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Up front, parents and their kids had drifted over to make requests of the librarians. Meredith started to keep a list of requested titles, everything from The Wizard of Oz to Beowulf to Don Quixote. It made sense. When you love a book, you want to share it with people you care about.

Around six that night, during the dinner break, Josh checked his phone. Still nothing from Tyler. By now all the attendees had changed into sweats and pajamas. The French teacher got swamped with questions about titles and traditions. A trio of Josh’s tenth graders asked about the actual musketeers, and he told them he’d recommend some history titles after class tomorrow if they wanted to stick around.

What the book did was make the room curious. The kids and the parents. Even the faculty in some cases. The more Josh thought about it, the more potential he saw. The entire Hamilton staff seemed to agree.

Sometime around four in the morning, after the poisoning at the convent, Carver came up to him looking very serious. “Coach… I hope you realize what you’ve done.”

Josh shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“I got kids trying to sign up for classes next year. Teachers who want to propose electives and after-school programs. Sanjay’s family wants to sponsor a lock-in next month. The theater department wants to teach fencing.” Carver shook his hand with a warm smile. “I wish Mr. Fantana was here to see what he started. This is way beyond those book-ban jerks.”

“Good. I’m really glad, sir. Tyler predicted this. But this is only the start.” Josh tipped his head.

Carver squinted. “It is?”

He leaned in conspiratorially. “Think about it. Let’s say you got a couple teachers wanting to cover a complicated era or a thorny topic—we can set them up for success. Get kids interested beforehand. Plant the seeds here. Help parents help them with the homework. Everybody tuned in, coming together.”

Carver nodded. “All for one, one for all. Cooperation.”

“Exactly. They work together to do the right thing because the right thing is hard. A community solving a problem with honor.” Josh looked around this old room. How many hours of his life had he spent hiding in here, growing in here? How many books had his name written on the checkout cards in their back covers? “That’s what a library wants to be.”

“Josh… I’m overwhelmed. I’m… I’m so grateful.” Carver’s voice dropped. “I wish Tyler was here so I could thank him too, but this is unbelievable. You have to tell him. Please let him know from the entire school. What you two have done is going to change lives.”

“I’m so glad, Phil.” He sighed.

All because Tyler had put on a pair of tights and kidnapped him. Josh hoped he was staying safe, wherever he was.

Josh was pulled from his reverie as Stan tapped him on the shoulder.

“We’re almost to the epilogue.” He gestured to the front, where, with ghoulish glee, the Hernandez twins had just finished acting out Milady’s execution in chapter sixty-six.

Josh nodded, a bittersweet feeling washing over him. On the one hand, he was excited to wrap up such a successful event. But ending the book also meant the lock-in was nearly over. Outside, the sun was coming up.

Next came Nadia, who got a massive round of applause as she came forward to claim the mic for chapter sixty-seven as only she could, and then Josh headed to the front to tackle the bittersweet finale.

Eighty-something pairs of sleepy but attentive eyes turned to him as he began to read.

Dumas’s wrap-up was characteristically satisfying, and Josh animated it with gusto. When he reached the last sentence, he paused to look over the crowd and delivered it with a slow and satisfied smile:

“…the opinion of those who seemed to be best informed was that he was fed and lodged in some royal castle, at the expense of his generous Eminence.”

As he read the final words, a cheer went up from the crowd.

“Thank you, everyone. And remember….” Josh capped the whole event with his favorite quote from the book: “Never fear quarrels, but seek adventures.”

As everyone packed up, Josh said his goodbyes, exchanging thanks and handshakes with the parents. Kids gave him high fives, their faces lit with excitement as they chattered about the story and asked about next month’s lock-in, which didn’t exist yet.

“We’ll see. We’ll see.” Josh knew it would happen but wasn’t sure if he’d be as involved. Everything depended on what happened with Tyler.

Parents hugged sleepy children as the attendees stood smiling and gathered their things to head home. Blankets got folded, hampers closed. Grateful families carried some of the dozing younger siblings who had conked out.

With a sigh, Josh turned to help Carver, Meredith, Otis, and the others clean up, which took much less time than anyone expected. Several of the football players had volunteered to clear up trash and sort recyclables. A few enthusiastic parents lingered and pitched in to move the furniture back where it belonged.

After the last few stragglers had left, Josh stood looking out at the empty library, filled with a sense of accomplishment tinged with melancholy. They had done it. He was beyond exhausted, but grateful. Now all that was left was to find out what had happened to Tyler yesterday.

“Hey-hey.” Stan slowly ambled over to him and gave him a big bear hug. “Six grand in one night. Parents gave us six thousand dollars for new titles and programs. Meredith cried when she counted it. Thank you so much, Josh.”

Josh cracked his back and his neck and started stacking chairs outside in the hallway. Through the big doors, he could see the new day outside, a peachy glow creeping up the hall. A couple of weeks ago he would have been stretching on the track, waiting for Tyler. He glanced down the hall toward the athletic office. Before he headed home, he’d zip in and take a hot shower.