Buffalo Before Breakfast (2 page)

Arf! Arf! Arf!

Jack finished tying his sneakers. Then he looked out his bedroom window.

A small dog stood in the early sunlight. He had floppy ears and scruffy brown fur.

“Teddy!” said Jack.

Just then, Annie ran into Jack's room.

“Teddy's back!” she said. “It's time.”

It was time for their second mission to help free the little dog from a spell.

Jack threw his notebook and pencil into his backpack. Then he followed Annie downstairs and past the kitchen.

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

“Outside,” said Jack.

“Breakfast will be ready soon,” she said. “And Grandmother will be here any minute.”

“We'll be right back,” said Jack. He loved his grandmother's visits. She was kind and funny. And she always taught them new things.

Jack and Annie slipped out the front door. Teddy was waiting for them.

Arf! Arf!
he barked.

“Hey, where did you go last week?” Jack asked.

The small dog wagged his tail joyfully.

Then he ran up the sidewalk.

“Wait for us!” Annie shouted.

She and Jack followed Teddy up the street and into the Frog Creek woods.

They ran between the trees. Wind rattled the leaves. Birds swooped from branch to branch.

Teddy stopped at a rope ladder that hung from the tallest oak tree in the woods. At the top of the ladder was the magic tree house.

Jack and Annie stared up at it.

“No sign of Morgan,” said Annie.

“Let's go up,” said Jack.

Annie picked up Teddy. She carried him carefully up the ladder. Jack climbed after her.

Inside the tree house, Teddy sniffed a silver pocket watch on the floor. Beside it was the note that Morgan had written to Jack and Annie.

Annie picked up the note and read it aloud:

This little dog is under a spell and needs your help. To free him, you must be given four special things:

“We've got the first special thing,” said Annie, “the gift from a ship lost at sea.”

“Yeah,” said Jack. He picked up the silver pocket watch.

The time on the watch was 2:20—the time the
Titanic
had sunk.

Jack and Annie stared at the watch.

Arf! Arf!

Teddy's barking brought Jack back from his memories.

“Okay,” Jack said. He sighed and pushed his glasses into place. “Now it's time for the gift from the prairie blue.”

“What's that mean?” said Annie.

“I'm not sure,” said Jack. He looked around the tree house. “But I bet that book will take us there.”

He picked up a book in the corner. The cover was a picture of a wide prairie. The title was
The Great Plains
.

“Ready?” Jack said.

Teddy yipped and wagged his tail.

“Let's go,” said Annie. “The sooner we free Teddy, the better.”

Jack pointed at the cover.

“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.

Early sunlight slanted into the tree house. The cool breeze smelled of wild grass.

“Oh, man,” said Jack. “These are neat clothes.”

Their jeans and T-shirts had magically changed. Jack had on a buckskin shirt and pants. Annie wore a fringed buckskin dress.

They both wore soft leather boots and coonskin caps. Jack's backpack was now a leather bag.

“I feel like a mountain man,” he said.

“All you're missing is a mountain,” said Annie. She pointed out the window.

Jack and Teddy looked out.

The tree house sat in a lone tree in a vast golden prairie. The sun was rising in the distance.

Wind whispered through the tall yellow grass.
Shh—shh—shh
, it said.

“We need a gift from the prairie blue,” said Jack.

“I bet that means the sky,” said Annie, looking up.

“Yep,” said Jack. The sky was growing bluer as they watched. “But how are we supposed to get it?”

“Just like last time,” said Annie. “We have to wait till someone gives it to us.”

“I don't see any sign of people out there,” said Jack.

He opened their book and read aloud.

Jack pulled out his notebook.

“Come on,” said Annie.

She picked up Teddy and carried him down the ladder.

Jack quickly wrote:

“Wow, this
is
like an ocean of grass,” Annie called from below.

Jack slipped the Great Plains book and his notebook into his leather bag and climbed down.

When he stepped onto the ground, the grass came all the way up to his chest. It tickled his nose.

“
Ah-ah-CHOO!
” he sneezed.

“Let's go swimming in the grass ocean,” said Annie.

She started off with Teddy under her arm.

The wind blew gently as Jack hurried after her. All he could see was rolling waves of grass.

They walked and walked and walked. Finally, they stopped to rest.

“We could walk for months and never see anything but grass,” said Jack.

Arf! Arf!

“Teddy says there's something great up ahead,” said Annie.

“You can't tell what he's saying,” said Jack. “He's just barking.”

“I
can
tell,” said Annie. “Trust me.”

“We can't walk all day,” said Jack.

“Come on,” said Annie. “Just a little farther.” She started walking again.

“Oh, brother,” said Jack.

But he kept going through the tall, rippling grass. They went down a small slope, then up a small rise. At the top of the rise, Jack froze.

“Wow, that
is
great,” he whispered.

“Told you,” said Annie.

Jack stared at a circle of tepees ahead. Busy people in buckskins moved about the circle. Horses and ponies grazed nearby.

Jack took out their research book and found a picture of the tepees.

He read:

Jack pulled out his notebook and wrote:

Behind Jack and Annie, a horse neighed.

They turned. A horse and rider were heading toward the tepee camp.

The sun was very bright behind the rider. Jack could only see the outline of a body with a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back.