Free The Day the World Went Loki by Robert J. Harris Page B

and drew himself up with dignity.
    “Do you come in search of knowledge?” he asked grandly.
    “Yes, definitely,” Lewis answered.
    Mr Calvert tutted as if someone had just returned a book with one of the pages folded down. “No, no, no. You are supposed to say, ‘I come to drink deep of your wisdom.’”
    “Oh, right. I come to drink deep of your wisdom.” When he saw that Mr Calvert hadn’t reacted, he added, “Is there anything else?”
    Mr Calvert started as though he had been shaken out of a reverie. “Oh, sorry. No, that’s fine. My mind wandered for a moment. That’s the trouble with being the Fount Of All Knowledge. You find your thoughts straying to matters that aren’t strictly relevant to the present situation.”
    “That’s going to be a big help,” Greg commented under his breath.
    Mr Calvert peered at him over the top of his spectacles as though he had only just noticed him. “This must be your brother Gregory. He is exactly as described.”
    “What does he mean ‘as described’?” Greg demanded. “What have you been saying about me?”
    “Never mind that now,” said Lewis. “Mr Calvert, we have some important questions. It’s about this book.”
    He displayed
The Folklore of Time.
    Mr Calvert glanced at it without recognition. “Has it been improperly filed?”
    “No, it’s nothing like that. There’s this rhyme inside,the Lokiday rhyme. We recited it last night and today everything is different.”
    “Different from what?”
    “Different from the way it’s supposed to be. Some sort of magic spell has changed everything. You didn’t used to be sitting inside a crystal ball like this.”
    Mr Calvert quirked an intrigued eyebrow. “Really? Where did I sit?”
    “Behind a desk,” Lewis replied. “Don’t you remember?”
    “As I told you,” Mr Calvert said, spreading his hands before him, “I have an awful lot stored in my head. It might be in there somewhere.”
    “Well, you’ve changed,” Lewis continued. “Miss Perkins has turned into some kind of priestess; the library’s become a temple. Yesterday it was nothing like this.”
    Mr Calvert was nodding.
    “You look like you believe it all,” Greg told the librarian.
    “Why should he lie?” Mr Calvert responded matter-of-factly.
    Greg shrugged. “I just didn’t think it would be that easy.”
    Mr Calvert settled himself back in his chair and steepled his fingers under his chin. “Now start from the beginning and tell me everything,” he said.

9. NO JOY IN THE KITCHEN
    Lewis told the whole story of the book, the rhyme and everything they had been through that day, including the magic mirror and their flight from the Valkyries. He was just coming to his insight in the boathouse when he noticed that Mr Calvert had a faraway look in his eyes as though he weren’t paying any attention.
    “Mr Calvert!” he said loudly.
    Mr Calvert looked at him owlishly. “Sorry. I was just recalling an amusing anecdote from Herodotus. Something to do with a hippo. Anyway, back to your problem. I suppose the first thing you need to know is why all this is happening.”
    “Yes,” the brothers agreed at once. They both looked expectantly at Mr Calvert.
    “Well,
I
don’t know!” he exclaimed. “You have to work it out. You know what I’ve always told you, Lewis. Read first, then think, then conclude. Wisdom lies in the use of knowledge, not in its accumulation. Now, haven’t you been researching matters of time for your school project?”
    “You remember that?”
    “You told me it a few minutes ago when you were explaining about the book. I’m not totally befuddled, you know. Now what have you learned about the days of the week and how they are named?”
    “Well, Saturday is named after the Roman god Saturn, and Sunday and Monday are named after the sun and the moon.”
    “And the others?” Mr Calvert prompted.
    “They’re named after Norse gods. Let’s see… Tyr, Odin, Thor and Freya.”
    “Yes, that’s