The Magi (The Magi Series) Read Online Free PDF Page A

him start to make sense of things.
    “It’s reserved,” the librarian said, hanging up the phone.
    “Thank you again,” Elijah called as he walked out the door.
    By foot he wouldn’t be able to make it across town today. If he got up early in the morning, however, he was sure he could make it there and back before it got too late. It would be a long day of walking, but he didn’t mind. The journey would provide time alone to think, and he always found it peaceful to walk and think by himself.
    When Elijah returned from the library, Uncle Stan was still not home. Elijah decided to kill time by exploring the only area of his uncle’s house he hadn’t yet explored: the basement. He wasn’t afraid of it, but he never considered the basement a very inviting place. There was a presence down there that always made his spine shudder. Elijah walked to the top of the stairs and stood, looking into the darkness below, trying to gather his courage to take a step. His curiosity ultimately trumped his fear, and he began to slowly descend. As the old, rickety stairs groaned and creaked with each step, Elijah wasn’t sure he wanted to spend any more time down here than necessary.
    The moment he reached the bottom, he got the creeps. It was pitch black. In the middle of the ceiling hung a single light bulb with a string attached. He pulled the string and watched the light flicker a few times before turning on. Elijah shivered. He thought it would be better to find something interesting and bring it upstairs as quickly as he could. Willing himself to stay, he started scanning the area. It was a mess! Uncle Stan had lots of old car parts and tools lying around. He also had an old, dirty engine and engine parts piled in the corner. It was obviously a project left undone. On the floor, and in boxes, were hundreds of old newspapers in no particular order.
    He looked further before he finally found something interesting. In the corner stood a rusty bookshelf containing old books and photo albums. Elijah carefully walked over to it and started reading the spines. From what he could tell, the books were old adventure and mystery novels that were twenty or thirty years old. Elijah wondered if they belonged to Uncle Stan when he was a kid.
    He continued to survey the bookcase and came across something that caught his eye. It was a photo album that hadn’t been touched in ages. The cover, made of black leather, was tattered and abused-looking. Elijah’s first thought was that it may have held pictures from his father’s childhood. He had actually never seen pictures of his parents as children because his father and Uncle Stan were orphaned at a young age, and his mother had always said she lost contact with her parents. Since he never knew any grandparents, old family pictures were unheard of. Elijah grabbed the album and flew up the stairs. As soon as he reached the top, the telephone rang. It was Uncle Stan.
    “Hey Sport! You stayin’ outta trouble?”
    “Yeah. I just got back from the library.”
    “Good man!” Uncle Stan sounded like he was tired even though he tried to be cheerful. “But don’t go wandering around. I promised your parents I’d take care of you, so don’t go doing things I wouldn’t do.”
    “What does that leave?” joked Elijah.
    Uncle Stan chuckled.
    “Not much. Hey—I just wanted to call and let you know I won’t be home tonight.”
    “Really? Why not?” Elijah tried to hide his disappointment.
    “Just need to. No worries okay?”
    “Sure,” Elijah said, unconvinced.
    “Okay. You’ll need to take care of dinner yourself. When you get off the phone, head into my room. Open the second drawer and dig. It’s my underwear drawer, so try not to freak out on me.”
    “Why exactly are you having me feel around through your underwear?”
    “You’ll find something.”
    “I’m sure of that.”
    “Don’t get smart now,” said Uncle Stan. Elijah laughed at their playful banter. “In the drawer