Jack sat on the porch, reading in the summertwilight. Crickets chirped in the Frog Creek woods.
The bell of an ice cream truck jingled down the street.
Annie stepped out the front door. "Let's go," shesaid.
"Where?" said Jack.
"Mom gave us money for ice cream," said Annie.
"Cool," said Jack. He pulled on his backpack. Thenhe followed Annie down the porch steps.
14As they headed up the sidewalk, the smell of dampleaves and moss wafted from the woods.
Annie stopped walking. "Listen," she said.
Jack listened. "What?" he said. "I don't hearanything.""That's thepoint,"said Annie. "A minute ago, the crickets wereblaring away. Now everything's super quiet."Jack listened again. Annie was right. All the FrogCreek woods seemed to be holding its breath.
"Do you think ... ?" said Jack.
"Maybe," said Annie, grinning. "Let's go check!"Jack and Annie hurried across the street and intothe dimly lit woods. They walked quickly betweenthe leafy trees, until they came to the tallest oak. Arope ladder dangled from the treetop. The magic treehouse sat high in the branches, catching the last lightof day.
Jack smiled. "I guess ice cream will have to wait,"he said.
15"Yep," said Annie. She grabbed the ladder andclimbed up. Jack climbed up after her.
Inside the tree house, dusky light filtered throughthe window. Lying on the wooden floor was a foldedpiece of paper and a slim book with a red cover.
Annie grabbed the paper. Jack picked up the book.
"This must be a research book from Morgan," he said.
The book's title was written in gold letters:
[Picture: Book with Eiffel Tower on cover. titlereads: "Guide Book: Paris World's Fair - 1889-]
16"Paris World's Fair?" said Jack. "That sounds likefun!" said Annie.
"Yeah, but I wonder why we're going there," saidJack.
"This should tell us," said Annie. She unfolded thepaper. "It's Merlin's handwriting." She read aloud:
To Jack and Annie of Frog Creek.
I have discoveredthat an evil sorcerer is plotting to steal the secretsof four new magicians at the Paris World's Fair.
Your missionis to find the magicians, warn them, and learn theirsecrets for me. The four new magicians are:
The Magician of Soundhis voice can be heardfor a thousand miles.
The Magician of Light-his fires glow,but they do not burn.
17The Magician of the Invisible-he battles deadly enemiesno one can see.
The Magicianof Iron-he bends the metals of earthand triumphs over the wind.
Good luckM.
"Our mission sounds more like a fairy tale than reallife," said Jack. "An evil sorcerer. Magicians of theInvisible, Light, Sound, and Iron. They sound likethey belong in a magical place like Camelot, not a realplace like Paris, France.""But we're going to a World's Fair," said Annie.
"That sounds kind of magical, doesn't it?""Maybe," said Jack. "But why do such powerfulmagicians need our help in the first place? Why can'tthey defeat the evil sorcerer with their own powers?"18"Maybe the sorcerer's power is stronger thantheirs," said Annie.
"So maybe we can help them with Teddy andKathleen's rhymes," said Jack.
Annie gasped. "Oh, no! We need. the rhyme book!
We have to go back home and get it!" "Don't worry, Ihave it," said Jack. "Ever since we got back fromBaghdad, I've been taking it with me everywhere Igo-just in case Merlin sends for us.""Whew," said Annie. "Let's take a look."Jack reached into his backpack. He pulled out thesmall book written by their two young sorcererfriends from Camelot:
10 MAGIC RHYMES FOR ANNIE AND JACKFROM TEDDY AND KATHLEENJack turned to the table of contents. "Okay, we'veused five rhymes on our last two missions," he said.
"So we have five left for the next two. We haven'tusedSpin into the Air,orMake Something Disappear,orPull a Cloud from the19Sky,orFind a Treasure You Must Never Lose,orTurn into Ducks.""Quack! Quack!" Jack looked up.
"Just kidding," said Annie.
"You'd better not make jokes about these rhymes,"Jack said. "You might end up saying the wrong one atthe wrong time and really get us in trouble." Heclosed the rhyme book. "Ready to go?""Ready," said Annie.
Jack took a deep breath and picked up the guidebook to the 1889 Paris World's Fair. He pointed to thetitle. "I wish we could go there," he said.
The wind started to blow.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still. |