The Magic of Stories | ONC 2024 shortlist

21 - Cleaning up

On Saturday morning, I had already stowed all the returns except for the classics and was halfway through dismantling the improvised wall of sitting cubes. At eight sharp, Paco arrived as promised to help me sort out the mess from the previous day.

"Hey Lynn, you're already at work. How are you?"

"Fine, but then I wasn't the one getting buried under a heap of heavy literature yesterday. What about Conny? Have you heard of her?"

"She should be fine too, according to the doctor, but she won't come to work today. Between the doc's assistant, Amber, and me, we persuaded her to heed the medical advice and stay home for at least another day."

I imagined that this hadn't been easy. "I'm glad she didn't get stubborn about coming in."

He grinned and slipped out of his jacket. "Who said she didn't? That woman can be determined, but it's one trait I admire about her. Shall we see what we can find at the crime scene?"

"Sure, and I already secured some quite damning evidence for you, Sherlock." I set down the cube I had been holding and pointed out the pegs I'd discovered Friday afternoon.

"Nice work, Watson—now we just have to deduce where they belong and why they were removed from their regular place."

"I know, and I was tempted to search for the other manipulated shelves, but I didn't dare while I was alone yesterday evening."

He raised his brows. "I told you not to risk anything. It's far too dangerous, and it doesn't help anyone if our third librarian ends in hospital, too."

"Thanks for caring, but I'm only an assistant librarian."

Paco shook his head. "Which doesn't mean you're expendable. Know what? You need to work on your self-esteem, young lady. Was it that prick the other day who got you believing you're unworthy?"

"Oliver? I guess he's part of the problem—okay, according to Becca, he is the major problem, period. However, I was faring much better since the day Marjorie offered me this job. So it was a kind of shock when Oliver intruded into this safe bubble."

"I can understand that. Anyway, both Conny and Marjorie appreciate you and value your work, and so do I. Never forget that."

"Thanks, I won't." I'd couldn't remember anyone telling me something so important in such a casual way. Emotion overwhelmed me and I hurried to change the topic. "So, how do we proceed?"

"Let's work our way from the front to the back and top to bottom, with only one of us near the shelves, while the other watches out, right?"

"Right." With due caution, we checked the shelves and found five more with a missing front peg each, threatening to tip over and unload their weight of books as soon as someone manipulated them.

Paco frowned and touched one of the treacherous shelves, careful to support its load. "Can you hand me a peg? I think I can fit it back in without taking all the books off."

I shook my head. "If you lift the weight, I will replace the peg. Just make sure you don't trigger the one below. It's unstable too."

He nodded, and I slid the tiny metal part into place while he secured the shelf. Relief it was lipped in without a problem washed through me. "One down, but several more to go."

"True, but we know how it's done now."

He was right. It went easier from then on. Together, we had finished the job and cleaned up the book avalanche from the floor long before the library opened. I sorted out the damaged books in need of repair while Paco carried the sitting cubes back to the front area. When the library looked its normal self, a load lifted from my shoulders.