“That’s okay,” said Jack. “I think I need to rest—and dry out.”
His T-shirt and shorts were still soaked. His backpack, too. Only his shoes and socks were dry.
“And this needs to dry out, too,” said Annie. She put the wet ocean book in a patch of sunlight.
Then Jack and Annie climbed down the ladder.
They walked through the woods, through leafy shadows and golden light.
They left the woods and started down their street.
“You know, we should have found the answer to the riddle right away,” said Jack. “The oyster was on the reef all along.”
“I know, but we wouldn’t have had so much fun,” said Annie.
“Fun?” said Jack. “You call being squeezed by an octopus and chased by a shark fun?”
“Don’t forget the dolphins,” Annie said simply.
Jack smiled. “Right,” he said. The dolphins made up for everything. They were fun.
“I guess they were the true pearl in the oyster,” said Annie.
“Yep … ” said Jack. “I wonder what Sam is doing right now.”
“Sam?” Annie grinned at him. “You’re nuts,” she said.
They climbed their steps and went into their house.
“We’re back!” Annie shouted.
“Did you get your shoes wet?” their mom called.
“Not one bit,” called Jack. Then he and Annie slipped up the stairs to change their clothes.
Here’s a special preview of
Magic Tree House #10
Ghost Town at Sundown
Available now!
Excerpt copyright © 1997 by Mary Pope Osborne.
Published by Random House Children’s Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
Jack and Annie were sitting on the porch of their house. Annie was gazing down the street at the Frog Creek woods. Jack was reading a book.
“I have a feeling we should check the woods again,” said Annie.
“Why?” said Jack without looking up.
“A rabbit’s hopping by,” said Annie.
“So? We’ve seen rabbits before.”
“Not like this one,” said Annie.
“What do you mean?” Jack stood up and looked with her.
He saw a rabbit with very long legs hopping down their street. Soon the rabbit left the sidewalk and headed into the woods.
“He’s a sign,” said Annie.
“A sign of what?” said Jack.
“That Morgan’s back,” said Annie. She jumped off the porch. “Come on!”
“But what about dinner?” Jack said. “Dad said it would be ready soon.”
“Don’t worry,” said Annie. “You know when we leave in the tree house, time stops.”
She ran across their yard.
Jack pulled on his backpack. “Back in ten minutes!” he called through the screen door. Then he followed Annie.
They hurried down their street and into the Frog Creek woods. The sun was setting above the trees.
“There he is!” said Annie.
The rabbit was standing in a ray of sunlight. When he saw them, he took off.
Jack and Annie followed the rabbit until he vanished behind the tallest tree.
“I told you! See?” said Annie, panting. She pointed up at the tree.
Morgan le Fay was waving to them from the magic tree house high in the branches.
Jack and Annie waved back to her. As always, Jack was very happy to see the enchantress librarian again.
“Come on up!” she called.
Annie and Jack started up the rope ladder. They climbed up to the tree house.
“We followed a strange rabbit here,” said Annie. “Is he your friend?”
“Perhaps,” said Morgan. She smiled mysteriously. “I have many odd friends.”
“Including us,” said Annie.
Morgan laughed. “That’s right.”
“How are you?” said Jack.
“I’m still having problems with Merlin,” said the enchantress, “which leaves me little time to do my real work. But soon you both will become Master Librarians, and that will be a big help to me.”
Jack smiled. He was going to be a Master Librarian who traveled through time and space. It was almost too good to believe.
“Are you ready to solve another riddle?” asked Morgan.
“Yes!” said Jack and Annie together.
“Good,” said Morgan. “First, you’ll need this for research … ”
She pulled a book from her robe and handed it to Jack. It was the book that would help them on their journey.
The title of the book was Days of the Wild West. On the cover was a picture of a western town on a prairie.
“Oh, wow,” said Annie. “The Wild West!”
Jack took a deep breath. Just how wild? he wondered.
Morgan reached into the folds of her robe again and pulled out a scroll. She handed it to Annie.
“Read this when the tree house lands,” she said.
“Is it the riddle?” asked Jack.
“Yes,” said Morgan. “Then you’ll only have two more to solve. Are you ready to go?”
Jack and Annie nodded. Annie pointed to the picture on the cover of the Wild West book.
“I wish we could go there,” she said.
The wind started to blow.
“Good-bye!” said Morgan. “Good luck!”
The tree house started to spin.
Jack squeezed his eyes shut.
The tree house spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
Jack opened his eyes.
Morgan le Fay was gone.
A fly buzzed around his head.
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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 O
F 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
Dolphins at Daybreak Page 3
