Bus XXXI

Louisa: Hey, you see the woods over there? Just behind the school.

Jack and Scott turn to see

Scott: They’re on fire!

Louisa: Nah, it’s a controlled burning. Somebody’s chucking books into it.

Jack: Christ, isn’t that the Head Librarian!

Scott: Looks like her

Louisa: So that’s why she wasn’t in at lunchtime!

Jack: You keep close track of her movements?

Louisa: I had a problem bringing back a book. The new check-in system wouldn’t accept it and only the Head Librarian can over-rule the machines. They said I’d have to wait 'til she was in.

Jack: Oh yeah, that happened to Gavin Turndale too. He tried to bring back a book and it wouldn’t let him - and the Head Librarian was, again, missing from the scene – so he got a fine the next day.

Louisa: Doesn’t it seem odd that the new system has made it so easy to take out books and so tricky to bring them back?

Scott: It’s like they want us to keep the books at home

Jack: And now the Head Librarian’s burning some in the woods

Louisa: I guess they just don’t have enough room for all the books anymore. What with the computers and the conference suites and everything.