Tigers at Twilight (2 page)
Jack and Annie walked past the Frog Creek woods on their way home from the library.
“I miss Teddy,” said Annie.
“Me, too,” said Jack.
“He’s a really smart dog,” said Annie.
“Yeah,” said Jack, “and brave.”
“And wise,” said Annie.
“And funny,” said Jack.
“And here!” said Annie.
“What?” said Jack.
“
Here!
” Annie pointed at the Frog Creek woods.
A small dog with tan-colored fur was peeking out from the bushes.
Arf! Arf!
he barked.
“Oh, wow! Teddy!” said Jack.
The little dog ran off into the woods.
“Let’s go!” said Annie.
She and Jack raced after Teddy. The Frog Creek woods glowed with late afternoon sunlight.
The dog ran between the trees and finally stopped at a rope ladder. It hung from the tallest oak tree and led up to the magic tree house.
Teddy waited for Jack and Annie to catch up. He panted and wagged his tail.
“Hi, you!” cried Annie. She picked up the little dog and hugged him. “We missed you!”
“Yeah, silly!” said Jack. He kissed Teddy. Teddy licked his face.
“Is it time to get our
third
gift?” asked Annie.
Teddy sneezed, as if to say,
Of course!
Annie grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Jack put Teddy inside his backpack and followed.
They climbed into the tree house. There was the note from Morgan le Fay. It was on the floor, just where it had been two days ago.
Jack let Teddy out of his pack.
Annie picked up the note and read:
This little dog is under a spell and needs your help. To free him, you must be given four special things:
A gift from a ship lost at sea,
A gift from the prairie blue,
A gift from a forest far away,
A gift from a kangaroo.
Be wise. Be brave. Be careful.
Morgan
Jack touched the first two gifts, which they had already gotten: a pocket watch from the
Titanic
and an eagle’s feather from the Lakota Indians of the Great Plains.
“Now we have to get the gift from a forest far away,” said Annie.
“I wonder
how
far away?” said Jack.
“I know how to find out,” said Annie. “Where’s our book?”
She and Jack looked around the tree house for one of the research books that Morgan always left them.
Arf! Arf!
Teddy pawed a book in the corner.
Jack picked it up and read the title:
Wildlife of India
.
“Oh, man. India,” he said. “That’s
very
far away.”
“Let’s get going,” said Annie, “so we can free Teddy.”
Jack pointed at the cover of the book.
“I wish we could go there,” he said.
The wind started to blow.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
But only for a moment …
The warm air burst with sound.
Kah-ko!
Eee-eee!
Akkk-awkk!
“What’s going on?” said Jack.
He and Annie looked out the window.
The sky was lit by an orange glow as the sun went down.
The tree house was in a tree by a stream at the edge of a forest.
The wild screeching and cawing came from the forest’s tall, leafy trees.
Just then, two creatures leaped onto the windowsill.
“Aaah!” Jack and Annie yelled, jumping back.
Annie burst out laughing.
Arf! Arf!
Teddy barked.
Two small monkeys peered at them. Their dark faces were framed with light gray fur. They looked as if they were wearing tiny parkas.
“Hi,” said Annie. “I’m Annie. He’s Jack. And he’s Teddy. What are your names?”
Kah-ko
,
kah-ko
, the monkeys chattered.
“Cool,” said Annie. She turned to Jack. “Her name is Kah. His name is Ko.”
“Oh, brother,” said Jack.
“I bet he
is
her brother,” said Annie.
Kah and Ko whooped as if laughing at Annie’s joke. Their yellow eyes twinkled.
“We came to get a gift from the forest,” said Annie. “Do you know where we can find it?”
The monkeys nodded and chattered. Then they started down the tree.
Using their long tails and arms, they swung from branch to branch. They jumped to the ground and looked up.
“Coming! Bring Teddy, Jack,” Annie said. Then she started down the ladder.
Jack quickly flipped through
Wildlife of India
. He found a picture of the gray monkeys. He read:
This monkey is called a langur (say lun-GOOR). The word
langur
means “having a long tail.”
Jack pulled his notebook and pencil out of his backpack. He wrote:
Annie’s laughter came from below. It blended with the sounds of the forest.
Arf! Arf!
barked Teddy.
“Okay, okay,” said Jack.
He put the book, his notebook, and Teddy into his pack. Then he hurried down the ladder.
Annie was playing with the langurs on the stream bank.
Jack put Teddy on the ground.
Kah bounded over to Jack and grabbed his hand. The langur’s paw felt like a tiny human hand.
Kah pulled Jack toward the forest. Ko pulled Annie, and Teddy scampered after them.
The langurs climbed the huge, leafy trees. Then they began swinging from branch to branch, like kids on a jungle gym.
Annie dashed beneath the swinging monkeys. Teddy ran after her.
“Wait, wait!” Jack called, hurrying after them all. “Annie, slow down! We don’t know anything about this place.”
The langurs slowed down, as if they understood Jack’s words. Jack caught up with Annie. They walked on through the forest.
“This is so amazing,” said Annie.
Jack agreed.
The sunset gave the trees a fiery glow.
The hot air smelled sweet.
Blue peacocks spread their tails.
Yellow birds flew from tree to tree.
Small deer ate red flowers in a clearing.
“It’s like paradise,” said Annie.
“Yeah, but don’t forget the title of our book:
Wildlife of India
,” said Jack. “ ‘Wildlife’ means scary animals, too.”
Jack noticed long, deep gashes in a tree as they walked by. He stopped.
“What happened there?” he said.
Annie shrugged and kept walking.
Jack pulled the book out of his pack. There was a picture of a tree with gashes.
He read aloud:
Tigers sharpen their claws on tree trunks. They leave big gashes in the bark.
“What?” said Annie. She stopped and looked back at the tree.
“See what I mean?” said Jack. “Tigers live here. And one of them just came this way.”
“Tigers?” said Annie. “Cool.”
Jack read more:
A wild tiger eats almost 5,000 pounds of fresh raw meat a year.
“Oh, not so cool,” said Annie. Jack went on:
Tigers usually leave elephants alone. And like many smaller cats, tigers often avoid wild dogs.
