Jack and Annie ran around the farmhouse. At theback was an oxcart filled with bags of grain. Therewas no one in sight.
The shouting behind them got louder.
Jack and Annie looked at each other, then divedinto the back of the wooden cart. They buriedthemselves in the middle of the bags of grain.
Jack's heart pounded as the shouts came closer. Heheld his breath and waited for the people to leave.
Suddenly the cart lurched forward. Someone wasdriving them away!
Jack and Annie peeked over the bags. Jack saw theback of the driver. He was calmly steering the oxcartover the dirt road. They were on their way to thewalled city!
Jack and Annie ducked down again.
"This is great!" whispered Annie. "All we have to dois jump out when we get into the city.""Yep," Jack said softly. "Then we'll find the ImperialLibrary, find the book, and get back to the magic treehouse.""No problem," whispered Annie.
"Whoa!" The cart slowly came to a halt.
Jack held his breath. He heard voices and the heavytramping of feet--lots of feet. He and Annie peekedout.
"Oh, man," he whispered.
A long line of men was crossing the road in front ofthe cart. They carried axes, shovels, and hoes. Guardsmarched alongside them.
"Let's find out what's happening," said Jack.
He reached into his sack and pulled out the Chinabook. Pushing his glasses into place, he found apicture of the workers. He read:
The Dragon King forced many of his subjects tostart building a wall to protect China from invaders.
Later emperors made the wall even longer. Finally, itstretched 3,700 miles along China's border. The GreatWall of China is the longest structure ever built.
"Wow, the Great Wall of China," said Jack.
"I've heard of that," said Annie.
"Who hasn't?" said Jack. "Those guys are going towork on it right now."Just then, someone grabbed Jack and Annie. Theylooked up. It was the driver of the cart.
"Who are you?" he asked angrily. "We--uh--" Jackdidn't know what to say.
The man's gaze fell on the open book in Jack'shands. His mouth dropped open. He let go of Jack andAnnie. Slowly he reached out and touched the book.
He looked back at Jack and Annie with wide eyes.
"'What is this?" he said. |