“You don’t get a power.” Gram never even glanced up from the books spread out on the main table at the bookstore.
“But all of you have powers.”
Gram glared at Elliot. “How much did you tell her?”
Elliot offered a sheepish smile. “She is your family. I figured she could be trusted to know a little more than most.”
“Then why does she think she gets a power?”
“I may not have mentioned all the finer details of that point.”
That got Gram’s attention. “Then she’s here under a false assumption. Her decision to join us must be pure.”
“Hey!” Roni said. “I’m standing right here.”
Gram slammed her book closed and shifted in her chair to face Roni and Elliot. She rested her hands on her belly, absentmindedly fiddling with the long, beaded necklace she wore. Moving her index finger only, she pointed at Elliot. “Will you kindly go downstairs and get an update on Darin, please? We need to keep an eye on how that man is faring.”
Bowing slightly, Elliot made his way toward the basement. Gram then cocked her head towards Roni. Her eyes roved up and down as if appraising a meager painting from an unknown artist.
This was hardly the first time Roni had endured that disapproving appraisal look. Most every important milestone of her life had been met with those harsh eyes — straight As, making a new friend, first period, first love, first college acceptance, and on and on. Gram meant well — Roni told herself that many times — yet she lacked the ability to show it. Roni had always assumed it had something to do with herself, but now she wondered if the difficulties of leading a double-life or the great strains of meeting her job requirements had contributed to her hard parenting style.
At length, Gram said, “Powers are not handed out like invitations to the school dance. Everybody doesn’t get one. In fact, nobody gets one handed to them. You have to earn the right to see if you are capable of gaining a power. If you pass that point, we’ll discuss it further.”
“How do I earn that right?”
“You spend the next several years, perhaps even decades, working with us. You do a good job, show yourself to be responsible with our secrets, and never talk back to me.”
Roni squinted. “You made that last part up.”
“Maybe. Are you going to risk losing a chance at a power to find out?”
Roni closed her mouth and said nothing. Then Gram laughed.
“Okay, okay,” she said. “I made up that last part. But you’d be smart to listen to what I have to say. I’ve been doing this a long time. And before you speak up, you still have to make your choice. Now that you know you won’t be given a power, at least not yet, do you wish to remain here and learn all we have to share?”
“I do. I can do this. Even without a magic power.”
“We’ll see.”
With that Gram rocked forward and onto her feet. Brushing her backside, she headed for the elevators. “My legs are a bit achy today. You can take the elevator with me or meet me on the third floor.”
Roni hustled to Gram’s side and helped her into the elevator. They rode up in silence. When they reached the third floor, Gram led the way through the old room.
The cool air — always maintained at a low 64 degrees Fahrenheit — prickled Roni’s arms. Four light tables dominated the center of the room for working on restoration and preservation while metal shelves held brittle, decomposing books waiting their turn. Gram ignored all of this and walked straight to the back.
Roni’s skin prickled again — this time from the fear that she would see another hole in the wall leading to another hidden cavern. The fact that they were on the third floor did nothing to alter her unease. At the back wall lined with full bookshelves, Gram paused to face Roni.
“This is your last chance. I’m sure you feel like your whole world has flipped, but you know nothing compared to what I’ll show in the years to come if you join us.”
“I’m not turning back on this. How could I?”
Gram’s head wobbled as she seemed to weigh possible answers. Finally, she pushed the spines of three books on two different shelves. An entire section of the wall slid open.
Roni grinned as she shook her head. “How many secret rooms are in this building?”
“Maybe more than I know about. Come on. Time to see Sully’s workshop.”
They entered a room easily as big as the one they had left. Roni marveled that she had never noticed the third floor wasn’t big enough to cover the entire size of the building, that there had to be more space beyond what she thought of as the back wall. To be fair, she rarely went to the third floor. In fact, as she thought about it, there were numerous times that one of the Old Gang went out of their way to prevent her from going to that floor — usually with the excuse of a new book in such bad condition they had to limit the number of people on the floor at any one time. Body heat, body oils, even the human breath could all be damaging to something so fragile.
Sully’s workshop proved to be a marvel of its own. One giant room, ten-foot ceiling, filled with lights and all manner of equipment lining the walls. The center of the room had a grid painted on the floor and remained mostly clear except for whatever project Sully worked upon.
At the moment, this consisted of a seven-foot tall block of clay. Sully stood on an A-frame ladder as he carved away large, reddish chunks. It looked like a block head sitting atop a block body.
“What’s he doing?” Roni asked.
“Didn’t you pay attention to Elliot? He explained all this already.”
“He didn’t say anything about this.”
“Sully makes Golems.”
“Is that what this is?”
“It will be when he’s done. Most of last night was spent getting all this clay up here. Not so easy anymore. In a few hours, he’ll have enough shape carved out that we can proceed.”
Sully pushed his glasses with the back of his clay-stained hands. “It won’t be pretty, and it’ll probably move a bit stiff, too, but it’ll do the job.”
Roni waved. “Do you need any help up there?”
“Not today. Thanks. Besides, we all have our assignments. This thing only works when we do our part. Now, let me get back to work or we won’t be saving anybody at all.”
Gram ushered Roni further across the floor until they reached the far windows. She sat on the deep ledge and scooted over to make room for Roni. “Something about these windows makes me want to smoke a cigarette.”
“You smoke?”
“Not for years. But a spot like this one that’s almost like a window bench, well, that gets the craving going for a bit.”
Roni chuckled. “I have to say it again. This is all amazing. I still can’t believe you were able to hide this from me all these years.”
With a dismissive wave, Gram said, “You were more interested in your own life than mine. That’s normal. You’ll see it for yourself once you start having to hide this from others you know or care about. It’s not too hard. Usually.”
“I guess I’ve got a lot to learn.”
The edge of Gram’s lip curled upward. “That’s one of the first sensible things you’ve said since last night. But don’t worry. Elliot, in particular, is a good teacher. Sully and I will do our best, too. For now, though, you’re going to have to accept a lot without question or else we’ll run out of time for Darin.”
Roni wanted to ask why? Did books have a time limit on them? What would happen to Darin if they passed the limit? What would happen to the book?
She opened her mouth but snapped it shut. Then, after a short breath, she said, “Tell me what I have to do.”
“Your main job will be information retrieval.”
“You want me to be your librarian?”
“Librarian and researcher, yes. This building houses numerous important volumes filled with lore and history and wisdom from ages upon ages. We even have some very unique works, ones that you will never find anywhere else. On the occasions that our little group comes across something we’ve not encountered before — and considering what it is we do, that happens quite often — you will be required to find out whatever we need to know. Then you report it to us so that we can handle the situation properly.”
Roni let it all sink in. “Oh Lord. I’m Giles.”
“Who’s Giles?”
“Television reference. Forget it.”
“See, that is one of the reasons we need you. The world has changed around us so fast, but you are of a younger generation. You understand it better than we do. We’re not idiots, mind you. I know how to use my phone for a lot more than calls, but there are plenty of ins and outs to the digital world that we’ve never learned. You’ll be a great asset with your knowledge. Plus, you’ve worked around this bookstore for long enough. You know it better than you realize.”
“Just to be clear — when trouble comes, you three will have me do all the legwork and then I’m supposed to sit back and let you get in on all the action.”
“Nobody said saving the universe would be glamorous.” Gram squeezed Roni’s knee. “Baby steps, dear. Someday I’ll pass on, as will Elliot and Sully. You need to learn the ropes so that you can take over and train others.”
“I understand. I do. I guess after last night, I was thinking things would be more eventful right away.”
“Trust me on this — you’ll find plenty of excitement.”
“I only meant —”
“I know what you meant,” she said, her familiar bite returning. “But as usual, you never listen to everything that’s told to you. I said your job was information retrieval. Yes, librarian and researcher are two aspects of that, but they are hardly the entire job. You have to get us the information we require, even when that information is not available in this building.”
Roni perked up. “Oh?”
“Those books I was reading when you came in detail the precise things we need to attempt a rescue of your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend.”
“Good. I don’t care for him. Though we should talk a little about men and how you’ll have to deal with such things in the future.”
Before they could sidetrack into a conversation Roni knew she never wanted to have, she said, “The books downstairs — what am I supposed to do with them?”
“Nothing. I’ve already done that part of the research — in case you failed to join us. What I need you to do is acquire something of great personal value to Darin.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know the boy, so I don’t know what he values. That’s some of the research you’ll have to do.”
“Okay.” She grinned. “This is like voodoo or witchcraft or something.”
Gram’s face paled. “Don’t ever say such a thing again.”
“I didn’t mean you were a witch or that, well, I just, I didn’t mean —”
“Be quiet, dear.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Find something meaningful to Darin. Something that will touch him deeply no matter what state his mind is in when we locate him. Something that will lure him away.”
“Away? From what?”
Gram huffed as she stood. With her mouth tight and thoughtful, she looked at the giant clay statue Sully worked on. She took four small steps before glancing back at Roni.
“Pray we never find out.”