Watch The Skyline [Hiatus]

Family History Library of King George, Virginia

The next day during lunch Mackensie decided to go to her school library on the first floor instead of an empty classroom. Tanya accompanied her, as usual, and as Mackensie walked away to go to the front counter, her friend went to go look at some of the books available on the shelves.

Mr. Lynell was in the little back room that was behind the counter, organising his office when he saw Mackensie show up. Smiling, he looked out to tell her to wait a moment as he did something. A few thumps and shuffling later, the older gentleman walked out of the room and came up to the counter to greet Mackensie.

"What can I do for you?" he asked, a friendly smile on his face.

Mackensie did not frequent the school library that often, as she rather would have slept upstairs, but she loved talking to the librarian any time she got the chance to. He was new to the school, having only been hired a few months ago.He was a tall, lanky, white haired older man who wore glasses and sweaters every day even though it was hot outside. His voice was always full of life every time he spoke, and he reminded Mackensie of the stereotypical friendly grandfather type sometimes.

She gave him a toothy smile and said a quick hi before going on to her initial question. "If I wanted to do research on people...like...um, not historical figures that can be looked up online but people who used to live here?"

She wasn't sure how to explain it and as Mr. Lynell gave her a questioning face, she reached into her pocket and brought out her pocket watch.

Pressing open the hunter case, she held it out to him and pointed to the picture inside. "I bought this from the antique shop a few days ago and there was this picture inside. On the back of it is the date and name of the people, I want to learn more about them."

A spark of interest appeared in his eyes. "Ah," he said under his breath, taking the watch into his large hands. "This is very fascinating, Mackensie," he said.

Mackensie gave a little laugh, agreeing with him, although she wondered how he knew her name. He looked at the watch for a few seconds before speaking up, "Oh, I have an idea."

"Ooh, what?"

"You say that you know the name of these people and the date of this picture, yes?"

"Yes," Mackensie replied. "It's written on the back of the picture."

"Well," Mr. Lynell said. "You can take this down to the Family History Library and have them find more information on it for you. I think you have enough information to have a nice starting point for research."

He handed the watch back to her and she just nodded as she looked at it again. "Have you ever been to it?" she asked him. He replied saying no, but that he usually has to drive past it during work. Mr. Lynell then brought out a small sheet of paper and wrote down the address of the library for her.

"It's a small little place," he said, handing her the paper. "But it holds a lot of information."

"Thank you, sir!" she said, taking the paper and grinning, happy with her progress. She put both the pocket watch and the paper in her pocket and thanked him again before walking off in another direction to go and find Tanya amongst the bookshelves.

She found her friend standing in the Self Help section, which was located on the very left side of the library--next to the window that looked out onto the track field. Tanya was looking at random books that would serve as temporary entertainment until the bell rang, having ate her lunch in that little corner while waiting. 

"What was that about?" Tanya asked as she saw Mackensie walking over. They both kept their voices hushed, but not too much. The school library was small and they were the only people in there anyway, one could talk in a normal tone of voice and not get into trouble. Just as long as you weren't yelling.