There are certain days when spring is just reentering one's consciousness after the long months of winter. The streams have risen and speed along cheerfully, although the pond remains covered with a thin sheet of ice. It is the kind of day for wearing a light jacket and perhaps gloves, but never a hat, which would prevent the brisk wind from properly teasing the hair. A day that makes one feel bursting with life, just as the earth itself is bursting to break out in the promise of spring.

It was on such a day that Jamie came to town, walking spiritedly down the dirt road wearing a hat, but no gloves. 'Look at that girl,' muttered the townspeople amongst themselves, 'such impertinence, walking about by herself with no gloves on her hands. Thinking she's the queen of the world. This city girl could want nothing but trouble.' And they were right in this last, at least in part. For Jamie did come from the city, and though she was not looking for trouble, trouble seemed to follow her wherever she went.

In fact, Jamie had left the city to escape the troubles. They were family troubles, of course, as most troubles are for girls of sixteen, and especially so for headstrong girls like Jamie. Jamie's family was wealthy, and had plenty of money to spend on their two children. But, naturally, they preferred to spend it all on Jamie's normal older brother, and reserved only a small portion for their unusual daughter. This was fine with Jamie, because she preferred sitting in her room reading exciting books to buying fancy clothes and attending snobbish parties. This was exactly what made her unusual. Readers were not highly thought of in those days. Her brother, on the other hand, didn't mind the fancy clothes at all, for he was quite vain, but he complained that it was unfair to make him attend meetings and parties with adults while his sister got to stay at home.

That was how the trouble began. Since having such a strange daughter was quite unfashionable and Jamie's parents were mortified whenever Jamie appeared in public, they decided it would be better to continue leaving Jamie at home. To appease their son, however, they took away Jamie's books, so that she would be even more miserable than he was. It will cure her of that awful habit, they thought. But Jamie found ways to get books, no matter what her parents did to stop her. She took to going to the library when they thought she was buying eggs or hiding her reading books among the cookbooks, so that her parents would think she was cooking dinner. Finally her parents decided that enough was enough.

"Jamie," her father said sternly, after calling her into his dimly-lit, impressively-desked, large-chaired study, "if we catch you reading one more time, we will lock you in this house and never let you leave."

That was the last straw. Jamie couldn't stand to go without reading. Books let her envision other lands and escape into the lives of others. And Jamie had had enough of her own family and her own miserable life. So she left the city and came to the town with nothing but the clothes on her back, a book in her back pocket, and a few coins she had found in pants' pockets while washing the laundry.

· · ·

As soon as Jamie had settled into a room at the local inn, she went out to explore the town. Having never been out of the city before, she spent a long while staring into the sprightly stream and wondering at its merriment. She had read about streams, of course, but she had never believed that they actually laughed as they flowed by. The noise kept Jamie captivated until she was startled by a wagon racing home from the fields surrounding the town. The young man driving the wagon tipped his hat to Jamie and she waved back. Jamie found everything about the little town absolutely delightful.

It was not long before Jamie discovered a dusty little bookshop down one of the town's little alleys. It was tucked away at the end of a dead end street, as if the townspeople hadn't known what to do with it and hadn't cared enough to find a better spot. As a result, it didn't see much use. Usually people didn't bother to go down the alley - the few who did were usually just peeking in to see how the old bookseller was doing. He always seemed to be doing well, sitting in the far corner pouring over some old manuscript he had picked up before placing it on the correct shelf. The only books he ever sold were silly romance novels that people bought for light reading. Even so, he liked to keep more interesting books in his shop.

When Jamie entered the store, the old man was just placing a book on the uppermost shelf of the bookcase at the back of the store. He turned slowly and peered at Jamie through the thick spectacles perched at the end of his overly long nose. Jamie smiled politely at him and stepped over to the first bookcase. As she pored over the titles of the big leather-bound volumes, Jamie could tell that the old man was waiting for her to do something. She turned to look at him again.

He was now sitting at the small table at the back of the shop, his eyes still pointed in her general direction, though they appeared to be gazing far away.

"The light reading is over there," he said quietly, gesturing without taking his eyes off Jamie. The girl's eyes darted over to the pile of bright, thin books on a table by the door.

"Thank you," she replied, meeting his gaze again, "but I'm not really interested in those books. I much prefer these ones." She turned back to the shelf she had been examining.

Jamie felt the man avert his eyes and heard his chair scrape against the floor as he used his spindly arms to push himself up from his seat. She continued looking at the books, listening to him puttering around at the back of the shop. Eventually, Jamie picked out a few interesting-looking books, which she took over to the old man's table.

"Excuse me, sir," she whispered, startling him out of his reading. He smiled distantly, without giving any indication of having processed Jamie's words. Jamie continued unperturbed. "I would love to read these books, but I am afraid I don't have much money right now. Could I sit here to read them? I could pay for them once I earn some money. It's just that I only have enough to pay for room and board for a few more days."

The old man slowly removed himself from what seemed to be deep thought. He muttered a bit to himself before replying dreamily, "Yes... yes, by all means... of course... in fact, you may take the books." The old man drifted back to the deepest recesses of the little bookshop before Jamie even had time to thank him. She left the store feeling slightly puzzled.

It was already getting dark by the time Jamie returned to the inn. She ate dinner quickly and retired to her room to avoid the constant stares of the other inn patrons. She wanted to start reading the books anyway

· · ·

Within a few days, Jamie had become acclimated to the town and the town, for the most part, had become acclimated to Jamie. The townspeople still talked about her occasionally, but they left her alone since she hadn't started any trouble yet.

It was about this time that Jamie finished reading the books she had borrowed. They were the most wonderful books she had ever read. Jamie was overjoyed to be able to read without fear of being thrown out of the house for it. Jamie loved to read by the stream, hearing the trickle of the water and the chirping of the birds in the background as she explored distant lands. These should have been the most relaxing days of her entire life.

But a new worry was weighing on Jamie's mind. The money she had taken from her parents' house was running out. Soon she would no longer be able to pay to stay at the inn. Jamie needed to find work. It was with this in mind that she returned to the bookshop.

When Jamie entered the shop, she could not see the old man anywhere. She stepped slowly between the bookshelves and tiptoed to the back, so as not to disturb the man if he was reading. As she neared the back of the shop, she heard a soft chuckle and then distinct purring. She came to the end of the aisle and came upon the old man stooping to pet a tiny kitten.

Tiny as it was, the kitten was achieving a decent volume with her purr and, when she noticed Jamie, came to rub against her leg. The old man smiled as Jamie knelt to pet the fluffy gray cat.

"She's so cute," exclaimed Jamie, as the kitten pushed her way into Jamie's lap. "Is she your cat?"

"I guess you could say that," replied the old man, "Only, I didn't choose her. She came to me. Just last night she appeared on my doorstep, hungry and cold. She seems to think this is her home."

"Will you keep her?" asked Jamie, "Every bookstore should have a resident cat."

The old man smiled sadly. "It's just too much work for an old man like me. I already have my hands full just keeping the shop running. I'd need someone to help me feed her."

"I'm looking for work. I could help you!" Jamie exclaimed without thinking, never having been a very cautious person. The old man smiled knowingly.

"Well, I can't pay you," the man mentioned offhandedly, "but if you would like, you can sleep here in the shop while you look after the kitten. You can eat your meals here, too, if you don't mind waiting till all odd hours of the day. You'll have access to all the books at any hour of the day, and you can be sure I won't disturb your reading."

Jamie nodded enthusiastically, excited by the prospect of being constantly surrounded by books. The old man smiled at her and sat down at his cluttered table, leaving Jamie with the kitten still in her lap.

· · ·

That evening, Jamie removed her meager belongings from the inn and paid the innkeeper the last of her money. When she returned to the bookshop, the old man had cleared a small recess at the back of the shop, removing long forgotten volumes to make room for the small cot he had placed inside. He had even hung a piece of cloth across the front to give Jamie a private little room. The little gray kitten was already curled happily on the bed when Jamie returned.

That night Jamie fell asleep curled up next to the kitten with the deliciously musty aroma of old books surrounding her. For the first time in her life, she was completely content.

· · ·

Jamie settled in to life at the bookshop very quickly. She had always dreamed of someday working in a library or bookshop, so that she could be around books all the time. It seemed that finally her dream had become a reality.

Jamie spent the early morning hours feeding the kitten and playing with her. Jamie called the kitten Riana. Sometimes she would take Riana out to watch the sun rise over the rolling hills just outside the town, although Riana herself seemed far more interested in chasing her delicate little tail around in circles. Once the sun began to bathe the grass with light and warmth, Jamie would returned to the bookshop and browse through the bookshelves she had not yet looked at. It seemed a bit strange to Jamie that after two weeks of this routine she had not yet exhausted every nook and cranny of the seemingly tiny bookshop. She wasn't bothered by it, though, since it meant that there were many more books waiting to be read.

Jamie spent the early morning hours feeding the kitten and playing with her. Jamie called the kitten Riana. Sometimes she would take Riana out to watch the sun rise over the rolling hills just outside the town, although Riana herself seemed far more interested in chasing her delicate little tail around in circles. Once the sun began to bathe the grass with light and warmth, Jamie would returned to the bookshop and browse through the bookshelves she had not yet looked at. It seemed a bit strange to Jamie that after two weeks of this routine she had not yet exhausted every nook and cranny of the seemingly tiny bookshop. She wasn't bothered by it, though, since it meant that there were many more books waiting to be read.

· · ·

One warm spring day a few weeks later, Jamie pulled a large, leather-bound book off the top of one of the bookcases near the back of the shop. She wondered why it had been left there, instead of being placed on one of the shelves with all the other books. As she was brushing away the piles of dust that had collected on the cover, she heard the old man approaching her.

"Ah," he said quietly, coming up behind her, "so you have found it at last." Jamie turned around, puzzled, but the old man was already making his way back to his table. Jamie followed him, toting the book along with her. The old man's eyes glinted with anticipation, in stark contrast with their normally dreamy disposition, as he fished around under the table. He was obviously looking for something specific for once and when he found it, he gave an excited little shout. Jamie was taken aback by this sudden change in behavior, but knew better than to mention it to the old man. He barely missed hitting his head on the table as he straightened up, proffering a stack of ancient papers loosely bound together with a single piece of string. He handed it to Jamie.

"You'll want to read this first," he said by way of explanation. Then he began leafing through his own heap of papers without another word.

Jamie knew that once he began reading through his manuscripts, the old man was in his own world and could be roused only after considerable shouting. Now that he had that faraway look in his eyes, Jamie decided that disturbing him would not be worth the effort, as she could just as easily find out what the book was on her own. It was starting to feel very heavy.

Jamie hurried to her makeshift bedroom and dumped the two books on her bed. Then she sat down, expectation surging through her. Riana jumped up onto the bed and sniffed the dust-laden volumes curiously. Jamie opened the sheaf of papers the old man had given her. The kitten let out a cough-like sneeze as a battalion of dust particles escaped from between the pages. She moved to the end of the bed and began licking herself, as if to say that she didn't want anything to do with the old books. Jamie felt the dust tickling her nose, too, but her curiosity kept her from being deterred. She looked down at the open page in front of her.

I am Izevi, the first Keeper of the Book, the first line read. Jamie continued reading the scrawled message.

I was there when the Book was created; I know the power it holds.

Until the One comes to use it, its secrets must be kept.

If you succeed and pass the test, you will become the next Keeper of the Book

If you do not, you will pass from memory.

Read on if you accept the task.

Jamie stared at the page for a few minutes, trying to process everything she had just read. Because the old man had given the manuscript to her to read before the huge leather volume, Jamie inferred that the second book must be the "Book". Jamie, however, had never heard of this Book or of the Keepers. She had absolutely no idea what the test was or what she would have to do as Keeper of the Book. She wished she could talk to the old man, since he must be the current Keeper, but she was sure he wouldn't be able to tell her anything. What would happen if she did not accept the task? Jamie looked around desperately. She tried to reorient herself to the world she had known, but everything seemed completely strange.

There is no way to turn back now.

You have chosen to accept the task and to begin training to be the Keeper of the Book.

I commend you for your decision.

You are the right person and if you trust in yourself, you will succeed.

But be forewarned that the Book is powerful, and power corrupts.

You will indeed face danger, but the biggest danger of all lies within the book itself.

No matter what happens, you must stay true to what you know to be right.

Jamie felt a shiver run down her spine as she turned the page. The next page contained no words, but instead was covered with a complicated pattern of lines. The lines twisted around each other over and over again, so that Jamie could see no beginning and no end to the mess of lines. As she looked closer, the pattern began to remind her of the Celtic knots she had seen in a book long ago. This particular knot, however, was far more complicated than the knots she had seen. She turned the page, wondering whether there would be some explanation about the meaning of the knot. Sure enough, the answer, or rather a kind of answer, appeared.

Within the Knot is contained the secret of the Book.

When you untie it, you will know.

Or perhaps when you know, you will untie it.

I wish you luck.

But what about the Book, thought Jamie. The manuscript hadn't said anything about what she should do with the Book now that she had it. Almost immediately Riana scampered into Jamie's lap and nudged her hand, which was still resting on the tattered fringe of the parchment. Reluctantly, Jamie turned the page. She was beginning to wish she hadn't taken on the "task".

I can tell you only one thing about the powers of the Book.

You write it. You become your own story. You have the pen.

What will you write?

Jamie stared at the page for a while before slowly closing the manuscript. Everything was becoming so strange. Jamie had stumbled into a story unlike any she had ever read. It was getting to be too much for Jamie to take in all in one day. She carefully placed the manuscript and Book underneath her bed, promising herself that she would figure out what to do with them later.

· · ·

Before she did anything, Jamie was going to talk to the old man. For once, she was actually going to get some information out of him.

As soon as Jamie left the privacy of her room, she noticed that the old man was not reading his manuscripts as usual. He was sitting at his table, but his gnarled hands were folded in his lap and he was staring at Jamie through his spectacles, much as he had the first time they met. Jamie knew he had been waiting for her.

"I was wondering," Jamie began, "what your name is. I've been living here for almost three weeks now and I still have no idea who you are."

The old man smiled happily. "So you have read the manuscript, then. Good. You know, I wasn't sure you were the one until that cat showed up. But I thought you might be from the moment you stepped through that door. As to your question, most people around here just call me Grandfather, but I think you should know my real name. When I became Keeper, my name was Anetan."

Much more talkative than usual, the old man continued without waiting for Jamie's next question, as if the anticipation in her eyes allowed him to read her mind. "I came upon the Book in much the same way you did, as an outcast looking for something new to read. It was not always like this, though. The Book was first created by a council of the most knowledgeable men and women in the entire world. They created the Book to hold their collective knowledge and the knowledge gained by the generations to come, in the hopes that no knowledge would ever be lost. The scholars of that day were looked upon with the greatest respect and awe. And while learning from the Book was reserved for the most skilled in the magical arts, the quest for knowledge flourished everywhere".

"Soon, however, the knowledge contained in the Book's pages became too strong for even the most skillful, which is when things started to go wrong. The Book knew too many things and could be used to accomplish too many awful deeds. The people who sought to use the Book, even the most well meaning, started to turn down dark roads, taking the Book with them.

I leaned on my elbow, and waited.

"The common people began to fear knowledge and scholars in general, because they associated those things with the evil that was occurring throughout the land. Desperate to rid their world of the growing problems, they sought to destroy the Book and erase all knowledge from society. The wise woman Izevi, realizing what was happening, took the Book and lived in solitude in order to keep the knowledge alive. Thus began the hatred of books and the secret of the Keepers. Many lesser magical books did not survive, but the Keepers managed to protect this, the most powerful."

"But why did Izevi save the Book if it was turning even the most powerful people off the right path?" blurted Jamie, unable to control her confusion.

"Ah, this is what you must learn," replied Anetan. "It was not the Book which corrupted the people, but rather the people who corrupted the Book."

Jamie waited for Anetan to elaborate. He only smiled vaguely at her, which quickly told her that their conversation was over. Sighing, she returned to her room and flopped down on the bed without taking the Book or manuscript out from under it. Then she noticed Riana sitting on the Book at the foot of her bed, her green eyes wide with expectation.

Jamie sat up and stared the cat right in the face. What had Anetan just said about Riana? Jamie had been so eager to hear about the Book that she hadn't picked up the slight reference that had linked the cat to Jamie's being the next Keeper. Anetan had said that he hadn't been sure Jamie was the one until Riana appeared. Furthermore, Riana was the one who had encouraged Jamie to turn the page initially, and now the cat had somehow managed to bring the Book to Jamie's attention yet again.

Maybe she's some sort of guide, thought Jamie. She quickly modified the word 'guide' to 'slave driver' and had come up with a suitable explanation for Riana's appearance at the bookshop. She would keep Jamie moving, no matter how hard Jamie tried to avoid the Book.

Glaring at Riana, Jamie grudgingly reached for the Book. Riana darted off as Jamie pulled the book out from under her, but as soon as Jamie sat back down, the little cat snuggled into her lap, purring her way to reconciliation. Jamie was forced to smile even as she opened the dreaded Book.

Cautious for the first time in her life, Jamie turned to the first page. It was completely blank. She leafed through the entire Book and did not find a single bit of writing in it - the book that was supposed to contain all the gathered knowledge from hundreds of years before. Jamie leafed through again, her frustration mounting. She knew everything about the Book was supposed to be a secret, but did it have to be kept this secret?

Just as Jamie was getting ready to hurl the Book across the room, Riana nuzzled her left hand, where Jamie was clutching an old quill pen that had not been there a moment before. Suddenly Jamie remembered what Izevi had written: You have the pen. Jamie must somehow write the Book herself, become her own story as Izevi had said, and thus find the hidden knowledge in the Knot depicted in the manuscript. Her head felt like it was ready to burst at the thought of the daunting task ahead of her.

· · ·

Find out what happens if you write in it, she urged herself. Clutching the pen even tighter, Jamie turned back to the first page. She held the pen over the paper for a moment before writing I am Jamie. It seemed a safe thing to say, perhaps a little too safe since nothing happened. Jamie thought back to what Izevi had written. Jamie would write the Book and would become the story. So somehow she had to write a story that would allow her to find the knowledge of the Book and untie the Knot. Or something like that.

Jamie decided to try again. Under what she had already written, she wrote: I am a member of the High Council of the Book. That should do it, she thought, although there was no sign of anything happening yet.

Then a gentle breeze fluttered the curtain across the entrance, picking up speed as it howling around the bed. The pages of the Book flipped back and forth in a whirlpool of air. Jamie shut her eyes as she felt a tingling feeling starting in her extremities and creeping slowly into the rest of her body. She sensed the swirling air moving faster and faster until she felt like she was being pulled and pushed in every direction, the opposing forces keeping her in the same position.

Suddenly the wind stopped just as abruptly as it had begun. Jamie slowly opened her eyes; she studied her new surroundings. She was lying on a large, white bed, propped up by huge, fluffy pillows. Glancing up at the ceiling, she noticed it was made entirely of glass, an enormous skylight. Jamie took a minute to gaze up at the gentle clouds drifting overhead and appreciate the incredible skylight. From the complicated telescope in the corner, Jamie inferred that she was an astronomer, whoever she was. The walls were covered with maps, of both the land and sky, while intricate instruments were crammed onto a small table near the middle of the room. The room, therefore, seemed to be a combined bedroom and study of a scholar of the High Council.

Jamie heard someone coming down the hall and, deciding it would be safest to hide, started getting out of bed. Her legs felt very stiff, while her arms were too weak to lift her up off the high bed. She managed to swing her legs over the side of the bed before she noticed her feet. They were bare so that she could see the prominent veins, the wrinkles and the cracked toenails. Her body had become that of a High Council member, but she was far too late to get to go to a High Council meeting. Jamie remembered reading somewhere that all scholarly councils had been made up of people between the ages of fifty and seventy, while Jamie appeared to be almost a hundred. By this time in the old astronomer's life, the Book would be complete.

Jamie's old body was too slow to move anywhere before the maid entered the room.

"Oh my!" cried the maid, running over to Jamie to help her back into bed. "How many times do we tell you to stay in bed? I know you want to continue your studies, but you'll just have to ring the bell. I'll come get whatever you need. There we are, all nice and snug again. Now, what was it you wanted?"

Jamie looked desperately around for something to ask for, so as not to arouse any doubt as to her identity. She spied a book in the corner that looked suspiciously like the one she had had in her room before the wind changed her into the old astronomer, only newer. She pointed to it and the maid's eyes lit up. The plump young woman clapped her hands together and hurried over to get the Book.

"Oh, it's been so long since you asked for this one. When you were younger, you'd do the most amazing things after reading for a while in this Book. Are you sure you're up to it? Are you sure this is the one you want?"

Jamie nodded vigorously. Now that she knew she could not get the correct information, she was eager to return to her normal body. She snatched the Book from the woman's outstretched hands, startling the poor maid, and glanced inside. The pages were not blank, as they had been when Jamie found the book, but rather had distinct writing scrawled all over them. However, every time Jamie tried to read the words, they were out of focus. Clearly the old astronomer needed glasses, but Jamie didn't have time to wait for a doctor to figure that out. She wasn't even sure glasses had been invented yet.

Frantically, Jamie turned to the back of the Book, where there were blank pages remaining. Again she found herself holding a quill by the time she reached the page. This time she did not hesitate before writing I am Jamie. The swirling began immediately.

Once again Jamie felt squeezed and pulled and pushed in all directions at the same time. When she opened her eyes, she was sitting cross-legged on her little bed in the bookshop with Riana still sitting on her lap. It was as if she had never left.

· · ·

The next morning Jamie woke with a jolt as Riana pounced on her feet. Jamie reluctantly emerged from her bed rubbing her eyes and cursing her luck for having such an annoying pet. Though Riana pretended that it was only food she wanted, Jamie knew the real reason Riana had woken her. The Book was still lying ominously at the foot of her bed, where she had left it the night before.

But Jamie didn't want to think about the Book. After eating breakfast, Jamie went for a walk, in which Riana also took part. As they traipsed around the town, Jamie smiled at the townspeople passing by, although her mind was not on the walk at all. Jamie was still thinking about the Book. It seemed inescapable, looming at the back of her mind no matter what else she tried to think about.

Though her journey back in time had seemed utterly fruitless the night before, Jamie found that she had gained some knowledge from it. She now knew that it was Izevi who hid the words, or wound them into the Knot. Before the book hating began, the book had had writing visible in it. Still, it would be exciting if she could get into the High Council meeting.

When Jamie and Riana returned to the bookshop, Jamie went straight back to her room. She didn't bother trying to talk to Anetan, knowing he would only ignore her or, worse, confuse her with more vague answers. It was better to keep trying on her own, Jamie decided, and she was ready to try again.

· · ·

On her second try, Jamie was careful not to make the mistake of being too vague. She wrote: I am a High Council member. The Council is, at this moment, creating the Book.

That should do it, she thought, as the time-warping process began once more. Now I won't end up twenty years after the creation of the Book; I'll be right in the thick of things. Now I'll find out what everyone is putting in the Book.

When she opened her eyes, Jamie was in another bed. Strange, she thought, maybe the Book can only take me to a bedroom if I depart from my bedroom. Shrugging off the thought, Jamie looked around the room, which was quite different from the previous one. This room was dimly lit, with papers, bottles and books strewn everywhere. While the astronomer had come across as a very neat type, this person was obviously a mad scientist type. Imagining the wild-haired inhabitant of the room running to and fro, conducting multiple chemical experiments at the same time, Jamie had to let out a short laugh.

Suddenly a fit of coughing hit Jamie and with each hacking convulsion, a shooting pain ran through her abdomen. A woman, who seemed to be a relative, trudged into the room and poured something down Jamie's throat. Almost immediately, the coughing fit ceased and Jamie was left gasping for breath.

The woman gave a short, dry laugh. "I never believed that any of your concoctions were good for anything, but I have to admit that this cough syrup really does work. It's a pity. Now I can't call you absolutely worthless anymore; you'll have to be just plain old worthless." The woman gave a tight little smile, which ended up looking more like a grimace, and stomped briskly out of the room.

Jamie concluded that the chemist and her relative did not get along very well. And even in the drugged state she was in, Jamie could tell that it was going to be difficult to get out of the house. However, she did have to get to the Council meeting, so she carefully got out of the bed and tiptoed over to the door.

Unfortunately, the chemist's relative had good ears and stormed down the hallway shouting, "Get back in bed you lousy good-for-nothing! Isn't it bad enough that I have to stay here and care for you like I'm your mother without forcing me to chain you to the bed to make you stay put. Your husband made it very clear that you were not to go to the Council meeting in this state. As I have already explained to you several times, that is why he left without you! Now please get back in bed, before I start taking drastic measures."

Jamie wasn't sure whether the chemist would have been intimidated by this sort of threat, but she, Jamie, certainly did not want to find out what the drastic measures were. She was creeping meekly back to bed under the glare of the chemist's relative when she noticed a book on the nightstand next to the bed.

As soon as she was back in bed and the relative had vacated the doorway, Jamie seized the Book and turned to the first page, going through a short coughing phase in the process. She stared blankly at the page in front of her.

I am a High Council member. The Council is, at the moment, creating the Book.

Jamie didn't know what to think upon seeing her own words used hundreds of years before she had even been born. The writing sounded like the beginning of a journal entry, but it was written in what looked like the Book. However, if the Council was creating the Book at that very moment, how could it already be in the chemist's house, being used as a diary?

Suddenly Jamie remembered something Anetan had said when he was explaining the history of the Keepers. He had mentioned lesser books, many of which later perished in the paranoia surrounding scholars and knowledge. Perhaps this was one of the lesser books, capable of transporting Jamie back to her own room, but not as powerful as the Book itself. Jamie decided it was worth a try.

Underneath the first line, she wrote I am Jamie, just like she had the previous time. At first she thought nothing was happening, then suddenly the tingling sensation began, though no wind had preceded it. And instead of being accompanied by the pulling and pushing, Jamie felt like she was milk in a butter churn, being swirled around and pushed up and down at an incredibly fast rate. Her stomach rose to her throat, then plunged into her feet; she started feeling queasy.

Jamie landed on her bed with a thunk and instinctively curled around her upset stomach, before leaning over the side of the bed to vomit on the floor. Jamie was glad the High Council had come up with a better method for time travel, because Jamie wasn't keen to try their old methods again. Completely exhausted, Jamie fell straight to sleep.

· · ·

Jamie opened her eyes in the early morning glow. Her mouth tasted extremely bad and she quickly remembered the events of the day before. She groaned and rolled over, ending up staring straight into Riana's innocent-looking eyes. Jamie groaned again.

"I am not doing that again," she dictated definitively. "And I am going to have a talk with Anetan. I have to ask him why the Book wants me to fail, why it won't allow me to get the information I need."

Over mid-afternoon breakfast, Jamie tried to get information out of the old man. Although Anetan did not divulge any new information besides his usual vague references, he did seem to think that Jamie was doing very well. For some reason, this fact did not make Jamie feel any better

· · ·

Jamie sat by the little stream with Riana, remembering with nostalgia her first day in the town. Little had she imagined that she would soon be time shifting regularly as part of a test to become the Keeper of a secret she didn't even know yet.

With every day that passed, Jamie wished even more strongly that she had not accepted the task. Jamie just wanted to do something fun and relaxing instead of worrying about her test. She hadn't read anything for pure pleasure since she had discovered the Book.

Of course the only book she had brought with her to the stream was the Book, which she had brought only at Riana's insistence. Jamie glanced jealously at Riana, who was happily chasing after a butterfly in the little meadow beside the stream. Then she glanced back at the Book and an idea struck her.

Jamie didn't have to keep trying to find out what knowledge the Book contained. She already knew what it could do. So why not use it to achieve something she had dreamed of for her whole life? Jamie could write herself into a fantasy world that was everything she had ever imagined.

Jamie caught her breath and pulled the Book towards her excitedly. She was about to touch the pen to the paper when a small doubt stayed her hand. What if there was no Book in her world, just in case she ever wanted to come back? I'll write it in, she thought, and I'll write that I found the knowledge, too, so that I can't fail the test. With that, she began to write.

I am Jamie. I own a little bookshop and live in the room above it. It is a quiet town, so I sell just enough books to get by, but I have lots of free time to read on my own. My family lives across the street from my bookshop and we are very close. My mom and I secretly bake cookies for each other and put them on the other's doorstep as a surprise.

Jamie began to elaborate on her new family, just as the pushing and pulling began to carry Jamie through time to her wished-for future. She had not had time to write the Book into her fantasy world nor anything about the knowledge. Just as the tingling feeling began to grow and Jamie began to panic, she felt searing pain on her right hand. She cried out as she landed on the floor of a little bookshop that looked surprisingly familiar. She looked at her hand and found that Riana had bitten into it as a way of coming with Jamie on her adventure.

Jamie hurriedly grabbed a rag to slow the bleeding from the holes where the cat's teeth had punctured her skin. Riana looked very upset, whether at Jamie or at her first ride by Book, Jamie couldn't tell, though she would have guessed that the cat was unhappy with the whole situation. Jamie wasn't exactly thrilled with her fantasy world after all. As she looked around, she recognized the bookshop as a slightly cleaner version of Anetan's. Well, she thought, at least I can just rest here. I'll get a lot of reading done.

Jamie hurriedly snatched three books off the shelves and carried them to the table usually occupied by Anetan. Sighing happily, she sat down and opened the first book. It was blank, as were the other two. Jamie ran frantically back to the shelves and looked inside more books, but to no avail. A sinking feeling rose from the pit of Jamie's stomach as she realized that every book in the store was completely blank.

Jamie decided to witness how her dream family had turned out, so she knocked on the door across the street. To her surprise, her mother opened the door and reached out to hug her, exclaiming how nice she looked. Well this is a change! thought Jamie, as she entered the house. Then her mother began talking about how silly her daughter had been as a child and how glad she was that Jamie had realized her own silliness.

"You're still a little attached to those books, but at least you're selling them as drawing books instead of reading books. Drawing is a perfectly reasonable profession." Her mother bumbled on, but Jamie was no longer listening. This was her future then, a future without books or even written words, if she did not find the Book somewhere in her bookshop. She told her mother that she had some very urgent business to attend to, and that she would be back later that day. Then she raced back to the bookshop.

Riana was waiting for her. As soon as Jamie entered the door, the cat climbed up to the top of a bookcase and walked along it, leaving little footprints in the dust and wiping cobwebs from the ceiling with her tail. When the cat reached the corner, she began yowling at the top of her lungs. Jamie raced over to her and pulled the large leather volume out of the pile of dead insects it was sitting in.

Jamie sat down on the floor, opened the book and seized the quill as soon as it appeared. She had already begun writing when she realized that Riana was still sitting on the bookcase, watching her. Jamie called to her, but the cat would not move. Even when Jamie tried to pull her off the shelf, the cat stayed put, gazing steadfastly into Jamie's anxious eyes.

Shocked, Jamie realized that the cat was not going to return with her to Anetan's bookshop. Riana had fulfilled her purpose in Jamie's life. Jamie had come to think of the kitten as a pet and companion, in the process forgetting why Riana had come to her in the first place: to help her through the test. Riana could not stay with Jamie forever. The cat had been sent to Jamie for a time to keep her on the right path, but she was never meant to stay for longer than she had to. Forlornly, Jamie finished writing her identity in the Book. Riana was only a blur of tears even before Jamie's fingertips began to tingle.

· · ·

Jamie stayed in her room all day, feeling utterly miserable. She didn't know what to do next, and now she didn't even have Riana to help her. Jamie missed the little cat terribly. The Book still sat on her bed, looking heavier every time Jamie turned to look.

Jamie decided that the Book was the next best thing to Riana, since the cat had come to help her through the Book. Pulling it slowly into her lap, Jamie wondered what would happen if she tried to talk to it. Jamie was feeling too miserable to really ponder the question; she just wanted to get rid of some of her feelings.

I am Jamie. All I want is the knowledge, but it is so hard to find. Please help me.

Nothing happened. Jamie felt her stubbornness rising from the back of her mind as she waited. Her defiant nature began to take over as she began writing again.

I will find the knowledge, even if you don't help me. Riana is gone, but she would have wanted me to keep searching. And I will, for her. If I have to spend my entire life searching, I will find the knowledge.

Suddenly, Jamie's anger and frustration had become complete calm. She looked around the room and nothing had physically changed; there had been no gust of wind or burst of sunlight, but somehow Jamie knew that the test was over. She looked down at the paper again and read the words that had appeared there.

You have learned well, Jamie. Many have failed in looking for the knowledge before they were ready. But you have learned that it was the desire to seek the knowledge with a pure heart, and not the knowledge itself, that you needed to find. One day, you will attain this goal, but only after much struggle and thought. And you will succeed. I welcome you to the company of Keepers.

· · ·

Almost done with their dinner, Anetan and Jamie had not spoken a single word during the meal. Both were lost in deep thought, though Anetan kept looking at Jamie, as if questioning her without words. Finally he broke the silence with a quiet, pointed question.

"Where is the cat?"

He gazed steadily at Jamie, waiting for her answer. Jamie cleared her throat and answered just as steadily, "She went away."

Anetan nodded, and smiled almost imperceptibly. He knew Jamie had passed the test, that she would soon replace him as Keeper of the Book. A feeling passed between them of a shared goal in life, a feeling that only two Keepers could share. Jamie needed no words to convey her gratitude to Anetan for all his hidden help, just as Anetan did not need words to express his hope for Jamie's future. The Keepers parted for the night without a single word.

· · ·

The next morning, Jamie rose just as a rosy glow was appearing on the horizon. She crept quietly into the dark bookshop, hoping not to disturb Anetan. She spotted the old man instantly, lying on the ground between the two bookcases near his table. Jamie noticed that he smiled gently, as if in a pleasant slumber, and held a single piece of parchment to his chest, his hands folded neatly on top of it.

Jamie knew he wasn't sleeping. She knew that if she looked at the paper, she would find a straight line, where once there had been only a tangled knot. Anetan had completed his task: he had found the knowledge and a new Keeper had been installed. He did not need to spend any more time on Earth, so he had gone, just as Riana had gone when it was her time. Jamie found that she was smiling, where others would have cried. She was the only one who understood.

· · ·

Jamie arranged a funeral for Anetan, to which few people came. She had the headstone carved with his name, Anetan, on it and the inscription He knew. People years later would wonder at the grave, asking who the man was and what it was that he knew. No one seemed to remember him, but perhaps it was only that they did not know who to ask.

· · ·

Seventy-five years later

An old woman lived above the bookshop at the end of a narrow alleyway in a little town in the country. No one remembered when she had arrived; she seemed always to have been there, constantly studying, but always leaving time to smile at passersby. Rumors said she had once been a troublemaker, and after all she did run a bookshop, but her troublesome days seemed to be long over.

One day, a young boy of about fifteen wandered into the bookstore while the old woman was organizing her shelves. Still amazingly limber after all these years, the woman clambered down a short ladder to greet the customer. She showed his to the light reading section, as she did with all her customers.

The boy wrinkled his nose in disgust. "I don't want those," he exclaimed, clearly displaying his contempt. "I like the big ones with real stories inside."

Jamie smiled at the boy and told him to look around the shop. She herself set about locating Izevi's manuscript, which had lain hidden under several piles of Jamie's own writings. Jamie knew the Book would find the boy on its own.