Weight of the Heart (Bruna Husky Book 2) by Rosa Montero Read Free Book Online Page A

ha ha! I don’t know whether it calls for tears or laughter! Come in and you’ll see.”
    In the middle of the living room, with its incredibly high ceiling, someone had built a precarious, improbable tower out of chairs, stools, and boxes. At the very top, dangling by his paw from an empty hook for a ceiling lamp, was Bartolo, the greedy-guts, sobbing. When he saw Bruna, he started to screech in his baby talk.
    “Help! Bartolo good, Bartolo beautiful. Help!”
    “I don’t have a tall enough ladder, and I don’t dare climb up there,” said Yiannis dolefully.
    “What on earth happened?”
    “It was the girl. She became furious with the greedy-guts. I don’t know why.”
    “Gabi bad, Gabi bad. Help!”
    It was a miracle that the tower constructed by Gabi was still standing. Bruna had no intention of climbing it. She did wonder admiringly how the girl had managed to climb up and down the tower, never mind holding a predictably struggling greedy-guts. A circus act clearly. Bruna tried to take down the girl’s display, but she had no sooner touched the first chair than the whole pile came down, making a tremendous racket.
    “By all the species! Just a bit closer and that stool would have split my skull,” seethed Bruna. “Help me push over that piece of furniture.”
    Between the two of them they pushed a huge, heavy chest of drawers under the greedy-guts, and Bruna still had to add a small box to stand on before she could reach the cable. She untied the knot and lowered the creature. The trembling animal clung to his owner’s neck, his crest of stiff red hair tousled and his squashed nose wet with tears.
    “Bartolo good, Bartolo beautiful. Gabi bad, bad.”
    “Yes, yes. Come on, it’s over.”
    Bartolo didn’t seem to have suffered any harm apart from a huge fright and the horror of hanging upside down for an hour, so Bruna left the bubi with Yiannis to recover and went to talk to the young Russian. According to Yiannis, the girl was under her bed, but there was no way of making her come out.
    Just watch me get you out, you wretched monster, thought the rep.
    The bed was made, but the little Russian’s room seemed empty. Not a sound betrayed the child’s presence.
    “Gabi? Gabi! Come out right now.”
    Silence.
    Bruna bent over and looked under the bed. Right at the back, against the wall, the girl’s eyes were shining in the semidarkness, the fierce, mad eyes of a trapped rat. The rep felt a sudden weight in her chest, a slight choking. She stood upright, not entirely sure what she should do next. She could of course stick her hand under the bed and pull out Gabi, but there was no question the child would bite her again. She could also pull the bed from the wall. But no matter what, knowing how agile the girl was, she would need time to catch her. And then, did she really want to use force? She squatted again to have another look: those eyes, that desperation, that defenselessness. Vermin harassed to the bitter end by its enemies. How could she have received those fatal doses of radiation?
    “What happened, Gabi?” Bruna said, sighing as she sat on the floor.
    Silence.
    “Tell me what happened. I want to understand. I’m sure there’s an explanation.”
    Silence.
    “Maybe this is why,” said Yiannis, coming into the room. “I found all this rubbish in the greedy-guts’ bed.”
    A key, a small plastic tiger, a piece of red satin ribbon, a child’s wristwatch, a teaspoon, and the comb Bruna had already seen inside Gabi’s backpack. All the items were knotted together with bits of cord, but the strings were frayed and chewed. There were also faint tooth marks and dried spittle on the satin ribbon. Bartolo had chewed the Russian’s strange treasures.
    “Ah. Now I understand. The greedy-guts stole your things and chewed them.”
    Silence.
    Bruna spread out the revolting remains on the floor right next to the edge of the bed.
    “Don’t take it the wrong way. Even though he talks, he’s quite