On their return journey to the inn, the children attracted a lot of attention. Hugh wondered if they’d ever get back, as people constantly stopped them for photographs. Finally they emerged from the station in Asakusa.

Alice-Miranda, Millie and Jacinta decided that they would change before dinner. Although being Itoshii Squirrel had been fun to start with, Millie was finding it difficult to breathe inside all that fur.

‘Can you imagine how tired Uncle Lawrence must get of being asked for photographs?’ Alice-Miranda said as the children walked towards the inn.

‘Yes, but he’s a movie star,’ Millie replied. ‘He sort of brought it on himself, really.’

‘And he’s so handsome,’ said Jacinta with a sigh. ‘Who wouldn’t want to have their photograph taken with Lawrence Ridley?’

Millie and Alice-Miranda giggled.

The adults were lagging behind when Alice-Miranda, Millie and Jacinta turned the corner into their street. The children walked past a large house, which Alice-Miranda noticed was built in the same style as their inn. Between the house and the inn was an alley. Like the inn, the house sat right on the edge of the road. In the downstairs window closest to the alley, the curtains were open a fraction, revealing a desk with a large screen on top of it.

‘I wonder what they’re watching,’ Millie said as she noticed something playing on the screen.

‘I haven’t even thought about television since we’ve been here,’ Alice-Miranda said. The girls’ room at the inn was completely devoid of technology, apart from the toilet. ‘I don’t think we’d be able to understand much of it anyway.’

She and Jacinta kept walking but Millie peered through the window at the monitor. Then she stepped back and glanced up under the building’s eaves. A tiny video camera stared back at her.

‘Hey, look at this!’ Millie rushed forward, grabbed Alice-Miranda’s arm and pulled her back to the window. ‘Look, on the screen.’ Millie pointed.

Jacinta hurried back to join them.

‘That’s us on there,’ Millie said, waving at the camera to prove her point.

Jacinta cupped her hands and stared through the window.

‘So it is.’ She looked up and spotted the camera. ‘I wonder why they need surveillance. I thought Japan was a really safe place.’

‘It is,’ Alice-Miranda said, ‘and we probably shouldn’t be looking into people’s windows.’

Millie stepped away but Jacinta continued to look.

Jacinta’s jaw dropped. ‘Oh my goodness, it’s him! The kid from the Itoshii Squirrel shop just walked into that room.’

The boy looked up and caught Jacinta’s gaze. She turned her head and pretended that she hadn’t been watching him. He came forward and tapped on the glass. Jacinta jumped into the air. Millie and Alice-Miranda watched as he pointed at Jacinta and then ran his finger across his throat.

Millie’s heart thumped. ‘You little brat!’ she called and shook her fist back at him.

‘What did he do?’ Jacinta whispered, still not wanting to turn around.

Millie was about to tell her when she spotted Alice-Miranda shaking her head.

‘Nothing. He’s just horrible,’ said Millie, still staring at the boy.

‘Come on, let’s go.’ Alice-Miranda grabbed Jacinta’s hand and pulled her away.

‘He wouldn’t have recognised me in this outfit anyway,’ Jacinta said.

Alice-Miranda wondered about that too. He certainly wouldn’t have known it was Millie. Perhaps he was rude to everyone.

The boy shut the curtains just as the adults caught up to them.

‘What were you looking at, girls?’ Hugh asked.

‘It was the boy from the shop near the temple,’ Alice-Miranda explained.

‘The one who upset Jacinta?’ her father quizzed.

She nodded.

‘Well, I might pay him and his father a visit after all.’

‘Who upset Jacinta?’ Ambrosia asked. It was the first she’d heard about it.

‘Perhaps we should talk about it later, Daddy,’ Alice-Miranda said pointedly.

Hugh looked from his daughter to Ambrosia and back. ‘Okay, darling.’

The group arrived at the inn. ‘Oh my goodness, look at you,’ Aki exclaimed as the children flooded into the foyer. ‘Kawaii.’

‘I think we’ve heard that about five thousand times between Harajuku and here,’ Millie said. ‘Itoshii Squirrel really is popular.’

‘That’s because he is so cute,’ Aki grinned.

‘What are we doing for dinner, then?’ Hugh looked at Cecelia.

‘I think we should stay in tonight,’ Cecelia said. ‘The children are tired and I’m afraid Ambrosia and I have more meetings tomorrow.’

‘Here it is, then,’ said Hugh. He turned to the girls. ‘In the meantime, what would you three like to do until dinner?’

‘Can we play a game?’ Alice-Miranda asked.

‘I can explain how to play one of the Japanese board games,’ Aki suggested. ‘You could take it up to your room.’

Alice-Miranda and Jacinta nodded.

‘That would be great,’ Millie said, ‘except I’ll have to get changed first. I don’t think squirrel paws will be very helpful at moving board pieces.’

Cecelia nodded. ‘That sounds absolutely perfect. I think your father and I might have a rest, Alice-Miranda – I’m afraid we oldies don’t have as much energy as you girls.’

‘And I’m going to get a start on today’s article,’ Ambrosia said. ‘How about we meet here at six-thirty for dinner?’

It was agreed. The adults wandered off, and Millie and Jacinta set about choosing a board game with Aki’s help. Alice-Miranda was happy to let them decide – she was too distracted thinking about the boy next door.

 

In the girls’ room, Millie scratched at her fur, eager to get out of the squirrel costume. She pulled off the head and took a deep breath.

‘Remind me that I never want to get a job as a character at Disneyland,’ she sighed.

‘What did that boy next door do when I looked away?’ Jacinta asked as she unfurled her futon.

‘Um, he shook his fist,’ Millie lied. She glanced over at Alice-Miranda, who nodded.

‘So why do you think they have a surveillance camera over there?’ Jacinta plonked down on the floor and took the lid off the game box.

‘Who knows?’ Alice-Miranda replied. ‘Maybe they have a lot of money from the Itoshii Squirrel shop.’

‘Yes, that’s probably it,’ Jacinta agreed as she set up the board.

Alice-Miranda wondered too. She had a strange feeling about that boy and the house across the alleyway.