'Well. I've got lots of friends now in Osaka. I like it there. I'm not sure I

want to leave them all behind just yet. And Suichi – I like him, but I'm not

sure I want to spend so much time with him.

 

Do you understand?' 'Oh perfectly.'

 

She grinned again, then skipped on ahead of me until she had reached the well.

'Do you remember,' she said, as I came walking up to her, 'how you used to say

this well was haunted?'

 

'Yes, I remember.'

 

We both peered over the side.

 

'Mother always told me it was the old woman from the vegetable store you'd seen

that night,' she said. 'But I never believed her and never came out here alone.'

 

'Mother used to tell me that too. She even told me once the old woman had

confessed to being the ghost. Apparently she'd been taking a short cut through

our garden. I imagine she had some trouble clambering over these walls.'

 

4

 

Kikuko gave a giggle. She then turned her back to the well, casting her gaze

about the garden.