Spirit's Chosen Read Online Free Page B

him. I let Masa conduct me home as if I were as much of a stranger there as Kaya. He climbed the carved ladder ahead of me and dashed into the house before I could set foot on the high wooden platform in front of our doorway. As I turned to offer Kaya a hand up, I heard him talking to Yukari, the youngest of Father’s three wives. Her gasp of surprise was loud, but then she immediately dropped her voice to an almost inaudible murmur. I was about to enter the house to find out what was going on when I heard her clearly say, “Let me tell her,” and she stepped out of our doorway onto the platform.
    “Tell me what?” I asked.
    “Ah! So you overheard.” My younger stepmother sounded beaten down by weariness. “We’ve missed you, dear one. All of us were terribly worried when you didn’t come home that evening. Your father and Aki argued about where to look for—”
    “I know all that from Master Michio,” I said evenly. “If there’s nothing more, can we please go inside? This isKaya, daughter of Lady Ikumi, who is chieftess and shaman of the Shika clan.” I waved to where my friend stood waiting at the edge of the platform. “We’ve come a long way since daybreak, and it’s getting colder.”
    “Oh, Himiko, forgive me!” Yukari exclaimed. “And you, Lady Kaya, I beg your pardon for such rudeness. It’s only that there is something my daughter should know, a warning I must give her before she sees—before she is prepared to see—”
    A terrified shriek sounded from within the house. A small shape came running out onto the platform so fast that it would have plunged over the edge if Kaya hadn’t snagged it and pulled it back to safety. It squealed and thrashed in her arms, desperately calling, “Mama! Mama! Save me!”
    “Takehiko?” Clouds veiled the moon, leaving me little light by which to see the face of Yukari’s son, one of my three younger brothers.
    “May the gods have mercy, not again, not now!” Yukari cried, retrieving her boy from Kaya and scooping him up into her arms. She was weeping.
    “It was my fault.” Masa stood in the doorway, flickering firelight at his back. “I should have watched her more closely. I only turned aside for a moment when she grabbed him.”
    A shadow rose behind him, and I heard a wail so desolate it was barely human. Had Master Michio failed to perform the proper rites for Father, Aki, and Shoichi? Was our home now haunted by their spirits?
    “What did I do to you, my sweet little boy?” the shadow groaned pitifully. Pale hands thrust themselves past Masa,grasping the air, and a gaunt face with dark smears for eyes and mouth leaned heavily against his side. “All I wanted to do was hold you on my lap and feed you your evening meal. Why did you run away from me, my darling? Tell Mama. I’ll give you whatever you ask. Don’t you leave me too, my precious Noboru!”
    With an extraordinary effort, my mother shoved Masa out of the way and lurched through the door. She lunged for Takehiko, crooning my brother Noboru’s name. The child screamed and buried his face against his mother’s shoulder. Yukari drew back without looking, coming perilously close to the platform edge.
    “Mama!”
I shouted and threw myself on my mother, wrapping my arms around her from behind and pulling her close. As she struggled to escape me, I spoke urgently in her ear: “Mama, what’s wrong with you? Stop, I beg you, stop, you’re scaring Takehiko. Oh, Mama, please let me help you!”
    As if my words held magic, my mother ceased struggling and relaxed completely. “Himiko?” Her voice wavered. Without releasing her from my embrace, I gave her enough freedom to turn and see my face. Even in the darkness, her smile was radiant. “Oh, my darling daughter, I thought I’d lost you too!” She collapsed against me, laughing and sobbing.
    I spent a restless first night home. As tired as I was from my journey, I could only catch a few short, troubled periods of sleep. Whenever I