The Wings of Dreams

a bright smile. “You goushi really came to the rescue there. Lying low and keeping things quiet tonight should stave off an attack?”
    “There’s no guarantee.” Kinhaku answered bluntly. “Those trees were probably felled this winter and in a hurry. There’s no guarantee the youma in question hasn’t moved on in search of prey, or isn’t still in the vicinity and waiting ahead of us. Meaning tonight you’ll want to post guards and stay on your toes.”
    Kiwa reacted with a brief but anxious expression before nodding gravely. “Forging a path through this forest won’t allow for a horse-drawn wagon.”
    Kinhaku shook his head. “You could transfer everything to handcarts and have your people pushing and pulling. Better yet, abandon the wagon and carts and divide the packs among your retinue and horses. Hand out what you can’t carry to the rest of the company.”
    “Y-you can’t be serious!”
    “Did you really think you’d be able to drive that wagon all the way to Mt. Hou? The going will soon get much worse than this. Even if you kept to the road, you’d be shedding baggage before long.”
    “But—”
    “You’ll want to quietly start making satchels, slings, backpacks and the like. If you don’t have the material, tear up the tents and wagon covers. The most valuable things you’ll be carrying are water and food. And when you can’t carry all of that, water’s more important than food.”
    “How much water?”
    Kinhaku clucked to himself. “I wish I knew. We’re pretty much in the dark too. I can’t say how long the detour will take us or where we’ll end up. But run out of water and you might as well start digging your own grave.”
    “What about sending out scouts?”
    “If you think it’d help, don’t let me stop you. But that’s not something we do.”
    Kiwa trudged away in befuddled silence. Kinhaku and the goushi turned to their employers. They were joined by Shushou, Gankyuu and Rikou. “The situation ahead is as I said it was. We don’t know how things will turn out after this. I’m sorry, but for the next while you’ll have to bear up with whatever hardships come our way.”
    Kinhaku’s employer, a kindly old man, silently nodded, evidence of his unshakable trust in him. Others expressed their reservations more vocally, but reassurances by their goushi seemed to qualm their fears and bring them into accord.
    Of course, Shushou thought to herself. That was the difference between Kiwa and them, between the employer and employee. A goushi’s employer started out with the belief he couldn’t cross the Yellow Sea by himself. So he sought out a man he could entrust his life to and brought him along. It followed that every step along the way he would continue to trust the word of the man who held his life in his hands.
    Shushou said quietly to Gankyuu, “No sense in putting yourself out for somebody who doesn’t already trust you. Is that it?”
    “What?”
    “The reason you’re so cool to the concerns of others. It’s tough going out of your way for people who don’t trust you in the first place.”
    Shushou believed that Kinhaku was a fundamentally good person at heart. And though there was plenty to dislike about Gankyuu, she couldn’t consider him a hateful person. He’d brought Shushou this far in the Yellow Sea and looked after her like an overprotective parent. What she simply couldn’t abide was this need to remain coldly indifferent to everybody else.
    She savored a small feeling of satisfaction, sure she’d chanced upon the key to his personality.
    But Gankyuu’s response was anything but complimentary. “What kind of a fool are you?”
    This time, it was Shushou’s turn to stand there in open-mouth surprise. “What do you mean by that?” she fumed.
    Sparing her only an exasperated expression, Gankyuu strode over to Kinhaku to further discuss the particulars of this or that.
    “And after coming up with an explanation that gave him every benefit of the doubt,” Shushou sulked.
    Rikou tapped her on the shoulder and said with that distracted smile that never left his face, “C’mon. Sit down. Now’s not the time to be throwing sand in the gears. We’re the dead weight in a place like this.”
    “But I’m right, aren’t I?”
    Rikou smiled. “While laudable, your thoughts about the goushi that led you to that answer are meaningless here.”
    “Why do you say that?”
    “You’re a smart kid, Shushou. For whatever reason, you have a