The Isle of South Kamui and Other Stories Read Online Free PDF Page A

crying and left long trails of cloudy white spittle across the floor.
    These were the typical textbook symptoms. A chill ran down my spine. There could be no doubt about it. Soon the kitten’s body would lapse into convulsions and it would die.
    I took off my shirt and examined my own body. As I expected, vivid red spots had erupted on my chest and abdomen.
    I’m done for now .
    I chewed my lip at the thought. Suddenly I was startled by a shadowy figure.
    The Otaki woman was standing outside the glass door staring at me openmouthed. I hastily put my shirt back on.
    She stood looking at me a while longer, but then dropped her gaze and, opening the door, brought in the breakfast tray as usual. She put it down on the desk without a word, bowed to me, and went out.
    I turned my gaze to the kitten. It lay there motionless on the floor. I picked it up, but it was already dead.
    I took a towel and wiped away the sweat from my body. I glanced at the breakfast, but had absolutely no appetite.
    I had just finished disposing of the kitten’s body when the officer arrived, weariness showing on his face.
    â€œTwo more people have fallen ill. The headmaster and the postmaster.”
    â€œIt isn’t food poisoning. It’s a contagious disease.”
    I felt shaky, and leaned on the desk with my hands to steady myself. The young officer paled.
    â€œDoctor, are you sure?”
    â€œI don’t joke about things like this. Take the new cases to the inn immediately, and keep them isolated from everyone else.”
    I quickly prepared an antiseptic solution before rushing with the officer to the inn.
    At any rate, we had to contain the infection. Then we needed a serum, which in the case of this disease had to be injected within at least twenty-four hours of the symptoms appearing. Would it be possible to get hold of the serum in time?
    The news of the outbreak of a contagious disease spread through the island in no time. It was abnormally fast. True the island was small, but it also seemed that the islanders had an instinctive awareness of their shared fate.
    I used the radio telephone at the post office to contact the hospital on the main island. I got through immediately, but the line crackled with static and I struggled to catch what was being said.
    â€œThis is the new doctor at South Kamui, appointed three days ago,” I said raising my voice. My head still felt groggy. “I am reporting the outbreak of a contagious disease on the island.”
    When I said the name of the illness, the doctor on the other end of the line in Kamui responded loudly, “Are you sure?”
    â€œI’m sure. I tested it on an animal and got a positive reaction.”
    I described in detail the symptoms that had appeared in the kitten. The doctor on the other end listened in silence. “In that case there can be no doubt. But it’s strange,” he commented.
    â€œWhat is?”
    â€œThis disease is previously unknown in the Kamui Archipelago. What’s strange is how on earth it got here. There have been epidemics in Hong Kong and South East Asia recently, but I haven’t heard of anyone traveling from there to South Kamui.”
    â€œAh—” I swallowed hard. I had been so shocked by the sudden outbreak of the disease and the fact that I myself had also contracted it that I had not spared a thought for the crucial matter of the origin of the outbreak. I had probably subconsciously resolved not to think about it.
    The only possible conclusion was that the disease had been brought to the island by an outsider. And there were just two visitors—myself and the traveling salesman. I could not imagine that the salesman had recently been to Hong Kong or South East Asia. Considering how talkative he was, it was inconceivable that he would not have boasted about his experiences had he traveled abroad recently. That left me, and I had indeed spent time in Hong Kong just before coming here. I had