The Wings of Dreams

an inn with good stables?
    “I don’t know about what makes stables good or not, but I am familiar with an inn where kijuu owners like to congregate. Shall I show you the way?”
    “You needn’t go to such lengths. Directions would be fine.”
    “No problem. Just once I’d like to hold the reins of a kijuu. In exchange for me showing you the way, how about you let me lead the kijuu?”
    “Sorry, but I couldn’t do that. I’d catch a scolding if my master found out I’d let his moukyoku be handled by anybody else.”
    “That’s too bad,” the man said in a regretful tone. But he smiled. “You are a cautious young lady. Whoever entrusted that kijuu to you, though, most definitely is not.”
    The man’s face split into a broad grin. He grabbed Shushou by the arm.
    “Hey—!”
    What are you doing, she was about to say, when the man shouted, “Thief!”
    “What?”
    Shushou looked up at him in amazement. People passing by paused and turned their attention to him.
    “This is my kijuu! Give it back, you stupid little kid!”
    For a moment, Shushou gaped at the man’s round face, struck dumb by the sudden transformation.
    “What’s going on?” somebody in the growing crowd asked.
    “This brat stole my kijuu!” he spit out. “Unbelievable, kids these days! Can’t take your eyes off them for a second!”
    The man wrenched Shushou’s arm, prompting a yelp of pain. “No!” she managed to blurt out, though she couldn’t be sure that she’d made herself heard.
    “Hold on a minute,” came a woman’s voice from the crowd. “That kijuu belongs to the girl. We were both on the boat coming over.”
    “Yeah, she stole it from me in Rinken! I thought there was something fishy about the way she was hanging around my kijuu.”
    “Well—”
    “That’s not true!” Shushou raised her voice, but with her arm feeling like it was about to rip out of its socket, she couldn’t find the words to say anything more.
    “What’s not true? Look! I’ve got the papers to prove it!” The man drew documents from his breast pocket and unfurled them for all to see. “This one proves the kijuu is mine. And this one says it was stolen. Both bear official seals!”
    The wall of people surrounding them shifted their sympathetic gaze from Shushou to the man.
    “Unbelievable,” the man hissed, giving Shushou’s arm another twist. “There are surely unsavory masterminds behind this all. There’s no way a kid like you would be put in charge of transporting a kijuu! That’s got to be the dumbest thing I ever heard! It should make anybody suspicious.”
    The man gave Shushou a shove and sent her flying.
    “It’s not dumb!” Shushou cried out. “That’s my kijuu!” She reached into her own pocket and pulled out the certificate Rikou had prepared for her. “If you want papers, I have papers too!”
    The words had barely left her mouth when the man yanked it out of her grasp and tore it into pieces. “Worth the paper it’s printed on!”
    The man’s shamelessly overbearing manner stunned her. Tossing the shredded paper aside, he next set to stripping the travel packs off Hakuto’s back and tossing them onto the ground.
    “Be grateful I don’t hand you over to the authorities,” he called out, and jumped into the saddle. Hakuto cast Shushou a brief, bewildered look. The man dug his heel hard into his sides. Hakuto bolted away in a panicked sprint.
    “Wait! Wait! Hakuto!”
    The congested street parted before Hakuto and swallowed up the beast and rider. Shushou gathered herself up and bolted after them. Someone behind her grabbed her by the shoulders.
    “Let me go!”
    “What should we do? Call the constable?”
    “But the man who says she stole from him—”
    Shushou shouted at the jabbering adults, “I’ve got the notarized papers right here. He’s the real thief!”
    With a curious glance at Shushou and then at the disappearing form of Hakuto, one of her fellow travelers plucked the scraps of paper off the street and pieced them together.
    His mouth dropped open. “Hey, these are the real thing!”
    “That’s what I’ve been saying! How can a bunch of adults be so stupid!”
    While half of the onlookers who’d gathered around her scurried away, the other half peered at the certificate.
    “Yeah, it’s got an authentic seal.”
    “What about his?”
    “Only caught a glance. Did anybody get a good look?”
    As the adults stood there and chatted, Shushou shook herself free and ran off in