“What are you doing?” Jack asked, his voice pinched with concern.
“Testing a hypothesis.”
Chapter 11
Stella placed the carved box on the counter and flipped open the lid. Then she closed her eyes and concentrated on a book. But not justanybook. On the book thatwantedto be found by her. Her chest tingled as though she stood in a beam of sunshine, and she opened her eyes.
Shamrock-green words twirled and leaped across the counter.Free-spirited. Mischievous young boy. Ageless.Jack stared at them. It unsettled her that he could see the words too. The letters danced into the air as Stella left the circulation desk and headed toward the children’s section.
“Where are you going?” Jack asked, following her across the foyer and stopping halfway.
“I’ll be back,” she said, shooing him away. “Guard the precious stamp and ink pad!” Her voice held a teasing tone, and Jack frowned.
In the children’s section, Stella scanned the titles until she foundPeter Pan. Had she really been looking at Peter Pan in the archives the other night? An image of the young boy leaping off the tableappeared in her mind. She flipped to the back of the book and saw there was already a due date card tucked inside its sleeve. She slid out the card. The most recent date was from a little longer than two weeks ago. Stella pressed the book against her chest.
The idea that she could bring fictional characters to life felt intoxicating. What book nerd hadn’t dreamed of such a possibility? But what would having this kind of magic—this kind ofpower—mean? How could it be contained, controlled? Or would it be unwieldy? The bigger question was: Would it work if she tested it?
A prickling started behind her eyes and fireworked into her head. Brown, stiff-moving words appeared from a shelf and plummeted to the floor.Sailor. Castaway. Tropical island.Then an image of the book cover ofRobinson Crusoeappeared in her mind. Stella quickly detoured to the fiction section and searched for a copy. This book, too, already had a library due date card in the back. How many characters had Arnie brought to life over the years?
Stella returned to the circulation desk where Jack stood waiting with his arms crossed over his chest, an expression of impatience marring his handsome face. She placed both books on the desk.
“Remind me how this works,” she said.
Jack’s scowl deepened. “This isn’t a good idea. You should talk to Arnie first.”
She flipped open the ink pad and picked up the stamp. She rotated the dials on the bottom of the rubber stamp so the date was two weeks from today, and then she looked at Jack.
“Arnie was going to tell me about this anyway, so what’s the harm in testing it? Tell me how this works.Please,” she added in hopes of convincing him.
Jack reached for the stamp, but Stella stretched her hand as far away from him as she could.
“This isn’t a joke, Stella.”
A line creased between his brows, and she felt an urge to rub it away with her thumb. She gripped the stamp tighter instead. “Who’s joking?” she asked. “If Arnie’s done this before, and clearly he has”—she pointed at Jack—“then it can’t be that bad. Besides, what if it doesn’t even work for me? What if you have to be the head librarian or some other magical rule nonsense?”
“There are other things you don’t know about,” Jack said.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know everything, but Arnie does. At least talk to him before you do this,” Jack said, his voice pleading.
“Hey,” Vicki called as she entered the foyer from the children’s section. “The festival this weekend takes place in the library, too, right? Arnie hasn’t told me anything.” She caught sight of the stamp in Stella’s hand. “What have you got there?” She leaned over the counter and peered down at the ink pad. “Is that a vintage library stamp? Cool, can I see it?”
“No,” Stella and Jack said together.
Vicki looked surprised and leaned away from the counter. “Are you sticking around for a particular reason?” she asked Jack. “It’s probably visiting hours at the hospital. Don’t you want to go see your friend?”
“Speaking of Arnie,” Stella said, “I’m going to head that way soon. Are you and Dan okay for a while without me?”
“Of course,” Vicki said. “The festival?”
“Yes, sorry. There will be some activities set up in here like last year. I don’t know all the specifics either, but I’ll ask Arnie today. He’s awake and alert, so I’ll get all the details.”
Vicki eyed the stamp and ink pad again. “I’ll find Dan and have him handle the circulation desk while you’re gone. He’s better with people.” Vicki turned on her heel and walked off.
Once she was out of sight, Stella flippedPeter Panto the back cover where the library card was snuggled into the pocket. Should she listen to Jack and wait until she talked to Arnie? But what if he continued to deflect? She realizedthiswas why he’d been so secretive about the archives. Would he refuse to tell her the truth about the ink pad and stamp? Another thought creeped into her mind.
“What if Arnie hasn’t told me yet because he doesn’t think I can handle this kind of magic?” Could she? Accepting the words she saw was one thing, but embracing enchanted magic and fictional characters walking around unleashed the unknown. What else might exist in her world that she had yet to see? “Do you think I can handle knowing the truth about the library?”
