A Wild Sheep Chase
A Wild Sheep Chase – Part One
About her background I know almost nothing
Part Two – July, Eight Years Earlier
I held out a box of tissues to her
3. The Slip
Part Three – September, Two Months Later
I first became acquainted with her (or rather her ears)...
‘What a lovely place,’ she said. ‘Do you come here often?’
‘As a close friend, there’re a couple of things I want to ask you...’
‘I grew up in an ordinary little town, went to an ordinary school.’
5. Unblocked Ears
6. The Further Adventures of Unblocked Ears
Part Four – A Wild Sheep Chase, I
‘Okay, I know what you’re trying to say,’ I said...
8. Now the Strange Man
‘You are familiar with the party’s name, I trust?’ said the man
9. ‘The Boss’
10. Counting Sheep
11. The Limo and Its Driver
12. Wherefore the Worm Universe
But then some joker of an architect came along to attach...
Part Five – Letters from The Rat and Assorted Reminiscences
Let me tell you about the towns I've seen..
14. The Rat’s Second Letter (Postmarked May, This Year)
What the hell was I talking about? Women, that’s right
I found the letter in my mailbox as I was leaving my apartment…
15. The Song Is Over
The third J’s Bar was a quarter of a mile away, by the river
At nine o’clock, J’s Bar was starting to get crowded...
16. She Drinks Her Salty Dog, Talking about the Sound of the Waves
The drizzle still hadn’t let up by five o’clock the next evening
‘It seems I'm boring you.’ I shook my head
Part Six – A Wild Sheep Chase, II
Even after I'd finished, the man stared at me without comment
‘Did you notice anything out of the ordinary?’
18. The Strange Man’s Strange Tale Goes On
When he finished talking, the man cleared his throat
At that the man lit his cigarette
I balanced the lighter in my hand. It had an excellent feel to it
19. The Limo and Its Driver, Again
20. Summer’s End, Autumn’s Beginning
21. One in Five Thousand
22. Sunday Afternoon Picnic
There was a travel agency near the train station, where I booked...
23. Limited but Tenacious Thinking
The man read back the items from his notepad. A memo well taken
24. One for the Kipper
The chauffeur took us to the airport. The cat rode quietly up front...
We received our boarding passes at the airport check-in counter...
Part Seven – The Dolphin Hotel Affair
We came out of the movie theatre and strolled the twilit streets,..
I wrote my name on the card but had second thoughts...
26. Enter the Sheep Professor
The fifth, then the sixth day passed. October laid heavy on the town
‘Just great,’ said I. This ‘just great’ business was becoming a habit
27. The Sheep Professor Eats All, Tells All
‘February 1936. The Sheep Professor is ordered home to Japan.’
The Sheep Professor had long hair, white as snow
The Sheep Professor began. ‘It was the summer of 1935...’
I began with the route the sheep took after it left...
28. Farewell to the Dolphin Hotel
Part Eight – A Wild Sheep Chase, III
It’s not obvious why the Ainu youth, instead of returning...
Of course, the government was not being generous for nothing...
30. The Further Decline of Junitaki and Its Sheep
A few minutes before departure time, she returned with a bag...
Beyond the shops, the road ambled down a slope to the river...
The livestock officer drove a small sedan
The caretaker was next to the barn, stacking plastic bags...
31. Night in Junitaki
32. An Unlucky Bend in the Road
‘You leave the disinfecting to the afternoon?’
After thirty minutes’ drive, the paved surface suddenly disappeared...
The sky was weighed down with a moist, uniform gray...
Straight on across the pasture stood an old American-style...
Only in the farther small bedroom was there any lingering scent...
33. She Leaves the Mountain; Hunger Strikes
34. A Find in the Garage; Thoughts in the Middle of the Pasture
35. The Sheep Man Cometh
‘I’m looking for a friend of mine,’ I ventured
36. The Winds’ Own Private Thoroughfare
Something gnawed at me. Something that had passed before...
Seated on the edge of a bridge, watching me, was the Sheep Man
Early in the afternoon of the ninth day, I was looking through...
37. Things the Mirror Shows, Things the Mirror Doesn’t
On the twelfth day, snow fell for the third time
38. And So Time Passes
39. Dwellers in Darkness
40. The Rat Who Wound the Clock
I could say nothing
The Rat let go a good, jolly laugh from off in the dark
41. Green Cords and Red Cords; Frozen Seagulls
42. Return Visit to the Unlucky Bend
43. The Twelve-O’clock Rendezvous
Epilogue
