Amber Dan-Dwayne Spencer (romantic books to read .txt) 📖

by the square. You’ll know it by the US flag flying over the building.” He stuffed the rag into his back pocket. “White building with a porch and a hitching post in front.”

“A what?”

“You know, for horses. It was something the city council said had to be preserved with the building as a historical landmark.”

“And, this building is still used as a post office?” I had to admit to a little surprise.

“Yep, it is.”

“Other than that, what’s the oldest building here?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the old Ark Baptist Academy building there.” The attendant pointed across the street to the library. “They stopped using it for a school back in the 1930s. Since then, it’s been one thing or another. Right now it’s the library, at least till the new one is finished. I hear they may turn it into a public elementary school. Who knows? Personally, I think it would be a good thing. After all, I’d hate to see the old thing go derelict and eventually get torn down.”

“I hear this town was named after a postmaster who had blue eyes.”

“Yep, they changed the name to Blue Eye some time ago.”

I must have sounded a bit shocked, “It hasn’t always been called Blue Eye?”

“Nope. It’s named after old Albert Butler. Legend says he had the most amazing blue eyes ya ever seen. Heck, this whole town’s always been named after him. They used to call it Butler’s Barrens. Even the Cemetery was called Butler’s Cemetery before they changed the name to the Blue Eye Cemetery.”

“Sounds like, he blessed a lot of people to be remembered so fondly.”

“Yeah, I guess that’s one way of putting it.”

Roger came from around the side of the building.

“Hey dude, you take a bath in the toilet? You’re all wet.”

With a grimace, Roger shrugged, and for once, he didn’t jab back with some sarcastic comeback. He didn’t even stop but headed straight for the van.

I yelled to him, “I’ll be there in a while.” He kept walking away from me. In a softer voice, I added, “After I clean up.”

I said goodbye to Josh and went around to the restroom to clean up.

Chapter Twenty-three

Blue Eye

I did my best to rub the demon gore off of my pants with a wet paper towel, soap, and water. And mostly, it all came off. After checking myself out in the mirror, I headed back to the van where Roger waited. To my surprise, the entire group sat in the van except for Roger. He lay on top of it, letting the bright sun and warm wind dry off his clothes.

“Did you find where the book is hidden?” I asked.

“No,” Jimmy said. “But we found something. They have a really old book here in the library. It probably dates to when the town was established.”

“Great,” I replied. “Did you check it out of the library?”

“No,” Jimmy answered. “It’s in the rare book collection and they won’t allow it out of the building.”

“We read over most of it, here and there, but we saw nothing unusual,” Flower added.

“So, you want me to look at it. Is that what you have in mind?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Stoney said, “you might get some vibe off of it and point us in the right direction.”

I yelled up to the roof of the van, “Roger, you ready to look at some old book?”

“I’m ready to stop seeing demons every time I close my eyes.” He paused. “Yeah, why not?” He slid off the roof and landed flat-footed. “Lead the way.”

I looked over at Stoney and then to Flower. “Okay then. Let’s get this done.”

The librarian went straight to the volume, laid it on a reading podium, and even opened it for us. She insisted we wear the white cotton gloves the library provided, before returning to her desk. I looked the binding over and picked it up. No visions emerged from the secret place in my psyche. I even slipped off my glove and held the leather cover with my bare hand. No apparitions, no warning, and no help to find The Book of Uriel.

“Sorry guys. This was a waste of time,” I said.

“Wait,” Roger spouted. “Do you see what I’m seeing?”

“I see it. It’s a handwritten book with the history of Blue Eye, Missouri exaggerated into fifty-five chapters,” Jimmy huffed.

“This is not the biography of a town,” Roger said. “The letters are rearranging themselves. It’s like it was written in some kind of code and it’s deciphering itself.”

Flower said, “We don’t see any of that. What does the encoded text say?”

“There’s a lot here about angels in general and the powers attributed to them.” Roger read on. “Here’s the story of Venus turning into Ishtar. There’s even a poem written in Latin.”

“Great, this must be The Book of Uriel. We found it.” Stoney exclaimed.

“I wish it were, but the very first page said this book was written by some angel named Zerachiel. Most of the text is opening up to me, but the drawings seem locked. I guess we mere mortals aren’t supposed to see what angels see. I wish that part would unlock like everything else did. But no chance, I guess.” Roger read more of the text. “Here is a reference to a book written by Reuwel, the angel of secrets, and the text scripted for the eyes of the blessed.”

“Maybe that’s the book we’re looking for?” Flower asked.

“Wait,” Roger called out. Then he lowered his voice again.

The Librarian put her finger to her lips and gave me a hard stare. I nodded and looked away, hoping she would return to her work.

Roger loudly whispered, “The very next paragraph tells about a book written by Uriel the faithful. This