Midnight Wonders

3.2.1. A Gift of Warm Bread

Minnie brightened and turned to the man. "I tripped him!" she said triumphantly.

"Yes, you tripped me, and you made me spill milk on myself!" the waiter huffed.

"If you're both clear on what happened, then what are you standing here yelling at each other for?" said the man, and Luc stood there, frozen, in the middle of the restaurant, staring. It felt odd, seeing the man speaking to someone else. Though of course he spoke to others; they weren't the only two people in the world; the restaurant itself was full of others. But Luc had only ever known the man when it was only the two of them, and to know him differently was...different.

"She's being difficult," said the waiter. "As if she were the one who got dirtied!"

"It's only soaked your apron," said the man. "There are more in the back." He bent and picked up the empty glass. "And call someone out to mop this up." He handed the glass to the waiter and looked around the room at the ogling eyes. "As you were," he said, and the patrons obliged, turning back to their meals.

The waiter gave Minnie a final dirty look and slipped behind the back door. Minnie grasped the man's arm. "Oh, what a great help you are!" she said. "I tripped the man, but he couldn't quite take a joke."

"It's not a joke to trip people, Minnie," said the man. "Don't cause the wait staff trouble."

"It wasn't trouble," she said. "It was just some fun. Here—I'll repay you for your trouble."

"Oh, don't..." But Minnie was already dragging the man back towards their table. Luc remembered he was still standing and sat, trying not to stare. He felt as if he'd done something wrong by being there; the man had said he couldn't enter the hill, but there he was. Had it been wrong to ask the hill to stay open for him?

"We'll pay for your meal," Minnie was saying. "What do you want? I'll bet the waiter won't want to bring out any more milk." She laughed. "And look who I picked up on the way!"

"Oh, no," the man said, sounding almost horrified. Luc glanced at him. He was blinking very quickly. "I'd better go make some rounds. Who knows, there might be more people knocking into waiters in the other restaurants..."

Minnie laughed. "You're so funny. Just have a meal."

They came to the table.

Luc looked up at them. He wondered if he should stand. "Hello," he said.

"What are you—" The man looked at him and sighed. "You won't be able to find her."

"You have lied before," said Luc.

Minnie pushed the man into her seat and grabbed another chair, pulling it over. It screeched against the floor. "Oh, don't be so somber, you two! Kay, are you denying someone help?"

He was the knight, then. Kay, that was his name. Luc wondered how it was spelled. He didn't know why he wanted to know. Perhaps he would write it down. But he had no reason to.

"I'm not denying him help," said Kay. "He didn't even ask for it."

"He was about to, if you hadn't been so utterly pessimistic as always!" Minnie said.

"Fine," he said. He looked at Luc.

Luc counted his blinks; one, two, three. "I'm looking for my sister." He looked at Kay, who sat very still with his hands in his lap. Something about him reminded Luc of the way young children sat when they were being scolded. "She's younger than me, and she has red hair, which is very curly and rather long, and she looks a bit like a lion; and she has brown eyes like mine—"

"I haven't seen her," said Kay.

"Then please help me look for her."

Kay looked at Minnie. She smiled at him, her third-grade smile. He sighed. "All right, fine. Minnie, your debt is paid. All free."