The Lost City of Faar (46 page)

She pointed to a spot underneath the desk. Something was carved into the woodwork. The only way you could see it was to be down on the floor, looking straight up. The words said: “Happy Birthday, Mark.”

As they lay on their backs, looking up, Mark and Courtney started to laugh. This was so perfectly Bobby. Mark wished he had a camera with him so he could take a shot and keep it with the journals. He planned on coming back and doing just that.

The two then pulled themselves out from under the desk and stood up. They stared at the open safety deposit box and the four journals inside.

“I can't believe there's a whole story here,” said Courtney.

“We should bring them home,” Mark said.

“Yeah,” agreed Courtney, “but this is killing me. Let's just look at the first page.”

Mark couldn't think of a reason not to, so he reached inside and took the first journal off the pile. It was nicely bound, like a book that had never been opened.

“Not exactly old parchment papers,” Mark said.

He then carefully opened the cover to the first page.

Unlike the stories from Denduron and Cloral, Bobby had typed this journal. The pages were the size of regular computer printer paper, but they were heavier and cream colored. Also, the typing looked all messy. This wasn't like a clean page from a printer. This had actually been typed on an old-fashioned typewriter. Neither of them had ever seen something like this—it was like looking at a piece of history. In a way, that's exactly what it was.

“Let's at least see where he was,” said Courtney.

“Okay,” agreed Mark.

The two sat down at the desk and began to read.

to be continued

D. J. MacHale
is a writer, director, and producer of several popular television series and movies that include
Flight 29 Down; Are You Afraid of the Dark?; Encyclopedia Brown, Boy Detective; Tower of Terror;
and
Ghostwriter
. Pendragon, his first book series, is a
New York Times
bestselling series. He lives in southern California with his wife, Evangeline; his daughter, Keaton; a golden retriever, Maggie; and a kitten, Kaboodle.

SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS

An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com

This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

First Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers edition February 2007

Copyright © 2003 by D. J. MacHale

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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IMON
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CHUSTER
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OOKS FOR
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OUNG
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EADERS
is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

Book design by Debra Sfetsios

The text of this book was set in Apollo MT.

Library of Congress Control Number 2002108580

ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-3626-8

ISBN-10: 1-4169-3626-2

ISBN-13: 978-1-4391-0346-3 (eBook)