Earthquake in the Early Morning (2 page)

Jack sat up in bed. He stared out his window.

The sky was dark gray. The sun would be rising soon.

“It's almost time,” he whispered to himself.

The day before, in the magic tree house, Morgan's note had said, “Come back tomorrow, in the early morning.”

Jack jumped out of bed. He put on his jeans and T-shirt. Then he grabbed his backpack and crept out into the hall.

Jack peeked into Annie's room. She wasn't there. He slipped downstairs and out the front door.

Annie was sitting on the porch steps. Jack sat down beside her.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“I was waiting for the birds to start singing,” said Annie. “Then I was going to wake you up.”

Jack and Annie watched the sky go from dark gray to light gray. Then the birds began their song.

“Tweet-tweet,” said Annie.

Without another word, Jack and Annie left their porch. They headed up their street to the Frog Creek woods.

It was cool beneath the trees. Jack and Annie hurried through the woods to the rope
ladder. It hung from the tallest oak. At the top of the oak was the magic tree house.

They climbed up into the tree house. It was barely light inside.

Annie picked up the note lying on the floor. She held it up to the window and read aloud:

Dear Jack and Annie,

Camelot is in trouble. To save the kingdom, please find these four special kinds of writing for my library:

Something to follow

Something to send

Something to learn

Something to lend

          
Thank you,

          
Morgan

Jack took a deep breath.

“Okay,” he said. “We have our first special writing: a list from the Civil War.”

“We have the second,” said Annie, “a letter from the Revolutionary War.”

“We have the third,” said Jack, “a poem from a pioneer schoolhouse.”

“Now we just need one more,” said Annie.

“I wonder
why
we have to find these special writings for Morgan's library,” said Jack. “How are they going to save Camelot?”

“I don't know,” said Annie. “But let's get going so we can solve the mystery. Where's our research book?”

They looked around the tree house.

Their Pennsylvania book, the book that always brought them home, was lying in the corner. Beside it was another book. Annie picked it up.

“This is it,” she said softly. She showed the book's cover to Jack. It said:

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1906

“California?”
said Jack. “I've always wanted to go to California.”

“Me too,” said Annie. She laughed. “I guess I told Miss Neely the truth after all.”

“Yeah,” said Jack, smiling.

The magic tree house had taken them to a pioneer school in their last adventure. There, Annie had told the teacher, Miss Neely, that they were on their way to California.

Annie pointed at the cover of the California book.

“We
really
wish we could go there,” she said.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

“Nice clothes,” said Annie.

Jack opened his eyes.

Annie was wearing a blue-and-white dress with a big sailor collar and white stockings.

Jack was wearing brown knee-length pants, a jacket, a cap, and a tie. His backpack had become a leather bag. He and Annie both wore short lace-up boots.

A church bell started to ring.

Gong. Gong. Gong. Gong. Gong.

“It rang five times,” said Jack. “It must be five in the morning.”

“Yeah,” said Annie. She was looking out the window.

Jack looked with her. The early-morning air felt fresh and cool.

The tree house had landed in a tree at the bottom of a hill. Painted wooden houses and
gaslights lined a quiet cobblestone street. A trolley car moved along tracks up the street. It rounded the top of the hill and disappeared.

Tall buildings towered farther off. The sun was behind them, making pink streaks in the blue sky.

“It's really pretty here,” said Annie.

“Yeah,” said Jack.

He opened the research book and read:

Jack pulled out his notebook. He wrote:

“Let's go!” Annie said impatiently.

Jack looked back at the book. He wanted to learn more.

“Now,”
said Annie. She took the book and notebook away from him and put them into his leather bag. “Let's not waste any more time.”

Annie left the tree house.

“Doing research is
not
wasting time,” Jack called after her.

But he slung his bag over his shoulder and followed Annie down the rope ladder. When they had both stepped onto the grass, Jack looked around.

“Where to?” he said.

“Anywhere!” said Annie. “Let's just explore and see the sights. We can be tourists.”

“Okay,” said Jack. “But don't forget we have to find the writing for Morgan's library.”

They started up the cobblestone street. As
they walked up the steep hill, the sun rose above the tall buildings.

The early light turned everything to gold: stones, streetlamps, and the glass windows of the silent houses.

“It's so quiet and peaceful,” said Annie.

“Yeah, everyone must still be sleeping,” said Jack.

Suddenly, out of the quiet came a deep rumbling noise.

Jack stopped. He grabbed Annie's arm.

“What's that?” he said.

The noise got louder. It sounded like thunder coming from under the ground.

The earth started shaking.

Church bells clanged wildly.

The whole street began to move. The cobblestones rolled like waves on the ocean.

“What's happening?” Annie cried.

Chimneys fell off roofs!

Gaslights toppled over!

Bricks crashed to the street!

“Get down!” shouted Jack. “Cover your head!”

Jack and Annie crouched on the ground with their arms over their heads. All around them was rumbling, clanging, crashing, and breaking.

Then the world grew still. The rumbling stopped.

Jack and Annie raised their heads. The air was filled with dust.

“It's over,” said Jack.

“That must have been an earthquake!” said Annie.

“I think so,” Jack agreed.

“I guess I should have let you do a little more research on this place,” Annie said.

“Yeah, probably,” said Jack. “Except I don't know exactly what we could have done.”

Jack slowly stood up. His legs felt wobbly. As he brushed off his pants, the deep rumbling came again—louder than before.

Then the terrible shaking started. It was even harder than before.

Jack was hurled to the ground. The earth trembled and quaked. Jack bounced against the hard cobblestones.

“Annie!” he cried.

He tried to stand, but fell again. Through
the dusty air, he saw the tall buildings swaying against the sky!

Roofs were caving in!

Up and down the street, bricks, glass, and concrete showered down!

It seemed like a long time before the dreadful noise and shaking finally stopped.