Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [52]
He didn’t think Wataru was making it all up, so, in that sense, he believed him. Still, it was clear he considered everything—except the old man—the result of an overactive imagination.
And why would Wataru be seeing these things? Why, because he was always playing video games and never went outside to play. What this boy needs is some good, old-fashioned hard work. It was worse than if he had called him a liar and laughed in his face for telling tall tales.
Things weren’t working out at all in the way that Wataru had hoped. Mechanically, he lifted his spoon and fork to his mouth and chewed on his bitter thoughts. If he doesn’t understand me, no one can.
Uncle Lou was eager to get to the haunted building as soon as they were finished. If they left now, they would get there just in time. Wataru trudged along behind his uncle.
“You sure are glum. What, you frightened? No worries, Uncle Lou’ll be right by yer side!” he said, slapping a big, thick hand against Wataru’s back. Normally it would have cheered Wataru up immediately, but today things were different. This wasn’t the Uncle Lou that Wataru loved, and even worse, Wataru had a creeping feeling that the events of that night would somehow change their relationship forever.
I shouldn’t have told him anything. I should have just kept it all to myself. Serves me right for telling a grown-up.
Uncle Lou bought two flashlights at a convenience store. His back was turned to Wataru as he paid. What would happen if I ran, now, while he’s not looking? Wataru wondered. He didn’t run, of course.
They took a taxi to a spot near the haunted building, an unusual move for his uncle who was normally allergic to wasting money.
He must really want to see the haunted building bad.
Uncle Lou did seem as excited as a little child. “Is this it?” he asked as they reached the unfinished building. He had a look in his eyes like he was the lead actor in a monster movie, or maybe a cop show. This would be the episode in which the hero would be investigating an abandoned building to arrest a perverted old man suspected of doing bad things to little children.
He looked around, making sure that there was nobody around to see them. He then lifted the edge of the nearest tarp. “This where you went in?”
“Yeah, right there.”
“Right,” he replied, handing Wataru a flashlight. “Be careful, now.” Wataru took the flashlight and ducked under the tarp. Inside, Uncle Lou stationed Wataru at the base of the stairs and began scanning the walls with his flashlight. He moved surprisingly smoothly for someone of his bulk, and he didn’t bump into or trip over anything. His face was drawn as he searched the first floor. For once, he wasn’t making any jokes.
“Let’s check out this staircase next,” he said, climbing the stairs slowly, testing each step. He kept his flashlight trained ahead of him as he ascended, carefully watching the treads.
“I’d expect to see more trash around here if someone was using this place as a hideout.” He stopped on the landing between the second and third floors, scratching his head. “I don’t even see any footprints in the dust.”
Wataru shone his flashlight down at his own feet. There was a layer of coarse dust and powdered concrete everywhere: on the newly laid concrete floor, on the patches of exposed earth, and on places covered with plywood. Only the staircase was clean, with just a tiny bit of dust and dirt collected in the corners of each step. They would find no footprints there, for certain.
Wait, wouldn’t a clean staircase mean someone was using it a lot? They might have been cleaning it with a broom, to keep their feet from getting dirty. Maybe it was the “friend” that the wizard mentioned.
Maybe it was…Mitsuru?
“Hey, Wataru, the stairs end here!” Uncle Lou called down from the third-floor landing. “That old man you saw was standing right here, you say?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s kinda scary up here,” he said, holding on to a handrail as he