Page Numbers Book Novels & Stories

"Say that again." "An appointment book is dated on every page. The pages either side of a gap still carry their dates, and the gap between them is a number, and a number is a fact." I turned the book round and put my finger on the last surviving entry before the cut, and then on the first surviving entry after it. "Whoever cut those pages could remove what was written. They could not remove the size of the hole." He looked. I watched him do the arithmetic and I watched his face change while he did it.

"Anyway, let's find The Yearling." Jane had to make herself follow Lucy. Her feet felt heavy with guilt. There it was. The book looked long, all right, longer than A Tale of Two Cities. It was definitely a thicker book, but maybe it was just printed on thicker paper. Jane made herself flip to the last page to check the page number: 400. Twenty-two pages shorter than A Tale of Two Cities. Jane grinned like a fool. Caroline had read a shorter book than her.

The book is massive, easily over two thousand pages, the weight of it pulling at my arms. Of course it’s this complicated. I bite back my frustration, reminding myself that this might be the only chance I have to get answers. I carry the book to an alcove, the leather seat creaking as I lower myself into it. The book lands on the desk with a soft thud, dust rising around it in a lazy cloud. The first page is brittle, the ink faded, but I manage to make out the opening line as I try carefully not to tear the paper:

The page he had opened was burnt off. “This is the second book with Odette that has a page missing just when it's about to become about her!” he declared, the tone of his voice increasing in irritation. My heart dropped to my stomach once more as I quickly flipped through the pages of the book in my hands. But just as Cassian had observed, the pages of the book with me were also burnt off at the page that was supposed to be about Odette… “No… No…” I mumbled as I quickly started flipping through the rest of the books.

“Dougal’s Herbs and Wildlife?” “Check.” “Volume 2?” “Check check.” “Misegevit’s Natural Remedies?” I scanned the shelf. “Um…. yes, it’s here. Just out of place, hang on.” “It should be before the Anatomy section.” “Yup, it’s here. Ok next?” “Nyllan’s Theoretical Text, Volume 1?” “Yes.” “Volume 2?” “Yes.” “Volume 3?” “Yes–” “Volume 4?” “Yes– wait.” My brain on auto-pilot had already missed it. I silently brushed the breadcrumbs from my hands and dusted off the bindings of the dark green books in front of me. “Volume three is missing,” I said. “Volume four is here.”

I press my hand to him, trying to get him to stay still. “I can help,” I murmur, fumbling with the heavy book in my lap. He pauses, eyes darting to the old book. His gaze hardens in suspicion but then softens. He recognizes what it is. I flip frantically through the brittle pages. 39… 91… 180… Focus. My fingers finally find the right page and relief washes over me when I spot the illustrations. I place the book next to me and take the bag, searching for the right leaves stuffy stuff. I do not know what. At least the book has pictures in color.

If she were to stop to analyze it again, she would spend a whole day staring at the page, not reading or absorbing anything. But she couldn't help it much. The second page was equal to the first z the third as well. The fourth, the fifth to the sixth, even the twenty-seventh page was the same as the first, it frustrated her. She had passed through the corridors, endured all that litany of her mother and sisters, had to remain as calm as possible in the face of that scenario in which she did not have many memories of what would happen before the meeting with Lord Kim. All this following the idea of "the book will tell you the story", so that in the end the pages are white.

She tore the box open. Inside this box were a dozen books. Most looked the same—typical bindings, mostly classics. But one book stood out immediately. It didn’t look anything like the others. It was thick, overstuffed and weathered, with leather binding. It looked as if it had been through a war. And it looked ancient.

He asked. Carys opened it and leafed through its pages. Once she had looked through every page of that book, she turned over to page 17. Alpha King and I leaned closer as she switched on the table lamp kept on the reading table and held up page 17 against the light. A circular pattern appeared like a watermark on the page, which was otherwise not visible under normal light.

"Just humor me, okay?" I ask, opening the book. "What page are you on?" "P-p-page one t-t-twenty t-t-t-two," he answers, still staring, wide-eyed at my bikini clad body. I open the book to the right page and read something about Quotient Rules and Higher-Order Derivatives. "Okay, good!" I say, more confident than I feel as the tingling dampness in my pussy starts to distract me. "Explain this to me," I say as I squeeze my legs together and try to ignore my own arousal.