Beyond: Snillotia Trilogy Book One by Donna Wagner (books you have to read TXT) 📕

people in the house had been watching them. When they got inside, there was no one around. Tim chalked it up to air from the vent or something and went to the office to start his online search. Anna had gone to her room but joined him a few minutes later. "Any luck?"

"Yeah, I found one. Luckily, I still had the gift card I got for my birthday. It's kind of expensive, but it should be here by the end of the week."

"Okay. Are you done with the computer, then? I had an idea for my chapter I wanted to type up before we find the real story!"

Tim shook his head. "Always so pessimistic, Tim!"

Tim shrugged. "I just don't want to be disappointed."

Anna laughed and nudged him out of the computer chair. "Okay, then. Let me get some of this typed up before I completely forget my idea!

“Care to share with me? Maybe it’ll give me some ideas for the assignment.”

“No! I don’t want to influence you in any way. I still think you should think about it. You may remember your mom’s ending. If it is on her laptop, we’d be able to know if you actually do or not at least.”

“But it wouldn’t matter, if it’s on the laptop. I can’t hand in the actual truth.”

“Well, no one would actually know it’s the real ending. Plus, your mom’s ending is a whole book, not just a chapter. It’s not like you’d write your mom’s story word for word, more like a summary.”

Tim frowned. “I’ll try to think about it, but I don’t think she ever told me “the end”. The plots of some of these books seemed totally new to me. I didn’t remember Ire or Intimidation at all,” he said, naming a few books in the middle of the series.

Now it was Anna’s turn to frown. “That’s interesting, since Ire is the first book with fighting. I would think that would stand out to a little boy.”

“I guess I wasn’t like most little boys. I was more interested in the underlying story. I always wanted to know if Eimaj would ever make it back home to her own time and finally be happy, of if she would choose to stay with Alexander in the backwards world. At least I know by the end of my mom’s last book that she made it back- she saw her mom.”

Anna smiled. That was exactly what she liked about the books. The subplots were engaging, but it was the overall story that kept her reading. Before she could comment, however, the door to the office suddenly flew open.

CHAPTER FORTY

“What’s going on?”

Tim rolled his eyes at his cousin’s rude entrance. “We’re just talking about the books.”

Peter’s eyes lit up. He’d become sort of obsessed with the books, and never missed an opportunity to talk about them. Tim didn’t know if he just really liked the stories or if he was homesick. “Are you working on your chapters? I’ve already finished mine! After Eimaj followed her mom, I decided that-”

“Don’t! I don’t want Tim to be influenced!”

Peter looked at her, slightly annoyed. “I don’t think my cousin will steal my idea. I trust him, even if you don’t.”

Anna took a deep breath. “That’s not what I meant. I just had a thought earlier. If Tim’s mom told him these stories, long before she wrote the books, then it’s possible he actually knows how the story ends, even if he doesn’t realize it. I told him to think about it and then just right whatever comes to mind. He’s agreed to try.”

“But how-“

“Yeah, I questioned that too,” Tim said, before Peter could even finish the question, “We have my mom’s laptop now, so after the new charger comes in the mail, we’ll see if there’s any version of her last book on here.”

Peter was so excited; he didn’t even question where Tim had suddenly gotten his mother’s laptop. “I could be the first person to read the final book!”

“Well, Tim would be actually.”

Peter wasn’t listening. “Mrs. MacDonald will be thrilled! What an exclusive event!”

“You cannot tell Mrs. MacDonald. You cannot tell anyone for that matter!” Anna snapped.

“Why not? All the fans have a right to know it exists.”

“Besides the fact that we don’t even know if there is a copy on the laptop, or if the laptop will even work still after we get the charger, Tim just can’t give out the story. If it’s there, I think he needs to give it to his mother’s publisher. They can release it. Tim’s mom did have a contract with them, so there would probably be some legal issues if they found out he released it.”

Tim was amused. He hadn’t even thought about that. It seemed like once again, Anna was a step ahead of him. “Okay, well, seeing as it’s almost 10 o’clock. I think I need to get started on my homework. We do have school tomorrow.”

Tim headed for the door. “Tim, wait.”

He turned around to find Anna right behind him. “I, uh, just wanted to say I’m sorry again.”

Tim shook his head. “I told you before you don’t have anything to apologize for. Friends, remember?”

Anna nodded. “Thanks,” she said, quietly, as she gave him a quick hug, then hurried from the room.

Tim stood, stunned for a moment, until he realized Peter was standing their staring at him. His cousin didn’t look happy at all. “Well, on to homework. Good night, Pete. See you tomorrow.”

He left Peter standing in the office. Once in his room, he pulled out his schoolbooks and finished his math and science homework as quickly as he could. It was only as he was putting his books away that he realized he left the laptop and the messenger bag in the office. He felt silly, since he trusted everyone in the house a hundred percent, but he couldn’t stop himself from going back to the office to get it. When he opened the