Jack opened his eyes. He was wearing his ownclothes and his sneakers. The cloth sack had turnedback into his backpack.
"Welcome home, Master Librarians," said Morgan.
She stood in the tree house, smiling at them.
"Hi!" said Annie.
"We brought you the ancient legend," said Jack.
"Wonderful!" said Morgan. Jack reached into hispack. He took out the China book. Then he pulled outthe bamboo book. He handed them to Morgan.
"What's the legend about?" said Annie. "It's calledThe Silk Weaver and the Cowherd," said Morgan. "It'sa very famous Chinese tale.""Guess what, Morgan?" said Annie. "We actuallymet them! We helped them get together!""Oh, did you?" said Morgan.
"Yes!" said Jack. "The silk weaver's ball of silk savedus!""What does the legend say about them?" askedAnnie.
"It says that long ago they were heavenly beingswho lived in the sky," said Morgan.
"When they came to earth, they fell in love.""That's when we met them!" said Annie.
"Yes, I imagine so," said Morgan. "The book youbrought back tells about their happiness on earth. ButI'm afraid a later legend tells us that when theyreturned to the sky, the king and queen of the skiesseparated them by a heavenly river called the MilkyWay.""Oh, no," said Annie.
"They get back together once a year," said Morgan.
"On that night, birds make a bridge in the sky overthe Milky Way."Jack and Annie gazed up at the bright summer sky.
"Go home now," said Morgan. "Come back twoweeks from today. Next you're going to find a book inthe country of Ireland, over a thousand years ago.""That sounds like fun," said Annie.
Morgan frowned.
"I'm afraid it was a very dangerous time," she said.
"For Viking raiders often attacked the seacoasts.""Vikings?" said Jack. He'd had enough danger tolast a long time.
"Don't worry about it now," said Morgan. "Just gohome and rest."Jack nodded.
"I'll try," he said, pulling on his backpack. "Bye,"said Annie. "See you in two weeks.""Thank you for your help," said Morgan.
"Anytime," said Annie.
They headed down the rope ladder. From theground, they waved to Morgan.
Then they started for home.
As they got to the edge of the woods, Anniestopped.
"Listen to the crickets," she said.
Jack listened. The cricket chirps sounded louderthan usual.
"Their ancestors lived in the time of the DragonKing," said Annie.
"Oh, brother," said Jack.
"Right now the grownups are telling the littlecrickets a legend," said Annie.
"Yeah, sure," said Jack.
"A legend passed down from their ancestors," saidAnnie.
Jack smiled. He didn't want to admit it, but thecricket noise did sound like story-telling. He couldalmost hear them saying, Dragon King, Dragon King,Dragon King.
"Jack! Annie!" came a voice.
It was their mother calling them. The spell wasbroken. The cricket stories were just plain old cricketsounds again.
"Coming!" Jack shouted.
Jack and Annie ran down their street and acrosstheir yard.
"Did you have a good time in China?" their momasked.
"It was pretty scary," said Annie.
"We got lost in a tomb," said Jack. "But we weresaved by an ancient book."Their mom smiled and shook her head.
"My, books are wonderful, aren't they?" she said.
"Yep!" said Jack and Annie.
And they followed her inside. |