The Mysterious Disappearance of the Reluctant Book Fairy Read Online Free PDF Page A

Then another upon Monie Reardon Pillerton. “You. Two. Messing. Around. Or. Something? Hey! Maybe. You. Should. Find. Some. Place. More. Private.”
    Annapurna wanted to say that things were not what they looked liked, but she couldn’t quite work out what they did look like and to her horror, several of the Red-Hatted Ladies had at this point risen and looked as if they intended to charge the check out desk for some sort of confrontation. She said hastily to Monie, “I’ll be there in a minute.”
    Monie said, “Please,” in a tone that suggested heartfelt longing, which indeed it was. “Annapurna, I’ve only so much time.”
    Of course, this was a message that could be read several ways and Mildred Banfry seemed to read it in a way that Monie had not intended. She said, “Aren’t. You. The. Dark. Horse,” to Annapurna, which Annapurna found frankly unfair since she and Mildred had only just met and how Mildred possibly draw any conclusion at all about her metaphorical equine hue?
    Foolishly, she said, “It’s not what you think,” to which Mildred leered and said, “I. Bet. It’s. Not.”
    Thankfully, however, their conversation ended when Monie announced that she’d wait where she was meant to wait and Mildred followed this with an unasked for declaration that for her part, she’d return for some literary recommendations from the librarian when things weren’t so busy . Annapurna watched her leave, shouldering her I’ve Been to Disneyland! bag after shoveling through its contents to put her notebook back into place. She only hoped that Mildred was someone who didn’t share with other people matters about which she’d jumped to entirely inaccurate conclusions. Annapurna, after all, needed her job.
    She repaired to the supply cupboard and found Monie supine as required, her tattered copy of Rebecca opened upon her chest. She confessed that she truly wished there was a wedding night to witness between Maxim de Winter and his blushing bride, but Annapurna told her she would have to make a choice among the library’s few modern romance novels if she wanted to head in that direction. Monie said she hadn’t the time to paw through romance novels at the moment, so her choice of Maxim’s proposal of marriage was going to have to do. She confessed that she could not even remember at this moment of anticipation whether Maxim actually kissed the object of his marital intentions at the end of the proposal. Annapurna would have told her that no, she needed to address herself to Maxim’s tormented scene of confession—a bullet right through Rebecca’s evil heart—if she wanted to see him clasp the soon-to-be world weary wifely narrator in his arms and press his lips upon hers.
    Monie settled herself with a happy squirm and announced that she was ready. Annapurna told her that she hadn’t sent anyone—even herself—on a literary journey in a good many years so she wasn’t sure if she could still manage it. But Monie had faith. She also had a good memory. She said, “It’s welcome me welcome me welcome me home , and all the rest,” and she closed her eyes and folded her hands over Rebecca .
    Carefully, Annapurna created the leash back into reality by means of the doorknob. As the door opened outward, it would be no problem to bring Monie back where she belonged. She wouldn’t need a great deal of time in Monte Carlo with Maxim and the narrator anyway. The proposal hadn’t taken long, after all.
    Once she had the leash in place—with enough play in it to allow her access to the library and its checkout desk—she placed her hand over Monie’s, closed her own eyes, and said the words. She felt the whoosh of Monie’s nearly immediate departure, and when she opened her eyes she saw by the smile that played upon her unconscious friend’s face that her wished-for