Read Online Rhythm and Bluegrass by Molly Harper - Free Book Online

my brain, I knew that should mean something to me beyond God’s first known line of dialogue. But I couldn’t make the connection. It would come to me, I promised myself . . . or it would keep me awake at night, making crazy Venn diagrams until I collapsed in a frustrated heap.
    You know those movies where the hero wakes up from a coma and wanders down a trashed, corpse-ridden hospital hallway and realizes, “Oh crap, I slept through the zombie apocalypse”? Well, at least there were no corpses in sight in the Mud Creek Public Library. But this place was trashed. The carpet was filthy and patched over with duct tape in places. Books stacked on the circulation desk seemed to be surrounded by a thick layer of dust, so they’d clearly been there for a while. I didn’t see a single person, not one patron or staffer. The computers were at least ten years out of date. I knew better than to even ask about wireless access. The card catalogue was a filing cabinet filled with actual cards, which appealed to the history geek in me.
    I scanned the titles on the shelves, impressed by the collection of leather-bound reference materials near the circulation desk. Those books, though slightly outdated, were well cared for and neatly organized. Unfortunately, the stairs to the special collections room were boarded over, which complicated things.
    “Hello?” I called, unsure whether I really wanted someone to answer me. What if no one was here? What if I wasn’t supposed to be here? I mean, the lights were on and the door was unlocked, but from what I’d seen, that could have been an error on the staff’s part. I doubted Sadie would be amused if I got busted for breaking and entering a municipal building. Kelsey, sure, but Sadie, no. I turned on my heel, determined to make tracks out the front entrance and find some other way to get my local information, and nearly mowed down a trim little woman with thick steely-gray hair and skin like faded sepia parchment.
    “Ack!” she shouted, throwing her hands over her face.
    “Yipe!” I cried, clutching at the elderly woman’s arms so I wouldn’t knock her over completely. She glared up at me as I righted us and steadied her on her feet. “I’m so sorry!”
    “Oh, that was a fright.” The lady clutched at her purple paisley blouse as if she could will her heart to slow down. “I think that should count as my cardio for the day. I don’t care what the doctor has to say about it.”
    “I’m so sorry. You move really quietly!” I exclaimed, taking my hands from her arms only when I was sure she would stay upright.
    “Years of practice.” She sniffed, straightening her church clothes. “Now, how can I help you?”
    Miss Earlene McGlory, sister to the recently indisposed Mayor Tommy McGlory, had worked at the library for almost fifty years and was the first black woman to serve as Mud Creek’s head librarian. Her grasp of my job as a multimedia historian was impressive. I usually spent the first few hours at any location explaining what I did, because most people thought I just made the title up. But Miss Earlene, an avid devourer of library-science and historical journals, was eager to see all of my tricks and tools. I outlined my purpose in Mud Creek and what I might need from the library in terms of historical materials, promising her a tour of the building as soon as I felt it was safe. At the mention of McBride’s, her expression turned soft and a little misty for a moment, but she snapped out of it quickly, striding behind the circulation desk to tap away at the ancient computer.
    “So you’re the one that has young McBride all stirred up, huh?” She chuckled, raising a pair of bifocals over the enormous black-rimmed glasses she was already wearing to peer down at the black-and-green computer screen.
    “I wouldn’t say ‘stirred up,’” I objected.
    “It’s a small town, honey. Word gets around quickly when our Will gets his head turned by a new girl.