Page 440 - The Book Thief

Liesel moved toward the far shelf, behind the desk. She found some paper and a

pen in the top drawer and wrote Thank you, leaving the note on top.

To her right, a book protruded like a bone. Its paleness was almost scarred by the
dark lettering of the title. Die Letzte Menschliche FremdeThe Last Human
Stranger. It whispered softly as she removed it from the shelf. Some dust
showered down.

At the window, just as she was about to make her way out, the library door
creaked apart.

Her knee was up and her book-stealing hand was poised against the window
frame. When she faced the noise, she found the mayors wife in a brand-new
bathrobe and slippers. On the breast pocket of the robe sat an embroidered
swastika. Propaganda even reached the bathroom.

They watched each other.

Liesel looked at Ilsa Hermanns breast and raised her arm. Heil Hitler.

She was just about to leave when a realization struck her.

The cookies.

Theyd been there for weeks.

That meant that if the mayor himself used the library, he must have seen them.
He must have asked why they were there. Orand as soon as Liesel felt this
thought, it filled her with a strange optimismperhaps it wasnt the mayors library
at all; it was hers. Ilsa Hermanns.

She didnt know why it was so important, but she enjoyed the fact that the
roomful of books belonged to the woman. It was she who introduced her to the
library in the first place and gave her the initial, even literal, window of
opportunity. This way was better. It all seemed to fit.

Just as she began to move again, she propped everything and asked, This is your
room, isnt it?