The friends exchanged anxious looks and put their heads together.
“I don’t like this,” murmured TJ.
“What’s not to like?” replied Jimmy. “He’s offering us a safe place to stay while we get things sorted out. I don’t know about you, but I kinda like not sleeping in the woods.”
“Well, we know he’s already used us once to kill off one of his enemies,” the wizard said with a grimace. “How do we know he isn’t just trying to rope us into taking out another? This Magnus guy is bad news.”
Stu nodded thoughtfully, and Allison added, “Look, whether or not he’s trying to use us is beside the point right now. This is still far too new and foreign to us to go traipsing about aimlessly. I need to get used to the situation. Probably have a really good cry. This is as good a place to do that as any.”
Jimmy puffed out his chest. “Well, if they try anything, I’ll be ready this time. I failed to keep you safe once. I won’t let it happen again.”
Chuck nodded. “Me either. I’m pretty good at sniffing out trouble.” With a twinkle in his eye, he added, “You all have my dagger.”
Smiling back at the rogue, Stu added, “And my bow!”
In a terrible impression of Gimli from The Fellowship of the Ring, Allison chimed in, “And mah axe!”
The friends all burst out laughing.
TJ straightened and stepped forward to the chief, who looked on in quiet amusement. “Well, the one thing we agree on is that this isn’t the time to be making any rash decisions. We will accept your kind offer of hospitality for the time being. As you said, Crackrock’s death has bought us some time, and we need to recover and learn a bit more about our ‘predicament.’ Perhaps you would be able to assist us?”
The chief nodded. “In truth, I know little more than I have told you already. Still, I have ways to gather information, and I will put them at your disposal.”
“Fair enough.” TJ turned to his friends and said with a sigh, “It’s shaping up to be a bit more than a weekend adventure, huh, guys?” He looked Jimmy straight in the eye with a wide smile and said, “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m hungry!”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book would not exist without the tremendous support of my family, who gave me the freedom and peace and quiet to write. Thank you to my beta readers, Amy, Andrew, Bobbie, Danielle, John, and Marianne, who provided me with innumerable suggestions to make my writing better while still managing to convince me that this thing was worth reading. Thank you as well to the professionals at both Inkshares and Girl Friday Productions. Their expertise has been invaluable to me throughout the publication process. I can’t overstate the influence of my editor, Kiele Raymond. Her insight and expertise made this book better in every imaginable way, from the writing to the character development to the pacing. I cannot wait to work with her on the sequel. Lastly, even after all that work, my copyeditor, Michael Trudeau, found so many more ways to improve the manuscript. Thank you.
During the crowdfunding and contest portion of this process, my friends and colleagues stepped up in a huge way. I am eternally grateful to each of you. Thank you to the folks at the Nerdist for sponsoring the contest. It led me to meet some really cool authors and read some great books. Special gratitude goes to my friend Marianne, at whose insistence I entered the contest in the first place. Without her egging me on, I would almost certainly not be writing these acknowledgments now. And last, thank you to Chris Baty for coming up with the crazy idea of National Novel Writing Month. Dear reader: You too have a novel just bursting to come out. Sit down and write it.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo © Tony Llerena, www.tonyllerena.com
Dave Barrett lives with his wife, three children, and an active imagination in Hampden, Maine, where he teaches financial accounting at the University of Maine. It’s All Fun and Games is the first in his series of young adult novels and was selected as a winner of the inaugural Nerdist Collection Contest.
LIST OF PATRONS
This book was made possible in part by the following grand patrons who preordered the book on inkshares.com. Thank you.
Amy Barrett
Andrew Barrett
Angela Powell
Angie M. Jacobson
Anne Bizup
Becky Mallory
Christopher Barrett
Clint Relyea
Danielle Barrett
Edward J. Yock II
Emily Howe
Eva Barrett
James N. Barrett
Jason Harkins
Jennifer Schreiber
Jessica Dickel
Jim Barrett and Family
Joe Carroll
Keri De Angelo
Kevin Dolley
Larry Wade
Laura Osbourne
Lisa Hall
Margaret Criner
Martha Broderick
Sarah Porter
Sue DeMoss
Tristan Harvie
Wanda Cota Dove
INKSHARES
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NERDIST
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Listen in or join the conversation at nerdist.com.