The Unwanted Inheritance of the Bookman Brothers by Tammie Painter

Author:Tammie Painter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy, magical realism, humor, fiction
Publisher: Daisy Dog Media

CHAPTER 16

I think books are like people, in the sense that they’ll turn up in your life when you most need them.

—Emma Thompson

In a far corner of the shop’s second level, Enton tugged on a thick cord to pull down a set of recessed wooden steps. Enton climbed three of the narrow risers, then looked back to his brother, who stood well back, his forehead clammy with sweat.

"Coming up?" Enton asked, even though he knew his twin had always had a visceral fear of what might be lurking in the attic’s dimly lit corners.

Reggie shook his head before the excuse he’d given since they were kids found its way to his lips. "You know, I’m not sure I’ll fit through that opening. Besides," he added after handing Enton a flashlight, "you’ll want me here if you need to hand anything down."

Amused that he could do something his brother couldn’t, Enton continued the climb up the remaining risers.

The attic looked the same as he remembered. The space had no real floor, just a few planks of wood that had been placed across the evenly spaced rafters to create a walkway. Despite Reggie’s phobia, Enton’s only worry up here was making a misstep on one of the dusty planks and falling straight through to the floor below. Which is why he didn’t move at first. He took his time to scan the attic until, at the end of a series of three zigzagging planks, he spotted a cardboard box with THE BOYS’ MEMORABILIA written on the side in Gramps’s blocky handwriting.

Taking mincing steps over the crossbeams, Enton made his way to the box.

"Did you find it yet?" shouted Reggie, startling Enton so hard his left foot slipped off the edge of the plank. Using core muscles he didn’t know he possessed, he kept his balance, his toe only grazing the drywall of what was the second floor’s ceiling.

"Give me half a minute, will ya?"

Shakily, Enton made it to the box. A cloud of dust puffed up when Enton ripped off the tape holding the flaps shut. Inside, he discovered two teddy bears wearing tiny t-shirts — one embroidered with an E, the other with an R; a photo album; a few record albums by one-hit wonders; a collection of toy cars; and, slipped in so their spines faced up, two slim, hardbound books.

Enton slid them out, then opened the front cover of one. It had been his. A story about an elephant who thought he was a mouse. Written on the inside cover, in the same blocky handwriting as on the box, was a message from his grandfather.

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