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Would you like a peek into an unedited excerpt from the novella?
"Lois stood up, preparing to cross the staff workroom to the librarian’s office in the back corner to put the cash box key into the cupboard where they kept all the keys for the building. As she turned toward the back of the building, the main door opened letting in a fragrant floral breeze. She loved the smell of the blossoms on the mature apple and cherry trees that lined the street. Even the sadness attached to James’s death occurring at this time of year couldn’t dispel her pleasure in the scents of the season.
She smiled when she recognised the person who had entered the building. “Oh, hi, Brent. I’m glad I bumped into you. Have you seen Beth today? We were supposed to meet for lunch but she didn’t come by.”
“No, I haven’t seen her. Sorry. Maybe she doesn’t like going out on Friday the thirteenth.”
Lois laughed. “She’s never seemed superstitious and it was her that asked me to meet for lunch today. Don’t think that explains it.”
Brent shrugged. “I don’t know then. Maybe she forgot?”
“Maybe. I don’t know. I phoned her this afternoon but didn’t get her. I’ll have to give her a ring again later and find out what happened. Did you get over to the Payne house yesterday?”
Brent Hamilton stared at her for a moment before speaking. “Uh, yeah.”
“I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it. I had planned to come since I was off work in the afternoon but something came up and I couldn’t get out of it.” Lois didn’t really want to discuss her appointment yesterday with Brent. Brent, Beth and Lois had been working together on a project for the West Toronto Junction Historical Society for a couple of months but Brent was still a casual acquaintance, not a friend like Beth was.
Brent pursed his lips then smiled. “That’s okay. It was pretty mundane, dusty work. You didn’t miss anything.”
“Maybe, but I like to do my share especially since the historical society is being generous and donating everything to the library’s local history collection. Did you find anything interesting in Reverend Payne’s personal papers?”
“Lots of dust and a couple spiders crawling through the boxes – Beth wasn’t keen on them. It was mostly sermons we were going through all afternoon. I can’t tell you how many temperance sermons I’ve read,” Brent groaned.
“I thought you’d be more enthusiastic about the subject, Brent, since you’re a staunch teetotaller yourself. Since they are likely to hold another plebiscite to vote on whether this area remains dry or not in the next year or so, I’d have thought you’d be eager to study anything Reverend Payne wrote about temperance.”
“Of course I am. His writings will be valuable to show the attitudes and beliefs of Presbyterian ministers as well as many of the people in West Toronto Junction when the area banned alcohol in 1904. Many of their arguments are relevant to the temperance movement today so they are important to us in our campaign to keep West Toronto dry.” Brent raised his shoulders and let them drop. “But we’ve seen stacks of similar sermons from Reverend Payne and other ministers in the area. None of what I read yesterday tells us anything new.”
“I’m still surprised you aren’t more excited. When Beth phoned me a couple days ago she said she had a really amazing find in Reverend Payne’s papers and she couldn’t wait to tell me about it. Do you have any idea what she was talking about?”
Brent paused then shook his head. “No, haven’t a clue. I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary in the papers I’ve read. When we were working yesterday Beth didn’t say anything to me about finding anything. I don’t know what she could have been referring to.”
“That’s strange. She was so excited when she talked to me. If she’d found something really important I’m sure she would’ve mentioned it to you while the two of you were going through the papers.”
Brent shook his head firmly. “No, she definitely didn’t.”
“Mmm, I wonder why she didn’t stop by today. She was just bursting to tell me about whatever she discovered but she said wanted to tell me in person. She wouldn’t tell me over the phone.”
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