With that, he whirled away and was gone. The Professor stared after him, then turned to survey his surprisingly undestroyed office. His feet propelled him in a mad rush to the desk.
Where was that telephone directory again?
~}~~~{~
Gizile covered her mouth and giggled a little. How could something serious be so funny? She felt a little guilty for laughing at the poor professor and sneaked a look at her teacher. Was this what he had meant by learning to laugh?
Apparently, it pleased “he who sees everything” not to notice the girl beside him in her awkward moment. As she regained composure, he merely pointed to the pool once more. The water was moving again, so she took a deep breath and turned. A princess appeared.
“Is this home?” she asked, turning back to her master.
“Focus!”
~}~~~{~
Between the Pages—Kat Heckenbach
A companion story to the novel Finding Angel
Audrey’s skirts rustled as she crept up the stairs. The wind outside the castle walls howled, and thunder boomed in the distance. Black sky glowered between heavy billowing curtains in the grand foyer below her. She wrapped her arms around herself. The thick fabric of her gown did little to ease the chill with her bare feet pressed against cold stone floor.
Her mother would have scolded her for lurking about without shoes, but Audrey hated the feeling of her feet bound. Of course, she was forced to wear them most of the time—it wouldn’t be proper princess behavior otherwise. Audrey smiled at the thought. Hmph! Proper princess.
She reached the top of the stairs as a flash of lightning momentarily lit the hallway in front of her. Then the space fell into darkness again. Audrey turned the corner and headed down the hall to the library.
Her mother would have scolded her for this, too. Proper princesses didn’t spend hour upon hour reading. She’d been told often enough that she needn’t bother with stuffing her head full of facts, and shouldn’t bother with stuffing her head full of made-up stories.
She tugged at the gold chain around her neck. The cold metal slid up her breastbone until it broke free of her neckline. At the base of the chain hung a brass key. Audrey slipped the chain over her head, and unlocked the library door. She hung the chain around her neck again as she ducked into the room.
“Well, well, Miss Audrey. You’ve come a bit early tonight, haven’t you?” The deep, gravelly voice came from her right.
“Oh, shush, Marcus, and give me some light.”
A flame burst to life in a lantern on the wall beside her, illuminating the circular room. A statue of a gargoyle bent forward from the wall, supporting the glowing lantern on his back. He blinked several times and wrinkled his nose. “I could have done with a bit more sleep, you know.”
“All you do is sleep,” Audrey said, crossing her arms. “I’m the only one who ever comes up here. You’ve got all day and most of the night, so stop complaining.”
Marcus snickered. Audrey turned away from him and began scanning the books on the shelves, inching along the curved walls.
The familiar leather spines were stacked neatly in places, and stood on end in others. There was no way to line them up properly. Audrey had never understood why a round room had been chosen to house a library.
She climbed up on a step stool and searched the shelves just above her head.
“Haven’t you read all of them?” Marcus asked.
Audrey shrugged. “Nearly. But there are still some left. I’m not sure what I’m in the mood for tonight.” Her eyes followed a line of books until she noticed a metallic glint just out of reach on her right. She climbed off the stool and moved it over.
A narrow book with ornate silver lettering on the spine stood between two thick tomes. She slid her finger between the large books and pulled the upper edge of the small one toward her.
She gazed at the cover as she climbed down from the stool.
“Finding Angel…what a strange title.”
~}~~~{~
Angel squeezed her eyelids shut as her mom led her down the hallway. “Why do I have to keep my eyes closed? It’s just the guys, and a few presents and cake.” She tried to sound disinterested, but inside she bubbled with excitement.
Her mom squeezed her arm. “Well, if you don’t care…”
Angel felt a tugging as though her mom were trying to pull her back the other direction. “No—I’ll keep them shut!”
Her mom laughed and guided her forward again.
As they stepped into the kitchen, a squeal sounded in front of Angel. A small body slammed into her, and little arms wrapped around her waist. “Happy Birthday, Angel!” Zack cried. “You’re going to love my present!”
Angel blindly reached down and ruffled her five-year-old brother’s hair. “I already do.”
His grip loosened. “But you haven’t seen it yet.” She could hear the doubt in his voice.
“It doesn’t matter, little man. It’s from you. I know I’m going to love it.”
Josh’s deep voice sounded then. “Come on, sis, I’ve got a game tonight.”
“Yeah,” Jacob chimed in. “You’re not the only one having a big day here!”
Hmph. Teenage boys. Angel was glad she wasn’t in high school yet. If Josh and Jacob were any indication of what she’d have to put up with there, she’d beg her mom to homeschool her like Zack.
“OK, boys, that’s enough.” Her dad’s rough voice cut through like an axe. “This is your sister’s thirteenth birthday, and that happens only once. You act up again, and you’re staying home from the game.”
The boys’ grumbles followed. Angel shifted her weight. “Can I open my eyes yet?”
Her mom laughed. “Oh, yes, sweetie! Go ahead.”
The table was covered in wrapped packages. Josh, Jacob, and her dad sat at the table—three sets of green eyes and three heads of thick, black hair, but only one smile. Angel ignored her brothers’ sour faces and smiled back at her dad.
Movement to her left caught her eye, and she turned to see her mother opening a box on the kitchen counter. The lid to the box rose and the sides fell to the counter top, revealing a cake covered in creamy white icing. Angel walked over and peeked at the top as her mom set candles in place. Delicate pink roses on green stems wound their way around the edge of the cake, and “Happy 13th Birthday, Angel” was written across the top in beautiful script.
“You got this from Annie’s, didn’t you?”
Her mom nodded. “I wanted to bake you a cake myself, but I just didn’t have time.”
“Are you kidding? I love your cakes, but Annie’s has that awesome raspberry stuff—you got that, right?”
“Of course.” Her mom smiled and nodded toward the table. “Go on. Let’s do presents first.”
Angel tore through package after package, revealing clothes, art supplies, and a CD she’d been begging for. Her cheeks pulled back farther and farther with each gift, until…
“Zack, where’s yours?”
Zack ducked behind the table, and then scooted past their dad. He walked toward Angel with a rectangular package wrapped in dinosaur paper.
“Mom said I could pick anything I wanted for you.” His cheeks dimpled as he smiled.
Angel peeled the paper carefully back, taking care not to rip it as she had the others. She eased the paper away, and her breath caught.
The gift was a leather bound book, embossed with gold. It looked like a true old-fashioned storybook, complete with a ribbon bookmark. The title was printed in fanciful lettering: Finding Audrey.
“It’s about a princess,” Zack said.
~}~~~{~
Angel’s mom appeared in her bedroom doorway. “How was your birthday, honey?”
Angel leaned against her headboard and smiled. She set her sketchpad down on the mattress next to her. “It was perfect.”
“Well, don’t stay up too late, OK?”
“I won’t.”
Her mom left, and Angel picked
up the sketchpad. But she sighed, no longer in the mood to draw. She climbed out of bed and put the sketchpad on her desk as the room momentarily flooded with light. Seconds later thunder crashed, followed almost immediately by the drumming of rain against the window.
Rain always relaxed Angel, as if the energy of the pounding drops massaged her spirit. Relaxed, but not sleepy—the perfect combination for reading. She grabbed the book Zack had given her. After shutting off the bedroom light, she flicked on the nightstand lamp, curled up against the headboard again, and began to read.
Audrey’s skirts rustled as she crept up the stairs. The wind outside the castle walls howled and thunder boomed in the distance. Black sky glowered between heavy billowing curtains in the grand foyer below her…
Angel soon found herself lost in a story…imagining herself a princess in a faraway land. If only she could truly experience such a life.
Of course, if it meant she wasn’t allowed to read, she may have to rethink that. Then again, just like Audrey, she would probably sneak out and visit the library…and how fun that would be in the middle of the night…in a great stone castle…
“And with a talking gargoyle, no less!”
“What’s that? Who’s there?”
The girl’s voice nearly made Angel jump from her bed. There was only one other female in her house, and the voice definitely didn’t belong to her mom. Angel looked around, her stomach flittering with butterflies. OK, getting a little too lost in the book there, girlie. Now you’re hearing things.
She inhaled and closed her eyes, listening to the drumming rain. She relaxed again. It had only been her imagination. She opened her eyes and picked up where she’d left off with Audrey in the library.
How wonderful to have a room full of nothing but books. Who cared if the walls were curved? It would be awesome just to be in such a place, built of stone, probably up in a tower. So much more exciting than a little house in the country.
She pictured the books lining the shelves. Most definitely they were leather and embossed with gold or silver just like the one she was reading.
A narrow book with ornate silver lettering on the spine stood between two thick tomes. She slid her finger between the large books and pulled the upper edge of the small one toward her.
“I was right!”
“Who is that?”
This time Angel did jump from the bed. Her heart seemed to stop for a moment, then began pounding erratically.
“Where are you?” She backed against the wall, pressing the book to her chest.
“Where are…where are you?” The girl’s voice sounded as frantic as Angel felt. And the voice came from behind her. But that was the wall. Could there be someone outside? In this awful weather? Surely not.
Still, she peeked out the curtains. As if knowing she needed the light, a flash filled the sky, illuminating the yard in bright white. More thunder rolled, and then another flash. Angel couldn’t see anyone in the yard. Should she go outside and check?
“Are you out there?” she called through the window.
“Oh, where is that voice coming from, Marcus? You hear it, don’t you?”
The voice was behind her again…but now behind her meant inside the room. And had she said Marcus? Wasn’t that…
She scanned back over the pages she’d read. Her hand trembled when she reached the part about the talking gargoyle. There it was, in black and white, the gargoyle’s name: Marcus.
“It can’t be,” she whispered. No one answered, but a soft whimper sounded in her ear. She continued reading, past the last paragraph she had read.
She gazed at the cover as she climbed down from the stool.
“Finding Angel…what a strange title.”
Angel gasped, and keeping one finger between the pages, turned over the book to see the title. Finding Audrey. This couldn’t be coincidence.
She swallowed, and forced herself to speak. “Audrey?”
“Marcus, she knows my name!”
“Audrey…are you…are you a—” She inhaled. She couldn’t believe she was going to ask this. But her fear was quickly morphing into excitement. “A princess? In a castle?”
“Who are you? I demand to know your name!”
“Audrey, are you reading right now? A book…a book called Finding Angel?” Angel gripped the book tightly, but kept her finger in place to hold it open, afraid that letting it close would send the girl away.
“Do you think this is a spell, Marcus? Could Father have done this to keep me out of here?” Silence. “Well, no…I suppose he wouldn’t frighten his own daughter…”
~}~~~{~
Audrey pressed the open book to her stomach and spun around, eyes wide. That voice had known who she was, where she was…what she was. The only thing that kept her at all settled was that it had sounded like a girl of about her own age.
But where had it come from?
The girl had asked if she was reading a book—and knew the title. How could she possibly know if she wasn’t in the same room? But then, if she were here, why would she need to verify who Audrey was? It made no sense!
She pulled the book away from her stomach and stared down at the words. A story about a girl having a birthday party. A world unlike her own, but the event nothing all that special, although it seemed like a sweet family. And the girl was obviously an artist, since she had been given art supplies as gifts.
And a book. She’d been given a book…
Audrey scanned the page, until she found…yes, there it was…the book the girl was reading…
Finding Audrey. But how—?
She lifted her head and spoke cautiously. “Angel?”
“Yes!”
Audrey’s heart pounded with excitement. “You’re reading a book about me, too, aren’t you? How is that possible?”
“I don’t know. You have magic there, don’t you? Maybe that’s it.”
Audrey shook her head. “We don’t have any magic that could do this. Not that I’ve ever heard of. Maybe it’s magic on your end.”
“We don’t have magic here at all.” The girl sounded sad. Well, no wonder. Audrey couldn’t imagine life without magic.
A gravelly cough snagged Audrey’s attention. She turned toward Marcus. He stared at her as though she’d suddenly turned to glass. “Who are you talking to, Miss Audrey?” His voice was reserved and affected.
She glared at him. “I’m not crazy.”
“I never said you were, my la—”
“Oh, don’t ‘my lady’ me! I’m not imagining things. It’s the girl from the book. And she has a book about me. We—” She choked on the words. That did sound crazy. Despite the talking gargoyle in front of her, and the various spells used about the castle, Audrey knew that communicating to someone through a book wasn’t possible.
She laid the ribbon between the pages and closed the book.
“Angel?” she whispered. Then again, louder. “Angel, are you there?”
No answer.
She opened the book and tried one more time. “Angel, can you hear me?”
“Oh, there you are! I called your name, and you didn’t answer. I thought I’d imagined the whole thing.”
“It was because I closed the book.”
Marcus coughed again, but Audrey shot him a baleful glance. He turned his eyes away from her, and like a switch had been flicked, he seemed nothing more than an ordinary gargoyle.
Fine, let him pout.
“Audrey, this is so exciting. I want to know everything about the land where you live! And I can find out now by talking to you instead of reading. I wonder if there’s a way to come through the book, like a portal or something.”
How strange Angel sounded. She obviously had no idea the limits of magic.
“I don’t think it works quite that way. I mean, it’s a book. I doubt you’d fit, right?” She hated being the bearer of bad news. She would have been just as excited to travel through the book to Angel’s world. But it was impossible. r />
“But my words are making it through.”
Then again, until five minutes ago, she’d thought talking through a book was impossible. She smiled as an idea dawned.
“I’m going to try something.” She scrambled over to the desk in the center of the library and opened the top drawer. She grabbed a quill and a bottle of ink. After shuffling through a pile of parchment, she found an empty sheet.
“What are you doing? It’s so quiet.”
“Just a moment…” She scribbled her name and blew the ink, willing it to dry. A quick touch confirmed it was ready. “I need you to close the book, Angel, just for a count of five.”
“But why?”
“Please, just a count of five.”
“OK, I’m closing it now.”
Audrey stuck the paper between the pages and closed the book. She inhaled, trying to not let her excitement overtake her, and then opened the book. The paper was gone.
~}~~~{~
Angel squeezed her eyes shut as she closed the book. Her heartbeat had returned to normal, but her stomach still felt as if it were trying to float up into her chest. She counted to five and released a breath.
She bit down on her lip as she opened the book, and then slowly opened her eyes.
Between the pages a piece of cream colored paper fluttered. She picked it up by the edge and looked at the name “Audrey” scrawled in hasty script.
“Did you get it?”
Angel rubbed the paper between her thumb and forefinger. Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing…
~}~~~{~
“Audrey, I got it! It worked!”
Audrey’s heart skipped and she bounced on the balls of her bare feet. “Oh, Angel, I can’t believe it! I’m so—”
“Wait…it’s…oh, Audrey, the paper is disintegrating.”
The despair in Angel’s voice seeped into Audrey’s heart, and she leaned against the desk, hugging the open book to her chest.
“I’m sorry. I was really hoping to be wrong. But magic has its ways, and we can’t change that.” Audrey sighed and glanced at Marcus. He was being oddly quiet and still.