Episode 5: For the Dress, Chapter 1
"Who stole his scone?" Baird asked, frowning as she looked over her shoulder at Ezekiel's receding back.
"I think he's a little upset with me," sighed Cassandra. "I'll make it up to him another time."
"Why?" Baird looked round to her with a puzzled frown. "What did you do?"
"Oh, he got a case and asked me to go with him," she replied. "I told him Jacob would be more useful that me. It looked like an art thing. Another auction."
"You sent him to Stone?" Eve's shoulders sank slightly. "Right now?"
Cassandra clapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh no, you just left Flynn with him, didn't you! I'm so sorry, I forgot!"
"It's fine," Eve waved a hand dismissively. "I'm sure, between Flynn and Stone, the pair of them will sort it out before the day goes on too long."
"Might put Ezekiel's nose out of joint a little," winced Cassandra. "He's hiding it well, but I know he misses us. I just thought if he and Jacob could take a case together it might... I don't know: build a few bridges?"
"Or burn them!" Baird laughed. "Besides: you just sent Jones through there to steal Stone away on a case sure to be filled with lots of fun and interesting auction goodies my dearly beloved would just love to meet, while I sent him through there with the idea in his head that he doesn't come back until he's asked Stone to be Best Man. I bet you ten bucks he inveigles his way into their mission."
"Make it two," smiled Cassandra. "I wouldn't be surprised."
"At least if he did it might stop Stone throttling Jones before the day is out," mused Baird.
"They're not that bad," laughed Cassandra.
"Really?" Baird replied. "They have worked without us once. According to Flynn, the only reason they didn't reach boiling point that time is because Stone bet Jones he couldn't, and I quote, 'make a plan worth a dime'. Jones accepted the challenge, set the terms and away they went: Stone would happily do whatever Jones told him to, mission-wise, because he was expecting it to fail. They'll be worse this time: One will want to be in charge because the auction stuff will be in his area, the other because it turned up in his book and Flynn won't be able to try the bet trick because it's already been done!"
"They are all grown men," retorted Cassandra. "Surely they have the maturity to work sensibly together for the good of the case?"
"We are talking about the same three men, right?" Eve raised an eyebrow. She checked them off on her fingers. "The thief who antagonises every figure of authority he meets, deliberately. The most adorable nerd on earth who has about as much command over his limbs as a drunken giraffe sometimes. The guy with a brain the size of a planet and a patience for idiotic comments from Jones that you'd need the Hubble telescope to find, and Jones knows it!"
Cassandra opened her mouth, paused, then let her mouth curl up into a sly smile. "Okay, tell you what," she said, arranging the dishtowel she had been using over its rail and putting the last of the breakfast dishes away. "Last time they were the ones making the bets. This time, why don't we make a few of our own. I'll write down my predictions on one piece of paper. You write down yours on another. Then we'll combine them and decide on bets. What do you think?"
"That could be fun," admitted Eve. "And while the boys are away, being brave, grown up, manly heroes..."
"And screaming at spiders..."
Eve looked round with a questioning look. Cassandra smirked and nodded.
"How is that scarier than a minotaur?" Eve asked incredulously.
Cassandra shrugged and smiled, barely suppressing laughter.
"Anyway, while they're gone, you and I can get down to some serious wedding planning," finished Eve. "Finally!"
"What have you still got to do?" Cassandra asked, retrieving her notepad.
"Oh, everything!" Eve exclaimed. "I can't even pin himself through there down to a month, let alone an actual date!"
"Did I hear myself mentioned," asked Flynn, sticking his head into the kitchen. "I'm just popping out to help Ezekiel and Stone with a case, my love. Won't be long."
"Did you ask him yet?" Eve replied, folding her arms and watching him carefully.
"I most certainly did, as I said I would," the Librarian replied. "And of course he acquiesced to my request."
"Excellent work, Librarian," smiled Eve, walking over and giving him a peck on the cheek.
"I couldn't have done it without you, Guardian," he replied, ducking back out of view and hurrying away. As his footsteps receded Eve heard him add "Apparently!"
"So much for not telling him I'd already asked!" Eve scoffed.
"He's Flynn, he notices stuff," shrugged Cassandra with a smile. "Jacob probably ran out of patience and 'guessed' what he was trying to say and Flynn actually guessed you'd beat him to it. If he asked him directly, Jacob wouldn't be able to lie to him. Not convincingly."
"Is that another prediction for the notepads?" Eve grinned.
"You think I'm wrong?" Cassandra laughed back.
Eve considered this. "Actually, no," she decided. "I think you're probably spot on, barring Ezekiel throwing a spanner in the works."
"Okay, so we agree on that one," Cassandra opened her notebook and tore two pages from it. She handed one to Eve. "Go write down yours. I'll do mine. By the time we're done, the office will be clear for us to take over the desk the three of us use. We can move the boys' stuff over to the central desk if we need to. There should be room enough for Jacob and Ezekiel there, and Flynn can use the desk you share with him, if they're back before we're done."
"Won't the Library just reset it?" Eve frowned.
"Not if we ask it nicely, maybe," suggested Cassandra. "I mean, it does like you now, and it's never had an issue with me. Not even when we moved the mirror out of it's corner to do that spell. Which is weird, because, you know, if the Library was going to have an issue with anyone, you'd think it would be with me."
"You did what you did because you were scared and you didn't know any better," said Eve soothingly. "When you did, you helped us. You saved Flynn's life. I wouldn't underestimate just how much the Library knows about that."
"Then why take against you: you've saved Flynn and the rest of us loads of times!"
"Er, well, that might be something to do with the fact that my intended has, shall we say, a bit of a 'type'," Eve smiled. "And since those partners hurt him, I think now that the Library was just being a little overprotective of him."
"Like Cal when you first met," nodded Cassandra. "I guess so."
Eve waved her piece of paper and nodded to the door. "I'll go grab a pen. Come join me when you're done and we'll see who knows her man better."
Cassandra laughed aloud. "Hah! Don't forget we have Ezekiel Jones to include in this too, and if ever there were, or will be, a Librarian famed for being unpredictable..."
She let the sentence hang, still laughing quietly to herself as Eve's back receded, then turned and began her list. Ten minutes later she joined Eve in the office. The long desk in the corner beside the door, on the other side from Eve and Flynn's, was now empty but for a pile of magazines, some paper and pencils.
"Show me what you've got," said Eve, looking up as the redhead approached. She took the list Cassandra proffered her and set it down beside her own, moving them away from her and drawing a blank sheet of paper into the gap. She picked up a pencil and began checking things off. "These ones all match."
Cassandra pulled up a chair beside her. "So what have we got that doesn't?"
"Well," said the Guardian, "apparently you have much more faith in their abilities than I do. You think they'll last until they're trying to get home before they run into trouble. When have we ever got that far before trouble turns up?"
"We have lately," Cassandra shrugged. "Jacob and I had no interference at all in France. What about you and Flynn in Egypt?"
"True, but they do have Jones with them and he brought trouble last time they worked together," she reminded the younger woman.
"The trouble was there waiting for them: the tomb was guarded!" Cassandra protested.
"Okay, so who was the last person in our little family to run into trouble?" Eve turned a triumphant gaze on the redhead, who sighed and held up her hands in defeat.
"What makes you think they're going to split up?" Cassandra asked, pointing to the next one on the list.
"Flynn," replied Eve pointedly. "Jones is going to start trying to wind Stone up. Stone is going to let the kid wind him up. Flynn's going to split them up."
"Okay, well if they do split up, I think it's much more likely one or more of them will run into trouble," decided Cassandra. "We always run into more trouble when we don't stick together."
"Nah, that's backwards," said Eve, shaking her head. "When there's more trouble we have to split up to deal with it."
"Then I bet that if they split up, it'll be before they hit trouble," smiled Cassandra. "I take it you bet the opposite?"
"Deal!" Eve added the information to the list. "Ten to one trouble hits first?"
"Done!" Cassandra held out her hand.
"Hey, look at this!" Eve pointed down to the line below where she had added the odds. New words were forming in the Library's elegant cursive script.
"Mr Stone will attempt to punch somebody," read Cassandra thoughtfully. "Five to one, odds on."
"I guess we're not the only ones who feel like having a little fun today," laughed Eve.
"I'll take that bet," grinned Cassandra, looking up at the ceiling. "He may be in your bad books, no pun intended, but he's not in mine and I have a little more faith in him."
"What if somebody attacks him?" Eve asked with a smile.
"Ah, well that's different," admitted Cassandra. "I bet he won't unless he's attacked though."
"Okay," Eve moved to add the data, but found the Library had already done so. She looked at the next on the list. "Jacob Stone will out-geek Flynn Carsen. Oh, honey, you know I'm taking that bet! At any odds!"
"Pre-wedding spa day for both of us: loser pays," smirked Cassandra.
"I can live with that," smiled Eve.
"Since it came up in Ezekiel's book, I put down that I think he'll have to steal something," continued Cassandra, scanning her list for the line. "It's here somewhere."
"We both had it I scratched it out," Eve told her. "Here's one: Flynn will keep reminding them of his intelligence and degrees ad nauseum."
"Was that from the Library?" Cassandra frowned. "I don't remember writing it."
"No, that one was from me," sighed Eve. "I love him dearly, but every man has his flaws."
"Well, if we're going down that route, I guess if Jacob does punch anyone without being attacked, it's almost certainly going to be Ezekiel," Cassandra admitted. "I kinda hoped this would help them work together better though."
"The Library has another," announced Eve. "The Librarians will meet a familiar face."
"Ten to one, odds on," finished Cassandra with a slight frown and a question in her voice. She looked up at the ceiling again. "Hey now: no cheating. If you know something more about this case, you should have let them know: they're your Librarians."
"Ooh! You've got an answer!" Eve exclaimed, watching words form on the page with wide eyes. "Merely a balance of probabilities."
"Even odds," admitted Cassandra. "Okay, I'll take that bet."
"I'm not entirely sure I condone gambling," murmured Jenkins, peering over the ladies' shoulders at the sheet of paper on the desk. "Especially not in the Library."
"The Library disagrees," giggled Cassandra, pointing to a line of neat text halfway down the page. "We didn't even think about that one!"
"Hmm," frowned Jenkins, no longer sure who was teaching whom bad habits. He looked down the list. "I find it highly unlikely that Mr Stone will lose his composure to such an extent that he will visit physical violence upon the person of Mr Jones."
"When was the last time you tried working with just the two of them?" Cassandra asked him, frankly.
"Although I do think he's less likely to punch him if Flynn's there," consoled Eve.
"As opposed to you or me?" Cassandra raised an eyebrow.
"Heck no!" Eve laughed. "As opposed to nobody!"
"Do all women have such a deprecating view of their male partners?"
"Only the sensible ones," quipped Eve.
"That's quite a long list," Jenkins continued. "What makes you think you've got them all right?"
"We pay attention," chorused the girls.