Story Thieves Read Online Free Page B

book.”
    She paused, swallowing hard. “Somehow, I got me and the other kids back out,” Bethany said, her voice now quieter. “They all thought it was some kind of cool magic trick for the party. But my dad . . . I don’t know what happened, but he got left behind. Except he’s not in that book now, not anymore. And I don’t know where he is.”
    â€œCouldn’t he just leave that book too?” Owen asked. “The same way he did the first time?”
    Why was she telling Owen this much? “Maybe? I don’t know. Maybe he tried, and left that book looking for another way out. Maybe . . . maybe he couldn’t leave, because something hurt him in the story. Or maybe he just figured, why come back to the real world when the fictional world is so much better  ?”
    She turned away, ran the backs of her hands over her eyes, then sighed. “I look for him everywhere I can,” she said, staring at the table. “After my dad got lost, my mom wouldn’t let me jump into books anymore, no exceptions. For years after, shewouldn’t even let me read a book the normal way without watching me do it, not even schoolbooks. And what am I going to do with those, jump into a word problem? As soon as she started to trust me, I hit the library and checked out that fairy-tale book first thing. I tore that thing apart, inside and out, but he wasn’t there. Not anywhere in it! I keep trying, bringing home new books every night, hiding them from my mom, but there are so many other books out there. How could anyone possibly look through them all?”
    Owen put up his hands, and she realized he was trying to quiet her down. She looked over his shoulder to where several people had turned to look at whatever the crazy girl in the corner was yelling about. Her eyes widened, and she gritted her teeth in an effort to not punch something. “I don’t know why I’m even talking about this,” she hissed. “You’re just some jerk who won’t leave me alone. Now, do you want the gobstopper or not?  ”
    He glanced at the candy again, staring at it like it was made of gold. Then he pushed it back to her side. “No. But if you really don’t want to ever hear from me again, then I’ve got a different deal for you.”
    That’s what this was all about. She should have known. “So you do want a time machine.”
    He shook his head. “I don’t want anything from a book. Just for you to take me into one. Five minutes, in and out, that’s all I ask.”
    Bethany sighed. Of course that’s what he wanted. Meet Percy Jackson, or Ron Weasley, or that knockoff Harry Potter kid, Kiel Giant-toes. And if she didn’t do what he asked, he’d tell her mother, and that’d be it. So much for making a friend. “And which book is that?”
    He pulled a book out from his backpack. Kiel Gnomenfoot and the End of Everything. Kiel Giant-toes it was.
    â€œSo, what, you want his autograph?” she asked, keeping her voice as level as she could. “Want to go gush over him like he’s a celebrity? That’ll be perfect , Owen. He has no idea anyone even knows who he is, but yes, go tell him how much you love his gnome feet or whatever, and how The End of Everything is the greatest title you’ve ever heard. Do you know how dumb that idea is? You’d change the entire story! Do you have any idea what would happen if you did that?”
    Owen’s eyes lit up like Christmas lights. “No?” he said.
    â€œNeither do I!” she whispered. “Maybe it’s not possible, I don’t even know, because I’m too smart to have ever tried. The last thing I need is for my name to show up in a book likeI’m a character, where everyone can see it. You think no one would notice that, if suddenly there’s a Bethany Sanderson in Frankenstein where there’d never been one