Page 18 - SAMPLE Fledgling

The walls are lined from floor to ceiling with books of all shapes and sizes, with subjects ranging from philosophy to anatomy and dancing cats. Of course there is a whole section on birds, identified by a handmade All Things FeAThered sign. I hope to find something useful here, but then I wonder if texts on cherubs would be hidden somewhere else. Might they be within the section on All Things supernATurAl, or even in World religions?
“Where should we start looking?” asks Raphael, glancing about the room.
“I guess somewhere around here,” I say, running my fingers along the spine of a tall leather-bound book entitled Owl Taxidermy for Novices within the “feathered” section. Walter Engel organised his library in such a way that makes it almost impossible to find what you are looking for, but I have a distinct feeling he might have placed books on angels close to the reference books on owls.
I hear Mother calling and my heart sinks. She doesn’t call me in the usual way a mother might. Instead she sings my name in the character of her latest role. This month she has been rehearsing to play Malwina in the opera Der Vampyr.
“Cassie! Cassie! Cassie! Cassie!” she sings, in a rising arpeggio, increasing in volume with each note. “Cassie!
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