The Emerald Atlas (37 page)

Kate tried her best to join in, but the thoughts of all that had happened and all the Countess had said wouldn’t go away. Who was the Dire Magnus? What did it mean that she could use the
Atlas
without a photograph? Was there more to the prophecy than what the Countess had mentioned? And what about the other two Books? What powers and secrets did they contain? There was so much she didn’t understand.

And then there were the questions about their parents.

Thinking of what they must have gone through, what they must still be going through, made Kate dizzy with fear and sadness.

But even so, there was one thing she did know for certain.

If their parents were alive, then she and Michael and Emma were going to find them. She didn’t care how powerful the Dire Magnus was, or that to rescue their parents they would have to find a pair of magical books that had been missing for thousands of years; she and Michael and Emma were going to put their family back together and nothing was going to stop them.

“Kate!” Emma ran up, Michael just behind her, their faces bright with joy. “King Robbie’s gonna whistle ‘Deck the Halls’ through his nose! Dwarves, right? This should be hilarious!”

“Nose-whistling is an ancient dwarf tradition!” Michael protested, then added, “But it should be pretty funny.”

“Come on, Kate! You gotta come!”

“You really shouldn’t miss it.”

“Robbie’s gonna whistle Christmas carols through his nose?” Kate laughed. “What’re we waiting for?” And, smiling, she let herself be led away by her brother and sister.

JOHN STEPHENS
spent ten years working in television and was executive producer of
Gossip Girl
and a writer for
Gilmore Girls
and
The O.C.
He holds an MFA from the University of Virginia.

John and his wife have a dog named Bug and live in Los Angeles. Visit
EmeraldAtlas.com
to find out more about
The Emerald Atlas
, the Books of Beginning, and John.