The Monstrous Case of the Monstery Library: An Athena's Detective Mystery

By Akalle

Book 1 of the series

Nights have been tough at the Peplos Public Library since it developed a case of monsters. How to get rid of them? Eleven-year-old head librarian Libby Biblos needs Athena’s Detective to solve the case.

But Athena’s new detective is a reluctant girl from Earth, a parallel universe. And Pallas O’Fiddian has her own problems, especially her father, an eccentric inventor who vanishes before her eyes.

A mystery set in the grand old Peplos Public Library, founding library of the city.

Can Pallas O’Fiddian avoid getting killed by monsters? Can Libby? WHO WILL BE EATEN? Find out!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Akalle
• Release date: Jan 18, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370097906

Akalle

My novels come from the heart and the freedom I've discovered in publishing my own work. I hope you enjoy them.

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Pallas O’Fiddian passed the potato chips over a messy pile of bills on the kitchen table. Her father, Connell O’Fiddian, took a huge bite of grilled cheese.

Pallas tapped the bills. Dad, you forgot to pay these. Forgot had a polite ring to it.

Oh, did I? Sorry Pals, I’ll get right on it.

"Dad, why can’t you invent something that makes us money?"

Connell gripped the chair. Pallas, don’t worry, it’s not as bad— He vanished.

Pallas’ mouth fell open, her grilled cheese hung between her hands. Dad? she said quietly.

He flashed back. —as it looks! Connell put down his grilled cheese, got up and hurried out, back stiff, like he was holding himself together.

Pallas heard his thumping footsteps down the basement stairs.

Sun spilled into the shabby kitchen.

Outside, birds chirped.

Pallas O’Fiddian slowly lowered her grilled cheese. She could have sworn she’d just seen her dad disappear.

Then reappear.

Dash off to the basement.

But that was ridiculous.

Pallas thought of the inventions in the basement. She wasn’t sure what her dad’s inventions actually did. She and her dad lived in her dead grandfather’s old wooden house, on a dwindling inheritance. She hadn’t seen her dad much lately…

I’ll just check on him. Pallas left her grilled cheese and walked down the hall, heading for the basement.

Pallas reached the basement stairs. Down the stairs was dark. But someone was there. Not her dad. Someone—or something—loomed at the bottom of the stairs. The metal face glared up at her. Eyeless slits stared vacantly.

Pallas jolted back. She wanted to slam the door, but her dad had gone down there. A monster, gleaming, silver headed, tilted its head back to roar through vicious teeth.

Its head tilted all the way up off its neck. A face appeared underneath.

Pallas exhaled. You scared me.

A girl of about seventeen, confident, pretty; a strong face and sharp grey eyes.

Hurry up and get down here. The girl said. She turned, helmet under her arm, and walked deeper into the basement. I’ve got a job for you.

CHAPTER TWO

Pallas had no idea who the girl could be—her dad’s weird friends showed up all the time. Out of nowhere. Dad? What’s going on? Pallas called as she came down the stairs. She slowed on the last step, her voice echoing in the silence. She gripped the flimsy railing. Where is he?

The basement glowed under a grime-covered bulb in the ceiling. Jumbled inventions sat on long tables like angry, tangled insects. Dad? she said, glancing around.

He’s not here. The girl leaned against a worktable. Her helmet gleamed in the clutter on the table behind her.

Pallas’ eyes landed on the long, sharp spear the girl held. The girl wore a fake costume. But in the dull glow of the basement the spear tip looked shockingly real.

Pallas walked past the girl like she wasn’t there. Dad! You can come out now! she called, stepping into the boiler room. Empty.

Pallas came back, looking around. She looked over at the girl who stood watching her.

Done? The girl’s grey eyes held hers.

Pallas crossed her arms over her chest. The girl couldn’t scare her. Where is he?

I’ve sent him on ahead. To a parallel universe.

Great. One of the crazy ones. Pallas tried to retrace her steps; she’d definitely heard her dad come downstairs. She would have met him in the hallway if he’d come up from the basement.

I’m the goddess Athena, daughter of Zeus, protector of cities, proud member of the Olympians.

Good for you, said Pallas looking around stacks of boxes, under a table. She wasn’t worried about the girl anymore. She had experience with this sort of thing. In a way, it was the most comforting thing about the situation. Like her dad’s friend Govind after he’d been in the woods for three days on a vision quest. He came back saying weird things, needing water, and had to be forced to lie down.

Then she remembered. The kitchen. Her dad there one minute. Gone the next. Disappear reappear. Pallas straightened. She felt her limbs grow still. She turned and stared at the girl.

The girl, eyes hard. Tall, imposing, the older girl had dressed like some kind of ancient Greek statue out of a museum. Only the dress was saturated color, like the sun; russet orange, with patterns and embroidery and swaths of dark purple. And she had a shawl, a lifelike, intricate, silver blue-green pattern, like scales or chain mail. The shawl was folded over, hiding part of it, and had green tassels. She could have been some kind of reenactor. A really good one. Dressed for a convention or something.

The girl looked sporty. Intimidating. Like someone’s older sister. Someone you wanted desperately to hang out with because she was popular, smart and cool, and really good at volleyball or softball.

Athena’s hand slid down the spear, idling it. Like a soldier at ease, toying with his gun. Pallas, I am the patron goddess of a number of cities. As such, I look after them. Some I send heroes, others require… She picked up something big and dark and round leaning against the table. It looked plain. Thick, clunky. It was made of a dark reddish wood. You’ll need the world jumper. She held it up, admiring it. The design was taken from my shield. See that? She tapped the crude relief carved on the front. It’s my snake, Eric.

Pallas looked. It just looked like a wavy line. A jagged, ugly, wavy line.

Your father carved that, for the two of you to travel on, Athena said, suddenly looking less like an adult and more like a proud kid. Some invention, huh? She smiled, her eyes meeting Pallas’ conspiratorially. For a second Pallas thought the girl was going to ask her to grab a wooden sword and play soldiers.

The girl seemed very proud of the shield. But it just looked like a crudely carved piece of wood. Like nothing. Her dad made that? Why? He tinkered with metal and wires. Not wood.

Athena flicked her fingers and a card appeared between them. Give this to the head librarian at the Peplos Public Library. She’ll explain her case.

‘Peplos Public Library’. ‘Her case’, Pallas thought. The card appeared in her hand.

Pallas felt goosebumps on her flesh as she turned the card; it was blank on both sides.

The shield clattered onto the cement floor. Pallas jumped, startled. She bumped the table behind her, her heart thudding.

Athena appeared beside her.

Have a seat. Athena pulled her down onto the shield, crouching with her, the colorful folds of her dress spread across the dusty floor.

Hey! Pallas said, surprised. Athena’s grip was vise-like.

Trust me, she said. She had a strong, beautiful voice. You don’t want to do this standing up. Knees under. Imagine you’re on a flying saucer sled, getting ready to sled down a hill in the snow. They speak English, so that should help. Now get ready— Athena’s hand gripped, firm and oddly reassuring. Pallas looked into her grey, serious eyes. Athena smiled. You don’t have to take the case.

The air changed. And with an eerie fright, Pallas got the sneaking feeling this was real.

Athena had sat on the ground, legs crossed under her. Good luck, Pallas. I’m counting on you to do the right thing. The city is counting on you.

The wooden shield jolted under Pallas’ legs and her insides lurched. The universe whipped out from under her like a tablecloth out from under a plate. Darkness smothered her, making her feel like she couldn’t breathe. Pallas clamped her hands down on the rim. Hold on was all she could think.

Legs tucked under, head tucked in, the feeling of rapid motion gripped her as the shield arced, the world in motion under her.

Like being in a car taking a speeding, hairpin curve, Pallas had the sensation of being about to fly off as she clung to the shield, though it also seemed like her very motion held her on.

For an instant, she tried to look up and see where she was, but everything was dark, a void whose only feature was the dizzying awareness of intense speed. The shield an oddly stable place while the universe passed by.

Then suddenly light. Whatever force that held her on released. No pressure. A sudden sense of being let go. No amount of gripping could stop it. The world jumper slipped out from under her. It caught on her foot for a second before it flung back behind her like it had been attached to a rubber band, as though it had gone back to Athena like a boomerang. Her eyes adjusted to the blue, and clouds, as she fell through the sky.

Pallas screamed, her heart raced and she felt a strange exhilaration. She was terrified but kept her eyes open. She was falling, down, down.

Faster than any fall she’d had. So fast it lifted her hair straight up.

Pallas tumbled through the sky. The wind raced past her and the unfamiliarity of a new world struck her in the very air. She twisted, and caught sight of unfamiliar buildings below her before the wind twisted her back around. Buildings that looked more like a town than a city. And the hard dark blue gleam of ocean in the distance. In the second she had to look, she saw she was heading for one large building in particular and she twisted around and braced for