<3-9>
Follow the Leader
It was pitch dark.
"What happened?" asked Annie.
"I don't know. Something weird," said Jack. "We have to get out of here fast. Push against the door."
"Good idea," said Anne in a small voice.
They felt their way through the darkness. To the top of the stairs.
"Don't worry. Everything's going to be okay," said Jack. He was trying to stay calm.
"Of course," said Annie.
They leaned against the wooden door and pushed.
It wouldn't budge.
They pushed harder.
No use.
Jack took a deep breath. It was getting harder to breathe. Adn harder to stay calm.
"What can we do?" asked Annie.
"Just ... just rest a moment," said Jack, panting.
His heart was pounding as he tried to see through the darkness.
"Maybe we should start down the hall," he said. "Maybe we'll eventually come to ... to an exit."
He wasn't sure about that. But they had no choice.
"Come on," he said. "Feel the wall."
Jack felt the stone wall as he climbed slowly down the stairs. Annie followed.
Jack started down the dark hallway. It was impossible to see anything.
But he kept going. Taking one step at a time. Moving his hands along the wall.
He went around a corner. He went around another corner. He came to some stairs. He went up.
There was a door. He pushed against it. Annie pushed, too. This door wouldn't budge either.
Was this the same door they had started at?
It was no use. They were trapped.
Annie took his hand in the dark. She squeezed it.
They stood together at the top of the stairs. Listening to the silence.
"Meow."
"Oh, man, " Jack whispered.
"He's back!" said Annie.
"Meow."
"Follow him!" cried Jack. "He's going away from us."
They started down the dark hallway. Following the cat's meow.
Hands against the wall, Jack and Annie stumbled through the darkness.
"Meow."
They followed the sound. All the way through the winding hallway. Down, down, down.
Around one corner, then another. And another...
Finally they saw a light at the end of the tunnel. They rushed forward - out into the bright sulight.
"Yay!" Annie shouthed.
But Jack was thinking.
"Annied," he said. "How did we get out of the false passage?"
"The cat," said Annie.
"But how could the cat do it?" asked Jack.
"Magic," said Annie.
Jack frowned. "But - "
"Look!" said Annie. She pointed.
The cat was bounding away. Over the sand.
"Thank you!" called Annie.
"Thanks!" Jack shouted at the cat.
His black tail waved.
Then he disappeared in the shimmering waves of heat.
Jack looked toward the palm trees. At the top of one sat the tree house. Like a bird's nest.
"Time to go home," Jack said.
He and Annie set off for the palm trees. It was a long hot walk back.
At last Annie grabbed onto the rope ladder. Then Jack.
Once they were inside the tree house, Jack reached for the book aobut Pennsylvania.
Just then he heard a rumbling sound. The same sound they had heard in the pyramid.
"Look!" Annie said, pointing out the window.
Jack looked.
A boat was beside the pyramid. It was gliding over the sand. Like a boat sailing over the sea.
Then it faded away. Into the distance.
Was it just mirage?
Or was the ghost-queen finally on her way to the Next Life?
"Home, Jack, " whispered Annie.
Jack opened the Pennsylvania book.
He pointed to the picture of Frog Creek.
"I wish we could go home," he said.
The wind began to blow.
The leaves began to shake.
The wind blew harder. It whistled louder.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely silent.
<3-10>
Another Clue
Late-morning sunlight shone through the tree house window. Shadows danced on the walls and ceiling.
Jack took a deep breath. He was lying on the foor of the tree house.
"I wonder what Mom's making for lunch," said Annie. She was looking out the window.
Jack smiled. Lunch. Mom. Home. It all sounded so real. So calm and safe.
"I hope it's peanut butter and jelly sandwiches," he said.
He closed his eyes. The wood floor felt cool.
"Boy, this place is a mess," said Annie. "We's better make it neater. In case M comes back."
Jack had almost forgotten about M.
Would they ever meet the mysterious M? The person who seemed to own all the books in the tree house?
"Let's put the Egypt book on the bottom of the pile," said Annie.
"Good idea," said Jack. He needed a rest before he visited any more ancient tombs.
"Let's put the dinosaur book on top of the Egypt book," said Annie.
"Yeah, good," said Jack. And a long rest before he visited another Tyrannosaurs rex.
"The castle book can go on the very top of the pile," said Annie.
Jack nodded and smiled. He liked thinking about the knight on the cover of the castle book. He felt as if the knight were his friend.
"Jack, " said Annie. "Look!"
Jack opened his eyes. She was pointing at the wooden floor.
"What is it?" he asked.
"You have to see for yourself."
Jack groaned as he got up. He stood next to Annie and looked at the floor. He didn't see anything.
"Turn your head a little," said Annie. "You have to catch the light just right."
Jack tipped his head to one side. Something was shining on the floor.
He tipped his head a bit more. A letter came into focus.
The letter M! It shimmered in the sunlight.
This proved the tree house belonged to M.
Absolutely for sure. No question. No doubt about it.
Jack touched the M with his finger. His skin tingled.
Just then the leaves trembled. The wind picked up.
"Let's go down now," he said.
Jack grabbed his backpack. Then he and Annie climbed down the ladder.
As they stood on the ground below the tree house, Jack heard a sound in the bushes.
"Who's there?" he called.
The woods grew still.
"I'm going to bring the medallion back soon," Jack said loudly.
"And the bookmark, too. Both of them. Tommorrow!"
"Who are you talking to?" asked Annie.
"I feel like M is nearby," Jack whispered.
Annie's eyes grew wide. "Should we look for him?"
But just then their mother's voice came from the distance. "Ja-ack! An-nie!"
Jack and Annie looked around at the trees. Then they looked at each other.
"Tommorrow," they said together.
And they took off, running out of the woods.
They ran down their street.
They rand across their yard.
They rand into their house.
They rand into their kitchen.
They ran right into their mom.
She was making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
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