Epilogue

Baru opened his eyes. He was standing beside Javier and the Midnight Library Pages. The old, broken clock in the center of the library loomed above them. The hands were stuck at twelve noon, or midnight. No one was sure which.

A working clock near the information desk read 12:01. As always, only a minute had passed during their time in the “other” library world.

Baru sighed. He felt mixed emotions about their latest adventure. Helping to protect the works of Ann Radcliffe, Charlotte Brontë, and Mary Shelley was a win. But losing the poor book monster left him feeling hollow.

“Sorry about Booky, man,” Cal said. He put a hand on Baru’s shoulder. “You really do love monsters, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Baru said. “Especially that one. I feel bad that I couldn’t keep the zombies from destroying him.”

“Don’t,” Jordan said. “Those ladies are totally going to build him again. Count on it.”

“I hope you’re right,” Baru said. “But I wonder if we could have done more.”

“I don’t think so,” Javier said. He smiled at the Pages. “But as always, we can do more at this library.”

The group of them groaned. Then, just as quickly, they burst into laughter as they returned to their assigned areas.

As Baru headed back to the fiction section, a thought occurred to him. What if we somehow influenced the way Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein? he wondered. What if Brontë and Radcliffe changed their works too?

Worried that their adventure had changed literary history, Baru ran to the shelf. He scanned the 823 section until he found what he was looking for. “Frankenstein,” Baru read the title aloud. He let out a happy sigh.

He was worried that Mary might actually have changed the title to Booky. Baru had to admit it wasn’t the most creative name, but it seemed to fit in the moment. He opened the book and flipped through the pages. He needed to make sure it hadn’t changed.

Baru breathed easy. It was still the same book he’d read five times.

As he reshelved the book, Baru remembered to grab Warlord of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It didn’t look like horror, but he thought he’d give science fiction a try. He was pretty sure Javier would approve of his choice.

Cal wandered over to his area.

“Hey,” Baru said. “Aren’t you supposed to be straightening the magazines?”

Cal shrugged. “They’re not going anywhere. I meant to ask: How did you end up getting electricity?”

“Ben Franklin was on the roof trying to catch electricity with his kite and key,” Baru said.

“The guy from the one hundred dollar bill?” Cal asked.

“Well, yes,” Baru said with a laugh. “Among other things.”

Cal shook his head. “What’re the odds he’d be there?”

Yeah, Baru thought. Why was Ben there?

Baru looked up at the shelf and noticed another book wedged in next to Frankenstein.

“The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin,” Baru read from the spine as he pulled it down.

“A miss-shelf?” Cal asked.

“Yeah, but is that how those two worlds combined?” Baru wondered aloud. “The wrong book in the wrong place?”

“Maybe? Pretty lucky mistake,” Cal said. “And it was lucky he let you borrow his key.”

The keys, Baru thought. Did I remember to bring my bike key back?

He reached into his pocket and felt the familiar metal shape of the key to his bike lock . . . and something else.

Baru pulled out a large skeleton key. “Uh oh,” he said. “I hope Benjamin Franklin didn’t get locked out of his house!”