we will make this place our home - Chapter One Hundred and Twenty Three: Things Left Behind
Oroyanwë Public Library was in the middle of town, a red-brick building of a distinguished age, with eight sides and a green copper roof-dome rising above the neighbouring shops. At its top a little window-turret was capped with a brass weathervane. You couldn’t miss it, even if the only parking-space was three streets away squeezed between a plumber’s van and a skip. We headed straight on to the high street, past the dreaded clothes shops and the hubbub of Saturday shoppers, past the shoe shop (where Linher stared at the floor and hurried as fast as he could), past the towering bank, and up three broad steps to reach the grand library door. It was twice my height, surrounded by elaborate carved stone. A finely-sculpted book bore the inscription ‘1863’. I stared up, feeling very small indeed. The door was propped open with an umbrella-stand, and from inside spilled a warm yellowish light. We heard the rustling hush of newspapers and shoes on carpets and library-goers trying their best to be quiet. “Come on, then; we didn’t come to look at the door,” laughed Mrs. Ingolodh, steering me inside.
In which Elrond and Linher go in search of animal books - and discover the secrets of the camera. Read the full chapter here on AO3.
(Image: the children's department at Falkirk Public Library, 1970s, from https://collections.falkirk.gov.uk/)
