Billy Hooten (16 page)

EPILOGUE

T
he weekend had gone by way too fast, but didn't they all?

Billy sat at his usual table in the cafeteria late on Monday morning with the regular cast of characters, biting his tongue to keep from spilling the beans about his weekend adventures.

Danny was talking about his mold collection to no one in particular, while Dwight regaled Reggie with tales of a sleepover he'd gone to at his cousin's house, where they were allowed to watch an R-rated movie and stay up as late as they wanted. Kathy B was reading Shakespeare's
Macbeth
out loud, doing all the parts with different, wacky accents.

A typical Monday lunchtime at Connery Elementary School.

But Billy's weekend had been far from typical. Since Friday night he had gone back to Monstros City twice. He would have visited more if not for his weekend chores and having to play superhero with Victoria on Saturday morning. Each visit to Monstros had been more incredible than the last, and he couldn't wait to go back.

“What did you do this weekend, Billy?” Danny asked before taking an enormous bite of a very red Delicious apple.

Kathy B looked up from
Macbeth.
“Did thou doest anything fun?” she asked in a booming voice, as if she were performing onstage.

Reggie picked at something caught in the elaborate wirework of his braces, waiting for Billy's reply.

“Bet you didn't see an R-rated movie or stay up as late as I did,” Dwight challenged.

Incredible images of what he had experienced— what he had done—flooded Billy's mind, adventures that even he wouldn't have believed if somebody had told him about them.

Which was why he would keep his mouth shut. This was his special secret; it belonged to him alone.

“Nope, I didn't,” Billy answered Dwight. “Just a
typical weekend.” He took a big bite of his sandwich to keep from laughing insanely as he thought of being chased by the Bounder boys and driving through the streets of Monstros City in the coolest car that had ever existed. “Really kind of boring.”

As they finished up their lunches, they all agreed on how boring the weekends could sometimes be.

Billy stuffed his trash inside his lunch bag and was just getting up to throw it away when he heard a familiar voice call out from across the lunchroom.

“Hey, guys,” Randy Kulkowski hollered, loudly enough for the entire lunchroom to hear. “There goes Billy Hooten … Owlboy.”

Randy's cronies all started to laugh.

But Billy didn't mind. For the first time he could remember, Randy Kulkowski was right.

He
was
Owlboy.

THOMAS E. SNIEGOSKI is a novelist and comic book scripter who has worked for every major company in the comics industry.

As a comic book writer, his work includes
Stupid, Stupid Rat Tails,
a miniseries prequel to the international hit
Bone.
He has also written tales featuring such characters as Hellboy, Batman, Daredevil, Wolverine, and the Punisher.

He is also the author of the groundbreaking quartet of teen fantasy novels entitled The Fallen, the first of which
(Fallen)
has just been produced as a television movie for the ABC Family Channel. The two books in his Sleeper Conspiracy, a new series,
Sleeper Code
and
Sleeper Agenda,
have just been released. With Christopher Golden, he is the coauthor of the dark fantasy series The Menagerie, as well as the young readers’ fantasy series OutCast, recently optioned by Universal Pictures. Sniegoski and Golden also wrote the graphic novel
BPRD: Hollow Earth,
a spinoff of the fan favorite comic book series Hellboy.

Sniegoski was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his wife, LeeAnne, and their Labrador retriever, Mulder. Please visit the author at
www.sniegoski.com
.

ERIC POWELL is the writer and artist of the award-winning
comic book series The Goon for Dark Horse Comics. He has also contributed work to such comic titles as
Arkham Asylum, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy: Weird Tales, Star Wars Tales, The Incredible Hulk, MAD Magazine, Swamp Thing,
and
The Simpsons.

Text copyright © 2007 by Thomas E. Sniegoski
Illustrations copyright © 2007 by Eric Powell

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the
publisher, except where permitted by law. For information address Yearling Books.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Sniegoski, Tom. Billy Hooten, Owlboy / by Thomas E. Sniegoski; [illustrations by Eric Powell].

p. cm.

Summary: Unassuming twelve-year-old Billy Hooten, who loves reading superhero comic
books, suddenly learns that he has been chosen to become the next Owlboy, whose destiny it is
to save the inhabitants of Monstros, a city underneath the cemetary next to Billy's house.
eISBN: 978-0-307-49412-2
[1. Heroes—Fiction. 2. Monsters—Fiction. 3. Cartoons and comics—Fiction.]

I. Powell, Eric, ill. II. Title.

PZ7.S68033Bi 2007

[Fic]—dc22

2007001552

July 2007

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