The Palace Library Read online

  The girls walked into the room and looked around.

  “Where is he?” asked Eleanor. “Where’s he gone?”

  The deep voice that replied made them jump and they turned round to face Great Uncle Jasper and both felt slightly sheepish. Horrible Hair Bun stood just behind him, frowning as usual, but looking subdued and strained.

  “I had to send him out to The Palace Library,” said their Great Uncle quietly.

  “Do you want me to get them dressed?” asked the housekeeper, interrupting.

  “No. There will be no time. Edgar will have to see to that,” he said sharply and without explanation. Great Uncle Jasper turned to her. “Perhaps you could prepare my breakfast. I will speak to the girls alone.” It was a dismissal and the girls looked on in awe, as they had never seen Horrible Hair Bun receiving orders before.

  “Come with me girls. We will need to talk as we go.” It was the gentle voice they knew again. Great Uncle Jasper put his hands out. They didn’t know him that well and normally he was a distant figure, but it was a comforting gesture and they each took one of his hands as they walked.

  “I need to send you after Harry. I have sent him out to The Library on an important journey. Time is short, so he has gone ahead. He will need your help.”

  “Why did you say ‘out’ to The Library again? Isn’t it in your house? Doesn’t Edgar work for you?” asked Grace.

  “You are very sharp to notice that, Grace; but no, The Palace Library isn’t in this house, although it may appear so to you. The Palace Library is so well hidden that even the few people who know about it sometimes have trouble finding it. It doesn’t have any doors in the conventional sense. The doors into The Library are quite different to our normal understanding. They may not really even exist in our world at all. The Library has a way of summoning people to it. People like you and Eleanor and Harry.

  “I am one of the lucky ones who know about The Library. But even I can’t always find it. The Library finds me. It can reach through history to find those who, like you, can help in a crisis. I am one of a council called The Witan that it reaches out to.”

  “You make it sound like a person,” said Eleanor. She was a little out of breath. Great Uncle Jasper was a tall man with big strides and they were struggling to keep up.

  “Not a person really, but something with a personality anyway.”

  Suddenly, they were there. They stopped by the small door in the Long Gallery. Great Uncle Jasper squatted down to look at them at eye level and spoke to them as equals. “You know where to go from here, Grace. I sent for Harry earlier and was about to send for both of you before I found you in Harry’s room. There is no time to talk or to tell you more. Edgar will give you what you need. Good luck.”

  With that, he gave them each a kiss on their cheeks and strode back to the end of the room. Grace and Eleanor felt lonely and bereft as he left. There were too many unanswered questions. With the hands that had been holding his, they found each other’s hands and as he left the corridor, he turned and said, “Trust each other, as friends and families should.” Then he smiled. “When you see Harry, I don’t think he’ll have any doubts about a magical library any longer.”

  Both girls hesitated before going through the door. Grace looked at the tapestry on the wall and said to Eleanor, “This picture has changed again. The dog was sleeping last time I was here, and growling the time before that.”

  “She’s looking impatient here isn’t she?” said Eleanor. “It’s as if she’s been pacing up and down waiting for something or someone.”

  “Maybe she’s waiting for us,” said Grace

  “She’s a very beautiful dog,” added Eleanor, putting off the scary moment when they would open the door.

  “How do you know the dog’s a girl?” asked Grace.

  “I just know,” replied Eleanor mysteriously. “And stop holding my hand so tightly.” But Grace noticed she didn’t let go or release her own tight grip. They were both shivering, even though it wasn’t cold. Then they opened the door.

  This time The Library was dark. It looked as if it was dusk outside and there was a terrible storm raging. There was a domed roof high above them with a lantern window. Lightning burst with rolls of thunder sounding almost immediately. The light threw strange shadows around the room and the books.

  The girls were more than a little frightened, especially when they turned around and saw the sun shining through the windows of the long corridor. Grace and Eleanor looked at each other and paused. Grace took a deep breath, let go of Eleanor’s hand and said, “Follow me.” They climbed down the ladder - counting all 29 steps carefully. At the bottom of the stairs, they found Edgar the Librarian. He was waiting for them.

  “Good morning, good morning,” he said fiddling with his hands impatiently, “if it is morning. It’s so hard to tell sometimes. How nice to meet you, Eleanor.” It was immediately clear to Grace that he was a lot more serious than the previous day, even though he was still terribly polite. “I didn’t know whether you would be here at all, but I thought I’d wait anyway. The thing is I’m just a little worried about Harry. He seems to have vanished and I think he has gone out of another door.”

  Grace wondered whether she should be cross with Harry for not believing her, but for now she was just worried about him. There was too much to take in.

  Edgar continued, “Perhaps it was foolish of me to let him go wandering around on his own. It has been such a long time since The Library allowed two doors to be opened at once; I had forgotten it might be a problem.”

  “What do you mean ‘The Library allowed’? Don’t you mean you allowed?’” asked Eleanor, echoing Grace’s question to Great Uncle Jasper.

  “Oh no, I mean The Library,” said Edgar, without offering more of an explanation. “I’m just the Librarian. But now you’re here and you should be able to help. You can go after Harry. I’m sure he’s gone through the Great West Door.”

  “But why couldn’t you go after him?” asked Grace. “I know he’s older than us, but he’s still not even a teenager?”

  “I’m not allowed out of The Palace Library. When The Witan and the late King gave me the position, I knew that would be the case. It’s a great burden sometimes, but it is my duty. Never mind. I have plenty to read. You’re here now. We should still have enough time before the door closes again, I hope.”

  Eleanor had been learning about history at school, so she brightly asked: “The late King? Do you mean George VI, the Queen’s father? We’ve learnt about him.”

  “No, no,” said Edgar distractedly. “Not him. Long before his reign… but there’s no time to tell you now. We must get you ready. I’ve been thinking about books that might help you on your journey. Then perhaps you can take one for Harry too. He’ll need a different sort of book to you two girls I think.”

  “Why do we need books to help us find Harry?” Eleanor asked.

  “Not to find him. I hope you won’t have any problem finding Harry. You’ll need books to get you ready for going through the door and to help you all when you get there. The Library only allows two doors to be open at the same time at a time of need and it has a way of calling the people who might be able to help. That’s clearly why you’re all here, but of course you don’t know that yet.”

  “Yes we do,” said Eleanor. “Great Uncle Jasper told us. He sent us. Harry too.”

  Edgar looked at them strangely and with a little more respect. “Did he now? That would explain a lot. I wish he’d told me too, but perhaps there wasn’t time. It’s funny. I spend so long with nothing to do but read, and then everything happens at once.”

  Suddenly both girls jumped as a great bell tolled. It filled the room with sound, but at the same time seemed very distant, before slowly fading away. Just before it finally faded, the same bell rang once more and the girls jumped again.

  Edgar looked alert. “We must hurry before the bells finish ringing. Quickly now!”

  In spite of what he said, Edgar
didn’t move. “I need to call Sophie.”

  “Who’s Sophie?” the girls asked together.

  “Sophie will accompany you,” replied Edgar. “She is my companion here and she’ll be your companion on your journey. Long ago, Sophie was the gift of a great Queen, who, like you,” continued Edgar, turning towards the elder of the girls, “was called Eleanor. Sophie has great empathy, but be warned, although she’ll protect you and love you, she won’t suffer fools.”

  “What’s empa~, empa~ ? Oh you know what I mean,” asked Grace.

  “Empathy means she will know what you think and feel, often before you know it yourself. And you,” said Edgar, this time turning to Grace, “have already met her.”

  “Have I?”

  Edgar did not reply. Instead he drew a slender silver whistle from inside his jacket and blew it. The girls heard nothing but just stared. A moment later, silently and as if by magic, Sophie was standing at Edgar’s side and Grace understood. Even though she understood, she took a step back fearfully. For Sophie was the dog from the carpet and she appeared to be snarling.

  But Eleanor, who had a real fondness for animals, was enchanted. She realised that Sophie was smiling, even though most dogs do not smile. Edgar leant down to pat the neck of the elegant deerhound. “Eleanor and Grace, don’t be afraid. Come and meet Sophie.” They stepped forward, waiting to be introduced, since they knew you must always be introduced to dogs first. As Grace and Eleanor were only just taller than the deerhound, Sophie licked their noses and smiled again and they both cuddled her and hugged her neck.

  “Remember this girls. Sophie is not a pet. Although she doesn’t speak, you must regard her as your equal, for she is a royal hunting dog and has a lineage as great as, or greater than many of the kings in the world. She will be a comfort to you.”

  Just then the bell rang again and the girls jumped, but Sophie stood firm. Edgar was right. She was a comfort already.

  Edgar was less of a comfort as he said, “Now we must go and find your books and get you equipped. If that bell stops ringing before you go through the Great West Door, the door may vanish and Harry will be on his own. Who knows if you will ever see him again?”

  5. Three Magical Books

  “Follow me,” said Edgar the Librarian to Grace and Eleanor, far too calmly for their liking after his last statement. “I’m going to give you each a book to take with you. Use them wisely and learn from them. I’ll give you each gifts to help as well. They will be yours to use where you go, but you must bring them back to The Library. The Library won’t allow you to take them home.”

  “First, we must go to the astronomy section. As you would expect, it is right at the top, near the sky. Come. There’s a quicker way than up the ladder you came in on.” Edgar slipped behind the book stacks and they found themselves on a circular stone staircase. “Don’t worry. There are only 127 steps!”

  Eleanor and Grace looked at each other, but before they had time to think about what a long way it was, Edgar turned and said: “Come on. Sophie will wait here.” Then the bell tolled again and they jumped to follow him.

  The steps did not seem to bother Edgar, but both girls were quite out of breath by the time they arrived at the top. They found themselves in a gallery, a little like the one underneath the dome at St Paul’s Cathedral in London, but this one was lined with books.

  Half way around, Edgar paused and pulled out a large book from a shelf at the bottom. He struggled with it and they had to stop him from falling over backwards with it. It was very nearly as big as the book with the chocolate cake.

  Once the book was on a table, he opened it. Both girls gasped. On the pages were maps of the skies. Drawn beautifully, they were similar to star maps the girls had seen at home. Better than this though, the stars shot out of the pages like shooting stars and clung onto the dome, which now glowed dark blue. There, the stars glimmered and glittered. It was like looking directly up at the night sky. In fact the only way you could tell that it was not the night sky was that the lightning through the lantern window was still throwing patterns across the bookshelves and the inside of the dome.

  “Wow!” Grace cried out.

  “This is for you, Grace,” said Edgar. “It seems that you’re an explorer and so this book will help you navigate. With the other gift I’ll give you, you can use the stars and the Sun to find your way.”

  “Thank you,” stammered Grace, “but how will I carry it?”

  “I’ll make you the pocket version,” answered Edgar. “Will you just open that drawer there, please?” He pointed to a deep wide drawer at about eye height for Grace. It was between bookshelves and she opened it. Edgar struggled with the book again and put it inside before locking the drawer with a golden key from his pocket and saying, “Move across to the other side of the dome now please.”

  At the other side of the dome, Edgar found another much smaller drawer and opened it with the same golden key. When Grace opened the drawer, she found a much smaller copy of the same book. “It’s such a handy system for taking books with you when you’re travelling. I’m afraid you’ll find it’s still quite heavy, but much more manageable. You look after it now, Grace. We’re going to take the quick way down.”

  With that, Edgar slipped behind the book stack into a tiny space. “There’s just room for three!”

  Just as soon as they stood on it, Edgar released a brass lever at the side and said, “Hold on!” It was like the sensation of jumping off a tall diving board into a swimming pool, but it lasted much longer. The girls were glad they had not eaten breakfast as they felt as if their stomachs were left behind them. Moments later, the platform bounced several times, rather like landing on a bouncy castle, before staying still.

  “That was fun,” said Grace trying to disguise her nerves and the fact that she felt a little sick. “I wish we could do it again.”

  “No time I’m afraid,” replied Edgar, adding, “personally, I try to take the steps if I have the time!”

  As they all stepped off the platform, the girls realised they were in a quite different part of The Library. The air was colder and much of the glamorous panelling in the main part gave way to stone walls.

  “It’s down here in the basement that we’ve come to find your gift, Eleanor,” explained Edgar.

  They walked along the corridor and passed several metal grates, locked with large padlocks. They could have been prison cells, but behind each one the girls could see row upon row of books lit by a strange greenish light. Each ‘cell’ went on so far that they could not see the end.

  Eleanor was more than a little in awe of where they were and asked, “Are these secret books Edgar? Is that why they’re locked up?”

  Edgar stopped and turned to her, apparently now taking his time. “No these aren’t secret books. These books are locked up because they’re dangerous. Just here,” he said, turning to one passage, “is the section on crocodiles. Now we wouldn’t want them escaping would we?” He sighed, bumbling, almost forgetting his haste. “It’s the arachnid section I really don’t like.”

  “Arachnids?” asked Eleanor.

  “Spiders,” said Edgar.

  “Yuck!”

  “The gates just there are never cleaned just in case we muddle the real spiders and the magical spiders. It’s such a mess. I’ll show you one day.” Then the bell tolled again reminding them of the need for more haste. “Come on. Less chat!”

  Grace and Eleanor both wished Sophie was with them, wondering whether they were more frightened of crocodiles or spiders.

  Edgar had not moved though and was suddenly serious. “It’s time I explained something to you both and it’s something that you must explain to Harry. There are no secret books in The Palace Library. The Library represents both the freedom of knowledge and the memories and justice of England. That is why The Witan set it up and wanted it protected. It’s my duty to look after it. The fact that The Library often remains hidden is due to the very fact that sometimes people want the k
nowledge in The Library to be hidden and want to suppress freedom. It is The Library’s paradox, but it is always open to anyone who truly seeks knowledge.”

  “What’s a para~, para~, para~… you know?” asked Grace.

  “It’s something that appears to be contradictory, but turns out not to be and yet at the same time is difficult to understand. You probably think it’s a bit strange that The Library is hidden but not secret. That is a paradox.”

  “OK,” said Eleanor as cheerfully as the circumstances allowed, wanting to make it clear to Grace that she understood, although she did not quite. Grace remained silent, unconvinced either by the explanation or by Eleanor’s confident understanding.

  “Come on now,” said Edgar. “We must get you your book. It’s in the next book stack on the left.”

  Eleanor’s book was a quite different colour and size. It would not need shrinking like the astronomy book and it was bound in beautiful burgundy coloured leather, with pictures of thistles embossed in gold on the cover.

  “We’ll open this one upstairs,” said Edgar, mysteriously.

  At the top of a short flight of stairs, they nearly tripped over Sophie, who was waiting for them, wise enough to know they would appear from the basement.

  When Edgar opened Eleanor’s book, she found it was full of pictures of plants with tiny writing next to them, which even she struggled to read with her good eyesight. In a way, Eleanor was a little disappointed with the book, as it looked just like a ‘normal’ book, although the pictures were very beautifully drawn.

  She tried not to look too disappointed when she asked Edgar what the book was about. “It is about healing. You must study it well.”

  “Why was it locked up with the dangerous books then?” she asked.

  “What can heal can also poison. With the knowledge in this book, you can cure many diseases. But wrongly used or used with evil intent, this knowledge can also kill. That is why it’s dangerous. Take it now.”