Crystal Compass book 1 - July 2014 Camp NaNo - 1

Aldhaven Village was a small, sleepy seaside town. Home to about three hundred people at most, it was not exactly a thriving tourist spot. That was fine in the eyes of the locals. They were happy with their small beach, their row of local shops, their park, their library and their three pubs.

They did not need the big fancy supermarkets that wanted to move into town, though none of them objected when ASDA set up a shop twenty minutes down the road. It was far enough away, they said, not to disturb them, but still close enough that they could go if they wanted.

Not that there were not occasionally tourists in town. A simple stroll down the beach from any of the four local holiday parks would take you onto the small strip of beach behind Aldhaven’s sea wall and from there it was as simple as ascending a set of stairs and descending the other side and anyone could enter.

It was only those odd few who really noticed when the peace and quiet of the village’s square was disturbed by the sound of a motor. A moped, with its helmet wearing passenger flew past the park and headed up the hill, to the most modern looking building in the whole village.

The library had been rebuilt within the last fifty years after a fire had decimated both it and the books within. Though the builders had tried to make sure it fitted in with the local aesthetic, it still stood out like a sore thumb. There had been grumbling at first about the glass walled building, despite the fact it was tucked away, mostly hidden by trees and bushes. Now however everyone used it, just like they had before the fire. In fact for the young children of the town, it was one of their favourite places to go.

The youngest librarian had something to do about that. ‘Miss Twilight’ as she was known to the youngsters, was a regular feature of the library and would more often than not put aside what she was doing to read to the children or play with them. Even when she was working on sorting the library inventory or had brought her university work in with her, she did not hesitate to shove it aside for them.

There were, of course, the parents that pushed it. Who would drop their children off at the start of the day and leave them in the library all day, when they were aware that Twilight would be in, using her as an unpaid babysitter but she, mostly did not mind. Someone had to look after the kids, after all, and she was there and free to do it.

The moped pulling up outside the library belonged to her. She had saved up for the deep blue Honda out of her wages and used it to not only get to work, but to travel to and from her university, where she was taking a Bachelor of Art in Creative Writing. It was not the fastest method of travel, in fact her course mates had often asked why, if she had to make an hour long commute to the university, she did not just get a car, but it suited her. She did not need anything faster or more powerful, not when she travelled as little as she did and enjoyed her simple life.

Once the moped was chained to the railings, she headed inside, pulling off her helmet only to get swarmed by an army of mini-monsters, all of them clamouring for her attention. “Easy, easy!” She chuckled, a bright smile on her face as her bright, chocolate brown eyes scanned the crowd.

“Come on,” Her boss laughed, trying to herd the children away, “Miss Twilight needs to go clock in and sort herself out. She’ll be back in five minutes.”

The children groaned and complained but headed back to what they had been doing before she had gotten there, allowing her to head through the stacks to the back of the library and the staff area. Her boss followed, looking amused. “Safe trip, Aella?” She asked as they stepped beyond the double doors.

“As always.” Aella Rodgers, for that was the young woman’s real name, responded. “Sorry I’m a little late, had a late call come in and, well...” She grinned sheepishly.

Her boss just waved it off. “Don’t worry, I probably wouldn’t believe the explanation anyway. I swear they’re just ideas from those books you bring in.”

Aella blushed but did not respond to that. She had another such book in her bag, the ninth one of the series. All written by a T. Light about Jack Frost, his human friend and their adventures. It was a well guarded secret between her and the children about where the books came from, but she was not about to share.

“Where do you get them from anyway?” Her boss asked as Twilight put her helmet on the shelf and brushed out her hair, grimacing as the brush tugged on the rat’s nest it always became when she rode anywhere. “My neice wanted copies to take home with her.”

“Trade secret.” Twilight’s reply made her boss huff, “Sorry, Madison, but I only have two copies of them and I’m not giving up my personal copies.”

“But...”

“If I can get some money together, I’ll get some more copies.” Twilight promised as she shrugged out of her bike leathers, “But they’re not cheap.”

“I’m not surprised.” Madison sighed as her employee straightened out her tidy clothes and adjusted the silver snowflake necklace that never seemed to be too far from its owner. “I searched everywhere online, it’s like the Compass series doesn’t exist.”

The younger librarian could not help the small, amused smile that appeared at that. Technically the Compass series did not exist, not as officially published books. The books she read and had on her shelves were ones she had put together especially for her and the library and had cost her a pretty penny to make. The only other finished copies of the Compass series books were in her safe or on her laptop, as digital copies. Twilight would have loved to publish them properly but as much as the children liked the tales, she did not have the confidence to present them to a publisher who could take them further.

That and they were not really just her stories to tell. She took them and turned them into stories for children, fictionalising certain parts and changing names, places and dates, but everything that happened within her series had happened at some point or another. She did not feel right putting the tales out as fictional children’s tales without the permission of the other hero of the series and she really, really did not know how to bring it up to him.

Not that anyone would believe her if she tried to tell them that. Not when the Compass series was full of myth and legend, magic and monsters. They would think she was crazy. It was only the children who did not, who were still innocent enough to believe the truth when Twilight told it.

It was not really the fault of the adults. Twilight was an aberration, a young woman who had passed the ‘Age of Disbelief’ when most children lost their ability to believe in the fantastical, without it failing her.

It was good for her and her writing, but it occasionally left her feeling estranged from the rest of the adult population of the village. Still, even if the adults thought she was a little strange, the children loved her and she had her friends at university so she did not really mind. In her mind, it could have been a lot worse.

“You are still okay for the overtime next week, right?” Miranda asked, following her back out again, “I know you’ve got exams starting soon and...”

“It’s fine.” Twilight promised. “I can always bring my revision notes into the library and it’s only the weekends where we’re this busy. During school time, it’s pretty much dead in here.” She grinned at her boss, “Besides, if I’m not here, who’ll run the place when Jessica’s away on her honeymoon?”

That was true but Twilight did not get a chance to acknowledge the fact as her boss saw her pull the new volume of the Compass series out of her backpack and let out a delighted squeal, recognising the logo on the spine. “You didn’t tell me you’d managed to get a new one!”

The student blushed, always pleased when her books were received well but she did not correct Miranda in her belief that she had purchased it. “I thought I’d read it to the kids, before I put it on the system, if you don’t mind?” She asked the Head Librarian, letting her examine ‘The Icebound Heart’ which told the tale of her and Jack’s trip to Japan last year and the Yuki Ona they had met there.

“Sure.” Miranda nodded, “We’ll never get it on the system if the kids realise you’ve got a new one and aren’t sharing.”

Twilight couldn’t deny that. The kids had never seen the cover before, it was an image she had had a friend of hers at university draw as a commission, but the logo on the spine was clear enough. They would recognise it on sight.