This Charming Man by C. K. McDonnell

Author:C. K. McDonnell [McDonnell, C. K.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781473577312
Publisher: Transworld
Published: 2021-12-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 30

Stella liked books. She loved them, in fact. They had a very calming quality to them – as if nothing could be that bad if you were holding one. Life had shown her that was definitely not true, but still. Given her feelings towards books, a library should have been a tremendously relaxing place for her, but it wasn’t.

She had come here seeking answers, and the woman working behind the counter at the far end of the library was her best chance at getting some. Stella didn’t know her. They had met before, but only once, and that had not been in the best of circumstances. They had both been kidnapped by a madman who had wanted to use them as sacrifices in a ritual he was trying to carry out. In the process of making good their escape, Stella had seen this woman perform magic – actual magic – which meant that in some way she was like Stella and therefore she could hopefully tell Stella what the hell was happening to her.

The urge to talk to her had been bubbling away in Stella for a while, but the last few days had brought things to a head. Stella was sick of being hidden away, sick of being scared all the time and, most of all, sick of not knowing who or what she was.

To start with, Stella had gone round to a house in Chorlton. It was where she and Hannah had dropped off the woman once Hannah and Banecroft had rescued them. She’d rung the doorbell a couple of times and waited, but there had been no response. A kindly-looking old man who’d been doing some weeding in the next-door garden had popped his head over the fence.

‘Hello there – are you looking for the girls? Keira and Siobhan?’

‘Actually,’ said Stella, ‘I’m looking for Vera.’

‘Oh, right,’ said the man, looking slightly taken aback.

‘She’s a friend of my mum’s.’

‘It’s a Tuesday, so I’d imagine she’s at work.’

‘Oh,’ said Stella, clearly looking disappointed.

‘It’s just the library up the road there. I’m sure you could drop in and say hello, as long as you whisper.’ The man laughed heartily at his own joke.

Stella had thanked him, and hurried off.

She’d found the library easily enough and as soon as she walked in, she spotted Vera working behind the counter. Stella hung back but kept throwing furtive glances at the desk as she waited for Vera to become free. Unfortunately, the library was surprisingly busy. As it was the summer holidays, it was also pretty loud. The kids might have been mostly corralled in the children’s section – with the exception of the occasional bolter – but their noise carried across the whole library. Stella noticed an old man sitting at one of the reading tables in the corner. He looked irritated by the whole thing.

After a while, she plucked up her courage, grabbed a book at random from one of the nearby shelves and joined the queue. A mother and

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