5 Books For Eveline

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34

Her days began in the same fashion, now. A quick visit to Celia and Donovan's café for a coffee and a chat before she headed out to tick off a few more of the four hundred locations. The usual questions would come from all sides about her epic quest. After returning from the city, Purdy had confided in Celia and Donovan about her search for the books and, of course, the private conversation had spread like wildfire.

Even with everyone within the café knowing about the books and Purdy's hunt for them, no-one knew of anyone else that had taken on the search. It seemed that, as Purdy had done before telling the two café owners, all the other people seeking out the books had kept that information to themselves.

Purdy could understand that. She had considered it her own, very private, enterprise, even as she had conducted the search along with Briar. She had, in secret, not thought of it as anyone else's search. It was hers alone. A personal undertaking that she did not want to share with others. Even now, knowing how many café customers knew about it, she held back as much information as she could, telling them nothing about the contents of the four volumes she had and, especially, nothing about Eveline and Raya.

As for Briar, Purdy had not seen her since the day she had returned from her doctor's appointment. It was as though she had disappeared from the town and no-one she asked, in passing, only as an afterthought, could recall seeing Briar for days. She had tried to ask in an unconcerned manner, but everyone seemed to understand that she hid that concern.

"Where are you looking today, duck?" A second mug of coffee became placed before Purdy and Celia sat at the other side of the table, glancing at Purdy's notes and map. "I take it the black crosses mean you haven't found it there?"

Pudgy fingers flattened against the map as Celia strained to look at it, upside down. Purdy turned the map until Celia could see it, and tapped an area to the north of the town. She had used a pencil to circle a number of areas on the map, capturing up to ten locations per circle. She had crossed out almost a hundred of the locations already.

"Yeah. It's like climbing a mountain that keeps growing." Letting out a deep sigh, Purdy rubbed her forehead and tapped her pencil against the map. "It feels like it'll never end."

"Never mind, duck. You'll get there and I'm sure you'll find this last book." With a wink, Celia took her cloth from the string belt of her apron, wiping the areas of the table not covered by notebooks and the map. "I have a good feeling about it."

"I'm not so sure. I don't know how many others are searching, or how many places they've checked. I'm sure Briar ..." The words trailed away and Purdy picked up the mug of coffee, avoiding Celia's eyes. "I'm sure the others don't have to deal with a dodgy hip."

She tried to laugh it off, but she had to admit to herself, her hip had begun to pain her again. Doctor Chesterton had told her to rest her hip as much as possible. If she made it any worse by performing too much activity, it could make the surgery worse, or put it off indefinitely. Celia glanced around to her husband and he shook his head, silent.

"Have you heard about your surgery, then?" Celia had little in the way of subtlety, but Purdy couldn't begrudge her question. It seemed clear the woman had come to like Purdy. This Purdy. "Only, I've seen you taking your tablets again, and those little winces you think you hide, but you don't. I'm worried, duck. You need to take care of yourself."

"I'm fine." Her 'go to' phrase that she spouted in all circumstances. A way to deflect any chance of concern from people. "The appointment is in a couple of weeks. A couple of days in hospital. Months of physiotherapy, again, and I'll be as good as new. It's fine."