“Therearen’t so many as in the big room. Didn’t they write so much inthe old days?”“Well,maybe, maybe not. Lots of old books went missing, you know. These arejust the ones that are left.” Javier ran his finger along the wornleather spines on the shelf. “They didn’t have any printing pressback then. If you wanted a copy, you had to write it out yourself.”“Really?”Jimmy lifted a slim book from the shelf and opened it. “You’reright. This is all in real writing. Not like the ones we get at thegas station. It’s heavy, too.”“Wehave to be careful with these.” Javier held his breath as hisbrother turned the pages. “There aren’t any others. You can’tjust buy a new one if the book is damaged.”Jimmynarrowed his eyes. “I’m not stupid, Jave. I won’t hurt it. I’mjust looking, that’s all.”Javierpursed his lips. He had made a promise not to treat Jimmy as if hewas an idiot. Jimmy knew how to handle books. Javier had shown him.Cradle the spine in your hand. Never bend it backwards. Don’t openit further than it wants to go and never, ever fold down the cornersof the pages. He turned his back for a moment, an expression of trusthis brother must surely understand. Javier pretended interest in theshelved books until he could take no more. Whenhe turned around, Jimmy’s hands were empty. Javier forced himselfto hold down the relieved sigh he wanted to release. Despite his lovefor his brother, Javier decided it was safer to take Jimmy out ofthis room. Sure, Jimmy wouldn’t deliberately damage anything, buthis hands were made for plough and spade, not paper and bindings.Javier led Jimmy back into the main room of the library, to thepaperback popular-novel section. He left Jimmy with the instructionto choose two books, then busied himself with his favorite historicaltexts.***
Aftersupper, Javier grimaced at Jimmy’s constant murmur. Jimmy had notyet developed his reading skills to the point where he could read insilence. Every word on the page formed on Jimmy’s lips, sometimesaccompanied by the wrinkling of his face as he struggled with a longor unfamiliar word. Eventually, Javier gave up and carried his booksupstairs to his room.Theold bed creaked and sagged under Javier’s weight. Jimmy had allowedhim to use their parent’s old bed, the one with the sprungmattress. Jimmy always insisted he preferred the harder bunks anyway,although Javier had caught him, more than once, stretching andrubbing at his back in the morning. Javier reached for one of hisbooks, stacked on his bedside cabinet, and rolled over to cradle thebook on his pillow. He shifted position until the single bare bulbilluminated the pages sufficiently so he could read.Itwas late when the creaking stairs announced Jimmy’s arrivalupstairs. Javier checked the old alarm clock beside his bed.Ten-fifteen. Much too late for Jimmy, who used no clocks, marked notime other than sunrise and sunset. Jimmy’sheavy tread padded past Javier’s door. It was clear Jimmy did hisbest to walk quietly, but the tired floorboards groaned under hisweight, reporting every step he took. “Musthave been a good book,” Javier muttered to himself. He doubtedJimmy had finished, not at the speed he usually read, but he musthave been engrossed in his story. Javier closed his own book,switched off the light and rolled himself in his blankets. Thelibrary had been a new experience for Jimmy. Tomorrow, Javier had torepay his brother by taking an interest in the farm. Jimmy was towake him early, so Javier needed to sleep. The brothers had alwaysheld completely different definitions of ‘early’.***Sunlightbored through the holes in Javier’s worn curtains and lanced intohis eyes. He blinked awake and stared at his clock. Nine-thirty. Fartoo early to be up and about.
Early.Javier sat upright in bed. Jimmy was supposed to wake him, andnine-thirty was equivalent to ‘nearly lunchtime’ in Jimmy’sdefinition of a day. He scrambled from his bed, washed and dressed ina hurry and ran downstairs. The scents and sounds of frying reachedfor him before he made it to the kitchen.“Hey,Jave. You want some eggs?” Jimmy stood at the stove, poking at thefrying pan with a wooden spatula.“Latebreakfast, Jimmy?” Javier smirked. “I thought you were getting upearly today. Too much late-night reading, eh?”“Iwas up with the sun. I always am. Had breakfast ages ago.” Jimmyflipped the eggs onto a plate and cracked two more into the pan. Hepassed the plate to Javier.“Sowhat’s this?” Javier accepted the eggs. He might question Jimmy’stiming, but he wasn’t about to turn away breakfast. Javier liftedhis fork.“Snack,”Jimmy said. “Work’s all done for the day.”Javier’sfork stopped, halfway to his mouth. “What?”“Alldone. Didn’t need to wake you. I thought you could help out later,but there’s no need.” “Comeon, Jimmy. You work all day, every day. I’ve never seen you dootherwise.”“Timeschange.” Jimmy flipped his eggs onto another plate, switched offthe stove and joined Javier at the table. “I have time to read morenow. I have to practice.”Javierlowered his fork. “Hey, look, Jimmy. I know that library’s agreat place, but you can’t just let the farm fall apart. I’llhelp you with your reading, if you want, but the farm’s our onlyincome at the moment.”Jimmyspoke through a mouthful of egg. “Farm’s fine. Better than ever.Got some help.”
“Help?We can’t afford help.”“Don’tcost nothing. I just had to agree to something, that’s all.”Jimmy finished his eggs and eyed the two cooling on Javier’s plate.“Don’t you want those?”Javierpushed the plate to Jimmy, who switched it with his own and continuedeating.“Jimmy,what are you talking about?” Javier’s stomach rumbled at thesight of Jimmy’s voracious appetite, although the confusion inJavier’s mind occluded his hunger.“Showyou. In a minute.” Jimmy wiped yolk from his chin. “I did whatyou said. Used my imagination. And that book from the library.”Javiershook his head. Jimmy had selected The Wizard of Oz, and someSam Spade novel Javier couldn’t remember the title of. Where inthose books did he learn his new super-efficient farming methods? Hadthe characters come to life and opted for a pastoral existence? Theimage of the Tin Man ploughing the fields flitted through Javier’smind. He laughed, despite his worries. The scarecrow would certainlycome in handy.“Itwas in the wizard book. That gave me the idea. The other book showedme how.” Jimmy picked up the plates and placed them in the sink.“In the wizard book, things come to life. A scarecrow, a man madeout of pots and pans, things like that. I thought well, if I can’tmake a scarecrow, why not just magic one up?” Jimmy ran hot waterinto the sink. “Then I thought, why stop there? Why not magic upsome farm workers? If they’re not real, they don’t need to eat sothey won’t cost nothing.” He washed the plates and set them todry.“Jimmy,magic isn’t real. It’s just—”“Imagination.I know. But you told me imagination could do good things, so I tried.It worked. The book showed me how.”“Idon’t get it.” Javier rose from his seat. “You learned magicfrom a Sam Spade book?”
“Haven’tread that one yet.” Jimmy wiped his hands on a towel. “Just someof the wizard book, and some of the other one.”“Whoa.”Javier raised his hands. “What other one?”Jimmytrapped his upper lip between his teeth and stared at the floor.“Iknow that look.” Javier walked around the table to face hisbrother. “That’s your guilty look. What have you done?”“Ionly borrowed. We can take it back next time we go. You said it wasokay to borrow from there. You said that’s what it was for.”“Jimmy.”Javier assumed his father’s authoritative voice. “Show me thisbook.”Jimmy’sface reddened. “You’re just going to shout.” “Iwon’t shout.” Javier lowered his voice. If Jimmy had taken a bookfrom the library without checking it out, it was probably Javier’sown fault anyway. He should have explained things more clearly.Jimmyopened a drawer below the table and took out a heavy, leather-boundbook. Javier’s eyes widened.“That’sone of the rare books.” Javier took the volume from Jimmy’shands. “We’re not supposed to take it out of the library. Jimmy,this is serious. We could be in big trouble.”“We’lltake it back. It’s only borrowed.” Jimmy bit at his lip again.“I’m sorry, Jave. I didn’t know.”Javierpatted his brother’s shoulder. “It’s all right. We’ll sneakit back in the same way you sneaked it out. Inside those baggyoveralls, I’ll bet.” Javier hefted the book in his hands. “We’dbetter go today. If we’re quick, it might not be missed.”“Can’twe keep it for a while? Just till next week?” Jimmy reached for thebook.