Read Online Absolutely Truly by Heather Vogel Frederick - Free Book Online

store. I found her in the room that Lola and Gramps called the Annex, where all the used books were kept. Most of the books in the store are new, but my grandparents have always had a spot where they shelved used ones.
    My aunt looked up. “How’d it go?”
    I made a face, and she laughed.
    â€œMaybe this will be more fun.” She passed me a handheld scanner and steered me to a back corner of the room. “If you could start on this shelf over here, that would be great. Just take one book at a time and scan the bar code, okay? The computer will do the rest. Any books without bar codes—and there are bound to be some—go in this basket. I’ll deal with them later.”
    She walked me through the scanning procedure a couple of times to make sure I knew what I was doing, then patted me on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it, then. Your father and I have a meeting with the accountant in a few minutes.” She started to walk away. “Let me know if you find any treasures,” she called back over her shoulder. “Lovejoy’s Books could use all the good news it can get right now.”
    I took the scanner and started in on my assigned task. Half an hour later, I pulled a book off the shelf that would change everything.

CHAPTER 8
    I’m not sure why I took my discovery home with me.
    I probably should have just given it to Aunt True, or to Dad. By the time I found the envelope tucked inside an old copy of Charlotte’s Web , though, they were already in the meeting with their accountant and Danny was double-parked outside, honking the horn. So I just stuffed the envelope in my backpack, grabbed Miss Marple, and left.
    Dinner was the usual Magnificent Seven mayhem, as my father used to call it before Black Monday.
    â€œToot Soup!” cried Danny, as Hatcher ladled some into his bowl.
    â€œDon’t start,” my mother warned.
    Too late. My little sisters were already giggling. “Toot Soup” is what my brothers call bean soup, because of the inevitable sound effects it produces. Knowing we’d be busy with the first day of school, Aunt True had made a pot of it forus and dropped it by, along with a salad and some bread.
    Eyes dancing behind her sparkly pink glasses, Pippa spooned up a bite, then made a rude noise. Lauren snickered.
    â€œPipster,” said my mother severely. “Do you want to eat in the barn with Miss Marple?”
    Pippa thought this was a great idea. Between trying to settle her down, Hatcher and Danny’s instant replay of their first wrestling practices, and Lauren’s glowing report on her new friend Annie, I was squeezed out of the dinner conversation as usual.
    I’d brought the envelope with me to the table, but even if I’d had the opportunity to tell everybody about it, in the end something held me back. I decided to keep the secret to myself for a little while longer.
    After dinner, I went directly upstairs. One of the only good things about moving to Pumpkin Falls is Gramps and Lola’s house. The house Dad grew up in is so big, half the town could move in and we’d never bump into one another.
    All of us kids have a bedroom of our own, and there are still a couple left over. Hatcher and Danny have taken over the entire third floor, and I even have my own bathroom, which was where I was headed. It’s the warmest spot in the house.
    Locking the door behind me, I sat down on the floor by the radiator. It’s one of the old steam-heat kind, like all the others in the house. They hiss and rattle and clank so much it sounds like a bunch of baby dragons are on the loose. But theydo the trick as far as keeping the house warm, which I guess is the main thing when you live in a climate as cold as this one. I leaned back against the claw-foot tub and pulled the envelope out of my pocket.
    It was sealed shut, and as far as I could tell had never been opened. Why would someone leave a letter stuck in an