June felt a buzzing in her pocket and pulled out her mobile phone. An unknown number flashed up on the screen. She pressed answer and held the phone to her cheek, still staring out into the meadow.
“Hello, is that June Junes?” a male voice asked.
“Speaking.”
“Sorry to ring so early, I... damn... Hang on, I spilled coffee on a book. Shit, one sec...”
June could picture David, the short, harassed-looking man she’d met at the job interview yesterday. Throughout their conversation he’d had a child’s sticker caught up in his graying hair, and June had spent the whole time wondering whether she should tell him.
“Right, sorry about that. I just wanted to get this done before things get too hectic here.”
Here it goes. The thanks but no thanks, you’re not quite what we’re looking for.
“I discussed it with my colleagues yesterday and we all agreed you’d be a fantastic addition to the team. So, I’m delighted to offer you the role of full-time library assistant. Starting as soon as possible, ideally.”
June blinked. “Really? Wow, that’s amazing! Thank you so much.”
“Great. We’ll e-mail a contract and the details over to you. I look forward to you joining us.”
June ended the call. Behind her she could hear the sound of the diggers starting up, the silence shattered by their mechanical grind. Two miles away, the first visitors would soon arrive at the library for its final day. And in her house, boxes of her mum’s belongings were waiting to be taken away. There really was nothing to keep June in Chalcot anymore, but for the first time in her life, that thought didn’t completely terrify her.
June stood up, closed the trailer door, and made her way back toward the trees. As she walked, she looked at Stanley’s letter again. Her eyes scanned down the page and then paused on a line that she’d only glanced over before.
Alex, in turn, put me in touch with an acquaintance of his, Eleanor Davis.
Something clicked in June’s mind and she stopped in her tracks. She pulled her phone back out and scrolled through until she found the number she wanted. It was answered on the third ring.
“Hi, it’s June. Are you busy? We need to talk.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
It was gone three by the time June arrived at the library.
“Where the hell have you been?” asked Marjorie, who was standing at the issue desk. Or rather, where the issue desk had once been and where now there was just a chair.
“I’m sorry,” June said. “Something came up.”
“Can you believe they’ve taken the computers and desks? They’re vultures. Vultures!”
June looked around her. All the tables and chairs had been removed and crates were stacked in the corner, waiting to be filled with books. The few patrons in the library were standing in front of the half-empty shelves, looking confused.
“You think they’d at least have waited until we shut the doors at five,” Marjorie said, shaking her head.
“Hi, June.” Chantal walked over to her. “I keep thinking I’m going to wake up and this will all be a bad dream.”
“I know, Chantal.”
“Leila and I went over to Winton Library this morning,” Vera said, joining them from the cookery section. “It’s a miserable place, big and impersonal. We wanted to find a cake recipe for Mahmoud’s birthday.”
“Oh?”
“He’s fifteen next week and Leila has invited me to join them for a family meal. I’ve said I’ll bake him one of those rainbow cakes,” Vera said.
“What complete and utter shit this was.” June looked across to see Mrs.Bransworth marching through the door, waving a copy ofHarry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. “It’s a load of overprivileged kids and a bit of magic. Absolute crap. Ah, hello, June. How was the interview?”
“It went well, thanks. They’ve offered me the job.”
“That’s amazing news,” Chantal said, grinning. “When do you start?”