The Shelves of Unreachable Mysteries

"Most people who come to The Great Library are looking for something," says the Librarian, "but they don't always know what it is."

She takes out something glowing from her pocket. It looks like a round glow stick, like the ones you get at concerts. But the glow stick flutters its wings and falls to the marble floor with a quiet thud. It scurries ahead of us, leading the way.

"Glowing roaches," she says. "If you can't get rid of them, you might as well put them to use."

We descend into the shadows, as rows of bookshelves turn mechanically to let us pass. I'm glad the Librarian seems to know where she's going; without her, I'd be completely lost.

"The Great Library doesn't follow the Dewey Decimal System. This is, in part, because of the predilections of its patron, Juan Rosado I," says the Librarian.

"Juan Rosado. Founder of the Red Coral Society?"

"The same. So, you already know Juan's story. But what you may not know is that after Ponce de Leon died, Juan Rosado returned to La Florida. He commissioned Spain's most renowned architect, Luis Delgado, to build him an elaborate library that would house not only his master's correspondence, but a collection of books and papers never before catalogued. The Architect (as he was called) was known throughout his native country for designing several of its architectural disasters, such as the Palace of Cracked Mirrors and the Maze of Sorrows. The Architect was a notorious drunkard, had a crippled thumb, and expressed his bitterness towards authority by constructing elaborate tunnels, secret passageways, and trap doors in all of his structures. Many a patron disappeared after touring his new commission, never to be heard from again."

"Sounds like a real charmer," I say. The Librarian pushes back one of the shelves to reveal a rather gloomy-looking portrait.

"Another example of the Architect's sense of humor. His portrait of Juan Rosado I."

My entire body turns cold. The first Juan Rosado's family resemblance to the last Juan is unmistakeable. But the eyes -- so similar to Rafe's, they could be brothers.

"I'm not seeing the humor," I say.

"Turn a bit. See? One step and voila! A second profile -- of the Architect. Luis inserted his own image, like a signature."

I step back and forth, watching the two images merge into each other, the Architect grinning all the while.

The glowing roach scurries by and ducks between the stacks. The librarian pulls a lever and moves a shelf to follow it.

"This system of levers and pulleys. I think I've seen it before," I say, recalling the cage in the Historian's house.

"Really?" she asks. "That is most interesting. You see, Luis Delgado died of malaria before he finished The Great Library. That's why the letters on the ceiling swirl around. He didn't have time to engrave them."

I look up at the letters, still swirling aimlessly and running into each other.

"I'm sure you're in a hurry to begin your research," says the Librarian, "so here's the abridged tour. The Great Library is divided into mysteries. Each tower of books holds a different one. For instance, many of our visitors are delighted to explore our equivalent of the "relationship" section of your mega-bookstores. Men seek to find out all the mysteries of women and vice versa. I'm sure one day I'll understand all this, but it seems rather silly, if you ask me."

"Mysteries..." I pull a book off the shelf. The cover reads: "Why Didn't He Call?" The librarian grabs the book and quickly reshelves it.

"The most obvious mysteries are on the bottom shelves, or easily reachable with a normal-sized ladder. But the library's greatest mysteries...well, they might as well be unreachable. Some are even locked up, and I have never found the key."

Far across the library, I can dimly see the books locked behind the metal cage.

"So, mysteries like..."

"The Fire in the Glades, for example. I have been looking and looking for books on the Fire and my mama, but I cannot reach them. So I must depend on gift-books from my dear Officer Khost for all my psychic nourishment."

The Librarian looks thoughtful, then scoops up the glowing roach and points it towards a dusty shelf.

"I think I know just what you're looking for."