Chapter 36

Azuki swung up on Blackie's broad back. The kites scared Shota even more than they scared her, and she was terrified. Shota landed on her shoulder and tucked himself into her collar. She looked up. Kites circled high, cutting big, wide swaths in the sky, as if searching for something on the ground. Probably Karasu Tengu, she thought, and probably looking for them. Had they been spotted yet?

"I want to stay a bird. They'll be looking for two boys riding double," Shota whispered.

"Back to the road," Sensei called quietly, "slowly. We don't want to be conspicuous."

Red Wind dipped her head and stepped forward calmly, just another horse carrying a rider on a routine journey.

"There's nothing routine about this," Blackie snorted at her, but he also kept her pace, relaxing his normally proud posture into the easy stance of a workaday riding horse.

"Quiet, everyone," Sensei said silently. "We don't want anyone to hear us, so we must even guard our thoughts."