Michikatsu could hear Muzan following in his tracks, step by step. He grimly pressed on.
Brambles, reaching out like cat's claws, tore at their fine garments. The forest trees rose all around them like prison bars.
Finally, Michikatsu spun around. "Lay off! Go your own way!"
"This way suits me," said Muzan.
"Well, don't follow me. I have no more idea than a gnat where I'm heading."
"Silence," whispered the prince, with a turn of his head. "Hear that?"
They froze, the two of them.
A voice came wailing through the woods.
"Tunia! Pet-Pet-Petunia!"
And then a young woman appeared, barefoot and jangling with bracelets. She moved through the trees as quickly as a wood spirit.
"Pet-Pet-Petunia!"
She carried a coiled rope in one hand and held outstrecthed in the other an amber chunk of comb honey.
"Come here, darling! Come to Naki."
Suddenly, as if sensing a presence in the trees, she headed toward Michikatsu and Muzan.
"Petunia? You there, naughty rascal! Smell the honey? Come feast yourself, Pet!"
Michikatsu didn't know what to make of this woman----girl, really. For as she drew closer, he reckoned she couldn't be more than around their age. He stepped out into full view, with Muzan clinging to him like a shadow.
"Miss?"
She stopped short. "My! Who are you?"
"Lost," said Michikatsu. "Would you know which way to the river?"
"Of course I do. Aren't we heading for the fair, me and Petunia? Have you seen her?"
"Petunia?"
"Got loose, she did! My dancing bear. World famous!"
"Scared me out of my skin," Michikatsu replied, and pointed. "Back there."
She turned on her heels and started off.
"Hey!" Michikatsu shouted. "Where's the river!"
"Where it's always been. Due south!"
"Which way is south?"
Nakime paused to set her arm like a signpost.
"Straight on!"
"You're sure?"
"Sure I'm sure. Didn't father always say I had a head like a compass, rest him in peace!"
And she was gone
Their clothes were ripped to tatters by late morning when Michikatsu and Muzan caught sight of the sparkling river. And almost at once they dove back into cover.
Mounted on a high-stepping horses, a pair of soldiers were advancing along the river road.
"They must be out searching for you," Michikatsu whispered. "If they catch me with you, I'm dead."
Muzan didn't seem to be listening. His eyes were fixed on the passing soldiers.
"Look," Michikatsu muttered impatiently. "I can't have you sticking to me like a barnacle. Haven't you had a snoutful of running away? Go back with the soldiers!"
Muzan shook his head. "Let them pass". And then he added with the faintest of smiles, "This is the first time no one has had fits because I got my clothes grimy. The ladies keep me clean and starched as a pillowcase!"
"But you're a prince?"
"Is my face dirty as yours?"
"You don't belong knocking about outside the walls!"
Muzan gazed off into the distance. "Did you have a lot of friends when you lived on the streets?"
"A bunch..."
"A bunch--- of course."
"A hardly one of them wouldn't fight me over a bone. Go back. Your father must be having double fits of worry."
Muzan answered a flash of resentment.
"I might as well be stuffed and hung on the wall like a stag's head---for all he notices me."
"You remind him often enough, with all your pranks. How long are you going to let him sweat and stew?"
"I don't know," declared Muzan. "Maybe I'll never go back. This is the best time I've ever had!"
