Free Billy Hooten by Tom Sniegoski

startled Billy. “One of yours?” he asked. “Are … are you saying the book was stolen?”
    He started to panic. He'd never even thought to ask Archebold where he had gotten the comic. No wonder the goblin gave it away!
    “Where did you get this?” Cole asked, shaking the old comic at Billy.
    “A friend gave it to me!” Billy blurted out. “He's not from around here and I didn't think he'd ever even been to your store and …”
    Cole stared at the comic's cover again before he started to flip through the pages.
    Billy was terrified, imagining how much trouble he'd be in when his parents had to go to the police station to get him out of jail. He was about to explain to the store owner that this was all some kind of horrible misunderstanding, when Cole looked up, his big bug eyes boring into Billy's.
    “So, what'd you think?” he asked.
    “What did I think of what … sir?” Billy asked, momentarily confused.
    “The comic,” Cole said, showing the open book to him. “What did you think of the comic? Did you like it, or did you think it stunk up the joint?”
    “It was wicked cool,” Billy answered, almost tempted to share with the shop owner that it was based on real-life things, but he knew that would likely get him tossed out of the store for being a wise guy.
    “I've seen you in here before, right?” Cole asked.
    Billy nodded quickly.
    “You like the Snake. Was it as good as an issue of
Snake
?”
    “Even better! That's why I'm looking for more issues.”
    Billy had to fib a little there. He didn't think telling the store owner that he wanted to use the old comics to learn how to
be
a superhero would go over so well.
    “Hmmm,” Cole said, handing the comic back to him.
    “I didn't steal it, sir, I swear,” Billy told him. “But if it's yours, you can take it back.” He held the book up to Cole.
    But the man just laughed, his large belly jiggling up and down. “I know you didn't steal it, kid,” he said. “That's not what I meant when I said it was mine.”
    Billy was confused.
    Cole looked around, as if checking to see if he was being watched.
    “Can you keep a secret?” he asked conspiratorially.
    “Sure,” Billy said, and shrugged.
    “Keep an eye on the store,” Cole told Claudius, and the dog woofed as if to say,
Gotcha, boss.
    The store owner motioned for Billy to follow and led him through the store to the back. They stopped at a door marked PRIVATE.
    “You sure you're ready for this?” Cole asked him, one hand on the doorknob.
    Billy wasn't really sure what to expect. “I … guess,” he said.
    “Remember, you promised me you could keep a secret,” Cole reminded him, and turned the knob.
    The door swung open into a darkened room, and Billy squinted, trying to figure out what exactly he was seeing. For a minute, he wished he had his Owlboy goggles, but then Cole reached over and flipped a switch on the wall, and the room was illuminated by the glow of fluorescent lights.
    Billy's eyes bulged. “Awesome,” he whispered as he stepped into the room for a closer look.
    “Yeah,” Cole said proudly. “Thought you might think so.”
    His mother didn't like him to drink Zap cola, but Billy took a big gulp of the ice-cold soda anyway, feeling it fizz in his throat as he drank it down. He smacked his lips eagerly, staring at the bright yellow label with the crackling lightning bolts.
    “I never saw Zap in bottles like these before,” he said to Cole, who was taking a swig of his own drink.
    “It's 'cause they don't make it anymore,” the shop owner replied. “When I heard they were going to cans, I bought up a bunch of cases, and I break out a bottle every once in a while on a special occasion.”
    Billy had some more Zap, looking around the big room for what could have been the thousandth time. The back room of Hero's Hovel was like a museumdedicated to Owlboy. There were posters and toys and pages and pages of comic book art framed on the wall. Billy had never seen anything