Chapter Four: Krutch Park Library
The library sat on one corner of Krutch Park, across from the sandbox and surrounded by several large oak trees. Miss Victoria Brown, head librarian, had been at Krutch Park Library for as long as anyone could remember. As old as some of the dusty books she watched over, Miss Brown was certainly an oddity around town. There were rumors that she once worked as a spy during one of the wars and was shot down behind enemy lines before making her escape. Some thought she was a retired circus performer because of the brightly colored clothing she always wore and the many paintings covering the library walls; funny clowns in tiny cars, daring tightrope walkers, and pretty ballerinas standing on the backs of prancing horses. But some of the children thought she was really a witch in disguise. Nathan even swore he saw her casting a spell once. Every Halloween Miss Brown would decorate the library to look like a creepy castle dungeon and she would dress up in a long black dress and pointed hat, complete with a hairy wart on the end of her nose. She would even bring in her cat, Balkazar, to the library. With his shiny black fur and emerald green eyes, Balkazar would hide amongst the books until an unsuspecting child would stumble upon him. Letting out a howl of surprise, the cat would then dart off to find another hiding spot. Only the bravest of the brave would visit Miss Brown in her scary dungeon library on Halloween, even knowing they would be rewarded with a handful of delicious, full size chocolate candy bars!
But Billy, Alex, and Nathan weren't thinking of Halloween when they raced each other to the base of the library steps. Stopping only long enough to catch their breath, the three boys stumbled through the library's front door and quickly walked up to the desk where Miss Brown sat working on her computer.
Since Billy was the one to try to convince Miss Brown of their plan, Alex and Nathan both gave him a thumbs up before heading over to the children's area to check out the latest mystery books on display.
Taking a deep breath, Billy said, "Miss Brown? Can I talk to you for a second? It's about your book drive for Children's Literacy."
Pushing her glasses back on the bridge of her nose, Miss Brown looked over at him and said, "Of course, Billy, how can I help you?"
"Well, Miss Brown, my buddies Alex, Nathan and I have thought of a way to get YOU more books for the library and US a way to enter a taekwondo tournament in November."
Confused, Miss Brown blinked her eyes twice before replying, "A taekwondo tournament? What does a taekwondo tournament have to do with my book drive?"
Quickly, before he lost his nerve, Billy explained, "Well, you see Miss Brown, the three of us have been taking martial arts lessons for awhile now at Hargis' TaeKwonDo Academy and there's a competition coming up in November. I'm pretty fast in my sparring, Alex does a really cool form, and Nathan is just hoping to get a medal. But none of us have the money for the ten dollar registration fee that is due by October 13th. "
"So we thought if each of us collected 200 books for Children's Literacy, then you might be willing to pay us each ten dollars to deliver all those books to the library for you."
Miss Brown slowly removed her glasses and placed them carefully beside her computer before looking again at Billy. Smiling finally, she said, "Well, Billy, I think that is a wonderful idea! I will pay you three boys ten dollars each to deliver a total of 600 books to the library before October 13th, but, there is one condition."
Billy glanced over at Nathan and Alex watching him from behind the rack of mystery books and dried his suddenly sweaty hands on his pants before turning back to Miss Brown and saying, "Okay, what's that?"
With a wink, Miss Brown replied, "I must be invited to watch you boys at your tournament!"
Jumping up and down with excitement, Billy thanked the librarian before running to tell Alex and Nathan the good news. They would be going to tournament! All they had to do was collect 600 books over the next three weeks. It would be a challenge, but Master Hargis had always told them that perseverance was the art of never giving up no matter how many obstacles might be in the way. He taught them to stay focused on their goals and now they were one step closer to going to tournament!
As the three boys left the library and headed back to Billy's house, Nathan suddenly stopped walking. Staring at the other two boys, he blurted out what no one had thought about, "Hey guys! All we've got is our three bikes. Just how are we gonna carry 600 books back to the library once we got them all?"
