D. MacHale - The Lost City of Faar

“Really,” agreed Courtney. “I’m excited and afraid at the same time. I’m dying to know what happened to Bobby, but what if it’s bad?”

The two fell silent, staring at the books.

“There’s something else,” added Mark thoughtfully. “This wholeFirstEarth thing makes me nervous.”

“Why?” Courtney asked.

“It’s like Saint Dane is coming closer. To us.”

“You don’t know that,” Courtney said quickly.

“No, but Second Earth is a territory like all the others. One day Saint Dane is going to come here, too. And when he does, we’re going to be doing more than just reading about it.”

“Unless Bobby and the Travelers stop him first, right?” Courtney asked hopefully.

Mark didn’t answer. He looked at the journals thoughtfully, then reached for the top one. “Let’s just read, okay?”

Courtney took a breath to calm down, then said, “Let’s try something different this time. We’ll read out loud to each other.”

Mark was secretly relieved. He was a faster reader than Courtney and always had to wait for her to catch up. This was the perfect solution.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” he said, and handed her the journal. “You first.”

Courtney took the journal and cracked open the cover. “We left off where Bobby and Spader flumed to Veelox, right?” she asked.

“Right,” answered Mark. He sank back into the couch, put a hand behind his head, got comfortable and said, “Go for it.”

Courtney turned to the page where they had left off the day before, and began to read out loud.

“A second later we were swept up by the light and sound and pulled into the flume. Next stop… Veelox.”