Jack opened his eyes. His heart was still racing.
Hyena laughter still rang in his ears.
"We made it," said Annie.
"Yes," said Jack. "But it was very close."Jack took another moment to calm down.
Then he pulled the Africa book out of his pack andput it with the other books.
Annie put the scroll with the other two scrolls.
"The giraffe was the true honey on that trip," shesaid, "sweet and golden, with danger all around it.""Yep," Jack said. "And now we have just one riddleto go.""Yep," said Annie. "Ready?""Ready."She started down the ladder. Jack followed. Whenthey hit the ground, they walked through the sunlitwoods.
"It's time for lunch," said Jack.
"I'm full from our picnic," said Annie.
"Same here," said Jack.
"What do we tell Mom?" said Annie.
"We say we ate our sandwiches coming back fromthe store," said Jack.
"What if she asks why?" said Annie.
"Oh.. .just say we had a picnic with a Masai warriorin Africa," said Jack.
Annie laughed. "Right," she said, "because we didn'twant him to be mad at us for taking his honey.""Right," said Jack, "the honey from a bee-hive that ahoney guide led us to.""Right," said Annie, "and that happened after anelephant gave me a shower. And we scared off twohyenas.""Right," said Jack, "and after you fell into a mudhole because you were helping a million wildebeestsmigrate across a river.""Right," said Annie. "And all that was before agiraffe saved us from a lion.""Right," said Jack.
Jack and Annie left the Frog Creek woods andstarted up their sunny street.
They were silent for a moment. Then Jack pushedhis glasses into place.
"We better just say we ate our sandwiches on theway home from the store," he said.
"Right," said Annie.
"And if Mom asks why--" started Jack. "We'll justsay it's a really long story," said Annie.
"Right," said Jack, "with, like--ten chapters"Annie laughed. "Good plan," she said.
"Very good plan," said Jack. They crossed theiryard. They went up their steps and through theirfront door.
"We're back!" Annie shouted.
"Great!" called their mom. "Ready for lunch?" |