Chapters (50)
- Cover
- Dedication
- - ONE -
- - TWO -
- - THREE -
- - FOUR -
- - FIVE -
- - SIX -
- - SEVEN -
- - EIGHT -
- - NINE -
- - TEN -
- - ELEVEN -
- - TWELVE -
- - THIRTEEN -
- - FOURTEEN -
- - FIFTEEN -
- - SIXTEEN -
- - SEVENTEEN -
- - EIGHTEEN -
- - NINETEEN -
- - TWENTY -
- - TWENTY-ONE -
- - TWENTY-TWO -
- - TWENTY-THREE -
- - TWENTY-FOUR -
- - TWENTY-FIVE -
- - TWENTY-SIX -
- - TWENTY-SEVEN -
- - TWENTY-EIGHT -
- - TWENTY-NINE -
- - THIRTY -
- - THIRTY-ONE -
- - THIRTY-TWO -
- - THIRTY-THREE -
- - THIRTY-FOUR -
- - THIRTY-FIVE -
- - THIRTY-SIX -
- - THIRTY-SEVEN -
- - THIRTY-EIGHT -
- - THIRTY-NINE -
- - FORTY -
- - FORTY-ONE -
- - FORTY-TWO -
- - FORTY-THREE -
- - FORTY-FOUR -
- - FORTY-FIVE -
- - FORTY-SIX -
- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
But at least he’d figured out the problem: He could only open a teleportation circle to somewhere he’d seen photos of or had visited in person. Not that solving the issue helped narrow down where to stash the book to keep it safe.
What did that leave? Where was somewhere that no one else would go, but that Fort had seen before? Was there a place that only he had ever been? He couldn’t imagine anything, unless it was like a locker in one of his old schools? But even a locker would have been given to other kids by now.
Maybe he needed a different approach. Not someplace only he’d been, but maybe a place that only he could reach, with the teleportation spell. Not many people would be hanging out just below the spire on the Empire State Building. Or maybe like someplace inaccessible, someplace…
Someplace underground.
The solution came to him in a flash, and he immediately knew he had to try it, just to see. No one would be able to get there, so the book should be safe. Assuming there was any there left to stash it.
Fort bit his lip, then pictured the place in his mind. He unleashed the magic, and a circle large enough to fit the book opened in the kitchen wall. He slowly pushed his head into the darkness on the other side of the circle, and was happy to see that not only was there plenty of room to stash the book, but it looked like no one had been there since the attack.
He quickly relearned the spell, since if he didn’t, he’d lose the book forever once he closed the circle. For luck, he pulled out the Gettysburg Address brochure and stuck it between two pages. He wasn’t sure why, but it felt like his father would be watching over the book if the brochure was in there. Then, with a final pat good-bye, he slowly pushed the book through the glowing green circle into the darkness.
He gave one last look at the tunnel beneath the old Oppenheimer School, the one created by a giant scaly black monster when it had attacked Fort, trying to drag him down into its own dimension two weeks ago.
“I’ll be back, Dad,” Fort whispered, patting the book again. “Soon.”
And with that, he closed the circle, leaving the book behind in the darkness.