The Clocks

Within hours the shelves on the balcony were rapidly filling up with books. Somehow, without being seen by anyone, signs had appeared above each shelf.

They read:

Library Donations

For Family IF you really need them. (Don't touch till the sorting is finished.)

For Sale in The City

First Trip Sales

Touch These And You Die!

It was the last that convinced everyone that Mimi was responsible even though no one had seen her put them up. Nobody else would use that particular wording. What really drew everyone's attention was the next to last. None of them had a clue as to what it meant, though, as the day progressed, the number of books in that section grew to be twice as many as were in any other.

There didn't seem to be any particular pattern to the books on those shelves either. They ranged from fairly common, inexpensive titles to some that, based on the quality of their bindings, must be of substantial value.

A further surprise involved Sven. When he and Mario weren't moving newly emptied shelves onto the balcony, it was he who was doing the sorting. Each time he entered Miranda's office, Miranda and Patricia gave him directions as to which book in the next armload went where. He would then pick them up, walk out to the balcony, and place each book on one of the waiting shelves.

Mario noticed that Sven seemed to be completely ignoring his instructions. He would walk out of the office and, without even looking at the titles, seemingly place books at random on the waiting shelves. However, when Miranda and Patricia came out for a breather and a late lunch in mid-afternoon, they did nothing more than look briefly at the shelves, nod in satisfaction, and then head downstairs.

--------------------------

When Consuela and Stavros arrived home and, as usual, ran up the stairs, they stopped cold at the sight of the shelves full of books. There were close to as many books there as there were in their school library. As they were standing outside the office, looking greedily as the "For Family" shelf, which contained a number of books on their want list, they heard voices inside and peeked in.

"Right then, that's enough for today Mrs. Donetti. I'm tired, my brain isn't functioning at full speed any more, and I don't want to make any mistakes in the sorting. Like I said this morning, we're going to need another full day to finish this, but that's all.

"That being so, I have a proposition for you. I'll keep the shop closed tomorrow and help you finish the job. Also, you needn't pay me, at least not with cash."

She pointed at the corner of Miranda's desk where she had placed several books. "I'll accept those seven books as payment in full for my time, for both days, and my lost sales from not being open tomorrow. How say you?"

As she waited for Miranda's reply, she cocked her head to the side like an owl.

Even though she was tired, Miranda's thoughts proceeded as always. Because of her spying work, she was accustomed to thinking accurately when nearly worn out. Thus her decision was arrived at quickly.

1) She had absolutely no idea what Mimi had told Patricia she'd be paying her.

2) She didn't recognize a single one of the seven books, nor did she have any idea of what language any of them were written in.

3) She had a strong suspicion that O'Malley, he or she or whatever, had slipped the books into her library somehow, probably as a joke. The other possibility was that they wanted to show her...something...in the way of a further lesson. Given what Miranda had seen of their abilities, she suspected that it might just well be both.

Miranda nodded. "That seems more than fair Pat."

Seeing Patricia's reaction she smiled and added, "After today I just can't see us ever being formal with each other again. So please, allow me to call you Pat, and you call me Manda."

Raising a hand as Patricia opened her mouth to object, Miranda added, "I will NOT accept 'no' as an answer. We've known each other for over a decade. It's long past the time we should have been on a first name basis. Agreed?"

Patricia smiled and nodded. "Very well Manda. I accept."

It wasn't until she was on her way home, the seven precious books in her arms, that she realized that Miranda's, no...Manda's, gift of her name was likely intended to have two purposes. In the future, when customers heard Pat calling Miranda by her nickname, word was going to spread. Her shop was likely to have more customers once it did, and some of those would have deeper pockets than most of the ones she now had.

Consequently, when she reopened the shop on Thursday, her display window would have only one book in it, which would be one of those she was carrying. At first she'd intended to send all of them off to Rome for sale, but things had just changed. She'd put all seven on display, perhaps one every two to three weeks.

Just selling the first one would allow her to spruce up the shop and make it more inviting to those with more money than sense. She snorted. Any true bibliophile didn't care where they found the books they were searching for.

Then...no, wait a minute, that wouldn't work at all. Miranda had told her that one reason she was "clearing things out" was because she realized she'd been accidentally hoarding books that others might need. If Pat sold the books only to the wealthiest collectors, nobody would ever be able to read them. That wouldn't do. Books were meant to be read.

She ambled on, mostly thinking. Ah ha! That would work. She could set up that little room she wasn't using in the back of the store as a private display area. Then she'd talk to Bishop Lundgren. Fortunately he was an occasional customer. She could ask him about how to find buyers who could afford the books, but who also would be willing to share, at least with serious researchers.

Having resolved the question to her satisfaction, she hummed her favorite song the rest of the way home.

-------------------

Sara and Paolo were a bit late getting home, though only by about 20 minutes. Even so they hurried as they ascended the stairs. Married or no, Miranda would never accept any excuse if they were late for dinner. Both of them froze as the bookshelves lining the wall of the balcony came into view. They turned and looked at each other and found the other just as puzzled as they were.

What in the world?

The first shelf they encountered was the one labeled, "Touch These And You Die!," which elicited chuckles from both. Mimi had clearly been involved in whatever it was. When they were about two meters away from the last shelf, Sara was able to read the sign reading, "Library Donations". For a moment she froze, then she shuffled forward as if in a trance, completely ignoring the other two shelves she passed.

Carefully, she knelt down and began to scan the titles. Seconds later the sound of her crying drew the entire family out of their rooms. Miranda managed to arrive first. She sank down next to Sara, wrapped her arms around her and, speaking softly and gently asked, "Whatever is the matter child?"

Sara's body was shaking with her sobbing, and tears were streaming down her face. Nevertheless she managed to lift her arm and point at the books. "It..it...it's so WONDERFUL! I...I've been looking for some of these for almost four years, and they've been here all this time. What an amazing, precious gift!"

As Sara spoke, Miranda had a fleeting image of O'Malley's face in her mind. Unlike Lady Blue they didn't say anything. Their expression was at once stern, and, somehow full of compassion. The face nodded at her, then it vanished.

Miranda had thought she'd dealt with her guilt already, but she found herself squeezing Sara even harder as she too began to cry.

The rest of the family were hurrying forward, but they were met by a Paolo they'd never seen before. His face was as adamantium as he raised both arms and pointed for everyone, even his father, to return back the way they had come. He didn't know what was going on, but he did know that whatever it was needed to be left to run its course without interruption.

Not a one of them questioned his order. They turned around and trooped back to their rooms. Once there they rushed through their preparations for dinner. It was likely that at least some kind of explanation would be made then, and they didn't want to miss any of it.

After their tears had stopped, Miranda pulled back and began to stroke Sara's hair. "I'm so sorry it took me so long to realize that I was such an idiot."

Sara lifted her face with an expression of complete incomprehension. "I don't understand what you're talking about. You...."

Miranda put a finger on Sara's lips. "Never mind. It doesn't matter any more. I hope that I won't make the same mistake again."

So saying, she placed what she'd learned in her "Never, EVER Forget" mental file.

Then she looked back at Sara with a mischievous smile. "Since you seem to be at least somewhat interested in what Pat and I found today, do you think that perhaps you might be able to free up some time tomorrow to assist us while we sort out the rest of the books. I expect that there will be at least a few more that would be useful at the library."

Sara stood up so quickly that Miranda almost fell backwards.

Turning to Paolo, Sara said sternly, "As soon as we're finished with dinner, you will take a message to Archbishop Comfort's residence. You will tell her that I will be occupied all day tomorrow helping a generous benefactor who has chosen to donate a substantial number of important books to the libraries.

"You will also not say a single word to her about me crying when I found out."

She dropped her head for a moment, thinking quickly. Then she lifted it and faced Paolo again, this time with a huge grin. "You MAY tell her that I squealed like a child does the first time they're taken to Fukui's and told to pick out anything they want. It's close enough to what happened to convey how I felt, but it won't be nearly as embarrassing when she teases me about it."

Paolo said nothing, but rather stepped forward and enfolded Sara in a comfortable hug. He murmured in her ear, "By your command Librarian. I shall do exactly as you say. Besides, if I told her about you crying, I wouldn't be able to tease you about it later myself. This way I can twit you about it for years!"

He jumped back as fast as he could before she could do anything. Fortunately, he must have struck the proper tone, for she only glared at him, then smiled. Had she been truly irritated, she might have accidently damaged him before she was able to control herself.

She held out her hand, and, pretending that Miranda wasn't there said, "Come along. I've noticed that my mother-in-law tends to be somewhat upset if we're late to dinner. We'd best hurry."

Taking her hand, and also ignoring Miranda's presence, Paolo murmured, "Too true. I've noticed the same thing myself."

Miranda stood still as a rock, momentarily stupefied. Neither of they had ever had the temerity to tease her before. Shaking herself, she smiled. Finally! Mealtimes were going to be much more fun with them able to participate in the banter at the table.

Well, enough of that, it wouldn't do if SHE were the one late for dinner. She'd never hear the end of it, and...hmmm.... Maybe she should be, just a little. It might be fun to hear what kind of barbs they'd use to needle her.

With a big smile of her own, and a much lighter heart, she strolled down to her room to finish her preparations.