Gabrielle and the Snow Spirit

by Phineas Redux

After many years Gabrielle returns to Japa, and meets something strange!

—OOO—

Inspired by the story-legend 'Yuki-Onna' written by Lafcadio Hearn; and the films 'Kwaidan', directed by Masaki Kobayashi; and 'Kaidan Yuki Joro', directed by Tanaka Tokuzo.

Disclaimer— MCA/Universal/RenPics own all copyrights to everything related to 'Xena: Warrior Princess' and I have no rights to them.

—OOO—

'Gabrielle and the Snow-Spirit'

White. Sky—white. Trees—white. Ground—white. The very air white with snow, slowly dropping from the white heavens. Her horse's mane—white. Her woollen-coated arms—white. Her skin—white. The air she breathed—white with a sharp cold sting in her throat. Everywhere: everything that was: —white!

The pine trees were covered in thick blankets of snow. Each individual tree was wrapped in white. On the ground the drifts were deep enough to make the pony snort with effort as it struggled along. Gabrielle was wrapped in a thick woollen cloak as well as her long mainly white coat and deerskin leggings and boots, but still felt the biting cold. The snow did not fall thickly, but the blustery wind beat it into her face; chilling her skin. The dark afternoon was swiftly advancing into the deeper gloom of approaching evening. She would need to find somewhere to rest quickly if she wasn't to be caught out in this winter storm.

She had a hood pulled up tightly round her head and ears and tied under her chin. A thick scarf covered her lower face and mouth, so that only her nose and eyes were visible. Even so she felt the sting of the chill air cutting through like a sharp knife. Her hands were protected by heavy leather gauntlets which themselves had a fine coating of snow. She had to keep blinking as snowflakes were blown into her eyes; making it difficult to see the trail ahead.

The world all around was white: the sky; the trees; the ground; everything. For the past hour Gabrielle had been hoping for some let-up in the constant snowstorm; or a dry haven to rest in. She was beginning to despair of either. Since setting out from the Shogawa river two days earlier to travel north across the mountains she had experienced nothing but snow in all its possible manifestations. More snow than she could ever have imagined; and now finding a shelter for herself and her pony was the single all-embracing thought on her mind.

For the twentieth time she found herself wondering what had brought her back to Japa. It was several years since she had lost her soul-mate at the hands of a minor warlord, and she had sworn never to return; but here she was. Something—something irresistible—had finally broken through her defences and drawn her back. It was now six months since her return and she had slowly made a few friends; though she had not gone out of her way to do so. They just seemed to come to her of their own accord, somehow. People whom she felt impelled to befriend and help in whatever way she could. The present trek was being made on behalf of one of these; a young Japa lady whom Gabrielle had been staying with for a few weeks. Her adoring husband was in the northern city of Kanazawa in the service of a local Daimyo, and the lady wished to let him know that their young son had just recovered safely from a bad illness. Gabrielle; whose own medical expertise had been instrumental in pulling the child through, had agreed to trek over the mountains to deliver the happy news.

The first night of her expedition had been spent under the thick low-hanging branch of a cedar at the side of a rock-face. This had afforded a reasonable cover both for her and her pony; though not perfect. She had found it difficult to sleep in the intense cold, even under the blankets she had brought with her. She knew that now; with the snow still constant and unrelenting, she needed to find real shelter for the coming night.

"Hey, girl! Easy!" Gabrielle hauled on the reins as the pony negotiated a deeper drift than usual; feeling the snow dragging past her boots. "Good girl! Well done! Don't worry, we'll find shelter soon!"

Looking ahead she gazed along the winding trail that passed through the thick belts of pines on either hand. Under these trees there was only darkness, and no visible path forward. Her only route lay in following the present track, and hoping it led somewhere. She had seen signs earlier that might signify human activity in the region, and was hoping there might be a hovel or shed somewhere close she could discover. Meanwhile she hunched her shoulders and pressed on through the white wall of snowflakes beating into her face. She had been on horseback since early that morning and was beginning to feel exhausted; and she well knew the dangers of yielding to the ever-increasing need to stop and lie down to sleep.

Just as she was considering going off-trail into the thick trees, to search for shelter there, something caught her eye some distance ahead. The trail wound across uneven ground as it skirted the foot of a mountain on her right hand side that reared its snow-capped head high above. As she peered forward in the increasing darkness she saw; on the right of the trail, something unusual. There appeared to be a sloping bank of snow, of an oddly rectangular shape, rising by the edge of the trees. Gabrielle pointed her pony's head towards this, kicked her heels against the gasping sides of the animal, and in a few moments found herself in front of a large building made of planks and small tree-trunks.

The front of the building rose above her head, as she sat her pony beside it. The roof was made of horizontal planks and receded at a steep angle to a pinnacle that was about fifteen feet above ground level. Judging from what she could see, and the dark shuttered windows on each side of a large closed door, Gabrielle realised the place was empty. Though certain signs made her think it had not ever been meant as an ordinary habitation. The roof extended out from the wall to form a covered verandha across the front of the building, held up by a line of wooden posts.

It looked more like a small abandoned tea-house; that had latterly seemingly been taken over by woodcutters! Their piles of logs and cut timber were heaped at the side of the building, and behind it. To the left side was an extension with a lower roof than the main building. In the centre of this was a wide door of vertical planks which rose to the low roof-gutter and moved on the usual Japa method of sliding rails. Gabrielle dismounted and went to this first. Taking a firm grip on the latch she heaved and was relieved as the door slid to the side without trouble. Inside the dark interior Gabrielle immediately saw the general layout of a small stable, complete with two stalls. Everything seemed to be well kept in good condition, complete with what appeared to be a couple of partially full grain bags lying to one side and a few bales of straw. Whoever used the building obviously kept it well stocked for whenever it was needed.

Gabrielle spent a short time unsaddling her pony and giving it some of the grain before making sure it was content and at ease. Then she closed the sliding door and walked across, under the verandha, to the main door of the building. Again, she found that by merely hauling on the metal latch the door gave way and allowed her to easily pull it wide in the ordinary manner; especially as the wide verandha had prevented any heavy accumulation of snow in front of it.

The door led directly into a large room stretching the full width of the remarkably wide building; with a double set of windows in the far wall with their shutters also firmly closed. On either hand were separate doors leading into other rooms. The one on her left Gabrielle already knew must connect with the stable.

In this main room, against the far wall, was a wide stone fire-hearth with a chimney that looked as if it could still take a good fire. And a good fire was above all things just what Gabrielle most wanted at the moment. She didn't even have to go outside to the stacked timber for fuel, as a pile of small logs was laid ready to hand against the wall by the fireplace; and the clearly watertight roof meant the building's rooms and their contents were still in perfect order. She wasted no time in dumping her saddle-bag on the floor and kneeling to make up a fire. From the pocket of her long coat she pulled a slim metal cased tinder-box; having long learnt never to travel anywhere without this useful item. The flint and tinder it contained meant that she soon had a comfortable fire blazing and sparking in the hearth.

A short while later she went through the door on the far side of the wide room, into the adjoining stable, to check her pony was comfortable for the night. Then, after a patchy meal of dry grain-cakes and water, she settled down on the dusty floor in front of the crackling fire; wrapped in a warm blanket. She found herself looking at the flickering shadows on the ceiling and thinking of her recent adventures. What had brought her back to Japa; a place that caused distress and anger whenever she thought of it. But then, a while back, something had started making her think more and more about the events and people of this country; finally resulting in her return in the late Autumn of the previous year; though why she still could not easily say.

The few new friends she had made were genuinely close to her heart; though she still drifted from place to place. As she pondered these thoughts the exertions of the past few hours, struggling along the snow-bound trail, finally made her eyes flutter with exhaustion. After wrapping herself snugly in her blanket, she fell asleep.

-OOO-

It seemed only a short time later that something woke her. Her experience told her she had only been asleep an hour at most; but what had wakened her? The shutters on all the windows were tight shut so the only light came from the now low-burning fire. Gabrielle cautiously moved her eyes slowly round, taking in all the area she could see without moving. Though there were deep shadows everywhere nothing seemed out of place. Then something made the hairs on her neck tingle and she felt a cold shiver coursing down her back. Turning only slightly she glanced towards the door, nearly opposite her. Standing in front of it, and blocking her view, was a tall white motionless form.

Within a single breath's span Gabrielle was out of her blanket and crouching defensively with both sai in her hands.

"Who are you? What d'you want?"

The indistinct figure remained silent, as if regarding the female warrior with some interest; then a gentle tinkling voice, like icicles falling from a roof's eaves, broke the quietness.

"I am a traveller, like yourself. May I take shelter with you here?" The woman came smoothly across the intervening floor to stand a few feet away from Gabrielle. "I did not mean to disturb you."

"How did you get in?" Gabrielle looked at the door, which seemed as securely fastened as when she had left it before turning in earlier. "Where are you from?"

She took a closer look at the woman, now visible in the waning light from the fire. She appeared to be dressed in a white silk kimono; had curiously long black hair, and was exceptionally tall; well over Gabrielle's height. But then who wasn't, Gabrielle found herself thinking, irrelevantly! And her face was of a paleness that almost rivalled the virgin snow which Gabrielle had spent all day riding through.

"From outside." The woman seemed to smile; though she only moved her lips a little, and remained otherwise completely expressionless. "I come from outside! Not far!"

Gabrielle rose from her knees and lowered her sai; though she remained defensive for the moment. People who crept up on her while she slept were always held in some distrust, until she had reason to think otherwise. As she continued studying the strange woman she suddenly realised the newcomer had bare feet.

"You have no shoes or boots!" Gabrielle's voice showed her astonishment at this, considering the weather. "You'll freeze to death. You surely haven't come far tonight?"

"Only a little way." The woman smiled again; this time more noticeably, and bowed slightly. "I have not suffered any difficulty. Perhaps I am more used to these mountains than you?"

"I'm Gabrielle." She bent to replace her sai in their loops on her boots, then eyed her visitor again. "If you're hungry I can make a couple of grain-cakes, and I have a flagon of wine!"

"Thank you—no." The lady glided closer; though apparently steering away from the crackling fire. "My name is—Yuki! I travel along these trails sometimes. I have been here before—some time ago. I meet travellers now and again."

"More than I've done the last couple of days!" Gabrielle grunted and turned to place another log on the fire; pushing it firmly into place on the hot ashes. "I've seen no-one in the two days since I set out over the mountains, Yuki! If I'd known this storm would be as bad I'd never have started!"

"In Winter these mountains can be a death-trap." Yuki watched the woman warrior with a curiously unemotional expression. "Many men and women meet their end in the valleys and snowdrifts around here—one way or the other!"

"Do you want some shoes?" Gabrielle crossed to her saddle-bag in the corner and started fumbling through its contents. "I've got a pair of leather sandals. They'll be better than nothing. Here! Please take them! You must have something for your feet!"

The woman came up close to Gabrielle and stood looking directly into her eyes. Gabrielle noted her long thick jet-black hair; pale white face; and deep dark eyes that seemed to have no bottom as she gazed into them for a moment.

"Thank you. It is kind of you." Yuki gently took the offered pair of sandals and bent to place them on the wooden floor beside her. "I shall wear them when I leave—in the morning!"

"Well, if you're not hungry we can sit by the fire and talk for a while." Gabrielle laughed quietly as she directed her visitor to one of the two small stools that sat by the hearth. "It's not much—but it's Home! At least for the present!"

"You are not a lady of Japa?" Yuki sat elegantly, moving her stool a little further away from the fire than Gabrielle had placed it. "Something of power or importance must have brought you across the ocean to our country? But I am impolite to ask!"

"No! No." Gabrielle shrugged as she leaned forward, crossing her arms on her legs. "I don't know. Something—something dragged me back! I'd sworn never to return years ago. But something—!"

"What drives our lives is often hidden from us." Yuki nodded, as she continued to stare into Gabrielle's face with an almost longing intentness. "Forces beyond our control impel people to things—they hardly know why!"

Gabrielle nodded, turning to gaze into the growing flames of the fire. She often liked to do this—looking into the flickering flames until it seemed there were vast caverns and immense distances trapped within the glowing embers.

"The Gods—at least some of them, used to try to direct our—my actions!" Gabrielle thought back to distant memories, and shuddered slightly despite herself. "But they have left me alone for the longest while, thank the—thank Goodness!"

"Sadness is always difficult to escape. I know that myself." Yuki moved a hand gently, to slip a frond of black hair back over her shoulder. "You are sad—I see that. What made you battle the elements in this foul weather? Something important to you?"

Gabrielle paused before replying. She had to decide herself if she could actually answer this question. What had made her ride out into an obviously threatening storm, across the treacherous mountains? The news of her friend's son's recovery could certainly have waited a few days longer!

"What makes me do anything nowadays?" She sneered at herself; hardly knowing why. "I have a message to deliver. And it seemed as good a time as any! I'm used to trekking through mountains; they don't worry me. This weather is bad, of course. Worse than I expected—but I'll get through!"

"To deliver your message?" Yuki's voice sounded like a stream rippling over pebbles. "You thought it was that important?"

"My friend—I have a lady-friend in Shogawa—wanted her husband in Kanazawa to know their son had recovered from an illness." Gabrielle pondered for a moment, rubbing her chin with a finger. "I could'a left it till the weather improved. But I thought my friend was anxious; not impatient, just anxious that her husband heard the good news as soon as possible. So I came away immediately. I wanted to help her as best I could, you see!"

The tall woman opposite Gabrielle nodded slowly, never taking her eyes off the slim figure of the woman warrior.

"Sometimes it is easy to tell people's natures!" Yuki laughed, and it was like silver bells tinkling in the distance. "You are a warrior—that is obvious. But also a kind person. Even though you have suffered in the past. It is always tragic to lose someone you love!"

Gabrielle jerked her head up to look over at the woman; but she appeared calm and tranquil.

"It's that obvious, eh?" She sneered again, then raised a hand apologetically. "I'm sorry. I'm tired. Take no notice of me. Memories can be—upsetting! Can we talk of something else?"

"What will your lady-friend in Shogawa do—when her husband hears the good news you take him?" Yuki smiled more openly; baring perfectly white teeth for a moment as her lips slowly parted, to close again just as slowly.

Gabrielle stood and walked over to where she had dumped some supplies earlier. Bending down she unfolded a second blanket and brought it back to her guest.

"I told her I would not take no for an answer from her husband." Gabrielle grinned for the first time as she recalled her friend's expression, on hearing Gabrielle's plans for her husband. "I'll tell him that even if his employer is the local Daimyo he'll still have to get leave and return with me to Shogawa and his wife! She was shocked at first. Wives don't behave that way to their husbands in this country; but I'm not his wife, and I said I'd make the Daimyo see sense! Now she can't wait for his return!"

Yuki accepted the offered blanket gracefully and the two women rose to put the stools aside, then Yuki laid her blanket close to Gabrielle's; but so that Gabrielle was between her and the slowly waning fire.

As they lay comfortably near each other, in the dimly lit room with shadows flickering on the walls and ceiling, the conversation went on. Yuki leaned on her arm, looking at Gabrielle who lay on her back studying the rafters above with a slight frown.

"Your hair is white as snow." The Japa woman spoke quietly, like the whisper of smoke ascending a chimney. "On others it would make them look older; but it seems to heighten your own youth! You have a youthful nature!"

"Thanks!" Gabrielle twisted under her blanket, trying to hide embarrassment by shifting her position a little. "I ain't young anymore, though! Not in spirit, at least! Seen too much. Hit too many dead-beats! It ain't much of a life, really!"

"But you still make friends." Yuki lay unmoving, hardly more than a shadow herself as Gabrielle glanced over at her. "People who need your friendship. That is always good."

"It's often difficult finding nice people." Gabrielle grunted as she thought of her struggles in lowering her defences even that little bit to allow friendship to enter, when needed. "Not so many around that you trip over them everywhere!"

"Perhaps they are directed; perhaps it is the Fates purpose to send friends to you!" Again Yuki stared searchingly at the supine form beside her, as if she were trying to read something into the way Gabrielle was twisting her hands together, unconsciously. "Friends sometimes give your life a bearing: a reason to act not thought of before, you know!"

Gabrielle turned her head to contemplate her companion in the growing dimness; though the woman's perfectly white face was still clear, as if it shone with an inner light.

"I feel happy making this journey for my lady-friend in Shogawa, yes." Gabrielle smiled slightly. "She is a fine person. Has a wonderful family, and great children. I'm glad her son has recovered from his illness."

"You helped that happen." Yuki's voice held the echo of a smile. "Your knowledge of healing potions and plant extracts gave service there, I think!"

"I have some experience, yes." Gabrielle contemplated the memory of the young boy's first smile to his mother, a few days ago, after pulling through the fever's peak. "His mother was so happy! It made me happy too, for once! But I felt embarrassed that she was so grateful. I didn't think I'd done all that much!"

"If you hadn't been there, perhaps there would have been another result!" Yuki's words fell like ice crystals in the room, and suddenly a faint chill shivered through Gabrielle's body.

"Oh, I did what I could!" Gabrielle shifted round again, and pulled the blanket higher round her chin. "Time to get some rest. I still have some way to go tomorrow. And you too, no doubt! Hope the weather clears up. Goodnight!"

"Goodnight, Gabrielle." Yuki's voice seemed, to the exhausted warrior woman's ears, like a cooling stream pouring from a high glacier in the nearby mountains; then she slept.

—OOO—

When Gabrielle woke for the second time that night she knew instantly that this time something was really wrong. She was still in a trance-like state, just after waking, as she lay facing the fire. She could see the hearth with its pile of grey ash and embers still glowing faintly. She seemed, curiously, to be even less able to come to full awareness than usual; or, even, to move at all! As she looked at the fire she suddenly saw the last few embers lose their glow and disappear. Then the tiny wavers of warm air from the ashes themselves stopped and a whitish sheen, like ice crystals, formed over them. The very walls of the hearth itself suddenly whitened; and this time Gabrielle knew it was indeed ice forming rapidly all over the now cold stones.

Danger signals shot rapidly through her mind and she returned to full consciousness, but still found herself unable to move. For a moment she was perplexed; then a faint fear shivered through her. Some kind of poison? A spell? Why was it so cold suddenly? Where was Yuki? Why couldn't she even turn her head, no matter how hard she tried?

Suddenly there was a movement at her side and she saw the tall figure of Yuki, with her white silk kimono and black cascading hair. As Gabrielle looked up at the woman the darkness of the room around her began to fade; to be replaced by a steadily increasing cold blue light that brightened till it filled the whole room with a dim glow.

Yuki came to stand by Gabrielle's waist, and then Gabrielle felt some power outside herself twisting her body round onto her back, till she was staring straight up at the woman looming over her. Yuki seemed to glide without footsteps and she now bent forward to bring her chill white face close to Gabrielle's recumbent form. All round the white-clad figure was a strange glow, and Yuki's face itself seemed to emanate an eerie blue coldness that brought a shiver to Gabrielle's soul.

"You have woken! That is good. It is time!" The white kimono seemed almost like a misty haze around Yuki as she leaned closer; the atmosphere in the room growing colder still with every word she spoke. "It is the hour for me to reveal myself. We all have our paths in life. And even we spirits have our proscribed purposes. Oh, yes! I am a spirit! Did you not realise? Many of those I meet do recognise me, but they are too filled with fear to escape; even if I let them! And now, you!"

Gabrielle had been struggling to form words of her own, and in this instant she found speech return.

"Who are you? What's going on?" Gabrielle felt, that if she could only move her body, she would shiver uncontrollably. Not with fear, but the sheer freezing chill that had entered the room and surrounded the figure beside her.

"You do not know me?" The woman parted her lips in a smile that held nothing of warmth; but a great deal of feral viciousness. "I thought perhaps you might have guessed when I told you my name? Many do! But, of course, you are a foreigner and do not know our legends, or ghosts, or spirits! I am a Yuki-Onna. A Snow-Woman!"

Gabrielle took a deep breath, as she continued to try to break the spell that kept her motionless in the presence of this demon. Why hadn't she realised before what she was? But she could speak, at least.

"Snow-Woman? What's that? What do you want?" Gabrielle again tried to sit up, or move her arms, but without success. "I mean you no harm."

The Snow-Woman leaned back slightly as she contemplated her victim. Her black eyes held infinite depths of cold cruelty that spoke of pitiless determination. If she shed tears, they would be ice crystals.

"A Snow-Woman is the spirit of the mountains!" She smiled with parted lips, showing teeth of a brilliant whiteness that spoke of tigers in the forest or sharks in the water skimming silently towards their victims. "I cut loose the souls of men and women, taking their energy and freeing them from all cares and worries! I am forever! I shall always be here; taking those I wish, those who venture into the wilderness and disregard the soul of the mountains. The soul of the mountains will always win in the end! And now you!"

Gabrielle put her last effort into breaking the spell that surrounded her, like an iron band; but she could do nothing. However hard she tried there was no movement in her body at all. The Snow-Woman again bent close to her victim, bringing her expressionless fearfully cold face close to that of Gabrielle; till Gabrielle could see, in those terrifying black eyes, the infinite emptiness of being that lay within the ghoul's own soul.

"But for you I have mercy!" The ghost's every word seemed to stab Gabrielle's face, like the touch of icicles. "I have heard you speak. Seen into your soul. Further than you yourself! I have that ability. I can easily read the souls of you human's; like a scroll of Life! And you, Gabrielle, have a good soul. A remarkably good soul! Did you know there are those who we Yuki-Onna cannot touch? People of purity; of kindness to all around them; people who fight their way through Life for the benefit not of themselves, but others! Those even I cannot touch. You are one of those!"

"I don't understand! What are you going to do?" Gabrielle was so chilled by the surrounding cold she felt as if she had even lost the ability to shiver. Though, curiously, she still felt no fear. Fear for herself had long ago departed from her thoughts. Her sadness was all she ever really felt nowadays. Her attitude for the last few years was that death would be welcome when it came; though it did not make the actual experience any easier when it did arrive, she now realised.

"I am going to do—nothing!" The Snow-Woman leaned back once more as she sat by Gabrielle's side. "I intend to let you go. But there are conditions! You may escape my attention this time; through your kind heart and spirit: but if you do not take note of my requirements, at any time in the future, then I shall return mercilessly for my just reward!"

"Tell me what you want!" Gabrielle knew she was in the demon's power, but she determined not to show fear before it. She would stay strong to the end!

"What I want; what I require, is that you go on your way and live your life as you wish; but never, ever, tell anyone of what passed between us this night! Not even that you so much as met me! For if you break your silence, and make public your meeting a Yuki-Onna in the snow in the mountains, then I shall find you wherever you may be and take my vengeance without mercy! Will you do that? Will you stay silent?"

Gabrielle realised she was in no position for discussion; but she also understood that in its own way this ghost-demon was offering her a way of escape. She gave up the struggle to move and stared into the face of the white Snow-Woman.

"Yes! I shall go on my way, and I will never speak of you to anyone. I promise." They seemed such light words and Gabrielle found herself wondering if it was going to be so simple, after all. "When I give my word, I mean it!"

"I know you do." The spirit stood smoothly and gracefully; more like a rising column of smoke than any human being. "I see into your soul and know you tell the truth. Otherwise you would already be cold and dead! The dawn is near; I must go now. Remember your promise. Any least remark about our meeting, and my retaliation will be swift! Goodbye, Gabrielle!"

As Gabrielle lay motionless she saw the demon rise tall by her side. The woman stood elegant and beautiful in icy stateliness. Then a haziness seemed to envelop her form, gradually strengthening till Gabrielle could see the far wall of wood planks through her transparent body. For a moment there was the faintest impression of a cloud of ice-crystals hanging in the cold air, then the room was empty and Gabrielle found herself suddenly able to move once more.

—OOO—

By the time Gabrielle had given her pony a feed of grain from the bags in the stable dawn had broken and a new day was brightening the sky over the peaks of the surrounding mountains. The snow-clouds had disappeared and the clear sky shone brilliantly, giving the snow-fields all round a dazzling sharpness.

Although not scared Gabrielle felt it good policy to shake the dust of the woodcutter's shed from her boots as soon as possible. To this end she didn't start a fire for a morning meal, but just gulped a mouthful of water and then set about packing her saddle-bags and getting her pony ready for the coming journey.

With the snow having stopped she knew it was now only a few parasangs till she was free of the mountains and on her way to Kanazawa, and she did not want to waste time. She gave a last look round; closed the door, and walked out under the wide verandha to take the reins of her happily snorting pony. In another moment she had jumped into the saddle and rode swiftly away. This was one mountain trail she would not quickly return to. When she went back to Shogawa she would take a different route. As she rode over the bright snow she wondered if this was through fear, or common-sense, or apprehension of what might happen; then, with a derisive grunt and jerk of her head, decided that it was simply a considered resolution that any warrior of sense would take. With a flick of her reins she cantered on across the ice-fields; coming out, after an hour's riding, from the constricted forest-trail onto a more open plain. She attributed the cold shiver, that had constantly trembled through her frame for most of this morning's journey, to the still icy atmosphere of the new day. At least, she finally convinced herself that this was the reason.

While in the sky; as if a huge eye stared from the heavens, a looming unseen presence watched her movements.

—OOO—

Kanazawa was a bustling city, and the Daimyo's residence held a central location rising two stories above any other house nearby, as befitted the high position of its owner. Gabrielle found the husband of her lady-friend without difficulty, and passed on the good tidings about his healthy son to a suddenly overjoyed father. Even the question of leave of absence was easily disposed of as the Daimyo turned out to be a person of understanding, with two daughters and a son of his own. He found it quite acceptable to allow his trusted servant freedom to travel home for a few weeks.

The Daimyo even felt able to provide a special banquet that evening; where only the worthiest of local citizens were invited as guests, and the most excellent of fare served in her honour: for Gabrielle's reputation had preceeded her and, much to her consternation, she found herself something of a celebrity in the city.

Eventually the talk amongst the guests found its way round to Gabrielle's late journey through the mountains.

"A nasty storm, this last!" The Daimyo drank from a delicately thin black-glazed porcelain cup, filled to the brim with exquisite one hundred year old wine. "You did well to struggle through, Gabrielle! I have known people; even those with much experience, head into our treacherous mountain valleys never to be seen again! Did you, by the way, meet a messenger in the mountains on your way here? We sent him out with important despatches a day ago!"

Gabrielle paused briefly in picking, somewhat indifferently, at her food and gazed expressionlessly at the Daimyo beside her.

"No. I met no-one!"

The End

-OOO-