Page 123

It provides Ethan with a pleasant zip of surprise. Although he’d forgotten the book was still there, it makes him happy to see that Henry discovered it.
“Have you looked at it before?”
“No,” Henry says. “But I’m intrigued. It looks like Goosebumps.”
Ethan sits on the edge of the bed. “It’s like a thousand Goosebumps. It used to belong to a friend of mine. Someone very special.”
He doesn’t tell Henry it once was Billy’s for the same reason they don’t talk about that fateful night at the falls. Considering all that’s happened, Ethan’s not sure how Henry would react. He suspects Henry knows anyway, for he handles the book with a gentleness not used on his battered paperbacks.
“Then you should have it,” he says.
“No,” Ethan says. “I’ve looked at it enough. It’s yours now. Although you should get some sleep. It’s late.”
“Five more minutes?”
Ethan smiles before indulging him. He knows that five will be at least thirty. “Sure. But only five.”
Henry touches the book, as if he can sense how valuable it is to both Ethan and the boy who once owned it. Ethan then puts his hand on top of Henry’s, and together, they turn thepage.