𝐖𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 ━ five hargreeves

17│A GLIMPSE INTO THE PAST

Pogo had been doing his usual circuit of the house— from the first floor up to the attic where Number Three used to go when she was upset— when he noticed something out of place. He passed by the library every night and the door was always, always closed. Except. . . tonight it was open.

He paused outside the crack and listened closely. With his advanced hearing, he was able to pick up sounds that regular humans would most likely miss. There was the shuffling sound of feet. Someone was running their hand along the spines of the books. A floorboard creaked imperceptibly.

Curious, he pushed open the door a little wider and peered inside. At first glance he saw nothing. He strained his vision a little more and saw one of the curtains twitch without the help of a breeze. The library was an odd place for stealing things but there would be no harm if he left the person there just as long as they didn't enter the rest of the house. He exited the room and pulled the door shut with a click!

The next morning, Pogo went to the library to return his finished book and paused. While Grace cleaned extraordinarily well, the library wasn't on her usual list since it was hardly used by anyone except for Pogo. So, it was no surprise that the floor was a little dusty. Dusty enough, in fact, that a singular trail of small footsteps could be seen walking away from the curtain.

(Lola hadn't been as careful as she'd thought. You had to forgive her, though— this was her first theft.)

Intrigued, Pogo continued his investigation and he studied the bookshelves carefully. On the first shelf closest to the floor, a thin gap was visible. Bending slightly, he studied the missing book.

Pogo had taken over the duties of library organization back in the early days of the Academy and therefore knew the set up by heart. This particular shelf held books from the sixteen hundreds. The book thief had taken The Merchant of Venice. Since only one was missing and nothing else was out of place, Pogo decided to not alert Reginald of their intruder. There was nothing to be concerned about, after all, so there was no need to concern him with this matter. It would take years for all of the books to be gone at this rate and if Pogo were being honest, he wasn't much of a Shakespeare fan anyway.

✧✧✧

The book thief continued to make appearances over the next several years. Every time Pogo entered the library to exchange books, he would check to see which ones were missing. The intruder made their way steadily through the sixteen hundreds before they moved to the seventeen hundreds. They didn't seem to have a preference for any one genre but was open and accepting to all. Even more peculiar was that the book thief wasn't really a thief, but more of a book borrower. Pogo had been immensely surprised (and a little disappointed) to see that The Merchant of Venice had been returned to its exact spot only to have the next book vanished.

That wasn't all that was out of place, either. The book borrower often left some sort of dusty footprints behind that Pogo ran his own feet through to hide the marks. A part of him was relieved that Reginald had turned off his surveillance footage years ago so the borrower wouldn't get caught but another part wished it was still on so he could see who they were.

✧✧✧

Pogo's wishes to find out who the book borrower was were finally answered. One night, two years later, he had been making his daily rounds. Instead of just missing the borrower or causing them to hide, he caught them— her— in the act. The girl never noticed him, but in the dim light of the hallway he was finally able to put a face to the intruder.

The sight of the young girl instantly brought back memories of two other young girls who had been very dear to him. This one— who was rapidly vanishing from view— was, of course, different than the two he knew but her features were very similar. The girl had dark brown hair and bangs much like Seven had had growing up. She was about what Three's height had been and was of similar build. Pogo hadn't been able to catch a glimpse of her face but his mind replaced it with Seven's.

He knew, then, that he would do whatever it took to keep this girl out of Reginald's grasp. If she was caught he would most likely punish her harshly— enough to scar her. Pogo promised himself that he would not let another child— especially one seemingly without powers and the weight of the world on her shoulders— be influenced by the man who, despite everything, he still respected. He'd failed Three and Seven in the past but this new Seven he wouldn't fail. There had been nothing he could do about the powered children under Reginald's care but this book borrower would remain ignorant of the man's tendencies.

While Reginald wasn't much of a threat especially now that he almost never left his office, it was better that Pogo didn't let his guard down. He finally broke down and explained the story to Grace and how, though there was a thief, she posed no threat to them and it was their duty to protect her from Reginald. Grace, understanding where the chimpanzee was coming from, agreed and made it a point to leave more windows unlocked for the girl so she would have easier and faster escape. She also entered the library more frequently and cleaned up the lingering dust so no remaining footprints would give away the borrower's presence.

It was in this way that the two guardians unofficially adopted a sort-of eighth child, though she had no knowledge of her new position.