Chapter 3 #2
“Easy, Dewey, she’s still learning,” Ronnie said.
“I know,” Dewey answered. “But we have to be prepared. She’s got some studying to do on the plane. Where are we headed? Transylvania?”
Ronnie shook her head. “Not quite.”
“Where?” Dewey narrowed his eyes as he rubbed his chin. “Where would a Bronze Ring be?” He snapped his fleshy fingers. “I’ve got it. England.”
“Sorry, Dewey, ‘fraid not,” Ronnie said before pressing her lips into a thin line.
Dewey stared at her for a moment. “I don’t like that look.”
“You’re not going to like my answer either.”
Dewey wrinkled his nose, his horns wiggling. He tugged his teal lips back in a grimace. “Do I even want to know?”
Ronnie offered him a consoling half-smile. “Probably not. You want me to just tell the pilot and surprise you?”
Dewey glanced at the burgundy seat of his chair. “Hmm.”
Paige squashed her eyebrows together. “Are you kidding me? We need to know where we’re going, so we can plan.”
Ronnie opened her mouth to answer when Dewey sliced a hand through the air. “Wait.”
He leaned back in the chair, drumming his fingers on the arm.
Paige slid her eyes from side to side. “What? What are we waiting for?”
“Me to be ready for Ronnie’s answer.”
“Oh, okay,” Paige said, slicking a lock of hair behind her ear. They waited in silence for a breath.
Ronnie shuffled through her papers before she gathered them and tapped them into a neat stack. She clicked around on her computer before she heaved a sigh and returned her gaze to Dewey.
He sat in the chair next to Paige, with his eyes closed, his nostrils flaring as he sucked in deep breaths. Paige stared at him, pinching her brows together as she waited.
Only Dewey’s rhythmic breathing filled the room. Ronnie’s chair creaked as she shifted in it, tapping her pen against her opposite hand. Paige shot her a glance. The woman shrugged and shook her head.
Dewey finally snapped his eyes open. “Okay, I’m ready. Go.”
Ronnie pressed her lips into a tight-lipped smile as she leaned forward toward her desk. “Antarctica.”
“What?” Dewey shouted, leaping to his feet and balling his paws into fists. “No! Just no!”
He paced in a circle on the seat of the chair before he plopped onto it. “We pass. Give it to Drucinda.”
“What? Dewey!” Paige said, gripping the arm of her chair. “We can’t pass on this. And not to Drucinda.”
“We can, and we will. Pass, Ronnie.” Dewey sliced a hand through the air and kicked one ankle over the other. “Now, I’d like to talk about a trip to research Paige’s heritage.”
Paige squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head. “Wait just a second. No, you don’t get to pass on this. We can’t pass on this. This is a red-level threat. We can’t turn it over to Drucinda.”
“Send it to London, then. Who cares? As long as we don’t have to go to Antarctica, I don’t care.”
“We can’t let the fate of the world rest on the London library because you don’t want to go to a cold place,” Paige argued.
Dewey flung his head back against the cushion.
“The director asked for you specifically,” Ronnie said.
Dewey rolled his head back and forth, his eyes squeezed shut. He snapped them open. “Fine. Fine, fine, fine. I will suffer for the fate of the world.”
“There’s the spirit,” Paige said, patting his paw. “Okay, Ronnie, we’re in. Get our transport orders in. I’ll do a little research, grab our gear, and we’ll head out.”
“Done. They’re prepping the plane. I’m having supplies loaded for you.
Everything from cold weather clothes to camping equipment.
Check in with me before you leave, though.
I’m working on getting you a protection detail.
The Transylvanians are nothing to mess with.
We need to keep you safe while you locate the ring. ”
“Protection detail?” Paige questioned as she rose from her chair.
“Someone with a good knowledge of the Transylvanians. This crew is dangerous,” Ronnie said.
Dewey climbed into his carrier, and Paige zipped it shut. “Right, okay, thanks.”
She swung the strap over her shoulder and strode from the office and down the curved staircase. After threading through the stacks, she arrived at the secured door leading to the Hall of Librarians.
She tapped her keycard against the reader and tugged open the door. Muted lights shone overhead, illuminating the librarians who had served Shadow Harbor before her. She paused as she passed the portrait of her mother.
She bit her lower lip, staring up at the poised woman. “She probably didn’t need a protection detail.”
“Huh?” Dewey questioned from inside his carrier.
“My mom. I said she probably didn’t need a protection detail.”
“Oh, right. I heard she was an excellent librarian.”
Paige bobbed her head up and down as she descended the stairs.
“Although,” Dewey said, “she probably did need a protection detail, considering that she went missing and is likely dead.”
Paige scrunched her features as she reached the second locked door. She inserted her key and twisted it before tapping her keycard and tugging the heavy metal door open. “Right. Thanks for that.”
Dewey slid a claw out and unzipped the carrier, flying into the archive. “Sorry, Paige, but it’s true.”
“Maybe if she had one, she’d still be alive,” Paige said.
“No time to think about that now, Paige. We’ve got to grab some references and get on a plane. I sure hope Ronnie’s arranging high-quality parkas and heated tents. I don’t want to freeze to death.”
“Hey, I’m not thrilled about Antarctica either, buddy. I don’t love cold weather,” she said as she pounded her way down the metal stairs leading to the smooth concrete floor.
“Yeah, but you can survive it. You’re warm-blooded.”
Paige snaked her way to the BookTron. “We’ll make sure to keep you nice and toasty.”
“Really?” Dewey asked. “Do you think Ronnie found a parka in my size and had it retrofitted for my wings that quickly?”
“I don’t know. Maybe? If not, your wings will just have to live stuffed inside the parka.”
Dewey hovered in the air. “Stuffed inside the–” He buzzed forward, a puff of smoke escaping his nostrils. “Do you know what it’s like to have your wings stuffed inside a tight jacket?”
“Uncomfortable?”
“‘Uncomfortable’ isn’t the word. It would be like tying you into a pretzel and sticking you in a sleeping bag and telling you to ‘live with it.’”
“You gotta do what you gotta do.”
“I can’t believe this. I cannot believe you are okay with this. It’s going to be horrible. If there was ever a time to let Drucinda–”
“Stop right there,” Paige said, waving a finger in the air. “We’re not going there. We are not letting Drucinda find the Bronze Ring! No stinkin’ way.”
“But Paige–”
Paige’s fingers flew across the keyboard. “Under no circumstances are we passing on this.”
Dewey crossed his arms and stared at her, an unimpressed expression on his teal face.
Paige tapped around on the mouse before she flicked her gaze up at him. “Don’t give me that look. A few weeks ago, you would have killed for an opportunity like this.”
He puffed another cloud of smoke from his nose and shook his head. “That was before we had to go to Antarctica. But fine, fine, you’re right.” He waved his arms in the air. “I’ll look on the bright side. When we accept the Best Library Team award next year, that’ll ease my pain.”
Paige nodded as she processed another search and loaded more references onto the RP.
Dewey buzzed into the air. “I’m going to grab a few things we may need from the archive. Be back in a jif.”
“Thanks,” Paige shouted over her shoulder as she searched for information on the Bronze Ring and loaded it onto the device for the plane ride.
Dewey buzzed around the archives, pulling items from bins and tossing them into a duffel bag. “Boy, what I wouldn’t give for a magic bag.” He froze as he rounded the corner, his claw tapping his chin. “I wonder if we can steal one from the Paris Library.”
Paige crinkled her brow and shook her head. “Uh, no. It’s bad enough we robbed the Moscow Library. We’re not robbing Drucinda.”
Dewey shrugged before sailing down another aisle and stuffing something else into the duffel. “Just a thought.”
“You about ready? I’m just going to run up and tell Henry we’re going and ask him to feed Dickens.”
“Yep. I’ll be ready when you come back down.”
Paige darted up the steps to pass along her message to the bookish knight, then hurried back down to meet Dewey. He slammed the receiver of the phone down before he approached her and handed off the duffel bag.
“Ronnie said to come up to her office before we leave. She has to talk to us about the protection detail,” he said as he climbed into his carrier.
“Okay,” Paige answered, zipping it shut and shouldering both bags.
She climbed to the main level and threaded her way to the curving stairs leading to Ronnie’s office. She puffed out a breath as she reached the top and shuffled through the door, setting down both bags.
“You wanted to see us before we went?”
“Yes,” Ronnie said, glancing up from her paperwork. “I have arranged for a protection detail for you and Dewey. This person is extremely knowledgeable in all things Transylvanian Vampire and has the means to protect you from them.”
“Great. Perfect. Do we meet them at the plane or…” Paige asked.
“Not quite,” Ronnie said with a wrinkled nose, holding a hand out in front of her. “I wanted you to meet them here. Please try to understand that I’m doing the best I can.”
Paige screwed up her face. “Okay? What does that mean?”
“Paige–” Ronnie began when someone shuffled into the office.
Paige twisted to eye them, her eyes going wide and jaw dropping open.
Devon wandered in, with a bag slung over his shoulder. He grinned at her. “Hey, Paige.”