Michael and Rachel and I spent lots of time with Penny after that. She was depressed. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have someone die in my arms, but I couldn’t. It had been a real test for her. She insisted it was nothing like what I had been through, but I knew it bothered her deeply.
Shortly after New Years, a wonderful thing happened. I was doing homework with Issa. We heard a truck drive up, but I didn’t think much about it because one of our neighbors was moving.
“Ariel?” my mom said, coming into my room. “Truck freight for you.
Three big boxes.”
“What are they?” I asked the guy at the front door.
“Books, it says here.”
I signed and he wheeled them into the living room. Glued to one of the boxes was an envelope.
“Who are they from?” Issa asked, stroking my hair from behind.
I tore open the envelope and took out the paper inside. “It’s from a lawyer.
‘In fulfillment of the Last Will of Howard Levi Burns, the library, consisting of the books listed on Schedule A, shall be delivered . . .’ Issa! Remember the man who died and had all those neat books? It says here that according to his will, they should be given to a young person who knows their value. They have been given to us! This is so fantastic! We had a little library before.
Now we have a really good one!”
If my parents had somehow managed to not know that I was interested in old religions and philosophies before, they knew now.
We put the books on shelves in my room. I had to move all my old dolls and plastic horses, and my dad got an extra bookcase out of the basement. It was a proud collection of mostly hardcover books, some even leather-bound.
I read off the titles and Issa checked them off the list, then added it to our study guide.
That evening, all the Sprites came over and we sat around for hours looking at them, each person trying to decide which one to borrow first.
I noticed that Sandy didn’t take a book home.
For the sixth time, we made candles during January and celebrated Candlemas on the eve of February second. Rachel was already leading part of the ceremony. Dulcy presented Issa with his medallion. It had the Hebrew word Netsah on it, Endurance.