“Safe!” said Annie.
“So far, so good!” said Jack.
Cria’s bell jangled as she pranced around them.
“Take us to Topa!” said Annie.
“Follow me!” said the baby llama. And she took off into the cloud forest.
“Let’s go!” Annie yelled, running after Cria.
“Wait, wait!” said Jack, charging after them. “Did I hear her say ‘follow me’?”
“You heard it!” said Annie.
“Impossible!” said Jack, laughing.
Then he followed Cria and Annie through the ferns and over the roots and rocks, until he smelled woodsmoke and heard flute music.
In the clearing of the forest, Topa and his grandparents were sitting outside their hut. The old man was playing a sad song. His wife was trying to get Topa to eat, but the boy waved the food away.
The baby llama bleated softly.
Topa lifted his head. “Cria!” he cried out, and the little silver llama ran to greet him.
Cria’s bell jingled as Topa threw his arms around her. “Thank you, Jack and Annie!” he said.
“How were you able to rescue her from the guards?” his grandfather asked.
“Um…we just found her,” said Annie. “On the mountain.”
“Yes, she must have escaped from the guards,” said Jack. “And we brought her home to Topa.”
“That is wonderful!” said Topa’s grandmother.
“Catch me, Cria!” Topa said. The baby llama dashed after him across the grass.
As Topa played with Cria in the meadow, his grandmother gave cups of water to Jack and Annie.
“Would you stay to eat with us?” she asked.
“Oh, I forgot! We still have our potatoes,” said Jack. He took them out of his bag and handed one to Annie.
Jack and Annie ate their cold baked potatoes. Topa ate a potato, too. Then he pulled up some weeds for Cria. He fed the baby llama by hand, and she munched hungrily.
When everyone had finished their late lunch, they sat still for a moment. Cria and Topa were resting side by side in the grass. The old man started to play his flute again.
As the soothing music wafted through the air, Jack grew sleepy.
Annie nudged him. “Time to go home,” she said.
“Oh, right.” Jack stood up.
“Thank you for helping us,” said Topa’s grandmother.
“Good-bye, Jack and Annie! Thank you again!” Topa said.
“Take good care of Cria,” said Jack.
“And, Cria, you take good care of Topa,” said Annie, patting the baby llama’s silver fur.
Cria fluttered her long eyelashes at Annie and Jack. She looked like she was smiling.
Jack and Annie waved and headed back into the cloud forest.
“Where’s the tree house?” Annie asked.
“Follow me,” said Jack. “I’m pretty sure I know where it is.”
They pushed through tall ferns. They scrambled over rocks and roots. They wove around trees, until they came to the rope ladder.
“Yay! You found it!” said Annie.
She and Jack climbed up into the tree house. From a distance came the sound of the flute.
“That sweet music makes me miss home,” said Annie.
“Me too,” said Jack.
“Go back to Mom,” said Annie, imitating Cria’s tiny voice.
“Go back to Dad,” said Jack.
Annie picked up their Pennsylvania book and found the picture of the Frog Creek woods.
“I wish we could go there,” she said, pointing.
The wind started to blow.
The tree house started to spin.
It spun faster and faster.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
* * *
A warm breeze blew into the tree house. The air smelled of summer leaves and sunshine.
Jack and Annie were wearing their shorts, T-shirts, and sneakers again. Jack’s woven bag had become his backpack.
“Home,” Annie said. “For the picnic!”
Jack reached into his backpack and pulled out Travel Guide: The Andes Mountains of Peru. He put the book on the floor. He took out Morgan’s rhyme and looked at it.
“Uh-oh,” he said.
“What?” said Annie.
“There’s something in the rhyme we didn’t do,” said Jack.
“What?” said Annie.
“When did we find the secret of brave?” said Jack.
“Don’t worry, we did that,” said Annie. “Let’s go.” She began climbing down the ladder.
“Hold on,” said Jack. He placed Morgan’s rhyme on the floor of the tree house. Then he pulled on his backpack.
He followed Annie down the ladder, and they started through the Frog Creek woods.
“When did we find the secret of brave?” Jack asked again.
“Well, at first you were afraid to cross the rope bridge,” said Annie.
“No, I wasn’t,” said Jack.
“Yes, you were,” said Annie. “And you were afraid to enter the Secret City. And you were afraid to walk down the Old Trail.”
“Okay, so what’s your point?” Jack said, slightly hurt. “That I’m not brave? I already know that.”
“No, that you are brave, really brave,” said Annie. “You did those things even though you were afraid. I was afraid, too. But to us, saving Cria and bringing her home to Topa was more important than our fears. So we crossed the bridge. We entered the city. And we walked Cria down the mountain trail.”
“So, we were brave after all?” said Jack.
“Yes. People can’t be brave unless they’re first afraid,” said Annie. “Being afraid and being brave totally go together.”
“Hmm,” said Jack.
“That’s the secret of brave,” said Annie.
“Oh. Okay,” said Jack. He took a deep breath.
“Hey, we’d better run. We’re going on a picnic,” said Annie. “Ready?”
“Ready for anything!” said Jack.
Then he and Annie took off running through the Frog Creek woods, heading for home.
The Atacama Desert lies along the western edge of the Andes. In 2011, men working on a road there uncovered some strange bones…a lot of them! Scientists visited the site and found they were the fossils of whales and other sea creatures. They were about 5 million years old!
Researchers wanted to know how these fossils got so far from the ocean. They discovered that whole groups of animals probably died from eating toxic algae.
Their dead bodies washed up onshore and lay buried in sand. Over the years, the bones became fossils. As the mountains grew higher, they pushed the fossils up about 130 feet, and they wound up in the Atacama Desert!
Andeans dried llama and alpaca dung and burned it in fires for cooking and warmth. The dung also made excellent fertilizer that helped crops grow well in the poor mountain soil. Llama and alpaca dung is especially good fertilizer for growing corn at very high altitudes.
Llama fat was made into candles.
How to Spot a Llama
Llamas can be over six feet tall and weigh about 400 pounds. Their long, banana-shaped ears stand straight up, and their hearing is excellent.
Many predators have eyes that focus straight ahead. Animals that are their prey, such as llamas, often have wide-set eyes. Large eyes on either side of their head give llamas a wide view of what’s happening around them.
Llamas come in different colors. The most common are brown with yellow or white spots, but they can also be black, gray, and white.
Llama wool is tough and strong. It’s great for making rugs, warm clothes, blankets, and ropes.
There are llama farms everywhere. If you visit one, it’s
good to know how to greet a llama.
First, let the llama come up to you. Don’t be noisy or wave your hands around. Don’t sing or whistle or jump up and down. Move slowly. And don’t stare right into its eyes—the llama might feel threatened.
If the llama feels comfortable, it will sniff your face to get your scent. Otherwise, it will back away. Don’t pat its head if it stays near you. Just try softly touching it on the sides of its neck.
Andean Condors
Condors are the largest flying birds in the world. They weigh about thirty-three pounds, and have a wingspan around ten feet across. Condors live at altitudes of 9,000 to 16,000 feet.
Condors can travel 120 miles a day! Because their bodies are so heavy, they save energy by soaring along with the wind currents.
Condors belong to the vulture family and eat the meat from dead animals. They can eat several pounds and then go days without any food at all. The Incas believed that these great birds were messengers from the gods.
Pumas
Puma is another name for mountain lions, or cougars. They live in both North and South America. Pumas are the fourth-largest cats in the world. They are almost eight feet from the end of their tail to the tip of their nose.
Pumas prey on large animals, like deer and livestock. Since they can run fifty miles per hour and can jump fifteen feet, they are deadly predators.
When pumas make a kill, they usually eat part of it and save the rest by dragging it under leaves or sticks. Pumas and condors often fight over the leftovers. And a lot of times the pumas lose!
WILL OSBORNE
is the author of many novels, picture books, story collections, and nonfiction books. Her New York Times number one bestselling Magic Tree House series has been translated into numerous languages around the world. Highly recommended by parents and educators everywhere, the series introduces young readers to different cultures and times in history, as well as to the world’s legacy of ancient myth and storytelling. She and her husband, writer Will Osborne (author of Magic Tree House: The Musical), live in northwestern Connecticut with their three dogs. Ms. Osborne is coauthor of the companion Magic Tree House® Fact Trackers with Will and with her sister, Natalie Pope Boyce.
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Late Lunch with Llamas Page 4