A Real Stretch by Disney Books

Author:Disney Books [Disney Book Group]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Disney Book Group
Published: 2018-05-02T00:00:00+00:00

Late the next morning, Elastigirl, dressed as Helen Highwater, jogged up the steps of the Municiberg Public Library. She’d been so busy with her crime-stopping and NSA meetings that she had forgotten all about the stack of library books sitting on her bedside table. She hadn’t even gotten around to starting them. Oh, well.

She closed her eyes, inhaled the familiar lemonwood-polish scent, and smiled. She always enjoyed the library. It was such a place of calm in an often hectic world. Everyone spoke in soft tones. Books sat neatly on shelves, just waiting to be read. The sun shone through the tall windows, casting a warm glow on the highly polished woodwork. Helen sometimes spent her rare days off relaxing in one of the comfy rocking chairs, reading a thick book. She got in line and waited to have her books checked back in.

“Hi, Helen,” the young librarian greeted her from behind the large desk when it was her turn.

“Hi, Roberta,” Helen replied, laying her four books on the counter. “I’m afraid these may be a mite overdue.”

Roberta flipped open each book and gave Helen a rueful smile. “Yes, indeedy! But not by much. You only owe ten cents.”

Helen pulled out her wallet. As she paid, she noticed a toddler in a bouncy chair behind Roberta. “Is she yours?” They had the same dark curls.

Roberta glanced behind her, then smiled at Helen. “That’s Wendy. My babysitter had an appointment this morning, so I had to bring her to work with me.”

Helen leaned on the counter and waved at the little girl while Roberta continued to check in people’s books. The line had grown quite long.

“Hi, Bob,” Roberta said to the person who had just stepped up in the line.

“Hello, Roberta. Oh, we meet again, Helen.”

Helen turned away from Wendy and glanced up. Bob Parr smiled down at her.

“Wow,” Helen said, eyeing the enormous stack of books he was holding. “Aren’t those heavy?”

Bob’s brows knit in confusion, and he looked down. His eyes widened at the pile of books in his arms as if he’d never seen them before. His shoulders slumped and the books suddenly looked like they weighed a ton. “Yeah. They are,” he admitted. Then he chuckled. “I guess you could say I’ve been doing some heavy reading.”

Helen laughed. Bob dropped the books on the counter with a thud. Roberta started to check them back in.

“Who’s the little angel in the bouncy chair?” Bob asked.

Wendy’s face scrunched up and she let out a howl.

Roberta winced. “Not always an angel.”

Bob looked stricken. “What’d I do?”

“It’s not you,” Roberta assured him. “She’s been cranky all morning.” She looked over her shoulder at the wailing little girl. “It’s okay, sweetie.”

Roberta sped up her check-in and checkout procedures, stamping return dates on cards with one hand while tossing books into the return bins with the other. “I’m so sorry,” she said to the long line of people waiting. “Hush, sweetie. Shhhh,” she crooned over her shoulder.

Wendy kept screaming.

Helen could see that the folks waiting in line with their books weren’t exactly thrilled by the screaming child.

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