Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame (17 page)

Moby-Dick
.

Ophelia hurried back up the steps and handed the book to her brother, who then read the title to himself and handed the book to Walter.

“Let’s just hope the whale doesn’t show up, or we’ll be in real trouble,” said Walter.

“Captain Ahab could do his fair share of damage too,” said
Ophelia, who was well aware of the seaman’s obsession with finding and killing the great white whale who’d taken his leg.

Linus sighed and continued tinkering with Cato Grubbs’s lab equipment. He’d made no real discovery yet, but the burner sure kept Ronda’s queso dip warm. “You’d better get started reading then.”

A look of boredom settled over Walter’s features. “What do you say we head over to the camp and see the kids, Linus?”

Ophelia waved them away, her eyes capturing the first line of
Moby-Dick
.

“Call me Ishmael.”

Well, okay. I certainly will, she giggled to herself and began consuming a whale of a tale.

Thus ends the tale—or all the bits worth telling, mind you. They did sleep, use the bathroom, change clothing, and participate in mindless conversations. But a good writer leaves those bits out, usually, as they are boring and add nothing to the movement of the plot or the development of the character—the two most important considerations while writing a story. As one writer put it, “I leave out the boring bits.”

One might say my little asides would fit that description too. But this is my book and I shall write it how I like. And now, I’m off to bed with a glass of juice and a bowl of potato chips. And you … well, please don’t disturb me; I have quite a busy day ahead of me in the English department. Those professors still don’t appreciate all that I do for them. But tomorrow the sun will rise, and those stuffy colleagues of mine might actually see the true worth of a literary fussbudget like myself.

Good night, good day, and good heavens! Go outside and do something with your body! You can’t sit around reading all day.

the end

About the Author

L.L. S
AMSON
lives in Kentucky and has been writing far longer than anyone needs to know. Suffice it to say, L.L. has been reading even longer, loves to do it, and hopes
you will too! Chickens, children, and a cat live in Lexington with L.L. and spouse, W.A. Samson, who writes too. Despite this, it’s difficult to find a pen in the house.

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ZONDERKIDZ

Facing the Hunchback of Notre Dame
Copyright © 2012 by L. L. Samson

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EPub Edition © APRIL 2012 ISBN: 978-0-310-72796-5

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Samson, Lisa, 1964-

Facing the hunchback of Notre Dame / by Lisa Samson.

p. cm. – (The enchanted attic ; bk. 1)

Summary: When Quasimodo from Victor Hugo’s “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” appears fully alive and completely bewildered in their attic, twin twelve-year-old avid readers Ophelia and Linus search for a way to help him return home.

ISBN 978-0-310-72795-8 (softcover)

[1. Space and time—Fiction. 2. Characters in literature—Fiction. 3. Hugo, Victor, 1802-1885. Hunchback of Notre Dame—Fiction. 4. Books and reading—Fiction. 5. Brothers and sisters—Fiction. 6. Twins—Fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.S1697Fac 2012

[E] – dc23
2011048879

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®,
NIV
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Cover design: Kris Nelson
Cover and interior illustrations: ©Antonio Caparo

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