by Anna James
‘You shouldn’t feel embarrassed at all,’ Tilly said. ‘I thought you were wonderful. I wish I was brave enough to stand up for myself like you did. I think everyone else was very much on your side, and look how bad Gilbert felt afterwards.’
‘Don’t even say his name to me, Tilly,’ Anne said, though her cheeks glowed with pleasure. ‘I won’t utter it from now onwards. What do you think, Oskar?’
‘Uh, about whether to ever say his name again? I feel like it might get impractical,’ Oskar offered.
‘No, do you think he felt terrible afterwards?’ Anne asked.
‘I guess?’
‘Just as I thought,’ Anne said with a satisfied grin on her face.
Their conversation was interrupted by a tapping sound coming up the path towards them. Tilly felt as though the air had been sucked from her lungs when she saw the man in the grey bowler hat come round the corner.
She elbowed Oskar urgently in the side. ‘That’s Mr Chalk. The man my grandparents were talking about. Anne, I don’t know why he’s here,’ she whispered. ‘He was in the bookshop, talking to Grandad, and he was at Alice’s tea party too.’
‘He was talking to your grandad?’ Oskar said, frowning.
‘Yes. He was talking about a library.’
‘Well, he’s heading our way, and he certainly has a very sour-looking face, doesn’t he?’ Anne said, raising herself on to her elbows.
Chalk neared where the three of them were now standing and doffed his hat at them, a thin smile on his face that didn’t even nearly reach his eyes.
‘Matilda,’ he said coldly. ‘Out and about again, I see?’
‘Who are you?’ Tilly said, ignoring his question. ‘Are you following me?’
‘My name is Mr Chalk,’ the man said. ‘I used to work with your grandfather a long while ago. And don’t be so self-centred, child. I’m merely out for a wander. Checking the borders, as it were. Just a happy coincidence to run into you, and with a friend as well,’ he said, nodding towards Oskar.
Tilly didn’t trust herself to say anything.
‘Does Tilly’s grandad know about all of this?’ Oskar said, gesturing vaguely around.
Chalk made a noise like a giggle laced with a sneer. It was the worst sound Tilly had ever heard.
‘Has your grandfather told you nothing?’ Chalk said. ‘How interesting. An excellent plot twist, you might even say.’ He looked around as if wanting applause. ‘I wonder … But no, I’ll let you get back home then, children. It sounds like you need to have a tête-à-tête with your grandfather. Perhaps we’ll run into each other again sooner than we think.’ And with that he tapped his way up the path.
Tilly shivered, even though the sun was still warm and high above the trees.
‘Can you take us home, please, Anne?’ she said quietly.
Anne sighed as though their leaving was the saddest possible thing she could imagine, but held out her hands. Tilly and Oskar both took one and the moment they were all linked the woods melted away as the familiar surroundings of Pages & Co. folded out and up around them. Just before the real world had settled and solidified, Anne smiled and let go and melted back into her story, leaving them standing in the bookshop.
‘I think we need to talk to your grandad,’ Oskar said.
They found him sitting at his desk with a cup of coffee and one of Jack’s croissants. He smiled absent-mindedly as they came over. ‘Lovely to see you, Oskar. How are you getting on with that book?’
‘Grandad,’ Tilly said and he looked up as he registered her solemn tone.
‘What’s happened?’ he said urgently.
‘Grandad, we need to ask you about something,’ Tilly said, and he blanched. ‘We just got back from a book.’
‘Like, inside a book,’ Oskar said.
‘Specifically, Anne of Green Gables,’ Tilly added.
‘Together? You were both in Anne of Green Gables at the same time? That really is most unusual,’ Grandad said almost to himself.
‘I think we’re way past unusual,’ Oskar said.
‘Well, I suppose I knew this day was going to come eventually,’ Grandad said, taking a deep breath. ‘I think it’s time for you to meet the Librarian.’
he what?’ Tilly said.
‘The who?’ Oskar said at the same time.
‘As you have no doubt worked out,’ Grandad said briskly, ‘considering where you’ve just been, there is a little more to Pages & Co. than most customers ever see. In fact,’ he said, looking curiously at Oskar, ‘it’s not something most customers ever see, and something that not all readers are able to do. But it’s better if the Librarian explains it all to you – that’s how we do things.’
‘We?’ asked Oskar, but he was ignored again.
‘Are we going right now?’ Tilly said in surprise.
‘Not right now, no, but we do need to go relatively soon. There are some basics we need to get covered to keep you safe, especially if you’re being dragged into books, even if it’s just to Avonlea. It’s a good job you’re not an avid Lord of the Rings reader or we’d have to deal with this even more urgently. Let’s go and ask Mary if she’s happy for Oskar to come with us into town later today.’
‘I can go and ask her,’ Oskar said quickly. ‘I’m sure today will be fine. Where are we going? Do I need a packed lunch? An umbrella?’
‘Oskar, this isn’t a school trip; this is all more complicated than you could possibly know,’ Grandad said.
‘It’s more complicated than the fact that we just travelled inside a book? It’s more complicated than the fact that Alice from Alice in Wonderland just pops into Pages & Co. for a little chat with Tilly now and again? It’s more complicated than some sinister man following Tilly through books?’ Oskar said in disbelief.
‘It is considerably more complicated than that, yes, Oskar,’ Grandad replied. ‘Hang on. What did you say about a sinister man following Tilly? A character in one of the books?’
‘No,’ Tilly explained. ‘It was that man who came to visit you here the other day – Mr Chalk.’
‘And he was in Anne of Green Gables?’
‘And Alice in Wonderland,’ Tilly added.
‘You’ve been to Wonderland too?’ Grandad shook his head. ‘And he was there at the same time as you and Oskar?’
Tilly nodded.
‘But he didn’t enter the book at the same time as you two? Are you sure?’
‘Absolutely sure.’
‘Did Chalk say anything to you, Tilly?’
‘He was just all weird and creepy and then he left. He said he knew you from work, and he laughed when he realised you hadn’t told me about it,’ Tilly said quietly.
‘Okay. Okay. Right, Oskar, you go back to—’
‘But—’ Oskar protested.
‘Hear me out,’ Grandad said. ‘You go back to Crumbs and ask your mum if you can come with us into King’s Cross this afternoon. Tell her I’m taking you two to the British Library. Tilly and I will come by to pick you up in a bit – text Tilly or pop back in if there’s a problem.’
Oskar was about to launch into a new list of questions, but at the unsettled look on Tilly’s face he swallowed his queries, closed his mouth and nodded.
Grandad squeezed him firmly on the shoulder. ‘Thank you, Oskar. We’ll see you soon. Now, Tilly, let’s find your grandma.’
Grandma was behind the till, chatting animatedly to a regular customer.
‘You are coming to the party on Wednesday, aren’t you?’ they could hear her saying.
‘So sorry to interrupt, Charlie,’ Grandad said to the customer, ‘but, Elsie, I think I’m going to take Tilly and Oskar for a trip into town to the British Library.’ He winked theatrically at Grandma who shook her head slowly. ‘To see Amelia. You know, maybe …’
‘Thank you, Archie. I’ve caught your drift, so you can stop winking.’ Grandma looked at Tilly and smiled, although it was laced with something Tilly couldn’t quite identify. She handed Charlie a paper bag
and receipt with a smile and then turned her attention fully to Tilly.
‘It’s very exciting, sweetheart,’ Grandma said. ‘And Oskar as well, you said? Archie, do you want to take over here and maybe Tilly and I can go and have a quick catch-up in the kitchen?’
Tilly nodded in a dazed silence, not quite able to wrap her head around her grandparents talking so casually about what seemed to be actual magic.
Over a cup of tea at the kitchen table, Grandma watched Tilly carefully.
‘I’m sure you’ve already told Grandad all of this, but I’d love to hear about when you first realised what was happening.’
‘I didn’t really realise until just now,’ Tilly said. ‘I didn’t know what was happening to me, and when I first told Oskar he thought I was imagining things because I felt sad about Mum after finding those books of hers.’
‘I’m sorry we didn’t tell you earlier, Tilly,’ Grandma said. ‘It’s something we talked about a lot, but we decided that there was no way of explaining it before it actually happened; you would have thought we were going mad.’
‘I just can’t believe I have magical grandparents and I didn’t know!’
Grandma laughed. ‘Oh, Tilly. To my eternal sadness we are not magical at all; we’re just lucky enough to be able to use the natural magic of books and reading. It exists for everyone, but some of us can exert a little more control over it. I can no more cast a spell than I can convince your grandad to stop hoarding shoeboxes. So, where have you been so far? I hope it was somewhere particularly enjoyable and not too perilous?’
‘I went to the tea party in Alice in Wonderland first, and then to school with Anne Shirley,’ Tilly said, feeling like she was reading lines from someone else’s story, not talking about her own life. ‘Before I knew I could go inside books, when I’d just met Anne and Alice at Pages & Co., I tried to get Sara to come out of A Little Princess, but nothing happened.’
‘Why A Little Princess?’ Grandma asked slowly.
‘I’m not sure, it just felt like the right book,’ Tilly said. ‘It feels like ages since I read it, but Grandad had just told me it was my mum’s favourite, and it reminded me how much I liked Sara.’
‘He did, did he?’ Grandma said. ‘Well, I suppose that’s true, but she liked a great many books apart from that one. And, if you didn’t yet know what was possible, I’m not surprised nothing happened. When everything first kicks in it’s only the characters you have the very strongest relationships with that tend to start popping up – it’s why Anne and Alice ended up visiting you in Pages. Now, tell me what happened with Oskar.’
So Tilly told Grandma everything that had happened over the last few days, right up to Oskar getting yanked into Avonlea with her and them confronting Grandad.
‘And that brings us to here,’ Tilly concluded. ‘Grandad says we have to go and visit a librarian at the British Library.’
‘Well, it’s sort of nearby the British Library,’ Grandma said. ‘But this is a bit of a special library, and a bit of a different librarian. Different but wonderful, and it’s brilliant that you get to share it all with Oskar. It’s good to have a friend around in this sort of situation.’
‘You mean the sort of situation where you find out you live in a magical bookshop and you can talk to your favourite characters?’ Tilly said, a flicker of excitement starting to glow inside her.
‘Exactly,’ Grandma said, smiling.
rchie and Tilly!’ Mary said, delighted to see them when they pushed through the café door a few hours later. Oskar was buzzing excitedly by her side. ‘How lovely to have a visit. Sit down, sit down and let me get you a pot of tea. Oskar says you’ve offered to take him into town with Tilly – are you sure it’s not an imposition?’
‘No time for tea, thanks, Mary,’ Grandad said. ‘And yes, of course, happy to have him along! Give them both a change of scenery, you know.’
‘Oh yes,’ Mary said, looking pleased, ‘it would be good for Oskar to get out for a bit and experience some culture at the same time. Is there an exhibition on at the moment that you fancied?’
Grandad faltered and Oskar jumped in. ‘It was something to do with Alice in Wonderland that you were keen on, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes, I believe you can see some of Lewis Carroll’s manuscripts in the Treasures Gallery,’ Grandad bluffed.
Tilly and Oskar nodded along.
‘Lovely,’ Mary said. ‘Thanks so much, Archie. Oskar, do you have your Oyster card?’
Oskar patted his jeans pocket in response.
‘Perfect,’ Mary said. ‘Can’t wait to hear all about it.’
The trio set off for the station, which was only a five-minute walk down the high street. They scanned their cards on the machines and bundled on to a train heading into central London; Tilly spotted one person with a Harry Potter book, but people were mainly reading the free newspapers.
The British Library was a couple of minutes down the road from King’s Cross station, but Oskar and Tilly still had to break into an awkward half-jog to keep up with Grandad, who was striding ahead, weaving speedily in and out of people wearing suits, and tourists wielding Tube maps and cameras. They nearly crashed into the back of him as he suddenly stopped outside a huge red-brick arch that marked the entrance.
‘The British Library’ was carved into the stone above their heads and a black iron grid of letters spelled out the same words underneath it. They stepped through into a large courtyard full of every kind of person you could imagine: students with unwashed hair, weighed down by threadbare tote bags full of books; slick-looking businesspeople shaking hands and hipsters with slim laptop cases and reusable coffee mugs all mingled around them. The floor of the courtyard was a grid of red and white bricks and the coppery buildings that surrounded them were lined with red accents. The spires and clock tower of King’s Cross station peeped out from behind the library walls and a huge statue of a man holding some kind of mathematical equipment dominated the view.
‘Who’s that supposed to be?’ Oskar asked, pointing at the vast sculpture.
‘That’s Sir Isaac Newton,’ Grandad said. ‘The statue was made by a sculptor called Eduardo Paolozzi. It’s inspired by a drawing of Newton by William Blake, the writer.’
‘Awesome,’ Oskar breathed.
Grandad shepherded them towards the steps up to the main entrance. They passed the line of people having their bags checked by security guards and walked into a huge, airy entrance hall. There was a giftshop to their left, and a low white desk immediately in front of them where people were being given directions and information. Stairs and escalators led off in several directions and the air was filled with a gentle musical hum of noise and typing. It smelled like coffee and paper. Behind the reception desk was a huge tower made of glass and black metal that stretched up towards the ceiling, and which was lined with thousands upon thousands of ancient-looking books. Grandad headed straight towards it.
On the first floor there was a set of padded black doors with a gilt sign overhead saying ‘The King’s Library’. A narrow walkway led to a door behind a gate that said very clearly in large letters ‘Staff Only’. Grandad pushed it open without hesitation.
‘Uh, Grandad, it says staff only in here. I don’t think we’re allowed,’ Tilly said nervously.
‘Don’t worry, Tilly, it’s okay. You’ll see …’ Grandad said, not seeming to notice the curious glances from the people working at the nearby desks. There was a black keypad by the door that Grandad punched four numbers into before pushing one of the heavy doors open with a satisfying click. Tilly and Oskar slipped through after Grandad into a cool dark space lined with countless books. When she wasn’t looking directly at them Tilly could have sworn the page edges were rustling and whispering to each other.
Grandad led them down a twisting metal staircase to what looked like a lift door tucked away in a corner. There was an ‘Out of Order’ sign pinned up, but Grandad pressed the button anyway and the doors slid open.
&nbs
p; Tilly and Oskar looked at Grandad in confusion, but he pushed them gently inside.
‘Most of the British Library is four levels under your feet,’ Grandad said, ‘but, um, we sort of borrow some of the space from them.’
‘Who’s we?’ Tilly said, looking at him quizzically.
‘You’re about to find out,’ he said as he swiped some sort of card down a slot and pressed one of the buttons. The lift juddered and started to move, but, instead of going up or down, the now familiar toasty, marshmallowy smell filled the air and the sides of the lift cascaded down like wallpaper strips peeling away. In place of the beige walls there was an ornate interior made of dark, shiny wood and gilt decorations. Lines of gold buttons stretched from the floor to the very top of the lift, too high for Tilly to have pushed if she wanted to.
The doors pinged open.
‘Welcome to the British Underlibrary,’ Grandad said. ‘After you.’
illy and Oskar looked at each other in confusion.
Grandad’s tone had implied something huge and grand, but they were standing in a narrow corridor with wooden floorboards and nondescript doors lining the walls that curled round into darkness. It was far from unpleasant, but the majestic towers of books that they’d come from were much more impressive and Tilly had grown used to book magic transporting her somewhere wild and wonderful.
‘Where did you say we were exactly?’ she asked, looking up at Grandad.
‘The Underlibrary,’ Grandad repeated, gesturing.
‘Do you know something I don’t?’ Oskar said to Tilly under his breath. Tilly shook her head in response and he elbowed her into another question.
‘What exactly is the Underlibrary?’ Tilly asked. ‘We did the whole flippy magic thing in the lift, but we’re just in a normal corridor. Ohhh … Are we in a normal corridor that is actually in a book?’
‘What book is there an underlibrary in?’ Oskar whispered to Tilly.
