Free Firefly Hollow by T. L. Haddix Page A

lip thoughtfully. “You know what? That might work out better in the long run than a teaching job. I think you should go straight over there as soon as you eat your lunch.” A customer down the counter signaled for more coffee, and Gilly moved toward him. “Come back and tell me how things go at the library, okay?”
    “Okay.” Sarah could only eat about half her sandwich, but she did finish off the cocoa. She had the other waitress bag the uneaten food for her, then paid her check. Stopping in at the drugstore had been something of a treat, especially since Sarah didn’t have a job. She’d have to forego eating out in the future if she didn’t find employment, and soon.
    Without much hope, she left her car parked on Main Street and walked up the hill to the library. The building had been built only two years prior, and Sarah had only been in it a handful of times. Seeing the line of people waiting to be checked out, she didn’t go straight to the front desk, but headed over to browse through the stacks. Several books jumped out at her, and she figured now was as good a time as any to pick them up.
    The line was gone by the time she made her way to the front desk. When Sarah placed her selections on the counter, the woman behind the desk gave her a weary smile. Sarah handed over her library card. “I heard that you all might be hiring. If so, then I’d like to put in an application.”
    The woman—Shirley, according to her nametag—looked at Sarah with renewed interest. “Do tell. Have you ever worked in a library before, hon?”
    “No. I was in school at Berea, three years in on a four-year degree for teaching. I came home in November when my father passed.”
    “I’m sorry to hear that. Hard to get a teaching job this time of year, especially without a full certificate under your belt.”
    Sarah felt her cheeks flush. “Yes, ma’am.”
    “What all skills do you have? Can you use a typewriter? Answer the phone? Reshelve books? Do you know the Dewey Decimal System?”
    “Yes to the typewriter and phone. Shelving books? I know how to find titles when I’m looking for something in particular. I figure filing them back where they go is a similar process, only in reverse. And I know how the Dewey Decimal System works. I had to use it for research in college.”
    Shirley filled out the book cards and handed back Sarah’s library card. “We don’t pay as good as teaching does, but it’s a steady job. It’s Monday through Friday, nine to five, with half days every other Saturday. We take turns working those. Would you be interested in signing on to stay, or just until Mr. Napier calls you in to work for him?”
    “I-I don’t know. That’s something I’d have to answer when and if the time came.”
    The older woman’s indecision was clear on her face. With a put-upon sounding sigh, she turned and went to a filing cabinet, where she pulled out a piece of paper. She returned and handed the paper to Sarah.
    “Fill this out. I’m not making you any promises.”
    “Thank you. I’ll do that right now.” With a sunny smile for the woman, she picked up her books and went to one of the small round tables situated throughout the open area of the room. She read the application carefully before she filled it out. When she was finished, she double-checked all the information to make sure it looked right, and she sent a quick prayer heavenward. “I need this job. Please let this work out.”
    Books and purse tucked under one arm, Sarah went back up to the desk and gave Shirley the application.
    “If you were hired on, you’d be a library assistant. Basically, anything that needed doing, you’d be responsible for it. Whatever we asked of you, within reason. It’s not as glamorous as teaching.”
    “I understand.”
    “How soon are you looking to start, if you were to be offered the job?”
    “As soon as possible,” Sarah answered. “I knew when I came home that I’d be staying and that I’d have to