Chapter 11 - Finding Gazania...
I land back in the library with the usual bump. This time arriving in the early hours of the morning. I rub my eyes in case the evening before was a dream. Looking down I see I am still in my cat burglar camo-kit and am clutching a black bag. There is something in the bag, I rustle my hands around and bring out a neat little parcel wrapped in cabbage leaves. It is the gnome treats from the night before. My journey to the dark-side was ‘for real’ and now I am back in the library. Quickly I change into my normal clothes and stuff my camo kit into the black bag. It’s time to unwrap the gnome treat and munch on some delicious gnome gingerbread. This will have to be my breakfast today. Just as I am about to tiptoe into the library the doors open and the happy campers burst in chattering and yawning and telling tales from the night before.
Next thing Abs is by my side. I nod to say I am okay. “We need to meet and add to the storyboard,” I tell her in a hushed whisper.
Abs gives thumbs up to agree and asks quietly, “Where is Gazania?”
I see the look of shock in her eyes when I shake my head and look away before anyone wonders why we are whispering in the library.
One of the teachers from the camp-out tells everyone that school is closing early so everyone can go home and catch up on their sleep. Abs and I exchange glances and I show her three fingers to indicate three o-clock this afternoon is when we will meet. Abigail, always good at sign language, nods back.
I am just about to leave the library when I notice Miss Sorrel is not in yet. The library counter is unattended. This would be a great opportunity to slip behind the counter and see if there are any clues to help us find Gazania. Uncle Ru has hidden the Princess somewhere. Maybe in his other disguise, as Miss Sorrel, he has left some evidence of where the Princess may be.
There are boxes and papers all stacked behind the library counter. Each class has a box with their lending cards in it. I scratch around and see the one belonging to my class. At the end of the box is an extra library pocket and in it are all my reading tokens that should be up on the read-athon chart. I am furious with Miss Sorrel, how mean to hide my tokens in the back of the library card box. I shake my head in disbelief, but then realize who I am really dealing with, Miss Sorrel AKA Uncle Rumex. Abs thinks this is how we should address his character on the storyboard. AKA is an abbreviation for ‘also known as’ Abs tells me this so we will not get confused as to who Miss Sorrel is.
This is also part of the ‘know your enemy’ advice from Uncle Bert. Our enemy is a master of disguises and a magician too. I do think however, he makes a very untidy librarian. There is another box of library cards right at the back of the shelf. They don’t have the normal names on the front but have little emblems of grey wolves. One of them has the number 398.2 in front of the pocket. Inside the pocket is a card with a little crown and a date.
I write all this down quickly to share with Abs and leave the cards at the back of the library counter. Hopefully Miss Sorrel AKA Uncle Ru will not notice anything has been touched as it is already untidy. I’m exhausted and need to go home and sleep before Abigail arrives at three o-clock. A rushed exit from the library will get me home quickly.
When the doorbell rings at three I have updated the storyboard with all the new information. The war games board is now the center point with all the figures indicated. I know Abs will get a shock when she sees we are there with the gnomes. Standing on their books, in a symbolic circle, are the wolves. At the side of the board is the passage to the cave of bees. In the cave, the bees that have been deceived by the Death’s Head Hawk moths and are sipping the honey from the honeycomb. I draw a picture of the Queen bee in a jar so I remember to tell Abs the Queen bee is safe and back with the gnomes. We did save some royalty, even if it was a bee.
I know she will be disappointed that Princess Gazania was not rescued.
Abs stands by the storyboard and listens seriously while I explain everything. I tell her all about the dark castle called Chillingsgate Castle, the ride in a basket with a giant eagle owl and the brave gnomes, Basil and Chervil. I tell her I am so, so sorry about not finding Gazania. We both look seriously at the storyboard to see what new clues we have that could help. Everything is arranged carefully but there is nothing that helps with finding the missing Princess. Then I remember the cards and library pockets I found at the back of the library counter.
“Oh Abs,” I say slowly, so I don’t break her concentration, “I have some clues that I found in the library. I had to draw them on paper but you will see they are symbols, there are no names like on the cards for all the children.”
I show Abigail the cards I drew. One with a wolf’s head symbol, this is the pocket card and the other with a little crown on it is slipped into the pocket. On the front is the number 398.2. Abs is good at cryptic clues and puzzles. She is one of the smartest girls I know. I am sure she will figure this out and find the answer to where the Princess really is. I feel we are very close now and that the clues are pointing to the library. I watch Abs carefully and wait for her face to light up and then I will know she has found a solution.
I guess she is thinking aloud as she goes over all the clues, the symbols, the numbers, and the library as a part of the crime scene. She puts Miss Sorrel aka Uncle Ru into the scene. I can see she is thinking very hard about something.
Finally she looks up with a huge grin on her face. “What if,” she whispers dramatically. “What if Princess Gazania is being hidden in a book in the library. Like a character in a story. Uncle Ru is keeping her there as part of his evil plan so he can devastate the King and Queen. They feel so miserable they can’t fight back and Uncle Ru gets his way and overthrows the King to become king himself. Also with Gazania out of the way there is no other heir to the throne.”
Nodding seriously I think about this. What if Gazania is actually in the library and all we need to do is break the code to tell us which book she could be hidden in.
Abs stands up suddenly!
“I’ve got it!” she says excitedly. “The numbers relate to the coded system for cataloguing the library books. We need to find 398.2 and see what books are in that section. I think there is a link to wolves and books as all the wolves on Uncle Ru’s games board are standing on books. Did you see any titles?” I shake my head wishing I had been more observant.
“Perhaps it is a story about wolves?” says Abs.
“Or a story with a wolf in it,” I add as we both think about stories we have read.
Abs and I discuss the various stories we know with wolves in them and come to the conclusion that it could be one of the traditional fairy tales like the Three Little Pigs, or Peter and the wolf. We dismiss these and think some more. Abs remembers Little Red Riding Hood. It could be the one as there is a girl in the story who goes into a forest and is met by a wolf.
My head nods in agreement. We must look for Little Red Riding Hood. We are a bit confused by the number on the card because it is part of the non- fiction section of the library, but Abs feels it is a part of the clue. When we are sure we have found the right book we make our plan for the way to search inside that book. I believe we will get through the passage of time into the book in the same way as before.
I turn to Abs and am about to say something when Abs says, with a little tremor, in her voice says, “Sam, I would really like to find the Princess myself. You see, I personally want to hand back the diary to the Princess.”
“What a good idea! I totally agree. Meeting the Princess in a fairy-tale story like Red Riding Hood is definitely a girl thing!”
I can see Abs is excited to have her own part in the rescue mission and so we agree that we will meet in the library tomorrow at the same time. Abs will find the 398.2 book, it sounds a bit like a prison number! I can cover for Abs in the library while she goes to find and rescue Princess Gazania. There will be a tricky part during the rescue as we try to make a crossing from Little Red Riding Hood’s story to Princess Gazania’s castle in Gardinia th
rough the herb book.
The next day the library is very quiet. We manage to creep in and get a browsing stick for Abs. She has found that the 398.2 numbers fall under folktales in the social science section.
“Abs, you are so clever, I had no idea how the numbers work in a library,” I say. “Maybe you will be a librarian when you grow up!”
We have managed to arrive before Miss Sorrel and we go to look for our storybook. We find a collection of classical fairy tales. It is a book with a number of stories in it. Abs agrees this is a good option and with a very courageous shrug of her shoulders...she lifts her browser towards the book. In a flash she is gone and I am left staring at the Classical Fairy Tales book in section 398.2.
It feels strange to be without my partner but I know she is the best person to find the Princess Gazania. I just have to wait patiently.
While I am waiting...I think a bit more about the library. Why did Uncle Ru choose the library alongside Gardinia, as his crime scene. Two different worlds but both of them able to meet in the library. I think too of the lovely librarian, Miss Jones. She went missing as soon as Miss Sorrel arrived. Where could she be? I am sure she did not leave of her own free will. She loved being in the library.
There are no children in the library right now so I take a few steps towards the library counter. Perhaps there is some information hidden there that could give some clue as to what really happened to Miss Jones. I look carefully behind the muddled up cards and right at the back of the boxes is a brown envelope. Every so often it gives a little wiggle. I wonder what it could be. It is a letter addressed to Miss Jones but the address is crossed out and the word “Bookworm” is written on the front.
Carefully I open the envelope. Inside there is a pupa, the kind that likes to go underground into a dark place waiting to hatch.
I wonder if it is possible that poor Miss Jones was turned into a bookworm and has to pupate before she can get wings and fly. That’s the kind of mean trick that a magician could pull.
Suddenly there is a thump in the background and I realize I am not watching section 398.2. I rush back there and sure enough Abs and the Princess are back from the book of fairy tales. They are a bit out of breath and I know Abs is going to tell me the whole story of their escape.
I bow with respect to the Princess and say, “Your highness I am so glad that we have found you and you are safe. The people of Gardinia, especially your parents and of course the gnomes will be thrilled to have you back.”
The Princess looks at me and replies,“Samuel Greene, you are a real hero. You have saved the day and me too. I will tell my father that you should receive a knighthood for your bravery. In my father’s place I would like to bestow this honor on you right now.”
Princess Gazania asks me to kneel in front of her and with her browser stick she taps me on the shoulder to declare my knighthood.
“Arise Sir Samuel Greene,” she says with a very important sounding voice.
“ You are a hero to all of Gardinia.”
The she turns to Abigail and thanks her for returning her diary and for all her help in the search and rescue mission. We guide the beautiful Princess towards the Botany section of the library so she can make her entry into Gardinia through the Herb book.
Before she leaves, Gazania says in a solemn voice, “You are not out of danger yet. Uncle Ru specially chose you. He needed a connection to the library through someone who would also make the journey to Gardinia. Someone like you Sam, who would be strong and brave enough to take on this battle against good and evil. Uncle Ru under-estimated you Sam. He thought that he could be smarter than you, but you proved him wrong. He has not finished with you yet. Be on your guard,” warns Princess Gazania.
I nod my head and look at Abs. She nods too. We shall be very careful but we hope we have ended Uncle Ru’s plans and that Gardinia will return to normal again.
“I don’t think you should visit Gardinia until we can be sure Uncle Ru’s plans are squashed. I will send you news of how everything is when I am back there,” says Princess Gazania. She thanks us once again and with a whoosh from the magical browser stick she disappears into Gardinia.
“Oh Sam, I can just imagine the excitement as she arrives and Lupa carries her to the castle to be reunited with her parents,” says Abs with a huge smile on her face.
It is time to return to the library study area and from there we make our way home. Somehow through all the excitement of rescuing the Princess, I feel we have missed something. I am about to thank Abs and congratulate her on finding and rescuing the Princess when I hear some disturbing noises coming from the front of the library. It sounds like banging and scraping. I wonder what all the fuss is about.
Diary of a 6th Grade Spy - Book 1 - Zero to Hero Page 13
