Free Mary Pope Osborne - Magic Tree House 46 by Dogs in the Dead of Night Page B

shadowy dark, but they were so familiar with the path to the tallest oak that they quickly found their way.
    The tree house was there, waiting for them. But no one was looking out the window.
    “Darn, no Teddy and Kathleen,” said Annie.
    “Well, at least they sent the tree house,” said Jack. “That must mean they were able to translate the next part of the ancient spell. They must have stayed in Camelot to work on the rest.”
    “Yeah, probably,” said Annie. She grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Jack followed her.
    Inside the tree house, daylight was starting to creep through the windows. Jack saw a smallscroll on top of a book in the shadows. “That’s it!” he said. He picked it up and read aloud:
    The second thing to break the spell
is a white and yellow flower.
Live its meaning for yourself,
if only for an hour.
    “A white and yellow flower?” said Annie. “Well, that sounds easier than finding an emerald shaped like a rose.”
    “Okay. But where do we go to look for it?” said Jack. He picked up the book from the floor and read the title aloud:

    “What’s that mean?” asked Annie. “The Swiss Alps?”
    “Those are mountains in the country of Switzerland,” said Jack. “People ski there and stuff. The Alps are the mountains they climb in
The Sound of Music.
”
    “Oh,
that
place!” said Annie. “Great!”
    “Look, there’s a bookmark,” said Jack. He turned to a page marked with a blue velvet ribbon. There was a picture of tall mountain peaks and an open, snowy area surrounded by rocky slopes. The caption read:
The Great Saint Bernard Pass.
    “That must be the exact place we’re supposed to go,” said Jack. “Ready?”
    “Hold on—there’s something else,” said Annie. She picked up a small blue bottle from the floor of the shadowy corner. The bottle had a label on it. She read aloud:

    “Whoa,” said Jack.
    “
Anything
we want?” said Annie.
    “That’s what it says,” said Jack.
    “This is going to be so much fun!” said Annie. “Let’s get going.”
    Annie handed Jack the bottle. He carefully put it and the scroll into his backpack. Then he pointed at the picture of the Great Saint Bernard Pass in their Alps 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.

A cold wind swept through the window. The purple light of the setting sun filled the tree house. Jack and Annie wore scratchy wool pants, shirts, hats, scarves, and gloves, and leather shoes. Jack’s pack had turned into a leather bag. When he opened it, he saw the scroll and the blue bottle inside—along with his notebook and pencil and the emerald rose.

    “So these are the Swiss Alps,” said Annie, shivering and looking out the window. “Pretty, but cold.”
    Jack looked out with her. The tree house wasnestled between gray boulders on a mountain slope. Snowy peaks loomed overhead. Below the peaks was the snow-covered pass they had seen in the picture. Smoke rose from a tall building.
    “This must be the Great Saint Bernard Pass,” said Jack. He picked up their book and turned to the page with the bookmark and read:
    The Great Saint Bernard Pass is an ancient road between the two highest peaks of the Alps. For thousands of years, it was the only route between Switzerland and Italy. The pass was named for Bernard of Menthon, who built a monastery there in the eleventh century. For hundreds of years, the monks at this Swiss monastery have welcomed cold and weary travelers who are crossing the pass.
    “So that building must be the monastery,” said Jack.
    “Great,” said Annie. “We can start our mission by going there.”
    “Okay,” said Jack. “But I don’t get it. To save Penny we have to find a white and yellow flower. And we have to live its meaning, if only for an hour—whatever that means.”
    “We’ll figure it out,” said Annie.
    “Let’s hope,” said