<2-9>
Under the Moon
Jack froze.
"It's him," Annie whispered.
The knight held out his gloved hand.
"Come on, Jack," Annie said.
"Where are you going?" said Jack.
"He wants to help us," said Annie.
"How do you know?"
"I can't just tell," said Annie.
Annie stepped toward the horse. The knight dismounted.
The knight picked Annie up and put her on the back of his horse.
"Come on, Jack," she called.
Jack moved slowly toward the knight. It was like a dream.
The knight picked him up, too. He placed Jack on the horse, behind Annie.
The knight got on behind them. He slapped the reins.
The black horse cantered beside the moonlit water of the moat.
Jack rocked back and forth in the saddle.
The wind blew his hair. He felt very brave and very powerful.
He felt as if he could ride forever on this horse, with this mysterious knight. Over the ocean. Over the world. Over the moon.
A hawk shrieked in the darkness.
"There's the tree house," said Annie. She pointed toward a grove of trees.
The knight steered the horse toward the trees.
"See. There it is," Annie said, pointing to the ladder.
The knight brought his horse to a stop. He dismounted and helped Annie down.
"Thank you, sir," she said. And she bowed.
Then Jack. "Thank you," he said. And he bowed also.
The knight got back on his horse. He raised his gloved hand. Then he slapped the reins and rode off through the mist.
Annie started up the tall ladder, and Jack followed. They climbed into the dark tree house and looked out the window.
The knight was riding toward the outer wall. They saw him go through the outer gate.
Clouds started to cover the moon again. For a brief moment, Jack thought he saw the knight's armor gleaming on the top of a hill beyond the castle.
The clouds covered the moon completely. And a black mist swallowed the land.
"He's gone," whispered Annie.
Jack shivered in his wet clothes as he kept staring at the blackness.
"I'm cold," said Annie. "Where's the Pennsylvania book?"
Jack heard Annie fumble in the darkness. He kept looking out the window.
"I think this is it," said Annie. "I feel a silk bookmark."
Jack was only half-listening. He was hoping to see the knight's armor gleam again in the distance.
"Okay. I'm going to use this," said Annie. "Because I think it's the right one. Here goes. Okay. I'm pointing. I'm going to wish. I wish we could go to Frog Creek!"
Jack heard the wind begin to blow. Softly at first.
"I hope I pointed to the right picture in the right book," said Annie.
"What?" Jack looked back at her. "Right picture? Right book?"
The tree house began to rock. The wind got louder and louder.
"I hope it wasn't the dinosaur book!" said Annie.
"Stop!" Jack shouted at the tree house.
Too late.
The tree house started to spin. It was spinning and spinning!
The wind was screaming.
Then suddenly there was silence.
Absolute silence.
<2-10>
One Mystery Solved
The air was warm.
It was dawn. Far away a dog barked.
"I think that's Henry barking!" Annie said. "we did come home."
They both looked out the tree house window.
"That was close," said Jack.
In the distance, streetlights lit their street. There was a light on in their upstairs window.
"Uh-oh," said Annie. "I think Mom and Dad are up. Hurry!"
"Wait." In a daze, Jack unzipped his backpack. He pulled out the castle book. It was quiet wet. But Jack placed it back with all the other books.
"Come on! Hurry!" said Annie, scooting out of the tree house.
Jack followed her down the ladder.
They reached the ground and took off between the gray-black trees.
They left the woods and ran down their deserted street.
They got to their yard and crept across the lawn. Right up to the back door.
Jack and Annie slipped inside the house.
"They're not downstairs yet," whispered Annie.
"Shhh," said Jack.
He led the way up the stairs and down the hall. No sign of his mom or dad. But he could hear water running in the bathroom.
Their house was s different from the dark, cold castle. So safe and cozy and friendly.
Annie stopped at her bedroom door. She gave Jack a smile, then disappeared inside her room.
Jack hurried into his room. He took off his damp clothes and pulled on his dry, soft pajamas.
He sat down on his bed and unzipped his backpack. He took out his wet notebook. He felt around for the pencil, but his hand touched something else.
Jack pulled the blue leather bookmark out of his pack. It must have fallen out of the castle book.
Jack held the bookmark close to his lamp and studied it. The leather was smooth and worn. It seemed ancient.
For the first time Jack noticed a letter on the bookmark. A fancy M.
Jack opened the drawer next to his bed. He took out the gold medallion.
He looked at the letter on it. It was the same M.
Now this was an amazing new fact.
Jack took a deep breath. One mystery solved.
The person who had dropped the gold medallion in the time of the dinosaurs was the same person who owned all the books in the tree house.
Who was this person?
Jack placed the bookmark next to the medallion. He closed the drawer.
He picked up his pencil. He turned to the least wet page in his notebook. And he started to write down this new fact.
But before he could draw the M, his eyes closed.
He dreamed they were with the knight again. All three of them riding the black horse through the cool, dark night. Beyond the outer wall of castle. And up over a moonlit hill.
Into the mist.
