of winter's darkest days.Perhaps it was that girl who'd died in the first storm of the season, or somecombination of the spirits inside Yuki-Onna now.

But Sakura smiled as though shedidn't believe it, like she was sure her sister was there. "I love you,"she said.

The wind, weaker than it was butstill strong, gusted powerfully once more. Snow picked up from the ground,swirling around Yuki-Onna, creating a churning maelstrom that lasted onlyseconds before it subsided into nothing.

A final gust, and then the windbecame an ordinary breeze, and the snow tapered to flurries, and Yuki-Onna wasgone.

And so were the ghosts.

"Master Kubo!" Mr.Yamato called, running over to drop to the snow beside Ume, who had beentending to the Unsui.

Kara walked slowly toward themwith Hachiro at her side. He was rubbing her hands, trying to get the bloodflowing well, to get some warmth back into them. Mai and Wakana appeared fromthe trees, helping a limping, bleeding Ren. Miss Aritomo and Miho approached aswell, until all but Sakura were gathered around the prone, unmoving body of theold monk whose kindness and wisdom had saved them all.

The Unsui, it appeared, wouldwander the clouds no longer. Or, perhaps, Kara thought, he willwander them forever, now.

But then Mr. Yamato looked up."He's still breathing. We need an ambulance."

Miss Aritomo pulled out herphone. Ume started snapping orders at Mai and Wakana, talking about her carbeing not far, just a couple hundred yards down the mountain.

Kara felt afraid to hope, butcould not stop herself. It felt nice. Hope and love were the things that wouldwarm her. She turned to Hachiro, stood on her toes, and kissed him. When thekiss was through their eyes met but neither of them spoke. There would be timeenough for words later. Instead, she lay her cheek against his chest and justrelished the feeling of him there, where he belonged.

"Look," Miho whisperedto her.

Kara glanced over and saw thatSakura had not joined them. She stood gazing up the mountain toward the placewhere Yuki-Onna had vanished.

"Give us a moment?" she said to Hachiro.

He nodded. "Of course. Whateveryou need."

Kara and Miho went over to joinSakura, standing on either side of her.

"Are you all right?" Miho asked.

"I will be, I think,"Sakura said. "But more importantly, I think Akane will be."

"I'm not sure I understandwhat happened," Kara admitted. "Is she Yuki-Onna now, the way theother girl was?"

Sakura nodded. "A part ofher, at least. When she was inside of me, I could feel what she felt and I knewwhat she knew. It was. . it was what I needed. It was wonderful. Now shewill be a part of Yuki-Onna, and none of us will have anything to fear from theWoman in White again. And Akane has put her own anger and bitterness behindher. In the spring, when winter is through, her spirit will finally go on tothe peace she has always deserved. And the rest of the ghosts will as well."

Kara reached out and took Sakura'shand, squeezed it in her own. On the other side of her, Miho did the same.

"Then we can allhave peace," Kara said.

"And a new beginning,"Miho added.

Sakura nodded, then turned toher friends with a wistful smile.

"Let's go home."

Epilogue

Shortly after ten o'clock thenext morning, Sakura stood outside the hospital smoking her last cigarette.

She had taken up the habit outof nervousness and a careful cultivation of rebellion. Or at least theappearance of rebellion. Smoking cigarettes had given her an excuse to besolitary, to find places to hide and think. Miho's friendship had been her onlysalvation at first, and then Kara had come along and surprised them all, thisgaijin girl who had become like a sister to both Miho and Sakura.

A sister.

Sakura would miss Akane for aslong as she lived, but she felt a peace now that she had only thought she hadachieved before. This was different. She and Akane had had a glimpse into eachother's hearts in a way that she had never imagined possible, and they hadrecognized a kinship that went beyond being sisters. They shared anger.

But now Akane had found peace. Sakurafelt a terrible loss at the thought that they were parted from one another,now, but she had made her peace with that as well. She wanted to live a lifethat would make her sister proud, to strive and succeed and find happiness thatwould have been enough for both of them.

With a smile, she glanced at thecigarette in her hand — only half-smoked, she flicked it to the walkwayand ground it under her heel. It reminded her of a girl she no longer wanted tobe.

A door whooshed open behind herand she turned to see Mai coming out of the hospital. The girls regarded oneanother for a few seconds, and then Mai smiled.

"Is this the smokingsection?"

Sakura gestured to the deadcigarette on the ground. "I just quit."

"Can you spare one, then? Ithought I saw you headed out here."

Sakura handed her the half-emptypacket. "Take them. I won't need them anymore."

"Wow. You're serious. Goodfor you. I would like to quit, but not today," Mai said.

She lit a cigarette, took adrag, and blew out a plume of smoke. Sakura felt tempted to go back inside, butinstead she wrapped her scarf more tightly around her neck and plunged herhands into her pockets.

"How is Wakana?" Sakura asked.

Mai nodded. "She is doingwell, thank you. I believe they will let her go home this afternoon, ortomorrow at the latest."

"Mr. Harper is beingreleased today," Sakura said. "But they're keeping Ren another day. Mihois with him now."

Mai turned to her. "AndKubo?"

"He is alive," Sakurasaid. "The doctors say they must watch him closely, but they believe hewill recover. A feat of pure will, they say."

Mai smiled, watching the smokerise from the tip of her cigarette. "I am so happy to hear that."

Again Sakura felt tempted to goin, but she could not escape the feeling that Mai had come out specifically tospeak with her, that she was working on something she wanted to say, so shewaited.

A minute passed. And thenanother.

"Ume confessed," Maisaid at length.

Sakura blinked in surprise, butsaid nothing.

"She also named all of thegirls who were there. She told the police which were only witnesses and whichtook part in beating Akane," Mai said, without looking at Sakura. "IncludingEmi and Kaori."

The pain in her voice when shegave those names was obvious.

"Your friends," Sakurasaid.

Mai took a long drag and blewout the smoke. Her expression had turned hard.

"Not any more," shesaid.

Sakura looked at her. "I'msorry."

Mai glanced up in obvioussurprise. "You're sorry? Why? I would think you would have been happy."

"Happy that Ume confessed,and the truth has come out at last? Yes. But happy that your friends turned outto be. . something other than what you thought they were? No."

Mai nodded. "Thank you forthat."

"Fortunately you have otherfriends," Sakura said. "Wakana. Reiko."

With another puff of hercigarette, Mai studied her. "You. Miho. Kara."

Sakura arched an eyebrow. "Arewe friends?"

"Believe me," Mai saidwith a smile, "I'm as surprised as you are."

Kara woke in her own bed, awash insunshine that poured in through the window. She blinked at the brightness ofit, realizing how late she must have slept. The events of the previous day — the previous week — came flooding back to her, and she lay there for amoment relishing the warmth of her bed. She would have loved a day to indulgeherself, to stay in bed and read or, considering how sunny it was for January,to wander Miyazu City and take photographs.

She threw back the covers andbounced out of bed, grabbing a thick black sweater and tugging it over herhead. The repercussions of the previous day needed attending to, and she hadalready slept too late. Her father was still in the hospital and she wanted toget down there as early as possible to see him, and to see Master Kubo as well.The Unsui had astounded them all by living long enough to get to Ume's car, andthen astonished them further by surviving all the way to the hospital. Kara hadto know if he had amazed the doctors just as thoroughly.

A glance at the clock told herit was nearly ten a.m. and she frowned deeply. Why hadn't anyone called? Sakura.Miho. Hachiro. They couldn't all be sleeping.

Troubled, she tugged on a cleanpair of blue jeans — she had taken a hot shower the night before andwashed her hair, and now that she was running so late she didn't want to takethe time. She went to her desk and scooped up her keys and what little moneyshe'd had in her pockets the day before, but her cell phone was missing. Thecharger was plugged into the wall, but the cord ended in nothing.

Frowning in confusion, shebrushed her hair in front of the mirror and tied it back with an elastic. Sheplopped back onto the bed and pulled on her boots, trying to solve the mysteryof her missing cell phone. Now that she was fully awake, it took only seconds. Withher father in the hospital, it would not have been appropriate for a teenagedgirl to be alone in the house, so Miss Aritomo had spent the night.

She must have taken the phoneto let me sleep, Kara thought. Which was all right, actually. If anythingvital happened, Miss Aritomo would have woken her.

They had all gone to thehospital the previous afternoon. Ume had driven Kubo out as far as the mainroad to wait for the ambulance. When it had arrived, the EMTs had insisted thatRen go along with them as well. He had been having trouble breathing because ofsharp pain in his chest and they suspected broken ribs, which turned out to betrue — three of them.

Mr. Yamato had ridden to thehospital with Ren and Kubo, while Ume drove the rest of them back to MissAritomo's car. The principal would have to get his own car today, but theprevious afternoon he had not wanted to be parted from Kubo's side. At thehospital, they had all been checked for frostbite. Several of Kara's fingershad turned a soft, eggshell blue, but the doctors managed to get the bloodflowing properly again.

Another hour or two and thismight have been a very different story, a young, handsome doctor had toldher. And, in truth, as her hands warmed up and the blood started to flowproperly again, it had hurt like hell.

Kara's stomach grumbled, but sheignored it. A quick glass of juice would be enough to keep her until she couldget some lunch with her father at the hospital. They were supposed to let himgo home today, and she wanted to be with him when he was discharged.

She left her bedroom, steppingout into the short hallway and heading for the bathroom. Three steps away, sheheard voices in the living room. With a frown, she changed direction, walkingdown the hall. Even as she stepped into the room, she recognized the voice, andthen she saw him.

Hachiro sat at the table withMiss Aritomo. As Kara entered, they both looked up. Miss Aritomo saidsomething, but Kara did not hear a word of it. She grinned so wide that it hurther face and she rushed to him, a giddy feeling fluttering in her chest. Whilehe had been missing she had been so full of fear that now, to be without it,made her feel light as air. Yesterday they had both been exhausted and in shockand overwhelmed, surrounded by people. At the hospital they had held each otherand, when no one was looking, had shared half a dozen tender kisses.

But that had been the aftermath.Even then, the sky had been gray and snow had been falling lightly.

Today, though. . today was anew day, bright with promise.

"Good morning,"Hachiro said.

"Good morning to you,"Kara replied, still grinning, knowing she must look foolish but unable to stopherself. "What are you doing here?"

Hachiro laughed, and it was themost wonderful sound she had ever heard. Kara had been so afraid that she wouldnever hear him laugh again, never hold his hands or feel his kiss.

"I knew you would be goingto the hospital. I thought I would come along. Miss Aritomo said it would beall right."

He nodded to the art teacher andMiss Aritomo nodded back.

Kara looked at Miss Aritomo, whosmiled as well.

"Your father asked me tomake sure you were able to get plenty of sleep," Miss Aritomo said, almostapologetically, as she handed over Kara's cell phone. "I am afraid I havemade Hachiro wait for nearly half an hour."

"I didn't mind,"Hachiro insisted.

Kara grinned at him again, thensighed and forced herself to stop. She knew she should say something, butfeared the idiot babbling that she knew would result. Instead, she looked atMiss Aritomo.

"Thank you."

Miss Aritomo nodded her head."Whenever you two are ready, I will drive us to the hospital."

Kara could not stop looking atHachiro, wanting to touch him to reassure herself that he was actually there. Shewas about to say she was ready to leave right then, but then she felt the slickgriminess of her teeth and realized that she had not brushed them.

"Just a minute!" shesaid, and she raced to the bathroom wondering how awful her breath was andwhether or not Hachiro had been appalled by it.

She brushed quickly, wished thatshe had showered after all, and then hurried back into the living room. MissAritomo and Hachiro had put their jackets on already. Kara felt emotion surgingup inside of her, words screaming for release.

"Um, Yuuka. . I mean,Miss Aritomo, I just need to get my coat. If you want to start the car, Hachiroand I will be right out."

Miss Aritomo narrowed her eyesfor a moment and Kara knew she was about to protest. It would be inappropriate forher to leave Hachiro and Kara in the house alone together. But she hesitated,and then smiled in understanding.

"Don't be long," shesaid, going out the door.

The moment she closed the doorbehind her, Hachiro turned to Kara with a curious look.

"What was — " hestarted to say.

Kara silenced him with a kiss,reaching up to pull him down to her. A new warmth spread within her, muchstronger than the cold of Yuki-Onna's storm.

"I almost lost you,"she said between kisses, breathless. Then she stopped and pressed her faceagainst his chest.

"You didn't," Hachirosaid, stroking her hair. "It's all over, now. The curse is broken."

And it was. Last night she hadsat by her father's hospital bed and they had spoken of many things, but mostlyof the future. For more than half a year, the curse of Kyuketsuki had taintedtheir lives and filled their time in Japan with tragedy. And yet even in themidst of that tragedy, they had found happiness, and love. Her father lovedYuuka, Kara had no doubt about that now, and he did not want to leave Japan anymore than she did.

Kara and her father had startedover, just as they had set out to do, but they had been in the shadow of thecurse. Now they were both looking forward to spring — and another year inJapan — hoping for less drama and more time to appreciate the beauty ofthe nation. Kara would graduate from Monju-no-Chie school, perhaps even attenduniversity in Japan, since she doubted her father would want to leave. They hadbegun this new life together, and they would always be close, but now they wereestablishing new lives of their own, separate from one another. Her fatherloved Yuuka, and Kara. .

She laughed softly.

"What is funny?" Hachiro asked.

"Me. Love. People,"she said, trying to form an answer. "Once I was afraid to be in love withyou because I knew that I would only be in Japan for a year or two before Iwould have to go home."

"You know that I had thesame fear," Hachiro said.

"We were stupid. You don'tget a choice, Hachiro. You can't just decide that you are not going to lovesomeone. It would be like trying to stop the sun from rising or the spring fromarriving. We can pretend otherwise, but it just happens."

She gazed up into his eyes."I don't want to pretend anymore."

Hachiro smiled. "I love you.And I will love you even when you return to America. And I am content to behave you here with me for as long as I can. As to what the future will bring.. "

"Who can say?" Karafinished for him.

Hachiro nodded. "Who cansay?"

"I love you, too. And I'mnot planning on going anywhere. This is home, now."

They stole one last, quick kissbefore Kara put on her jacket, and then they left the house, walking out intothe sunlight. Kara had been living in the shadow of Kyuketsuki's curse for solong that she had forgotten what it was like to be truly light of heart.

Laughing, she raced Hachiro tothe car, giving herself a good head start.

Content

Christopher Golden, Thomas Randall
A Winter of Ghosts

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Epilogue