The Last Ever After Read Online Free PDF Page A

stuttered. “You said it yourself—if our book says ‘The End,’ this has to be our happy ending—”
    â€œHappy ending? With him ?” Callis blurted, jolting to her feet. “There is a reason the worlds are separate, Agatha. There is a reason the worlds must be separate. He will never be happy here! You are a Reader and he is a—”
    Callis stopped and Agatha stared at her. Callis quickly turned to the sink and pumped water into a kettle.
    â€œMother . . . ,” Agatha said, suddenly feeling cold. “How do you know what a Reader is?”
    â€œMmm, can’t hear you, dear.”
    â€œA Reader ,” Agatha stressed over the strident cranks. “How do you know that word—”
    Callis pumped louder. “Must have seen it in a book, I’m sure . . .”
    â€œBook? What book—”
    â€œOne of the storybooks, dear.”
    Of course, Agatha sighed, trying to relax. Her mother had always seemed to know things about the fairy-tale world—like all parents in Gavaldon who had feverishly bought storybooks from Mr. Deauville’s Storybook Shop, hunting for clues about the children kidnapped by the School Master. One of the books must have mentioned it, Agatha told herself. That’s why she called me a Reader. That’s why she wasn’t surprised by a prince.
    But as Agatha glanced up at Callis, back to her, pumping water into the kettle, Agatha noticed that the pot was already full and overflowing into the sink. She watched her motherstaring off into space, hands clenched, pumping water faster, faster, as if pumping memories away with it. Slowly Agatha’s heart started to constrict in her chest, until she felt that cold sensation deepening . . . whispering that the reason her mother wasn’t fazed by Tedros’ appearance wasn’t because she’d read storybooks . . . but because she knew what it was like to live through one . . .
    â€œHe returns to the Woods as soon as he wakes,” Callis said, releasing the pump.
    Agatha wrenched out of her thoughts. “The Woods ? Tedros and I barely escaped alive—and you want us to go back ?”
    â€œNot you,” said Callis, still turned. “Him.”
    Agatha flared in shock. “Only someone who’s never experienced true love could say such a thing.”
    Callis froze. The skeleton clock ticked through the loaded silence.
    â€œYou really believe this is your happy ending, Agatha?” Callis said, not looking at her.
    â€œIt has to be, Mother. Because I won’t leave him again. And I won’t leave you,” Agatha begged. “I thought maybe I could be happy in the Woods, that I could run away from real life . . . but I can’t. I never wanted a fairy tale. All I ever wanted was to wake up every day right here, knowing I had my mother and my best friend. How could I know that friend would end up being a prince?” Agatha dabbed at her eyes. “You don’t know what we’ve been through to find each other. You don’t know the Evil that we left behind. I don’t care if Tedros and I have to stay trapped in this house for a hundred years. At least we’retogether. At least we’ll be happy. You just have to give us the chance.”
    Quiet fell in the sooty kitchen.
    Callis turned to her daughter. “And Sophie?”
    Agatha’s voice went cold. “Gone.”
    Her mother gazed at her. The town clock tolled faintly from the square, before the wind drowned it out. Callis picked up the kettle and moved to the wooden stove. Agatha held her breath, watching her spark a flame beneath the pot and stew a few wormroot leaves in, circling her ladle again and again, long after the leaves had dissolved.
    â€œI suppose we’ll need eggs,” said her mother at last. “Princes don’t eat toads.”
    Agatha almost collapsed in relief. “Oh thank you thank you thank