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1 

Into the Woods 


“Help! A monster!” said Annie. 

“Yeah, sure,” said Jack. “A real monster in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania.” 
“Run, Jack!” said Annie. She ran up the road. 

Oh, brother. 

This is what he got for spending time with his seven-year-old sister. 

Annie loved pretend stuff. But Jack was eight and a half. He liked real 
things. 

“Watch out, Jack! The monster’s coming! Race you!” 

“No, thanks,” said Jack. 

Annie raced alone into the woods. 

Jack looked at the sky. The sun was about to set. 

“Come on, Annie! It’s time to go home!” 

But Annie had disappeared. 

Jack waited. 

No Annie. 

“Annie!” he shouted again. 

“Jack! Jack! Come here!” 

Jack groaned. “This better be good,” he said. 

Jack left the road and headed into the woods. The trees were lit with a 
golden late-afternoon light. 

“Come here!” called Annie. 

There she was. Standing under a tall oak tree. “Look,” she said. She was 
pointing at a rope ladder. 

The longest rope ladder Jack had ever seen. 



“Wow,” he whispered. 

The ladder went all the way up to the top of the tree. 

There—at the top—was a tree house. It was tucked between two branches. 
“That must be the highest tree house in the world,” said Annie. 

“Who built it?” asked Jack. “I’ve never seen it before.” 

“I don’t know. But I’m going up,” said Annie. 

“No. We don’t know who it belongs to,” said Jack. 

“Just for a teeny minute,” said Annie. She started up the ladder. 

“Annie, come back!” 

She kept climbing. 




Jack sighed. “Annie, it’s almost dark. We have to go home.” 

Annie disappeared inside the tree house. 

“An-nie!” 

Jack waited a moment. He was about to call again when Annie poked her 
head out of the tree house window. 

“Books!” she shouted. 

“What?” 

“It’s filled with books!” 

Oh, man! Jack loved books. 

He pushed his glasses into place. He gripped the sides of the rope ladder, 
and up he went. 



2 

The MoRSfcer 


Jack crawled through a hole in the tree house floor. 

Wow. The tree house was filled with books. Books everywhere. Very old 
books with dusty covers. New books with shiny, bright covers. 

“Look. You can see far, far away,” said Annie. She was peering out the tree 
house window. 

Jack looked out the window with her. Down below were the tops of the 
other trees. In the distance he saw the Frog Creek library. The elementary 
school. The park. 

Annie pointed in the other direction. 

“There’s our house,” she said. 

Sure enough. There was their white wooden house with the green porch. 
Next door was their neighbor’s black dog, Henry. He looked very tiny. 

“Hi, Henry!” shouted Annie. 

“Shush!” said Jack. “We’re not supposed to be up here.” 

He glanced around the tree house again. 

“I wonder who owns all these books,” he said. He noticed bookmarks were 
sticking out of many of them. 

“I like this one,” said Annie. She held up a book with a castle on the cover. 

“Here’s a book about Pennsylvania,” said Jack. He turned to the page with 
the bookmark. 

“Hey, there’s a picture of Frog Creek in here,” said Jack. “It’s a picture of 
these woods!” 

“Oh, here’s a book for you,” said Annie. She held up a book about 
dinosaurs. A blue silk bookmark was sticking out of it. 

“Let me see it.” Jack set down his backpack and grabbed the book from 
her. 



“You look at that one, and I’ll look at the one about castles,” said Annie. 

“No, we better not,” said Jack. “We don’t know who these books belong 
to.” 

But even as he said this, Jack opened the dinosaur book to where the 
bookmark was. He couldn’t help himself. 

He turned to a picture of an ancient flying reptile. A Pteranodon. 

He touched the huge bat-like wings. 

“Wow,” whispered Jack. “I wish I could see a Pteranodon for real.” 

Jack studied the picture of the odd-looking creature soaring through the 
sky. 

“Ahhh!” screamed Annie. 

“What?” said Jack. 

“Amonster!” Annie cried. She pointed to the tree house window. 

“Stop pretending, Annie,” said Jack. 

“No, really!” said Annie. 

Jack looked out the window. 

A giant creature was gliding above the treetops! He had a long, weird crest 
on the back of his head. A skinny beak. And huge bat-like wings! 

It was a real live Pteranodon! 

The creature curved through the sky. He was coming straight toward the 
tree house. He looked like a glider plane! 



The wind began to blow. 

The leaves trembled. 

Suddenly the creature soared up. High into the sky. Jack nearly fell out the 
window trying to see it. 

The wind picked up. It was whistling now. 

The tree house started to spin. 

“What’s happening?” cried Jack. 

“Get down!” shouted Annie. 

She pulled him back from the window. 

The tree house was spinning. Faster and faster. 

Jack squeezed his eyes shut. He held on to Annie. 

Then everything was still. 

Absolutely still. 

Jack opened his eyes. Sunlight slanted through the window. 

There was Annie. The books. His backpack. 

The tree house was still high up in an oak tree. 

But it wasn’t the same oak tree. 



3 

Wfeere Is Here? 


Jack looked out the window. 

He looked down at the picture in the book. 

He looked back out the window. 

The world outside and the world in the picture—they were exactly the 
same. 

The Pteranodon was soaring through the sky. The ground was covered with 
ferns and tall grass. There was a winding stream. A sloping hill. And 
volcanoes in the distance. 

“Wh-where are we?” stammered Jack. 

The Pteranodon glided down to the base of their tree. The creature coasted 
to a stop. And stood very still. 

“What happened to us?” said Annie. She looked at Jack. He looked at her. 

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “I was looking at the picture in the book—” 

“And you said, ‘Wow, I wish I could see a Pteranodon for real,’ ” said 
Annie. 

“Yeah. And then we saw one. In the Frog Creek woods,” said Jack. 

“Yeah. And then the wind got loud. And the tree house started spinning,” 
said Annie. 

“And we landed here,” said Jack. 

“And we landed here,” said Annie. 

“So that means ...” said Jack. 

“So that means ... what?” said Annie. 

“Nothing,” said Jack. He shook his head. “None of this can be real.” 

Annie looked out the window again. “But he’s real,” she said. “He’s very 
real.” 



Jack looked out the window with her. The Pteranodon was standing at the 
base of the oak tree. Like a guard. His giant wings were spread out on either 
side of him. 

“Hi!” Annie shouted. 

“Shush!” said Jack. “We’re not supposed to be here.” 

“But where is here?” said Annie. 

“I don’t know,” said Jack. 

“Hi!” Annie called again to the creature. 

The Pteranodon looked up at them. 

“Where is here ?” Annie called down. 

“You’re nuts. He can’t talk,” said Jack. “But maybe the book can tell us.” 

Jack looked down at the book. He read the words under the picture: 

This flying reptile lived in the Cretaceous period. It vanished 65 
million years ago. 

No. Impossible. They couldn’t have landed in a time 65 million years ago. 
“Jack,” said Annie. “He’s nice.” 

“Nice?” 

“Yeah, I can tell. Let’s go down and talk to him.” 

“Talk to him?” 

Annie started down the rope ladder. 

“Hey!” shouted Jack. 

But Annie kept going. 

“Are you crazy?” Jack called. 

Annie dropped to the ground. She stepped boldly up to the ancient creature. 







4 

Hem>£ 


Jack gasped as Annie held out her hand. 

Oh, brother. She was always trying to make friends with animals. But this 
was going too far. 

“Don’t get too close to him, Annie!” Jack shouted. 

But Annie touched the Pteranodon’s crest. She stroked his neck. She was 
talking to him. 

What in the world was she saying? 

Jack took a deep breath. Okay. He would go down, too. It would be good to 
examine the creature. Take notes. Like a scientist. 

Jack started down the rope ladder. 

When he got to the ground, Jack was only a few feet away from the 
creature. 

The creature stared at Jack. His eyes were bright and alert. 

“He’s soft, Jack,” said Annie. “He feels like Henry.” 

Jack snorted. “He’s no dog, Annie.” 

“Feel him, Jack,” said Annie. 

Jack didn’t move. 

“Don’t think, Jack. Just do it.” 

Jack stepped forward. He put out his arm. Very cautiously. He brushed his 
hand down the creature’s neck. 

Interesting. A thin layer of fuzz covered the Pteranodon’s skin. 

“Soft, huh?” said Annie. 

Jack reached into his backpack and pulled out a pencil and a notebook. He 
wrote: 



4-U'zxw ski'ii 
j 


“What are you doing?” asked Annie. 

“Taking notes,” said Jack. “We’re probably the first people in the whole 
world to ever see a real live Pteranodon.” 

Jack looked at the Pteranodon again. The creature had a bony crest on top 
of his head. The crest was longer than Jack’s arm. 

“I wonder how smart he is,” Jack said. 

“Very smart,” said Annie. 

“Don’t count on it,” said Jack. “His brain’s probably no bigger than a 
bean.” 

“No, he’s very smart. I can feel it,” said Annie. “I’m going to call him 
Henry.” 

Jack wrote in his notebook: 

brair,? 




Jack looked at the creature again. “Maybe he’s a mutant,” he said. 

The creature tilted his head. 

Annie laughed. “He’s no mutant, Jack.” 

“Well, what’s he doing here then? Where is this place?” said Jack. 

Annie leaned close to the Pteranodon. 

“Do you know where we are, Henry?” she asked softly. 

The creature fixed his eyes on Annie. His long jaws were opening and 
closing. Like a giant pair of scissors. 

“Are you trying to talk to me, Henry?” asked Annie. 

“Forget it, Annie.” Jack wrote in his notebook: 



MQui'rt like Scissor,* ? 


“Did we come to a time long ago, Henry?” asked Annie. “Is this a place 
from long ago?” Suddenly she gasped. “Jack!” 

He looked up. 

Annie was pointing toward the hill. On top stood a huge dinosaur! 



5 

Gold in the Grass 


“Go! Go/” said Jack. He threw his notebook into his pack. He pushed 
Annie toward the rope ladder. 

“Bye, Henry!” she said. 

“Go!” said Jack. He gave Annie a big push. 

“Quit it!” she said. But she started up the ladder. Jack scrambled after her. 

They tumbled into the tree house. 

They were panting as they looked out the window at the dinosaur. He was 
standing on the hilltop. Eating flowers off a tree. 

“Oh, man,” whispered Jack. “We are in a time long ago!” 

The dinosaur looked like a huge rhinoceros. Only he had three horns 
instead of one. Two long ones above his eyes and one on his nose. He had a 
big shield-like thing behind his head. 

“Triceratops!” said Jack. 

“Does he eat people?” whispered Annie. 

“HI look it up.” Jack grabbed the dinosaur book. He flipped through the 
pages. 

“There!” he said. He pointed to a picture of a Triceratops. He read the 
caption: 

The Triceratops lived in the late Cretaceous period. This plant¬ 
eating dinosaur weighed over 12,000 pounds. 


Jack slammed the book shut. “Just plants. No meat.” 

“Let’s go see him,” said Annie. 

“Are you nuts?” said Jack. 

“Don’t you want to take notes about him?” asked Annie. “We’re probably 
the first people in the whole world to ever see a real live Triceratops.” 



Jack sighed. She was right. 

“Let’s go,” he said. 

He shoved the dinosaur book into his pack. He slung it over his shoulder 
and started down the ladder. 

On the way down, Jack stopped. 

He called up to Annie, “Just promise you won’t pet him.” 

“I promise.” 

“Promise you won’t kiss him.” 

“I promise.” 

“Promise you won’t talk to him.” 

“I promise.” 

“Promise you won’t—” 

“Go! Go!” she said. 

Jack went. 

Annie followed. 

When they stepped off the ladder, the Pteranodon gave them a kind look. 

Annie blew a kiss at him. “Be back soon, Henry,” she said cheerfully. 

“Shush!” said Jack. And he led the way through the ferns. Slowly and 
carefully. 

When he reached the bottom of the hill, he kneeled behind a fat bush. 

Annie knelt beside him and started to speak. 

“Shush!” Jack put his finger to his lips. 

Annie made a face. 

Jack peeked out at the Triceratops. 

The dinosaur was incredibly big. Bigger than a truck. He was eating the 
flowers off a magnolia tree. 

Jack slipped his notebook out of his pack. He wrote: 

eate Viewers 


Annie nudged him. 



Jack ignored her. He studied the Triceratops again. He wrote: 

erfte slcwiu 


Annie nudged him hard. 

Jack looked at her. 

Annie pointed to herself. She walked her fingers through the air. She 
pointed to the dinosaur. She smiled. 

Was she teasing? 

She waved at Jack. 

Jack started to grab her. 

She laughed and jumped away. She fell into the grass. In full view of the 
Triceratops! 

“Get back!” whispered Jack. 

Too late. The big dinosaur had spotted Annie. He gazed down at her from 
the hilltop. Half of a magnolia flower was sticking out of his mouth. 

“Oops,” said Annie. 

“Get back!” Jack shouted at her. 

“He looks nice, Jack.” 

“Nice? Watch out for his horns, Annie! ” 

“No. He’s nice, Jack.” 

Nice? 

But the Triceratops just gazed calmly down at Annie. Then he turned and 
loped away. Down the side of the hill. 

“Bye!” said Annie. She turned back to Jack. “See?” 

Jack grunted. But he wrote in his notebook: 

wee 




“Come on. Let’s look around some more,” said Annie. 

As Jack started after Annie, he saw something glittering in the tall grass. 
He reached out and picked it up. 




A medallion. A gold medallion. 

A letter was engraved on the medallion. A fancy M. 

“Oh, man. Someone came here before us,” Jack said softly. 




6 

Dfoosaar Vallej? 


“Annie, look at this!” Jack called. “Look what I found!” 

Annie had gone up to the hilltop. 

She was busy picking a flower from the magnolia tree. 

“Annie, look! A medallion!” 

But Annie wasn’t paying attention to Jack. She was staring at something on 
the other side of the hill. 

“Oh, wow!” she said. 

“Annie!” 

Clutching her magnolia flower, she took off down the hill. 

“Annie, come back!” Jack shouted. 

But Annie had disappeared. 

“I’m going to kill her,” Jack muttered. 

He stuffed the gold medallion into his jeans pocket. 

Then he heard Annie shriek. 

“Annie?” 

Jack heard another sound as well. A deep, bellowing sound. Like a tuba. 
“Jack! Come here!” Annie called. 

“Annie!” 

Jack grabbed his backpack and raced up the hill. 

When he got to the top, he gasped. 

The valley below was filled with nests. Big nests made out of mud. And the 
nests were filled with tiny dinosaurs! 




Annie was crouching next to one of the nests. And standing over her was a 
gigantic duck-billed dinosaur! 

“Don’t panic. Don’t move,” said Jack. He stepped slowly down the hill 
toward Annie. 

The huge dinosaur was towering above Annie. Waving her arms. Making 
her tuba sound. 

Jack stopped. He didn’t want to get too close. 

He knelt on the ground. “Okay. Move toward me. Slowly,” he said. 

Annie started to stand up. 

“Don’t stand. Crawl,” said Jack. 

Clutching her flower, Annie crawled toward Jack. 



The duck-billed dinosaur followed her. Still bellowing. 

Annie froze. 

“Keep going,” Jack said softly. 

Annie started crawling again. 

Jack inched farther down the hill. Until he was just an arm’s distance from 
Annie. 

He reached out—and grabbed her hand. 

He pulled Annie toward him. 

“Stay down,” he said. He crouched next to her. “Bow your head. Pretend to 
chew.” 

“Chew?” 

“Yes. I read that’s what you do if a mean dog comes at you.” 

“She’s no dog, Jack,” said Annie. 

“Just chew,” said Jack. 

Jack and Annie both bowed their heads. And pretended to chew. 

Soon the dinosaur grew quiet. 

Jack raised his head. 

“I don’t think she’s mad anymore,” he said. 

“Thanks, Jack, for saving me,” said Annie. 

“You have to use your brain,” said Jack. “You can’t just go running to a 
nest of babies. There’s always a mother nearby.” 

Annie stood up. 

“Annie!” 

Too late. 

Annie held out her magnolia flower to the dinosaur. 

“I’m sorry I made you worry about your babies,” she said. 

The dinosaur moved closer to Annie. She grabbed the flower from her. She 
reached for another. 

“No more,” said Annie. 

The dinosaur let out a sad tuba sound. 



“But there are more flowers up there,” Annie said. She pointed to the top of 
the hill. “I’ll get you some.” 

Annie hurried up the hill. 

The dinosaur waddled after her. 

Jack quickly examined the babies. Some were crawling out of their nests. 
Where were the other mothers? 

Jack took out the dinosaur book. He flipped through the pages. 

He found a picture of some duck-billed dinosaurs. He read the caption: 

The Anatosauruses lived in colonies. While a few mothers baby¬ 
sat the nests, others hunted for food. 

So there must be more mothers close by. 

“Hey, Jack!” Annie called. 

Jack looked up. Annie was at the top of the hill. Feeding magnolia flowers 
to the giant Anatosaurus! 

“She’s nice, too, Jack,” Annie said. 

But suddenly the Anatosaurus made her terrible tuba sound. Annie 
crouched down and started to chew. 


The dinosaur barged down the hill. 




She seemed afraid of something. 

Jack put the book down on top of his pack. He hurried up to Annie. 




“I wonder why she ran away,” said Annie. “We were starting to be friends.” 

Jack looked around. What he saw in the distance almost made him throw 
up. 

An enormous ugly monster was coming across the plain. 

He was walking on two big legs. And swinging a long, thick tail. And 
dangling two tiny arms. 

He had a huge head. And his jaws were wide open. 

Even from far away Jack could see his long, gleaming teeth. 

“Tyrannosaurus rex!” whispered Jack. 



7 

Read;?, Set, Go! 


“Run, Annie! Run!” cried Jack. “To the tree house!” 

They dashed down the hill together. Through the tall grass, through the 
ferns, past the Pteranodon, and right to the rope ladder. 

They scrambled up. Seconds later they tumbled into the tree house. 

Annie leaped to the window. 

“He’s going away!” she said, panting. 

Jack pushed his glasses into place. He looked through the window with her. 
The Tyrannosaurus was wandering off. 

But then the monster stopped and turned around. 

“Duck!” said Jack. 

The two of them hunched down. 

After a long moment, they raised their heads. They peeked out again. 

“Coast clear,” said Jack. 

“Yay,” whispered Annie. 

“We have to get out of here,” said Jack. 

“You made a wish before,” said Annie. 

“I wish we could go back to Frog Creek,” said Jack. 

Nothing happened. 

“I wish—” 

“Wait. You were looking at a picture in the dinosaur book. Remember?” 
The dinosaur book. 

Jack groaned. “Oh, no. I left the book and my pack on the hill. I have to go 
back.” 


“Oh, forget it,” said Annie. 



“I can’t,” said Jack. “The book doesn’t belong to us. Plus my notebook’s in 
my pack. With all my notes.” 

“Hurry!” said Annie. 

Jack hurried down the rope ladder. 

He leaped to the ground. 

He raced past the Pteranodon, through the ferns, through the tall grass, and 
up the hill. 

He looked down. 

There was his pack, lying on the ground. On top of it was the dinosaur 
book. 

But now the valley below was filled with Anatosauruses. All standing 
guard around the nests. 

Where had they been? Did fear of the Tyrannosaurus send them home? 

Jack took a deep breath. 

Ready! Set! Go! 

He charged down the hill. He leaped to his backpack. He scooped it up. He 
grabbed the dinosaur book. 

A terrible tuba sound! Another! Another! All the Anatosauruses were 
bellowing at him. 

Jack took off. 

He raced up to the hilltop. 

He started down the hill. 

He stopped. 

The Tyrannosaurus rex was back! And he was standing between Jack and 
the tree house! 




8 

A Giant Shadow 


Jack jumped behind the magnolia tree. 

His heart was beating so fast he could hardly think. 

He peeked out at the giant monster. The horrible-looking creature was 
opening and closing his huge jaws. His teeth were as big as steak knives. 

Don’t panic. Think. 

Jack peered down at the valley. 

Good. The duck-billed dinosaurs were sticking close to their nests. 

Jack looked back at the Tyrannosaurus. 

Good. The monster still didn’t seem to know he was there. 

Don’t panic. Think. Think. Maybe there’s information in the book. 

Jack opened the dinosaur book. He found Tyrannosaurus rex. He read: 

Tyrannosaurus rex was the largest meat-eating land animal of all 
time. If it were alive today, it would eat a human in one bite. 

Great. The book was no help at all. 

Okay. He couldn’t hide on the other side of the hill. The Anatosauruses 
might stampede. 

Okay. He couldn’t run to the tree house. The Tyrannosaurus might run 
faster. 

Okay. Maybe he should just wait. Wait for the monster to leave. 

Jack peeked around the tree. 

The Tyrannosaurus had wandered closer to the hill. 



Something caught Jack’s eye. Annie was coming down the rope ladder! 

Was she nuts? What was she doing? 

Jack watched Annie hop off the ladder. 

She went straight to the Pteranodon. She was talking to him. She was 
flapping her arms. She pointed at Jack, at the sky, at the tree house. 

She was nuts! 

“Go! Go back up the tree!” Jack whispered. “Go!” 

Suddenly Jack heard a roar. 

The Tyrannosaurus rex was looking in his direction. 

Jack hit the ground. 

The Tyrannosaurus rex was coming toward the hill. 

Jack felt the ground shaking. 

Should he run? Crawl back into Dinosaur Valley? Climb the magnolia tree? 

Just then a giant shadow covered Jack. He looked up. 

The Pteranodon was gliding overhead. The giant creature sailed down 
toward the top of the hill. 

He was coming straight for Jack. 



9 

The Amazing Ride 


The Pteranodon coasted down to the ground. 

He stared at Jack with his bright, alert eyes. 

What was Jack supposed to do? Climb on? “But I’m too heavy,” thought 
Jack. 

Don’t think. Just do it. 

Jack looked at the Tyrannosaurus. 

He was starting up the hill. His giant teeth were flashing in the sunlight. 

Okay. Don’t think. Just do it! 

Jack put his book in his pack. Then he eased down onto the Pteranodon’s 
back. 

He held on tightly. 

The creature moved forward. He spread out his wings—and lifted off the 
ground! 

They teetered this way. Then that. 

Jack nearly fell off. 

The Pteranodon steadied himself, then rose into the sky. 

Jack looked down. The Tyrannosaurus was chomping the air and staring up 
at him. 

The Pteranodon glided away. 

He sailed over the hilltop. 

He circled over the valley. Over all the nests filled with babies. Over all the 
giant duck-billed dinosaurs. 

Then the Pteranodon soared out over the plain—over the Triceratops who 
was grazing in the high grass. 

It was amazing! It was a miracle! 



Jack felt like a bird. As light as a feather. 



The wind was rushing through his hair. The air smelled sweet and fresh. 

He whooped. He laughed. 

Jack couldn’t believe it. He was riding on the back of an ancient flying 
reptile! 

The Pteranodon sailed over the stream, over the ferns and bushes. 

Then he carried Jack down to the base of the oak tree. 

When they came to a stop, Jack slid off the creature’s back. And landed on 
the ground. 

Then the Pteranodon took off again and glided into the sky. 

“Bye, Henry,” whispered Jack. 

“Are you okay?” Annie shouted from the tree house. 

Jack pushed his glasses into place. He kept staring up at the Pteranodon. 
“Jack, are you okay?” Annie called. 

Jack looked up at Annie. He smiled. 

“Thanks for saving my life,” he said. “That was really fun.” 


“Climb up!” said Annie. 

Jack tried to stand. His legs were wobbly. 

He felt a bit dizzy. 

“Hurry!” shouted Annie. “He’s coming!” 

Jack looked around. The Tyrannosaurus was heading straight toward him! 
Jack bolted to the ladder. He grabbed the sides and started up. 

“Hurry! Hurry!” screamed Annie. 

Jack scrambled into the tree house. 

“He’s coming toward the tree!” Annie cried. 

Suddenly something slammed against the oak tree. The tree house shook 
like a leaf. 

Jack and Annie tumbled into the books. 

“Make a wish!” cried Annie. 

“We need the book! The one with the picture of Frog Creek!” said Jack. 
“Where is it?” 

He pushed some books aside. He had to find that book about Pennsylvania. 
There it was! 

He grabbed it and tore through it, looking for the photograph of the Frog 
Creek woods. 

He found it! Jack pointed to the picture. 

“I wish we could go home!” he shouted. 

The wind began to moan. Softly at first. 

“Hurry!” Jack yelled. 

The wind picked up. It was whistling now. 

The tree house started to spin. 

It spun faster and faster. 

Jack closed his eyes. He held on tightly to Annie. 

Then everything was still. 

Absolutely still. 



10 

Home Before Dark 


A bird began to sing. 

Jack opened his eyes. He was still pointing at the picture of the Frog Creek 
woods. 

He peeked out the tree house window. Outside he saw the exact same view. 
“We’re home,” whispered Annie. 

The woods were lit with a golden late-afternoon light. The sun was about to 
set. 

No time had passed since they’d left. 

“Ja-ack! An-nie!” a voice called from the distance. 

“That’s Mom,” said Annie, pointing. 



Jack saw their mother far away. She was standing in front of their house. 
She looked very tiny. 

“An-nie! Ja-ack!” she called. 

Annie stuck her head out the window and shouted, “Come-ing!” 

Jack still felt dazed. He just stared at Annie. 




“What happened to us?” he said. 

“We took a trip in a magic tree house,” said Annie simply. 

“But it’s the same time as when we left,” said Jack. 

Annie shrugged. 

“And how did it take us so far away?” said Jack. “And so long ago?” 

“You just looked at a book and said you wished we could go there,” said 
Annie. “And the magic tree house took us there.” 

“But how?” said Jack. “And who built this magic tree house? Who put all 
these books here?” 

“A magic person, I guess,” said Annie. 

A magic person? 

“Oh, look,” said Jack. “I almost forgot about this.” He reached into his 
pocket and pulled out the gold medallion. “Someone lost this back there ... in 
dinosaur land. Look, there’s a letter M on it.” 

Annie’s eyes got round. “You think M stands for magic person?” she said. 

“I don’t know,” said Jack. “I just know someone went to that place before 
us.” 

“Ja-ack! An-nie!” came the distant cry again. 

Annie poked her head out the window. “Come-ing!” she shouted. 

Jack put the gold medallion back in his pocket. 

He pulled the dinosaur book out of his pack. And put it back with all the 
other books. 

Then he and Annie took one last look around the tree house. 

“Good-bye, house,” whispered Annie. 

Jack slung his backpack over his shoulder. He pointed at the ladder. 

Annie started down. Jack followed. 

Seconds later they hopped onto the ground and started walking out of the 
woods. 

“No one’s going to believe our story,” said Jack. 




“So let’s not tell anyone,” said Annie. 

“Dad won’t believe it,” said Jack. 

“He’ll say it was a dream,” said Annie. 

“Mom won’t believe it,” said Jack. 

“She’ll say it was pretend.” 

“My teacher won’t believe it,” said Jack. 

“She’ll say you’re nuts,” said Annie. 

“We better not tell anyone,” said Jack. 

“I already said that,” said Annie. 

Jack sighed. “I think I’m starting to not believe it myself,” he said. 

They left the woods and started up the road toward their house. 

As they walked past all the houses on their street, the trip to dinosaur time 
did seem more and more like a dream. 


Only this world and this time seemed real. 

Jack reached into his pocket. He clasped the gold medallion. 

He felt the engraving of the letter M. It made Jack’s fingers tingle. 

Jack laughed. Suddenly he felt very happy. 

He couldn’t explain what had happened today. But he knew for sure that 
their trip in the magic tree house had been real. 

Absolutely real. 

“Tomorrow,” Jack said softly, “we’ll go back to the woods.” 

“Of course,” said Annie. 

“And we’ll climb up to the tree house,” said Jack. 

“Of course,” said Annie. 

“And we’ll see what happens next,” said Jack. 

“Of course,” said Annie. “Race you!” 

And they took off together, running for home. 



Here’s a Special Preview of 
Magic Tree House #2 
The Knight at Dawn 


™ VS C *1 

The Knight 
at Dawn J 


Mary Pope Osborne 



Available now! 


Excerpt copyright © 1993 by Mary Pope Osborne. 
Published by Random House Children’s Books, 
a division of Random House, Inc., New York. 



1 


The Dark Woods 


Jack couldn’t sleep. 

He put his glasses on. He looked at the clock. 5:30. 

Too early to get up. 

Yesterday so many strange things had happened. Now he was trying to 
figure them out. 

He turned on the light. He picked up his notebook. He looked at the list 
he’d made before going to bed. 

flMt tftmAs 

found loTS of bcck<> m 
yot(\Te.A +o 'picture book 

A lutsin 

fo itrrlt erf dinewrs 
spo'rircA fo yieturt of irocj (r#k •/Mccij 
/We a ojirft, 

&!HC botH to frOCf Cr&X 


Jack pushed his glasses into place. Who was going to believe any of this? 

Not his mom. Or his dad. Or his third-grade teacher, Ms. Watkins. Only his 
seven-year-old sister, Annie. She’d gone with him to the time of the 
dinosaurs. 

“Can’t you sleep?” 

It was Annie, standing in his doorway. 

“Nope,” said Jack. 

“Me neither,” said Annie. “What are you doing?” 

She walked over to Jack and looked at his notebook. She read the list. 



“Aren’t you going to write about the gold medal?” she asked. 
“You mean the gold medallion,” said Jack. 

He picked up his pencil and wrote: 



“Aren’t you going to put the letter M on the medal?” said Annie. 
“Medallion,” said Jack. “Not medal.” 

He added an M: 



“Aren’t you going to write about the magic person?” said Annie. 

“We don’t know for sure if there is a magic person,” said Jack. 

“Well, someone built the tree house in the woods. Someone put the books 
in it. Someone lost a gold medal in dinosaur time.” 

“Medallion!” said Jack for the third time. “And I’m just writing the facts. 
The stuff we know for sure.” 

“Let’s go back to the tree house right now,” said Annie. “And find out if the 
magic person is a fact.” 

“Are you nuts?” said Jack. “The sun’s not even up yet.” 

“Come on,” said Annie. “Maybe we can catch them sleeping.” 

“I don’t think we should,” said Jack. He was worried. What if the “magic 
person” was mean? What if he or she didn’t want kids to know about the tree 
house? 

“Well, I’m going,” said Annie. 

Jack looked out his window at the dark-gray sky. It was almost dawn. 

He sighed. “Okay. Let’s get dressed. I’ll meet you at the back door. Be 
quiet.” 

“Yay!” whispered Annie. She tiptoed away as quietly as a mouse. 

Jack put on jeans, a warm sweatshirt, and sneakers. He tossed his notebook 
and pencil in his backpack. 

He crept downstairs. 



Annie was waiting by the back door. She shined a flashlight in Jack’s face. 
“Ta-da! A magic wand!” she said. 

“Shhh! Don’t wake up Mom and Dad,” whispered Jack. “And turn that 
flashlight off. We don’t want anyone to see us.” 

Annie nodded and turned it off. Then she clipped it onto her belt. 

They slipped out the door into the cool early-morning air. Crickets were 
chirping. The dog next door barked. 

“Quiet, Henry!” whispered Annie. 

Henry stopped barking. Animals always seemed to do what Annie said. 

“Let’s run!” said Jack. 

They dashed across the dark, wet lawn and didn’t stop until they reached 
the woods. 

“We need the flashlight now,” said Jack. 

Annie took it off her belt and switched it on. 

Step by step, she and Jack walked between the trees. Jack held his breath. 
The dark woods were scary. 

“Gotcha!” said Annie, shining the flashlight in Jack’s face. 

Jack jumped back. Then he frowned. 

“Cut it out!” he said. 

“I scared you,” said Annie. 

Jack glared at her. 

“Stop pretending!” he whispered. “This is serious.” 

“Okay, okay.” 

Annie shined her flashlight over the tops of the trees. 

“Now what are you doing?” said Jack. 

“Looking for the tree house!” 

The light stopped moving. 

There it was. The mysterious tree house. At the top of the tallest tree in the 
woods. 

Annie shined her light at the tree house, and then down the tall ladder. A11 
the way to the ground. 



“I’m going up,” she said. She gripped the flashlight and began to climb. 



“Wait!” Jack called. 

What if someone was in the tree house? 
“Annie! Come back!” 


But she was gone. The light disappeared. Jack was alone in the dark.