He leans close to her so their foreheads are touching. “Now that sounds like the Gwendy Peterson I know.”
“How may I help you, folks?” the smiling man sitting inside the booth asks.
“We’re on Flight 117,” Ryan says, checking the paperwork. “Scheduled to take off at 3:10. We’d like to check three bags please.”
The man picks up a clipboard and scribbles something on a sheet of paper. “Can I see your IDs, please?”
Ryan pulls out his wallet and shows the man his driver’s license. Gwendy fishes her license out of the side pocket of her purse and slides it across the counter. The man picks it up, double-checks the name, and then hands it back to her. “That’ll do it,” he says. He walks out from behind the booth and places their bags into one of the oversized carts. Unclipping a walkie-talkie from his belt, he keys the button and says, “Flight 117 baggage pick-up. Come and get ’em, Johnny.”
A muffled voice answers, “Copy that, boss, be there in a flash.”
Gwendy and Ryan start walking up the sidewalk toward the main building, but Gwendy turns back after a couple of steps and returns to the luggage cart. She throws her empty carry-on bag in with the others. Then she reaches into her coat pocket. “Here you go, sir. Happy New Year.” She tosses something to the man inside the booth.
He reaches up and snags it. Staring down at the shiny silver coin lying heads-up in his palm, his face brightens. “Hey, now, thank you very kindly, ma’am.”
Gwendy laughs. She turns around and takes Ryan’s hand and they walk into the airport together.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
BEV VINCENT READ THE earliest version of this short novel and, despite his busy schedule, supplied invaluable feedback in record time. Bev also kept the secret and calmed my nerves on a near daily basis. Billy Chizmar read that same early draft and emailed me from his college dorm room in Maine with some simple advice that made the backstory hum a lot smoother. As usual, Robert Mingee caught my last-minute mistakes and cleaned me up for public viewing. Brian Freeman and the good folks at CD did what they always do when I disappear into my writing cave for weeks at a time: they took care of business and let me focus on the words. Ed Schlesinger of Simon & Schuster came on board at the eleventh hour and his insightful notes undoubtedly made Gwendy’s Magic Feather a better book.
I’m indebted to all of these fine people for their wisdom and encouragement. Just remember, I’m old and stubborn, so any mistakes you stumble upon are mine and mine alone.
I also want to thank artists extraordinaire Ben Baldwin and Keith Minnion for returning for another round and giving such beautiful life to Gwendy’s story. I put Gail Cross of Desert Isle Design through the ringer on this project and, as usual, she came through with flying colors.
Much appreciation to my agent Kristin Nelson for all her hard work on this book and for always asking “What’s next?”
Finally, I’m immensely grateful to my friend, Steve King, not only for his generous and thorough edit of Gwendy’s Magic Feather, but also for trusting me to return to Castle Rock and Gwendy Peterson’s life.
More from this Series
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
RICHARD CHIZMAR IS THE co-author (with Stephen King) of the New York Times bestselling novella, Gwendy’s Button Box. Recent books include The Long Way Home, his fourth short story collection, and Widow’s Point, a chilling tale about a haunted lighthouse written with his son, Billy Chizmar, which was recently made into a feature film. His short fiction has appeared in dozens of publications, including Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and The Year’s 25 Finest Crime and Mystery Stories. He has won two World Fantasy awards, four International Horror Guild awards, and the HWA’s Board of Trustee’s award.
Chizmar’s work has been translated into more than fifteen languages throughout the world, and he has appeared at numerous conferences as a writing instructor, guest speaker, panelist, and guest of honor.
Follow him on Twitter @RichardChizmar or visit his website at: Richardchizmar.com
ABOUT THE ARTIST
KEITH MINNION SOLD HIS first short story to Asimov’s SF Adventure Magazine in 1979. He has sold over two dozen stories, two novelettes, an art book of his best published illustrations, two story collections, and one novel since. Keith was a book designer and illustrator from the early 1990s to the 2010s, and also did extensive graphic design work for the Department of Defense. He is a former schoolteacher, DOD project manager, and officer in the U.S. Navy. He currently lives in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, pursuing oil and watercolor painting, and sometimes even fiction writing.
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Praise for the New York Times bestseller
GWENDY’S BUTTON BOX
BY STEPHEN KING AND RICHARD CHIZMAR
“A different sort of coming-of-age story about a mysterious stranger and his odd little gift…. Cowritten with Richard Chizmar, King’s zippy work returns to the small-town Maine locale of The Dead Zone, Cujo and other early novels…. extremely well-paced… a fun read that never loses momentum…. Gwendy’s Button Box feels like it belongs in this locale that’s always been a pit stop for scary Americana and the normal turned deadly…. Nicely captures that same winning dichotomy between the innocent and the sinister.”