Jack looked out his window.
It was a dreary Sunday afternoon. There were dark clouds inthe sky.
Thunder rumbled in the distance.
Jack stared down the street at the Frog Creek woods.
When is the magic tree house coming back? he wondered.
"Hey, guess what!" Annie said. She charged into Jack's room.
"I saw a light flash in the woods!" "It was just lightning," said Jack.
"No, it was magic! A swirl of light!" said Annie. "I think thetree house just came back!""I'm sure it was just lightning," Jack said. "Didn't you hear thethunder?""Yeah," said Annie. "But let's go check anyway."She started out of Jack's room. Then she peeked back in.
"Bring your backpack, just in case!" she said.
Jack was always glad for a chance to look for the magic treehouse. He grabbed his backpack and followed Annie down thestairs.
"Where are you two going?" their mom called.
"Out to play," said Annie.
"Don't go far," said their mom. "And come in if it starts torain.""We will," said Jack. "Don't worry."They slipped out the front door. Then they ran up the streetand into the Frog Creek woods.
The woods were dark under the storm clouds. A cool windshook the leaves.
Soon Jack and Annie came to the tallest oak tree.
"Oh, man," said Jack. "You were right!"The magic tree house stood out against the gray sky.
"Morgan!" called Annie.
There was no sign of the enchantress. "Let's go up!" said Jack.
He grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Annie followed.
They climbed into the tree house. It was hard to see in the dimlight.
"Look," said Annie.
She pointed to a piece of paper and a book lying on the floor.
Jack picked up the paper. Annie picked up the book.
"Listen," said Jack. He held the paper close to the window andread aloud:
Dear Jack and Annie,Camelot is in trouble. To save the kingdom, please find thesefour special kinds of writing for my library:
Something to followSomething to sendSomething to learnSomething to lendThank you,Morgan"Camelot is in trouble?" said Jack. "What's that mean?""I don't know," said Annie. "But we better hurry and findthese writings. Let's go look for the first: Something to follow.""I wonder where we should look for it," said Jack. "What's thetitle of the book you're holding?"Annie held the book close to the window to read the title.
"Yikes," she said softly. She showed the book to Jack.
On the cover was a painting of a peaceful-looking field and ablue sky. The title said The Civil War.
"The Civil War?" said Jack. "Cool."Annie frowned.
"Cool?" she said. "War's not cool." "It sort of is," Jack said uncomfortably. He knew war was bad.
But some parts of it seemed fun, like a game.
"I guess we'll find out," said Annie. She pointed at the cover. "Iwish we could go there."Thunder boomed through the woods.
The wind started to blow.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still. |