Missing?

Virginia let her fingers drift across the boxes of new books she had received; well, not new really, but new to her. An elderly lady, aging gracefully, had brought in the boxes she had collected from her father’s mansion as she emptied out his vast library, promising that they would be the first of many.

The lady never said her name, but there was no need. Virginia knew she was the cherished only daughter of the esteemed founder and long-time president of the exclusive local private preparatory school, Green Valley. Professor Kirke had been highly regarded in the community, even if considered to be a bit of an eccentric. Upon graduation, his daughter, Margo, opted to leave the area to attend Wellesley in Boston. Unfortunately, her departure coincided with the disappearance of four siblings from Green Valley who had been shipped from England to the United States during World War II to continue their education in safety. Though the search was thorough and intensive, the pupils were not found, and to anyone’s knowledge, they were never seen again either in America or Europe. It was as though they had simply vanished. Local tongues connected the two events and made suggestions that somehow Margo had something to do with the disappearance of the four and that Dr. Kirke had been instrumental in covering it up. The rumor had damaged Dr. Kirke’s reputation and, consequently, the school’s image for many years until the war ended and things returned to normal. Still, locals often referred back to the mysterious disappearance, and in talking about it, mentioned Dr. Kirke and his possible involvement yet again. Dr. Kirke eventually chose his successor and retired to his large mansion on the edge of town, only occasionally inviting visitors, mostly old colleagues, to join him for dinner. Margo, meanwhile, had married well and moved to Europe and was not seen in town again, although rumors suggested that she occasionally returned to visit her father in his old age.

Virginia’s thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of the bell on the front door indicating a customer in her bookstore. She removed the sterile gloves she always wore to examine new books and walked forward to greet her guest with a smile. On this occasion, her customer was an out-of-towner, someone she had never seen before. She welcomed him and offered her assistance. He replied that he was just passing time while his wife was getting her hair done, but that he was a collector of first editions and would like to see any that she had. She led him to the back of the store to a few shelves set aside for rare and antiquarian books. She pointed out her favorite, a first edition of C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch and The Wardrobe. Not only was it a first edition, but it was also a first printing and a signed copy with excellent binding and dust cover intact. This sort of book was a rarity indeed. It had been in the store since Virginia could remember, priced out of range for local readers, but waiting instead for a true collector that could appreciate its significance. She left the gentleman to admire the Lewis and other titles on the rare book shelves and she went back to the Kirke collection, eager to get a glimpse of the local legend.

Virginia had learned over the years that books are a reflection of the readers who own them.As she received books from local residents who had thinned their collections, she learned about the people they were. She was eager to see what Dr. Kirke considered worthy of his library and to learn about the man himself. His library had been meticulously catalogued with a book plate in the front of each tome noting the date it was acquired along with other relevant information, like location where purchased or who gave him the title. Virginia couldn’t help herself – she began to sort the books by acquisition date knowing that this method would show the evolution of the doctor’s tastes. She wished she already had the other boxes promised by Margo, but she made do with the ones she had. As expected, the library had begun around the time of his university years and consisted of text books typical for a well-rounded course of study:literature, history, science, humanities. The books were filled with handwritten notes tucked between pages that corresponded to the topic because the professor was apparently not the type of student to write in his books. Virginia found that following college, Dr. Kirke developed quite an eclectic selection of books. If she were to guess, she would say that he quickly developed interests, studied them until his thirst to understand them was satiated, and then moved on. Scattered throughout the decades were many works of classical fiction. In the later era of his library, he had turned to reading what she considered to be science fiction or fantasy. These books revolved around time travel and alternate universes. He had many works in these genres, including A Wrinkle in Time and The Lord of the Rings series, as well as most of the Narnia books. Her own love of Narnia gave her a sense of a kindred spirit in the professor. She regretted never getting to meet him and now she wished she had held Margo back a bit to get to know her better; however, the older woman had seemed as though she had somewhere to be so she probably would not have welcomed the delay.

Virginia returned to the rare book shelves to check on her customer. As she chatted with him, she found him to be mysteriously vague and unwilling to divulge much about himself. She did, however, learn that his early life had been spent in England, before he moved to America and lived with a wealthy uncle. When she asked him if he had ever returned to England, he simply made a reference to a life of seeking adventure. He checked his watch and realized he had to go, so he asked her if she would set the Lewis book aside for him while he considered purchasing it. Silently, she laughed at the idea of setting it aside – it had been In the shop for years as a book which had turned up under unusual circumstances when her mother still owned the store. Still, she agreed to set it under the counter for a few days. He smiled at her graciously, thanked her, and told her he would return to let her know his decision.

Virginia returned to sort more of the incoming books. Her thoughts turned back to the Lewis and she remembered when the book arrived in the store. When the four kids disappeared, the school held on to their belongings for quite a long time, but eventually the school packed their rooms up and donated their property to local causes. The bookstore wound up with several boxes of random books and the Lewis was among them. Suddenly, something clicked in Virginia’s mind and she slipped back to the Professor’s books to check whether her insight was correct and it was. The Professor’s reading had moved toward alternative existences at about the same time that the kids disappeared and this book appeared in the shop. In fact, the only book of The Chronicles of Narnia that was missing from the first boxes from the Professor’s library was The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. Surely this was not a coincidence, but – what else could it be?

School let out at the nearby Junior High and students flooded in to hang out, as they did every afternoon. Virginia pulled herself away from the boxes of books and gave attention to the boisterous youth. They were energetic after sitting in class all day but they were well-mannered and welcome in the store. Knowing they would be visiting after school, she usually tried to have something interesting to draw their attention, but on this day she had been distracted herself so she had nothing ready. Quickly improvising, she brought out the Professor’s books and told them where the books had come from and who had owned them. The Professor was a local enigma, so anything that involved him was instantly fascinating for the community, and the kids were no different. They eagerly perused the books and Virginia went on to tell them about her interesting discovery. Finally, she drew the Lewis out from behind the counter and showed it to them, telling them how it came to be in the store and how that title had been the only one missing from Professor Kirke’s Narnia collection. Most of the youth were interested but quickly satisfied their curiosity and filtered out into the sunlit late afternoon. One boy, Frank, was especially fascinated and he spent a long time looking at the Lewis. He turned the inside of the dust cover up and gasped. Hidden under the dust cover was a handwritten note under the author’s signature.

“Digory, my boy, Mysteries abound. Let the adventures begin! Most Sincerely, C.S.L”

Virginia’s and Frank’s faces were frozen in shock as they wondered at the mysterious message that had not been noticed until just that moment. What could it mean?

Virginia’s closing time approached just as Frank had to leave for supper, so Virginia tasked the boy with turning off the lights while she put the book back under the counter. As she locked the door, she breathed a deep sigh of satisfaction. Some folks thought that owning a bookstore was boring but Virginia knew better. Every day brought something different and interesting.

After an evening spent reading, Virginia turned in and slept fitfully all night, dreaming about the mysterious disappearance of the students, the odd book, and the presumed passing of Professor Kirke. As she drank her first cup of coffee of the day, she realized that she had never seen an obituary or a death notice about the professor, but had only assumed he had passed since Margo was liquidating his library.

As Virginia walked to work, she saw the newsboy delivering papers and crying out “Breaking News!”. Curious, she bought her paper on the street instead of waiting for it to be delivered to the store. She unfolded the paper and the bold headline read “Missing Children Reappear!” Amazing! Unbelievable! After all these years, they resurfaced and, according to the story, they had not aged at all. They still appeared to be in their teens. They could offer no explanation that made any sense, and were plunged into grief when they learned that their parents had long since passed away. Virginia hurried on to the store, eager to sit down and read the story again so she could make sense of what it said.

When Virginia arrived at the store, a police officer was waiting for her. Puzzled, she forgot about the incredulous story and listened to the officer. Apparently, Frank had not gone home after he left her shop the evening before and no one had seen him since then. She told the officer what had transpired the previous day and that she had seen Frank walking away in the direction of his house. She was able to describe what he was wearing, but she had very little additional information. She settled in for a day in the shop, rearranging shelves so she could highlight the Kirke collection near the front of the store.

About 10:00 am, her gentleman customer from the day previous arrived and told her that he planned to purchase the Lewis. As a book lover who owned a bookstore, she saw her books more as animals rescued and ready to be rehomed than as inventory to be sold, so she was elated to see the Lewis go to someone who seemed like he would appreciate it. As she went to the counter to pull it out, she babbled on about the inscription Frank had discovered the day before. At that moment, it occurred to her that in light of the return of the missing children, she should perhaps return the book to them. Momentarily conflicted, she told the gentleman that she could not sell him the book after all, since she now knew how to reach the original owner and felt obliged to return it. He was obviously disappointed but he agreed that they should be given the opportunity to have their book back. He wished her well and turned to leave the store.

Virginia turned her attention back to the newspaper to see if she could find out where the missing children were staying. Information in hand, she returned to the counter to retrieve the book. It wasn’t there. She felt around, but she couldn’t find it anywhere on the hold shelf. She got down on her knees so she could examine the shelf more closely, then she searched on the ground around the counter. It simply was not there. It hit her then that in her haste to leave the store, she had probably stuck it in with the professor’s Narnia books. She scurried to the back of the store to where she had left the Kirke collection, but it wasn’t among those books.

In fact, Professor Kirke’s whole Narnia collection was gone as well!