Afternoon on the Amazon
Page 3
They started walking through the Frog Creek woods.
Leaf shadows danced in the light.
A bird called out.
These woods are very different from the rain forest, Jack thought.
“There’re no jaguars or army ants here,” he said. “No little monkeys.”
“You know, that monkey was never being mean,” said Annie. “He was just trying to give us the mango.”
“I know. Actually, nothing was being mean,” said Jack. “The army ants were just marching. That’s what army ants do.”
“The piranhas were just being piranhas,” said Annie.
“The snake was just being a snake,” said Jack.
“The crocodile was just being a crocodile,” said Annie.
“The jaguar was just taking care of her baby,” said Jack.
Annie shuddered. “I still don’t love bugs,” she said.
“You don’t have to love them,” said Jack. “Just leave them alone. And they won’t bother you.”
In fact, that’s true about the whole rain forest, Jack thought. Everyone should just leave it all alone.
“Who cares if the bugs don’t have names?” he said softly. “They know who they are.”
Jack and Annie stepped out of the Frog Creek woods.
They started walking up their street. It was lit with a golden light.
“Race you!” said Annie.
They took off running.
They ran across their yard.
They raced up their steps.
“Safe!” they shouted together, tagging their front door.
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Excerpt copyright © 1996 by
Published by Random House Children's Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
“Let’s go to the tree house,” said Annie.
She and Jack were passing the Frog Creek woods on their way home from their swimming class at the Y.
“No. I want to go home and change out of my bathing suit,” said Jack.
“Oh, that’ll take too long,” said Annie. “Don’t you want to save Morgan as soon as possible?”
“Of course,” said Jack.
“Then come on! Before the sun sets!” said Annie.
She darted into the woods.
Jack sighed. He gave up on the idea of changing out of his bathing suit.
He pushed his glasses into place. He followed Annie into the Frog Creek woods.
The warm air smelled fresh and green.
He moved through patches of sunlight and shadow. Soon he came to a small clearing.
He looked up. There it was. The magic tree house in the tallest tree in the woods.
“Hurry!” called Annie. She was climbing the rope ladder up to the tree house.
Jack grabbed the ladder. He started up after her.
Finally they reached the tree house.
Squeak. A mouse sat on the window sill.
“Hi, Peanut!” cried Annie.
Jack patted the tiny head.
“Sorry we didn’t come sooner,” Annie said. “But we had to go to our swimming lesson.”
Squeak.
“What happened while we were gone?” asked Annie, looking around the tree house.
Jack stared at the large M carved into the wooden floor.
On the M were a moonstone and a mango, the special things they’d found on their last two journeys.
“Hey, guess what?” said Jack. “Moonstone and mango start with the letter M. Just like Morgan.”
“You’re right,” said Annie.
“I bet all four things start with an M,” said Jack.
“Right,” said Annie. “I wonder where we’ll find the next one.”
She and Jack stared at the stacks of books in the tree house. Books on the Amazon rain forest, ninjas, pirates, mummies, knights, and dinosaurs.
All of them were closed. Only one book lay open in the corner.
“We’re just about to find out,” said Jack.
They walked over to the open book.
They looked at the page the book was opened to. It showed a picture of rocks and snow.
“Wow,” said Annie, running her finger over the picture. “I love snow. I wish we could go there right now.”
“Wait,” said Jack. “We’re not prepared.” Then he had another thought. “And we’re wearing our bathing suits! Stop!”
“Oops,” said Annie.
Too late. The wind started to blow.
The leaves started to shake.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster!
Then everything was silent.
It was as silent as the falling snow.
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#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
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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
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