The Librarian of Boone's Hollow - Kim Vogel Sawyer Page 0,128
When he could remember what they were.
Addie
ADDIE CLOSED THE library door behind her and caught hold of Mule’s reins. “C’mon, big fellow, I’ll take you with me to Nanny Fay’s tonight. She’ll feed you some supper, and she’s got a nice little shed where you can sleep. It’ll be comfortable for you.” More comfortable than the library table, where Emmett was sleeping. She stifled a giggle. She’d never seen anyone drop off so quickly and in such an odd position. She hoped he didn’t end up sleeping there all night or his neck might be permanently slumped.
The yellow glow behind Nanny Fay’s cabin windows was a welcoming beacon. The front door stood open, and light painted a path across the porch floor. Aromas, both sweet and savory, carried on the evening breeze, and Addie’s stomach growled.
She looped Mule’s reins over the porch railing and gave the animal a rub on his forelock. “Sorry, but I’m going to get my supper first. Then I’ll come see to you.” She bounded up on the porch and into the house, calling Nanny Fay’s name. But then she stopped and stared, hardly able to believe what she was seeing. Bettina Webber setting the dining table? “B-Bettina?”
The girl sent Addie a sheepish glance. “Hey, Addie.”
Nanny Fay bustled from the stove, carrying a steaming pot of something. “Adelaide, didn’t Emmett come with you?”
Confusion mounting, Addie crossed to the table and held on to the back of the chair she generally sat in. “No. Was he supposed to?”
Nanny Fay shook her head, tsk-tsking. “He was s’posed to tell you Bettina was here, an’ he was s’posed to come have supper. I made rabbit stew an’ a blueberry pie for dessert. He said he’d for sure come.”
Bettina put spoons and forks next to the fourth plate, then scurried to the kitchen. Addie stared after her. “Emmett fell asleep at the table in the library.” She might be sleeping, too, and dreaming this entire scene. After the way Bettina spoke about Nanny Fay, what was the girl doing here?
Nanny Fay set the pot in the middle of the table, then put her hand on Addie’s arm. “He was s’posed to let you know Bettina’s movin’ in. I can see you’re flummoxed by her bein’ here.” She spoke barely above a whisper, worry glimmering in her eyes. “I’m thinkin’ now I shoulda asked you first, seein’ as how you’re payin’ for a room, but I couldn’t let her go back to Burke. Not knowin’ how he’s treatin’ her. But you don’t gotta worry. She’ll sleep with me.”
Addie shook her head slowly, absorbing Nanny Fay’s words. “No. No, she won’t.”
Bettina approached the table. She carried a basket of biscuits and kept her head low.
Nanny Fay sent a worried look at the girl, then hung her head. “Well, Adelaide, you was here first. So, I reckon if you’re firm set against it, I should oughta—”
“She can’t stay with you. Not at night.” Addie swallowed the chortle building in her throat. “Because she’ll never get any rest. Nanny Fay, you snore.”
Both Bettina and Nanny Fay jerked upright and stared at Addie.
Addie let the grin pulling at her cheeks have its way. “She’d better stay with me instead.”
Bettina’s mouth dropped open. “You’d share your room with me after I…I…”
Addie rounded the table and put her hand on the younger girl’s shoulder. “Bettina, may I be honest?”
Hesitance showed in her hazel eyes, but she gave a little nod.
“There are two things I’ve been praying for since I got to Boone’s Hollow. The first is that I would make friends. The second is that people in town would be kindlier to Nanny Fay.” She offered a smile to the old woman and then returned her attention to Bettina. “I think your being here is an answer to both of those prayers.”
Tears shimmered in the corners of Bettina’s eyes. She didn’t speak, but the gratitude and wonder in her expression spoke more loudly than words.
Addie squeezed Bettina’s shoulder and lowered her hand. She shifted to include Nanny Fay. “And now, since both of you are in the same place, I’d like to ask a favor.”
Nanny Fay shrugged. “If I can.”
Bettina licked her lips. “What is it?”
“I have a new job.” Addie explained her intention to record the stories of each of the families and put them in a collection in the library. “Would you mind if I interviewed the two of you so I can write Rosie’s story first? Someone as special as your