Glenda never forgot the day the letter came. Her mother had been watching every day for the mail to come, and Glenda had started to watch too, to see what her mother was so eager for.
Today a small fat envelope was in the mail, and her mother made a small noise of excitement. She immediately set down the other mail and eagerly ripped open the letter she'd been waiting for.
However, she didn't seem happy with what she found inside: she said "What!", and snorted, and then said "No!" several times, and then pulled out two smaller envelopes out of the envelope and looked at them, and then threw everything down on the floor and stomped away.
Glenda picked up the two other envelopes on the floor, and found that they were both addressed to her; so she took them off to her room and opened them. The first was a letter to her from a lawyer named John Witherspoon, and said something about her grandfather's will. Glenda knew that she had a grandfather she'd never seen - Grandfather Smith, who was her mother's father - and she knew he'd been very sick for a long time, but she didn't know that he'd died. The lawyer's letter said that he was now the trustee of a building for her, and that she could call him if she had any questions. It also said that a letter from her grandfather was enclosed, which he'd written before he died.
She ripped open the letter from her Grandfather Smith. It said:
Dear Glenda:
I never have had a chance to see you, and
now it looks like I never will. Don't be sad
for me, because I've had a full life; but I'm
sorry we've never met face-to-face. Anyway,
I've left you something very special, which I
hope you'll find interesting. With love from
afar,
Your grandfather,
Raymond Smith
At dinner that night Glenda's parents were tense. Glenda had learned to tell when a fight was coming, or when her parents were angry about something, and she could tell that this was not a good night to ask questions. However, she listened carefully.
"Old skinflint," her mother remarked.
"It is a disappointment," her father said thoughtfully, "but maybe there are still some possibilities."
They went on talking like that - in a quiet snarly way - for awhile, but Glenda slipped away from the table as soon as she could. Later that night she heard her parents yelling at each other.
The next day the lawyer called, and Glenda's parents told him to come right over. They were very polite and friendly to him at first, but the conversation got less and less friendly.
"Oh no," the lawyer said, "the sale of the property is absolutely forbidden. I'm not even allowed to rent to anyone. In fact," he went on, giving Glenda's parents a very straight look, "there isn't any way at all of making any money out of this building. Even if it were destroyed by an earthquake, or condemned for a freeway, the money would simply go into a trust fund for Glenda, and stay there until she's 40. If she doesn't live that long, then all the money goes to a library in London." Glenda's parents scowled.
"However," he continued, "the good news is that Mr. Smith also left enough money to maintain the building, so it will be a nice little property for Glenda when she has to start putting her own children through college." Glenda's parents scowled some more, and didn't say anything.
"Well," said Mr. Witherspoon, "would Glenda like to see her building?"
"You take her," snorted Glenda's mother, and she stamped off with Glenda's father right behind her.
"Hm," said Mr. Witherspoon, "I seem to have come at a bad time."
"But I do want to see the building," said Glenda, "and mother did say I could go with you - you heard her!"
"Well," said Mr. Witherspoon, "Let's see if my secretary Ruth can come along with us." He pulled a small telephone out of his pocket and made a call. "Ruth, we need a little company for a visit to the Barnett building. ... No they can't, but she would like to. ... Yes, I thought you would."
After a little more talk, Glenda was allowed to go with Mr. Witherspoon and his secretary to see the building - her building.
They saw a large old nicely-constructed building in a very quiet neighborhood near the old part of downtown, where there were some old brick warehouse and commercial buildings that weren't much used anymore. The building was made of tan-colored bricks, and had lots of ins and outs and patterns on its front surface. There were black iron railings in front of the windows, and also some black ironwork around the front door.
The entranceway had a big iron gate in front of the front door, and several locks on the front door itself. After Mr. Witherspoon let them in through the iron gate, he locked it behind them, and then opened the locks on the front door.
Inside the building was fairly clean, but quiet - that too-quiet feeling that tells you that you're in a place which isn't just empty, but abandoned. As they walked down the wide hallways, their footsteps echoed from the high ceilings.
Mr. Witherspoon led them past many rooms - some empty, some furnished, and some with just odds and ends.
Finally they turned into a large room which - Glenda was amazed to see - was a library. She looked at the books eagerly, but found that she couldn't read the titles. "What are those books?" she asked.
"Those are all in high Illyrian," Mr. Witherspoon answered. "You can learn to read them later, if you want."
"Are there any for children?" she asked.
"Yes," he answered, "and upstairs there are some books in English which you can read right now."
At the back of the library Mr. Witherspoon opened a small door into a staircase. The staircase was very well-made, with nicely carved and polished woods of different colors, but it wasn't very wide, so they had to go in single file. With Mr. Witherspoon leading, and Ruth bringing up the end, they followed the staircase up, and sideways, and down, and up again to another small door. "I never saw a staircase like this," Glenda said, while worrying that maybe the adults would laugh at her.
"It's pretty special," Mr. Witherspoon said.
"And it changes every time," Ruth said.
They came out into a comfortable living area, with couches and big soft chairs. All the furniture was old- fashioned, but it was clean and in good shape.
"We wanted to show you the apartment," Mr. Witherspoon said, "because this is a good starting point. There's lots and lots of things in the building - it's bigger than it looks - but this is a good base for exploration."
"The kitchen is stocked with food," Ruth said, "and there are even closets with clothes." Glenda was hardly listening, because she was looking at the bookshelves. There were all sorts of books there, and she kept seeing more and more interesting ones; it was almost as if the books changed when she wasn't looking.
"Can I take some books home?" Glenda asked.
"No," said Mr. Witherspoon, "the books have to stay in the building. There isn't even time to read them now, because we have to take you home soon."
"However," said Ruth, as Glenda looked crushed, "we do have a present for you."
"It's a key," said Mr. Witherspoon, "which will not only let you into the building again, but which will help to keep you safe."
"How can a key do that?" asked Glenda.
"Well," said Mr. Witherspoon, "the key has powers of invisibility -"
"Nobody else can see it," interrupted Ruth -
"- and while you're wearing it, anybody who wants to hurt you won't be able to see you either -"
"as long as you keep quiet," finished Ruth.
The adults took Glenda back home, and she crept in without her parents seeing her.
Glenda heard her parents fighting again, late that night.
Chapter 2
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