Dark Day in the Deep Sea (2 page)

J
ack felt raindrops. He looked up and saw a summer storm cloud.

“Hurry!” Jack called to Annie. They were riding their bikes home from the library. Jack’s backpack was filled with library books. He didn’t want them to get wet.

As Jack and Annie pedaled faster, a large white bird swooped over them and flew into the Frog Creek woods.

“Did you see that?” cried Jack.

“A seagull!” called Annie. “It’s a sign!”

“You’re right!” said Jack. The last time they’d seen a seagull in Frog Creek, the magic tree house was waiting for them!

“The woods!” said Annie.

Jack and Annie bumped their bikes over the curb. The rain fell harder as they headed into the wet woods. Their bike tires bounced over the rough ground, crushing leaves and snapping twigs.

“It must be time to look for another secret of happiness for Merlin!” Jack called.

“I hope Merlin’s feeling better!” shouted Annie.

“I hope Teddy and Kathleen came with the tree house!” shouted Jack.

“Me too!” shouted Annie.

Jack and Annie steered their bikes under canopies of wet leaves. By the time they came to the tallest oak in the woods, the seagull had disappeared. But the magic tree house was back! It was high in the tallest oak, its rope ladder swaying in the wind and rain.

Jack and Annie climbed off their bikes and propped them against the trunk of the tree.

“Teddy! Kathleen!” Annie shouted.

There was no answer.

“I guess they didn’t come this time,” Jack said.

“Darn!” said Annie. “I really wanted to see them.”

“Boo!” Two older kids looked down out of the tree house window: a curly-haired boy with a big grin and a girl with sea-blue eyes and a beautiful smile. Both were wearing long green cloaks.

“Yay!” cried Annie and Jack.

The rain fell harder as they started up the rope ladder. When they climbed into the tree house, they yanked off their bike helmets and hugged Teddy and Kathleen.

“Morgan sent us to tell you about your next mission for Merlin,” said Teddy.

“How
is
Merlin?” asked Annie.

Teddy stopped smiling. He shook his head.

“Merlin still suffers from an unspoken sorrow,” Kathleen said sadly.

“When can we see him?” asked Annie.

“We’ve learned two secrets of happiness to share with him,” said Jack.

“You may visit him after you have learned two more secrets,” said Kathleen. “Morgan believes four is the magic number that will ensure success.”

“We have come to send you on your search for a third secret,” said Teddy.

Kathleen took a book from under her cloak and handed it to Jack and Annie. “From Morgan’s hands to our hands to yours,” she said.

Jack took the book from her. The cover showed waves crashing on a beach.

“Wow,” said Jack. “We’re going to the ocean?”

“Yes,” said Teddy. “That is where you will next search for a secret of happiness.”

“The ocean always makes me happy,” said Annie. “Once Jack and I traveled to a coral reef and swam with dolphins. And we ran into an octopus. But he was nice and shy and—”

“But the shark we saw
wasn’t
shy,” Jack broke in. “It was a big hammerhead.”

“Oh, my,” said Kathleen.

“We took a ride in a mini-sub,” said Annie. “It was so cool!”

“Until it started to leak and—” said Jack.

“We had to escape!” said Annie.

“Yeah,” said Jack. “We tried not to splash—so the shark wouldn’t notice us.”

“We had so much fun!” said Annie.

Kathleen smiled. “Well, I hope you will not find the same ‘fun’ on this journey,” she said.

“But in case you do, you have your wand to help you, do you not?” asked Teddy. “The Wand of Dianthus?”

“Of course,” said Jack. “I always carry it, just in case.” Jack reached into his backpack and pulled out the silvery wand. It was shaped like the spiraled horn of a unicorn.

“You remember the three rules?” asked Kathleen.

“Sure,” said Jack. “To make magic, we use a wish with only five words.”

“And before we use the wand, we have to try our hardest,” said Annie.

“And the wand can only be used for the good of others,” said Jack, “not just ourselves.”

“Exactly,” said Teddy.

“I wonder who the ‘others’ will be on this mission,” said Annie. She looked at Teddy and Kathleen. “Maybe you guys?”

“I fear not,” said Kathleen. “You must find the third secret on your own.”

“Just remember to keep your wits about you,” said Teddy.

“And listen to your hearts,” said Kathleen.

“Okay,” said Annie. “We’ll tell you all about it when we see you again.”

Lightning flashed through the woods as Jack pointed to the cover of the ocean book. “I wish we could go there!” he said.

Thunder cracked in the dark sky. The wind blew harder.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

J
ack opened his eyes. Teddy and Kathleen were gone. The warm air was filled with mist.

Jack and Annie peered out the window together. The tree house had landed in a tall tree with spreading branches. The mist was so thick they couldn’t see anything around them. But Jack heard the caws of gulls and the swooshing of rolling waves. He smelled salt water and seaweed.

“The ocean’s out there. Feel it?” said Annie.

“I hear it and smell it,” said Jack.

“Then let’s go play in it!” said Annie. She pulled off her sneakers and socks.

“We can’t just
play
,” Jack said. “We have to look for a secret of happiness.”

“Well, I’m happiest when I’m playing in the ocean!” Annie started down the rope ladder.

I’m sure our mission’s harder than that
, Jack thought. He took their library books out of his pack and replaced them with the deep-sea book.

“Hurry!” said Annie.

Jack put on his pack and started down after her. He stepped off the ladder onto the misty ground.

“Come on!” said Annie.

Jack followed Annie toward the sounds of seabirds and waves. They walked through feathery ferns and climbed a sloping sand dune. When they rounded the top, Jack saw waves rolling onto a wide, sandy beach. But the ocean itself was still shrouded in a gray haze.

“Wow,” said Annie.

“Yeah,” said Jack.

“Come on, let’s go in,” Annie said.

Jack and Annie hurried down the dune and ran toward the ocean. While Annie waded into the water, Jack stood at the edge and pulled out their research book. “Listen to this, Annie,” he called.

Jack read loudly:

“More than six miles?” Annie asked, splashing the water with her hands. “It’s six miles from our house to Aunt Libby’s.”

“I know,” said Jack. He read more:

“Mountains and volcanoes?” asked Annie. “Under the water?”

“That’s what the book says,” said Jack. “The ocean’s a whole world we don’t know anything about.”

“Well,
some
people know about it,” said Annie. “Or that book couldn’t have been written.”

Good point
, thought Jack.

“Put the book away and come in, Jack,” said Annie. “The sun’s coming out!”

Jack looked up from his book. The sun was burning away the mist, making the day hotter.

“Let’s go swimming!” said Annie.

As Annie dove into a wave, Jack put his book back into his backpack. He left his pack on the beach, then he waded into the water.

“Great, huh?” called Annie.

“Yeah,” Jack said as he dug his toes into the soft, gooey sand. Cool seawater lapped around his calves. He felt the warm sunshine on his face.

“Let’s swim farther out,” said Annie. “Maybe the secret of happiness is in the deep sea.”

“How do we go down there without a submarine?” asked Jack.

“The wand,” said Annie. “Maybe it will turn us into fish or something.”

Jack closed his eyes and pictured the darkness of the deep filled with thousands of weird creatures. “But the wand can be used only after we’ve tried our hardest. I don’t think we’ve done that yet,” he said.

“Oh, right,” said Annie. “Plus, it has to be for the good of others.”

“So first we have to find some others,” Jack said, his eyes still closed.

“Jack, you won’t believe it,” said Annie.

“What?” Jack asked dreamily.

“Take a look!” said Annie.

Jack sighed and opened his eyes. The mist had cleared a bit, and the day was becoming bright and hot.

“I think we just found the others!” said Annie. She pointed out to sea.

Jack shaded his eyes and squinted. Through the wavy sunlight, he saw a large wooden ship
with three tall masts. “Whoa,” he breathed. “That’s a ship from a long time ago.”

“Yeah. Remember when we ran into the pirate ship?” said Annie. “This ship looks the same, doesn’t it?”

“Oh, no,” said Jack. “Pirates
again
?”

“Look! A rowboat’s leaving the ship,” said Annie.

“Oh, man …,” said Jack.

“It’s heading toward us,” said Annie. “Just like that other time, remember? The pirates came ashore and chased us. Remember Pinky, Stinky, and Captain Bones?”

“Don’t panic,” said Jack, panicking. He splashed out of the water and ran up on the beach.

“Where should we go?” asked Annie, hurrying after him.

“To the tree house!” said Jack. He grabbed his backpack.

“But the pirates climbed up to the tree house,” said Annie. “Pinky and Stinky found—”

“Forget Pinky and Stinky!” said Jack. “Let’s just get out of here!”

Jack and Annie charged toward the sand dune. They raced up over the top and ran through the tall ferns and grass until they came to the rope ladder.

“Up, up!” cried Jack.

Jack and Annie climbed into the tree house. “Pull up the ladder!” said Jack. Together they hauled the rope ladder after them.

“Where’s the Pennsylvania book?” said Jack. He looked around wildly for the book that always took them home. He grabbed it and found a picture of Frog Creek.

“Wait, wait! Don’t make a wish yet!” said Annie. She was looking out the window. “I’m not so sure these guys are pirates.”

Clutching the Pennsylvania book to his chest, Jack looked out the window with Annie. There were three men in the rowboat. The boat rode the top of a wave and came close to the beach.

Two of the men scrambled out and dragged the boat from the shallow water onto the sand. They both wore huge, bulky vests over white puffy-sleeved shirts. They wore round white hats and white pants rolled up to their knees.

“Those two don’t look at all like Pinky and Stinky,” said Annie.

“You’re right,” said Jack. “Pirates never wear such clean-looking clothes.”

“And look at that third guy,” said Annie.

The third man stepped out of the boat, carrying a butterfly net. He pulled off his bulky vest, revealing an old-fashioned suit and a bow tie.

“He
definitely
doesn’t look like a pirate,” said Annie.

“Yeah,” said Jack. “He looks like he’s never been on a boat before in his life.”

As the two sailors pulled the rowboat farther onto the beach, the man in the bow tie picked up a stick. He started poking at clumps of seaweed.

“What’s he doing?” asked Jack.

The man dropped his stick and picked up something small from the sand. He studied it for a moment. Then he knelt down, pulled a small book out of his pocket, and started to write.

“Who is he?” said Jack.

“I don’t know,” said Annie. “But one thing’s for sure—pirates don’t carry butterfly nets or write in notebooks.”

“You’re right,” said Jack. He put down the Pennsylvania book. “So what’s going on?”

“Let’s go find out,” said Annie. She dropped the rope ladder back to the ground and started down.

Jack grabbed his pack and hurried after her. Together they ran barefoot over the hot sand and through the feathery ferns. They climbed to the top of a sand dune and looked down. The three men were still at the edge of the water while the big ship drifted offshore.

“Hey, look. You can see the name of the ship,” said Annie.

Jack peered through the haze and read on the side of the ship, HMS
Challenger
. “I’ll look it up,” he whispered. He pulled out their research book and searched the index. “It’s here!” he whispered. He found the right page and read:

“Oh, man,” said Jack, looking up. “That is so cool.”

“Yeah, read more,” whispered Annie. Jack read on:

“So we landed in the 1870s,” said Jack, looking up again.

“And that guy with the butterfly net must be one of the scientists,” said Annie. “Come on, let’s go meet him!”

Before Jack could tell her to wait, Annie darted down the sand dune. “Hey, guys!” she called. She waved her arms. “Hi!”

The three men whirled around. Their eyes grew wide and their mouths dropped open. They looked at Annie as if they were staring at a ghost.