The Ark Sakura Read Online Free PDF

asked.
    “None. I just took a fancy to the eupcaccia, that’s all.”
    “Funny. Why would he go and leave the store with a total stranger?”
    “Nature called.”
    The girl held the ticket case to her ear and shook it. “Say, what do you suppose this is?” Her voice was clear and a bit high, with a suggestion of strain. Was she flustered at having been found out?
    “Any bug that thin and flat could only be made out of paper.” His voice was raspy and heavily ironic. He rotated his right shoulder and cracked his knuckles. “These days they have to have horns, or the kids won’t buy them.”
    “Eupcaccias don’t have horns,” I said.
    “That’s the whole trouble with them.”
    “It’s something hard,” she said. “Metallic.”
    Swiftly the man reached out for the remaining case. Over my dead body. I snatched it up and pocketed it.
    “Is that nice?” he demanded.
    “It’s not for sale.”
    “You don’t mind if I look inside, do you?” The girl glanced up at me inquiringly.
    “Go on and open it if you want. It’s a free country.” The man’s tone was brusque.
    She shook the contents out onto the counter. The ornamental brass key fell out with a clatter, while the thin plastic card started to fly away, caught in a puff of wind. The man slammed it down in the nick of time, as if swatting a fly; he shook off my arm, which had shot out simultaneously, and backed off with a mischievous smile. He seemed bent on playing games.
    “Well, well, what do we have here? A boat ticket. A ‘Ticket to Survival,’ no less. What do you know. Looking for people to sign on?”
    Bouncing the key on her palm, the girl peered at the card in her companion’s hand. “There’s a map on the back.”
    Where was the insect dealer? No matter how crowded the lavatory might have been, he was taking his sweet time. It had been a good five minutes now. Wasn’t he ever coming back? Had he taken such a dislike to me that he was willing to sacrifice both his suitcase and his wristwatch for the chance to escape? The irony was that these two seemed more interested than he had been. Maybe it was all for the best. It wasn’t sour grapes; there was just no reason it had to be the insect dealer and no one else. I studied the girl, first by herself, then comparing her with her companion. Had she been alone, I would have welcomed this turn of events unconditionally.
    “Pardon me for asking, but what exactly are you two to each other?” I said. “Are you business partners, or what?” It was indeed a strange question. Hearing myself ask it, I wanted to stop up my ears. The man’s smile faded, and he wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
    “I know. We’re a funny pair, aren’t we? People are always asking us that. Every time they do, I think of the saying ‘Catch big fish with little ones.’ ”
    “People are always asking you that? What do you mean.”
    “This person,” he said, indicating her with a jerk of his head, “seems to radiate loneliness. As if she were a pitiful waif forced against her will to do nasty men’s bidding. She stirs up men’s combativeness. It’s a kind of fishing by lure, if you follow me.”
    “This person,” he had said. How much more impersonal could you be? Perhaps there was hope. Or perhaps he was only glorying in his fishing skills. The sight of him became even more irritating.
    “Sorry—I don’t go in much for fishing,” I said.
    Slowly the girl’s smile faded. She did have an air of loneliness about her, despite her way of glancing up at you, and the lines at either corner of her mouth, and her fairly heavy makeup. It might well be a look that was carefully contrived and calculated, I thought.
    “Well, what about this merchandise? Don’t we at least get an explanation?” He flicked the card with a fingernail and spoke with rising insistency. “You can’t choose your customers; it’s not fair. Once the goods are on the counter, that’s it. You have to play