“Jolina, keep it down. I’ve got it, Cormac.” Raham slipped past the pair as they huddled over the desk and reached the door.
He drew in the last of their quartet, Jolina, daughter of the reeve. Most days, she was in the fields with her father, supervising the planting and the reaping. She was the pride of her family and the most desired future spouse in the town. A year older than the others, she was close to marriage. But rumors in the small village claimed her father had a small dowry, and the prospects of marrying up the social structure seemed limited.
None of that diminished their friendship. Their secrets united them in a town too small for their ambitions. Cormac looked back at the book, and he longed for the education that would get him out of this town. A world far outside the Northern States attracted the young man, but the family bonds sometimes felt like chains.
“We should put this book back,” Raham said.
The comments brought Cormac back to the moment. His friend started to close the book, but Maren reached out and grabbed his wrist.
“No. There’s so much more here.”
“I don’t like it,” Raham said. “There’s a dark message in here.”
“It’s beautiful,” Jolina said. “Every word is a piece of art, and the illustrations… Is that gold in the ink? This book has to be worth a fortune.”
“The knowledge is worth more,” Cormac said.
“I’m serious, Cormac. Can’t you guys feel the shadow around this book? Like it’s laying wait for… something.”
“This is beautiful. Cormac, what’s your father doing with this one? Please tell me he’s selling it,” Jolina said.
Cormac shook his head. “Repairs. I didn’t see the owner when they came into the shop, but the book jumped out—“
“And that doesn’t bother you? Your family has thousands of books for sale, a library worth more than anyone in the town, and hundreds of books waiting for their return to glory. And this one book reached out to you,” Raham said. “I don’t like it.”
“We heard you the first three times, Raham,” Maren said. “The messages are amazing.”
“Stop using magic, Maren,” Raham said.
“Wait, you guys are using magic in here?” Jolina asked. “In the back of the shop. No way.” She squeezed in tight to Maren and looked over her shoulder. “There're magical secrets in here?”
Maren stepped aside and gave a devious grin. As Raham pulled in a deep breath for another protest, Cormac’s heightened senses from the trickle of magic picked up the muffled footsteps of someone from his family working their way to the back of the shop.
“Clean it up,” Cormac ordered.
Without hesitation, the small group executed the drill with precision and practice. Cormac and his friends often used this room for study, but they never pilfered expensive books for their personal use. And Cormac often longed for a few moments away from the grind of the work. The return to storage room was immediate, with the four of them working.
Slipping back out the door with the book firmly in Raham’s hands behind his back, Cormac waved to his mother as she looked for a book in the stacks.
“Meet later?” Cormac asked.
“By the mill,” Maren said.
The others nodded. Cormac decided he wouldn’t bring the book.
Two
Exploration
The pool of water at the edge of the current was an excellent swimming hole, and Maren told everyone it belonged to her. For the small group of friends, the idle water just a dozen yards away from the river’s current was an oasis from their everyday lives.
Trees formed a natural boundary and afforded shade over the quiet destination. Branches hung as if wishing to embrace the water’s tranquil surface. Poking just over the tops of the southern shore of the pool was the mill. The current furnished the power to keep the mill in full swing, but the swimming hole provided lazy relaxation with friends.
Tonight, the moon cast its glow across the water’s surface. Fish hungered for the lingering food, and a splash marked their efforts to collect the elusive prize. Other animals stood watch as the Densen youth gathered in the failing light.
“Did you bring the book?” Maren asked. Her eyes mirrored the moonlight, and Cormac was sure he could surrender himself in that gaze.
Cormac shook his head and joined the group at the fallen log. He tugged off his shirt and hung it on a low branch.
“Why did we come out here if you weren’t bringing the book?” Maren asked again.
“Let’s see, Maren. The book doesn’t belong to Cormac, it’s worth more than we’ll make in our lifetime, and we’re sitting by a pool of water. Did I leave anything out?” Raham’s sarcasm could bite when Maren put on the airs of minor nobility.
“Hey, it was a fair question. I mean, I didn’t get to spend time with you when you peeked through it,” Jolina said. “I’d like to use magic like you guys can. Was there something in the book?”
“Something more,” Maren said.
Cormac couldn’t let his friends fall apart over a book. He loved reading, and the knowledge people wanted to share with others was beyond value. His family supported their children’s studies and encouraged them to read everything, ask questions, and constantly learn. His parents’ lifelong wish for education appeared every night as they discussed their latest finds over the dinner table. Cormac didn’t remember a meal filled with this much tension.
“We don’t know that, Maren.” Cormac held up his hand. “I know you can read that extinct language, but that doesn’t mean there’s some prophecy hidden in the text.”
Maren jumped to her feet and thrust her fists into her hips. “I guess we won’t know now that you didn’t bring the book.”
“Come on, Maren. Give Cormac a break. Raham is right about bringing the book down by the water,” Jolina said.
Maren sat down and sulked. Cormac chuckled and got up. His toes squished in the thick mud at the riverbank, and the smells of the water
