For children: A super-secret club of book lovers sneaks ‘banned’ books into their school library

If everything went to plan, this would be book number six. Book number six that we would successfully sneak into our school library.

My heart thumped. “All set?” I whispered to Twisha.

She smiled and tilted her head.

Of course she was all set. She was Twisha Tandon. Cool, collected Twisha Tandon. I was the bundle of nerves.

“Positions, everyone,” whispered the third one in our gang, Saumya Rao. Our fourth member, Yuvi Rathi, took her place at the rear entrance to the library. I was stationed at the main one.

Saumya quickly sneaked into the library, unnoticed by our librarian, Mrs Zaveri. In the blink of an eye, she was standing like a sentinel behind the non-fiction shelf.

Our positions had been defined with military precision. Yuvi, at the rear entrance, was to make sure she stayed out of sight until Mrs Zaveri exited the library. Saumya’s vantage point allowed her to watch both Twisha and me. Standing at the main entrance, I had the best view and could see everything and everybody. Of course, that also meant that unless I was quick, Mrs Zaveri would spot me lurking there the moment she reentered the library.

We had planned everything very carefully. Once Mrs Zaveri finished lunch, she would walk past Yuvi to go to the washroom. If she returned in under a minute, that was it. Mission aborted. If she took longer than a minute, we had between four and seven minutes before she returned.

Yuvi was too excitable and I too nervous to do anything but keep watch. So, Saumya was our timekeeper. Twisha, who looked and behaved like a model schoolchild, was the one who actually completed each mission.

In a minute, Mrs Zaveri packed away her lunchbox and got up to go to the washroom. Instantly, Yuvi slipped behind a pillar. As Mrs Zaveri left, Twisha smiled and strolled past me into the library, her lunch bag in her hand.

I held my breath. I watched Saumya, who looked up from her watch and nodded to Twisha.

A movement made me jump. I frowned.

Twisha looked at me and raised her eyebrows. I shrugged. I couldn’t see anyone, not even a shadow.

Yuvi, back in full view at the rear entrance, was a cat on hot bricks. She would listen for the bolt of the washroom door and signal to us that Mrs Z was done.

Twisha nodded to me and went about her business.

My eyes darted everywhere.

You have to be a top detective, Jay Bhojwani. Look for the lights. Figure out where a shadow might be cast. You need a method. You—

Stop. You don’t have the time to be so nerdy. Just keep watch.

I looked closely. There were no shadows that I could see.

Saumya was craning her neck. Yuvi was still bouncing on her toes.

My lips curled into a smile. No matter how nervous I was, her excitement was infectious.

Twisha took out our copy of The Adventures of Captain Underpants from her lunch bag. She sat on Mrs Zaveri’schair, pulled out the sheet of barcodes from the topdrawer and stuck one neatly inside the book. She thenscanned it and began to key the details in.

My heart thudded.

Twisha didn’t hurry, but she didn’t move slowly either. A couple of minutes later, she got up, put everything back in place and closed Mrs Zaveri’s drawer.

Almost there.

Nearly there.

Practically there.

Yuvi urgently coughed twice and slipped behind her pillar once more. My hand flew to my mouth, and I dashed out of sight.

That’s our signal! Mrs Zaveri is here! Don’t get caught, Twisha! Don’t—

I squeezed my eyes shut before peeking out from my hiding place as surreptitiously as I could.

Twisha’s finger was still on the book she was slipping onto the shelf when Mrs Zaveri stepped in through the rear entrance, wiping her hands on her yellow napkin. Twisha ran her fingers casually along the spines of the books and smiled as she greeted Mrs Zaveri, randomly picking a book off the shelf.

“Good afternoon, Twisha! It’s always lovely to see students in the library during their lunch break.”

Their voices faded away as Twisha nudged the librarian towards the computer to issue the book.

Endless seconds ticked by. Saumya, Yuvi and I stood at our positions, waiting. Saumya was the first to creep out, quietly making her way towards me.

Finally, Twisha walked out of the library. Yuvi practically raced through the stacks to join us at the main entrance.

“Yuvi Rathi!” Mrs Zaveri called after her sharply. “I won’t have hooligans in my library!”

Yuvi threw a sheepish smile over her shoulder, murmured what could have been an apology and then tugged us all away from the library before throwing her arms around Twisha. ‘How are you so awesome?’

Twisha’s lips twitched as she imitated Mrs Z’s crisp tone. “I’m the lovely student, Yuvi Rathi, not the hooligan.”

Yuvi grinned, jumping in glee. “Mission successful!”

And then came a voice from behind us. “What exactly is this mission? And what did you do at Mrs Zaveri’s computer, Twisha Tandon?”

Excerpted with permission from The Book Ghosts, Varsha Seshan, illustrated by Sahitya Rani, Puffin India.

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