Night of the Ninth Dragon
Page 1
Magic Tree House® Books
#1: DINOSAURS BEFORE DARK
#2: THE KNIGHT AT DAWN
#3: MUMMIES IN THE MORNING
#4: PIRATES PAST NOON
#5: NIGHT OF THE NINJAS
#6: AFTERNOON ON THE AMAZON
#7: SUNSET OF THE SABERTOOTH
#8: MIDNIGHT ON THE MOON
#9: DOLPHINS AT DAYBREAK
#10: GHOST TOWN AT SUNDOWN
#11: LIONS AT LUNCHTIME
#12: POLAR BEARS PAST BEDTIME
#13: VACATION UNDER THE VOLCANO
#14: DAY OF THE DRAGON KING
#15: VIKING SHIPS AT SUNRISE
#16: HOUR OF THE OLYMPICS
#17: TONIGHT ON THE TITANIC
#18: BUFFALO BEFORE BREAKFAST
#19: TIGERS AT TWILIGHT
#20: DINGOES AT DINNERTIME
#21: CIVIL WAR ON SUNDAY
#22: REVOLUTIONARY WAR ON WEDNESDAY
#23: TWISTER ON TUESDAY
#24: EARTHQUAKE IN THE EARLY MORNING
#25: STAGE FRIGHT ON A SUMMER NIGHT
#26: GOOD MORNING, GORILLAS
#27: THANKSGIVING ON THURSDAY
#28: HIGH TIDE IN HAWAII
Merlin Missions
#29: CHRISTMAS IN CAMELOT
#30: HAUNTED CASTLE ON HALLOWS EVE
#31: SUMMER OF THE SEA SERPENT
#32: WINTER OF THE ICE WIZARD
#33: CARNIVAL AT CANDLELIGHT
#34: SEASON OF THE SANDSTORMS
#35: NIGHT OF THE NEW MAGICIANS
#36: BLIZZARD OF THE BLUE MOON
#37: DRAGON OF THE RED DAWN
#38: MONDAY WITH A MAD GENIUS
#39: DARK DAY IN THE DEEP SEA
#40: EVE OF THE EMPEROR PENGUIN
#41: MOONLIGHT ON THE MAGIC FLUTE
#42: A GOOD NIGHT FOR GHOSTS
#43: LEPRECHAUN IN LATE WINTER
#44: A GHOST TALE FOR CHRISTMAS TIME
#45: A CRAZY DAY WITH COBRAS
#46: DOGS IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT
#47: ABE LINCOLN AT LAST!
#48: A PERFECT TIME FOR PANDAS
#49: STALLION BY STARLIGHT
#50: HURRY UP, HOUDINI!
#51: HIGH TIME FOR HEROES
#52: SOCCER ON SUNDAY
#53: SHADOW OF THE SHARK
#54: BALTO OF THE BLUE DAWN
Super Editions
DANGER IN THE DARKEST HOUR
Magic Tree House® Fact Trackers
DINOSAURS
KNIGHTS AND CASTLES
MUMMIES AND PYRAMIDS
PIRATES
RAIN FORESTS
SPACE
TITANIC
TWISTERS AND OTHER TERRIBLE STORMS
DOLPHINS AND SHARKS
ANCIENT GREECE AND THE OLYMPICS
AMERICAN REVOLUTION
SABERTOOTHS AND THE ICE AGE
PILGRIMS
ANCIENT ROME AND POMPEII
TSUNAMIS AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS
POLAR BEARS AND THE ARCTIC
SEA MONSTERS
PENGUINS AND ANTARCTICA
LEONARDO DA VINCI
GHOSTS
LEPRECHAUNS AND IRISH FOLKLORE
RAGS AND RICHES: KIDS IN THE TIME OF CHARLES DICKENS
SNAKES AND OTHER REPTILES
DOG HEROES
ABRAHAM LINCOLN
PANDAS AND OTHER ENDANGERED SPECIES
HORSE HEROES
HEROES FOR ALL TIMES
SOCCER
NINJAS AND SAMURAI
CHINA: LAND OF THE EMPEROR’S GREAT WALL
SHARKS AND OTHER PREDATORS
VIKINGS
DOGSLEDDING AND EXTREME SPORTS
DRAGONS AND MYTHICAL CREATURES
More Magic Tree House®
GAMES AND PUZZLES FROM THE TREE HOUSE
MAGIC TRICKS FROM THE TREE HOUSE
MY MAGIC TREE HOUSE JOURNAL
MAGIC TREE HOUSE SURVIVAL GUIDE
ANIMAL GAMES AND PUZZLES
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2016 by Mary Pope Osborne
Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2016 by Sal Murdocca
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC.
Magic Tree House is a registered trademark of Mary Pope Osborne; used under license.
Visit us on the Web!
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Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-553-51089-8 (trade) — ISBN 978-0-553-51090-4 (lib. bdg.)—ISBN 978-0-553-51091-1 (ebook)
Ebook ISBN 9780553510911
This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v4.1
a
For our dear friend
Dharani Burnham
CONTENTS
Cover
Other Books in This Series
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Prologue
1. That’s It?
2. Hail, Your Majesty!
3. Dragons Everywhere
4. Just Us
5. Cafelle and Kee
6. Riddle of the Forest
7. Run for Your Lives!
8. Munith Mor
9. Fire Dragon
10. All Good
11. Back to the Garden
Excerpt from Dragons and Mythical Creatures
Unicorns and Mermaids
Quetzalcoatl
The Sphinx
About the Author
One summer day in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, a mysterious tree house appeared in the woods. It was filled with books. A boy named Jack and his sister, Annie, found the tree house and soon discovered that it was magic. They could go to any time and place in history just by pointing to a picture in one of the books. While they were gone, no time at all passed back in Frog Creek.
Jack and Annie eventually found out that the tree house belonged to Morgan le Fay, a magical librarian from the legendary realm of Camelot. They have since traveled on many adventures in the magic tree house and completed many missions for both Morgan le Fay and her friend Merlin the magician. Teddy and Kathleen, two young enchanters from Camelot, have sometimes helped Jack and Annie in both big and small ways.
Jack and Annie are about to find out what their next magic tree house mission will be!
The day was cloudy and windy. Jack was sitting on the front porch, using a yellow marker to highlight a book called Caring for Your New Puppy.
“Fetch, Oki!” Annie shouted, throwing a ball across their yard.
Yip, yip! A scruffy black-and-white puppy raced after the ball and caught it in his mouth. “Bring it back!” Annie called. But Oki dashed away from her instead.
“He never does what you say,” Jack said with a laugh.
“Yes, he does,” said Annie. “He fetched! He just decided not to bring it back.” She ran after Oki and wrestled the ball away from him. �
�Ready to go to the dog park now?” she called to Jack.
“Yep.” Jack highlighted a paragraph about puppy dental care. Then he closed the book and dropped it into his pack along with his yellow marker. “All set.”
“Did you pack supplies?” said Annie.
“Just his leash and water bowl,” said Jack. “And some puppy treats.” He pulled the leash out of his pack.
“Wait. Let’s see if he’ll walk with us on his own,” said Annie.
“If I know him, he’ll take off,” said Jack.
“Come on, give him a chance. I’ve been working with him,” said Annie. “Watch. Oki! Come!” The little dog ran to Jack and Annie.
“See?” said Annie as they started down the sidewalk.
“Do you really think he’ll stay with us?” said Jack, putting the leash back in his pack.
“Sure,” said Annie.
“Hey, do you have any money?” Jack asked.
“What for?” said Annie.
“I thought we could stop at the pet store,” said Jack. “We need to get him a dog toothbrush and toothpaste. I was just reading that canine tooth care is very important. You have to—” Before Jack could finish, Oki yipped and dashed away down the sidewalk.
“Oki, wait! Oki!” shouted Annie. “Stay!”
But the puppy kept running. He crossed the street, bounded over the curb, and disappeared into the Frog Creek woods.
“I knew it!” Jack said.
“Oki!” Annie shouted. She and Jack raced into the woods after the puppy. Tree branches were waving in the wind. Dry autumn leaves shook and rustled.
“Oki!” yelled Jack.
“You were right!” wailed Annie. “We should have put him on the leash!”
“Don’t worry, we’ll find him,” said Jack.
“Oki!” they called. “Oki!”
Yip, yip!
“Did you hear that?” said Jack.
“Yes!” Annie and Jack took off running between the trees. They followed the yipping sounds—until they found the puppy at the base of a giant oak tree.
The magic tree house was nestled high in the treetop. The rope ladder was swaying from side to side.
“Good boy, Oki!” Annie said. She picked up the puppy and giggled as he licked her face. “How did you know it was back?”
“Teddy?” Jack called, looking up at the tree house. “Teddy?”
There was no answer, and no one looked down from the window.
“Let’s climb up,” said Annie. “There must be a message inside.”
Yip? Yip?
“Yes, you’re coming with us!” Annie said to Oki. “Here, get in Jack’s bag.” Jack took off his backpack, and Annie lowered the puppy inside. “Is that going to be too heavy?”
“No, he doesn’t weigh much,” said Jack, pulling on the pack. “Let’s go, buddy.” Jack carried Oki up the rope ladder, and Annie followed.
When they had all climbed into the tree house, Jack took off his pack and set it on the floor. Oki scampered out and began sniffing every corner.
“I don’t see anything here,” said Annie, looking around.
“Me neither,” said Jack. There was no message from Merlin, no book from Morgan. “There’s nothing here to tell us what to do.”
Yip, yip, yip! Oki was looking out the window, barking at the woods.
Jack looked up and saw a scrap of paper floating on the wind. “Hey, is that our note?” he said.
“It must have blown out of the window!” said Annie. “I’ll get it.” She hurried back down the rope ladder. Oki kept barking as Annie chased after the paper and finally snatched it from the ground.
Annie read the note to herself and smiled.
“What does it say?” Jack called.
“Good news!” said Annie.
“What? What is it?” said Jack.
“See for yourself!” said Annie. She scrambled back up the ladder and handed Jack the scrap of paper. “Our favorite place to visit.”
Jack looked at the old-fashioned handwriting:
Dear Jack and Annie,
Please come to Camelot.
“That’s it?” said Jack.
“It’s good news, right?” said Annie.
“Yeah, but it doesn’t look like Merlin or Morgan’s handwriting, or Teddy’s….I don’t understand. Who wrote this? And why?” said Jack.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Annie. “It’s an invitation to Camelot! I love visiting Camelot, don’t you?”
“Of course,” said Jack. They had visited the kingdom many times. He loved its orchards and the Great Hall and Morgan’s magnificent library. Most of all, he loved their friends in Camelot. “But something’s weird.”
“Don’t worry, Jack. Let’s just go,” said Annie. “Get ready, Oki!” She pointed at the word Camelot on the note. “I wish we could go there!”
Yip! Yip!
Jack grabbed Oki and held him tightly.
The wind blew harder.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
The tree house was dark with shadows.
Yip!
Jack clutched Oki. He and the puppy both shivered in the damp, chilly air.
“Hey, our clothes didn’t change,” said Annie. She and Jack were still wearing their jeans, T-shirts, and sneakers.
“Right…,” said Jack.
“Maybe the person who invited us didn’t know how to magically change our clothes,” said Annie.
“Who is that person?” said Jack. He looked out the window with Annie and Oki. “And where did we land, exactly?”
The tree house was in a forest of ancient-looking oak trees with gnarled roots and sprawling branches. The shadowy woodland was eerily quiet. No birds sang. No squirrels scurried over the ground.
“Are we sure this is Camelot?” asked Jack. “I wish we had a book to give us information.”
“Let’s go down and get information firsthand,” said Annie.
“Okay,” said Jack. He picked up Oki and put him inside his backpack. Then he pulled on the pack and followed Annie down the rope ladder to the forest floor.
“So…which way?” Jack asked, looking around at the thick, towering oaks. Here and there, a shaft of sunlight shot through the treetops.
Oki sniffed the air and barked excitedly.
“He wants to lead us somewhere,” said Annie.
“Okay, but let’s put him on the leash this time,” said Jack. Annie lifted the puppy and the leash out of his pack. But before she could fasten the leash to Oki’s collar, the puppy jumped from her arms and dashed off.
“Oki! Come back!” said Jack.
“Stop!” cried Annie.
“Oh, brother, not again!” said Jack, breaking into a run. “Oki!”
“Oki, stop!” Annie yelled.
Racing through the woods, Jack and Annie chased Oki around one huge tree and then another. They chased him through pools of light and shade, and over fallen leaves, twigs, and acorns, until the puppy dashed from the dappled dark into a bright wheat field.
“Gotcha!” Annie said, grabbing Oki.
“You’ve got to stick with us, buddy,” said Jack as Annie attached the leash to the puppy’s collar.
“Where are we now?” said Annie.
Tall yellow stalks of wheat blocked the view of the land beyond the field. All Jack could see was a faraway mountain range.
“I don’t know. Let’s keep going,” said Jack.
With Oki pulling on his leash, Jack and Annie began pushing their way through the wheat. Morning sunlight shimmered on the tasseled stalks as they swayed in the wind.
“Oh, wow, look over there!” said Annie, pointing. Beyond the wheat, red flags waved from cone-shaped towers. Dragons decorated the flags. “King Arthur’s castle!”
“Yes!” said Jack. He and Annie and Oki pushed through the stalks until they came to an open field where cut grass was piled in
to haystacks.
“Yay!” said Annie. “Let’s go, Oki!” The puppy pulled on his leash, and they all started running across the field toward the outer wall of the castle. When they drew close, a trumpet sounded. A guard appeared between two turrets.
The guard aimed a crossbow at them.
“Annie, stop!” Jack yelled.
Oki barked wildly. Annie scooped him into her arms. “We come in peace!” she called to the guard.
“We have an invitation!” Jack shouted.
The guard scowled and kept his crossbow aimed directly at them.
“Jack! Annie!” someone called. A golden-haired woman in a green cape was hurrying through the gate in the outer wall. As she ran toward Jack and Annie, the guard slowly lowered his weapon.
“Queen Guinevere!” said Jack.
“Oh, wow!” said Annie.
“Hello! Hello!” Guinevere said when she reached Jack and Annie.
“Hail, Your Majesty!” said Jack, bowing.
“Hail, Your Majesty!” said Annie as Oki tried to wriggle out of her arms. “This is Oki, our new puppy.”
“Hello, Oki.” Though she smiled, Guinevere looked worried. Her golden hair was tangled, and her long gown was torn. “I am very glad to see all three of you,” she said.
“Did you send the tree house for us, Your Majesty?” said Annie.
“Yes. Long ago, Morgan explained its magic to me,” said the queen. “She told me how to send for you if I ever needed your help.”
“So…does that mean you need our help now?” said Jack.
“I will explain everything,” said Guinevere. “But it is not safe outside our castle walls. Come.” She beckoned for Jack and Annie to follow her back toward the gate.
Not safe? Why? Jack wondered as he and Annie hurried after the queen.
Guinevere led them through the arched gateway. In the outer yard, Jack saw no sign of knights or servants—and no plowmen or stonecutters or carpenters working on the grounds.
“Excuse me, Your Majesty, but are Merlin and Morgan here?” asked Annie. “And Teddy and Kathleen?”
“No, they left a fortnight ago,” said Guinevere. “Only a small number of us are here in Camelot.” She waved at a guard beside the gate in the inner wall, and he raised the iron grid that sealed off the main entrance of the castle.
Jack and Annie followed the queen across a wide courtyard. As Jack looked around, he saw that the stables and forge seemed to be empty. No grooms or blacksmiths were at work. “Where is everyone, Your Majesty?” he asked.