Page 70 of The Library of Second Chances
Books had been thrown across the floor, a sea of them scattered all over the lobby carpet. An entire bookcase lay on the ground as though a giant had pushed it over. Papers from behind the lobby desk had been pulled out and thrown around, scattered like white leaves.
People ran or walked around in a mixture of clothing – medieval tunics and gowns, battle armour, floral dresses, spacesuits. A red-haired boy dressed in greenflewover their heads, making Gwen scream and duck, covering her head. Voices, banging, echoes, laughter, animal noises and shouting sounded all over the library. All Chloe could do was watch in awe and rising horror.
She heard Eric shouting something unintelligible from upstairs. Where were Mrs Cook and Clementine? Were they all right?
‘What on earth’s going on?’ Chloe called over the cacophony of noise.
‘Chloe? Is that you?’ Mrs Cook appeared, breathless and clutching a book to her chest. ‘Thank goodness. We need to get these characters returned to their books.’
‘Can’t you just read their last lines and get them back in?’ Chloe shouted as something crashed on the floor above, making the whole floor shake. ‘That’s what usually works.’
‘We’ve tried, but there are so many books glowing, and the characters need tohearthe line being read,’ said Mrs Cook. ‘I’m not sure what’s happening. Eric arrived for his shift, and all the books started glowing, and even though we didn’t read any of them, they all just started to appear.’ She looked around in dismay at the mess of books and papers. Among the fallen books, several of them glowed.
They rushed through the lower archives and up to the fiction section, and Chloe’s heart sank as she heard the unmistakable sound of a monkey screeching and chattering. ‘It’s that purple monkey again.’
‘Purple monkey?’ demanded Gwen. ‘What do you mean?’ She kept glancing at the ceiling as though terrified something else would fly over her. Chloe dearly hoped no books about dragons were glowing today.
‘Chloe?’
Chloe’s heart leaped to her throat as Harry appeared at the top of the winding staircase, panting. ‘We have a problem.’
‘I guessed that,’ Chloe breathed. Somehow she felt calmer with Harry here. The noise subsided somewhat as, despite the chaos around them, he smiled down at her. Her breath caught in her chest as she took in his face, the bruise around his eye. Maybe it was the adrenaline talking, but she thought he’d never looked so handsome.
Eric appeared beside him, his hair ruffled, and the spell was broken. ‘Oh! Hi, Chloe. Hi, Gwen. I’ve counted ten up here,’ he said, panting as he pointed. ‘Characters, I mean. There’s a detective smoking a pipe near the window. I asked him not to.’
‘We have bigger problems, Eric,’ said Mrs Cook, striding forward.
Something big and bright dived at Chloe and Gwen from the ceiling. They both screamed this time, ducking just in time to avoid the floating man – a ghost? – who’d appeared wearing a bell-covered hat and a bowtie of bright orange. He cackled as he threw a pile of books into the air.
‘Watch out!’ Chloe pulled Gwen out of the way as the tomes thundered onto the floor, loud as a dozen battle drums.
The poltergeist let out a joyous whoop and disappeared straight through the closed door.
Gwen had paled. ‘Was that . . .?’
‘If you’ve read the book, you’ll know he’s a mischievous one,’ said Chloe. She groaned. ‘Who else is out?’
The answer was, seemingly, everyone.
Men with wings and tattoos, slender elves with pointed ears, and women with long, flowing hair and dresses had appeared in the library, slipping between the shelves, talking or glancing around. Dogs and monkeys and parrots sat on top of shelves, some of them wearing clothes. Some of the human characterswatched the group with interest, others argued and rifled around bookshelves as though trying to find a way home. Others sat calmly. It made Chloe think of an absurd fancy-dress party.
‘Oh gee, it’s the cat again!’ A little girl with red hair in pigtails darted forward and scooped up Clementine. She hugged him close. ‘Boy, it’s good to see you.’ She looked at Mrs Cook with big, grey eyes. ‘Ma’am, I sure am sorry. I don’t know how I got here again.’
‘Welcome back, dear.’ Mrs Cook, despite the chaos around them, seemed calm. ‘Are those children being nicer to you?’
‘Kinda.’ The girl let Clementine drop to the floor. He streaked off between some shelves, probably to look for somewhere to hide.
‘Well, they will.’ Mrs Cook winked at her. ‘Trust me.’
‘Madam Chloe.’ A familiar man in nineteenth-century attire appeared, looking panicked. ‘I am awfully sorry to disturb you, but it appears I have landed here again. How do I get back home?’
‘Hello,’ said Chloe weakly. Despite everything, she felt a rush of affection to see the man she had met that night after her bad date – the first time she had discovered the power of the library. ‘We’re having some trouble here. We need your help.’ An idea struck her and she turned to the others. ‘Eric, Harry, Gwen. We need to get the books these characters are from. We have to read the final line they say in the story. That’ll get them home. It shouldn’t be too difficult, the books are glowing, after all.’
‘First thing is that damn monkey,’ said Harry. He shrugged off his jacket, and Chloe tried to look anywhere but at his large shoulders as they moved. ‘He’s ripping up all the books.’
Mrs Cook let out a pained moan. Chloe couldn’t blame her.
‘Don’t you remember his last line?’ Chloe swivelled to Eric. ‘Maybe we don’t need to be holding the book for it to work.’
