Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [138]
The innkeeper looked flustered. “Eh? But didn’t Kutz tell you to leave?”
“She told me to leave, yes, but I’m waiting for someone. And, I want to know where the girl is, the one who was hurt last night.”
“At the hospital, I should think.”
Wataru thanked the innkeeper for the meal, and immediately took off toward the hospital.
The “hospital,” overflowing with patients, was little more than a shack. A husky doctor with the face of a St. Bernard and a nurse with floppy ears who looked like a terrier were bustling around in white smocks. Wataru spoke to them briefly, and the nurse pointed toward a small ward in the back. “She’s just eaten. I should think she’s still up.”
Wataru thanked her and headed back to the door. He knocked, but there was no answer. Opening it quietly, he found the cat-girl lying bandaged on a simple wooden bed, facing away from the door. Her long tail hung listlessly over the side of the bed.
Even without seeing her face Wataru knew. She was the girl who tried to help him the day before.
“Hello,” Wataru said, and the girl turned, her eyes opened wide. She winced at the pain of moving.
“No, don’t move.” Wataru walked over and squatted by the bed. The kitkin looked at Wataru with trembling gray eyes.
“Why?” he heard her ask in a whisper.
“I came to see you. I heard you were hurt,” Wataru said. Then he added quietly, “You helped me up the other day, on the road. Thank you.”
The girl looked away.
“You said something then. You said ‘sorry.’”
The girl trembled, and her eyes looked frightened. Her tail twitched. But there’s no one else in the room.
Wataru had another realization. “I’m sorry for intruding. I hope you feel better.” And with that, he left.
Wataru went straight to Kutz’s office. She was sitting at her desk, the whip thrown over her back, writing something in a notepad. “What?” she scowled. “You got your sword back, didn’t you?”
“I did. I want to help you look for the criminals.”
Kutz’s eyes opened wide. “What’s that?”
“Let me help you try to find the lodge killers. I think I can.”
“You?”
“Yes,” Wataru said, looking at Trone and the large ankha sitting at the back of the room. “You don’t mind, do you? I just want to prove my innocence beyond all doubt.”
“You did yesterday, but now there’s no…”
“Yes, but if you haven’t caught the real criminals, there’s no guarantee I won’t come under suspicion again,” Wataru said, flashing as competent a smile as he could muster. “Trone, will you take me to the lodge where the previous two killings took place?”
Trone growled. “What gives you the right?”
“I’m Wataru,” he said, smiling again. “Didn’t you want me to put in a good word with the Goddess?”
The three exchanged glances, and after a tense moment of silence, Kutz sighed. “Fine, Wataru. I’ll take you.”
Wataru visited the two lodges. At both places, the staff stumbled over themselves to help Kutz. But when Wataru started asking questions they merely stared at him, unsure of how to respond. They all hopped to attention the minute Kutz announced—with a bark—that he was her assistant.
Both of the rooms were like the one Wataru had stayed in, with woven rush mats for a roof. They were built that way to let in the air, he was told. He took a look above them and found a narrow crawlspace that seemed quite impossible to get through unless you were a child.
After inspecting the two lodges, they headed to the inn where Wataru was staying. When they got there, he calmly announced that he knew who the criminals were. He told Kutz to assemble the innkeepers.
Kutz went red in the face, and Wataru thought he could see steam coming out of her ears. “What the hell are you talking about?”
Before Wataru could respond, the bearded innkeeper cut in, “Now, now, Kutz. That’s no way to talk to our Traveler. He’s special, you know. Chosen by the Goddess. Children, they understand things we can’t see sometimes. I’m sure that’s what’s going on here.”
Kutz’s face grew redder. “Whatever. I saw him crying his eyes out in the cell room just the other day.”
Wataru did his best to look unruffled.