onion-and-radish soup, but it tasted very good on a cold early morning.
After breakfast, Sotoko took me down to the newly built stable and proudly led her horse out. It was a short, shaggy, coarse-haired creature, but I praised it highly for her sake. As servants put the saddle on, Sotoko said, "You will ride with me."
"But I don't know how!" I protested.
"Surely a girl who rides on the backs of tengu can ride a simple horse."
"It isn't the same thing. You can recline on a tengu's back as if it were a cushion. Horses have no feathers to grab on to."
"You will have to hold on to me. And grasp the horse between your legs."
This seemed very unladylike, and I said so.
"Hmph. You are beginning to sound like Amaiko. Do you want to go to your shrine or not?"
Once I would have found the comparison to our eldest sister complimentary. Now it stung. "I am not nearly so stuffy."
"Good. Come on, then." She led the horse over to a large garden stone. Sotoko stepped up onto the stone and from there easily swung one leg over the horse's back to sit on it. I tried to do the same, but my many layered kimonos, so elegant when one is just sitting, were distinctly in the way. Finally, one of the guardsmen had to come up and grab me by the waist and set me on the horse, behind Sotoko.
"Now you see why I dress like I do," said Sotoko.
"Yes," I sighed. It was most embarrassing.
Riko and two other men came riding up to us then, dressed in lacquered-wood breastplate and epaulets. They wore no helmets, but each had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung on his back.
"Are you expecting a battle?" I asked Riko.
He shrugged. "Not really, but you never know what you'll run into in the forest. There may yet be bears foraging before they sleep for the winter, or starving villagers hoping to rob unwary travelers. Or perhaps we will be lucky and come across a deer. Better to be prepared, neh?"
I shuddered, hoping the kami of the forest would be kind and hide any deer from us.
The guardsmen opened the garden gate for us, and we rode out. I had to grasp Sotoko's waist hard to keep from rolling off the pony's back. As we crossed the Western Road and plunged into the dark shade of the pine forest, I shivered with remembered dreams.
"It is a little cold, isn't it?" said Sotoko. "But when the sun gets higher, it will be warmer. It is always so in the mountains."
I did not answer but watched for signs that we were on the right path. The night that Amaiko and I had fled into this forest was so long ago, and it had been so dark, and I had been so afraid, that I doubted I would recognize anything. I could only hope that Riko was right and knew the way to it himself.
Unsettling, wayward breezes blew through the pine tops. Sometimes I thought I heard laughter, or perhaps it was just the clattering of branches, one against another. As we rode deeper into the forest, dark shapes that were not clouds obscured what little sunlight filtered through the trees. Then there came deep croaking, like the caws of enormous crows, above us.
"What is that?" said Riko.
I smiled. "They are tengu."
"Tengu!" cried one of the warriors behind Riko. He took his bow off his back and fitted an arrow to the string.
"No!" I cried, but before I could explain, the warrior let the arrow fly with a mighty twang.
The tengu above us shrieked and laughed. "Awwwk! You missed! You missed, fool!" It dove down toward us. Sotoko's horse screamed and leaped, and I tumbled off its back into the bushes.
"Ai!" Sotoko cried as the horse bolted with her still on its back. The warriors' horses fled, too, with the men vainly trying to stop them. Only Riko managed to hold his horse somewhat in check. He looked down at me and up after Sotoko, clearly torn.
"I am all right," I told him. "Go find
After breakfast, Sotoko took me down to the newly built stable and proudly led her horse out. It was a short, shaggy, coarse-haired creature, but I praised it highly for her sake. As servants put the saddle on, Sotoko said, "You will ride with me."
"But I don't know how!" I protested.
"Surely a girl who rides on the backs of tengu can ride a simple horse."
"It isn't the same thing. You can recline on a tengu's back as if it were a cushion. Horses have no feathers to grab on to."
"You will have to hold on to me. And grasp the horse between your legs."
This seemed very unladylike, and I said so.
"Hmph. You are beginning to sound like Amaiko. Do you want to go to your shrine or not?"
Once I would have found the comparison to our eldest sister complimentary. Now it stung. "I am not nearly so stuffy."
"Good. Come on, then." She led the horse over to a large garden stone. Sotoko stepped up onto the stone and from there easily swung one leg over the horse's back to sit on it. I tried to do the same, but my many layered kimonos, so elegant when one is just sitting, were distinctly in the way. Finally, one of the guardsmen had to come up and grab me by the waist and set me on the horse, behind Sotoko.
"Now you see why I dress like I do," said Sotoko.
"Yes," I sighed. It was most embarrassing.
Riko and two other men came riding up to us then, dressed in lacquered-wood breastplate and epaulets. They wore no helmets, but each had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung on his back.
"Are you expecting a battle?" I asked Riko.
He shrugged. "Not really, but you never know what you'll run into in the forest. There may yet be bears foraging before they sleep for the winter, or starving villagers hoping to rob unwary travelers. Or perhaps we will be lucky and come across a deer. Better to be prepared, neh?"
I shuddered, hoping the kami of the forest would be kind and hide any deer from us.
The guardsmen opened the garden gate for us, and we rode out. I had to grasp Sotoko's waist hard to keep from rolling off the pony's back. As we crossed the Western Road and plunged into the dark shade of the pine forest, I shivered with remembered dreams.
"It is a little cold, isn't it?" said Sotoko. "But when the sun gets higher, it will be warmer. It is always so in the mountains."
I did not answer but watched for signs that we were on the right path. The night that Amaiko and I had fled into this forest was so long ago, and it had been so dark, and I had been so afraid, that I doubted I would recognize anything. I could only hope that Riko was right and knew the way to it himself.
Unsettling, wayward breezes blew through the pine tops. Sometimes I thought I heard laughter, or perhaps it was just the clattering of branches, one against another. As we rode deeper into the forest, dark shapes that were not clouds obscured what little sunlight filtered through the trees. Then there came deep croaking, like the caws of enormous crows, above us.
"What is that?" said Riko.
I smiled. "They are tengu."
"Tengu!" cried one of the warriors behind Riko. He took his bow off his back and fitted an arrow to the string.
"No!" I cried, but before I could explain, the warrior let the arrow fly with a mighty twang.
The tengu above us shrieked and laughed. "Awwwk! You missed! You missed, fool!" It dove down toward us. Sotoko's horse screamed and leaped, and I tumbled off its back into the bushes.
"Ai!" Sotoko cried as the horse bolted with her still on its back. The warriors' horses fled, too, with the men vainly trying to stop them. Only Riko managed to hold his horse somewhat in check. He looked down at me and up after Sotoko, clearly torn.
"I am all right," I told him. "Go find
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