October

Since Henri met someone else who can speak French his mood's lifted. He's excited to wait with her for Emmett and Kit at the end of each school day. It annoys Lola for some reason. Henri used to pester Lola with everything question under the sun in German or French. Lola was doing well in getting him to speak English every now and then but since Kit Tailor came he seems to have given up on that front. He'll never learn if he doesn't try and he'll just alienate everyone in town.

On their walks home, Henri only speaks to Kit and Lola has even heard him laugh a few times. Lola tells herself to be glad Henri has made a friend but then Emmett finds her pouting in the living room one rainy Saturday. Henri is meant to come over tomorrow to do their homework together but Lola doesn't see the point when Henri refuses to speak any English.

Emmett has just come back from a regular delivery of their cherries down to London and a few other nearby towns. Pearl greets him with a wagging tail and follows him into the living room. He slumps down on the sofa with a sigh and strokes Pearl's fur.

"What's wrong with you?" Emmett asks. He looks at Pearl and puts on a silly voice, "what's wrong with her? Why's she so grumpy today, P?"

Pearl wags her tail faster in response and Lola considers not saying anything but she can't take it anymore. "The other kids'll never stop teasing Henri if he doesn't learn English but how is he going to learn English if he only ever speaks French with Kit Tailor!"

Emmett blinks, staying quiet for a few moments as he takes in her outburst. Finally, he says, "why don't you learn some French or Italian or whatever that kid speaks? He probably feels lonely, Kit is the only one outside his family he can speak to properly. If you learn whatever language he speaks it might encourage him to learn English."

"That..." Lola says, turning to face her brother, "is a brilliant idea! You are brilliant!"

Emmett raises his hands, "don't thank me, thank Sun Tzu."

"Who?"

"You really oughta read more, Lola," Emmett says, slumping further down the sofa and closing his eyes.

"Please, you read one book—"

"Three—"

"—and you think you're Shakespeare," Lola says as he stands up, "right, I'm off!"

"Off where?" Emmett calls from the living room when Lola runs into the hallway to grab her coat off the hooks by the door.

"Library!" Lola shouts as she shrugs on her coat.

"Oh, Lola, you off to the Square?" Mummy shouts from upstairs.

Lola pauses, she sighs and turns around. Mummy stands at the top of the stairs, dressed in her flowery apron with her curly dark hair pulled up into a messy bun as she carries balled up blankets in her arms.

"What do you want me to get?" Lola asks.

"Honey and flour from the market."

"Okay."

"Aren't you going to write it down?"

"I'll remember," she says. The last time she checked the clock on the mantle in the living room, it was one o'clock. The library closes at four and it only takes fifteen minutes to reach the Square so she should have plenty of time.

"Supper is at six! Don't be late!" Mummy reminds her as the door shuts.

Lola pauses once again on the stone steps by her front door to put her hand out and test how heavy the rain is. It's light, light enough that she won't be soaking when she gets to the library.

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The Square has everything to meet the village's needs. Need groceries? Mr. Hemming's Butchery has a good range of meat and the market near the park has lots of fresh fish, bread, vegetables and fruits. Fancy a bite? Green Brew is the quaint cafe next to the duck pond that does the best cherry and almond tart. Need a drink and a dance? The Round Table is the pub by the statue of a fat man, where half the village gathers for a raucous time over a few pints of beer.

Does your wife need cheering up? Get yourself a beautiful bouquet from Floral Flora's. Fancy some new clothes? Strut has great fashion at low, low prices. The Square has everything.

Lola walks into Rainford Library, it's a small yet tall building positioned between Floral Flora's and St. Christopher's Church. Lola only ever goes inside to research for homework and even she leaves within minutes. It's too quiet and stuffy and she doesn't like how Mrs. Hubert, the head librarian, acts like it's her sacred kingdom. 

There's not many people inside, mostly old people reading newspapers or shuffling mindlessly between aisles. Lola hides behind some furniture and pillars to avoid Mrs. Hubert. She might— okay, she definitely hates Lola because of an incident last year with Liam that had nothing to do with her. Liam was banned from the library and Lola escaped with a final warning. It's best if Mrs. Hubert doesn't know she's here at all.

Lola has never seen anyone under the age of fifty in here, that is until she walks up the winding, spiralling staircase to the second floor and she sees none other than Kit Tailor. She tried to find the Languages aisle or any aisle that deals with foreign languages that might help her learn French but he ended up in this snug corner of the library. It's furnished with a cushy sofa; a cup of hot tea, scones and piles of books sits on the low coffee table and an ample armchair Granddad would steal if he ever saw it.

Kit looks cosy on the sofa, an open notebook in his lap and another book in his hands as he reads. Lola tilts her head to the side to get a better look at the title but Kit's large hand is covering it. Lola stays still, watching him for a moment longer than necessary. She doesn't really see Kit outside of school, he normally just walks home with him, Emmett and Henri and they part ways. Sometimes Emmett will go over to Kit' house or they Kit go straight to Danecroft after school but he doesn't make much of an effort to leave his house. Maybe this is where he goes whenever he isn't at home or school.

Kit takes a pen he tucked behind his ear and scribbles a few lines down on his notebook. He just looks so at home surrounded by all these books. A large part of her fascination, Lola realises, is due to the fact Kit is wearing a cobalt blue, knitted jumper. She smiles. His grandmother definetly made it for him. It looks soft to touch and warm to wear. She's only seen Kit in drab grey clothes of Rainford School and it's such a striking sight to see him in colour.

Lola steps forward, the floorboards creak in response and Kit's head snaps up. Surprise flickers across his face when he sees it's Lola.

Lola offers him a friendly wave of her hand. "Hi, Kit."

Kit's surprise morphs into confusion as his eyebrows knit together. "Uh, hello, Lola." He glances around, "what...what are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for a French dictionary," she says, stepping closer to the sofa, "do you know where that would be?"

"Yes," Kit closes the notebook in his lap and says, "in the References section downstairs."

If she goes perusing downstairs Mrs. Hubert will see her. She rubs her hands together, "listen, you wouldn't mind going to grab me a French dictionary would you? It's just...Mrs. Hubert isn't my biggest fan."

"Why?" He asks, his eyebrows pulling together again.

"It's a..." she shakes her head as she figures out how to explain without sounding like a psychopath by association,"it's...Liam, y'know Liam, yeah?"

"The —" he pauses, giving himself a moment to search for the right word, "eccentric ginger boy in your class?"

"Yeah—"

"He's your closest friend, isn't he?"

Lola groans. "I don't know why everyone thinks— no, he's not. Liam's been banned from the library for life because he was burning holes into the books with matchsticks and almost set the whole place on fire."

And Lola was only with him in the first place because she was trying to stop him but somehow he was named as an accomplice and almost banned herself. Mummy had to bribe Mrs. Hubert with at least a dozen cherry jams to stop her from calling the police and banning Lola.

Kit's eyes widen, "right...and, why do you want a French dictionary?"

Lola shrugs, "I want to learn French." She taps the leg of the coffee table with her foot and glances up at the ceiling, "I guess...I don't know, Henri always looks so happy when he's speaking French with you I thought it would be nice if I learnt too so he wouldn't feel lonely." She looks at Kit, "...and Emmett said it would encourage him to learn English too."

"Yes, that's a great idea," he nods, "and it might save me from having my ear talked off."

Kit's lips quirk up at that and it takes Lola a few seconds to realise he's joking. It startles a laugh out of her.

"Exactly," Lola says, returning Kit's gentle smile. Maybe Kit Tailor isn't just sombre looks and sad dark eyes after all. "It's a win, win."