A Visit to the Library

Lina Mae had enjoyed being in the Library. She wondered how she’d missed spending time there her first few weeks in the City, but she’d really been focusing on Grady and trying to find out where the he’d absconded to. She felt whipped up, but she knew she needed to keep looking. She couldn’t afford the luxury of rest, yet the Library was so appealing, warm, dark and full of treasures.

Wandering out of the stacks, Lina was drawn to the chessboard. It made her think of him, head bent, studying his next move. As she stood by the railing, she spied a woman sitting by the fire below. Lina smoothed her black hair back and headed down the stairs. In a quiet voice with a hint of a southern accent, she asked the woman, “Excuse me…is there somewhere here I can powder my nose?”

The woman snapped back from her reverie, blinking slightly at the sound of Lina’s footsteps and voice. “Um…hello,” she stammered. She spoke as if she’d forgotten how to talk and had to find her voice again. “Uh…not really, though I’m sure the shelter has public facilities.”

Lina coughed politely. She couldn’t really believe that a library the size of the one she was in didn’t have a lady’s in it and she really didn’t want to tread across the street. “Sugar, if I wanted to walk all the way over to the Shelter I would. Don’t you work here?”

The woman chuckled softly, taken only slightly aback. “Work…no. Live, yes. Upstairs, by the office is a room that we use.” Her violet eyes settled on Lina, as if amused at her own joke.

“Oh, well I’d expect someone who lives here to know where the powder room is,” Lina said with a hint of annoyance. She looked around and not seeing anyone else in the library, she plopped down into a chair and slid a thin compact and red lipstick out of the pocket of her day suit. “I’ll just have to settle for freshening up.”

The woman by the fire arched an eyebrow, her pleasant expression sobering. “Public and private are two different things. People who come here don’t normally ask to use the house facilities for anything such. If you need help locating a book, though, I can most certainly oblige.”

Lina looked over her compact and stared at the woman long and hard before returning to puckering her lips in the mirror. “Hmm…a book.” She applied the lipstick, rubbed her lips together and then checked the result before shutting the compact with a snap. “So…you don’t work here, but you help people find books?”

“Correct.”

“Applesauce!” Lina retorted. “What’s your beef, anyway?” She tucked her compact and lipstick in her kick and glared at the woman.

“Pardon me?” the woman blinked in mild confusion. Her brows began to furrow and she took on a wary expression.

“Applesauce - you know - horsefeathers!” Lina rolled her eyes. “You live here and you don’t work here, yet you help people find books - that’s what a librarian does. Even I know that.”

The woman chuckled softly and settled back in her seat. “Work normally indicates that one gets paid,” she said. “I don’t get paid to do this. I do this because I love our Lady Library and wish to help those who come here in search of information.” She smiled and spoke patiently. “Really…I’ve only just arrived, within the week, and those of the Institute have offered me a home.”

“Well,” Lina drawled. “I can certainly appreciate that. It looks like a lot of people here could stand to find one. I’ve never seen so many creatures ossified in the street…and brawling!” She smoothed her skirt, touching a small stain with her gloved fingertip. “I hope I can find what I’m looking for and scram. I’d hate to have to live here.” She looked out the window to the street, then back at the woman. “Not that your home’s not nice or anything…”

The woman laughed quietly, the sound a near whisper under her breath. “For all its…apparent lawlessness…for all its filthy and unruly appearance, it’s the one place where those like me, and those more apparent than I, can be accepted without scorn or retribution.” The woman tilted her chin slightly. “You don’t come from Toxia, then?” It was really more of a statement than a question.

Timeless Toxian Tip: It is considered racially insensitive to say, “God bless you,” when a demon sneezes.