point, characters become sufficiently famous to pop into existence and, when they do so, they materialize in or near the Caxton Private Lending Library & Book Depository. They always have, ever since the original Mr. Caxton set up the first depository shortly before his death in 1492. According to the history of the library, he did so when some of Chaucerâs pilgrims turned up on his doorstep in 1477.â
âSome of them?â said Mr. Berger. âNot all?â
âNobody remembers all of them,â said Mr. Gedeon. âCaxton found the Miller, the Reeve, the Knight, the Second Nun, and the Wife of Bath all arguing in his yard. Once he became convinced that they were not actors or lunatics, he realized that he had to find somewhere to keep them. He didnât want to be accused of sorcery or any other such nonsense, and he had his enemies: where there are books, there will always be haters of books alongside the lovers of them.
âSo Caxton found a house in the country for them, and this also served as a library for parts of his own collection. He even established a means of continuing to fund the library after he was gone, one that continues to be used to this day. Basically, we mark up what should be marked down, and mark down what should be marked up, and the difference is deposited with the Trust.â
âIâm not sure that I understand,â said Mr. Berger.
âItâs simple, really. Itâs all to do with haâpennies, and portions of cents, or lire, or whatever the currency may be. If, say, a writer was due to be paid the sum of nine pounds, ten shillings, and sixpence haâpenny in royalties, the haâpenny would be shaved off and given to us. Similarly, if a company owes a publisher seventeen pounds, eight shillings, and sevenpence haâpenny, theyâre charged eightpence instead. This goes on all through the industry, even down to individual books sold. Sometimes weâre dealing in only fractions of a penny, but when you take them from all around the world and add them together, itâs more than enough to fund the Trust, maintain the library, and house the characters here. Itâs now so embedded in the system of books and publishing that nobody even notices anymore.â
Mr. Berger was troubled. He would have had no time for such financial chicanery when it came to the Closed Accounts Register. It did make sense, though.
âAnd what is the Trust?â
âOh, the Trust is just a name thatâs used for convenience. There hasnât been an actual Trust in years, or not one with a board of Trustees. For all intents and purposes, this is the Trust. I am the Trust. When I pass on, the next librarian will be the Trust. Thereâs not much work to it. I rarely even have to sign checks.â
While the financial support structure for the library was all very fascinating, Mr. Berger was more interested in the question of the characters.
âTo get back to these characters, they live here?â
âOh, absolutely. As I explained, they just show up outside when the time is right. Some are obviously a little confused, but it all becomes clear to them in the days that follow, and they start settling in. And around the time that they arrive, so too does a first edition of the relevant work, wrapped in brown paper and tied with string. We put it on a shelf and keep it nice and safe. Itâs their life story, and it has to be preserved. Their history is fixed in those pages.â
âWhat happens with series characters?â asked Mr. Berger. âSherlock Holmes, for example? Er, Iâm assuming heâs here somewhere.â
âOf course,â said Mr. Gedeon. âWe numbered his rooms as 221B, just to make him feel at home. Dr. Watson lives next door. In their case, I do believe that the library received an entire collection of first editions of the canonical works.â
âThe Conan Doyle books, you
Jennifer LaBrecque, Leslie Kelly