Mainstay

My legs burned with each pedal, but I relished in what was left of the summer air. It was September now, and the heat would only last a few more weeks before the dull of fall would set in, chilling the air and dampening the sun. My legs had gotten strong, a mix between the midnight runs I took with Sage and the many years of biking and hiking the Stay’s Landing hillside. Mom and I only took the car out when we needed to, during torrential downpour and when the snow was too thick to traverse by pedal. I couldn’t remember the last time we’d attempted the 4-hour drive through the mountains to the city, we only did it when we needed something Stay’s could not provide, and that was rare. 

I waved as I passed the small medical clinic. The pack doctor, Kip, was smart as a whip and one of the few younger wolves we had here in town. His mother had been the pack doctor before he took over the practice, citing he’d seen the world while studying medicine. His mate, Clarice, was quiet but kind. She had an angular face offset her rust coloured skin and deep black hair. She was from a pack far in the North, and Kip, with his round face and boyish blue eyes, stood as her complete opposite - but he absolutely adored her. She was a physiotherapist before coming to town, and since taken charge of the local fitness centre, mostly helping the older generation stay nimble and work through old injuries. Between the two of them they kept the whole town in top top shape, so a hospital was never needed. 

We had a butcher and a general store, a small farmers market with fresh produce on the weekends, a quiet bakery and a local pub. In the centre of it all was Mainstay Books, the library and book shop. Owned by Theodore mains the building had acted as a train station some half a century before, when the town was still useful as a shipping post. As Stay’s Landing grew to irrelevancy, the need for tracks did as well and the station closed up shop. It began as a library, opened when by his father when Mains was just a teenager, serving as a way to bring the excitement of the world to the youth of town. It remained that way once Mains took ownership, but he soon found that people rarely brought back the books he gave out so he started charging a quarter. Everyone still called it a library, though, as those books usually made their way back in a few years time when people cleaned out their homes. 

When my mother took over the front, Mains dove deep into his true passion, sorting through old documents and antiquities from the golden days of Stay’s Landing. He sold some of the things through the front of the shop, mainly old pocket watches or remnants from wars past. He always said the only way to live in the present is to know your past - and that’s where I came in. Every shift I worked doubled as a history lesson. 

“Theo I’m getting old, you know, someone other than me ought to know what foundation this town’s built on!” He would say as I filed old land records. I always laughed, his ramblings made it sound like something- anything might happen in this quiet town. 

I parked my bike along the back door of the library, swinging open the old creaky door and breathing in the deep scent of wood and old books. This place smelled like knowledge and history, there was no denying it. I looked across the shelves and spotted my mother working on some paperwork by the desk. I grinned and waved, making sure she saw me arrive. 

“I’m staying late tonight, don’t wait up!” I called out to her as I made my way around to the creaky stairs to the archives. Though it was safe, my mother wasn’t fond of me roaming around alone at night. She didn’t need to know that Sage and I planned a midnight run through the mountains after work. 

As I descended the creaking stairs to the library basement the air grew thick with the smell of tea and damp earth. I saw Mains, tucked away against the mossy brick with a brass monocular to his eye, inspecting the writing on a crumbled paper. 

“Theo!” He called out, without turning his head, “I have found parts of an old town history. Hand written. It’s fascinating!” 

I smiled at him, “How old?” 

“75 years, at least, it’s talking of them laying the bricks down at the main docks.”

“You’re still older, grandpa!” I teased, as he huffed. 

“Please, I don’t look a day over 35!” He growled back, playfully. I laughed and started hauling the boxes he’s left near the stairs over closer to his workspace. Mains was 83, nearly 84- but he was right, he looked much younger than his birth certificate said. His hair was mostly grey now, black streaks peppered into the curls that sat atop his head. In the years his hairline had receded back and his vision had started to go, he was so often found with his gold wire rimmed glasses sat on his nose, a piece of twine holding them on his neck so he wouldn’t misplace them. His deep skin had weathered as he aged, dark lines carved out of his coffee complexion tracing every laugh and worried face he’d ever made. He still got around fine, and despite his climbing years he was spry, if not a little hunched over. He had been strong as active when he was young, and you could tell from his frame now. His hands had gotten shaky and he often trailed off mid sentence, but he was still the strongest and smartest man I knew. Without a doubt Mains was my best friend. 

He clicked his tongue at me, handing over the glass and paper in his hand, “I’m shaking too much, I can’t make out the names of the tribes listed. Theo, would ya?” 

I took the monocular and peered at the stained paper, straining my eyes as I read the words. “Ember, of course. I think I can make out Juniper, looks like Shadewalkers...it’s too smudged, Mains. I can’t really tell either.” 

“Hm,” Mains replied, taking the page back from me, “seems as though a lot of this book is in rough repair. We’ll have to try and restore it. It was in that funny box over there.” 

I followed his gesture to a wood and steel box, a deep green colour, tucked away in the back of the library. It almost looked like a steamer trunk, though only a quarter of the size. A thick brass clasp held it shut, weathered and creaking with age. It was heavy, but after opening it against the stiff, rusted hinges I saw that only a smattering of papers lay inside. 

“Where was this box from?” I asked, I had never seen such an unusual box among our collection. 

“Must’ve been sent here in one of the trips from the old town hall. I don’t recall seeing it before.” 

I toyed with the rounded corners, tracing the scratches in the surface, looking for some clue of its origin. Town Hall had been torn down about a decade earlier. It had been mostly destroyed in the same fire the library fell victim to, but efforts to restore it were never enough. A lot of the papers and artifacts had been retrieved and brought here before the demolition. 

“Stop messing around and help me lug the last of this batch around to my workspace!” Mains barked, startling me out of my trance. I sighed in jest and helped move more boxes, going through each paper and helping transcribe them and file them appropriately. In time we’d have the full history of Stay’s Landing documented from all of these papers, or at least I hoped so. I don’t know how much more dust I could handle if more papers and remnants of the past shows up. 

My shift went by quickly, Mains and I laughing over tea and old gossip columns from newspaper records. It wasn’t the most glamorous work but it truly made me happy to pore over the past with him, and I loved hearing him regale his stories when a clipping from the past would ignite a memory. 

Around 10pm he looked at his wristwatch and sighed, “Theo you’ve stayed late again, are you trying to bleed my pockets dry?” 

I laughed, “What else are you spending I money on?” 

“Well get your things, let’s go in home.” 

“Oh, I meant to ask- is it okay if I lock up tonight? I’ve been dyi to go for a run and…”

“Now now now! I don’t want to hear it” Mains said, making a show of standing up and covering his ears, “your mother would kill me if I let you go running off so I may as well know as few details as possible.” 

I shook my head smiling, “I’ve got my key!”

Mains smiled knowingly and started back upstairs, I walked behind him as he slowly ascended, watching his hands grip on the thin rail, “I am getting far to old to climb stairs!” he chuckled, as he grabbed his coat and hat from the rack near the front door. I walked with him out, giving him a light hug and a kiss on the cheek. 

“Now you be careful now, you hear? I’ll see you on Thursday. Unless you feel like paying an old man a visit.” 

I stepped backwards into the library once more, “I’ll see you soon Mains. And thank you!”

Mains waved away my gratitude as he clamoured down the concrete steps at the front and shuffled down the sidewalk toward his nearby home. I closed to door behind him, turning the lock and giving the heavy door a quick pull to make sure it was secure. I took a deep breath, feeling Sage stir with excitement at the back of my mind. 

“Ready to run?”