Chapter Five

After Paul left for the Pellmans’, Kate dressed in a yellow-and-white-striped seersucker camp shirt and khaki shorts in deference to the heat. She tied a sheer yellow chiffon scarf around her head to keep her hair out of the way, since she planned to work at the library for at least part of the morning.

On the short drive from home, evidence of the previous night’s storm was everywhere.

Even though the tornado hadn’t come through Copper Mill, the hail and powerful thunderstorm had done significant damage. Leaves and twigs littered streets and yards. On Main Street, a huge branch had broken from one of the big old trees. It had blocked the road at one point, although a crew with gas-powered chain saws had made progress on reducing it to movable sections.

There were signs and cars with paint damage and pockmarks, indicating that the hail had come through town as well. Outside Betty’s Beauty Parlor, a sign hung at a crooked angle where the metal had torn away from the wall on one side.

Kate pulled into the lot behind the library, parked right next to Livvy’s SUV, and got out of her car. Then she stopped short. Morty was perched at the top of a tall aluminum ladder, nailing plastic over one of the library’s second-floor windows.

“Morning, Morty. Is that storm damage?” Kate called up to him.

“Mornin’, Kate,” he returned. “Sure is.” He paused and twisted to look down at her. “I heard you and the mister had a little excitement last evening out at Skunk Hollow.”

In the bright sunlight, with Morty grinning down at her, Kate found that she was able to laugh. “We did. I could live a hundred years without ever having that much ‘excitement’ again, let me tell you!”

Morty was still shaking his head when she walked to the door after giving him a few details of her experience.

To Kate’s surprise, she could see a dozen or more people scurrying around inside the library. Tugging open one of the heavy glass doors, Kate headed for the main office, where she could see Livvy standing with several other people.

As she headed for them, a voice hailed her. It was Jeremy Pellman’s mother.

As Louisa Pellman approached Kate, she scanned Kate’s face. “I heard about the tornado. Thank heavens you weren’t hurt. I would have felt terrible.”

“Why?” Kate smiled. “Were you the one who chose the path of that storm?”

Louisa could barely smile at the small joke. “It’s my house your husband is fixing. He’s doing me a kindness I can never repay.”

“Around here,” Kate said, “we don’t repay. We pay it forward.”

Louisa looked troubled. “If only it were that simple.”

Kate opened her mouth to ask the young mother if there was something she could help her with, but just then Livvy approached.

“Good morning, Kate.” Livvy looked as exhausted as she sounded. She gave Kate a warm hug, pulling her away from Louisa.

“Good morning.” Kate hugged her back, instantly focused on her friend.

“I’m so happy to see you unscathed.” As Livvy stepped back and glanced at her, Kate saw her friend’s eyes open wide. “Relatively unscathed,” she amended. Livvy winced. “How did you get that scratch on your cheek? That must have hurt.”

Kate sent her friend a wry smile. “I never even noticed it.”

Livvy briefly closed her eyes. “It’s a miracle neither of you was hurt badly.” She brushed a tender finger over Kate’s cheek.

Kate nodded. “God was watching over us, I’m certain. I’d happily live the rest of my life without experiencing another terrifying event like that.”

“I imagine so. I heard that a tornado touched down near Pine Ridge and destroyed a barn. I wonder if it was the same funnel cloud you saw.”

“It could have been. As I can now attest, tornadoes can travel large distances very quickly. Although, thankfully, the one we saw wasn’t on the ground.”

“We have a broken window upstairs,” Livvy told her. “I suppose it was the hail. Either that or something the wind slammed against it.”

Kate grimaced in sympathy. “I saw Morty covering it. Anything damaged?”

Livvy nodded. “Several of our historical publications got wet. I’m going to have to ask the town council to authorize funds for an expert to look at anything that needs serious recovery work.” She paused, taking in Kate’s clothes. “Did you come to help?”

Kate nodded. “Among other things,” she said, subtly reminding her friend that she had promised to talk.

“Great. You could go upstairs first and begin picking up the wet books. I already picked up the valuable ones I’m worried about, but there are others. I think if we lay them on some tables to partially dry, press them overnight, and then dry them again the next day, they’ll sustain the least damage until I can get them to a specialist. The pages could get very brittle if we aren’t careful.”

Kate nodded. “All right. I’ll make that my first task.” She indicated all the people working in the stacks. “I thought I’d be right on time at nine, but I feel as if I’ve arrived late for the party. What time did everyone start?”

“Eight,” Livvy said. “I’ve been working longer hours trying to get everything done before next Monday.”

“What’s next Monday?”

Livvy’s eyes began to tear up, and she took Kate’s arm, pulling her into the office. She closed the door behind them, turned and leaned against it, then said, “I received notice Friday morning from Tosten Glass, the president of the town council, that we have to be moved out of this building a week from today. Next Monday,” she added for clarification.

“A week! Do the others know?” Kate asked.

Livvy shook her head. “They know we need to move fast, but I haven’t told anyone how soon it’s supposed to happen.”

“Why not?”

“Mr. Glass told me I had to keep it quiet through the weekend. I think the council wants to make this happen quickly before there’s a big fuss when people find out. I need to announce it today, though, so everyone knows what kind of time constraints we’re up against.”

Which meant it would be all over town by nightfall, given the speed with which news traveled in their tiny community.

“There’s going to be a huge public outcry when people hear,” Kate predicted. She knew her face must have reflected the shock she felt. Even looking at the buzz of activity in the room beyond them, she could hardly take it in. “Something funny is going on here,” she said.

“I don’t know what it could be.” Livvy’s voice trembled. “As far as I know, there’s nothing exciting or unusual about the library. Our budget is reasonable, our attendance is excellent. The computers are in use a high percentage of the time...” She trailed off, apparently unable to come up with anything negative to say about her beloved library.

“Where are you moving to?” Kate asked. She couldn’t imagine a location better suited to the library than this one, right in the heart of the downtown area.

Livvy shook her head. “I don’t know yet. I don’t think they’ve chosen a new place yet.”

Kate was almost too stunned to respond. “They don’t have a new location? That’s insane!” She paused. “This must seem like a bad, bad dream to you, Liv. Do you really think you can pack up this entire library in one week?”

Livvy shrugged. “I have no choice.” There was a hopeless, resigned quality to her response.

“No choice?” Kate tilted her head. “Why do you say that? What would happen if you refused?”

Livvy’s face lost every ounce of color. “I can’t do that!” Her tone was so vehement that Kate nearly stepped back a pace.

“Why not? Yesterday you said you could lose your job. Is that what you mean?”

Livvy clamped her lips shut and stared at Kate. “I can’t tell you,” she finally said. A tear escaped and ran down her cheek.

“Livvy,” said Kate gently. “I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s going on.”

“There’s nothing you can do to stop it, Kate.” The librarian shook her head. There was an almost frightened expression on her face.

“I can try,” Kate said with determination. “With or without knowing everything you know, I have to try to find out why this is happening.”

“No!” Livvy burst out, her face flushing. “Someone threatened to fire me if I told anyone what was going on. I only received permission to talk to the volunteers today because the library can’t be packed and moved without them. Kate, you cannot let it get out that I told you any of this. I could lose my severance package if it gets out that I’m trying to stop the closing or even talking about it other than to announce the closing to the volunteers.”

Kate was appalled at the threat. It certainly was an effective way to frighten someone into compliance. “Who’s responsible?” There had to be some way to stop them without letting on that Livvy had spoken to Kate.

“I don’t know.” Livvy bit her lip. “Tosten Glass is the one who told me about the closing and gave me the deadlines, but he never threatened to fire me. Not openly, at least.”

“So you didn’t see the person? Was it a phone call?”

Livvy shook her head. “It was an unsigned note left on my desk. Done on plain, old copy paper, so there’d be no way to trace it even if I wanted to.”

“And it said...?”

“It said I’d be fired if I didn’t cooperate with the council. Heaven knows, we can’t afford to lose my income with two kids starting college soon, and if I should be fired without any severance...” Her expression looked so helpless that it tore at Kate’s heart.

“But it wasn’t just aimed at me. The note also said that Danny could be removed from his teaching position. Whoever is behind this threatened to make up some story about Danny behaving inappropriately with his students. Kate, Danny would be devastated if something ruined his reputation. Teaching is his life, not just a job to him. And we need his insurance, not to mention his salary.”

“Those are significant threats. Not like someone saying ‘You’ll be sorry’ or egging your house.” Kate was infuriated by the pure meanness of the anonymous note. “Why do you think it was Tosten Glass?”

Livvy shuddered. “He’s a horrible, horrible man. He comes in here asking me for details about how quickly we’re getting things packed up. He seems as if he can’t wait to close down the library.” She paused. “In all fairness, I may just want him to be the bad guy because he’s so slimy. He might have had nothing to do with that note.”

“Yes, but for someone to be able to back up those threats, it would have to be someone with a fair amount of power in this town. You couldn’t be fired easily, nor could your contract be broken and a severance package withheld, and rumors about Danny probably could be debunked quickly unless someone in a position of authority embraced them. Would Tosten have had the opportunity to plant the note?”

Livvy shook her head. “I don’t see how. On Saturday, when the note showed up, I went to the diner for lunch, and he was there too.”

Another thought struck Kate. “Livvy, if the library closes, will you even have a job?”

Livvy nodded. “I asked about that. Mr. Glass told me I’ll stay on salary while they find a new location for the library.” Livvy’s eyes grew moist as she held up a hand in a “stop” gesture. “I’ll be too upset to do my job if I try to talk about this any more.” She clasped her hands tightly together. “Please, Kate, whatever you do, don’t let anyone know I talked to you. There can’t be even a whisper that you know these things.”

“I promise I’ll be careful.” Kate gave Livvy a hug, patting her friend’s back when Livvy clutched her tightly. “I’ll go on upstairs and get started.”

Livvy moved aside, and Kate opened the office door. Right on the other side of the door was Louisa Pellman. She held a clipboard against her chest and took a startled step backward, deep color sweeping into her face as she nearly tripped and fell. “H-hello,” she stammered, clutching at the desk.

Kate hastily grabbed her elbow. “I’ve got you, Louisa.” To take the young woman’s mind off her clumsiness and set her at ease, Kate said, “You’re giving this project a lot of time. That’s nice of you.”

“Everyone’s doing so much for me that I wanted to do something for the community.” Louisa rushed through the words, confirming Paul’s guess about her motives.

“You know,” Kate said, “I’m really glad you and your children are staying with your parents right now. Last night would have been a terrifying experience for all of you.”

Louisa shuddered, and Kate, seeing her distress, changed the subject.

“Oh, I met your son Jeremy last evening,” Kate recalled, smiling. “He’s quite the budding biologist, isn’t he?”

Louisa’s tense expression relaxed. “He loves animals,” she said. “He knows more than I do about a lot of them. Right now, he’s convinced himself that there’s something special about those squirrels outside the library.” She shook her head, as if that couldn’t possibly be true.

But Kate had thought the young man’s observations sounded extremely plausible. “He’s very knowledgeable,” she said diplomatically. “Is he out there again today?”

Louisa nodded. “He always asks to come with me when he knows I’m coming to the library.” She glanced at her watch. “Although I have to work at noon, so we’re only here for a few hours.”

“Oh yes. I heard you work at the courthouse,” Kate said. She grinned. “Not many secrets in this town, are there?”

Instead of smiling, Louisa’s brows drew together. “No,” she said soberly. “There aren’t. I should get back to packing.” And she turned away.

Kate thought about Livvy as she climbed the stairs to the second floor. Had Tosten Glass really written that nasty note? Why would the president of the town council threaten Livvy and Danny? As Kate entered the room where the historical collection was kept, she decided that although she didn’t know the man, she needed to meet him very soon.