Page 57 of The Library of Second Chances
Clementine tried to get it out, but it was weighed down by more books. A shriek of delight and a great crash sounded from the lobby. He didn’t have much time.
Clementine pulled off each book with his paws, sliding them along until they fell. They lay scattered around the play area, but there wasn’t much he could do about that now.
‘Little cat, where are you? Orange ball of fun! Big Cat wants to play, so don’t hide or run!’
Clementine yanked out a book that had a cartoon picture of the exact character terrorising the library. Clementine kicked it open. He had watched Chloe do this. Didn’t she go to the back of the book?
He flipped through, looking at the pictures as he batted at each page to turn them. The Cat made a terrific mess in this story, too, though it looked like he cleaned up after himself in the end.
Clementine realised with dismay he couldn’t send the Cat back to where he had come from. Clementine couldn’t read. How had the tabby cat sent herself back?
He sat on his haunches, tired from all the batting and pulling, and frustrated with this furry nuisance. The Cat could not be here when Mrs Cook arrived tomorrow. The librarian was small and old, and might not be able to avoid the hideous creature long enough to read the character’s last line and make the magic work.
He glanced around the library. It was always quiet at night. Clementine let out a soft ‘meow’. The library didn’t respond.
He understood now. It was up to him to make things right and defend his home.
Clementine’s claws came out, just for a moment. The other cat may be bigger and stronger, but no one had the cunning and stealth skills of Clementine.
He trotted back to the archway that separated the children’s and non-fiction from the lobby. The big Cat had found the light switch, and the lobby was now flooded with light, stark and bright. The Cat was flying a kite, somehow without any wind, laughing.
‘Oh, this library is fun, this library is cool, I’ll invite my friends, they’ll love it, too!’
Not your friends, thought Clementine with a groan. His time was running out. Papers had fallen from the shelves, pens and other bits of stationery all over the carpet. The shelf behind the lobby desk was a fright, files and papers scattered all over the floor and desk.
Clementine ran to get the book, clamping it in his jaws. This was the only thing that might work.
He meowed as loud as he could, the book still in his mouth. He dropped it onto the floor as the huge Cat came over. Clementine trembled, but he refused to move.
‘A book! Oh, look! What a handsome Cat,’ said the Cat, snatching it up. ‘And he looks just like me, fancy that, fancy that.’
Clementine was getting tired of the silly rhyming, but he walked over to the Cat, meowing his encouragement.
As he hoped, the giant Cat read aloud the story, taking pleasure in his own mischievous tale. All the while, Clementine looked around.
‘Oh, look, see here, it’s all about me! Why, I’m as handsome as handsome can be.’ The Cat looked pleased. ‘That’s right, I clean up after myself. I’ll dust and tidy all the floors and the shelf!’
Clementine took refuge on the shelf behind the lobby desk, watching as the Cat reappeared with a strange machine thatcleaned up the mess he had made. Soon the books and papers were back in their places, the computer back on the desk and shining, good as new, and the Cat leaped off it, giving a grin that looked almost feline. But not quite.
Clementine rested his head on his paws. At least the nuisance had cleaned up after himself.
‘Now, let’s finish this book, it is quite a read. How thrilling I could come here in your hour of need!’
Hour of need?Clementine stood on his four paws, highly offended. But the Cat continued reading his story aloud, and then finally, he reached his own last line.
‘Oh!’ he said in shock as he faded. ‘Oh my.’
Then he was gone.
Clementine leaped down from the shelf, looking around. He picked up the book, no longer glowing, in his mouth and carried it back to the children’s section.
What a frightful evening, he thought as he tried to slide it back onto the shelf. He didn’t do a very good job, but he hoped the humans wouldn’t mind too much. Then, exhausted, he collapsed where he was and slept until the rising sun warmed his fur.
Chloe didn’t remember falling asleep, but suddenly her alarm was going off and she woke up half off the bed, drool on her pillow. Today was Thursday, and Chloe listened out for sounds of Gwen as she readied for work. She didn’t hear her downstairs, but she thought she could hear a low voice talking when she walked past Gwen’s door.
‘Oh,’ she murmured, realising her sister might not be alone. She hurried and finished getting ready, eating the last of one of Hannah’s delicious nut-free croissants before exiting into the icy autumn air.
She found Clementine in the lobby, lethargic with his tail swishing. ‘Are you all right, Clem?’ she asked, hurrying to him. He let her pick him up, and purred as she held him close. Chloe felt alarmed. He wasn’t sick, was he?
