Chapter 5

The day of the party dawned sparkling bright, not quite as hot. Carefully, carefully, Chizuyo crept up to the fence surrounding the House of the West. The yard was full of hubbub and noise. A band played loud music that seemed discordant to her, though it had a nice marching beat. Guards patrolled, but they seemed more interested in what was going on in the compound than in what might be lurking outside. Some dogs were performing tricks with large and small balls. A pair of horses stood near her, just the other side of the fence.

"You're the mother of the bird-children," she heard in her head.

"Who are you?" she asked silently, startled.

"I'm the horse on the Left."

"I'm Right," said a slightly different voice.

"How is it I can hear you?" Chizuyo asked in silent wonder.

"You love the bird-children," said Left.

"You talked to them before you knew they were children as well as birds, and you were willing to take them as your children even then, even as birds. Your compassion has given you the power to hear us, when you listen and when it's needed," Right explained.

"I want to get my daughter out of there!" Chizuyo cried in a voice only the horses could hear.

"We will help you," the horses said together.

"We all will," came a chorus of voices Chizuyo could hear only in her head. She realized these were the voices of all the animals around her. She had allies!

"But you," Chizuyo said silently, "What about all of you? You must all be freed!"

"Some of us THEY don't even know about," a tiny voice giggled.

"Others of us can live in the woods," a new voice that sounded, well, piggy added.

"Many of us have good homes with humans to return to," Left said. "Genmai has held us and our humans prisoner much as he has held you and Azuki. We can't do it without your help, but with your help, I think we can all escape."

"I need to get in to create a distraction, to tell Azuki where to go and give her a chance to fly free. I can only do this when she is out of the cage and on the rope."

"She's wearing a big iron kettle," cautioned a voice Chizuyo somehow knew was a monkey.

"Can she fly in it? How's it held on to her?" Chizuyo's voice trembled. If Azuki couldn't fly in the kettle, what would they do?

"I heard she can," the monkey replied, "but only if she stays in perfect balance. It's tied onto her with rope."

"We'll start a distraction by running through the audience," said a chorus of the little giggly voices Chizuyo now recognized as mice.

"We'll chase them and the dogs can chase us!" Languid voices with powerful, rumbly, overtones belonged to several cats crouched in the tall grass.

"We'll kick down the fence so you can get in and the others can get out. Then we'll run across the yard and jump over the fence to the other side!" Right said.

"That'll be fun!" Left added.

"You can run in and help Azuki," the monkey said, "and we'll all be a distraction for each other." The monkey bared its teeth in a grin at the thought of the chaos they'd create. "Some of my fellows are out of their cages like I am. They have started opening all the cages for the other animals and the birds, and spreading the word, so as soon as the ruckus starts, everyone can get out."

"Monkey-san," Chizuyo asked, "Can one of you get to Azuki and untie the ropes? Let her know I am coming and tell her to fly to the Temple of Mary in the woods?"

"I will do my best," the monkey replied.

"And so will I," Chizuyo vowed. "Everyone will get a chance."

At first everything went splendidly. The mice laughed as they ran through people's legs and up the chairs, making everyone scream. The cats reminded themselves that they were not to actually catch the mice, and the dogs that they were not to harass the cats, only follow them and bark. The commotion was incredible! The birds burst forth in a cacophony of cries and the monkeys dashed everywhere, untying ropes and snatching hats as they ran for the fences. The horses whinnied and kicked, then ran, leaving a hole through which Chizuyo easily slid in as some pigs slid out to run for the trees. There was Azuki on a high wire, with a monkey trying to untie her bonds.

"Sheriff! Release my daughter!" Chizuyo cried.

"Mother?" Azuki turned and lost her balance. The monkey fell off her, righting her but leaving the kettle still partly attached.

"What shall I do?" Azuki cried.

"Fly, child, fly!" Chizuyo called.

"Go to the Temple of Mary!" The monkey chattered so loudly Chizuyo thought it must be speaking aloud.

"I can't leave you!" Azuki saw the Sheriff's men closing in on Chizuyo amidst the chaos of the crowd.

"You can, you must! Go!" Chizuyo turned to face the men. She knew she had embarrassed the Sheriff in front of his guests, just as she'd planned. His soldiers would throw her, the madwoman, out, of course, but the damage was already done and Azuki, her dear Azuki, was free.

As Azuki sprang into the air, she brought her powerful wings down, propelling her upward. The kettle was heavy, but she could just manage it, if she didn't look behind her.

It was just as well she couldn't, for the Sheriff's guard fell on Chizuyo and began to beat her, even as all the animals escaped. Chizuyo had not anticipated this! The fat foreign man in the funny hat, the one she thought must be the general, watched, his mouth opening and closing without sound as he looked on in what Chizuyo thought was horror, just before she passed out.

"Bah," the Sheriff cried, kicking Chizuyo one last time. Surely his show of force against this madwoman would make up his status in the General's eyes for the embarrassment she'd given him. "Get ready for a hunt," he cried to his guard. "We'll find that toki and shoot it down from the sky. Get ready! Look at her fly. She's going to the church, I think. Keep her in sight as long as you can," he said to a guard. "We will go there first. Move!"

"What about this woman?" one of the soldiers ventured, indicating Chizuyo.

"Take her with us. We'll dump her in the forest with all the other hungry ghosts."

In short order, all the men marched out, rifles on their shoulders, carrying Chizuyo in their rough grips, following the direction of Azuki's flight up the hills and into the forest. Severely injured and unconscious, Chizuyo knew nothing of what was going on around her.