The November sky was gray with clouds. Jack sat reading infront of the living room fire.
"Who wants hot chocolate?" his dad called from the kitchen.
"Me, please!" said Jack.
The front door burst open, and with a gust of cold wind,Annie rushed inside. "Jack! Guess what!" she whispered. "It'sback!""How do you know?" said Jack.
"I was walking home from the library" Annie paused to catchher breath-"and I saw a15flash in the sky above the woods. The last time thathappened-"Before she could finish the sentence, Jack jumped up. "Dad,Annie and I are going to go outside for a while!" he shouted.
"Can the hot chocolate wait till we get back?""Sure, have fun!" their dad called from the kitchen.
"I have to get my pack," Jack said to Annie. "Meet you on theporch.""Don't forget the rhyme book!" said Annie.
Annie slipped outside and Jack ran up to his room. He grabbedhis backpack. He checked to make sure their book of magicrhymes was inside.
Good,there it was.
16Jack charged back downstairs. He pulled on his boots, put onhis jacket, tied a scarf around his neck, grabbed his mittens, andheaded out the door.
"Come on!" said Annie.
Jack could see his breath in the cold air. "Brrr," he said. "Let'shurry!"Jack and Annie ran down the street and into the Frog Creekwoods. They wove between the trees, their boots crunchingthrough the fallen leaves.
Jack stopped. The magic tree housewasback. High in a tall oak tree, it was silhouetted against thegray November sky. "You were right," he said to Annie. "Goodwork.""Thanks," Annie said. She ran to the rope ladder and startedup. Jack followed her.
When they climbed inside the tree house, Jack and Annie sawa book and a scroll of parchment paper lying on the floor. Anniepicked up the scroll, unrolled it, and read aloud.
5 -017Dear Jack and Annie of Frog CreekI am sending you onone more mission to prove that you can use magic wisely.
This poem will guide you.
-M.
'The verylast unicornIs now hidden wellBy those who have put himUnder a spellFourcenturies, four decadesFrom that afternoon,At the end of November,Before theblue moon,He willwake once moreAnd be freeto go homeIf you callout his name:
Divine Flower of Rome.
You must coax him to standOnce hisname is spoken.
18His chain will breakAnd the spell too, be broken.
Then a young girl must love himAnd show him the way,Lest he be trapped foreverOn public display.
If he loses this chanceTo rise and depart,All magic will fadeFrom his horn and his heart.
"A unicorn!" breathed Annie. "I love him already.
I'llshow him the way!""But this poem is really hard to understand," said Jack. "Whatkind of research book did Morgan send us?"He picked up the book that had been left for them by Morganle Fay, the librarian of Camelot. The cover showed a row ofskyscrapers. The title wasNew York City Guide Book, 1938.
"New York City?" said Annie. "I love New19York City! Remember the great time we had there with AuntMallory?""Yeah, I love it, too," said Jack. "But why would there be aunicorn in New York City in 1938? A unicorn is an ancientfantasy creature. New York City's a real place, and 1938 is noteven that long ago.""You're right," said Annie. "It sounds like a hard mission. Butdon't forget we have Teddy and Kathleen's magic rhymes to helpus.""Yeah," said Jack. He pulled out the book20given to them by their friends Teddy and Kathleen, twoyoung enchanters of Camelot. "The problem is, we can only useeach rhyme once, and we've already used seven out of the ten.""Which means we still have three left," said Annie. "What arethey?""Pull a Cloud fromthe Sky," said Jack.
"Cool," said Annie.
"Yeah, it is," said Jack. "But I'm not sure it will be much use."He looked back at the book.
"Find a Treasure You Must Never Lose,"he said.
"Hey, that's a really good one!" said Annie. "The unicorn's atreasure. So that rhyme could take care of our whole mission.""But it onlypartlyfits," said Jack. "You could call the unicorn a treasure. Butonce we find him, wehaveto lose him. He has to go back home.""Oh, right ... ," said Annie. "What else?""Your favorite," said Jack.
"Turn into Ducks. "Annie laughed. "I can't wait to use that one!" she said.
21"I hope weneveruse that one," said Jack. He didn't want to waddle around andquack like a duck. "These leftover rhymes don't seem veryhelpful to me.""Well, let's just wait and see," said Annie. "But now..." Sheheld up Morgan's research book and smiled.
Jack nodded. "New York City, here we come," he said. Hepointed at the book's cover. "I wish we could gothere!"The wind started to blow.
The tree house started to spin. It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still. Absolutely still. |