Young Writers Society

Terry had to try hard not to roll his eyes at the duo. "Okay, so now we're here. What next?"

"I assume plans and lands can maybe tell us something on that?" said Rose, wiping the smile from her face.

"Mmm...hmm," said Harry, nodding. He on the other hand, didn't look like he would be able to stop laughing any time soon.

"Lands and Plans. Lands and plans. That just reminds me of maps. Or possibly history. Maybe it has something to do with it. I mean there probably isn't a section for maps but there must be a history section in here," said Terry.

"Wouldn't hurt to browse around the history section then," said Rose. Harry nodded and gave a pointed look at Terry.

Getting the message, Terry began moving through the shelves, looking for the section marked "History".

The section was located right in the center of the large library, and the entire section appeared to be empty at the moment. I guess no one wants to read about history.

"So what are we looking for?" asked Harry, who now appeared to have finally regained control of his facial muscles.

"I have no idea but those other passages probably help with that," said Terry.

"No I mean is this plots and pans...I mean lands and plans confirmed?" asked Harry.

"Well maybe we have to look for something on ancient geography or something?" said Rose.

"Or maybe we have to look for a book about worldbuilding," said Harry, frowning thoughtfully, "I mean lands crafted through plans."

"Hmmm that's possible..." began Rose but things clicked for Terry. Of course. Lands crafted through plans. Stories. Library. Of course. That's probably something to reinforce the fact that we should be in the library. And in the fiction section.

"No he's right," said Terry, speaking up. "Lands crafted through plans can only mean something to do with fiction. This is a library after all. It's a "sanctuary" for crafted lands."

"Excelsior," said Harry, bowing, "now we head for the fiction section."

"Alright then, I suppose I should lead the way again," said Terry.

"Correct," said Harry, flashing a thumbs up, "you seem like you know your way around here."

Terry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the extremely lame excuse. "Fine," he said, giving a very stiff nod as he headed in the direction of the fantasy section. That was the place most likely to feature carefully crafted lands.

“So, what next?’ asked Rose as they arrived at the fantasy section.

“I’m guessing the next passage will tell us that,” said Harry, “the way they mention ‘knowledge’ and ‘tale’ make me think that we should be looking for something like a book.”

“And said book possibly leads to a secret chamber somehow...like one of those hidden bookcase doors or something...or maybe...this whole thing is sounding a bit scooby doo ish now," said Rose, voice now down to a whisper. Terry was confused by the sudden whispering. Why would they suddenly talk in whispers? As if an ancient treasure requires tactical whispering.

“That seems like a reasonable,” said Terry, nodding, “the…” He was cut off by Harry putting his finger to his lips. Terry frowned at him. “What?” mouthed Terry.

“The walls may have ears,” said Harry, “I know you aren’t an exterminator, but you’ve been asked to join the squad so when we look for an anthill we must take care not to reveal the brand of spray we’re using.”

At first Terry was about to scoff at the agent’s silly attempt at some humor before he ran over the words again and realized Harry was speaking in some form of code. He mentally slapped himself for not realizing something that should have been painful obvious.

“Understood Danvers, an exterminator should never reveal his spray,” he said with a nod. Harry nodded back and they focused on the riddle once more.