In moments Akiko was high above the shrine, the green of its mountain standing out against the sea of clouds, the roof of the shrine shining like a beacon. Then the wind dropped her, and she screamed.

It caught her again while she was still far above the mountain peak, tossing her up again, and then flinging her sideways. She tumbled upside-down, and the wind blew from above, tangling her vestments around her head, leaving her blind as her stomach lurched at the sickening downwards plunge.

“Tamao!â€ she screamed, grabbing at the heavy material and trying to get it out of her face. She tumbled again, and now the wind was lifting her once more, while pressing her vestments closer around her upper body, twisting her around so that they gradually became more tangled around her, while the cold air bit into her exposed legs. Desperately, she grabbed at the cloth, trying to pull it away from her face at least, but now the wind was rolling her through the air, and she was getting dizzy, nausea rising in her stomach. The thought of actually vomiting while her face was covered in cloth made her panic even more, and she pushed harder at the fabric. It was no good; the cloth was too heavy, the wind too strong. She continued to lurch through the air, the motion getting ever more violent.

Pushing her hands down, she found the knot holding her hakama on, and worked it undone. In a moment, the wind had caught them and dragged them off her. The white garment underneath was much lighter, and for a moment Akiko was able to push it down from her face.

She was still suspended in whiteness, with nothing visible in any direction. As she fell once more, her stomach rising into her throat, she realised that she felt wet, that she must be inside a cloud. Then the wind spun her round, whipping her skirts back up around her face and twisting.

Somehow, the cloth was around her neck, twisting, tightening, and she couldn’t breathe. Desperately, she reached for the belt holding it on, pulling it open as she began to choke.

The wind caught it, wrenching her arms back as it pulled it off, and Akiko cried out in pain. The garment vanished into the clouds, and now she was tumbling almost naked, gasping for breath as her stomach heaved.

<em>I’d rather be hugging the tree,</em> she thought, incongruously, and then felt something whip against her foot as she spun round once more. Something like a twig. Blindly, she reached out, feeling bark, and closed her hands, grabbing and holding on.

The bark was rough, its texture calming her as it pressed against her skin, soothing her, settling her stomach. She could feel the tree accepting her panicked breathing, her racing heartbeat, and drawing the fear from her as she pressed herself closer to it.

The fabric of her underwear was still between her and the tree, cutting her off. She started to reach behind her back, but then swayed, and gripped the tree again, suddenly realising that she was sitting in the branches of the tree, in her underwear, quite some way above the ground. She could see her vestments hanging from the branches below her, her sandals on the ground at the base. As she took stock of where she was, she became uncomfortably aware of the fabric between her and the tree again.

“No, I think this is enough for today,â€ she said.

Instantly, the feeling vanished, and she could see an easy way to climb down from the tree, conveniently passing her clothes. <em>Was that an answer?</em> she wondered, as she started to descend.

As she got dressed again at the foot of the tree, she marvelled at how clean the vestments were. Even cleaner than the had been when she put them on, if anything. And she was clean, too, she noticed; no sign that she’d been climbing a tree virtually naked. Dressed again, she looked up at the tree, and knelt, performing the obeisance while kneeling.

“Thank you,â€ she said, with as much feeling, and respect, as she could manage.

She hurried back to the shrine house, bowing quickly to the iwakura as she passed, thinking about what had happened. It seemed likely that the aramitama had seized her when she mentioned it, and then the tree had rescued her. From somewhere. Although you could argue that she had never left the tree. Shaking her head, she decided to talk to Shiraishi.

The priest was in the office, just finishing a phone call, and she looked round as Akiko came in. She didn’t look very happy, but Akiko had to tell her what had happened.

“Revd Shiraishi, I just saw Tamao again. He told me that we had to purify the area.â€ Something struck her. “He called you Spirit Child; is your given name Tamako?â€

“No, Reiko. Look, could you start from the beginning? I can’t follow what you’re saying.â€ Akiko took a deep breath, and nodded. A bit more context would make it easier to understand.

“I decided to check the shrine grounds, to make sure there were no protesters around, and I walked as far as the sacred tree.â€

“Sacred tree?â€ Shiraishi looked puzzled.

“Well, I don’t know what it’s called. The big one with the shimenawa and shide around it, towards the back of the shrine.â€

Shiraishi still looked puzzled.

“I don’t think we have a god tree at this shrine. Just the iwakura, and, normally, the honden.â€

Now Akiko was puzzled.

“But the shimenawa has fresh shide on it all the time. You must be changing them at least once a week.â€

Shiraishi shook her head.

“It’s not me. I think you’d better show me this tree.â€

“Er, yes.â€ Akiko led the way out of the house and back to the woods.

“It’s somewhere around here, just a moment,â€ she said, as she tried to get her bearings. She realised that, although she knew where the tree was, she didn’t know a particular way to get there. “Ah, through here, I think.â€

She led the priest through the trunks, and out into the space around the trunk. The tree soared above them, its leaves whispering in the breeze, patches of sunlight catching the white of the shimenawa. Akiko looked at the priest.

Shiraishi had stopped at the edge of the space, and was staring at the tree, awe on her face. She took a tentative step forward, then another, then another, until she was standing next to the tree. She started to raise her hands, then dropped them.

“It’s OK. You can touch it.â€ Akiko couldn’t understand Shiraishi’s reaction, but she understood what the priest was feeling when she touched the tree, then embraced it. And, when she blushed and quickly stepped back, Akiko thought she understood that, as well.

The priest looked up at the tree, then performed the standard obeisance before turning back to Akiko.

“Akiko, this tree.â€ She stopped, and a look of wondering incomprehension passed over her face. “This tree wasn’t here before.â€