Librarians 1
Ten years ago:
Jessie was home for winter break. She was in her first semester at South Dakota State University. She was nineteen and independent, for the most part. She'd spent two years at the community college a few towns over and helped out on the family ranch when she wasn't bussing tables at the bar or in class. She'd done some classes online and took classes at night through high school to graduate early. Now she was well on her way to a Master's Degree in American History. She also held one Associates Degree in Psychology at this point. It was Christmas Eve, and Friday, which meant older brother, Jacob, was at the bar having a cold one. Their older sister Janett and her husband, Robert, was also there at the ranch. The whole Stone family under one roof, what could possibly go wrong?
When Jake finally came home he seemed to be a glass of spiked eggnog away from blacking out, but at the sight of Jessie, he sobered up. "Jess, thought you were stayin' in Brookin's over Christmas." He said.
"Decided to skip the twelve keg parties I'd been invited to and drink eggnog spiked with Jack Daniels instead," she joked, causing everybody in the room to erupt in laughter.
There was talk about everything that was going on in the lives of all the Stones, most of which was aimed at Jessie, and what on earth had possessed Jake to turn down his acceptance to Cambridge University in England for an advanced degree in Art. Jake merely shrugged it off and muttered something about getting homesick and already having a job.
~.*.~
After everyone had gone to bed, Jake went into Jessie's room.
"Still awake, Jess?" he whispered.
"Only if you have something to get off your chest," she replied, tiredly.
"I got a letter from New York City the day before yesterday, the Metropolitan Public Library wants me to interview for a job there." he said.
"Can't be anymore life threatening then what you do to earn a living now; I'd go, if I were you." Jessie advised her older brother.
"Me? In New York City?"
"Jake, the world is bigger than the ranch, oil field, and the bar in town; look at me I'm going to school out of state. I'll admit I got homesick, but you and I talked at least once a week, so it weren't as bad as it might have been. Go Jake, you may live to regret not going."
Jake sighed. He knew Jessie had a point. She had always been a good giver of advice, to anyone, but he himself usually tried to take her pearls of wisdom to heart. That was another thing, he'd been told along with a few other guys on the same oil field that they were chosen to work on the Trans-Alaskan Pipe Line for a year, and if he were to admit it, he simply didn't have the heart to tell anyone that he had to move to Fairbanks, Alaska for a whole year.
"Jake, is something wrong?" Jessie asked sitting up.
"Naw, sis, just feel like I can sleep easier now that I've talked to ya, I'll uh see ya in the mornin'." he exited her room and returned to his own.
Present Day:
"Goin' home for the summer?" Sarah asked her roommate.
"Yeah, Jake's going to work on an off shore oil rig first of June and he's gonna be out there for...two years or so." Jessie replied. "Kinda want to see 'im beforehand, no cell service out there ya know."
"I understand," Sarah said. "Frat boys and keg parties."
"Yeah, hey did you get the mail today?" Jessie asked.
"Yeah, mostly junk mail, oh and this came for you, from New York City." Sarah held up a white envelope.
Jessie took it and opened it up. It was the exact same as the one Jake had shown her ten years ago. "Uh...it's nothing." She said, packing it into her purse. "Okay, suitcase is packed, purse is packed, truck is parked outside and ready to go; alright Sarah, I'll see you after the long break."
~.*.~
Jessie pulled into the lane that led to the ranch house. She parked by the barn and sat there in the seat for a while just taking in the sight of the old home place. Jake's '68 Chevy was parked by the house, a sure sign he'd been off work, or had just gotten home. She sighed and got out and went to the door. She knocked, hoping Jake would come to the door.
"Can I help you?" a man asked opening the door.
"Hi Dad," Jessie murmured.
"Jessica? Didn't think you were gonna make it home this summer." Mr. Stone said.
"Yeah, 'bout that, I'm gonna go to New York City, a library there wants me to interview for a job..."
"What about your education?"
"I can't afford college anymore, Dad..."
"Are you asking for money?"
"No sir," Jessie said. "Is Jake home?"
"In the barn."
Jessie nodded and went back to the barn. The smells were familiar there, and they were comforting. She walked in and sat on a bale of straw.
Jake turned when he heard the door creak open and smiled when he saw his little sister walk in. He stopped mucking out a horse stall and walked over to where she had sat down. The smile fell when he saw she was crying.
"Hey, what's wrong sis?" Jake asked, sitting down beside her.
"It's nothin'," it was a lie, but Jessie didn't want to talk about it.
"Jess, it wasn't him, was it?" Jake asked, seriously.
"No," that was the truth.
Jake wrapped an arm around his sister and pulled her close, kissing the top of her head. "C'mon sis, you can tell me."
"College Jake, I have to stop going, I'm out of money."
"And you told Dad,"
Jessie nodded.
"S'okay darlin', you'll figure somethin' out." Jake pulled something out of his shirt pocket. "I was saving this for your birthday, but since I'm going to be going off shore in June, I thought I'd give it to ya now."
Jessie took the bandana, usual Jake wrapping. It was a small ring with a moonstone as the setting. "Jacob, you don't need to spend your hard earned wages on me."
Jake only smiled and slipped the ring onto her left middle finger. "The guy down at the antique shop gave me a deal I couldn't refuse."
"Thank you, though you spoil me, older brother."
~.*.~
Jessie was at the door of the Metropolitan Public Library. She'd spent all of May at home in Tulsa with her family before Jake went off to a BP oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, or so she thought. She went in and was greeted by the receptionist.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked.
"Yeah, I...uh received this letter," Jessie pulls the letter from her purse.
"The Library sent you one ten years ago but it never arrived since your address changed from Tulsa, Oklahoma to Brookings, South Dakota. You must be Jessica Stone."
"Jessie, I go by Jessie, or Jess, but only Jacob can call me Jess." Jessie said.
"Well, Jessie, I'm Charlene and welcome to the Library,"
"Uh...what is my job, again?"
"Oh, well I have booked you a ticket to Portland, Oregon, we have an Annex there, I fear that the Library may not be safe for much longer." Charlene explained. "The Serpent Brotherhood has been killing off potential Librarians, your brother Jacob, being on that list, you have also been added to that list."
"Where-"
"Safe, with the Librarian and his Guardian."
"But where, in the world, I mean." Jessie repeated.
"Munich, Germany; I believe they went to look at a painting in the Museum of Art and History."
"Painting...would said painting be 'The Crown of King Arthur' also known as the Roman Hypothesis?" Jessie asked.
"I believe that's what Mr. Stone said it was."
"Charlene, there's one problem, the painting is a fake, the dye used to make one of the pigments was discovered in the 1500s. You need to book me a ticket to Munich, not Portland."
"I would, but Judson feels like you should be at the Annex." Charlene paused a moment. "Follow me, there is a quicker way."
"Quicker way, Charlene, how?"
Charlene led the way to a hidden elevator. Jessie got in and watched as the numbers started to descend faster.
"Pay no attention to that, it's just a metaphor." Charlene commented.
"Uh-huh..." Jessie said.
The door opened to reveal a space larger than the Library on the upper level. Charlene stepped out and motioned for Jessie to follow.
"Follow me to the Hall of Doors." The receptionist said.
Jessie followed close behind, not wanting to get lost in the maze of shelves and display cases. After several minutes there was a whole wall of doors.
"Go through the white one, and keep going straight, the road will be right there."
"Thanks Charlene," Jessie said as she went through the door.
~.*.~
When Jessie got to the road there was a man standing by a tin woody station wagon. He gave a forced smile.
"Jessica Stone, I presume?" he asked.
"I go by Jessie, or, if you were my brother Jacob, Jess." Jessie replied.
"Either way, get in."
"Uh...I'll pass; I don't make a habit of getting into station wagons with strange men."
"I'm Jenkins; I run the Annex and am not accustomed to visitors, short or long term." Jenkins said dryly.
Jessie nodded and got in the station wagon. She sighed heavily. She was worried about her brother now that she knew what had happened.
"You fretting over something Miss Stone?" Jenkins asked.
"Just Jake," she sighed.
"When we get to the Annex, I'll make you some tea; I find it helps the nerves in times of stress."
Jessie nodded in halfhearted agreement. "Green tea with mint is my favorite, if you have any." she nearly whispered.
"I too am partial to green tea."
~.*.~
Jessie had fallen asleep in the arm chair on the upper level of the card catalog room while reading Gone with the Wind. She woke when she heard voices coming from downstairs.
She came down rubbing the sleep from her grey eyes. "Jenkins, what's all the- Jacob!" she said upon picking her brother out of the crowd of strangers.
Jake acknowledged his sister with a slight nod. Everyone looked from the cowboy to the girl standing opposite the group, trying to figure out the connection.
"Jessica," Jenkins said, "get the first aid kit from my work space, and don't touch anything else."
Jessie rolled her eyes but hurried off to get the first aid kit.
When she came back Jenkins had made a pot of tea and Jacob was asking if there was any beer in the place. She smirked, just as a gun was being pulled on her.
"Hey, whoa, easy, I'm one of y'all." Jessie said, raising her hands.
"Put your hands down," Eve Baird said. "Stone, explanation, now."
Jessie put her hands down as Jake came over. "Baird, this is my little sister, Jessica, well she prefers Jessie, and only lets me call her Jess-"
"Jacob..." Jessie warned.
"She is a smart little cookie and can handle her own as well." Jake finished.
"What he said." Jessie confirmed.
Baird looked between them. "Blood is thicker than water, but not so thick; stay focused both of you.
As the NATO agent left to patch up the Librarian, Jake pulled his sister to the side.
"What do ya suppose that was all about?" he asked.
"I don't know, Jake, could've been anything."
~.*.~
A few months seemed to fly by in an instant. Jessie was in awe that she had survived Minators, killer fairy tails, Santa, dragons and the whole conclave thing in general and the Apple of Discord, the haunted house, gas lamp town, and the ripping of the fabric of time, in which one reality she and Jake shared the role of Librarian.
At the end of all that and they all got mini versions of the clippings book, Jake, Ezekiel, and Cassandra went to Peru. Jessie opted to stay at the Annex and take a few weeks off.
Jenkins noticed her sitting at Jake's desk reading a book of Edgar Allan Poe's works.
"Never took you for the type to read the mad ramblings of a drunk from Baltimore." he said.
Jessie looked up. "Poe is a misunderstood writer in my opinion. And he did die drunk and practically penniless in Baltimore, Maryland." she replied.
"So why stay here, when you have a world that is full of wild magic to get back in check?" Jenkins asked.
"I need a break, tomorrow I'm going to clean out my dorm room and drive home, spend a little time on the ranch...maybe say hi to dad..."
"Hmm..." Jenkins hummed. "Well, if I have learned one thing in the past few months, it has been a pleasure knowing that there are other unappreciated souls in the world."
Jessie looked at him for a moment, and then realized it was as close to a complement as she was going to get from Jenkins.
The next day she used the back door to go back to South Dakota, hoping to return to the Annex in a few weeks.