Tales from the Hood by Michael Buckley Read Free Book Online Page B

town, the little library had been a bustling community center. Now that they were gone, it was lonely and dark. It reminded Sabrina of the westerns her mother loved to watch on television. They all seemed to be set in the same barren ghost town. The library had the same abandoned feel. She expected tumbleweeds to roll by at any moment.
    Puck lowered the girls to the ground outside the library’s front door, and his wings tucked themselves back under his hoodie. He sniffed the air and crinkled up his nose.
    “I smell books,” he said, repulsed.
    “That’s probably because this is a library,” Sabrina said, rolling her eyes. “It’s full of books.”
    “No way! Why didn’t you warn me?”
    “What did you think a library was?” Daphne asked.
    “I don’t know,” Puck cried. “I was hoping it was a place where men fought tigers with their bare hands. I should have known better. You guys never want to do anything fun.”
    “Oh, you’re not going to be bored in here,” Daphne said.
    “Yeah, I’m warning you in advance,” Sabrina said to the fairy boy. “You need to stay alert in here. The librarian is sort of unpredictable.”
    “We should have brought the football helmets,” Daphne said to her sister.
    Sabrina nodded. “You’re right. We keep forgetting.”
    “You two are teasing me,” Puck complained.
    “Fine! Don’t believe us,” Sabrina said. “You’ll see soon enough.”
    She led them through the front door. Inside, the library was a disastrous mess. Books, magazines, and newspapers lay scattered about the floor as if a cyclone had blown them off their shelves. Everywhere she looked, Sabrina saw piles of papers and overturned chairs but not a single soul.
    Puck’s face turned green as if he was about to be sick. “Look at all the learning,” he moaned. “I’m going to lose my lunch.”
    Sabrina grabbed his hand and pulled him down an aisle lined with packed bookshelves. “Let’s just find what we’re looking for and get out of here. If we’re lucky we won’t have to see the librarian at all.”
    Daphne took one side and Sabrina took the other, scanning the titles as they walked and hoping they might stumble upon a book of international flags. They found nothing, so they headed up another aisle. As they searched, Puck gagged.
    “Can you give it a rest?” Sabrina asked.
    “The smell is horrible! Books reek!” Puck cried. “It’s so bad I can almost taste them.”
    “Stop being a baby,” Daphne said. Her tone startled Sabrina. She had never heard the little girl scold anyone, especially Puck. Daphne usually thought everything he said or did was hilarious. Worse still was the expression on her sister’s face. Daphne was impatiently rolling her eyes again. It was the rudest thing Sabrina had ever seen her do and it made her furious. She was just about to give her sister a lecture on manners when she heard someone whistling happily from across the room. Sabrina groaned. The librarian had found them.
    “Is that the lunatic you were talking about?” Puck said, searching for the owner of the whistle.
    Sabrina nodded. “Remember what we told you. Stay on your toes.”
    “Hello!” the librarian cried as he appeared from around a shelf. He was holding a towering stack of books that reached several feet over his head. “It’s the Grimm sisters. You know, since the last time you were here, I was thinking how clever and funny your name is—the Sisters Grimm—oh, that’s fun. Like the Brothers Grimm—only girls.”
    “Yes, it’s hilarious,” Sabrina said, forcing a smile on her face. “Do you need any help?”
    “Everything is under control,” the librarian said, but his words did not reflect reality. With each step, the tower of books swayed back and forth. Convinced that the stack would topple over and crush them at any moment, Sabrina shuffled the group to the left, then to the right. It seemed as if no matter what direction they moved, the swaying books followed.
    “I