The Keeper of Hidden Books by Madeline Martin

Author:Madeline Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hanover Square Press
Published: 2023-05-24T19:44:55+00:00

* * *

On the way home later that evening, Zofia stopped by Traugutta Street where Miss Laska would be closing up the small reading room there. The older woman worked the library entirely on her own most days, a task she never once complained about.

Zofia pushed through the door and found herself in a room framed in by shelves, the offering of books meager compared to how they had once been.

“Zofia.” Miss Laska shuffled toward her. “You didn’t have to come.” She smiled, her upper lip pulling down slightly to hide the eyetooth she’d recently lost.

“You always say that.” Zofia set her bag aside and took a heavy box of books from the table to the back room. Its weight would have been impossible for Miss Laska to manage.

“And you always say you enjoy my company.”

“I do enjoy your company.” Zofia returned from the back room and put her hands on her hips. “What can I do?”

“Well, since you’re here...” Miss Laska gave another shielded smile, but wasn’t fast enough to hide a flash of the redness of her receding gums. Zofia had noticed them becoming worse with the passing months.

“I can’t seem to reach this shelf to water the plant. I fear the poor thing will die of thirst.” Miss Laska pointed up to a plant with limp waxy leaves, its stems crinkled with dehydration.

But what truly caught Zofia’s attention was the massive bruise that showed on the older woman’s forearm.

“Miss Laska, what happened?” Zofia gently clasped the librarian’s arm before she could pull her sleeve down. The bruise covered the length of her forearm and was dark as night with a sickly green-yellow discoloration framing the injury.

Miss Laska’s skin was soft and delicate beneath Zofia’s fingers, as if it might tear if handled without the lightest touch.

“Oh, I just hit it on a table.” Miss Laska waved off Zofia’s concern. “I bruise easily these days. It happens with age.”

“And the sore on your other arm?”

Miss Laska sighed like a child caught lying, and reluctantly pulled up her other sleeve to reveal a wound on her elbow that was no closer to healing than it had been a month ago.

“It isn’t age,” Zofia pressed. “It’s scurvy.”

One of the books in Papa’s hidden collection was about medicine. After noticing Miss Laska’s wound was not healing and that several older librarians at the main branch were suffering from similar afflictions, Zofia looked up the symptoms.

“Scurvy,” Miss Laska scoffed. “I’m no pirate on the high seas. Though that would be quite the adventure.”

“But you aren’t eating properly either.” Zofia retrieved her bag. “I suspected this might be an issue and brought you some cabbage and potatoes. You need to eat this in addition to the bread rations you receive.”

Miss Laska began to shake her head, protesting the extra food.

“Please, do it for me.” Zofia pushed the small sack toward the older woman’s hands until she finally accepted it. They were black market goods procured at a steep price, but a worthwhile sacrifice. “I want you to be healthy.

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