the Frog Creek woods.
Jack sighed. âWe looked this morning,â he said. âWe looked the day before. And the day before that.â
âThen you donât have to come,â said Annie. âIâll go look by myself.â
She took off into the woods.
âAnnie, wait!â Jack called. âItâs almostdark! We have to get home!â
But Annie had disappeared among the trees.
Jack stared at the woods. He was starting to lose hope. Maybe he would never see Morgan again.
Weeks had passed. And there had not been one sign of Morgan le Fay. Nor had there been one sign of her magic tree house.
âJack!â
Annie called from the woods. â
Itâs back!
â
Oh, sheâs just pretending as usual
, Jack thought. But his heart started to race.
âHurry!â called Annie.
âShe better not be kidding,â said Jack.
He took off into the woods to find Annie.
Night was falling fast. Crickets chirpedloudly. It was hard to see through the shadows.
âAnnie!â Jack shouted.
âHere!â she called.
Jack kept walking. âHere
where
?â he called back.
âHere
here
!â
Annieâs voice came from above.
Jack looked up.
âOh man,â he breathed.
Annie waved from the window of a tree house. It was in the tallest oak in the woods. A long rope ladder hung down from it.
The magic tree house was back
.
âCome on up!â Annie shouted.
Jack ran to the rope ladder. He started climbing.
He climbed and climbed and climbed.
As he climbed, he looked out over the woods. High above the treetops it was still light.
At last, Jack pulled himself into the tree house.
Annie sat in the shadows. Books were scattered everywhere.
On the floor the letter M glowed in the dim light. The M stood for Morgan le Fay.
But there was no sign of Morgan herself.
âI wonder where Morgan is,â said Jack.
âMaybe she went to the library to get some more books,â said Annie.
âWe were just at the library. We would have seen her,â said Jack. âBesides, the libraryâs closed now.â
Squeak!
A little mouse ran out from behind a stack of books. It ran to the M shining in the floor.
âYikes,â said Annie.
The mouse sat on the middle of the M. It looked up at Jack and Annie.
âOh, itâs so cute,â Annie said.
Jack had to admit the mouse was cute. It had brown-and-white fur and big dark eyes.
Annie slowly reached out her hand. The mouse didnât move. Annie patted its tiny head.
âHi, Peanut,â she said. âCan I call you Peanut?â
âOh brother,â said Jack.
âDo you know where Morgan is?â Annie asked the mouse.
Squeak.
âYouâre nuts, Annie,â said Jack. âJust because the mouse is in the tree house doesnât mean itâs magic. Itâs a plain old mouse that crawled in, thatâs all.â
Jack looked around again. He saw a piece of paper on the floor.
âWhatâs that?â he said.
âWhatâs what?â asked Annie.
Jack went over and picked up the paper. There was writing on it.
âOh man,â whispered Jack, after he read the words.
âWhat is it?â said Annie.
âA note,â said Jack. âIt must be from Morgan. I think sheâs in big trouble!â
Jack showed Annie the piece of paper. It said:
âOh no,â said Annie. âWe have to help her. But whatâs a
thin
?â
âMaybe she was trying to write
things
,â said Jack. âSee how the
n
sort of runs off the page?â
âMaybe the spell was starting to make her disappear or something,â said Annie.
âRight,â said Jack. âI wonder if she left any other clues.â He glanced around the tree house.
âLook!â Annie pointed at a book in the corner. âThatâs the only open book,â she said.
Jack looked around again. Annie was right. He felt a shiver go down his
Alexandra Amor
The Duke Next Door
John Wilcox
Clarence Major
David Perlmutter M. D., Alberto Villoldo Ph.d.
Susan Wiggs
Vicki Myron
Mack Maloney
Stephen L. Antczak, James C. Bassett
Unknown