Small Town Librarian

By John Leggett Jones

A small town librarian discovers a world of danger and excitement in a magical book that transports her to WWII Normandy.
 
Emma Schultz had big dreams of leaving her small hometown. But when her father died and her mother became ill, it fell to Emma to pick up the pieces. Rather than go off to college and lead an exciting life as a writer in New York City, she stayed in Kansas, taking on her mother’s job as the town librarian. As time goes by, Emma marries a good man, but she cannot help feeling despair as she faces a life of dull routine.
 
Then one day, an elegant woman enters the library and gives Emma a mysterious book, offering no explanation except “This book will help you.” And soon Emma finds that, every time she opens it, she is literally drawn into the story of The Normandy Nurse . . .

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Apr 10, 2018
• ISBN: 9781639843114

Book preview

Small Town Librarian

by

John Legget Jones

Small Town Librarian by John Legget Jones

Copyright © 2018. All rights reserved.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, without the express and prior permission in writing of Pen It! Publications.  This book may not be circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is currently published. 

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.  All rights are reserved.  Pen It! Publications does not grant you rights to resell or distribute this book without prior written consent of both Pen It! Publications and the copyright owner of this book.  This book must not be copied, transferred, sold or distributed in any way. 

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This is a work of fiction. Any likeness to those living or dead is purely coincidental.

This book or part thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or otherwise without prior written consent of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Published by Pen It! Publications, LLC

812-371-4128   www.penitpublications.com

Published in the United States of America by Pen It! Publications, LLC.  Cover by Pen It! Publications, LLC

ISBN: 978-1-948390-40-8

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 1

Monday, August 23, 2010 - Caitlin, Kansas

Emma Schultz woke up to the irritating sound of the alarm clock going off for the second time. She smacked the snooze button and laid back trying to gather the motivation to go to work. She thought about her week ahead and tried to think of something to look forward to but couldn’t. As a small-town librarian, she did the same thing every day, her boring routine never changed.

Many of the library patrons were regulars and a few came at the same time every day. One of those daily patrons is Mr. Parsons. He arrives at 9, reads the morning papers until 11:00 then walks across the street to the diner for lunch where he always orders the daily special. He’s a grumpy man in his late fifties; balding, overweight, and always wears a white shirt, black tie, and black suit. Unless he complained about something, which he did often, he wouldn’t say a word to anyone. He was the town’s funeral director, but he sold the business and now hangs out at the library and diner.

Another daily patron is the Widow Munson. She is in her late seventies, slim with gray hair and always prim and proper. Every day she arrives at noon, eats lunch by herself at a corner table and reads the daily papers. She leaves promptly at two, so she doesn’t have to see the Morgan twins. They have disliked each other since some awful event occurred between them in high school during the 1950’s. No one knows what the event was except for Mrs. Munson and the twins. They never talk about it.

At two thirty, the spinster Morgan twins arrive. They will bring in coffee and cookies. They will read and knit until closing time. They love to snoop on Mr. Whitten who will arrive at three thirty.

Mr. Whitten, a retired banker and widower, dresses in a nice business suit and colorful tie. He is tall, thin, with curly silver hair, a happy face and ever-present smile. He reads the financial newspapers and according to him, he has predicted every bear and bull stock market for the past fifty years. The younger Morgan twin will give him cookies, it’s clear she likes him.

Emma rolled over and thought about what she needed to do after work, but there was nothing out of the ordinary, there never was. She would be home by 5:15 and her husband, Bishop, will be reading the paper in the front room. They will greet each other with a kiss and she will ask about his day. He will complain about something at work, however, he never asks about her day because nothing ever happens that is noteworthy. Dinner will be ready at six then he will leave for bowling at 6:45, which he does on Monday and Thursday. She will read a romance novel until he returns, and they will be in bed by ten.

She thought about the coming weekend and there was nothing special to look forward to. Most weekends were always the same. On Friday, they go to the fish fry at the American Legion. On Saturday, she cleans the house and washes clothes, and has coffee with the woman next door, Cathy Lynne. Bishop works on the lawn or the cars in the morning, watches some game in the afternoon and will grill steaks in the evening. On Sunday morning, they will go to church. Bishop will watch sports in the afternoon and they have dinner with his parents who are nice people but boring.

She stared at a framed picture of the New York City skyline on the wall and thought about the big dreams she had when she was in high school. She was going to move to New York after college and become a writer, but her life changed abruptly when her father died. She was a junior in high school when he died of a heart attack. Her mother didn’t make much as a librarian and she needed Emma to help with the household expenses. Emma started to work part time at the library and at the grocery as a cashier. She no longer had time for after school clubs or even the school paper, which she loved. Looking back now, she felt sad because she had missed out on so much.

Emma thought about how excited she had been about finishing high school and going away to college on the money from her father’s life insurance. She remembered the day, two weeks after her high school graduation she came home to find her mother collapsed on the kitchen floor from a stroke and her illness caused Emma to change her plans.

She didn’t want to take her mother’s job but given there were no other jobs available for someone her age she had no choice. The county was looking for an immediate replacement and she was the perfect candidate. She reluctantly took the job and during the day, she worked as a librarian and at night she took care of her mother.

 Those were hard years, with her never having any time for herself and it was a constant struggle to pay the bills. Her father’s life insurance money went for her mother’s care, but it wasn’t enough, so she mortgaged the house. Her mother’s health ebbed away and one night she passed quietly in her sleep.

It was a sad time for Emma, she was alone and broke. She was behind on the house payments and twice the utility company cut off her electric. She took a second job at the grocery store as a cashier and still barely made enough to stay afloat. She put her stack of beloved short stories and a half-written novel in a box and tried to forget about being a writer.

She thought how much she struggled then. She lived paycheck to paycheck and worried constantly about money. However, amid her struggles, one good thing happened to her, which was meeting her husband to be, Bishop, at the grocery store. Their relationship blossomed, and they quickly married.

 Bishop was tall, muscular, and handsome with slightly curly, dark black hair and deep blue eyes. He worked as a machine operator at the rubber plant. He was a high school football star, but he hurt his knee in his senior year, so for him there were no college athletic scholarship offers. His family couldn’t afford to pay for college and he ended up working at the rubber plant. He still had dreams of finishing college. He attended a local college for engineering part-time, but he quit after a boss at the plant told him factory workers could never move into professional jobs at the rubber plant. Emma tried to change his mind about school but couldn’t.

Bishop often talked about how his life would have been if he hadn’t gotten hurt. Over the years his dreams had become smaller and so had his ambition. Emma tried not to fault him for it because her dreams were different and smaller now too.

She laid there and tried to convince herself she should be happy with her life. She had a good husband, a roof over her head and had everything she needed, however, the piercing twinge in her heart hit her again. She remembered the dreadful day when she learned she couldn’t have a child. The words from the doctor struck her deep in her core and the depression that followed has never really gone away.

For eight years now, she has prayed some new fertility technique would magically help her, but so far, no new treatment has arrived, and she has nearly given up hope. She had thought about adopting, however, she knew adoption wasn’t the cure for the deep loss she felt. She wanted to experience the motherhood journey from conception to delivery. She yearned to have a baby grow inside her and to see herself and her husband in the child. She wanted desperately to be able to breastfeed and cuddle her own creation and know it was only hers. She was jealous of every pregnant mother and hated it when mothers breastfed at the library, not because of any other reason other than they could and she couldn’t. At times, she got angry at God for giving her the strong desires to be a mother, but not allowing it to happen. There were also the feelings of being a failure to Bishop because he wanted children. She pulled her legs to her chest and let out a deep sorrowful sigh because the pain was still there, haunting her.

The alarm went off again which startled her. She turned it off and got out of bed. She went to the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and didn’t like what she saw. Any more, she never liked what she saw. She had been pretty and slim in high school with long, silky brown hair, light chocolate brown eyes and a wonderful smile. Fifteen years later, at age 33, she had put on weight, too much for her small frame and her hair was dull and out of style. The beauty was still there but hidden under the dark circles and worry lines. On many days, even her magnificent smile stayed hidden.

She put the bad thoughts out of her head and finished getting ready for work. Having stayed in bed too long, she was now running late. She rushed to work and got there only minutes before opening time. She had to hurry because Mr. Parson would be there soon. She went in, unlocked the front door, and turned on the lights. She saw Mr. Parson’s car pull into the parking lot. She looked through the mail and grabbed the morning papers. She unwrapped them and put them in the racks as Mr. Parson walked in.

She tried to look happy. Good morning, Mr. Parson.

Of course, he said nothing in fact he never even looked at her. He took the paper and sat in his usual spot, a high backed, leather chair in the corner.

 The rest of the day would be routine as the same regular patrons came and went. She spent her day checking books in and out and doing paper work. By the end of the day, 35 people visited which was about average.

She went home and made dinner. Monday was always meatloaf and mashed potatoes. They watched the evening news and ate in front of the TV. Bishop left for bowling at 6:30 and returned at nine. They watched a little television and were in bed by ten. Before she fell asleep, she prayed for the strength to continue and for her life to be better.

She didn’t sleep well again and the next morning, she got up late after hitting the snooze alarm three times. This time, she was late to work. It was 9:06 when she opened the front door.

Mr. Parson was standing there with his arms folded. He fussed, The sign says the library opens at nine.

I’m sorry to make you wait.

He nagged, You are a county employee and you are opening a county establishment late. You should be ashamed of yourself.

I’m sorry.

I intend to call the county commissioner and inform him of your tardiness.

She instantly thought of what to say, Listen to me, you old coot! In fifteen years, I have been late only three times by a grand total of 15 minutes and one of those was due to a tornado. I have taken exactly four days off and one of those was to bury my mother. You can take your papers, which you could buy yourself if you weren’t so cheap, and shove them…

Of course, she didn’t, she swallowed hard and murmured, I’m so sorry.

This incident threw off her entire day and the day got worse as it wore on. Publications she had ordered from the main branch didn’t arrive which upset several people. The air conditioner went out on the hottest day of the year and by midday the inside temperature was in the upper 80’s. It was so uncomfortable Mrs. Munson skipped lunch and left. The Morgan twins were irritable and left early. Mr. Whitten came in, discovered there was no air conditioning and left.

She went home exhausted and frustrated. To make matters worse, her boss, who was new in his job, called her at home to scold her about being late. After the call, she collapsed on the couch and cried herself to sleep.

She felt someone touching her arm and she woke up. She rubbed her eyes and realized it was Bishop, who had worked overtime and had just come home.

In an anxious voice, he asked, Are we having dinner? Remember my team is practicing tonight and tomorrow night for the tournament. I need to leave early, and I’ll be home late.

Bishop, I’m so sorry. I had a dreadful day at the library and I must have fallen asleep. Dinner isn’t ready yet.

Irritated, he huffed, I’ll get a burger at the bowling alley.

He got ready and left without saying anything else. Emma moped around the house and waited in bed for him to return from bowling. She wanted to make up with him, but he got in bed, didn’t say a word, and turned out the light even though he knew she was awake. She laid there and prayed for her life to be better. She quietly cried herself to sleep.

The next morning, she got up early and made him a nice breakfast, which he appreciated. They hugged and kissed before he left for work.

She went to work; the repaired air conditioner was working, and the day went normally. Mrs. Munson had left, it was a few minutes before the Morgan twins arrived and the library was empty. An older woman came in, whom she didn’t recognize.    

Emma looked at her as she approached the front desk. She was elegant in the way she dressed and the jewelry she wore. She wore a lovely, light blue fashionable dress with a colorful, expensive dark blue silk scarf around her neck. Emma concluded she wasn’t from around Caitlin.

The woman had a pretty face with hardly a wrinkle. Her hair was in a fashionably styled bob and was snowy white, the color older women want and seldom get when their hair turns grey. The woman put an exquisite, light brown, leather bag on the counter. She pulled from the bag a book bound in rich looking red leather.

She smiled sweetly, This is for you. The woman handed the book to Emma.

Emma turned it over admiring it, This doesn’t look like one of ours. We don’t have anything with such a fine leather cover.

It’s not a library book. It’s a special book I brought for you.

Emma was