Chapter 4

The day before the party was hot, the sun quickly burning off the dew on the grass. Azuki despaired, for her mother and brother had not come for her. Azuki knew in her head that they couldn't, what with all the guards and arms and the absolute power the Sheriff wielded over the district, but her heart couldn't help but hope. When she was thinking clearly, she truly hoped Shota, impetuous, curious, and impulsive, would not be such a fool as to try, for then he would be captured too, and made a slave for the music he could make and the grace of his flight. But mostly she mourned and grieved for her father, who gave his life trying to protect her, and for the loss of everything in her life she had loved.

The Sheriff found a weaver in Saga, but the fabric wasn't the quality Hachibei and Chizuyo produced and there wasn't quite enough for two vests, especially since General Apple, with his fondness for Western food, was rather stout and Genmai himself had been putting on weight. He blamed this on Azuki. Stupid bird, trying to take vengeance by producing poor quality feathers! He would show her! He would teach her a very good lesson. She would do things his way, or she would be punished! He grabbed a huge kettle and strode to the cage area where all the animals, including Azuki, were housed.

"You will walk the rope in THIS!" he bellowed, holding out the kettle and the line that would secure it to her.

Azuki cowed. The kettle was far too heavy. Part of the price she paid for being a bird-child was being a little bit different from an ordinary bird, just as she was a little bit different from an ordinary girl. If she could keep it in perfect balance, she thought she'd be fine; she could even fly sort of. But if the balance shifted, the kettle would roll. She wasn't strong enough to stop it, and, unable to get lift, she would crash to the ground and the kettle would crush her. Desperately, she tried again to turn into a girl, but there was so little room she once more failed, and Genmai grabbed her and shoved her into the kettle, pushing her long legs through holes drilled in the bottom, and clapped the top over her back, sandwiching her wings between the top and the body of the kettle. Roughly, he tied it in place and shoved her back into the cage.

"This is how you will walk the rope and you will do it again every time you produce poor quality feathers or disobey ME!" The Sheriff turned on his heel and stalked away, swords clanking, the other animals and human staff carefully looking away.

***

"Shota, the day of the party, you must hide." Chizuyo knelt, took his shoulders and looked directly into his eyes as she spoke. "You must become a sparrow and hide in the Narayama Ocean of Trees, near where the Jizo were, by the Temple of Mary. Prepare a place for us in the woods behind that building. Azuki and I will meet you there."

"Mother, what do you plan to do? She's my sister. I want to help!"

"This is the best way you can help," Chizuyo told him. "You're a bird-child, too. As soon as he remembers you, the Sheriff will want you and try to capture you. Prepare a place for us, with water and food. No one will find us because nobody goes into the forest there, and we will all escape."

"Aren't you afraid of the Ocean of Trees?" Shota asked, because he was. People said that unquiet, often vengeful, spirits haunted the Ocean of Trees, making it a dangerous place for the living.

"No." Chizuyo said firmly. "There's no need for you to be afraid. Nothing there can hurt the birds or animals of the wood. These are human things. They can only harm humans. You will be a sparrow, so you don't have to be afraid, but even as a bird, you will want to be careful because ghosts trying to get attention can play nasty tricks."

"All right," Shota said, suppressing a shiver. He wasn't strong or large as either sparrow or boy, though he was very agile. He didn't want to go to the woods, but he could and he would, if it would help his mother and sister. He squared his shoulders.

"Yes, Mother," he said formally, standing very straight, "I will go now and prepare." Without delay, he changed into a bird and flew away.

Chizuyo sighed as she watched her son soar into the sky and away. If she could only get her children away and safe that was all she asked of life, now that Hachibei was gone. She missed him; she wouldn't mind joining him so they could have their next lives together. First though, she had to save her children, no matter what the cost, and ensure their futures. They were the most important things left in her life now, and she loved them with all her heart.