Page 85 of Legends and Librarians
Misty needed to hear what they had to say, even if the story spirits didn’t want to. The library was the one who’d been truly hurt.
The boy nodded at me. “My name’s Cliff. A few months back we did....a stupid thing.”
“And then an even stupider thing,” another child added. “After we got chased off, we were so scared and afraid that people would get mad at us for breaking the windows, that we lied to our parents and said it was all the ghosts’ fault. That they hurt us.”
“We didn’t know it would get so out of hand,” Cliff said, hands clenched into fists. “We didn’t—I didn’t mean to...”
The kids stared at the ground, unable to meet anyone’s gaze. Nyssa pulled them into a big group hug.
“Thank you for apologizing,” she said, “that’s what you should always do when you do something wrong.”
She raised an eyebrow at Lisa and the other story spirits, obviously hinting that it was their time to apologize too. This wasn’t a one-sided problem after all. Cerbie tilted his head, staring up at me as if asking what to do now. I pet him, not really sure how much he understood about the whole thing.
The three-headed pup slowly moved forward, pushing his nose against the little boy’s arm. Cliff flinched, but then relaxed when Nyssa started petting Cerbie and the dog flopped over on his back, rolling around in the grass.
The kids’ lips twitched, smiling as they knelt by the dog. I’d have to give him so many treats and new toys for that, breaking the ice in a way nobody else could manage.
“So much for the hellhound,” Cliff laughed as Cerbie’s tail thwapped against his leg. “It was so dark that night. All I heard was the barking. We’d already spent the past hour scaring each other for our test of courage and really hadn’t expected to find anybody here. It just made it all scarier.”
Lisa sighed. “We’re sorry we scared you. We were upset and handled it badly. We care about this library so it hurt to see anyone damage it. But that’s no excuse for us to have scared children, chasing you in the dark like monsters.”
One of the younger kids started crying as he ran over to Lisa. “I didn’t even want to be here. I’m so sorry.”
Her eyes softened as she too pulled the boy into a hug, patting his back softly. “It’s okay. It’s all over now.”
As they continued talking, reassuring the kids and each other that everything was fine, I glanced back at the library. Was this enough to reassure Misty that the town cared? That they’d just been misled and afraid?
The library’s door swung open, as if saying they were allowed inside if they wanted to. The tension eased from my shoulders. This was what Misty had needed all along. Somebody from the town to care enough to apologize and make amends.
I smiled, happy for the library. It deserved this and so much more. Once we got more people here, its heart would heal even more. Just like mine had.
The tiny knights climbed onto the dragons, flying in big circles around the kids. Their eyes were as wide as saucers as they followed the dragons around the yard.
“Are those...dragons?” Cliff asked dumbfounded. “There were dragons up here and we never knew?”
“There’s a lot of wonders up here,” I said, “as long as you treat them well, they’ll do the same.”
“Why are they so tiny though?” he asked. “And the knights too?”
I frowned. “Honestly, I’ve been wondering that myself. Lisa, why are they the only story spirits who are so tiny?”
“Because there’s so many of them,” she said, motioning to the large group of knights and dragons. “The more spirits that come out of the same book, the tinier they are.” She shook her head, smiling at me. “It’s nice to see how far you’ve come, asking questions about the spirits you once called creatures.”
“I’ll ask even more if it makes you happy,” I said with a laugh.
“There will be time for that later,” Nyssa said, standing up and opening the book she’d set aside. “I think it’s about time to summon this whale now.”
The book glowed with golden light, shimmering as the pages flipped on their own. The kids froze, transfixed by the magicas the sound of a whale’s song filled the area.The sky whale soared out of the book, high above us.
It was breathtaking, a sight no human had ever seen before. This library was a place where the impossible became possible, and I loved every minute of it.
“It’s beautiful,” Nyssa said breathlessly. “Thank you, Misty.”
I eyed the giant whale curiously. “How are we supposed to get on it though?”
She frowned, looking around until her gaze landed on the golem. “Think you could help us?”
The golem lumbered over, reaching its hand down for Nyssa to climb on. She grasped its vines firmly before glancing back at the rest of us.
