Indiana, Invincible; Chapter 6, Part 2

by Maryam in A Land Of Desert And Sun

Darn - darn - darn - darn - darnit darnit darnit!!!!!
I curse slightly to myself, the 'darns' forming a little chant, and I duck behind the shelves. Even though there's no possible way he can see me, I feel very, very conspicuous.
But that passes quickly, as I focus on the concentrated, serious look on Rheston's face; he doesn't have anything in his hand, but he's striding towards a specific shelf with something like determination.
I'm getting curious.
I admit it.
Freely.
All right, back to the point now.
In any case, he's stopped; I ease over closer and peek at the sign above it;
Arts, Artists and Paintings
O....K.
My mind races - whatever he's looking up, whatever he's looking for, it's most probably something to do with art. If I didn't know more, I'd assume he was just doing it for a school project - however, I (sorrowfully) am with him in all his classes, and there's no project of the sort, and Rheston is not the type to work for extra credit.
So it's personal, then....
My mind alights.
His father WORKS IN ART! Finally, a breakthrough! It must be something to do with his father... That's what Dad said, anyway.
My brow wrinkles for the fraction of a second as a thought skims across my mind - with what did he explain his knowledge of Rheston's father again?
Darnit, I can't REMEMBER....
My mind snaps out of it again as I glimpse Rheston straightening up, a frown now etched on his face. Actually, since it was there from the beginning, it's gotten deeper, and his arms fold somewhat skittishly, one hand goes to his elbow and the other to his chin, and he just stands there for a couple of seconds.
Very slightly, I feel myself leaning forward and narrowing my eyes.
All right, fine, I'm curious what he's going to do next. I'm CURIOUS, don't get me wrong! It's one of my worst faults, and -
Oh, OK, OK. He's turned abruptly and is moving again.
Darn, darn, darnit -

(Liam's POV)

Damn. It wasn't there. Nothing whatsoever, nothing, about Adrian Finneque, nothing about Lady In Willows. But oh well. After all, I don't think I really expected to find anything to do with that in a school library; after all, finding Artistic Robberies Of the Twenty-First Century was a lucky fluke.
Passing the librarian's desk, who smiles, I nod curtly back at her and am immediately stalking quickly down the hallways towards the main door - measures will have to be taken not to pass the cafeteria, the LR hasn't been very happy about me starting to leave early lately.
I change tracks in my mind with ease.

About Lady In Willows....
It seems that now, I'll have to look in Dad's library. There's nothing else I can do, after all. And I'm not sure I'm going to be able to do that, the whole point of this was to -
My train of thoughts are interrupted again as a slim figure wearing a now-familiar beige coat goes past me swiftly, skirting me on my right side, but only very slightly. I pause and look after -
Oh, it's Finnigan.
Slowly, I begin walking again. Ahead of me, she's just stepped out of the main door and is heading quickly towards the buses, I know, though I can't see them -
Hey! She's going to get there first if I keep.....
Well, she's not going to.
I widen my strides, begin running, and am sprinting out of the door instants later, my gaze instantly turning towards the left. Finnigan is walking towards the bus, but she's still got some time until she gets there, and at this rate...
I smile (all right, fine) evilly to myself.
My footsteps quicken.