A Winter of Ghosts Read Online Free PDF Page B

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
ensoku
will be on Monday," she announced. "The entire school will be visitingTakigami Mountain Observatory. Appropriate footwear and winter clothing arerecommended."
    Immediately the excited