Good Luck, Bad Luck by Jenni Ward

Author:Jenni Ward [Ward, Jenni]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: magic and dragons, curses and luck, Fantasy, coming of age, books and adventures
Publisher: Miraworth Books
Published: 2020-06-29T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

“Mary, where are you going?”

Her breath ricocheted off the door and she grimaced at how close she’d come.

“I thought that...I thought the books should go back on the shelves.”

Prater stood in the doorway to the living room, and she was annoyed that her plan had been foiled. She had hoped to locate the book and conceal it somewhere before he’d realised she’d left, thinking it seemed the obvious one to have the information he wanted. Being bound to Michael seemed infinitely better than having it broken and facing the alternative in front of her.

“Good idea, Mary, wouldn’t want to upset the dragons, now would we? I’ll come too.”

As Mary and Prater walked towards the book building, she glanced around at her home village but found no one willing to make eye contact, everyday tasks suddenly much more involved than they once were. She spared a glance at Prater but found him focused ahead.

For a time, Prater and Mary were amongst the books in silence. Mary set about piling up the books and shelving them, her eyes scanning each similar cover for the dragon engraving. She had thought of trying to hide it amongst a larger pile, or maybe towards the top of the shelves, but knew that any of those actions were more likely to draw Prater’s attention than divert it.

“Why not bring a few back to the house?”

Mary looked up at Prater, surprised at the offer. “Before I would have but now there’s no point.”

“How so? Come on, most the time you spend with these books, surely you enjoy them a little.”

“I used to but that was before.”

“Before what?”

“Before I could read and now I can’t. Consequences abound it would seem for everything I try to do.”

“People don’t just forget a skill like reading. It would be like me forgetting how to ride a horse - after a while it becomes second nature. Why would you pretend you can’t read?” She looked over at him as he held a book in his own hand.

I wish I could believe that I was just pretending the lines meant nothing. She ran her finger over the embossed bridge on the cover of the book she held.

“Is it easier if I just say that books aren’t important to me anymore? Would that be easier for you to accept?” Mary replied and continued to put the book on top of her pile. Lifting the stack, she headed for the nearest shelves and began offloading them.

“Okay, I’ll humour you. You suddenly can’t read because of whatever reason. Why put them back on the shelves then? Let’s forget that dragon excuse - there are hundreds of book buildings across the kingdom that have become dusty and the dragons haven’t sought revenge that we’ve heard. Why not just ignore all this and walk away from it?”

“It gives me something to do.”

“We have so little in our lives, it’s almost a little pathetic. Perhaps you can help me then.” She glanced over at him as he sat down at one of the desks – more specifically the one that had once been her favourite.

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