A Winter of Ghosts (The Waking Series) by Thomas Randall Christopher Golden Read Free Book Online

it does, it will
be just a dusting. You heard Mr. Yamato. If there was any cause for concern, we'd
already be heading down."
    That seemed to set him at ease. Miho
smiled at Kara.
    "You always know the right
thing to say," she said.
    "Not really," Kara
replied. "I just try not to say the wrong things if I can help it."
    Finally, they got under way,
heading off into the forest along a wide, well-trodden trail. Kara had looked
at the trail map in her pocket and seen that there were several scenic
overlooks marked off, places where the woods opened up to apparently
breathtaking views.
    As they entered the woods, she
looked up at the sky again, wondering how long it would be before the first
snowflakes started to fall.
     
     
    Wakana hated being cold, and she
had been cold since she had set foot outside the dorm first thing this morning.
Why they couldn't have done ensoku during the spring or summer this year, she
had no idea. If she knew who had suggested traipsing around Takigami Mountain
the first week of January, she would have slapped him in the face. And she was
certain it had to be a him. What woman would be so foolish? She doubted that
even Miss Kaneda, who obviously loved the mountain, and nature, even in the
bleakness of winter, would have come up with such an idea.
    She knew that some people loved
winter, and snow, and the kinds of sports and outdoor activities that went
along with them. But she had never seen the appeal. And, certainly, it wasn't
really that cold. But it was the principle of the thing.
    "Come on, let's not fall
behind," Mai said, reaching back and taking her hand.
    Wakana smiled and they hurried
to catch up to the rest of their group. Another one of their friends from
soccer club smiled as they joined her, the three girls falling into step
together. They called her Aka for the coppery red highlights in her
hair, and Wakana had actually forgotten her proper name, if she had ever known
it in the first place.
    "It's actually been kind of
interesting," Aka whispered, indicating that they should pay attention to
the commentary their homeroom teacher had been providing during the hike.
    Wakana felt guilty. She had been
raised to be courteous and polite regardless of the circumstances. But she
found it impossible to care about anything that the teachers might say today
because she was so frustrated by the entire trip. Her feet were cold. Her hands
were cold. Her nose might have been coldest of all. Fortunately she had a hat
that covered her ears.
    Somehow, Mai seemed not to be
bothered by the cold at all. Wakana smiled at that. If there had ever been a
girl who adapted to change quickly, it was her roommate. Once upon a time, Mai
had been relatively quiet and unassuming, though she had enjoyed the popularity
that 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 had
left, 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 she
would rather be that girl than follow any of the others.
    Wakana had never had an
interest. They had been roommates, but opposites in many ways. Wakana had
remained quiet and mostly innocent. But then their lives had been overrun by
nightmares. Daisuke — Wakana's best friend, who might have been her
boyfriend if either of them had been brave enough to initiate even a single
kiss — had been abducted and murdered by the Hannya. It had taken Wakana
as well, but she had been rescued by Mai and some others, including that gaijin
girl, Kara Harper.
    For the rest of her life, she
would be grateful to Mai. The girl wore a scar on her face that would be with
her forever, and it would always remind them both of what they had faced, and
of what Mai had done for Wakana. Which was why Wakana had decided that this
term she would join the soccer club. She had not really wanted to make friends
with some of