Night of the Ninjas (2 page)

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.

“I wonder where Morgan is,” said Jack.

“Maybe she went to the library to get some more books,” said Annie.

“We were just at the library. We would have seen her,” said Jack. “Besides, the library's closed now.”

Squeak!

A little mouse ran out from behind a stack of books. It ran to the M shining in the floor.

“Yikes,” said Annie.

The mouse sat on the middle of the M. It looked up at Jack and Annie.

“Oh, it's so cute,” 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 didn't move. Annie patted its tiny head.

“Hi, Peanut,” she said. “Can I call you Peanut?”

“Oh brother,” said Jack.

“Do you know where Morgan is?” Annie asked the mouse.

Squeak.

“You're nuts, Annie,” said Jack. “Just because the mouse is in the tree house doesn't mean it's magic. It's a plain old mouse that crawled in, that's all.”

Jack looked around again. He saw a piece of paper on the floor.

“What's that?” he said.

“What's what?” asked Annie.

Jack went over and picked up the paper. There was writing on it.

“Oh man,” whispered Jack, after he read the words.

“What is it?” said Annie.

“A note,” said Jack. “It must be from Morgan. I think she's in big trouble!”

Jack showed Annie the piece of paper. It said:

“Oh no,” said Annie. “We have to help her. But what's a
thin
?”

“Maybe she was trying to write
things
,” said Jack. “See how the
n
sort of runs off the page?”

“Maybe the spell was starting to make her disappear or something,” said Annie.

“Right,” said Jack. “I wonder if she left any other clues.” He glanced around the tree house.

“Look!” Annie pointed at a book in the corner. “That's the only open book,” she said.

Jack looked around again. Annie was right. He felt a shiver go down his spine.

Jack went over to the book and picked it up. He held it near the window. Light from the setting sun was golden on the page.

Jack stared at the picture on it. In the picture were trees with white flowers. The trees were on the side of a mountain. Near a wide, rushing stream.

Two people were also in the picture. They wore dark clothes. They had black scarves over their faces. And long swords strapped to their backs.

“Oh man,” whispered Jack.

“Who are they?” Annie asked.

“Ninjas, I think,” said Jack.

“Ninjas? Really?” said Annie.

“Morgan must have left the book open to this page for a reason,” said Jack.

“Maybe that's where she was when the spell got her,” Annie said.

“Or maybe that's where the four things are,” said Jack.

“Let's go!” said Annie.

“Now?” said Jack.

“Yes, Morgan's in trouble! She needs us
now
!” said Annie.

“But we should read this book first,” said Jack. “So we'll be prepared.”

“Forget it!” said Annie. “Every minute counts!” She grabbed the book from Jack.

“Give it back,” he said. “We have to find out about this place.”

Annie held the book out of reach. “We'll find out when we get there,” she said.

“We don't even know where
there
is!” Jack said.

But Annie pointed at the picture. “I wish we could go here,” she said.

The leaves of the oak tree began to shake.

Squeak!

“Don't be scared, Peanut,” said Annie. She scooped up the mouse. Then she put it in the pouch of her sweatshirt.

The wind began to blow.

It blew harder and harder.

The tree house started to spin.

Faster and faster!

Jack squeezed his eyes shut.

Then everything was still. Absolutely still.

Except for the sound of rushing water.

Jack opened his eyes.

Annie was already looking out the window. The mouse peeked out of her pouch.

Jack looked out the window, too. The air was fresh and cool.

The tree house was in a tree with white flowers. The tree was in a grove of trees on the side of a mountain. Nearby a wild stream rushed downhill.

Two ninjas were standing on rocks near the water. They were staring at the valley below.

One ninja was tall. The other was short. They wore black pants and shirts. They had black scarves around their heads. And swords strapped to their backs.

It was exactly like the picture in the book.

Jack crouched below the window.

“Be careful,” he whispered. “Don't let them see you.”

“Why not?” Annie whispered back.

“They might think we're some kind of enemy,” said Jack quietly.

Annie crouched beside him.

Jack pushed his glasses into place.
Now
he was going to look at the ninja book.

He picked up the book. He turned to the beginning. He read:

“Wow,” whispered Jack. “We're in Japan, hundreds of years ago.”

Jack opened his backpack. He pulled out his notebook and pencil. He liked to take notes. He wrote:

“Jack,” whispered Annie. “They're looking up. I think they know we're here.”

Jack peeked over the windowsill. His eyes met the dark eyes of the tall ninja.

“
E-hy!
” the ninja cried. He dashed toward the tree. The other ninja followed.

“Oh no!” said Annie.

“We've got to go!” Jack said. “Where's the Pennsylvania book?”

He and Annie looked around wildly.

But where was the book about Pennsylvania? It had the picture of the Frog Creek woods in it. Jack and Annie couldn't get home without it.

“It's not anywhere!” cried Annie.

“We've got to do something. Fast!” said Jack. “Pull up the ladder!”

He and Annie grabbed the top of the rope ladder. They pulled the ladder into the tree house.

But the tall ninja leaped at the tree trunk. Then he started climbing up the tree! The
short ninja followed. They climbed just like cats!

Jack and Annie huddled in a corner.

The ninjas climbed into the tree house. Neither one made a sound.

The ninjas pulled iron bands off their hands. The bands had spikes like claws on them.

“That's how they climbed the tree,” Annie whispered to Jack.

The ninjas stared at Jack and Annie with dark, piercing eyes. The rest of their faces were covered by their scarves.

Jack felt frozen under their stares.

Annie wasn't frozen, though. She stepped right up to them.

“Hi,” she said.

The ninjas didn't say “hi” back. They didn't move at all. They were as still as Jack.

“We're trying to help our friend, Morgan,” said Annie.

She held up Morgan's note.

The tall ninja took the note from her. He looked at it. Then he gave it to the short ninja.

The two ninjas stared at each other. Then they looked back at Jack and Annie.

Finally the short ninja nodded once. He put the note into the pocket of his shirt.

“You can help us?” Annie asked.

Neither ninja spoke. Jack wished he could see their faces. He couldn't tell what they were thinking.