Page 44 of The Missing Pages

A few days later, after her classes were finished for the day and she’d eaten an early dinner at the dining hall, Violet entered the library carrying her Ouija board in a tote bag.

She had hoped to donate it to the Salvation Army that evening, only to discover the store had closed at six o’clock.

Now, she was heading to the Widener stacks to take out some more books on the Ghost Club at Trinity.

As she walked up the marble stairs and headed toward the card catalog room, she ran into Theo.

“Hey, Vi,” he said. “What’s a nice girl like you doing in a place like this?”

“Good one,” she said and laughed. “What are you up to?”

“Heading to the stacks for some books for my history class. What about you?”

“Looking for a few research books,” she said. “I just need to get the call numbers before I go down there.”

Theo followed Violet into the catalog room.

“Where are yours located?” Theo asked. They each looked up the numbers of the books they were searching for on small index cards.

“Level C,” Violet replied, glancing at her card. “And yours?”

“Same. Need a chaperone?”

Violet laughed. The Widener stacks were a labyrinth and it was easy to get lost in them.

The library had six levels of books above the first floor and another four levels underground.

Fifty miles of shelving for over three million books.

But as a page, Violet knew the stacks inside and out, so she could easily estimate how long it would take for them to walk from the east entrance to the west, level A to level C.

“I work here, remember? So I certainly don’t need a chaperone, Theo. But I’m happy to head down there with you.”

Theo shoved his index card in his pocket and followed Violet as they began to descend the stairs.

“What’s that in the tote?” Theo playfully tugged at her bag. “A Monopoly game?”

“Not quite.”

Violet could feel Theo’s eyes trying to make out the lettering on her board.

“What is it then? Come on, just tell me.” Violet just kept silent and increased her pace.

They finally reached level C. The low ceiling and dim lights made it feel as though they were in a catacomb for books. Violet was so eager to get her research materials and return to her dorm, she nearly sprinted to the shelves that contained the Ghost Trinity books.

“Hey, slow down, I need to figure out where my book is…” Theo pulled at the strap of her tote, and stopped her. His eyes now peered down into her bag.

“A Ouija board?”

“I knew you would make fun of me.” Violet pulled away. “Just leave me alone, okay?”

“Come on. I’m not making fun of you. I don’t even know anything about them.”

“Yeah, well, the Ouija board didn’t work anyway.”

They were now standing alone in one of the long lengths of metal shelving. Books with their white call numbers sticking out from their spines.

A cool ripple of air moved through the vent. Every book on each shelf had a bookmark-sized slip of paper with its call number protruding from it. Now all the papers rippled in unison. Violet shivered.

“That was weird,” Theo remarked. “I’ve never seen that happen before. Kinda makes you think there could be a ghost down here.” He laughed.

But Violet didn’t laugh back. She stared at him, wondering just how much she could really trust him.

It was Theo, and not Violet, who suggested they find a space deep in the stacks where no one else would spot them.

“Let’s try it one more time,” he urged after she had confided to him how the one time she had tried in her dorm room had failed.

“You have me curious now,” he implored. “The ghost of Harry Widener?”

“I know it sounds crazy,” she said.

“I thought you were going to tell me you were trying to communicate with Hugo.”

“That would make more sense,” she sighed. “But that feeling I get that someone is there with me only happens when I’m in the library, particularly when I’m in the Memorial Room. It’s like Harry is watching me or something.”

Theo paused, but didn’t say anything.

“You think I’m nuts, don’t you?”

“No, Vi. I don’t. I guess I should also fess up and let you know my mom visits a psychic every now and then. It drives my dad nuts. But I think it’s kind of cool.”

Violet smiled.

“Thank you.”

“Well, come on, let’s see if that board of yours works…” Theo said. “It can’t hurt to try it one more time.”

“Are you sure?” Violet was heartened to find Theo so open-minded. “It’s probably just going to be a waste of time.”

“Let me be the judge of that,” he said and followed her toward the stacks.

They found a spot past the study carrels, deep in one of the corridors filled with a section of books that Violet believed were not very popular.

“Medieval toolmaking doesn’t get a lot of foot traffic, in my experience,” Violet joked.

“I don’t know,” Theo said, looking around. “I’ve heard of guys bringing their girlfriends down here to make out. Maybe this part of the stacks is more popular than you think.”

Violet looked around. “I don’t see anyone else, do you? And it’s Tuesday night, not a Friday or anything…”

“True.”

They found a quiet spot and sat down. Violet reached into her bag, took out the box, and opened it.

“Is that all there is?” Theo asked. “I have to ask my mom if she ever used one of these…”

“Yep, it’s pretty basic.” Violet placed down the board and put the planchette on top.

Theo looked at it quizzically, staring at images of the sun and the moon with the Yes or No boxes. The alphabet written in old-fashioned typeset below.

“It’s not going to work, Theo. It’s just a stupid game.”

“Well come on, we’ll do it one more time. At least we’ll have a story we can joke about at our reunion one day… the time we tried to communicate with a ghost in the bottom of Widener library.”

“Okay. One try, then we pack this thing up and get out of here,” Violet said, giving in.

She put her hands lightly on the planchette and instructed Theo to do the same.

They closed their eyes.

“Harry, are you here?” she asked.

Her voice sounded dull, like she didn’t expect an answer.

“If the ghost of Harry Widener is here with us tonight, can he please let us know?”

Another cool ripple of air through the stacks. This time Theo and Violet both shivered.

They each opened their eyes, their focus locked as the triangle dragged over to the top right-hand corner, where it was written out in plain letters: YES.

Theo and Violet’s faces froze. They had both felt the planchette move and neither of them used a single ounce of energy.

“That’s crazy,” Theo whispered. “Come on, Vi, ask it another question.”

She didn’t hesitate.

“Harry Widener, why are you trying to contact me?”

The triangle darted quickly over the board, spelling out the answer in one simple, but powerful word:

L-O-V-E.