Dingoes at Dinnertime (6 page)

“Am I back?” he asked.

“You’re back,” said Morgan.

The boy leaped up and hugged her.

“Thank you!” he cried.

“And I hope next time you’ll
ask
before trying the spells in my spell book,” said Morgan.

The boy grinned sheepishly.

“I promise.” Then he looked at Jack and Annie. “I accidentally changed myself into a dog,” he said.

Annie laughed.

“But at least I got to have exciting adventures as a dog!” he said.

“You were a
great
dog,” said Annie. “We liked you as Teddy. What’s your real name?”

“If you like, you can keep calling me Teddy,” the boy said. “Or how about Ted?”

“Okay, Ted,” said Annie.

Jack just nodded. He was still in shock.

“Ted is training to work in my library at Camelot,” said Morgan. “He has a rare gift for magic.”

“Cool,” said Annie.

“You—you helped us a lot, Ted,” said Jack, finally finding his voice.

“Oh, no, it was both of
you
who helped me,” said Ted. “You helped break the spell. And I found new stories to take home.”

“You did?” said Annie.

Ted nodded.

“The story of the
Titanic
, the story of White Buffalo Woman, the story of the wounded tiger, and the story of the Rainbow Serpent,” he said. “I’ll write them down as soon as I get home. So people can read them in Morgan’s library.”

“And home is where we must go now, I’m afraid,” said Morgan.

“Oh,” said Annie sadly. “That’s too bad.”

“Yeah,” said Jack. He was sad, too.

“I know we will meet again someday,” said Ted.

“I hope so,” said Jack.

“Me, too,” said Annie. “Bye!”

She started down the ladder.

Jack pulled on his pack. With a heavy heart, he followed.

When they got to the ground, they looked up.

Morgan and Ted were at the window. They both seemed to glow in the late afternoon light.

“The magic tree house will return for you soon,” said Morgan. “I promise.”

She waved, and they waved back.

“Good-bye, Jack and Annie,” she said.

“Arf!” said Ted.

In a flutter of time … 

in the spin of a whirlwind … 

the magic tree house was gone.

For a long moment, Jack and Annie stared at the empty tree.

“Ready for dinner?” Annie asked softly.

Jack nodded.

He felt dazed as they walked silently through the Frog Creek woods.

When they came to their street, the sun was setting. A flock of black birds flew through the silvery pink sky.

Annie broke their silence as they headed for their house.

“We had great adventures with Teddy—I mean Ted—didn’t we?” she said.

“Yeah,” said Jack. “It was like … ” He searched for the right words. “Like … ”

“Like living in Dreamtime,” said Annie.

“Yeah,” said Jack. He smiled.

That was
exactly
what it was like.

Jack looked out his window.

It was a dreary Sunday afternoon. There were dark clouds in the sky.

Thunder rumbled in the distance.

Jack stared down the street at the Frog Creek woods.

When is the magic tree house coming back?
he wondered.

“Hey, guess what!” Annie said. She charged into Jack’s room. “I saw a light flash in the woods!”

“It was just lightning,” said Jack.

“No, it was magic! A swirl of light!” said Annie. “I think the tree house just came back!”

“I’m sure it was just lightning,” Jack said. “Didn’t you hear the thunder?”

“Yeah,” said Annie. “But let’s go check anyway.”

She started out of Jack’s room. Then she peeked back in.

“Bring your backpack, just in case!” she said.

Jack was always glad for a chance to look for the magic tree house. He grabbed his backpack and followed Annie down the stairs.

“Where are you two going?” their mom called.

“Out to play,” said Annie.

“Don’t go far,” said their mom. “And come in if it starts to rain.”

“We will,” said Jack. “Don’t worry.”

They slipped out the front door. Then they ran up the street and into the Frog Creek woods.

The woods were dark under the storm clouds. A cool wind shook the leaves.

Soon Jack and Annie came to the tallest oak tree.

“Oh, man,” said Jack. “You were right!”

The magic tree house stood out against the gray sky.

“Morgan!” called Annie.

There was no sign of the enchantress.

“Let’s go up!” said Jack.

He grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Annie followed.

They climbed into the tree house. It was hard to see in the dim light.

“Look,” said Annie.

She pointed to a piece of paper and a book lying on the floor.

Jack picked up the paper. Annie picked up the book.

“Listen,” said Jack. He held the paper close to the window and read aloud:

Dear Jack and Annie,

“Camelot is in trouble?” said Jack. “What’s that mean?”

“I don’t know,” said Annie. “But we better hurry and find these writings. Let’s go look for the first:
Something to follow
.”

“I wonder where we should look for it,” said Jack. “What’s the title of the book you’re holding?”

Annie held the book close to the window to read the title.

“Yikes,” she said softly. She showed the book to Jack.

On the cover was a painting of a peaceful- looking field and a blue sky. The title said
The Civil War
.

“The Civil War?” said Jack. “Cool.”

Annie frowned.

“
Cool?
” she said. “War’s not cool.”

“It sort of is,” Jack said uncomfortably. He knew war was bad. But some parts of it seemed fun, like a game.

“I guess we’ll find out,” said Annie. She pointed at the cover. “I wish we could go there.”

Thunder boomed through the woods.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.