Secret Library

She wasn't surprised that her great -grandmother’s house was full of books. She has been a librarian and her great-grandfather, a historian.

So, the piles of books everywhere, from the overstuffed bookshelves, to the piles on the desks and tables, were expected.

“It will take me a good month to go through them,” she says aloud. The old house absorbs her words, seemingly to tuck them away with all the others, “thanks granny.”

“When I die, you shall take charge of mine and Michael ‘s books. There is no one I trust more, Leah.”

Granny was dying of old age and Leah would have promised her anything.

“I will see to them, granny. Don't worry.” The old woman patted her hand, her hand as soft as her new great- great- granddaughter ‘s.

“I know my love.”

She passed a day later. Now with the funeral seen too and her beloved granny resting beside her gramps, Leah prepares to keep her promise. Her daughter, Gracie, is with her daddy.

“Alright granny, let's see what you have left me.”

She starts making piles. One for donating to the local library, one for donating to the university where her gramps taught until a year before he passed. Another is for gifting to family and friends, another for her personal reading.

She starts to place them in big reinforced boxes, labeled with what pile they are in. They will stay where they are until her husband, Marcus, comes to move them.

“Please don't overdo it,” he reminded her before she left,” you are still recovering.”

“I won't.” She assured him. His worry is understandable with Gracie’s birth just two months ago and all she went through.

She cleans out one bookcase the first day. Her progress hindered a bit by stopping to read so often. She chuckles as she brushes the dust off of her.

“You cannot go through books without reading. Right granny?”

It is strange there is no answer. She is so used to her croaky voice, calling out her name, laughing, sharing stories from the past. The silence is hard to deal with.

She shakes her head. Her granny and Gramps are still here. They are in the wonderful literature they left. A smile. “That is why you are having me go through it, isn't it? A reminder.”

A week later, she has worked back to the piles in the office her great- grandparents shared. It is dusty, Her granny hadn’t been able to get back here in years. She should have seen to it. A wave of guilt hits.

“I am sorry granny.”

She can here her as if she was in the room with her. “Hush child. You saw too me. This is just a room.”

A smile as she gets out her dusty clothes. That is exactly what she would have said, were she here. “Yes granny.”

It is weird to be talking aloud to her but it makes her feel less alone. Unable to have the baby around the dust, her husband can't be with her.

“I would if I could,” he said just this morning, “You know there is no hurry.”

Logistically, he is right. Except for the books, their estate is to be sold with the money going into a trust for Gracie. Still…

“I know. I will just feel better having it done.”

She works on gramp’s desk first. Her granny has mostly seen to it so there were very few books there. The ones that are, go into the university box. She has already filled up five of them. Marcus has moved them into the front room, to be all gathered together when she is done.

After removing the books, she removes all the other things from the desk. Pictures of her mainly and granny. She places them in the box of stuff she is keeping and wipes an inch of dust off. Then she moves to her granny’s desk.

Here the book piles are much bigger. Her granny also has pictures of her and Gramps. She removes them first, not wanting a frame broken as she moves the books. Taken a seat in the chair brings back memories of doing the same, perched on granny's lap.

They had partly raised her, watching her when her grandma was at work. Her parents, well, God alone knows where they are. Shaking the bad memories away, she lets the good ones come over her. Learning to read with her granny tracing each word, listening to their stories of the past, baking cakes in the kitchen, gardening in the back. A sigh.

“Alright enough Leah. Don't get weepy now.” She wipes her eyes. That is when she sees the letter, sticking half out of the center drawer. That drawer always contained crayons, then markers, and finally, soft drawing pencils. Granny and Gramps discovered and nurtured their great-granddaughter’s artistic ability.

She pulls the letter out. It is addressed to her in her granny's flowing script.

‘My darling Leah,

If you are reading this, then I am with your grandma and gramps. Don't mourn too heavily, my child. We all have a time to go. This is mine.

You will be going through the books. I have kept a secret. A big one.

Please don't be cross with me but, you couldn't have known, not until now.

In the drawer you found this in, there is a key. It opens a hidden door. The door is behind this desk. Run your hand over the top of the wall and you will find the latch for it.

I love you Leah. You will know what to do with the contents.

Love and kisses

Granny.’

She reads it twice before reaching in her drawer and finding the key. A reach up towards the ceiling unlatches the wall. It slides into itself and there is the door.

She hesitates before opening it. A secret. She would have sworn that her and granny had none. A shaking hand slips the key into the lock. It clicks home. She opens the door and steps into a dream.

“Good God!” She breathes out as she explores the huge space. It is a library. Stacks line the whole area. She picks up the nearest book and almost drops it.

“A first edition of Romeo and Juliet!” She couldn't believe it. A quick sea

rch shows that the hidden library is full of rare books, “What is this granny!”