A friend who was arthritically challenged told me of a personal problem. He said that while reading an old paperback (The Cruel Sea - Nicholas Montsarat) in a local restaurant, the waitress asked if she could borrow the book after he had read it. Although the book belonged to his brother-in-law he loaned it to her anyway. Joy to the world - the book was lost by the receiver. He asked if it would be any trouble to find a replacement since his mobility was limited. Trouble? - I relate to books as a mouse to cheese.
Thus I started making the rounds - Al Gore had not revealed the internet then - one couldn't Google it and get 2,000,000 responses for 'Cruel Sea'. So I hit the main bookstores, flea markets, garage sales, library book sales rooms, etc. I remembered a small sign reading "Books" planted at a street corner. It also had a Halloween witch symbol on a directional arrow. That lead me to a small house in a residential area.
An unkempt male sat in a rocking chair on the porch with a recorder's ear pieces plugged in. Shutting off the device he greeted me with a friendly remark. I told him what I was looking for. "I'm sure we don't have it but go look around." Entering the house I saw several bookcases with books neatly arranged on the shelf. The entire collection pertained to the occult.
Although the Occult is not my field, I could tell that he was to have a cabbage based meal for lunch. Leaving the cabbage aroma adrift from the kitchen I returned to the host on the porch and thanked him for the tour. He said that he would look for the book at a conclave in Texas the following month.
A few days later I saw a store front with a rough sign "USED BOOKS HERE". Entering the store I noticed many, many books 'scattered as leaves before a hurricane fall'.
Ulcer bait to a bookworm. I told the proprietor that I was looking for "The Cruel Sea" by Monsarat .
"Yes, Sir!. Had three copies - sold one copy last Tuesday to Mr. X; last Saturday one copy to Mr. Y., that leaves one copy!" He dashed into another room (background noise of shuffled books) and then he returned with the copy of "The Cruel Sea" in his hand. The search for the Holy Grail was over.
Epilogue:
After locating the book I drove to the Occult house to tell the Greeter of my find. Again the Greeter was seated on the front porch and still connected to his recorder. The Greeter smiled as I got out the car and called out "I'm glad you found your book!"
In retrospect I should have responded with "Did you enjoy the cabbage the other day?"
