“Oh, no,” said Jack. “I don’t believe this.”
The monkey grabbed a third fruit and threw it at Jack and Annie. It landed inside the canoe with a thump.
Annie grabbed the fruit. She stood up and threw it back at the monkey.
She missed. The canoe rocked. Annie almost fell out.
The monkey screeched even louder.
“Go away!” Annie shouted. “You’re the nastiest thing in the world!”
The monkey stopped screeching.
He looked at Annie. Then he swung away. Into the forest.
“I think I hurt his feelings,” said Annie.
“Who cares?” said Jack. “He shouldn’t throw things.”
“Uh-oh,” said Annie. “It’s raining now.”
“What?” Jack looked up. A raindrop hit him in the eye.
“Oh, no. I don’t believe this,” he said.
“What’d you expect?” said Annie. “It is the rainforest.”
A gust of wind blew the canoe.
Thunder rolled in the sky.
“A river’s a bad place to be in a storm,” said Jack. “We have to get back to the shore. Right now.”
“But how?” said Annie. “We can’t wade or swim. The piranhas, the snake and the crocodile will get us.”
Screeching split the air again.
“Oh, no,” said Jack. The mischievous monkey was back.
This time, the monkey was pointing a long stick at the canoe.
Jack crouched down. Was the monkey going to hurl the stick at them? Like a spear?
Annie jumped up and faced the monkey.
“Watch it! He’s crazy,” said Jack.
But the monkey just stared at Annie. And Annie just stared back at him.
After a long moment, the monkey seemed to smile.
Annie smiled back.
“What’s going on?” said Jack.
“He wants to help us,” Annie said.
“Help us how?” said Jack.
The monkey held out the long stick.
Annie grabbed the other end.
The monkey pulled on the stick. The canoe started floating towards him.
The monkey pulled the canoe all the way to the bank of the river.
7
Freeze!
JACK AND ANNIE jumped out of the canoe.
The rain was starting to fall harder.
The monkey set off. He swung from tree to tree, heading up the riverbank.
He screeched and beckoned to Jack and Annie.
“He wants us to follow him!” said Annie.
“No! We have to find the special thing. Then go home!” said Jack.
“He wants to help us!” said Annie. She set off after the monkey.
The two of them vanished into the rainforest.
“Annie!”
Thunder shook the sky.
Jack dashed after Annie and the monkey. Into the dark forest.
The forest seemed surprisingly dry.
Jack looked up. It was still raining. But the treetops acted like a huge umbrella.
“Annie?” he called.
“Jack! Jack!” cried Annie.
“Where are you?”
“Here!”
Jack hurried in the direction of Annie’s voice.
Soon he found the monkey. He was screeching and swinging from a tree.
Annie was kneeling on the forest floor. She was playing with an animal that looked like a giant kitten.
“What’s that?” Jack said.
“I don’t know, but I love it!” said Annie.
She stroked the animal’s paws. It had gold fur and black spots.
“I’d better find out what it is,” said Jack. He pulled out the rainforest book and flipped through it.
“Oh, it’s so sweet,” said Annie.
Jack found a picture of an animal with gold fur and black spots. He read:
The jaguar is the biggest predator in the western hemisphere.
“Forget sweet,” Jack said. “That must be a baby jaguar. It’s going to grow up and be the biggest predator in—”
“What’s a predator?” asked Annie.
GRRR! There was a terrible growl.
Jack whirled round.
The mother jaguar was coming out from behind a tree. She was creeping over the dead leaves – right towards Annie.
“Freeze!” whispered Jack.
Annie froze. But the jaguar kept moving slowly towards her.
“Help!” said Jack weakly.
Suddenly the monkey swooped down from his tree. He grabbed the jaguar’s tail! The cat roared and spun round.
Annie jumped up.
The monkey pulled the jaguar’s tail again. Then he let go and set off.
The jaguar sprang after him.
“Run, Annie!” cried Jack.
Jack and Annie set off through the rainforest. They ran for their lives!
8
Vampire Bats?
“WAIT,” SAID JACK, panting. “I think we’ve got away.”
Jack and Annie stopped running and caught their breath.
“Where are we?” said Jack.
“Where’s the monkey?” said Annie, looking back at the forest. “Do you think the jaguar caught him?”
“No, monkeys are fast,” said Jack.
Of course, jaguars are fast too, he thought. But he didn’t want to tell Annie that.
“I hope he’s OK,” said Annie.
Squeak. Peanut peeped out of Annie’s pocket.
“Peanut! I almost forgot about you!” said Annie. “Are you OK?”
The mouse just stared at Annie with her big eyes.
“She looks scared,” said Jack. “Poor Peanut.”
“Poor monkey,” said Annie. She looked around at the forest.
“We’d better check the book,” Jack said.
He pulled out the book. He turned the pages, searching for help.
He stopped at a picture of a scary creature.
“Oh, no. What’s this?” he said.
Jack read the writing below the picture. It said:
Vampire bats live in the Amazon rainforest. At night, they quietly bite their victims and suck their blood.
“Vampire bats?” said Jack. He felt faint.
“Vampire bats?” said Annie.
Jack nodded. “After dark.”
Annie and Jack looked around. The rainforest seemed to be getting even darker.
“Oh, no,” said Annie. She looked at Jack. “Maybe we should go home.”
Jack nodded. For once he agreed with her.
“But what about our mission?” said Annie. “What about Morgan?”
“We’ll come back,” said Jack. “We’ll have to be prepared.”
“So we’ll come back tomorrow?” Annie asked.
“Right. Now which way is the tree house?” said Jack.
“This way,” said Annie, pointing.
“That way,” said Jack, pointing in the opposite direction.
They looked at each other. “We’re lost,” they said together.
Squeak.
“Don’t worry, Peanut.” Annie started to pat the mouse again. But then she stopped.
Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.
“Jack, I think Peanut wants to help us,” said Annie.
“How?”
“The way she helped us in the time of the ninjas.”
Annie placed the mouse on the leafy forest floor. “Take us to the tree house, Peanut.”
The mouse set off.
“Where’s she gone?” said Annie. “I can’t see her!”
“There!” said Jack. He pointed to leaves rustling on the ground.
A streak of white passed over the leaves.
“Yes, there!” said Annie.
Jack and Annie followed the moving leaves. The streak of white appeared. And disappeared.
Suddenly Jack stopped.
The forest floor was still. There was no sign of Peanut.
“Where is she?” asked Jack.<
br />
He kept staring at the ground.
“Jack!”
Jack glanced round. Annie was standing on the other side of a nearby tree. She was pointing up.
Jack looked up.
The tree house.
“Oh, phew,” Jack said softly.
“She’s saved us again,” said Annie. “She’s running up the ladder. All by herself. Look.”
She pointed at the rope ladder.
Peanut was climbing up one of the ropes.
“Let’s go,” Jack said.
Annie started up the ladder. Then Jack.
They followed Peanut all the way up to the canopy of the rainforest.
9
The Thing
JACK AND ANNIE climbed into the tree house.
Peanut was sitting on a stack of books.
Annie patted Peanut’s little head. “Thanks,” she said softly.
“I have to write some notes about the rainforest,” said Jack. “You find the Frog Valley book.”
Annie began searching for the book – the one that always took them home.
Jack pulled out his notebook.
He had wanted to take lots of notes here. But all he’d written so far was:
The Amazon rainforest is
“It’s not here!” said Annie.
“What?” Jack looked up. He glanced around the tree house.
Annie was right. The Frog Valley book was nowhere in sight.
“Was it here before we left the woods?” said Jack.
“I can’t remember,” said Annie.
“Oh, no,” said Jack. “Now we can’t get back to Frog Valley.”
“That means we’ll be here when the vampire bats come out,” said Annie.
Something came flying through the tree-house window.
“Ahhh!” Jack and Annie hid their heads.
Thud.
Something hit the floor. A red fruit.
Jack looked up. The monkey was sitting in the window. His head was cocked to one side. He seemed to be grinning at them.
“You’re safe!” said Annie.
“Thanks for saving us,” said Jack.
The monkey just grinned.
“I have just one question,” said Annie. She pointed at the fruit. “Why do you keep throwing those at us?”
The monkey grabbed the fruit.
“No! Don’t throw it!” said Jack. He ducked.
But the monkey didn’t throw the fruit.
He held it out to Annie. He moved his lips as if he were trying to say something.
Annie stared into the monkey’s eyes. He moved his lips again. “Wow,” Annie said softly. “I understand now.”
“Understand what?” said Jack.
Annie took the fruit from the monkey. “This is it,” she said. “The thing we need.”
“What thing?” said Jack.
“One of the special things we’re supposed to find for Morgan,” Annie said. “To free her from the spell.”
“Are you sure?” said Jack.
Before Annie could answer, Jack saw the Frog Valley book. “Look! Our book!” he said, pointing.
“We found the thing. And now we can see the book,” said Annie. “That’s the way it works, remember?”
Jack nodded. Now he remembered. The ninja master said they wouldn’t be able to find the Frog Valley book until they had found what they were looking for.
The monkey screeched with laughter.
Jack and Annie looked at him. He was clapping his hands together.
Annie laughed with him. “How did you know to give this to us?” she said. “Who told you to do that?”
The monkey just waved at Jack and Annie. Then he turned and swung away out of the tree house.
“Wait!” said Jack, looking out of the window.
Too late.
The monkey was gone. He had vanished below the treetops.
“Goodbye!” called Annie.
A happy screech came from the mysterious world below.
Jack sighed. He picked up his notebook again. He looked at his writing:
The Amazon rain forest is
He had to write something before they left. He quickly added
amazing
Jack put away his notebook. Annie picked up the Frog Valley book.
“Now it’s really time to leave,” she said.
She turned to the picture of the woods. “I wish we could go there,” she said, pointing at the picture.
The wind started to blow.
The leaves began to tremble.
The tree house began to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
10
Halfway There
SQUEAK.
Jack opened his eyes. Peanut was on the tree-house windowsill.
“We’re home,” said Annie.
Jack breathed a sigh of relief.
Annie held the fruit up to the afternoon light.
“What exactly is this?” she asked.
“Maybe it’s in the book,” Jack answered.
He pulled out the rainforest book. He flipped through the pages. He came to a picture of the red fruit.
“Here it is!” he said. He read out loud: “The mango has a sweet taste like that of a peach.”
“Mango? Hmmm,” said Annie. She brought the fruit close to her lips.
“Hey!” said Jack, grabbing the mango from her. “We have to put it with the moonstone.”
Jack placed the mango on the M carved into the floor. Next to the clear moonstone.
“Moonstone … mango,” whispered Annie. It sounded like a spell.
“We’re halfway there,” said Jack. “Two more to go.”
“Then we can free you, Morgan!” Annie called, as if Morgan were nearby.
“How do you know she can hear you?” said Jack.
“I can just feel it,” Annie said.
“Hmmm,” said Jack. He needed more proof than that.
Squeak. Peanut was looking at Jack and Annie.
“We have to leave you now,” Jack said to the mouse.
Squeak.
“Can’t we take her with us?” said Annie.
“No,” said Jack. “Mum won’t let us keep a mouse in the house. She doesn’t like mice, remember?”
“How could anyone not like a mouse?” said Annie.
Jack smiled. “How could anyone not like a spider?” he said.
“That’s different.” Annie patted Peanut’s head. “Bye,” she said. “Wait for us here. We’ll be back tomorrow.”
Jack patted the mouse too. “Bye, Peanut. Thanks for your help,” he said.
Squeak.
Jack put the rainforest book on top of the book about ninjas.
Then he pulled on his rucksack. And he and Annie left the tree house.
They climbed down the rope ladder. They stepped onto the ground.
They started walking through the Frog Valley woods.
Leaf shadows danced in the light.
A bird called out.
These woods are very different from the rainforest, Jack thought.
“There’re no jaguars or army ants here,” he said. “No little monkeys.”
“You know, that monkey was never being nasty,” said Annie. “He was just trying to give us the mango.”
“I know. Actually, nothing was being nasty,” said Jack. “The army ants were just marching. That’s what army ants do.”
“The piranhas were just being piranhas,” said Annie.
“The snake was just being a snake,” said Jack.
“The crocodile was just being a crocodile,” said Annie.
“The jaguar was just taking care of her baby,” said Jack.
Annie shuddered. “I still don’t love insects,” she said.
“You don’t have to love them,” said Jack. “Just leave them alone. And they won’t bother you.”
In fact, that’s true about the whole rainforest,
Jack thought. Everyone should just leave it all alone.
“Who cares if the insects don’t have names?” he said softly. “They know who they are.”
Jack and Annie stepped out of the Frog Valley woods.
They started walking up their street. It was lit with a golden light.
“Race you!” said Annie.
They set off running.
They ran across their garden.
They raced up their steps.
“Safe!” they shouted together as they reached their front door.
Read all the adventures of Jack and Annie!
1–4 The Mystery of the Tree House
1. Valley of the Dinosaurs
2. Castle of Mystery
3. Secret of the Pyramid
4. Pirates’ Treasure!
5–8: The Mystery of the Magic Spell
5. Night of the Ninjas
6. Adventure on the Amazon
7. Mammoth to the Rescue
8 Moon Mission
9–12: The Mystery of the Ancient Riddles
9 Diving with Dolphins
10 A Wild West Ride
11 Lions on the Loose
12 Icy Escape!
13–16: The Mystery of the Lost Stories
13 Racing with Gladiators
14 Palace of the Dragon King
15 Voyage of the Vikings
16 Olympic Challenge!
ADVENTURE ON THE AMAZON
AN RHCB DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 446 49548 3
Published in Great Britain by RHCB Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2012
Copyright © Mary Pope Osborne, 1995
First Published in the US by Random House Children’s Books,
a division of Random House Inc, 1995
Red Fox edition published 2008
The right of Mary Pope Osborne to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
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