Jack held his breath as the lion’s gaze rested on him. The lion sat straight up. His piercing yellow eyes met Jack’s.
Jack’s heart raced. His mind raced. He remembered something he’d read—lions avoid giraffes.
Jack looked around. There was a giraffe walking toward the tree that the magic tree house was in.
Suddenly, he had a new plan.
“Get under that giraffe,” he whispered.
“Now you’re the one who’s nuts,” Annie whispered back.
But Jack grabbed her hand. He pulled her over to the giraffe and underneath it.
The giraffe’s legs were so long, Jack and Annie could stand up under it. Jack’s head barely brushed the giraffe’s golden belly.
The tall creature froze for a few seconds. Then she moved slowly toward the tree.
Jack and Annie walked in the same rhythm as the giraffe.
They got closer and closer to the tree house—and closer and closer to the pride of lions.
The big lion had stood up. He watched them moving under the giraffe.
When the rope ladder was just a few feet away, Jack and Annie dashed out from under the giraffe to the rope ladder.
Annie scrambled up first.
Jack followed right behind her.
As they climbed, the lion growled and leaped at the ladder.
The hyenas laughed.
Jack climbed faster than he’d ever climbed. He leaped after Annie into the tree house.
Annie had already unrolled the scroll. The riddle was gone. In its place was one shimmering word:
HONEY
Jack grabbed the Pennsylvania book. He opened it and found the picture of the Frog Creek woods.
“Iwishwecouldgothere!” he said.
Just then, the giraffe stuck her head through the window.
“Bye, honey!” said Annie, and she kissed the giraffe on the nose.
The wind started to blow.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
Jack opened his eyes. His heart was still racing. Hyena laughter still rang in his ears.
“We made it,” said Annie.
“Yes,” said Jack. “But it was very close.”
Jack took another moment to calm down. Then he pulled the Africa book out of his pack and put it with the other books.
Annie put the scroll with the other two scrolls.
“The giraffe was the true honey on that trip,” she said, “sweet and golden, with danger all around it.”
“Yep,” Jack said. “And now we have just one riddle to go.”
“Yep,” said Annie. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
She started down the ladder. Jack followed. When they hit the ground, they walked through the sunlit woods.
“It’s time for lunch,” said Jack.
“I’m full from our picnic,” said Annie.
“Same here,” said Jack.
“What do we tell Mom?” said Annie.
“We say we ate our sandwiches coming back from the store,” said Jack.
“What if she asks why?” said Annie.
“Oh … just say we had a picnic with a Masai warrior in Africa,” said Jack.
Annie laughed. “Right,” she said, “because we didn’t want him to be mad at us for taking his honey.”
“Right,” said Jack, “the honey from a beehive that a honey guide led us to.”
“Right,” said Annie, “and that happened after an elephant gave me a shower. And we scared off two hyenas.”
“Right,” said Jack, “and after you fell into a mudhole because you were helping a million wildebeests migrate across a river.”
“Right,” said Annie. “And all that was before a giraffe saved us from a lion.”
“Right,” said Jack.
Jack and Annie left the Frog Creek woods and started up their sunny street.
They were silent for a moment.
Then Jack pushed his glasses into place. “We better just say we ate our sandwiches on the way home from the store,” he said.
“Right,” said Annie.
“And if Mom asks why—” started Jack.
“We’ll just say it’s a really long story,” said Annie.
“Right,” said Jack, “with, like—ten chapters.”
Annie laughed. “Good plan,” she said.
“Very good plan,” said Jack.
They crossed their yard. They went up their steps and through their front door.
“We’re back!” Annie shouted.
“Great!” called their mom. “Ready for lunch?”
Here’s a special preview of
Magic Tree House #12
Polar Bears Past Bedtime
Available now!
Excerpt copyright © 1998 by Mary Pope Osborne.
Published by Random House Children’s Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Whoo. The strange sound came from outside the open window.
Jack opened his eyes in the dark.
The sound came again. Whoo
Jack sat up and turned on his light. He put on his glasses. Then he grabbed the flashlight from his table and shone it out the window.
A white snowy owl was sitting on a tree branch.
“Whoo,” the owl said again. Its large yellow eyes looked right into Jack’s.
What does he want? Jack wondered. Is he a sign, like the rabbit and the gazelle?
A long-legged rabbit and a gazelle had led Jack and Annie to the magic tree house for their last two adventures.
“Whoo.”
“Wait a second,” Jack said to the owl. “I’ll get Annie.”
Jack’s sister, Annie, always seemed to know what birds and animals were saying.
Jack jumped out of bed and hurried to Annie’s room. She was sound asleep.
Jack shook her and she stirred.
“What?” she said.
“Come to my room,” whispered Jack. “I think Morgan’s sent another sign.”
In a split second, Annie was out of bed. She hurried with Jack to his room.
Jack led her to the window. The snowy owl was still there.
“Whoo,” said the owl. Then he raised his white wings and took off into the night.
“He wants us to go to the woods,” said Annie.
“That’s what I thought,” said Jack. “Meet you downstairs after we get dressed.”
“No, no. He says go now. Right now,” said Annie. “We’ll have to wear our pajamas.”
“I have to put on my sneakers,” said Jack.
“Okay, I’ll put on mine, too. Meet you downstairs,” said Annie.
Jack pulled on his sneakers. He threw his notebook into his backpack. Then he grabbed his flashlight and tiptoed downstairs.
Annie was waiting at the front door. They silently slipped outside together.
The night air was warm. Moths danced around the porch light.
“I feel weird,” said Jack. “I’m going back to put on some real clothes.”
“You can’t,” said Annie. “The owl said right now.”
She jumped off the porch and headed across their dark yard.
Jack groaned. How did Annie know exactly what the owl said? he wondered.
Still, he didn’t want to be left behind. So he took off after her.
The moon lit their way as they ran down their street. When they entered the Frog Creek woods, Jack turned on his flashlight.
The beam of light showed shadows and swaying branches.
Jack and Annie stepped between the trees. They stayed close together.
“Whoo.”
Jack jumped in fear.
“It’s just the white owl,” said Annie. “He’s somewhere nearby.”
“The woods are creepy,” said Jack.
“Yeah,” said Annie. “In the dark, it doesn’t even feel like our woods.”
&nb
sp; Suddenly the owl flapped near them.
“Yikes!” said Annie.
Jack shone his flashlight on the white bird as it rose into the sky. The owl landed on a tree branch—right next to the magic tree house.
And there was Morgan le Fay, the enchantress librarian. Her long white hair gleamed in the beam of Jack’s flashlight.
“Hello,” Morgan called softly in a soothing voice. “Climb up.”
Jack used his flashlight to find the rope ladder. Then he and Annie climbed up into the tree house.
Morgan was holding three scrolls. Each one held the answer to an ancient riddle that Jack and Annie had already solved.
“You have journeyed to the ocean, the Wild West, and Africa to find the answers to these three riddles,” said Morgan. “Ready for another journey?”
“Yes!” said Jack and Annie together.
Morgan pulled a fourth scroll from the folds of her robe. She handed it to Annie.
“After we solve this riddle, will we become Master Librarians?” asked Annie.
“And help you gather books through time and space?” said Jack.
“Almost … ” said Morgan.
Before Jack could ask what she meant, Morgan pulled out a book and gave it to him. “For your research,” she said.
Jack and Annie looked at the book’s title: ADVENTURE IN THE ARCTIC.
“Oh, wow, the Arctic!” said Annie.
“The Arctic?” said Jack. He turned to Morgan. “Are you serious?”
“Indeed I am,” she said. “And you must hurry.”
“I wish we could go there,” said Annie, pointing at the cover.
“Wait—wait a minute—we’ll freeze to death!” said Jack.
“Fear not,” said Morgan. “I am sending someone to meet you.”
The wind started to blow.
“Meet us? Who?” said Jack.
“Whoo?” said the snowy owl.
Before Morgan could answer, the tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
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Discover the facts
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Magic Tree House® Books
#1: DINOSAURS BEFORE DARK
#2: THE KNIGHT AT DAWN
#3: MUMMIES IN THE MORNING
#4: PIRATES PAST NOON
#5: NIGHT OF THE NINJAS
#6: AFTERNOON ON THE AMAZON
#7: SUNSET OF THE SABERTOOTH
#8: MIDNIGHT ON THE MOON
#9: DOLPHINS AT DAYBREAK
#10: GHOST TOWN AT SUNDOWN
#11: LIONS AT LUNCHTIME
#12: POLAR BEARS PAST BEDTIME
#13: VACATION UNDER THE VOLCANO
#14: DAY OF THE DRAGON KING
#15: VIKING SHIPS AT SUNRISE
#16: HOUR OF THE OLYMPICS
#17: TONIGHT ON THE TITANIC
#18: BUFFALO BEFORE BREAKFAST
#19: TIGERS AT TWILIGHT
#20: DINGOES AT DINNERTIME
#21: CIVIL WAR ON SUNDAY
#22: REVOLUTIONARY WAR ON WEDNESDAY
#23: TWISTER ON TUESDAY
#24: EARTHQUAKE IN THE EARLY MORNING
#25: STAGE FRIGHT ON A SUMMER NIGHT
#26: GOOD MORNING, GORILLAS
#27: THANKSGIVING ON THURSDAY
#28: HIGH TIDE IN HAWAII
Merlin Missions
#29: CHRISTMAS IN CAMELOT
#30: HAUNTED CASTLE ON HALLOWS EVE
#31: SUMMER OF THE SEA SERPENT
#32: WINTER OF THE ICE WIZARD
#33: CARNIVAL AT CANDLELIGHT
#34: SEASON OF THE SANDSTORMS
#35: NIGHT OF THE NEW MAGICIANS
#36: BLIZZARD OF THE BLUE MOON
#37: DRAGON OF THE RED DAWN
#38: MONDAY WITH A MAD GENIUS
#39: DARK DAY IN THE DEEP SEA
#40: EVE OF THE EMPEROR PENGUIN
#41: MOONLIGHT ON THE MAGIC FLUTE
#42: A GOOD NIGHT FOR GHOSTS
#43: LEPRECHAUN IN LATE WINTER
#44: A GHOST TALE FOR CHRISTMAS TIME
Magic Tree House® Research Guides
DINOSAURS
KNIGHTS AND CASTLES
MUMMIES AND PYRAMIDS
PIRATES
RAIN FORESTS
SPACE
TITANIC
TWISTERS AND OTHER TERRIBLE STORMS
DOLPHINS AND SHARKS
ANCIENT GREECE AND THE OLYMPICS
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
SABERTOOTHS AND THE ICE AGE
PILGRIMS
ANCIENT ROME AND POMPEII
TSUNAMIS AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS
POLAR BEARS AND THE ARCTIC
SEA MONSTERS
PENGUINS AND ANTARCTICA
LEONARDO DA VINCI
GHOSTS
LEPRECHAUNS AND IRISH FOLKLORE
RAGS AND RICHES: KIDS IN THE TIME OF CHARLES DICKENS
More Magic Tree House®
GAMES AND PUZZLES FROM THE TREE HOUSE
Lions at Lunchtime Page 3
