The Legend of Hope's Edge

Chapter 4

A/N I have decided to make my author's notes at the end, so, yeah.

I hammer my fists against Lily Delaney’s door, so desperate that it takes me ten minutes of waiting in the pouring rain to remember that she’s gone to a hospital appointment. Damn.

Deciding I’d rather not stand in the deluge any longer, I step under the shelter of the porch to mull things over. Xavier took out the book. It was obviously important to him, from what that woman in the library told me. And he’d written one of the entries. I need to get a look at that book- and I’m willing to bet that it’s still here, in Xavier’s house. I hope.

Tires squeal on the wet gravel in the driveway, jolting me out of my thought. Lily! She’s back from her hospital appointment!

After several cups of tea, my clothes are now only slightly damp, and much less uncomfortable. Lily sits impassive in her armchair, watching the flames in the hearth dance and flicker. I clear my throat, deciding it’s time to get down to business, but before I can speak, she says,

“Trish Parker in the library tells me you’re looking for Xavier’s book.”

Startled, I nod slowly, “How-,”

“Trish is a great help to me. She brings my shopping and arranges hospital appointments and such for me. So we keep in touch with these mobile telephones; I was on my way back from the hospital when she called me. She seemed rather excited about it.”

Unable to stop my eyebrows rising in surprise at this strange new side of Trish Parker, I clear my throat again. “Well, She’s quite right, Ms Delaney. I need to see the book, as soon as possible. Do you have any idea where it is.”

Lily’s eyes close briefly. My eyes widen when I see a tear slide down her cheek, and I rise from my chair, unsure what to do.

“Ms Delaney…?”

She give a soft sigh, “Yes. I- I’m sorry. That book is the only reminder of Xavier’s work that I have.”

“His work as a Detective Inspector?”

“Yes. It’s upstairs. On my bedside table. I’m afraid I can’t manage the stairs right now,” she smiles a little, “I expect my time will come soon. I’m getting weaker every day, you see.”

Startled a little, I walk over to her, treading carefully to avoid tripping on the many footstalls dotted around the room. “I’m sorry, Ms Delaney.”

She nods and motions me towards the stairs.

For some reason, as I walk into the bedroom, I feel a sense of trepidation. Something will be wrong. The book will be damaged, the entry will be missing, it won’t even be there…But as I cautiously lower my eyes to the bedside table, There is indeed a book there. A tattered black binding with spiky silver inscription, I find myself murmuring it aloud:

“Hope’s Edge Tales and Legends. By Samantha Elmswitch.”

The feeling of trepidation, instead of lessening, increases as I turn to page 113 (As directed by the contents page) and begin to read…

A/N OH MY FISH LLAMA GOD THERE'S AN UPATE!

*victory dances to the moon*

I think the story will now be updated faster, but I might be wrong so don't hold this to me. and also, this chapter was written by emilytubb (wattpad name) so, yeah. again, at the moment this story seems slow and a bit random but now that he has found the book it will make a lot more sense. for those of you who are a bit confuzzzzzzled, here is a summary of what has happened so far:

1) Xavier Delaney (renowned private detective) is dead, and Tom Smith is investigating his murder

2) so far, he has spoken to Lily Delaney who gave information on his death (and life) but not much about HOW he died- just that she heard a faint, crackling static noise

3) he has also found a book which contains a story about Xavier. the book was taken by Xavier (for reasons which we do not yet know of) but was found by Lily at their house.