Before she lost her sight, his wife used to go herself, spending hours choosing a stack of historical romances, which she’d bring home and devour in bed at night, her reading glasses balanced on the end of her nose and a mug of home-grown herbal tea in her hands. Even when her eyesight started to fail, Esi would still make her weekly pilgrimage, although as time passed, she became more and more reliant on Arthur to not just help her choose the books, but also to read them to her as well. Eventually, her eyesight became so bad that Esi found it too overwhelming to leave the farm, and she asked Arthur to go to the library for her.
To begin with he hated it, embarrassed in case someone saw him browsing the romance shelves, and he used to go to the library as soon as it opened and hide her books under his own biographies. But over time, Arthur had become less self-conscious and began chatting to the librarians, getting recommendations for books that Esi mightenjoy. Now they all knew him by name, and they’d often set aside new historical romances for him to collect on his Saturday visits.
Today, Arthur greeted the librarian and headed straight to the familiar shelf. As he approached, he saw a gangly figure hunched over it.
“Ash! How are you, lad?”
The boy visibly jolted at being addressed and took a hurried step back from the shelf.
“Eh, hi…” he mumbled, flicking his long fringe over his face.
Arthur smiled in recognition; not so long ago, he’d been as embarrassed as Ash.
“Don’t worry,” he said, lowering his voice. “You’re near enough to the horror shelf that you can always pretend you’re looking at those if anyone spots you.”
Ash gave a shy smile. “I was just trying to findThe Viscount Who Loved Mefor book club.”
“Reading that already, are you? Well, it’ll be here if they have it.” Arthur bent down to the small row of Julia Quinn books on the lowest shelf. “You’re in luck.” He pulled out a well-worn copy of the paperback and handed it to Ash.
“Thanks,” the boy mumbled and turned to leave.
“Did you hear about the theft at the community center?”
Ash looked back. “A police officer came to my house yesterday. He said he thought it might’ve been someone from the book club.”
“It sounds like it was that Michael man, the one who ran out.”
“Have they arrested him?”
“Not yet. The police think he might’ve also murdered his mother and done a runner, although I’m still not convinced that man had a murdering temperament.”
“And he’s disappeared?” Ash’s eyes were wide. “If he didn’t kill his mum then maybe he’s been kidnapped? Or abducted?”
“Abducted?” Arthur couldn’t help but chuckle. “You sound like Phyllis!”
The teenager gave an embarrassed smile. “Sorry. I’ve just been reading this science fiction book where a character gets abducted by aliens, so I guess that’s on my brain.”
“Oh, that sounds like a good story. You like science fiction, do you?”
The boy nodded. Arthur waited for him to say something, but he’d clearly lost his confidence again.
“I have to confess, I’ve not read much myself, although I have watched a few science fiction films in my time. I used to like those Star Wars ones.”
“I loveStar Wars!” Ash’s face was suddenly alight. He pulled back his jacket to reveal a well-wornReturn of the JediT-shirt.
Arthur smiled. “I’ve only seen the original ones. My Esi was always fond of that Han Solo.”
“Maybe your wife would enjoy theSolofilm, which is all about his backstory?”
“Thanks, I’ll tell her about it. Although between you and me, I think it’s the young Harrison Ford she likes more than the character,” Arthur said with a wink, and Ash gave a shy laugh when he realized what Arthur was referring to. “Maybe one month we could read some science fiction in book club. How about that one you just mentioned, about the alien abduction?”
“Oh no, I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’m not sure the others would enjoy it very much.”
“You’d be surprised. And even if they don’t, that won’t matter.I’m no expert, but I think the whole point of a book club is to read things you wouldn’t normally.”
“I’ve enjoyed all the books we’ve read so far,” Ash said, then frowned. “Not that you’d know.”
“What do you mean?”
