Kumiko and the Shadow Catchers

by Briony Stewart

  chapter four

  Far from my house and the farms and the roads, beyond the boats like slippers lined up against the steps of the shore, ten dragons snarl and grumble like the midnight sea around them.

  ‘What do you mean, Kumiko must destroy the book?’ Tomodo growls.

  The forest dragon sighs. ‘Trees arch over the lives of humans, they take in the sun and the words that fill the air around them until whole histories are written inside their trunks. I have travelled to every tree in every forest to hear these stories, but there is one in particular you must know, and that is how the Shadow Catchers began.

  ‘Long ago there was a village which stood deep in the valley of a mountain.

  This valley was filled with magical creatures. They played in the streams, hid in the trees and circled throughout the sky. But the villagers of this valley had no powers and found that, unlike cattle and goats and pigs in their pens, these magical creatures could not be controlled, or easily understood. To these villagers there was no value in any creature that was not of use and since they could not catch them or eat them or ride them, they found they were only useful as something to blame for their troubles. If their crops died, or their chickens escaped, if a drought dried up all their water or they had too many daughters, they blamed wicked magic.

  ‘Because magic was blamed for so many things over the years, these villagers came to fear and mistrust the creatures who used it. So they decided to find a way to keep magic contained and safe forever. They learnt one spell from a lonely creature who lived by the moonlight. He told them how to absorb magic through shadows, unaware of the danger in his words. Those villagers became the very first Shadow Catchers and by the end of that year there was not a single magical creature left in the entire valley.

  ‘I tell you this,’ continued the forest dragon. ‘Though they are far more dangerous than any of the creatures they’ve erased, the Shadow Catchers of today still think in a similar way to the ones of long ago. They do not trust creatures of magic. To get close to that book someone would have to get close to the Shadow Catchers, and no dragon could do that, no magic creature. But a fellow human,’ he says, looking at me like something much more important than a flower on a rock, ‘an innocent human. A child …’

  I try to swallow the whole idea with a gulp. ‘But why would they listen to me?’

  The dragon from Mount Fuji slithers across the water with a look of fresh excitement across his face. ‘Because, Kumiko,’ he says, ‘you can offer them our powers and secrets – or anything that might make them believe you want to join them – and get close to that book.’

  ‘But you’ll have to be clever, and sneaky and brave,’ says one of the ocean dragons. ‘Like a spy!’

  ‘… or a ninja!’ says another.

  ‘… or a dragon in disguise,’ I say with a small grin. ‘I think I can do that.’

  I remember the first time I ever met a group of dragons. I danced with them on top of the clouds as though their claws and scales and wings were my own. It was like the fearful parts inside me melted, and a fire was lit in their place. The thought of facing the Shadow Catchers frightens me more than anything. And yet, it’s as though I have always known that one day I would and I am relieved the day has come.

  The dragons and I debate our plan until the moon has risen high into the sky and fog has rolled in like a blanket around us. When all is said and settled, the Council of Ancients spirit away one by one, back to the strange places they came from. Tomodo and I skim silently through the low-lying clouds, to the small, familiar blue roof of my home.

  As I climb back through my window and under the covers of my bed, I pull Tomodo’s heavy tail close to my chest. Away from the Council of Ancients, I can’t help but feel afraid of the journey ahead. The enormity of the idea weighs down on me like a sack of rice and my skin prickles with worry.

  But Tomodo is good at hearing the questions I don’t ask. He hushes me through the window. ‘The rest of tonight is for sleeping, Kumiko, and everything else, especially The Book of Shadows, lies far away for now.’

  ‘But,’ I say anxiously, ‘how am I supposed to destroy it?’

  Tomodo’s heavy breath blows like warm summer gusts across my arms. ‘That is what you are setting out to discover and I know you will find an answer. It might not be an ordinary book, but you are no ordinary girl.’

  As the sweet night air and the dragon’s breath mix with the lingering smells of the sea, my head grows weary with sleep. ‘I hope you’re right,’ I whisper, as I settle deep into my cocoon of covers like a caterpillar waiting to grow wings.

  Chapter five

  In old times people used to think that there was a dragon who could swallow the moon. Any time the moon started to disappear they would fire their canons and bang their pots to frighten the dragon far away. But this was silly. Tomodo says there has never been a dragon so big. He said it was only the earth’s shadow crossing over the moon that made it look like it was being eaten. But the idea of it, the idea of a great dragon, is something real dragons say makes the fire in their bellies burn brighter and their whiskers shine like the stars.

  One week after meeting with the Council of Ancients, it is the eve of such a moon and the day we decide I should leave to find The Book of Shadows. The sun has not yet risen and in the quiet of darkness I fumble to put my warm clothes on without waking Mother and Arisu. It’s the first time I think I would rather be going to school than flying somewhere with Tomodo, even if there was a test or if Hatsuo had a bucket full of lizards to throw at me.

  Silently as a held breath, I creep through the house and out the front door to the dim light of the new morning. Everything looks soft under the deep mist Tomodo has cast around our neighbourhood and as I step into our courtyard I see it is filled with more dragons than our house has ever known. Some are from the Council of Ancients, but most are the friends and faces I know from the dragon kingdom in the clouds. Their many tails twist around the garden, flattening the lanterns and shredding the peonies in a way that Mother will not like, and their great heads arch like statues, so elegantly that even the emperor could not help but marvel.

  There is only one human standing amongst this crowd. She pulls me into a tight hug. My obasaan was the first person to tell me about dragons and the only one who understands why I must go. I don’t like to lie to Mother but I know she would only worry herself to threads if she knew I was not really going with Obassan on a holiday to Okinawa. Arisu cried when Obassan told her she was too young to come with us, and I felt very guilty when Obassan pretended to pack her bags. Of course, she is not going to Okinawa either; she’s going to live with the dragons until I return. She jokes that it will feel just like a holiday, but I can tell she’s worried. She buttons the top of my jacket and kisses me for luck as I turn to face the dragons in my garden.

  ‘Look after them,’ I say, bowing, like a general going into battle.

  Tomodo lifts me onto his back and pounces into the air. I want to seem brave so I only look back once to trace all the features of home onto my heart before I face the impossible task ahead. We arc like an arrow high over the clouds. My feet scuff the tops of them before we fall again towards the ground. The flight is short and the plan is simple. The first thing I must do is find a Shadow Catcher and by the time the rising sun has drawn a pink line across the horizon we have landed in the only place I am sure to find one. The edge of the forest is still and dark and quiet. Somewhere deep inside lies that terrible cabin Arisu was once taken to by the old Shadow Catcher I saw at the stream. I never imagined I would choose to return here.

  Tomodo sets me down in a hidden thicket of katsura trees, carpeted with long wet grass and closed spring flowers. As my toes touch the ground, a strange feeling seeps through me. The fresh smell of the morning makes me feel as alive and alert as a rabbit or a sparrow that knows it’s near a fox’s den. I take a deep breath.

  ‘I will remain close by,’ Tomodo says. ‘I can see everything you see,
so if you need me I will come. Above you, every dragon in the world is perched at the edge of a cloud awaiting your return. You are not alone, Kumiko. We will be with you wherever you go.’

  I throw my arms as far as I can around Tomodo and press my face into his scales. He smells like wood in the hot sun, or the first scents of a new log on a fire. I know we each have so many worries and wishes but sometimes one short hug is like a long conversation between friends. I kiss him on the snout before turning on my heels and running into the green shade of the forest. I don’t look back this time. This way I can pretend that Tomodo is only as far away as one look over my shoulder.

  As I get deeper into the forest I slow down. New spring leaves make long, green passages that lead in different directions like a maze. It is hard to tell whether animals or people made these tracks. Certainly, last time I was in this forest, it was full of Shadow Catchers. I remember they marched noiselessly between the trees like ants heading towards the cabin on the hill. That’s because they knew Arisu was there with her shadow – more tempting to them than sugar. This time I am the forest’s secret, and like any of its creatures, I hurry through it with my ears pricked and eyes wide for danger.

  But it’s not long before I find what I am looking for: the cabin sits like a well-wrapped gift on the top of a hill. I sneak slowly towards it, watching until the cabin door opens and the old man Shadow Catcher shuffles outside to empty tea leaves from a pot. Seeing him makes me feel like I have a handful of clumsy fingers prodding at my tummy and my chest swells with worry. This is my one and only chance to turn back, to return to the warm covers of my bed before Mother and Arisu wake. It is that moment before a great leap where the other side seems impossibly far away. Slowly I stand up. The wind shivers through my clothes as the boughs of the trees bend and beckon me forwards. I step towards the house, my heart in my mouth and my feet pulling me forwards in a way I can’t explain. Like an Obon lantern full of hope and hot air, I rise up the stairs towards the door.

  There was a time once at school when I was supposed to act as a pheasant in a class play. All I had to do was dress in feathers, flap my arms and say, ‘Caw, caw!’ When it came time to do it, I flapped my arms but no sound came out of my mouth at all. I just stood still in the expectant silence, frozen as a midwinter tree.

  Now I am going over my lines, the ones I have been practising all week. I roll my hands into fists to hide their shaking as I knock on the cabin door. This time there is no room for making mistakes, no time to turn around, because when it opens I must be ready for the performance of my life.

  Chapter six

  Sometimes a million moments fit into just a few seconds. There are five separate melodies playing – birds in the trees; a gust of wind that smells like sweet sesame; three brown leaves blowing across my feet and a small fly which lands on my ear – all before the door opens.

  The old man at the door looks at me with his eyebrows hitched up in surprise. Never having looked at him so closely before, I see he is older than I thought.

  ‘Good morning,’ he croaks. ‘Can I help you?’

  As the frozen feeling starts to creep over me I remember the second part of the plan is to act with confidence.

  ‘Yes,’ I answer quickly. ‘Thank you. I have come a long way to find you … or rather to join you.’

  The old man scowls the mean scowl I remember and quickly looks around to see if I am alone.

  ‘What do you mean?’ he asks warily.

  ‘I want to join you,’ I repeat. ‘I want become a Shadow Catcher.’

  The old man’s face turns pale. ‘How do you know about Shadow Catchers?’ he barks. ‘And who are you? Who sent you? Little girls cannot be Shadow Catchers.’

  ‘Please,’ I say practising my most innocent face, ‘no one has sent me. I have come on my own, I … I have escaped. You must let me join you. I have no other place to go.’

  The old man’s face twists further into a scowl. ‘What do you mean you escaped? Who are you?’ he growls.

  ‘My name is Chio,’ I lie. This part of the plan is to keep my family safe. ‘My whole life I have been guarded by dragons because I am the last descendant of the dragon king,’ I say. ‘The dragons who held me prisoner told me many things about the Shadow Catchers. I know how powerful you are and now I have come to join you.’

  The old man looks like an eel has bitten him, his crooked yellow teeth hang out of his open mouth like mahjong tiles and his wide eyes push the wrinkles further up his forehead. Just when I think maybe he’s the one who has frozen in fright, his hands grab me quick as traps and haul me inside his cabin. His long fingers wrap around my wrists like snarling vines as he slams the door and looks at me so closely I can smell the dried fish on his breath.

  ‘Let go of me!’ I shout angrily, trying to wrestle my wrists away. Then I remember how I am supposed to act. ‘Please let go,’ I ask politely, then add, ‘you’re hurting me.’

  The old Shadow Catcher looks at me for a moment then, slowly, he loosens his grip and lets go. ‘Thank you,’ I say, rubbing my wrists where he grabbed them. ‘I am not your enemy, and I am not going anywhere.’ I take a moment to look around the cabin. Long banners with dark pictures of howling animals and dark shapes hang from the ceiling and the air is thick with the smell of sour pickles and metallic smoke. Along the walls there are stained scrolls and fat jars of foul things swirling in mists and liquids.

  The old man’s narrow eyes stay fixed on me. ‘I apologise,’ he offers. ‘Forgive me. I was just excited to meet you. We have been searching for you for a long time.’ He hesitates before pointing to a chair by a table. ‘Will you please sit down and have some tea?’

  I nod my head and sit at the small table. Beneath me the floor has recently been mended. After the amnesia potion the Shadow Catcher would not remember how it came to be broken, which is just as well since it was I who broke it last time I was here, when Arisu was sitting in the exact same place as me.

  Between quick glances to make sure I am staying, the old Shadow Catcher makes some tea. When he thinks I am not watching him, he puts something in my cup that he doesn’t put in his. Then he comes and puts the tea on the table.

  ‘There now, this will make you feel better.’ He grins.

  I take the cup into my hand and up to my mouth but I am careful. ‘Ooh,’ I gasp. ‘It’s too hot, let me wait for it to cool.’ I put the cup back down onto the table.

  ‘Well,’ he says in an irritated tone, ‘let me hear more about where you have come from. If you want to be a Shadow Catcher you’ll have to tell me everything.’

  ‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Of course, but first you had better let the Grand Kah-ge know I am here.’

  The old man’s hand jerks and hot tea splashes out. ‘Ahh,’ he exclaims in pain and surprise, ‘the Grand Kah-ge?’

  ‘Yes,’ I say as if he had asked me the sum of one plus one. ‘He is the master of the Shadow Catchers, is he not? The one who must be consulted on matters of importance?’

  The old Shadow Catcher’s whiskers tremble. ‘Yes, he is …’

  ‘Well this is important,’ I say in a low whisper, ‘because there isn’t much time before they come.’

  ‘Before who comes?’ the old Shadow Catcher asks.

  ‘The dragons,’ I answer in my best and most frightened voice. ‘They’re bound to notice I’m missing and when they do the whole sky might fall in at their fury.’ As I say this, I can’t help but smile a little on the inside, thinking of all the dragons perched on the rims of every cloud above us, smiling at the thought of making it collapse.

  The old Shadow Catcher tries to sound calm as he stumbles backwards towards the stove. ‘Yes, well …’ he mumbles. ‘The Grand Kah-ge needs to know this information right away …’ He pulls a handful of black strips that look like seaweed from a jar and throws them into the fire. They explode with a heavy smoke, only it is not like any smoke I have ever seen. It is thin and clear like a shadow that streaks out of the chimney as if on purpose.


  ‘This will bring him here,’ the old man says.

  Before I have a chance to work out if I am glad the plan is working or if I am terrified of the Grand Kah-ge, there is a knock at the door. My heart slips to my toes. So soon?

  But as the door opens it is not the Grand Kah-ge, or anyone I expected to see. The big laughing face I know so well has transformed into a look of shock at seeing me. My mind spins like a top. Hatsuo is not part of the plan!

  Chapter seven

  For a moment the old Shadow Catcher is oblivious. ‘Chio.’ He smiles. ‘This is my grandson, Hatsuo. He too wants to be a Shadow Catcher.’

  Hatsuo glares at me and my lies unravel like noodles in hot water.

  ‘Chio?’ Hatsuo says. ‘Her name’s not Chio. Her name’s Kumiko and I know her from school.’

  The old Shadow Catcher’s face crumples, his eyes narrow and he hisses, ‘Hatsuo, lock the door!’ But Hatsuo stands, moving his mouth like a confused fish so the old man locks the door himself.

  My heart is like a moth striking loudly against a paper lantern. My plans are crumbling fast. The cabin begins to fill with silence so thick I fear I might drown in it when there is a sudden clunk from the cabin stove – another explosion. Smoke fills the room. For a moment I think I might be able to run away, but the old Shadow Catcher doesn’t flinch. He stands by the locked door, arms folded as menacingly as a praying mantis. It is then I notice the smoke is not smoke but the same clear darkness of before. It swirls around the room like tea until it pulls together and forms a figure. A man, as big and broad as any warrior, appears beneath the folds of a cloak cut from the black of midnight shadows. He stands over us as tall as the pillars of a high temple, with eyes cold and dark like the holes in a porcelain mask. Hatsuo shrinks back towards the wall as the Grand Kah-ge glides towards us.