Jack lifted out a wooden box with swirling patterns engraved on the top. He flipped open the lid and removed an old-fashioned library date stamp and an ink pad, then reached back into the drawer and withdrew a stack of retro library due date cards, the kind that used to be in the back of every library book but had been replaced by electronics and high-tech practices. Then he pulled out two final things from the drawer, a copy ofBeyond the Southern Horizonand an emerald-green fabric-covered book.
He handedBeyond the Southern Horizonto Stella. She pointed at the green book. “What’s that one?”
Jack hesitated but held the book so Stella could read the title.The Unraveling of Mrs. Russo.
“I’ve never seen it before,” Stella said. “Why does Arnie keep it there?”
Jack deposited the book back into the bottom of the drawer. “You’ll have to ask Arnie.”
“My list of questions for Arnie is extensive.” Stella flipped throughBeyond the Southern Horizon. Adhered to the inside back cover was a library due date card slid into its sleeve. Stella scanned the dates on the card. For more than thirty years, dates had been stamped. The second most recent date was last year, and beneath that a stamp from less than two weeks ago was the last entry.
“That’s Arnie’s personal copy,” Jack said. He pointed to the date stamp and ink pad on the counter. “That’s what makes everything possible.”
He lifted the hinged lid on the ink pad and revealed blue ink that twinkled as though the ink had been mixed with glitter. Stella stepped forward and leaned over for a closer inspection.
“Why is it sparkling?” she asked.
“Touch it,” Jack said.
Stella poked her index finger into the ink. A jolt of electricity shot up her arm and ricocheted inside her chest, making her temples throb and reminding her of the bright purple words that had started appearing to her. She yanked back her hand and looked at her finger just in time to see the ink absorb into her skin, sending tiny sparks of fire into her hand, up her arm, and pulsing in her chest before dissolving.
“What was that?” she whispered, feeling a prick of terror that trembled her voice.
Jack reached out for her hand and enclosed it with his. “This ink, coupled with sunlight, is what brings us here. Arnie adds the library due date cards to the chosen books, then stamps them withthisstamp and ink. He exposes the stamp to sunlight, speaks the character’s name he wants to appear, and somehow, we become possible.” He released her hand.
Carefully, he closed the ink pad and returned both it and the date stamp to the box. Then he slid the box back into its spot in the bottom drawer. He placed his book on top and then replaced the metal divider to hide what Arnie didn’t want anyone to find. Once Jack returned the folders to their spot, the drawer resembled nothing more than a messy filing system.
“How can a stamp and ink possibly do this?” Stella asked. “It sounds likeI’vestumbled into a fictional story.”
Jack shook his head. “I don’t knowhowit works. I just know that it does. That’s the magic of it. Arnie knows things he hasn’t told me, and now you can ask him.”
Stella rubbed her fingers back and forth across her collarbone as her heart beat erratically. “How can this kind of magic be real?”
The idea of book characters coming to life and walking aroundBlue Sky Valley seemedtoofantastical. What if it wasn’t, though? She’d never told anyone but Ariel about her gift for words because she feared people would think she was delusional. Yet here she was acting as though Jack’s explanation was too outrageous to be true.
Stella glanced down at her fingertip. “Why wouldn’t Arnie have told me? Of all the people in the world who would have believed this insane possibility, shouldn’t I have been the one person he could have told?”
Jack pushed his hands into his pockets. “Yet you’re having trouble believing it from me. What would make him telling you any different, any more convincing?”
Stella shrugged. “Because Iknowhim. I trust him. Or Idid.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe he didn’t think he could tell me years ago. I would have believed him. I would have wanted him toshowme, of course, but I would have given him the opportunity. And instead, he kept it from me for years.”
Jack pushed away from the desk and stepped toward her. “I could be wrong, but you haven’t told Arnie about the words you see, have you?”
She didn’t respond.
“Maybe you’re being too hard on him,” Jack said. “This isn’t the kind of secret you can drop into someone’s lap. It’s an exceptionally difficult one to tell just anyone.”
Stella frowned. “Since when have I been ‘just anyone’ to Arnie?”
Jack countered, “Since when hashebeen just anyone to you?”
Her cell phone rang. She grabbed it off the counter and answered. “Hello?”
“Stella? Hey, honey, this is Belinda in the ICU. I’m on call today, and Arnie is awake and in stable condition. He’s been asking for you. You’re welcome to come on by for a visit. We just ask that you don’t bring any drama, not that you would, but what Arnie needs is peaceful, low-key visits, so that’s all we’ll tolerate.”
“Yes, ma’am, of course,” Stella said. “I would never jeopardize Arnie’s recovery.” Which was true, but as soon as she saw him, she was going to demand he tell her the truth about everything. As tempting as it was to believe Jack, she needed to hear it from Arnie. She ended the call and put her phone on the counter.
Stella’s gaze drifted to the bottom drawer where the box and two books were hidden. An idea sparked and within seconds it was burning as hot as blue flames. She opened the drawer, even as Jack protested. She removed the files and the metal divider and pulled out the box with the mysterious ink pad and stamp.
