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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

‘Sure. Of course.’ Tom moved his bag to the floor and began returning his carefully selected pile of books to the shelves.

The post lady came in and handed over a pile of letters and something Christine had to sign for. Christine let out a gasp worthy of anyone winning a TV prize jackpot but her face told a different story. Maggie went to see what had caused it but Betty was quicker off the mark.

‘Something wrong?’ asked Betty, her face laden with glee.

‘They’re closing us down,’ said Christine, followed by a dramatic sob as she clutched the podium for support.

Betty was quick with the tissues, which gave Maggie a chance to swivel around the offending letter and have a quick read for herself. She wasn’t surprised to see that Christine had made a mansion out of a Lego brick. ‘It’s inviting you to a meeting about the future of the library, Christine.’ It wasn’t exactly an eviction notice. Maggie had seen plenty of those in her time.

Christine looked affronted. ‘That’s what it means.’ She stabbed the letter with a neat fingernail. ‘It came by recorded delivery. They call you to a meeting and that’s when they tell you. They’re closing you down…’ She did add something on the end but it was inaudible and lost in the sniffing.

But if Christine was right, this would be the end of the book club and most likely the end of Maggie’s contact with Tom.

13

TOM

School was all right today. I’ve been replaying my conversation with Farah a lot. It’s like having my own Farah YouTube channel in my head. I was smiling to myself as I let myself in. The house was in darkness. Usually Dad would be up, maybe not up but at least dressed and the curtains drawn but not today. It felt odd to walk out of daylight and into the gloomy hallway. It was silent too. Imaginary fingertips crept up my spine making me shiver. I needed to get a grip. I wasn’t alone because Dad was here – somewhere. We had an uneasy truce. Dad kept asking me if I was talking to him. I wasn’t not talking to him; it was basically because I didn’t have anything to say to him.

I checked the living room and dropped my bag on the sofa. I so needed a new bag but Dad said I had to wait until my birthday. Sporty Tom at school got a moped for his birthday. After the other Sunday at Maggie’s I’d like a quad bike but that’s not going to happen.