Chapter 13 - Nyssa

Chapter 13 Nyssa

The story spirits had been quiet since the contractors left yesterday, hiding in their own little areas of the library. I wasn’t sure how to help them, but I did know one thing that needed to be taken care of: these damn windows.

The library had to look its best if we expected patrons to come back, butI had no clue how to put new windows in.

I was a librarian though. When in doubt, look it up in a book.

Except, this library barely had any of those and certainly none on window repairs. I sighed, investigating what else the contractors had left. A roll of extra sturdy MagiHold tape and some sealant. Maybe it was as easy as putting the double-sided tape up and popping the window in? Couldn’t hurt to try...

“Need help?” Roan asked as I dragged a bulky window into place. I tripped on a warped floor board, but he reached out to steady me and the window. “Hey now, be careful. Maybe you should take a break?”

Curse that warped floor and these windows and the contractors too afraid of a puppy dog to do their jobs.

“We don’t have time for breaks,” I said, dragging the window again. “The library isn’t going to fix itself and we’re already behind. We need to be ready for the festival. Otherwise...”

Otherwise, the Misty Mountain Library would fade away. My chest tightened as I glanced back at the great book tree, which was only a little bit healthier than when I first came here. If I didn’t work harder, I’d lose this beautiful library for good.

Roan nodded and hefted the window up as if it weighed nothing, putting it into place as I taped it in, sealing it. Some of the tension left my body. He would help me at least. I wasn’t alone.

Together we put in two more windows before Lisa came over.

“Somebody’s coming,” she said, nodding at a speck in the sky. “They’ll be here soon.”

Somebody was flying toward us on a winged horse with a huge crate hanging underneath it. Maybe it was the new books I ordered?

“Go, I’ll keep working on these,” Roan said as he grabbed another window.

I smiled, grateful for his help, and flung the doors open as the mail courier swooped down, carefully setting the box on the ground. The beautiful black pegasus neighed as it flapped its wings. I shifted from foot to foot, almost dancing as I withheld the urge to pet it.

“Hello, ma’am,” the courier said with a kind smile and a wave. “I’ve got your order from Arcadia Books. Please sign here.”

I took the tablet from him and signed, frowning at how big the box was. “Isn’t that too heavy to fly with?”

“Weight-reduction magic. It’s the only way to fly!” He unhooked the box, floating it to the door.

I leapt in front of him before he opened it. “Uh, it’s fine right here.”

“Are you sure, ma’am?” he asked with a frown. “It’s no trouble to take it inside. I’d even help you unpack it if you’d like.”

He was so nice, exactly the type of person I wanted at this library. But not while the memory of those contractors screaming as they ran away still echoed fresh in my mind.

I smiled. “It’s fine. We’re in the middle of some remodels and I wouldn’t want you to get hurt. You should stop back once we’re open again.”

“I’ll do that, thanks.” He gazed at the library fondly. “I fly over this mountain a lot and always wondered about this place. Glad to see it’s reopening.” As the box of books settled on the ground, he hopped back on his pegasus. “Thank you for your business and I hope to deliver here again soon.”

The pegasus leaping into the sky was a beautiful sight. I blocked the sun with my hand and followed them until they were a tiny dot and my eyes were watering. Seeing him excited for the library to reopen gave me hope that there were more people like us, more readers eager to browse these shelves again.

Now to find some help carrying all these books inside. The golem was crouched over by the new garden area we’d been working on. Raised flower beds surrounded the library, making use of the old patches we’d pulled down so the golem didn’t have to feel bad. Flowers already sprouted from them as the golem spent every minute tending to them, rocking back and forth on its heels like some kind of dance.

“How’s the gardening going?” I asked as I wandered over. “Do you like the new raised beds?”

A deep rumble sounded through his body. “Love.”

I couldn’t help but smile watching such a big golem shift dirt around with its fingertip to avoid disturbing the plants. Bright red flowers had been the first to sprout, poppies like the ones on the golem’s shoulders, but it looked like there were other kinds of plants too.

“I can’t wait to see them all in bloom,” I said. “Do you mind helping me carry a box of books inside?”

The vines in the golem’s body shifted as it stood up, lumbering over to the library’s front door. I had to run to keep pace with its long strides and the box was already inside and open by the time I got there.

“Thank you!”

The golem nodded, then trudged back outside to its happy place. I’d felt like a monster after seeing how upset the golem was about me tearing those patches down, so I was really glad it liked the gardens.

I pulled out a few books, admiring their vibrant covers. Each one was like a precious gem in a treasure chest. I sorted them into piles based on genre, stacking them on a nearby table, but there were a few I didn’t recognize. More than a few actually and there were multiple copies of them too.

“I think they mixed up our order,” I mumbled, searching through the box to see what else was wrong.

Lisa joined me. “I might have...altered your order a bit.”

“You did what?”

“I’m a librarian here too, you know.” She gave me an innocent smile and a shrug. “So I added a few books you overlooked.”

I sighed. “We’re on a tight budget, you can’t just add things like that without talking to me.”

“And you shouldn’t have ordered anything without talking to me. ”

We stared at each other for a while before I broke down. “Fine, I’m sorry. Please tell me about the books you added.”

And they better be worth it otherwise I’d be sending them right back to the store.

Lisa ran her fingers lightly over a cover. “I thought you might want to get to know us better by reading the books we all came from. Maybe the patrons would like that too.”

“Your books?” My mouth dropped open.

I’d asked them about their books when I first came here, but they were cagey about it and I’d never seen them on the shelves. So I’d focused on the repairs instead, but I could have looked into it more. I’d known a few of their stories already and the rest...I just hadn’t had time for yet.

Was I a terrible librarian? There were books that had literally come to life right in front of me and I hadn’t even read their stories yet.

“Thank you, Lisa,” I said, with as much sincerity as I could. “I really appreciate you helping me with this. I’d love to read your stories.”

“I thought you might,” she said. “We don’t like anyone touching our original books, but these duplicates are fine.”

Ah, so that’s why I hadn’t seen their books anywhere: they’d been protecting the ones they came out of. That made sense. It made me happy that she wanted to share her story with me now though. Like I’d earned her respect as a librarian.

Roan wandered over, looking at the books over my shoulder. “Still sure you don’t want to take a break? Maybe read some books?”

“Tempting, so very tempting.” I trailed my finger along their pristine spines, wanting nothing more than to crack them open and be the first to read them. “But we still have work to do.”

“Taking time for yourself is important.” He gazed at the story spirits peeking over at us. “I think it would be good for everyone.”

He was right. I’d been pushing forward on my to-do list, but the story spirits weren’t acting normal. They said they had scared people for fun, but seeing those contractors run away from them in terror had obviously taken a toll. If I wanted to repair this library, keeping their spirits up was part of that. Plus, reading would help the book tree regain some magic.

Maybe a break really was exactly what we needed.

“Hey everyone,” I called out, holding some of the books up, “let’s get together and read each other’s stories. We can recharge the library’s magic and get to know each other better. Who’s in?”

At first nobody really moved, but then I heard clanging metal as the knights marched over, the unmistakable chitter of Mochi, and even the flapping of dragon wings as they joined us.

Warmth blossomed in my chest seeing everyone grabbing different books, discussing who they wanted to read about most.

This was why I loved the library so much, why I had to bring people back to it.

No matter who you were or what problems you were having, books could bind us together and give two complete strangers common ground. They were magical and created such wonderful moments. It’s what made this library such a bright spot in my childhood. Even Oren pulled himself out of his research text to grab a book.

“What book are you going to read?” Roan asked as he sorted through a few, picking up the one about Cerbie.

“There’s so many options, I’m not sure,” I said, looking over all the books Lisa had kindly added to my list, pausing on one with a beautiful woman in a purple dress on the cover. “This one. It’s about time I got to know Lisa better.”

She was a librarian, just like me, and I had to start acting like that. I wasn’t alone in any of this.

I dragged various chairs underneath the book tree in a circle so we could all read together, as close to the tree as possible. When everyone was settled in, I relaxed into a cozy chair and read the back of Lisa’s book. It was a story about a dream library that you could only reach when you were sleeping and a woman in a coma who became its librarian.

Would she wake up and forget all about the library she’d come to love? Or would she stay asleep forever and make other people’s dreams come true?

Neither of those sounded like the right ending for Lisa, so I was curious to see what actually happened. The excitement of starting a new book swept over me as I opened it to chapter 1, a chapter full of possibilities.

If only I had a blanket and some tea, this would be perfect.

Roan scooted a chair close to mine. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” I said, motioning for him to sit down. “I hope you like Cerbie’s book.”

“I’d like anything we read together like this,” he said, grinning at me.

My face flushed.

He not only enjoyed reading, but he wanted to read with me?

Maybe we could make reading a night time ritual, in the name of saving the library of course. More reading would help it recharge and maybe make falling asleep in the same bed a bit less awkward too...

A dragon’s roar followed by the clashing of metal made me spin around, catching the knights warring with the dragons again. If they weren’t careful, they’d set the new books on fire! A few dragons had even picked knights up, flying them high over the shelves. They better not drop them.

“Hey, knock it off,” I said, marching over. I loomed over their tiny three-inch selves. “Why do you keep fighting with the dragons?”

“They started it,” the knight commander said. “They’re always dive bombing us or shooting fire at us or plucking us up like we’re toys!” He motioned at the knights dangling from dragon claws above us. “Just look at poor Bob and Mikey.”

Bob and Mikey? I’d expected more knightly names if I was honest, but that wasn’t the point.

“Dragons, put the knights down and come over here,” I said firmly. They completely ignored me. “Come on, don’t make me get the golem.”

The image of a giant trying to swat flies came to mind. Probably not the best idea, but the dragons landed anyway, dropping the knights unceremoniously on the ground.

“Now, I need you all to start getting along,” I said. “We can’t make this library a success if you keep making it a warzone.”

One of the dragons rolled over, glancing at me with a tongue lolling out of its mouth. Another pounced on a knight, who stabbed at it in return. Hmmmm....the dragons reminded me of cats wanting to play. Could all those attacks the knights mentioned just be the dragons wanting attention?

“Hey Lisa? What’s the dragons’ book about?”

She smiled at me behind her tea cup. “Dragon hatchlings that destroy everything until people play with them.”

“Couldn’t have told me that sooner, huh?” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“You never asked.”

That was fair. I’d have to do a lot better if I was going to manage these story spirits.

“Okay knights,” I said in an official-sounding voice, “I command you to play with the dragons. No slaying, just playing.”

They groaned, but the dragons leapt into the air with excitement while I went back to my nice cozy chair to read. We had a mission: read as many books as possible to give the library more magic.

Mochi wandered over to hand me a cup of hot cocoa that melted my heart. “Thank you, Mochi.”

He chittered and bounded back to Lisa, snuggling up on her lap to read with her.

“You’re good with them,” Roan said. “I think you’re doing a great job, honestly. You’re a fantastic librarian.”

“Thank you,” I muttered, diving into my book so he wouldn’t see how much that made me grin.

Roan thought I was a good librarian. Things were all coming together. Maybe we could actually pull this off if we worked as a team.

A few dragons settled on my lap, their warmth sinking into my body. This was the life. A good book, a kind man, cozy drinks, and warm dragons. I couldn’t ask for more.