Lost Places
Page 11
Tim studied her face. He could tell something had happened to her, something big, and it was making her ask for this. “Uh, Molly, do you know something I don’t know?”
“Yes,” she whispered.
“Aren’t you going to tell me what it is?” he asked softly.
“I don’t think I can,” she said in a voice full of heartbreak.
Tim stroked her sooty face gently, brushing her hair back. “Well, you’ve trusted me when it was probably stupid to do so. I know I can trust you, too. All right, I swear by my name.”
Molly took in a deep, shaky breath. “Thank you.”
Tim pulled her to him. “Better?” he asked.
Molly smiled up at him, her eyes still sad. “Much.”
“One thing, though,” Tim said, slinging his arm across her shoulders. “No demons, no answers on how to get out of this fairy tale.”
Molly smirked, looking once again like the girl he knew. “Oh, Tim,” she said in a taunting tone. “Isn’t it obvious?”
He took a step back and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Obvious to whom?”
Molly laughed, and he felt instantly better. “We want this little adventure to end, right?”
Tim nodded.
“This is a fairy tale. And how do fairy tales end?”
Tim smacked his forehead. “Of course. You’re right. It is obvious. How do you put up with my stupidity?”
Molly rolled her eyes. “It is quite a burden, you know.”
Tim took her hand again. “All good fairy tales end with a happily ever after.”
“A happy ending,” Molly agreed.
Barbatos materialized in front of them. “Don’t, young Timothy,” he cautioned. “You’re making the worst mistake of your life. I can help you! You need me!”
“I swore by my name to have nothing to do with demons,” Tim said, his eyes never leaving Molly’s. “I think what I’m about to do should take care of everything just fine.”
He kissed Molly, and the false world melted away around them. When he took his lips from hers and opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that he could see clearly again.
“My glasses!” he exclaimed. “I have my glasses back!” He and Molly were standing under the narls’ tree in the abandoned lot.
“Look! It’s the Opener!” Tanger cried.
“And Molly! Welcome home!” Crimple added.
“Wow, look at you two!” Molly said. The two little narls fluttered around them. The once-twiggy creatures were now covered in flowers, and each sported translucent wings.
“You see,” Tim said. “Leaving your place didn’t make you die after all.”
“Why, you’re right!” Tanger said. “We seem to still be quite alive! Or I’m a saucepan!”
“In fact, leaving our place turned out to be just the thing for wing growing,” Crimple added.
“You might even say, going on an adventure with you, Opener, opened up a whole new world to us,” Tanger said.
“That must be why you’re called the Opener!” Crimple concluded.
Tim grinned. “Could be,” he said, taking Molly’s warm hand in his. “Could be.”
About the Authors
CARLA JABLONSKI has edited and written dozens of best-selling books for children and young adults. She is also an actress, a playwright, and a trapeze artist, and has performed extensively in Scotland and in New York City. A lifelong resident of New York City, she currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
NEIL GAIMAN is the critically acclaimed and award-winning author of such titles as AMERICAN GODS and CORALINE (both New York Times best-sellers), NEVERWHERE, and STARDUST (winner of the ALA Alex Award). He is also the author of the Sandman series of graphic novels.
Visit him online at www.mousecircus.com
JOHN BOLTON was seven when he first encountered a paintbrush and has enjoyed a long and illustrious career in which he has collaborated with some of the industry’s most prestigious contributors and handled assignments for a variety of major publishers.
Visit him online at www.johnbolton.com
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins author.
Copyright
THE BOOKS OF MAGIC #5: LOST PLACES
Copyright © 2004 by DC Comics. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub © Edition AUGUST 2006 ISBN: 9780061973871
The Books of Magic, all characters, the distinctive likeness thereof, and all related names and elements featured in this publication are trademarks of DC Comics.
Timothy Hunter and The Books of Magic created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton.
The Books of Magic: Lost Places was primarily adapted from the story serialized in The Books of Magic: Reckonings, originally published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics, © 1997.
The Books of Magic: Reckonings comic books were created by the following people:
Written by John Ney Reiber
Illustrated by Peter Snejbjerg, Peter Gross, and John Ridgway.
This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any real people (living, dead, or stolen by fairies), or to any real animals, gods, witches, countries, and events (magical or otherwise), is just blind luck, or so we hope.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Jablonski, Carla.
Lost Places / Carla Jablonski; created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton.—1st Eos ed.
p. cm.—(The books of magic; #5.)
“Timothy Hunter and The Books of Magic created by Neil Gaiman and John Bolton. The Books of Magic: Lost Places was primarily adapted from the story serialized in The Books of Magic: Reckonings, originally published by Vertigo, an imprint of DC Comics, 1997.”
Summary: The adventures of young magician Timothy Hunter continue when his girlfriend Molly is abducted to the Demon Playland, and both face unusual dangers as they struggle to escape back to their own world.
ISBN 0-06-447383-X (pbk.)
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