The Quiet Presence That Saved My Family Home in Autumn

thick in the radiator heat.

The young clerk behind the counter recognized me from my visit the week before. She shook her head before I even reached the wooden barrier.

“We still have not located that nineteen eighty-two volume, Mrs. Vance,” she said.

Arthur tapped his leather notebook against his palm, a slow, rhythmic sound.

“Try the basement annex, continue reading …