Good Morning, Gorillas by Mary Pope Osborne Read Free Book Online

Tap-tap-tap.
    Jack sat up in bed. Rain tapped against his window. His clock said 5 A.M. It was still dark outside.
    Annie peeked into his room.
    “Are you awake?” she whispered.
    “Yep,” said Jack.
    “Ready to find some special magic?” she asked.
    “Maybe we should wait,” said Jack. “It’s so dark and rainy.”
    “
No
waiting,” said Annie. “I’ll get an umbrella. You bring a flashlight. Meet you downstairs.”
    “Okay, okay,” said Jack.
    He jumped out of bed. He pulled on his clothes and put on a jacket. Then he grabbed his backpack and flashlight.
    Jack slipped downstairs and out the front door. Annie stood on the porch in jeans and a T-shirt. The air was chilly and breezy.
    “Don’t you need a sweater or something?” said Jack.
    “I’m okay,” she said. “Let’s go.”
    Annie raised the umbrella. Jack turned on the flashlight. They followed a circle of rainy light down their street into the woods.
    They headed through the Frog Creek woods. The flashlight lit up the trees—the wet leaves and dark branches. Then it shined on a dangling rope ladder.
    Jack raised the flashlight beam.
    “There it is,” he said.
    A circle of light lit the magic tree house.
    “Morgan’s not there,” said Annie. “I can tell.”
    “Maybe she left us a message,” said Jack.
    Jack grabbed the rope ladder and started up. Annie put the umbrella down and followed. When they climbed inside, Jack shined the flashlight around the tree house.
    Morgan le Fay wasn’t there. But the scrolls from their trip to old England were.
    “Here’s proof we found a special magic yesterday,” she said.
    “Yeah,” said Jack, smiling. “
Theater
magic.” He had great memories of acting in a play by their friend William Shakespeare.
    “Did Morgan leave us a new secret rhyme?” asked Jack.
    He shined the flashlight on a book lying under the window. A piece of paper was sticking out of the book.
    “Yes!” said Annie. She picked up the book and pulled out the paper.
    Jack shined his light on the paper while Annie read aloud:
    Dear Annie and Jack,
    Good luck on your second journey to find a special magic. This secret rhyme will guide you:
    To find a special kind of magic
    in worlds so far apart,
    speak a special language,
    talk with your hands and heart.
          
Thank you,

          
Morgan
    “What kind of language does she mean?” Jack asked.
    “I guess we’ll find out,” said Annie. “Where are we going?”
    Jack shined the flashlight on the cover of the book. It showed huge trees partly hidden by mist. The title was:
    AN AFRICAN RAIN FOREST
    “
Rain
forest?” said Jack. “Good thing we brought our umbrella and flashlight. Remember the rain in the
Amazon
rain forest? Remember how dark it was under the treetops?”
    “Yeah,” said Annie. “Remember the spiders and scary ants?”
    “Well … ,” Jack said, “not all rain forests have the same bugs.”
    “Remember the river snakes?” said Annie. “And the crocodiles?”
    “Well … ,” said Jack, “not all rain forests have big rivers. There are different kinds of rain forests, you know.”
    “Right,” said Annie. She pointed to the cover of the book. “I wish we could go there.”
    The wind started to blow.
    “Oh, remember the jaguar?” said Annie. “And the vampire bats?”
    “Wait!” said Jack.
    But it was too late. The wind was blowing harder. The tree house started to spin.
    It spun faster and faster.
    Then everything was still.
    Absolutely still.

Jack opened his eyes.
    “I can’t tell
what
kind of rain forest this is,” said Annie. She stared out the window.
    Jack looked out, too. It seemed to be daytime, but he couldn’t see much of anything. The quiet forest was covered with fog.

    Jack opened their research book and read:
    The misty rain forest in the mountains of central Africa is called a “cloud forest.”
    “Oh, I get it,” said Annie. “We’re up so high, it’s like we’re in a cloud.”
    “Cool,”