The Bibliophile (The Librarian Chronicles Book 3)

by Christy Sloat

  I nodded. Deciding to be polite was much easier than screaming at this guy for dragging me down the streets for hours. I came here for answers for Rose and I would do anything to get them. When the doors opened, I was surprised to see that it led to a large apartment that held more books than my store ever did. Harold entered the apartment that looked like a library and threw his hat on a table near the door.

  “Welcome to my New York headquarters, Adam. I see you are gawking at my collection. Come inside, the books don’t bite,” he laughed. “The women might but who could blame them with you hanging around.” All in all, if I had to judge this guy’s character, I’d say I would hang out with him again. He was witty and smart, but he was leaving me hanging in the worst possible way.

  “Listen, I really want to stay and meet all these fabulous ladies you’ve mentioned, but I’m in a hurry here. My girl’s waiting for me.”

  His eyes stilled and he began chuckling loudly. Bending down he slapped his knee and laughed some more. What was this guy’s deal? He found everything hilarious

  “I’m sorry,” he said, laughing some more. “You really are a marvel, you know that? Ah, you don’t even know how miraculous it is do you? That a man shall have the gift I bestowed upon women of your lineage. And all you worry about is a woman who is waiting for you. Young man, she will be fine. My Claudia is watching her and making sure progress is being made. You have naught to worry about. Now come, before you ruin my surprise.”

  We walked down the large expanse of library that should have been a living space but somehow was a huge house for books. The kitchen was on my right and a large office after that. Finally, we left the books behind and came into an all maroon room with oak furniture and a large table where two women sat drinking wine. They looked at me and then at Harold.

  “Ladies, this is Adam Giordano. He is visiting all the way from 1765, but he’s originally from 2019. Please welcome him.”

  The blonde, whose name I found out later was Alice, waved and gave me a small smile. The redhead whose name I never got just gave me a head nod and then diverted her eyes back to her wine glass.

  I waived limply wanting nothing more than to just go back to Rose.

  “What is this surprise?” I asked impatiently.

  Harold squeezed my shoulders and then sat at the large table with the two women. I knew they were most likely Librarians like my mom but what they did here in this time made me wonder. Alice did fit the time-frame but not the redhead. She looked somewhat dressed from the seventies with her bellbottom pants.

  “Sit,” Alice said as she pulled a chair out for me. Doing as she requested, I sat with them as she poured me a drink.

  “Thank you,” I said. She had kind eyes, like my mom did, and I wondered if she perhaps knew her or met her before. So I asked. “Did you know my mom? You might never have even heard of her.”

  Harold smiled but his familiar laugh didn’t come.

  “Who is your mom sweetie?” she asked as she tilted her head to the side. “Was she like us?”

  “Annalisa Bailey.”

  The redhead lifted her head as Alice squealed. “Oh my! Well boy do I ever know your mom! Honey, she’s one of my best friends. I cannot believe she’s your mom!”

  “Surprise,” Harold said, clapping his hands together. “And that’s not it. Son, tell them how you got here.” His eyes danced with excitement. I could see this was a big moment for him and that he was very proud.

  “I travel like you guys do. Using a book.”

  “That’s impossible,” Red Head said, as she downed her wine. “Men can’t travel.”

  “I did,” Harold said, as he gave her a nasty look. “I may have passed on my gift to you Bailey women but there isn’t one rule about it not happening to your sons. Adam here is like me; he is rare. And the first man to travel with The Librarians.”

  Red Head said nothing but Alice jumped out of her seat and sat next to me. The next half-hour I spent time talking to her about Mom and how she passed away. I left out all the nasty bits but told her how she gave up her gift to raise me and my brothers.

  Alice listened intently, nodding here and there. She was a nice lady who seemed very smart. She loved travelling and recording history; lived for it in fact.

  “Alice, I beg your pardon,” Harold interrupted. “Adam came here in search of answers and now since you two have bonded so nicely, perhaps you can give them to him. Why don’t you go out on the balcony and fill him in on his future. Don’t give him too much to handle now, please? And then contact his next of kin.” He handed her a book and she took it. “This is all you need, Alice. It’s all inside those pages.”

  At those words, my heart began to pound in terror.

  “My next of… what for?” I asked, my mouth getting dry.

  Harold stood and put his hand on my shoulder. “Son, you’re going to hear a lot of things about your future and your fate. I don’t mean to alarm you one bit. Just know when you leave here tonight you will be in good hands. The very best. You do not need to worry about anything at all. I consider you very special, and very lucky. We will see you again, I promise.”

  Standing, I took his hand in mine and shook it. Something told me I would indeed see this man again.

  Thirty-Two

  Rose 1766

  The Cherokee people were busy when I arrived. The women were making baskets, cleaning fish, and some were painting the warrior’s faces. As I walked onto their land, they lifted their heads in honor and pride. As I kept walking, I knew I would not be stopped from entering because I was expected.

  Hacateyena and my mother came out from the round house and following closely behind them was Atohi. His face was painted, making him look fiercer than ever before. This time his eyes never left my face as he approached nearer.

  “You come to join your tribe, sister?” Haca asked, as she rested her hand on my face in a kind gesture. “Your place is here with your family. We teach you the Cherokee ways.”

  Keeping my face still, I did not give any expression. Wanting nothing more than to pull my mother away from her horrible fate, I fought to stay put. She felt her place was. With the people she knew in her heart as sisters and brothers.

  “Joining you would be an honor, sister. But my path is different from yours. I must stay behind if the Cherokee join the Red Coats. But I must tell you, respectfully, that you are fighting the wrong man. Your savior is your enemy, sister. I implore you to listen to reason.”

  Haca lifted up her paint stained hand and stopped me. She released my face and turned to reach for Atohi. Who took his eyes from mine and looked to hers with love.

  I saw now that Atohi and Haca were either wed, or soon to be.

  “We fight together for the Englishmen. They will protect us and our land,” she said, as she pulled him forth. “Atohi has been given many guns and the Englishmen will arrive soon to bring us to form an army. We will fight to save the Cherokee when the time is right.”

  She was so certain, so sure, that they were fighting for the right side. But I knew differently. I had proof.

  My mother had seen this proof and still stood by Haca’s side willing to die for her people.

  “Mother, please,” I begged, as tears came quickly to my eyes. “I need you to listen to me. Please do not stay here. Come back with me. We can stay safe and hidden.”

  She grasped my hands and held them firmly. Somehow, I knew this was the very last time I would ever hold her hands. I knew inside that this goodbye would be the last. Her aged face never once showed anything but pride. There was no doubt that she knew they’d lose but she didn’t care. She would sacrifice her life for her people.

  “I will stay. You go. Hide my Rose and not let them find you. Stay hidden.” I nodded as the lump in my throat grew larger and larger. It was impossible to keep my composure as I cried
. She was staying so I could hide.

  “I will keep the bad men away from here. They will not find you.”

  “But you know who will win this war and it’s not the crown,” I said, through sobs. “Why will you still stay?”

  With her head held high she said, “For you I will keep the bad men away. I will die with the bad man, so my Rose can live.”

  My shoulders sagged as the pressure and weight from her decision hit me. It made sense that she would do this for me but I would be leaving her behind to her doom. That was something that would never leave me. It would stay forever inside my heart.

  Haca came forward and wrapped a blanket around my shoulders.

  “Have this to keep you warm when the snow hits the ground. You will stay brave for us, Rose. We will fight.”

  Atohi came forward and placed a gun in my hands. “For you.” He didn’t need to say anything else. I recognized the gun as a symbol of safety.

  My mother was next as she placed a beaded necklace around my neck. “A protector’s necklace.”

  Swallowing hard I said, “Whom am I to protect if my family is gone? And Adam has not returned.”

  Mother only smiled and moved out of the way. Behind her stood four young girls, dressed not in native clothing but in clothes like mine. In fact, they looked to be my old dresses. They couldn’t have been older than seven, and they looked terrified to be standing in front of me now. The youngest, was perhaps four as she looked up at me from dark lashes.

  “You keep the youngest daughters of the Paint Clan safe, sister. Guide them in the Cherokee ways and watch them as they grow. Until we return.”

  I had not the slightest clue how to do these things. I never was raised in the Cherokee life but I knew some small things that I would pass on. If I had to keep these girls safe, I’d learn how to do whatever I could so that their lives would be spared.

  “Do they want to go with me?” I asked, as they stared at me curiously.

  Haca nodded. “They know their path. They will go.”

  As the girls approached my mother drifted farther into the camp. My father came up behind me and pulled the blanket from my shoulders.

  “Made with the finest wool,” he said, inspecting it. “It will keep you warm.”

  I stared at him with a hole in my heart. How was I to say goodbye to the people I love the most and still live another day?

  “Oh, Father,” I said grabbing him. He wrapped his arms around me and held me as I cried.

  “I will be just fine, Rose. Just knowing that you and Adam and these girls will be safe will allow me to rest at night. I will not be made to fight. They’ll just put me on a horse and order me around.” He laughed. “If I thought for a moment that you needed me, I would never leave. You are ready for this.”

  Letting me go, he handed the blanket to the youngest girl in the foursome. “You hold this for Rose. Don’t drop it, now.” He messed her hair, causing her to giggle.

  As I left the camp, I let my tears dry in the wind. The girls behind me followed closely but what kept me from crying anymore about leaving my parents was the strong way those girls left theirs behind. Not once did they run back to them, nor did they cry aloud. Instead, they held their heads high and walked behind me to their new home. And if they could be strong, then so could I.

  ***

  Rose 1766

  It was the hottest day in August when I saw the first man walk down the road in weeks. From the way he was dressed I guessed he was not likely British. Keeping out of sight anyway I dropped back to the house and told the girls to all hush. They huddled quietly with me as I kept my eyes on the window watching him. He was not headed here so we could breathe a little easier. Instead he went higher into the mountains where he would eventually end up lowering into the far valley below. Many men passed in the spring and summer, some alone and some with hordes of men. War was some time off, but unrest had begun.

  As summer began to taper off, I saw less and less. The fighting had eventually gone to Savannah, far away from here. If not for the letters that father had given me in June, I wouldn’t have known what was afoot. In his last letter he was joining the English in Savannah and wouldn’t likely be coming back to Raven’s Ridge anytime soon. He spoke often about Mother and the tribe and how they were doing all they could to teach the ways of fighting to the tribe. He never once talked about what we both knew, that the British would fight a useless battle. He hadn’t given up hope, not one bit, even when he knew the fate of this war.

  Perhaps they thought they could change the outcome or that they had accepted it and were ready to die knowing I would be fine.

  And fine I was. The girls were adjusting and learning my language as fast as they could. I was confident that in time they’d stop crying at night and they would know perfect English.

  They taught me the ways of the Cherokee and I taught them my ways. We needed each other, especially in the night when we all realized our parents had left us. We heard sounds of yelling and guns from time-to-time.

  I told them it was how the sound echoed through the mountain pass, and eventually it stopped all together.

  As September came and the heat died off some, we ventured out more and began picking herbs and spending as much time as we could outside before we were cooped up for the winter.

  We were outside practicing the run to the cave when the oldest asked for an English name.

  “But why would you want one?” I asked her. “Your name is so beautiful, why change it?”

  She stood tall and squared her shoulders. “Your name is Rose. Not Cherokee name.

  “Do you all want English names?”

  The four of them looked at one another and then back to me and nodded in unison.

  “Well, my mother named me after a flower. Why don’t we choose the same for you,” I suggested. “Find a flower that you like and I will tell you its name. Then that will be your name.”

  They scattered and ran around searching. Once they found the same flower and argued over it until they eventually gave it to the oldest as she had the most respect.

  Handing me their flowers I surveyed them and had their new names.

  “This is the Mountain Laurel,” I said to the youngest. “So, you are now Laurel.” She smiled and took her flower from me. The next girl came up and handed me her Wild Violet, which fit her respectively. “Violet.”

  “Vi-o-let” she said carefully pronouncing the word.

  “Very good. Next,” I said, “Ah yes, Iris. Very pretty.”

  The eldest came forth holding a weed that was not a very pretty name. So instead of telling her this, I lied.

  “Aster. A rare plant.” I winked and she tucked the plant proudly behind her ear. As she ran away, I noticed there was one more flower in front of me, but a child did not hold it.

  “A rose for you.” Looking up I could not believe my eyes as Adam stood before me.

  Thirty-Three

  Adam 1766

  It had felt like no time at all had passed but as she looked up at me with her weary face. I knew it was not the same for her. She was surrounded by four young native girls who gave me looks of evil as if they wished to harm me.

  “It’s okay girls. He’s Adam, the one I told you about.” As she said that they relaxed and, along with her, they all five grabbed me into a group hug. She held me the longest once the girls dispersed and continued to play with their flowers.

  “Where have you been?” she asked, not letting me go. I knew I was forgiven as soon as she looked up at me from under her dark lashes. It was the look I fell in love with her for; innocence and strength.

  “I’ve only been gone for a couple of hours, but I see it’s not the same for you. Looking around I saw that the weather had changed as well. “I was visiting the 1930’s. And I talked to someone who
assured me that staying with you was where I am meant to be.”

  My talk with Alice had opened my eyes to the reason why I came to be here in the first place. She took me out onto the balcony and told me all about my fate. She spoke of Rose and assured me that Rose did call to me from the book. It felt amazing to know I wasn’t going crazy. Rose and I were destined to be together.

  “Oh? And what did this person say of our future?”

  “That’s the thing, she couldn’t say much about that. She wasn’t supposed to because that’s breaking the Librarian code. What she did tell me was that I am where I am meant to be. It’s my destiny to be with you, as it’s yours to be with me. We found each other because of that destiny. It wasn’t coincidence that I happened to find you.

  “We found each other because I am meant to. And because we are together, you are truly the woman who makes history what it’s supposed to be. You see Rose, you are going to be someone important. And you are going to be in history books.”

  She let me go and looked at me curiously. “Why?”

  How could she not see? What she was doing for these girls, all that she gave up to help them get to safety instead of fighting a losing war for the crown.

  “Rose, I am part of your future. We’re meant to do great things together. I think this is what you’re meant to do.”

  I pointed to the girls and then looked at all she had done to make sure the house was fortified and covered. She was amazing and if she didn’t see that, I didn’t know what else I could do to show her that.

  “You are with me because you’re supposed to help me be the strong woman you say I will become, Adam. Since you came into my life, I feel stronger and fuller. Bigger than life. With you here now we can help these girls and any others who look for help. We will give it to them.”