Her evasive route took her around the long way. She was in a section with books on philosophy (I’ll read those when I’m older, she thought) and then books on math (she adored math but wasn’t here for that today). She turned down a row she was certain led to the children’s section, but instead it turned into a room full of books in a foreign language. She ran back and ended up surrounded by poetry. She flew past history and theater and hung a left at biology. The children’s section was nowhere to be found. Instead the stacks and shelves seemed to get taller and taller and the rows longer and twistier.

She was lost. This gave her a jolt of pleasure.

As she stood contemplating everything she knew about how to escape from mazes (you could try taking every right-hand turn, for example), she suddenly heard voices. She rounded a corner and found a younger boy trying to get into a small room full of complex-looking books on astrophysics. But a man blocked his way.

The man had a fat, purplish face and looked quite angry. His head was jammed into a bowler hat and his body was wrapped in a too-tight overcoat, quite odd for a warm summer day. On his coat was a badge that said LIBARIAN. “You can’t go in there,” he told the boy.

“But I just want to see,” pleaded the boy.

“You are far too young for those books. You wouldn’t understand them. Besides, they’re full of lies. Now go away!”

Lenora spoke up. “Really? They’re all lies? Then why are they in the library?”

The man’s head turned slowly toward Lenora. The rest of his body was perfectly still. Then something moved under his overcoat, like a snake wriggling across his stomach. She felt a tremor inside and took a step back.

“They won’t be for long,” the man said softly, his eyes narrowing. “I’ll be removing them soon.”

Lenora gulped, then looked at the boy, who was gazing at her with hope. “But you’re not even a librarian,” she said to the man, her voice hardly shaking at all.

“Of course I am,” the man murmured. Lenora thought something flickered behind his eyes. He pointed at his badge.

“That’s not how you spell librarian,” said Lenora.

The man’s eyes flickered again, like a snake’s tongue. “It’s an alternative spelling.”

“I’m going to find a real librarian,” replied Lenora, taking the boy by the hand and turning away. Partly she wanted to find a real librarian, and partly she wanted to get away from this man as quickly as possible. But then she heard a rush of air, and when she turned back, the man in the bowler hat was nowhere to be seen.

The boy looked up at Lenora. “What should I do?”