A Crazy Day with Cobras by Mary Pope Osborne Read Free Book Online Page B

near the row of dark trees outside the Red Fort.
    “This is fine. We’ll get out here, please,” said Jack.
    The guard gave them a silent nod.
    Jack and Annie jumped out of the cart. They ran under the trees to the rope ladder and climbed into the tree house. Jack grabbed the Pennsylvania book. Before he made the wish, he and Annie looked out the window.
    In the distance, they could just see the Taj Mahal. It glowed faintly in the hot night, like a shimmering cloud.
    “Oh, wait …,” said Jack. “I just remembered something.” He reached into his bag and pulled out the note from Kathleen and Teddy. He read aloud:
    Ye say that ye wish
your spell be reversed?
Four things ye must find.
Here is the first:
    In the shape of a rose
is an emerald stone
that uncovers the heart
of one who’s alone
.
    Jack put the note away. “Our mission wasn’t really done until now,” he said. “We were so worried about the emerald rose, we forgot the part about uncovering the heart of one who’s alone.”
    “The Great Mogul,” said Annie. “Even though he has millions of followers, he’s really lonely.”
    Jack and Annie looked out the window again. “Good-bye, Great Mogul,” Annie said. “I hope your heart feels better someday.”
    Jack took a deep breath. He pointed at a picture of the Frog Creek woods. “I wish we could go home,” he said.
    The wind began to blow.
    The tree house started to spin.
    It spun faster and faster.
    Then everything was still.
    Absolutely still.

    Jack and Annie were wearing their own clothes again. Jack’s bag was a backpack. A warm wind was blowing the trees in the Frog Creek woods.
    “I’m glad it’s not boiling hot here,” said Jack.
    “It feels good,” said Annie. “You’ve still got the emerald rose, right?”
    Jack looked in his backpack. “Got it,” he said. He pulled out their note, their research book, and the blue bottle, and he left them in the corner of the tree house.
    Then Jack took out the sparkling stone and held it up to the afternoon light. “This is for you, Penny,” Jack said. “We’ll take this home and keep it safe until we see Teddy and Kathleen again.”
    “Good,” said Annie.
    Jack carefully put the emerald rose back into his backpack. Then he looked at Annie. “Home,” he said.
    Jack and Annie climbed down the rope ladder. As they walked through the Frog Creek woods, Annie was unusually quiet.
    “What’s on your mind?” Jack asked.
    “Well, I was just thinking that it’s really cool that emeralds stand for love,” said Annie. “Love was the reason for every big thing that happened today.”
    “How do you mean?” said Jack. He thought their day had been crazy.
    “Well, we went on our mission because Merlin—and everyone else in Camelot—loves Penny,” said Annie, “and we love her, too.”
    “Right …,” said Jack.
    “And the Great Mogul gave us Morning Breeze because I loved her,” said Annie.
    “Right,” said Jack.
    “And Morning Breeze took us into the wild because she loved her baby,” said Annie.
    “Right,” said Jack.
    “And we ran into trouble with the cobras because they loved their babies-to-be,” said Annie.
    “Yeah …,” said Jack. “Okay.”
    “And finally, the Great Mogul showed us the Taj Mahal, which is the most amazing building we’ve ever seen, and he built it because he loved his wife,” said Annie.
    “Yeah,” said Jack. “You’re right.” Annie made it all sound so simple.
    “And now I would love to go home,” said Annie.
    “Me too,” said Jack.
    “Hey, we can tell Mom and Dad you got an A plus on your story,” said Annie. “We’ll print it out again.”
    “Yeah, and I made copies of your artwork,” said Jack. “Except the sparkles don’t really show.”
    “That’s okay,” said Annie. “The sparkles aren’t that important.”
    “Right,” said Jack. “It’s the heart that counts.” And the two of them left the Frog Creek woods and headed home under the cloudless May sky.

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