2 Land of Giants

2 LAND OF GIANTS Yosemite was cool and very dark. "Mmm. Smells good," said Annie. Jack inhaled the woodsy smell of damp earth, green leaves, and tree bark. "It's too dark to see anything, but I can tell my clothes magically changed," said Annie. Jack felt his clothes. "Mine too," he said. "Feels like I'm wearing a heavy jacket, long pants, and"— he reached down to his feet— "leather boots?" "I think I'm wearing the same thing!" said Annie. "And my jacket has huge pockets. They're so big I can put my sketchbook and pencil inside." "Great, me too," said Jack. He dropped his book and pencil into one of his jacket pockets. He put Morgan's message in the other. "Where are we?" said Annie. "Can we see anything?"

Jack and Annie looked out the window. The branches above the tree house were dense with dark leaves. But between leaves and branches, Jack could see pale gray sky. "Is it dawn?" asked Annie. "Or dusk?" said Jack. "Hard to tell," said Annie. "We'll find out soon. Let's go down." "Okay, but go slow," said Jack. "You too," said Annie. She found the opening in the floor and started down the rope ladder. Jack followed. A mild wind blew through the tree limbs. The leaves made swishing, whispery sounds. "Hold on!" Jack called. "You too!" Annie called back. In the dark, Jack tightly gripped the sides of the ladder. He moved his hands and feet slowly down…and down…step by step…step by step…. The breeze grew stronger, then softer. The swishing sounds rose and fell. "This ladder's incredibly long!" Annie yelled. "Yeah, because this tree's incredibly tall!" said Jack.

"Don't be worried!" said Annie. "I'm not worried," said Jack. Actually, he was worried. No tree in the world could be as tall as this, he thought. The sound of windblown leaves was starting to sound spooky. The high, sweet twitter of a bird came from nearby. Then another. And another. It was dawn! "Yay," Jack whispered. "It's getting lighter!" said Annie. "And we're almost there!" Jack looked down. Yes! The ground was only about twenty feet below! Jack and Annie kept climbing down. Finally they reached the bottom of the tree and stepped off the ladder. "Hey, we are dressed alike," said Annie. "Yep," said Jack. In the dim, shadowy light, he could see that their clothes had magically changed into canvas jackets, heavy cloth pants, and leather boots with laces.

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Jack looked up. He could see a bit of pink sky above the treetop. "Oh, man," he said. "This must be the tallest tree in the world! It's like a twenty-story building! And check out the trunk!" "It's beautiful!" said Annie. She took off running around the massive reddish-brown trunk. "I'll bet thirty kids could stand around this tree!" she said when she got back to Jack. "More like fifty!" said Jack. "And all the trees look as big as this one!" In the cool morning air, every tree seemed as high as a twenty-story building. "Did we come to a land of giants?" Annie asked breathlessly. "Or did we shrink?" Jack laughed. "Just the trees are giants," he said. "The squirrels are normal size, see?" He pointed to a squirrel scampering over the forest floor. "Oh, right," said Annie. She looked around. "Is this the wilderness we're supposed to save?" "I don't think so…," said Jack. The gigantic trees looked super healthy and strong. "Maybe there's another wilderness nearby?" said

Annie. "That doesn't sound right, either," said Jack. "Well, we can figure it out later," said Annie. "I can't wait to start drawing." She pulled out her pencil and sketchbook. "Seriously, I really can't draw," said Jack. "Just try," said Annie. "I'll sketch that butterfly." She pointed to a delicate white butterfly perched on a leaf. "You can draw the squirrel." The little squirrel was now nibbling a tree cone. "Nah, too ordinary," said Jack. "Do it for practice," said Annie. She crept closer to the white butterfly. Jack opened his book. He set the sharp point of his pencil on a blank page and stared at the squirrel. Suddenly Jack's pencil seemed to take on a life of its own. Before Jack could think, he drew the squirrel's head. He drew its dark eyes and small ears. "Whoa!" said Jack. "Wow!" yelled Annie, drawing the butterfly. "Our pencils are magic!" "Yes!" cried Jack. He swiftly sketched the