6 WHO ELSE LIVED AT THE LIBRARY

CHAPTER 6 WHO ELSE LIVED AT THE LIBRARY? Grandma Karen came up behind Claire's mom. "What's going on?" She glanced curiously at Claire's mom and then toward the stack of books on the table. "I'm looking for a passageway to a secret room," Claire said. "We learned about Martin Walters at the historical society today. He's the one who built this house. He got the money to build it by inventing a new kind of soda pop. But no one knows where the recipe for the soda pop is. I think it's back there." She banged the wall with her fist. Claire's mom marched over to the table, grabbed an armload of books, and put them back

on the shelf. "Trust me, Claire. It's not back there," she said firmly. "There's no secret room in this house." Grandma Karen looked surprised by Claire's mom's strong reaction. "I don't know, Katherine," she said. "I think there could be a small room back there. I thought so back when we used to live here. If you walk around outside and look at where the window is and where the corner of the house is—" "Wait," Claire interrupted. "What do you mean 'when we used to live here'?" Neither Claire's mom nor Grandma Karen answered Claire at first. "I knew you guys lived in this town when Mom was a little girl," Claire pressed. "But did you actually live here?" "Yes, we did," Grandma Karen said. "This was an apartment house for many, many years. And our apartment was right here. This craft room was our living room, bedroom, and kitchen. The bathroom was down the hall. Right where it still

is. We shared it with another apartment." "This little room was your whole apartment?" Claire cried. "That's right," Grandma Karen said. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" Claire asked, her eyes flicking back and forth between her mom and her grandma. "It wasn't a secret," her mother said as she grabbed another armload of books from the table. "I just don't like to talk about those days. It wasn't a happy time." Grandma Karen pulled out a chair and sat down. She motioned for Claire to do the same. "I was a single mom," Grandma Karen began. "We struggled to make ends meet. But even though times were tough, I always loved this house. Isn't it the most beautiful house you've ever seen?" "It is nice," Claire agreed. Claire's mom banged more books against the shelf. "Sylvia always took such good care of it,"

Grandma Karen said. "Sylvia was the previous owner. When she put the house on the market, I couldn't resist buying it. Even though I knew I didn't want to manage an apartment house. But by then all the renters had moved out. And the library needed more space, so I decided to lease the downstairs to the city for a library. There was still too much space upstairs for me alone. But then you and your parents moved in, and, well, things have a way of working out, don't they?" Grandma Karen patted Claire's arm. "I guess," Claire said. "You know," Grandma Karen said, looking thoughtful. "If you want to hear more about this house, Sylvia lived here for more than forty years. You've probably seen her in the library. She's an older lady. She often wears fancy jewelry." "Yeah, I think I've seen her," Claire said.

"I think we found her lost earring once," Kaz told Claire. "Nobody knows more about the history of this house than Sylvia Lock," Grandma Karen said. "Tomorrow's Saturday. Why don't I write down her address for you, and you can pay her a visit? Ask her if she knows anything about a secret room." "Mother!" Claire's mom said sharply. "What, Katherine?" Grandma Karen asked. Claire's mom's jaw tightened. "I don't think that's a good idea," she said. "You don't think it's a good idea for Claire to visit a lonely woman?" Grandma Karen asked. "Why in the world not?" But Claire's mom couldn't come up with a reason. "Can Windy and I come with you this time?" Little John asked when Kaz and Claire got ready to go visit Mrs. Lock the next day.

"You can come," Kaz replied. "But there isn't room for Windy in Claire's bottle." "Can't we take the box?" Little John asked. "No!" Kaz said. "I'm not traveling inside a box just so you can bring a doll." Little John sighed. "Will you take care of Windy while I'm gone?" he asked Beckett. "Hmph," Beckett said as he took the doll from Little John. Kaz and Little John shrank down... down... down... and passed through Claire's water bottle. Then they set off for Mrs. Lock's house. "My mom was acting weird yesterday," Claire said along the way. "She sure was," Kaz said from inside the water bottle. "Why would she think visiting Mrs. Lock wasn't a good idea?" Claire asked. "I don't know your mom very well," Little John said. "But even I thought that was weird." When they got to Mrs. Lock's house, Claire