She looked up. The street lamp was flickering. She moved closer. Freezing rain was falling on her head, and now there was a possibility that she would have to endure it in the dark. Another step towards the lamp. She prayed it wouldn’t go out.
She heard a door shut behind her. Turning to look, she saw an elderly gentleman exit the castle, also known as the city library. He descended the stairs partway and called out to her.
“Miss, is everything alright? Would you like me to call you a taxi?”
She gave a dismissive wave as she answered, “I’m fine, thank you. I’ll wait for the bus.”
“But you’ll chill your blood in this sleet, miss,” he said. “Would you like to wait inside?”
“I’ll be fine,” she called back.
He watched her, studying her face. After an uncomfortable moment, he shrugged and went back into the library. What words could she use to express to him that the castle was forever off limits? She would absolutely not go back in.
She’d been studying a genealogy book when a mouse ran across her table. Right over the top of her book! There was no way she’d go back in there – alive anyway.
She would have to find a different library. Perhaps in the town once over.
