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Back The Library Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. THE LIBRARY
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. 39
  45. 40
  46. 41
  47. 42
  48. 43
  49. 44
  50. 45
  51. 46
  52. 47
  53. EPILOGUE
  54. Questions for your Book Club
  55. Acknowledgements
  56. About the Author
  57. Become an Aria Addict

I shrugged. I wasn’t about to tell her my whole life story. But she’d made me think. Why was I so set on university? Simple answer – because the worst thing that could happen to me was if I ended up like my dad.

8

MAGGIE

Saturdays had been Maggie’s favourite day of the week for a long time but they’d just got even better. Tom intrigued her. He was ordinary and yet he wasn’t. They didn’t often see teenagers in the library and if they did come in it was only to use the computers and when they discovered the dodgy sites were blocked they usually didn’t return. There was something going on with Tom; she was sure of it. She was a keeper of secrets and she recognised the same in others.

Of course it had crossed her mind that there was no mystery at all, that he was simply a teenager using the library but that was dull and didn’t fill her time nearly as well. No, she much preferred the conspiracy theory idea – it had far more potential.

Maggie was keen to get to the library, even more so than her usual desire to check there were still other human beings on the planet. But first she had to check on the animals. She strode down to Colin and completed their well-choregraphed routine before heading over to the ewes. She could see something was amiss and quickened her pace.

Barbara was cast. The other ewes were in a corner together eating. At some point in the night Barbara had managed to flip herself onto her back, probably owing to the uneven ground and trying to have a scratch. Until she’d seen it Maggie had often been entertained by the thought of gymnast sheep but once she’d witnessed the devastating results it had lost its humour instantly. A cast sheep would eventually die. Maggie checked Barbara over. Thankfully she was okay and the crows hadn’t found her. If they’d got there first, they would have pecked at her like she were a live buffet.

Maggie bent her knees, took firm hold of two of Barbara’s legs and heaved her up onto her feet. Barbara wobbled and Maggie held her steady. The ewe did a record-breaking wee before tottering off across the field with not so much as a bleat of thanks.

Maggie hung around to check Barbara was okay, meaning she missed the early bus she usually caught, leaving no time for her customary trip to the village shop and the post office. Even if she had had time she probably would have skipped them because today she was keen to get to the library and see if Tom showed up again.