Tap-tap-tap.
Jack sat up in bed. Rain tapped against his window.
His clock said 5 A.M. It was still dark outside.
Annie peeked into his room.
"Are you awake?" she whispered.
"Yep," said Jack.
"Ready to find some special magic?" she asked.
"Maybe we should wait," said Jack. "It's so dark andrainy.""No waiting," said Annie. "I'll get an umbrella. Youbring a flashlight. Meet you downstairs.""Okay, okay" said Jack.
He jumped out of bed. He pulled on his clothes andput on a jacket. Then he grabbed his backpack andflashlight.
Jack slipped downstairs and out the front door.
Annie stood on the porch in jeans and a T-shirt. Theair was chilly and breezy.
"Don't you need a sweater or something?" said Jack.
"I'm okay," she said. "Let's go."Annie raised the umbrella. Jack turned on theflashlight. They followed a circle of rainy light downtheir street into the woods.
They headed through the Frog Creek woods. Theflashlight lit up the trees--the wet leaves and darkbranches. Then it shined on a dangling rope ladder.
Jack raised the flashlight beam. "There it is," hesaid.
A circle of light lit the magic tree house. "Morgan'snot there," said Annie. "I can tell." "Maybe she left usa message," said Jack. Jack grabbed the rope ladderand started up. Annie put the umbrella down andfollowed. When they climbed inside, Jack shined theflashlight around the tree house.
Morgan le Fay wasn't there. But the scrolls fromtheir trip to old England were.
"Here's proof we found a special magic yesterday,"she said.
"Yeah," said Jack, smiling. "Theater magic." He hadgreat memories of acting in a play by their friendWilliam Shakespeare.
"Did Morgan leave us a new secret rhyme?" askedJack.
He shined the flashlight on a a book lying under thewindow. A piece of paper was sticking out of thebook.
"Yes!" said Annie. She picked up the book andpulled out the paper.
Jack shined his light on the paper while Annie readaloud:
Dear Annie and Jack,Good luck on your second journey to find a specialmagic. This secret rhyme will guide you:
To find a special kind of magic in worlds so farapart, speak a special language, talk with your handsand heart.
Thank you, Morgan"What kind of language does she mean?" Jackasked.
"I guess we'll find out," said Annie. "Where are wegoing?"Jack shined the flashlight on the cover of the book.
It showed huge trees partly hidden by mist. The titlewas:
AN AFRICAN RAIN FOREST"Rain forest?" said Jack. "Good thing we broughtour umbrella and flashlight. Remember the rain in theAmazon rain forest? Remember how dark it wasunder the treetops?""Yeah," said Annie. "Remember the spiders andscary ants?""Well... ," Jack said, "not all rain forests have thesame bugs.""Remember the river snakes?" said Annie. "And thecrocodiles?""Well . . . ," said Jack, "not all rain forests have bigrivers. There are different kinds of rain forests, youknow.""Right," said Annie. She pointed to the cover of thebook. "I wish we could go there."The wind started to blow.
"Oh, remember the jaguar?" said Annie. "And thevampire bats?""Wait!" said Jack.
But it was too late. The wind was blowing harder.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still. |