After a time, Kagehisa’s dog began to lose the deer’s track.  Disappointed, the man called the dog to heel and turned to make the long trip back to his lands at the border of the forest.  When he looked at the land around him, however, he did not recognize any of it.

     I just walked through all of this! he thought.  Some of it should seem familiar…
 
    The hound looked equally confused, which worried Kagehisa—what could hide their very scent from the dog’s nose?
 
    Well, there was nothing to be done but try to backtrack to a familiar area.  Kagehisa called the dog to follow him and set off in what he thought was the correct direction.  They walked a very long time, until the small amount of sunlight that filtered through the dense canopy began to wane.  The sun was setting, and they seemed no closer to finding their way out.  The man cursed under his breath.  How had this happened?  He never got lost!
 
    After another half-hour of walking, they came upon a small, neat house.  Kagehisa was startled.  Either they were getting closer to the forest’s edge, or he had come upon some woodland hermit.  His curiosity piqued, the daimyo approached the house and knocked on the door.
 
    The door was opened by a beautiful woman dressed in plain but very elegant clothing.  “Yes?  Are you lost?”  Her eyes were very bright; as pretty as she was, something about her manner terrified Kagehisa on his deepest levels.
 
    “I—Yes, I was hunting, but I was separated from my party and cannot find the way back.”  He managed to speak with an even voice.

     “Well then, my lord, it will be but a simple matter to lead you back to where you need to be.  However…I will only help you on one condition.”  The woman folded her hands in a slow, deliberate manner.
 
    “Anything within my power,” Kagehisa said, wondering what she wanted.
 
    “I have long dwelt here alone, Lord Kisaragi…”
 
    Kagehisa suppressed a flinch.  How could she know his identity?  It wasn’t that obvious from his dress that he was the local daimyo…
 
    “…but now it is time for me to leave the forest.  Take me as your wife, my lord, and I will lead you back to your lands.”
 
    The man’s eyes widened, and he fought the shiver that threatened to crawl down his spine.  He was a widower, and his retainers had urged him to take another wife, but this woman—yes, she was beautiful, almost divinely so, but…there was something menacing about her.  Kagehisa didn’t give the idea more than a moment’s thought.
 
    “I cannot do such a thing, madam.  I will find my way back alone, thank you.”  He bowed and took a step away from the door.
 
    “You will not find your way out, that I promise you.  This forest is a magical thing; many travelers lose their way here and never see the full light of day again.  Think, my lord, what do the peasants call these woods?”
 
    Kagehisa thought frantically for a moment, trying to remember.  “The…the Hungry
Snake’s Den,” he said quietly.
 
    “Yes…a hungry snake indeed, Lord Kisaragi.”
 
    The man stared hard at the ground.  He had heard of very few people returning alive after being lost overnight in this forest; he didn’t want to be another of the disappeared.  Finally, he looked up, full into that coldly perfect face.
 
    “All right, madam…” he paused for a name.
 
    “Ayane Hisame,” the woman supplied.

     “Miss Hisame, then…I…I will accept your offer.”
 
    “You will take me to wife?”  She apparently wanted to hear those words repeated.
 
    “I will take you as my wife,” Kagehisa said heavily.
 
    “So be it.” Delaying only to pick up a small bag, Ayane led him and his hound back towards the borders of his own lands.  Kagehisa’s heart was filled with an icy dread.
 

 
    As soon as he returned to his home, Kagehisa saw Ayane to her new rooms and went to find his children.  He had not mentioned them to his bride-to-be, frightened that she might try to harm them in some way.  The seven of them were already asleep in the two rooms they shared, unaware of the giant change about to take place in their lives.
 
    The daimyo looked for his eldest son, Kairi, a sturdy boy of fourteen years.  When his father gently shook his shoulder, the boy sat up quickly, looking alert.

    “Father!  What is it?  The hunters came back hours ago without you; are you all right?”

    Kagehisa smiled reassuringly, but his expression was strained.  Quickly, he explained about Ayane and his fear that she would try to hurt Kairi and his siblings.  The boy looked worried, but he seemed confident that Kagehisa would take steps to protect him and the rest of the children.

    “We shall have to leave, won’t we, Father?” he asked solemnly.

    “Yes,” Kagehisa replied.  “I think the best place for you to go is the summer house that your mother’s father gave to us, do you remember the place?”

    The “summer house” was a small, cozy little house deep in the forest to the south of where Ayane had dwelled.  There were no trails leading there; the only way to find the place was a magic ball of string that the children’s grandfather had given to him with the title to the house.
 
    “Cast the ball on the ground, and it will unwind and lead you to the house,” the old man had said.  Kagehisa had thought that to be nonsense, but it had worked perfectly every single time he tried it.  Now he thought of the ball, locked in a puzzle-box in his rooms; it should be safe from Ayane there.

    “Yes, I like that house very much,” Kairi said, bringing his father’s thoughts back to the matter at hand.  “We would have a nice time there.  How long do you think we shall have to stay?”

    Kagehisa shook his head.  “I don’t know, my son, but I will see that you have everything you need while you are there.  Now, what shall we tell the others?”  He looked around at the sleeping forms all around.

    “Hmm…I think we should tell Hokuto and Tatsuya what you just told me,” Kairi mused.  “They’re smart enough to start asking questions if we don’t give them a good reason for moving out.”

    “You’re right—especially about Hokuto.  She questions everything.  All right, we shall tell them, quickly.  Where are they?”
 Kairi looked about for his twin sister Hokuto and his next-oldest brother Tatsuya.  They were in the next room, sleeping soundly, and did not welcome their brother’s interruption of their slumber.

    “What is it now, Kairi?” Hokuto demanded in a whisper.
 
    “Father’s back, and he has something to tell the two of you,” said Kairi.  “Come quietly to the next room.”

    Grumbling a little, the children came to hear their father retell his story.  “Do you think she’s a witch, Father?” Hokuto asked, her eyes wide.

    “I don’t know,” Kagehisa said slowly.  “It seems as though she may be, but I could be worrying overmuch.  I want you children to be safe no matter what, however, so it’s to the summer house with the lot of you.  I shall send a few servants with you, but you will be mostly on your own.”
 
    “That’s all right, Father,” Tatsuya said seriously, “we eldest will watch out for the little ones.”

    “I know you will, you’re good children,” Kagehisa smiled.  “Now, what shall we tell the others?”

    “What if we just tell them that it’s dangerous for us to stay here?  It’s the truth, if just the bones of it,” Kairi suggested.

    “Don’t you think that will frighten them a little?” Tatsuya protested.

    “There aren’t any good reasons for us to have to leave, not all of us at once.  Kairi’s answer is probably the best one,” Hokuto said quietly.  “What do you think, Father?”

    “It will have to do, because I can’t think of anything better.  Now, here’s the plan.  At dawn, I will send a servant to wake you all up.  The three of you must explain what you will to the younger ones, and make preparations to leave.  I will escort you there, but I must hurry back in case Ayane gets curious.”  The man sighed.  “Ah, I do not look forward to this parting.”

    “Of course not, Father, and neither do we,” Hokuto said, her dark eyes serious.  “But if you truly think we are in danger, we have to leave.”  Her brothers nodded in agreement.

    “All right, then,” Kagehisa said after a moment of silence.  “I must get some sleep; tomorrow will be a full day.  The three of you should return to your beds also.  It’s only a few more hours until sunrise.”

    “Good night, Father,” the three children said in unison.

    “Good night, children.  Sleep well.”  Kagehisa quietly left the children’s rooms and returned to his own, where he checked that the magic ball of string was safely in its hiding place before seeking his bed and a few hours of much-needed sleep.
 
 

    The next day, everything went according to plan; it was still early morning when the children and their two chaperones arrived at the summer house, following their father and his ball of yarn.  The house was in need of some cleaning, but the children could manage that simple task during the day and be able to sleep indoors at night.  Kagehisa embraced each of his children, his six sons and daughter, and promised that he would visit and bring more things to them soon.  The younger children looked hesitantly at the older ones for reassurance, and, seeing that they wore smiles, decided that nothing bad was happening, and waved happily as their father turned to leave, following the string back to familiar lands.
 

 
    Ayane held some suspicions about her new husband.  It had been two weeks that they were married, but there still seemed to be some secret in the household that even she, with her special talents, could not find out.  She knew that some of Kagehisa’s superstitious servants thought her a witch.  Her lip curled in disdain.  A common witch, indeed!  She was none other than an immortal fox-spirit, with many mystical powers at her command.  Like her fellow foxes, she was often overwhelmed with boredom, and her latest attempt at entertainment was this marriage to a powerful daimyo.  She had been hoping to cause some great scandal that would ruin Kagehisa’s position as a landowner, but before she could devise a plan, she began to have the odd feeling that a secret was being kept from her.

    Curiosity and general feelings of malice towards the daimyo made her try to unravel the mystery, but so far she had gotten nowhere, and without revealing her identity by using magic, she would probably learn nothing.  Frustrated, she spat out a most unladylike curse under her breath.  What could he be hiding?

    A thought suddenly struck her.  Kagehisa had been married before…shouldn’t he have children?  That was his rotten secret:  he was apparently afraid for his children and had hidden them away somehow.  But where would they be?  She had been in every part of this house, so they couldn’t be here.  Where else would they have to go?

    Even more frustrated, Ayane quietly entered Kagehisa’s room, looking under and behind the furniture for anything that might be hidden there.  Presently, she found what looked like a large wooden box hidden under a pile of floor mats.  She did not immediately see a way to open it.  A puzzle box, then:  that almost guaranteed there was something important hidden inside.  After a few moments’ consideration, she easily opened the box, revealing its contents—a ball of string.

    This has to be special somehow, she mused.  Why would someone keep an ordinary ball of string under such security?  She held it in her hands, trying to feel any magic within it, but if there was magic there, it was on a very low level, almost too low to detect at all.  What could a person enchant a ball of yarn to do, anyway?

    Ayane carefully hid the ball in her clothing and closed the box, returning it to its hiding spot.  Kagehisa had gone to see the daimyo who held lands to the west of here and would not return until after dark; she would have all day to test the ball and find out what it was meant to do.

    After making sure she would not be followed, she went outside to the gardens.  No one would be able to see her from the house if something spectacular happened.  Cautiously, she took the ball of string out and set it on the ground.  It immediately began to unwind in a beeline towards the forest.

    The woman restrained the urge to laugh in glee and followed the rapidly rolling ball.  It led her into the forest from which she had come, but not in the direction of her old home; instead, it moved in a southerly direction, towards gentler areas of woodland.  After a long time of following the steadily rolling ball, Ayane began to hear voices—the high voices of young children at play.  Not believing her good luck, she ran to catch the ball up to keep it from going any farther and possibly revealing her presence, then continued forward quietly.

    In a small clearing, she saw a house that looked oddly natural, as if it belonged in the middle of a forest.  In front of the house, six boys, ranging in age from around six years old to middle teens, ran about in a typically childish combination of work and play.  The older boys were gathering wood, while the younger ones often paused to mock-fight with suitable branches.  There seemed to be no adults around, but even if there were, they didn’t concern her; it was the children she was concentrating on.

    In truth, had the children remained in their home, I would have done nothing to them, Ayane thought.  However, since Kagehisa sought to hide them from me, I will show him how futile it is to try to keep secrets from me!
 
    Satisfied at having discovered the secret and at finding a new game to play, she followed the string back to Kagehisa’s house, winding it back up as she went.
 
 

    Once she was home again, Ayane quickly got to work, first returning the ball of string to its hiding place, then sending her maid for a bolt of white silk gauze.  During the next few weeks, she worked in secret, sewing six white shirts, one for each of Kagehisa’s sons, and as she sewed, she chanted ancient songs, weaving a spell into the silk.

    Kagehisa apparently had no idea that she had discovered his secret; he continued to treat her with his usual combination of respect and fear.  Once she had finished the shirts, all she had to do was wait for a day when he was away from the house, then return to the hidden house in the forest.  It’s almost too easy, she thought in triumph.  No one fools a fox!
 
 

    Hokuto looked up from her flower arrangement and out the window:  her brothers were romping about outside in a typically random way.  Later in the afternoon, perhaps, she would join them, or maybe Kairi would teach her more about archery.  For now, she was happy playing with the wildflowers she had picked earlier.
 
    Life out in the forest really wasn’t as bad as she’d expected at first.  It was sort of lonely; there was no one else out there besides her brothers and the two servants with them.  However, the house was comfortable, and there was food available, either from the land around them or from their father, brought during his frequent visits.  There were no stuffy adults all around, and there were relatively few chores to be done.  It really wasn’t a bad way to live.

    As she continued to watch her brothers, she saw them all turn to look into the woods to the north.  Was their father coming?

    Hokuto’s youngest brother Eiji ran towards the forest, as if to greet someone.  A single person on horseback rode out of the trees, hood drawn up over his face.  The horse was not their father’s usual mount, and the rider seemed too small to be Kagehisa…so who could it be?  No one else knew that the children lived here.

    The boys had all approached the stranger with varying degrees of wariness, but now they began to draw away slowly.  The rider withdrew something vividly white from the saddlebags, then began to throw shirts over the boys.  Hokuto leaned forward as far as she could to see what was happening:  as the shirts touched the boys’ skin, the boys were transformed into cranes!

    In a few moments the air around the rider was thick with cranes, who flapped and jabbed at him.  Only Kairi remained untransformed—only because he was a faster runner than his younger brothers.  The rider chased after him with his horse, and even with the hindrance of the cranes, managed to catch up and fling the last shirt over the boy, who then transformed like the others.

    The attacks of the cranes had blown the rider’s hood back, and it was now evident that the attacker was a woman—and a beautiful one at that.  She wore a triumphant grin even as she fended off the aggressive birds.  Still, they pestered her for long minutes until she finally opened her mouth to speak, her expression turning to a scowl.  Hokuto saw a glint of liquid at her temple; apparently one of her brothers had managed to strike the woman.  She wondered who this could be, who could cast such powerful spells and who could find this house, hidden away in the forest.  Could it be her stepmother?  This would indeed be the sort of thing their father had feared!  Suddenly, Hokuto wondered if the woman knew that she was in the house.  She kept her silence, even though she wanted to scream for the two servants, who were on the other side of the house.

    After a few more minutes, the woman made an odd gesture with one hand, and the cranes quickly flew away from her.  She took advantage of the breathing space and turned to run back into the forest, escaping the attacks of the big birds.  The cranes flew around the house for a while, then finally turned and, as a flock, flew away towards the south.

    Hokuto did not stand long by the window to watch them leave.  She ran to the room she shared with Kairi and Tatsuya and gathered up some simple items:  a knife, a satchel, flints, and a length of rope.  Kairi’s clothing was much better for running around out of doors than Hokuto’s own, so she changed into a shirt and pants of his and took an extra set, then went to raid the kitchen.  After quietly taking some dried fruit, and a few other things that wouldn’t spoil, she rooted around for some money, but didn’t find much.  When she thought that she had everything she would need, she wrote a letter to her father and the two servants, describing what had happened, and, grabbing a thin blanket, silently left the house, setting off in the direction in which her brothers had flown.
 
 

    After many days of wandering, one evening Hokuto came across a small cave in the forest.  It was set up as if several people lived there, but at the moment, no one was there.  Tired and hungry, she decided to try to spend the night in the cave.

    She pulled an apple out of her pack and ate it hungrily; she had tried hard to forage for food, like this apple, so that she could save the food that she had brought from home.  It was a good thing that it was summer—if it had been winter, she would have never managed such a thing.

    As the sun was setting, the sound of wingbeats filled the air outside.  Hokuto ran out to see what all the clatter was, and there before her were six cranes—her brothers.  Amazingly, their bodies seemed to stretch, and their feathers began to slough off, until they stood in their human form.  Hokuto stared.  Was the spell broken now?

    The boys ran to embrace their sister, asking what she was doing out in the forest by herself.  She told them that she wanted to try to break the spell on them, but it seemed as if that was needless now.

    “It’s a cruel sort of joke,” Kairi explained.  “Every evening, we return to our normal bodies for a quarter of an hour, but then we change back into cranes.  That must have been our stepmother, don’t you think?”

    Hokuto nodded her agreement.  “There’s not much time left—do you know of a way to break the spell?”

    The boy shook his head.  “We got that from Ayane before she ran away, but it’s much too hard…”

    “Tell me what it is first, and then I’ll tell you if it’s too hard,” the girl said tartly.

    Kairi sighed.  “She said, we must find a girl to help us, and she would have to spend 6 years without speaking to another human, making 6 shirts for us out of the bark of the atooshi tree, like the Ainu wear.”

    Hokuto stared steadily at him for a moment, then looked down at the ground.  “At least I know what an atooshi looks like,” she said at last.  “I will do it, I swear to all of you, my brothers.  Starting tomorrow, I will find the materials I need to begin.”
 
    Tatsuya looked at his sister.  “You probably shouldn’t stay here tonight, Hokuto.  This is a place outlaws like to camp at night, and it’s not safe at all.”
 
    “He’s right,” Kairi agreed.  “Our time is almost up.  Please, sister, do what you can, but don’t…don’t do anything dangerous just for our sakes, all right?”

    The girl nodded solemnly.  “I understand.  I’ll do my best.”
 
    “We will look for you in six years’ time.  Take care, Hokuto.”  There was another tangled embrace, and then the boys began to turn back into cranes.  When the transformation was complete, they took wing again, flying for a roosting place.  Hokuto gathered her things and left the cave, also seeking a place to sleep.
 
 

    It was not very long before Kagehisa received Hokuto’s note, and when he read it, he flew into a rage that was mingled with fear.  Surely this witchcraft was Ayane’s work, but how had she found the children, and what proof did he have with which to accuse her?  What manner of sorceress was he married to?  He sighed.  His sons—and most likely, his daughter—were lost to him now.  How was he to get them back?  Could he?  And most importantly, what was he going to do about Ayane?

    Thinking of his wife’s beautiful, but frightening, face, Kagehisa was suddenly reminded of an old story he had heard as a child.  He had simply thought it a fantasy to tell children at bedtime, or a tale told by superstitious elders, but now the scenario seemed all too familiar.

    But for Ayane to be—it’s not possible!  Is it…?

    Oddly enough, his suspicions were confirmed later that same day.  He stood on the back porch of the house, watching Ayane walk about in his garden.  She passed the small pool in which brightly colored koi swam, her shadow falling upon the water—but instead of the tall, graceful shadow that usually followed her, the image in the water was small and four-footed, with pointed ears and muzzle, and a bushy tail.  Kagehisa’s breath came in a hiss.
 
    “I don’t believe it,” he said in a near-whisper.  “Ayane!  You…you villainous creature!  You’re a fox, aren’t you?!”

    Ayane turned and stared at him in surprise for a moment, then grinned widely.  “So…the daimyo finally notices his wife’s true nature.  It took you such a terribly long time, too.  Treacherous shadows…”  She looked at the distorted silhouette in the pool.  “Ah well…I suppose my game is over now.”
 
    “This has all been a game to you, hasn’t it?” Kagehisa demanded.  “Why?”

    The woman did not answer him immediately; she was shrinking into her true form.  Kagehisa stared as she slowly turned into a small gray fox.

    “Do you really want to know the ‘why’, mortal?” the creature said mockingly.  “I was bored.”  Her mouth hung open in a vulpine grin before she turned and dashed away, her mocking laughter echoing behind her.

    Kagehisa howled in frustration and despair.