Page 40 of Coming Home to Crumbleton

FIRST MY SHOP

‘Wow - that note took some writing!’ said Mabel, her eyes wide with amazement. ‘What does he mean - “read to me”?’

‘When I helped him to study for his exams, we used to read the set text to each other,’ said Ruby.

‘What was the text?’ said Mabel.

‘Persuasion,’ said Ruby.

‘Well then,’ said Mabel, ‘looks like you’d better go find him at the bookshop!’

‘If he’s there, it’ll be the shortest treasure hunt known to mankin,’ laughed Ruby, downing her coffee before getting to her feet and grabbing the basket.

‘If he’s not there, my advice would be to check inside all the copies of Persuasion he’s got in stock!’ said Mabel.

With her new basket dangling from the crook of her arm, Ruby pushed her way into the bookshop. The familiar tinkle of the bell above the door seemed to echo somewhere in her chest. She was giddily happy… all because of Oli and his ridiculous game.

‘Ruby!’

The excited squeak from behind the desk definitely didn’t come from Oli.

‘Oh, hi… Kendra, right?’ said Ruby.

‘You remembered!’ said Kendra, nodding gleefully.

‘Is… is Oli here?’ she said.

Kendra shook her head. ‘Nope - but I’m not going to tell you where he is, so don’t even ask!’

‘Okay!’ said Ruby. A tiny bit of disappointment that he wasn’t there was battling with a huge dose of excitement that the game wasn’t over yet.

This treasure hunt had only just started!

‘He did mention you’d be coming in, though,’ said Kendra, ‘and he asked me to give you this. He said you’d know which book to look at.’

Ruby reached out and took the small, ornate key from Kendra. It was the same one she’d tossed on the desk before running out of the shop the previous day. Now, it had a brown luggage label attached to it with a piece of string.

‘Thanks,’ she said.

Right there, in Oli’s loopy scrawl were the words check out chapter 6!

‘The key’s for-’ Kendra started.

‘The collectable books cabinet!’ said Ruby, hurrying through the shelves towards the back. She’d bet anything Oli was talking about that beautiful, early copy of Persuasion she’d been ogling the previous day.

‘Oh!’ she said, unable to mask her disappointment when she peered through the glass. It wasn’t there.

‘You okay?’ said Kendra, coming to stand next to her.

‘Yeah,’ said Ruby, feeling daft. ‘I just thought… erm, there was a book I spotted in here yesterday. I had my eye on it - I was going to buy it before I head home… but… I guess it’s sold?’

‘Which one was it?’ she said

‘Persuasion,’ said Ruby. ‘A gorgeous old copy - green and gold bindings?’

‘Oh,’ said Kendra, looking shifty. ‘I’m really sorry… that one was reserved.’

‘Gutted,’ sighed Ruby. ‘But if that’s the case, I’m not sure what I’m looking for.’

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