“Thank you, Stanley.”
“Whatever for?”
“For being you. I don’t know what I’d have done without you since Mum died.”
He patted her hand. “That’s what friends are for, my dear. Now, let’s get back inside before the best biscuits get eaten, shall we?”
They got up and walked toward the library. As they did, June saw a smartly dressed man with a briefcase walking across the road toward them.
“I wonder if he’s another journalist,” she said.
“I’m afraid the protest has quietened down a bit now,” Stanley said, when they met him at the library door. “You should have been here a few hours ago.”
“Are you protesters?”
“Yes, we started the occupation,” Stanley said. “Do come in, sir.”
As they stepped in through the door, the man stopped, reachedinto his briefcase, and pulled out a manila envelope, which he handed to June. “This is notice that an interim possession order has been served. You all have twenty-four hours to vacate the property or you’ll be breaking the law.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
“Look at this—we’re famous!”
June woke up, bleary-eyed and sore from a night spent under Marjorie’s desk, to find Stanley, Mrs.B, and Chantal poring over the newspapers. Mrs.B handed her a copy of theGuardian. On page sixteen was a photo of the library under the headlinepensioners occupy library as dunningshire council threatens six with closure.
“It’s the same in most of these,” Stanley said, indicating the other papers in front of them. “And Mrs.Bransworth has been invited on the radio.”
June glanced at the newspapers. There was a photo of her, Stanley, and Mrs.B in one of them, grinning at the camera, and another showed the WI ladies with their placards.
“It’s not helped, though, has it?” Chantal said. “We’re still being evicted today.”
“No, but all this publicity has to be good for us,” June said. “Thecouncil will find it much harder to close the library now we’ve been all over the news.” She looked to Stanley for agreement, but he wouldn’t meet her eye.
The party feel of the last few days was gone, replaced by a sober quiet. They got to work cleaning and tidying the library, making sure it was spotless before the council arrived: Stanley and Chantal were finishing painting over twenty years’ worth of graffiti in the toilet, while Mrs.B dusted the long-neglected window blinds. Overnight, someone had spilled a small splash of coffee on the carpet and so June got on her hands and knees to scrub the stain. Nobody spoke, lost in their own thoughts.
“They’re here,” Mrs.B said, a little after midday.
June looked outside to where a police van was pulling up in front of the library. Half a dozen officers climbed down. “Why are the police here?”
“In case we don’t leave peacefully,” Mrs.B said, grim-faced. “They’re preparing for a fight.”
“Have they seen us?” Stanley said. “We’re hardly anarchists; I read theTelegraph, for goodness’ sake.”
“Look who else is here,” June said, as Richard, Sarah, Marjorie, and Brian crossed the road and joined the police.
Richard had a conversation with one of the police officers, who handed him a megaphone. He pressed a button and there was a loud squeal, causing everyone outside to put their hands over their ears. The police officer stepped forward and showed him how to work it.
Richard put the megaphone to his mouth and turned to the library. “Right, you lot, the fun’s over. You’ve had twenty-four hours since we served you the IPO. It’s time to get out.”
Inside the library, not one of them moved, all staring throughthe window at him. June could feel her heart racing. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Tessa and Cleo moving toward the library, Cleo’s camera on her shoulder, already filming.
“We’re not going anywhere until you promise our library is safe,” Stanley shouted through the glass.
“Really, Stanley?” June whispered. “They have the eviction order. There’s nothing we can do now.”
“This is our last chance to fight.”
“There’s no point resisting,” Richard’s voice came back at them through the megaphone. “If you don’t leave now, you’ll be committing an offense and will be arrested.”
