Page 33 of Fumiko and the Finicky Nestmate
Juuyu asked, “Colt?”
“Sent me back. Is it true Moon’s on his way?”
Sinder said, “Due tonight, but overdue for sleep. He won’t be able to pitch in.”
Hallow hummed. “Should I spend the next few nights patrolling the vicinity? If our bandit isn’t inside, they might be looking for a way in.”
“Do that,” agreed Juuyu.
“But more importantly ….” Gesturing to Sinder’s catch, Hallow’s tone turned hopeful. “Are any of those for me?”
Juuyu paced slowly on the sand, checking his pocket watch at intervals while waiting for Riindi to take his call. Would a herald have been more efficient? Perhaps life abroad had made him impatient.
Finally, his elder sister’s voice carried through the connection. “Peace, Juuyu. What do you need?”
Always to the point.
He could only be grateful.
“I am lodging under a tree, and I am concerned for her twin.”
“You are?” And after a pause that stirred Juuyu toward impatience again, she said, “I see. May I know which grove?”
“There is no grove. She is an orphan tree.”
Riindi’s trill was filled with sorrow. His sister was tree-kin herself, twinned to one of the largest trees near the center of their grove. “That is cause enough for concern, but what has she done to stir your heart to sympathy?”
She sounded surprised he was capable.
Juuyu hesitated. He usually didn’t try to gather information unless it was for work, but Fumiko had definitely left an impression. “Her tree is concerned for her.”
Another long pause. Riindi suggested, “Tell me something about the tree’s twin.”
“A human female, age uncertain, but this pair has surely surpassed the millennia mark. Her spirits are flagging. She seems thin, fragile. Lost …?”
“What do you think she needs?”
“I do not know.” Juuyu toed the sand. “That is why I am asking you.”
“How could I know from here?”
Juuyu was feeling increasingly foolish. “Intuition?”
Riindi’s low laugh held no real mockery. “You are there, brother. As is she. Did it not occur to you to ask?”
He sighed. “I am hesitant to become involved.”
“Yet you would involve me?”
“I trust you most.”
His sister warbled affectionately. “Surely her tree has given you some guidance?”
Juuyu wasn’t about to admit that Zuzu thought he was the answer to all their problems. “Some. But she does not have our perspective.” More softly, he revealed, “Her grove was ravaged before she could learn their songs.”
“Songs you could teach.” And when he didn’t immediately respond, Riindi said, “You have always been attentive to details, Juuyu. Look, and you will learn all the answers you require.”
Not the answer he had wanted.
