The Bibliophile (The Librarian Chronicles Book 3)

by Christy Sloat

  “The war,” I said to myself. I knew the future of this land and what was going to happen in the next ten years.

  The Revolutionary War wasn’t something I felt prepared to fight in. It wasn’t my fight, because I wasn’t from here. Sure, I was American, and I’d bleed for my country, but many men died senselessly from this war.

  Which side would I be forced to join? What side would her father choose?

  Being an Englishman he’d no doubt fight with the king’s army.

  Sitting up I quickly dressed and wandered outside to see if it was light out. The sun had just begun cresting over the trees as the rooster called once more.

  “We hear you, Jake! Now hush up before I cook you!”

  Rose was awake. I followed her voice as she sang something I’d never heard before. I found her in the hen house fully dressed, to my chagrin, and watched as she collected eggs and sang to her chicken.

  “You look lovely this morning,” I said, as she popped her head out.

  “Oh Adam, you nearly gave me a fright. What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?”

  I took her in my arms before she had time to react and kissed her good morning. She reciprocated and backed into the hen house with me in her arms. Lifting her skirt, I ran my fingers along the delicate areas of her and kissed her softly.

  “Stop, before my mother comes out and catches us.”

  Her mouth said stop but her hands pulled me closer and she kissed me again, before letting me go.

  “You’re right. Wouldn’t want anyone to know we’re together,” I joked.

  “Together we are but for now let’s be discreet.” She pulled me in for another kiss, before ducking out once more.

  “Listen,” I said, following her and her basket of eggs. “I wanted to talk to you about something. And maybe talk to your family too.”

  Her eyes grew wide with panic and she fumbled for her basket.

  “Don’t worry, I’m not leaving or anything. But it’s important.”

  She still looked worried as she said, “Well then, follow me.”

  We walked to the house and I tried to grab her hand but she pulled away from me. Either from fear of her father seeing or she thought I had bad news involving us. I wished that I could show her that it didn’t affect us, but once she heard what I had to say, she’d understand.

  The door opened and I came face to face with Helen. Her worn face looked bright this morning as she handed me a stoneware cup.

  “Coffee. Drink.”

  “Thank you. I didn’t know you had coffee,” I said taking a sip. It was bitter to say the least, making me miss my expensive coffee at home. Nothing would be better than that but I would make do for Rose.

  “We have coffee. We are civilized people,” Helen said, taking offense to my comment.

  “Mother, of course he knows that, he just isn’t used to the ways of the woods. Perhaps he thought coffee was only available in the city. Right?”

  Right on cue I said, “Oh yes, that’s what I meant.” I turned on my charm and threw out a nice smile.

  Sitting down at the small table with my horrid cup of coffee, I knew this conversation would go one of two ways:

  They’d think I was lying and crazy and kick me out. Or they’d believe me and prepare for the worst.

  When William came in from the outhouse, he too grabbed a cup of coffee and sat with me. We stared at one another not saying a word. Did he know I defiled his daughter last night? Or did he just like to stare at people?

  Finally breaking the ice, Rose chimed in, “Adam has something important to say.” With that she gave me her full attention.

  Suddenly faced with their intent looks I felt intimidated. Stammering would not do, and being nervous would only make them panic. So, I stood up, and grabbed the coffee and downed it like one would a shot. It burned through my esophagus and gave me some sort of bravery.

  “A war is coming.” I began pacing and realized if I didn’t look them in the eyes it made it easier to talk about the war. Telling them as much as I could, I revealed the plans of the Colonial army and the British army. I had decided not to tell them who would win, or to choose sides. I wanted that to be their choice.

  As I spoke about the years to come and the role they had to play, I heard Rose gasp a few times. Her mother stayed very quiet and her father serious. His arms were crossed and he leaned in to hear me better.

  Telling them as much as I could, without muddying the details, I realized I was practically quoting the books I had studied before coming here. I had found as many as I could from my collection at the shop. I wondered if any other Librarians had gotten the facts right about the true story.

  When I was finally finished it was Helen who spoke first.

  “What of the Cherokee? What will happen to them?”

  I hated to be the one to tell her this news, but who else would if not me?

  “They’ll take the side of the British, and most of them will lose their land. But in ten years the British and the Cherokee will capture Savannah. They’ll do a lot of warring and a lot of killing of those against the crown.”

  She held up her hand and said, “What will happen to our land? To the Cherokee land?”

  I sighed and said finally, “They’ll lose a lot in this war. Eventually, some will try to assimilate to the ways of the American’s, those are the people we will become, and the others will be given a portion of their land to live on. I can’t say if your land will be part of that.”

  Her eyes filled with tears and she looked away from me. Not even able to look me in the eye, I felt awful. But I came here to save Rose, and in doing so, I wanted to save her loved ones.

  “There will be death,” William said more than asked.

  I nodded. “Too much death. And it’s not something anyone can prevent. It’s going to happen and it’s going to get ugly.”

  All the while Rose stayed very quiet. She knew I had to tell her family something, and I wasn’t proud of it. Not one bit. But that was the point of coming back here.

  “How do you know this?” Helen asked, finally able to look at me. “You know much for a man who arrived yesterday. You aren’t just a man, are you?”

  “I’m not sure what you mean,” I admitted.

  “Mother, of course he’s a man, he just knows so much because of his books. Right?” Rose tried to defend me, but I couldn’t use my books to defend me in this situation. I could use them as proof though. Without saying a word, I took off toward my temporary housing and grabbed the history books I chose to bring with me.

  When I placed one in each of their hands, their eyes grew wide with interest.

  “Take the day to read these, I’ll go out and do all your chores if I have to. But please, I beg of you to inform yourselves. And if you still do not believe me, I’ll leave and never return.”

  William nodded and handed me his empty cup of coffee as he said, “Better fill it up. Then get out there and feed those animals. And you might as well go check all the snares to see what we can eat tonight.”

  I could do this, right? Before I could ask how exactly to check snares again, they all ignored me and dug into their books like good students.

  Twenty-Eight

  Rose 1765

  The war that was coming would kill over twenty-thousand soldiers, if not more. They’d either die of battle wounds or illness would claim them. It was coming and it wouldn’t stop for years. April of this last year it began, but being on this mountain we really hadn’t heard about all of the smaller battles that had already broken out. We had heard and partaken in the unrest that was swarming the colonies, but we weren’t privy to the other colony’s battles and fights.

  And soon the British troops would be in Georgia, mainly Savannah. I had goose pimples at the very thought of
the fighting happening right here on our mountain.

  After reading, I realized there was nothing I could do to stop it from coming. And when the British soldiers came calling, my father, despite his injury, would join. Mother’s tribe would join and I would be left alone.

  I sat the book on the table and looked at my parents who stared at one another in awe.

  “We cannot stay here,” my mother said, turning to look at me. “We must go and join my tribe. They can help us.”

  I shook my head. She had learned nothing. Staying in the tribe would not mean safety, especially for our women. The horrors that befell the nation of Cherokee women would haunt my days forever.

  “Mother, nothing we can do can keep them from coming here. And your tribe cannot save us. We will get caught in this fight, whether we want to or not.”

  Father slammed his fist on the table and cursed loudly. His anger wasn’t pointed to me, I knew that.

  “Sitting here when we should be preparing to fight? Those men have no right to go against the crown.” My heart fell at his words. I hated to hear this from him. Knowing that the British didn’t win the war, despite their efforts, wasn’t all that swayed my decision to support the revolutionaries. This was our land, not the crowns.

  Trying to see it from his perspective didn’t help at all. I wasn’t born in England so I didn’t have ties to the crown. My ties lay here with our ridge and our mountain. My allegiance lies here with the family that died alone in their home. We were forced away from the town due to the harsh treatments I endured by men of the same caliber as the Red Coats.

  “We leave, and go to my people. They will guide us. You must come,” Mother pleaded. “They will know what to do.”

  I shook my head in defiance. “No. I will not live like these people,” I said pointing to the books at the table. “The Cherokee will lose it all because they think like you. They will not change their minds, Mother. They will choose the British side and they will die because of it. The Trail of Tears, did you read about it?” I ask her throwing my book upon the table. It made a loud noise and her face became one of anger and insolence. I had made her mad and she was hardly ever angry.

  For me to stand up to her meant I was passionate about this. This had now become more than me, more than me and Adam. It was about surviving during another war, but one that will be worse than all those before. And on this ridge, we’ve stayed somewhat complacent and have not had to worry about it until now.

  Adam bringing it to our attention had enlightened us to the horrors of what is coming.

  “I don’t understand how that young man has books about what is to come,” my father said breaking the stare between Mother and I. “How can he know what hasn’t yet happened?” I finally took a seat across from him. It was time we spoke about Adam and the truths he brought with him from the future. They’ll either shun him or accept him. But ultimately, I had already done the latter.

  ***

  Adam 1765

  It turns out snares are intricate weapons used to trap and kill animals and I was not entirely convinced I can set them once I saw the dead animals that lay inside them. At first, I felt sick to my stomach with sympathy, but after an hour of walking this ridge searching for the tenth snare, I was so hungry I could eat these things raw. Mostly it’s small animals like rodents, squirrels, and rabbits. The random deer spooked me and I thought it was a bear at first. Rose gave me a gun but I had no idea what to do with it. I’m a New Yorker who reads, not a gun toting southerner. But being up here on this mountain I realized my fear and ignorance of guns has turned me into a pro-gun person. I see why these people need them. If you choose to survive here, you need a gun.

  I gathered the last of the dead animals into the satchel Rose gave me and toted them back to the cabin. Luckily it was a well-travelled pathway and I didn’t get lost going in or out. As a came upon their small family home I looked north toward the cabin that now sat empty.

  William told me they buried them and burned all the belongings that were dirty with what he called sickness. I knew it as shit, puke, and God knows what other bodily fluids.

  Suddenly, I remembered something from a book I read before coming here. It was late at night, so it didn’t stick at first glance. But seeing the house in the distance I knew it looked familiar. I took off running to the cabin and burst through their door. All eyes were suddenly on me.

  “Did I interrupt a heated family argument?” I asked jokingly.

  “Actually young man, you have. What is the meaning of this interruption? Are you not finished yet? Did you get frightened by our wilderness future man?”

  Oh shit.

  “You told them,” I said, as Rose nodded.

  “I had no choice, Adam. You showed them books from the future. The publication dates are plainly in them, which is how they believed me. You are quite lucky indeed. They were almost ready to throw you out.”

  Her arms folded and she gave me that wicked stare that I so loved her for. I faced her parents and said,

  “I’m sorry to have deceived you, but please understand that I couldn’t start out by saying, ‘My name is Adam, and I’m from the future.’ I came here to warn your daughter of the impending doom that this country will face, not to be a nuisance. I don’t mean any harm.” Placing my hands up trying to convey that I wasn’t a threat, from the future or not. “I am sorry for barging in. Do you want me to go?”

  William shook his head and Helen stood. Her face looked plain; no expression readable. Frightened they’d shun me, I suddenly feared what would happen if I was told I wasn’t welcome here. Would I go back home? What would I do with the rest of my life?

  Suddenly, the daunting thought of losing Rose horrified me. I wouldn’t be able to go back to my time and just go back to being the guy who owns a bookstore. I had evolved in a very short amount of time and fell for a girl. When people said that love at first sight wasn’t real, they just hadn’t experienced it.

  From the moment I met her, I saw myself with her for a long time. And if that meant I would stay here and risk dealing with her parents, then I would.

  I stood tall facing Helen, a woman of very strong nature, and looked her in the eyes. Her deep, brown stare looked into my very soul and I stared right back.

  “Adam, why did you come?”

  “There is something familiar about the Winthorp’s house,” I answered.

  She shook her head and her straight hair wrapped around her face. Pulling her hair from her face she asked again, “Why did you come here?” This time she pointed to the ground.

  Pointing to Rose I said, “I came back for Rose. I couldn’t leave her here knowing that I was leaving her to die. If that is to be her future I have to try to save her. And you and William as well.”

  “Where is your family? Why do they not come with you?”

  I sighed. My family, what a touchy subject.

  “Well, my father remarried after my mom died. My brothers, Andrew and Charlie, they have families of their own. So I guess you could say that I am all alone now. I have been for a while.”

  She nodded, like she understood what I meant. “Your mother left you alone. And your father, he won’t come?”

  Thinking for a minute about that question, I wondered if Dad would try to find me. If he would be worried. Would my brothers help him search for me? When I left I hadn’t planned on staying permanently, so I left nothing behind explaining my whereabouts to them.

  I would have to send word somehow to Angela. Perhaps it could be done.

  “My family might get worried after a while but I have someone I left behind who knows where I am. And I think she would be able to explain that I am not coming back. She knew that I had feelings for Rose.” Rose took my hand in hers then and stood strong by my side.

  “Fine. You stay. We are now your family, and
we protect you like family. But first, you tell us about the house.”

  Twenty-Nine

  Rose 1765

  Mother had accepted Adam as family just as I had wished earlier for her to do. Accepting him into my heart as mine, I took his hand and squeezed just before he pulled gently away and grabbed a book from the pile on the table. The golden pages struck my eyes and made me wish to run my fingers over them. His books were beautiful and delicate so as I watched him rip the pages open, I cringed.

  He hurriedly looked through it mumbling to himself.

  “There it is,” he said, turning the book so we could all see. “Do you see this house? Does it look like their home?”

  The building had aged tremendously but I knew that cabin. I read the words below it aloud.

  “Located in what used to be referred to as Raven’s Ridge, this house held the notorious war deserters of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Four of the survivors were known to be Cherokee Indian tribe members.”

  Mother ran her fingers over the page and nodded before she said, “It is their home. But once we die it isn’t our home any longer. It now stands alone.”

  “That’s not exactly my point, Helen,” Adam said respectively. “My point is that the house means something important in your states history. And I’m not sure Rose told you why I found her in the first place, but my mom, before she died, was part of a secret group of women. They’re called Librarians and they go back in time to meet important men and women in history.

  “They try to get the historical facts and information correct so that nothing gets recorded incorrectly. My mom left me an unfinished book of someone’s history. She meant for me to finish it. Me coming here means that someone in this room will do something to impact history, and I have reason to believe that it’s Rose.”