Story Time (33 page)

June parked at the bottom of the hill, along the river, farther away than usual because of the crush of presidential onlookers. She hopped out quickly, waved for Kate and George to follow, and led them along the sidewalk of the River Road.

They reached an initial checkpoint, a set of red-and-white barricades manned by Secret Service agents. Kate and George recognized one agent right away. She was the woman who had walked the First Lady out of the secret room and helped load her into the helicopter.

June reached into her bag and pulled out three badges. Each said,
SECURITY CLEARANCE, LEVEL I
, followed by one of their names.

June showed the badges to the agent, who studied them and said, "I'll need to see a driver's license for you."

June complied.

The agent informed her, "I'll need to see official IDs for the kids."

June reached into her bag again, pulled out the small manila envelope, and proffered two documents with raised seals. "Here are their birth certificates."

The agent checked the names versus the names on the badges. She pointed out, "The girl's badge has a different name."

June said, "Sorry, I forgot." She dug out another document. "This is the court order to change her name. Peters was my married name; Melvil is my maiden name. Kate changed her name to match mine."

The agent studied the document. She told Kate, "That's nice."

Then she told June, "You have to wear these badges at all times. These are Level One badges, entitling you to be on the street, but not in the building. Do you understand?"

They all answered, "Yes."

The agent stood aside and let them enter the cordoned-off street.

The first thing Kate, George, and June saw was a group of reporters clustered around Dr. Austin. They listened to him say, "We need tougher assessment standards nationwide."

But June would not let them stand there for long. She guided Kate and George over the thick wires of the TV trucks toward a second security checkpoint.

June found an opening in the crowd and waved to a figure in a high window of the Whittaker Building.

The figure waved back. It was Mrs. Brennan, the director of Library Services. On this special day, she was dressed all in black—black shoes, black stockings, and black dress. It was an outfit that a Story Time witch might wear beneath a black pointed hat.

Mrs. Brennan exited the building a minute later carrying a manila envelope under her arm. She walked up to the security checkpoint and stood before the agent in charge for the day, Agent McCoy himself.

He looked at her Level 2 security badge and then at his clipboard. "What is your name?"

"I'm Mary Brennan, the director of Library Services for King's County."

"And what is your function here today?"

Mrs. Brennan beamed with pride. "I shall have the privilege of assisting Dr. Austin in his Story Time performance. I will be passing out phonics worksheets."

McCoy looked from the clipboard to his timetable. Satisfied that she was telling the truth, he turned his attention to her envelope. "May I see that?"

"Certainly."

Agent McCoy took the manila envelope, opened it, and removed its contents. It was a children's book, the Little Golden Book version of
Walt Disney's Peter Pan.

Mrs. Brennan informed him, "This is the book that Dr. Austin will use."

Agent McCoy answered curtly. "I am aware of that, ma'am. He is doing the
p
sound in
Peter Pan
." Then he softened his tone and added confidentially, "No more
m
sounds. Right?"

Mrs. Brennan's hand shot to her mouth. "Oh heavens no!"

Charley and Pogo emerged through the doors together and joined her. They also wore Level 2 security badges.

Agent McCoy asked, "Who are these two? And what are their functions today?"

"They work for me. They are full-time employees of the library. The lady is Miss Pogorzelski, and the gentleman is Mr. Peters. They will be serving refreshments after Dr. Austin's Story Time performance."

Agent McCoy found the names on his list. "All right."

Mrs. Brennan smiled her most grandmotherly smile at him. She inquired, softly and sweetly, "May we step out into the street for a moment?"

Agent McCoy's attention was already elsewhere. He muttered, "What for?"

"We want to see some of the excitement out here! The TV reporters and all."

"Yes, you can do that. But you will have to pass through the metal detectors again."

"All right. Thank you."

Mrs. Brennan indicated to Pogo and Charley that they should follow her. She walked across the street toward the reporters, but then she veered off to the right and headed straight to June.

When she got to within ten feet, Pogo stopped, bobbed, and waved brightly to Kate, who waved back. Charley Peters stopped, too, but he kept his eyes fixed on the ground.

Mrs. Brennan greeted June with a big hug. Then, in the blink of an eye, like a team of magicians, they switched their manila envelopes. They did it so deftly that no one, not even Kate and George, noticed. June casually slid her new envelope back into her bag.

Mrs. Brennan held her new envelope out at arm's length, like a sacred object. She asked June, "Is it in here? Is this the one?"

"Yes. That's the one. I'm afraid it's long overdue. I'll bet I owe hundreds of dollars in fines."

Mrs. Brennan looked at her kindly. "Do you remember what I told you about Library Forgiveness Days?"

"Yes. I think so."

"They're not about money. They're not about collecting exactly what is due you. "You may never collect exactly what is due you, June. I think you know that. But you will reach a point where that doesn't matter."

June nodded nervously.

"Forgiveness Days are about leaving the past behind and moving on to the future."

Mrs. Brennan turned herself so that June could see the forlorn man standing in her wake. Charley shifted his weight uncomfortably.

Mrs. Brennan whispered, "Come on, June. No questions asked, no punishments meted out. This is a Forgiveness Day."

June put her head down. She squeezed her eyes tightly. Then she took a deep breath, raised up her head, and walked over to Charley.

Charley could not bear to meet her gaze.

June waited patiently until Charley stole a quick glance upward. Then she told him simply, "I forgive you, Charley. You've been punished, severely, for anything you've done wrong. I was the last to see that, but I see it now.

"I forgive you, Charley. I have no more bad thoughts about you. And I hope you will feel the same way about me."

Charley's eyes filled with tears. He croaked out, "Thank you so much, June. I've got no bad thoughts about you. I never had. Just crazy thoughts. I was the crazy one to think anything bad about you."

June held out her hand, Charley reached for it, and they shook, up and down, one time.

Then June walked back to Mrs. Brennan and the children. She crossed her eyes and blew a gust of air up at her own brown bangs, as if to say,
Thank god that's aver with.

Kate and George hugged her from either side.

Mrs. Brennan waited for a moment, then she pointed discreetly to the manila envelope. She whispered urgently, "When can I open it?"

June kept her arms around the children's shoulders. "I would wait, Mrs. Brennan, until about a minute before the performance."

Mrs. Brennan looked worried. "Tell me exactly what to do again."

"Open the envelope, and leave it on the podium with just the top of the book sticking out."

"All right. I can do that."

"Remember: Let Dr. Austin pull out the book the rest of the way. Let him be the one exposed."

Kate couldn't take any more. She demanded to know. "Mom, what's going on?"

June lowered her voice so that only Kate and George could hear. "When I told you my Whittaker Library story, Kate? About you and me at Toddler Time? There was a detail that I left out. I
do
remember one thing about the experience: Jill. It was not Jack who took over my body. I am absolutely certain about that. It was Jill."

She turned to Mrs. Brennan. "Show them the book It's safe if you do it the way that I described."

Mrs. Brennan opened the top of the envelope and carried it over to the children like it was an unexploded bomb. Kate and George peered inside. They saw a Little Golden Book, a match of the
Walt Disney's Peter Pan
that Mrs. Brennan had carried out to June.

June repeated, to Kate and George, "It was Jill. She was inside this very book. And guess what?" Kate's and George's eyes widened. "She's inside it still."

June looked from astonished face to astonished face. "Unless, of course, you don't believe in ghosts."

Kate reached out with a trembling hand. "Can I touch it?"

"Yes. In fact, you have touched it before, Kate. It was one of your favorite books. You held this very copy in your hands when you were a toddler. You turned to me and said, 'You read it, Mommy.'"

Kate tried to cast herself back to that moment, long ago. "I gave the book to you. That means it would have happened to me. I'd have been possessed by Jill. Instead, it happened to you."

"That's right. No one would have given it a second thought. The grown-ups would have said, 'There's little Kate Peters having a little-girl tantrum.' Jill would have escaped, like she always did. She would have joined Jack back home in
Perrault's Mother Goose.
"

George asked, "So why didn't that happen?"

"Because this book never made it back to the scanner. When the fireman got me down, Jill slipped back into the book. I grabbed Kate, and all our stuff, and ran out. This book was part of our stuff."

"Jill thought she'd be going right back into the scanner, to be with Jack. But, instead, she has been a prisoner for ten years in a safe-deposit box?"

June smiled. "That's right. You don't think she's mad, do you?"

Kate shook her head in wonderment. "So what about Jack? Is he really gone?"

June answered decisively. "Jack is gone. We were there when it happened. Right, George?"

George had no doubt, either. "Oh, yes. He's gone. Vaporized. That Ashley-Nicole really kills things dead."

Mrs. Brennan pointed at the Whittaker Building. "But Ashley-Nicole is not here today. And neither is her killing machine."

Kate could barely contain herself. "Oh my god, Mrs. Brennan, do you really think you can do this?"

"I know I can do it. Believe me, little Jimmy Austin will be making an unforgettable impression on the president of the United States today."

Mrs. Brennan started back with the book tucked safely under her arm.

Pogo bent down and peeked at the envelope as she walked by. She then turned to Kate, pointed at it excitedly, and called out, "Jack and Jill went up the hill!"

Kate called back, "Yes! Yes!" and waved good-bye to her. She turned to June and George. "Pogo knew!"

June smiled sadly. "Oh, yes. She always knew. She knew everything. But no one would ever listen to her."

Mrs. Brennan led Pogo and Charley back to the security checkpoint. She opened the top of the envelope to let Agent McCoy glance inside. He waved them in with the order, "Proceed to the metal detectors in the lobby."

Mrs. Brennan, Pogo, and Charley walked under the
Id pendemus
motto and past the
Andrew Carnegie in Hell
mosaic. Soon they, and the long overdue copy of
Peter Pan
and its occupant, Jill, were out of sight.

Then Kate, June, and George turned and started back down the crowded street. They stopped only once, at the spot where Dr. Austin had been interviewed. The TV crew had packed up, but Dr. Austin remained.

He and June stood and stared at each other for a long moment, amid the swirl of people with Level 1 badges, both of them remembering an incident from ten years before.

Dr. Austin looked away first. He shook his head, as if to drive away the memory. He started off briskly toward the Whittaker Building, intent on escape, but he stopped upon seeing George.

In spite of his disturbing encounter with June, and in spite of all the demands on his schedule that day, he took the time to say, "Ah, George Melvil."

George answered with uncharacteristic insolence. "Ah, Dr. Austin."

The insolence was not lost on Dr. Austin. He narrowed his eyes and replied caustically, "Apparently I overestimated you, my boy. You turned out to be a Whittaker Magnet School failure."

George snuck a look at Kate. Then he answered, "'A Whittaker Magnet School failure'? That, sir, would be redundant."

Dr. Austin blinked rapidly. He thought for a moment, then he replied coldly, "I must get ready. I am about to meet the president of the United States."

But George got in the last word, to Dr. Austin's back. "I know. To teach him about the
p
sound in
Peter Pan.
"

As George, Kate, and June watched him walk away, they pictured what would happen during that Story Time: Mrs. Brennan would fold back the manila envelope and place it on the podium; Dr. Austin would pick up the envelope and slide out his copy of
Walt Disney's Peter Pan.

Then they pictured what the vengeful Jill, released after ten years of captivity, might do within the body of the headmaster of the Whittaker Magnet School and the author of
TBC: Test-Based Curriculum
, as he performed for the president of the United States.

After a minute of this contemplation, they turned to go, working their way back through the reporters and the onlookers and the security guards. The morning sun had by now risen fully above the Whittaker Building, and they soon passed from shadow into sunlight.

As they cleared the outer checkpoint, Kate grabbed George by one hand and June by the other. She led them at a brisk pace toward the river. Every step away from the Whittaker Building lifted their spirits higher, so that soon they were practically skipping down the steep hill.

When the building was completely out of sight, Kate could no longer contain herself. She let go of their hands and took off running on her own. She threw back her head to feel the breeze in her hair and the sunlight on her face. Then she stretched out her arms and let the swirling river winds envelop her. They seemed to lift her up and pull her along as if she were weightless; as if she were sprinkled with fairy dust; as if she were flying. Quite involuntarily, she opened her mouth and started to sing.