Jack opened his eyes.
Late afternoon sunlight shined into the tree house.
"Our third gift," said Annie.
She put the lotus blossom beside the pocket watchfrom the Titanic and the eagle's feather from theLakota Indians.
"One more gift," she said to Teddy, "and you'll befree from your spell."The little dog licked her hand.
"Hey, tell me this," said Jack. "How did you knowTeddy wanted us to hide behind that rock?"Annie shrugged.
20"I just knew," she said. "I think I saw it in his eyes.""You did?" Jack looked into Teddy's eyes.
The little dog tilted his head and stared back atJack.
Teddy's eyes twinkled, as if they held many secrets.
"Who are you, really?" whispered Jack.
Teddy just smiled a doggy smile and wagged histail.
"Come for us again soon," Annie said. "Okay?"Teddy sneezed, as if to say, Of course! Jack grabbedhis pack. Then he and Annie climbed down the ropeladder.
When they stood on the ground, they looked up. Alittle black nose was poking out the tree housewindow.
"Bye!" they called. Arf! Arf!
Jack and Annie took off between the trees. Birdssang in the twilight. Squirrels scampered playfullythrough the leaves.
The Frog Creek woods were very tame after theforest in India.
Soon they came to their street. As they walked totheir house, the last bit of daylight was slipping away.
Before they went inside, Jack and Annie sat ontheir steps.
"I have two questions," said Jack. "If the hermitcouldn't see, how did he know about the tree house?
And how did he know that we had traveled all nightwith the elephants?""Easy," said Annie. "The one great voice of theforest told him.""Hmm," said Jack.
He closed his eyes for a moment and listened.
He heard a car going down the street.
He heard a woodpecker pecking.
He heard crickets chirping.
He heard a screen door opening.
He heard a mom saying, "Time for dinner, kids."All the sounds were like one great voice-- the onegreat voice of home.
MORE FACTS FOR YOU AND JACK1) Adult elephants are plant eaters. They feed for 15hours a day and can eat more than 400 pounds ofvegetation every day.
2) The average weight of an Indian rhino is 4,000pounds.
3) A giant python can grow up to 30 feet in length.
4) India has 238 kinds of snakes, ranging from thegiant python to the worm snake, which is just over 4inches long.
21The Sacred LangurHinduism is the main religion of the people ofIndia. It is a religion with many gods and goddesses.
One of its important gods is Hanuman, who saved aHindu goddess named Sita.
Hanuman has the body of a man and the face andtail of a langur monkey. Followers of Hinduismbelieve that Hanuman's spirit is alive in the langurs ofIndia. Hindu temples dedicated to Hanuman treat alllangurs as special guests.
Endangered SpeciesIn the nineteenth century, there were more than40,000 tigers in India. Today there are fewer than4,000. For this reason, the tiger is considered to be acritically endangered species.
The Indian rhino is also a highly endangeredspecies.
The Wildlife Protection Society of India has beenformed to help save India's endangered animals. Thesociety arrests illegal hunters and seizes wildlifeproducts, such as tiger skins and bones, rhino horn,and elephant ivory. It also helps to alert other peoplearound the world to India's wildlife crisis. |