“I hope we can find it,” said Annie.
“Me too,” said Jack. He knew they could not go home until they did.
“Let’s go,” said Annie. She gave Jack a little push.
“Watch it. No goofing off,” he said. “We don’t want to fall over in these suits.”
“Just go—go!” said Annie. She pushed him out of the room. They walked back to the airlock.
“Ready?” said Annie. “Open sesame!” She pressed the OPEN button. A door slowly slid closed behind them. A door opened in front of them.
And Jack and Annie stepped out onto the moon.
“Oh, wow!” said Annie. She took a step forward.
But Jack stood frozen. He wanted to get a good look at everything first.
He stared at the ground. He was standing in a layer of gray dust as fine as powder.
Footprints were everywhere. Jack wondered who had made them.
He reached into his pack for the moon book. To his surprise, it was as light as a feather!
He found a picture of footprints on the moon. He read:
The moon has no rain or wind to blow the dust around. So footprints will never wear away naturally, not even in a billion years.
“Oh, man,” Jack said.
The moon was the stillest place he had ever, ever been. It was as still as a picture. And its stillness would never, ever end.
Jack stared at the ink-black sky. A lovely blue-and-white ball glowed far away.
Earth.
For the first time, it really hit Jack. They were in outer space.
“Look!” Annie cried, laughing.
She bounded past Jack—almost flying through the air. She landed on her feet. Then she jumped again.
“I’m a moon rabbit,” she called.
Jack laughed. How does she do that? he wondered. He turned a page and read:
A person weighs less on the moon because of the moon’s low gravity and lack of air. If you weigh 60 pounds on Earth, you would only weigh 10 pounds on the moon.
“Don’t just stand there reading!” said Annie, grabbing the book from Jack’s gloved hand. She tossed it into space.
It flew far away.
Jack started after it.
He bounded up and down. Boing! Boing! Boing! Now he felt as light as a feather.
“Look!” he called to Annie. “I’m a moon rabbit, too.”
Where Jack’s boots hit the ground, moondust gracefully sprayed into space.
The book had landed at the edge of a shallow crater.
When Jack reached it, he tried to stop. But his feet slipped.
He fell right over and lay on his side. He tried to stand. But he was off-balance.
He tried again. But the dust was just too deep. And his spacesuit was too clumsy.
“You okay?” asked Annie.
“I can’t get up,” said Jack.
“You shouldn’t have been goofing off,” said Annie wisely.
“You goofed off first,” said Jack. “Now, help me up, please.”
Annie started toward him.
“Don’t fall, too,” warned Jack.
“I won’t.” Annie moved very slowly. She half floated, half walked.
“Give me your hand,” she said.
Annie grabbed Jack’s hand. She pressed her boot against his and pulled him up.
“Thanks,” he said.
“No problem,” she said. “It was easy. You were really light.”
“Thank goodness,” said Jack. “It’s impossible to get up alone.”
He picked up the moon book. It was covered with dust. He brushed it off.
“Oh, wow! Look!” said Annie. She stood at the edge of the crater.
“What is it?” said Jack.
“A moon buggy!” said Annie.
The buggy was parked in the crater. It had four huge wheels.
“Let’s go for a ride,” said Annie.
“We can’t,” said Jack. “We just have two hours of air in our tanks. Remember?”
“I bet we’ll find the M thing faster if we take the moon buggy!” Annie bounded into the crater.
“But we can’t drive!” said Jack.
“I bet I can drive this,” said Annie. “It looks easy. Come on!”
She jumped into the driver’s seat.
“But you don’t have a license!” said Jack.
“Who cares?” said Annie. “There aren’t any roads on the moon, or stoplights, or policemen either.”
She was right, Jack thought.
“Well, go slow,” he said. And he climbed in beside her.
Annie pushed a button labeled ON.
The moon buggy lurched backward.
“Yikes!” said Annie.
“Step on the brake!” said Jack.
Annie pressed a pedal on the floor. The buggy stopped with a jerk.
“Whew,” she said.
“It must be in reverse,” said Jack. “Let me study this—”
But before he could study anything, Annie pushed another button.
The buggy tilted back. Its front wheels started to rise into the air.
“Let me out of here!” said Jack.
Annie pushed more buttons.
The buggy’s front wheels landed back on the ground. And the buggy leaped forward.
“Slower!” said Jack.
“I can’t,” said Annie. “I don’t know how!”
Annie steered the buggy over the tracks on the ground. The wide wheels kept it from sinking into the deep dust.
“Careful!” said Jack.
The buggy zoomed out of the crater.
Gray clouds of dust rose behind them as they took off across the moon.
Annie drove the moon buggy over bumps and hollows. It bucked like a bronco.
“I’m going through there!” She pointed to an opening between two mountains.
Jack held on to the dashboard.
The buggy bumped toward the opening and shot through.
On the other side, the ground was even rockier.
“Look for the fo-fourth M thing!” said Annie, bouncing up and down.
Jack groaned. Looking for anything on this wild ride was impossible.
“Sl-slow d-down!” he said.
“How?”
“Try pressing on the b-brake pedal. On the f-floor—slowly!”
Annie pressed on the brake.
The buggy slowed down. Jack sighed with relief. The ride was still bumpy. But now, at least, he could take a good look at the moon.
He had never been to such a colorless, barren place. There was no green, no blue, no red.
No water, no trees, no clouds.
Only giant gray rocks and craters—and an American flag.
“Oh, man,” said Jack. “That’s from the first astronauts who landed on the moon!”
“And look—a telescope!” said Annie.
She drove near the flag and telescope. Then she put her foot on the brake until the buggy stopped.
She pressed a button that said OFF. Then she and Jack hopped out.
They took slow giant steps to the site of the first moon landing.
Beside the flag was a sign. Annie read it aloud:
HERE MEN FROM THE PLANET EARTH
FIRST SET FOOT UPON THE MOON,
JULY 1969 A.D.
WE CAME IN PEACE
FOR ALL MANKIND.
“That’s a good message,” said Jack.
He handed the moon book to Annie. Then he took out his notebook and pencil to copy the sign.
“Let’s leave our own message,” said Annie.
“What should we say?” said Jack.
“The same thing,” said Annie. “But say we are the first kids.”
Jack turned to a new page in his notebook. In big letters he wrote their message.
“Now we have to sign it,” Annie said.
Jack signed his name.
Then he passed the notebook and pencil to Annie. She signed her name and passed the notebook back.
> Jack tore out the piece of paper. He put it by the flag.
No wind would ever blow the message away. No rain would ever fall on it.
It would be there forever, unless someone moved it.
Thinking of “forever” made Jack feel dizzy. He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Then he remembered the time. Had two hours passed yet?
“I wish I had a watch,” he said, standing up. “We might be running out of time.”
“Oh, wow. A moon man!” said Annie.
“What?” Jack turned to look at her.
She was staring through the telescope.
Jack walked over to the telescope. Annie stepped aside so he could look, too.
Jack gasped. In the distance, something was flying above the ground.
It looked like a giant man in a spacesuit.
“Who is that?” said Jack.
“I don’t know,” said Annie. “But we’ll soon find out!” She started waving.
“No!” said Jack. He grabbed her arm. “Let’s go back to the base—before he gets here!”
“Why?” said Annie.
“We don’t know who he is!” said Jack. “We don’t know if he’s friendly or mean or what.”
“But we can’t go back,” said Annie. “We haven’t found the fourth M thing yet. We won’t be able to go home.”
“It doesn’t matter. We can lock the door at the moon base until he goes away,” said Jack. “Then we can get new air tanks!”
Jack hurried to the moon buggy. “Come on!” He jumped into the driver’s seat.
Annie gave a little wave to the dot in the sky. Then she climbed into the moon buggy.
The buggy took off.
“Careful!” said Annie.
They bumped over the rocks as Jack turned the buggy around. Then they zoomed toward the pass.
Jack steered around craters and rocks. More than once the buggy nearly tipped over.
“Whoa! Slow down!” said Annie.
They were almost at the mountain pass. Suddenly, a cloud of dust flew up in front of them. The ground trembled.
“Watch it!” cried Annie.
Jack couldn’t see a thing.
He stepped on the brake. The buggy jerked to a stop.
The dust settled.
A giant rock had fallen into the narrow pass. It was stuck between two walls of rock. They were trapped!
Jack quickly found a picture of a giant rock in the moon book. He read aloud:
Rocks of all sizes crash into the moon from outer space. These rocks are called meteorites.
“We’re lucky that meteorite didn’t land on us,” said Jack.
“Yeah, and I guess it’s too big to be the M thing,” said Annie. She had climbed out of the moon buggy and was standing by the meteorite.
It was more than twice as tall as she was.
Jack looked at the black sky. The flying thing was nowhere in sight—yet.
“We’ll have to jump over it,” Annie said.
“Jump? I don’t think so,” said Jack. “It’s too high.”
“I’m going to try anyway,” said Annie.
“Wait. Let’s think first,” said Jack.
But Annie was already backing up.
“One, two, three—go!” she shouted, and took giant, leaping steps toward the meteorite.
When Annie got close to the rock, she pushed off the ground. Then she flew through space and disappeared behind the meteorite.
“Annie!” Jack called.
There was no answer.
“Oh, brother,” Jack said. He backed up and took off toward the rock. He jumped as high as he could. Then he was flying through space.
Jack hit the ground and fell facedown into the dust.
Jack tried to stand. But his suit was too bulky. He tried to roll over. But his suit made even that impossible.
“Oh, no,” he groaned. “Not again.”
“Are you here?” asked Annie. “Did you make it?”
“Yes!” Jack was relieved to hear her voice. But he couldn’t turn his head to see her. He could only hear her over the radio.
“Can you help me up?” he asked.
“Nope,” said Annie.
“Why not?”
“I fell down, too,” she said.
“Oh, brother,” Jack sighed. “Now we are really in trouble.”
He tried to stand again. And failed.
“Can you see anything?” he asked.
“Just the sky,” said Annie. “Wow, is it weird … ”
“I’m worried about our air tanks,” said Jack. “I feel like it’s been two hours.”
“Ja-ack … ” said Annie.
“And what about that moon man?” said Jack. “Where did he go to?”
“Jack!” whispered Annie.
“What?”
“He’s here,” she said. “The moon man is here.”
“What?”
“He’s standing above me.”
Jack’s heart nearly stopped.
He could hear Annie talking.
“Hi,” she said. “We come in peace.”
There was silence. Then Jack heard Annie say, “Thank you. I have to help my brother up now.”
A moment later, Annie rolled Jack onto his back.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him up.
“Thanks,” said Jack, once he was standing.
The moon man was a few feet away. His face was hidden by a metal visor.
He looked like a spaceman. A huge spaceman—with a giant tank on his back. It was as big as a refrigerator.
“That’s a jet pack!” said Jack. “I’ve seen pictures of future astronauts flying with those things. It’s like a mini-spaceship. Right?”
The moon man didn’t answer.
“I don’t think he can hear us,” said Annie. “He’s not hooked up to our radio.”
“Oh, right,” said Jack. “I’ll write him a message!”
“Good idea,” said Annie.
Jack pulled out his notebook and pencil. He wrote:
Jack handed the notebook and his pencil to the moon man. They looked tiny in his big hands.
The moon man looked down at the message. He looked at the tiny pencil. Then he turned the notebook over.
Jack and Annie watched as the moon man put the pencil to the paper. He was writing something very carefully.
Finally he gave the notebook back to Jack.
Jack and Annie stared at the marks.
“Stars,” said Annie. “He drew stars.”
“Maybe it’s a space map,” said Jack.
“Space map?” said Annie. “Hey, Jack, map starts with M!”
“Oh, wow,” said Jack. “This must be the fourth M thing!”
“Let’s ask him what his map means,” said Annie. She turned around.
“We’ll never know now,” she said.
“Why?” Jack looked up from the map.
“That’s why.” Annie pointed. The moon man was flying over the mountains.
“Thanks!” Annie cried.
“Who was that guy?” said Jack. “What does his map mean?”
“I don’t know,” said Annie. “But let’s see if it works.”
Jack took a deep breath. “Yeah, we’d better hurry back. I think I’m running out of air. It feels harder to breathe.”
“For me, too,” said Annie.
“Go slow. Don’t breathe too much,” said Jack.
He and Annie took long, floating steps toward the moon base. Jack held his breath as if he were underwater.
By the time they got to the white dome, he was ready to burst.
Annie pushed a button beside the huge door. It slid open. They hurried into the airlock. The door closed behind them and the door to the hallway opened.
Jack opened the visor of his helmet. He took a long, deep breath—and let it out. “Ahhhh!”
“Let’s get out of these suits,” said Annie.
“Good idea.” Jack was dying to free his arms and legs.
&nbs
p; As they moved clumsily into the spacesuit storeroom, Jack felt heavy again.
He and Annie unlocked each other’s helmets, gloves, and boots, and pulled everything off. Then they stepped out of their bulky suits.
“Whew!” Jack said. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes.
It was great to be free—even if he no longer felt as light as a feather.
“Hurry! Peanut’s waiting!” said Annie.
She led the way down the steps to the bright landing chamber.
“Yay,” she said softly.
Jack was relieved to see the tree house still there. Soon they’d be heading home. He couldn’t wait.
Jack and Annie crawled through the tree house window.
“We’re back, Peanut!” said Annie.
Squeak! Peanut ran to the letter M.
“We missed you!” said Annie. She patted the mouse’s head. “We met a moon man.”
“Sorry, Peanut, but you have to move,” said Jack. “We have to put the map on the M.”
Annie gently lifted the mouse off the M.
Jack tore the star map out of his notebook. He placed it on the M, next to the mammoth bone, the mango, and the moonstone.
He sighed, then sat back on his heels. “Hand me the Pennsylvania book,” he said. They needed the Pennsylvania book to get back home.
There was silence.
Jack turned and looked at Annie.
“It’s not working, Jack,” she said. “The book’s not here.”
“What?” Was the map the wrong thing?
They looked around the tree house.
“It’s definitely not here,” said Annie.
“Oh, no.” Jack’s heart sank. He picked up the star map and stared at it.
Squeak, squeak. Peanut jumped out of Annie’s arms and scurried back to the letter M.
“I’ve got an idea,” said Jack. He reached into his pack and took out his pencil.
“What are you doing?” said Annie.
“You know how you draw a constellation?” said Jack. “You connect all the stars. What happens if we try that?”
He drew a line from one star to another. He kept drawing, until all the stars were connected.
“Let me see,” said Annie.
Midnight on the Moon Page 2
