Rough ideas for my work-in-progress novel ‘Wanderer.’
She reached up to the shelf and pulled on the book. Its leathery, worn-out cover felt like it was going to break apart at any moment. Lifting her other hand to the book, as if cradling a baby, she coaxed it the rest of the way out.
Green stared at the cover. She turned her head. “Hey, come look at this.”
She looked up from where she crouched. Standing up, Blue went to her side, examining. “‘Stories of the Grisar Monastery…’” she read aloud. “That’s this place.”
Green opened the cover. “Maybe this will have something.”
“‘… and Other Tales,’ huh?” Blue watched her flip the book’s table of contents. They read in silence.
“Looks like a book of hymns. But…”
“Sometimes, scribes encrypt secret messages into their scripture.”
“Exactly.” Blue gently lifted Green’s hand to look at the back cover. Do you want to look through it first? Or shall I?”
“I can give it a try, if I may.”
“Go ahead. I’ll keep looking around for what we were originally searching for.”
Green nodded. “Keep an eye out for similar books. It’s not uncommon to hide them across several books if it’s important enough.”
“Who’s the author?” Blue peeked over her shoulder. Green flipped back to the cover page.
“We should let the others know.”
Blue thought for a moment. “Would it be distracting?”
She shrugged. “Well… Maybe for Pink.” Green laughed a little. “But, we may as well get extra eyes looking out for it.”
“I guess. I want them to focus on looking for other books, though.”
“Then tell them that.” Green closed the book. “They’re not kids anymore. They can follow instructions.”
Blue smirked. “I don’t trust Pink to, but I’ll let them know either way.”