Koyasan Read Free Page A

mountain.
    Maiko squealed with pretend terror as Koyasan whirled her off her feet and carried her away from the bridge. But when she realised she was trapped, and that Koyasan wouldn’t set her down again, she began to slap her sister and cry.
    “Wanna go gravy!” she wailed.
    “No,” Koyasan said, hurrying away from the bridge, as much to get out of earshot of her parents as to escape from the graveyard. “We’re going to the waterfall. That’s much nicer than the graveyard.”
    “Wanna play!” Maiko shouted.
    “You can play. With me. At the waterfall.”
    “No! In gravy!”
    Koyasan ignored her struggling sister’s protests and pushed on doggedly. She was soon on the path to the waterfall, walking beneath leafy, shady trees. She felt much better now, the lightest she’d felt in three days. After a while, she set her sister down.
    “Hate you!” Maiko roared, kicking Koyasan’s shin.
    Koyasan sniffed and walked on, sure that Maiko would follow.
    “Gravy!” Maiko yelled. “Gravy! Gravy! Gravy!”
    Koyasan sensed the younger girl turn and march back towards the village. She smiled to herself and didn’t slow or look back. A few moments later she heard Maiko stop. Koyasan began counting inside her head. When she got to six, there was a rush of footsteps and Maiko popped up beside her.
    “Gravy,” Maiko said miserably, but it was no longer a demand.
    “You can go to the gravy next week,” Koyasan said.
    And they walked on together, through the trees, up the hill to where the waterfall was waiting.

SULKING GIRL
     
    THE waterfall was nothing spectacular, not much taller than Koyasan. But it fell into a nice deep pool with fish in it* and there were lots of colourful wild flowers growing around the edges.
    Several adults were resting by the pool and a couple were swimming. One pair had a baby, even younger than Maiko* but otherwise the two sisters were the only children there.
    Maiko’s mood improved when she saw the pool. With Koyasan’s help* she wriggled out of her clothes and charged into the water* yelling happily. Koyasan undressed and joined Maiko. The fish nipped at her feet and calves* but left her alone once she moved further in and drew her legs up* to float.
    Maiko couldn’t swim yet* so she stood in the shallower water near the bank. She roared at the fish as they bit her* and kicked out at them. But the bites didn’t really hurt. She was just playing with the fish, pretending to be angry.
    The girls spent most of the afternoon at the pool, swimming or sunbathing, making up games. They ate the bread and Koyasan shared a garlic clove with Maiko. As the day wore on, Koyasan thought about returning home, but Maiko kicked up a fuss each time Koyasan tried to lead her away from the pool. She’d been disappointed once already today, and wasn’t going to stand for another order from her older, bossy sister.
    Koyasan could have dragged Maiko away if she’d wished, but she was enjoying herself. So she let Maiko have her own way, even though she knew their mother would be worried if they returned home late.
    Eventually, with the sun dropping in the sky, she had to be firm. If they left now, they’d arrive home a good hour before sunset. But if they left any later, and got delayed on the way, the sun might beat them to it, and Koyasan had no intention of ending up stranded outdoors in the dark.
    Most of the adults had left, and the few who remained were not from Koyasan’s village, so the girls had to walk home alone. Maiko was tired and grumpy, and threw a tantrum when Koyasan peeled her away from the pool.
    “Don’t wanna go home!” she shouted.
    “We have to,” snapped Koyasan. “It will be dark soon.”
    “Don’t care!” Maiko yelled.
    Koyasan was tired too, so instead of laughing off Maiko’s protests, as she had earlier, she argued with her on the walk back. She lost her temper and called Maiko all sorts of foul names, making her cry. In response, Maiko dragged her feet and tried