A Winter of Ghosts by Christopher Golden, Thomas Randall Read Free Book Online Page A

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