2 Morgan’s Magic

Chapter 2 MORGAN'S MAGIC A soft sea breeze blew into the tree house. Jack heard birds cawing and waves crashing. He inhaled moist, salty air. "Nice clothes," said Annie. "We look good." "Yeah, we do," said Jack. They were both wearing long-sleeved green shirts with pockets, baggy tan cargo pants, and hiking boots. They looked out the window together. The tree house had landed in a palm tree. The tree stood at the edge of a long white beach. Sunlight sparkled on gentle ocean waves. "There's the beautiful bird!" said Annie. An albatross was gliding on the wind. Seagulls and black birds with huge wings also circled above the beach. Out in the ocean, a motorboat was speeding toward a dock that extended beyond the shoreline.

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"Okay. A motorboat," said Jack. "We must not have gone very far into the past." "I see trucks, too," said Annie. She pointed to two white pickup trucks parked near the beach. "And our clothes. Ready to climb down?" "Wait. Our badges," said Jack. "Oh, right," said Annie. She handed Jack his badge. Jack and Annie clipped the badges to the pockets of their green shirts. "Ready now," said Jack. Annie gasped. "Wait! Something's happening to our badges!" Jack looked at Annie's badge. One at a time, letters were magically appearing until they spelled: ANNIE WORLD TURTLE EXPERT "World Turtle Expert?" Jack said. He looked down at his own badge. It now said:

JACK WORLD TURTLE EXPERT "But what does that mean?" said Jack. "It means we're World Turtle Experts," said Annie. "But what does that mean?" said Jack. "It means we're World Turtle Experts!" said Annie again. "Get it?" "Turtles?… Really?" said Jack. He looked out the window. To his surprise, his mind was suddenly filled with expert turtle information. "Oh, I know where we are now," he said with wonder. "We landed on Isabela Island. It's part of the Galápagos Islands!" "Right!" said Annie, looking with him. "The Galápagos belong to the country of Ecuador. Any turtle expert would recognize this place." "Of course," said Jack. "It's world-famous for having the biggest tortoises in the world—the Galápagos giant tortoises!" "The kings and queens of the turtle world!" exclaimed Annie. "I love giant tortoises!"

"Who doesn't?" said Jack. "Most of the Galápagos is a national park to protect wildlife. On the islands, you'll find fifteen different—" Suddenly Jack shook his head. "Wait—wait—this is too weird. Let's take these off." He unclipped his badge from his shirt. Annie did the same. "I don't know what I'm saying," said Jack. "I never knew anything about these islands before. I've never even heard of them! And turtles! Really? I never knew anything about turtles." "Well, we do now—when we wear our badges," said Annie. "Get it? They instantly turned us into turtle experts and gave us a bunch of knowledge." She picked up their note again. "Listen—" Your badges are magic. You'll be what they say. Clip them on when you land In a port far away. "But this is too strange," said Jack. "I don't feel like myself. I don't sound like myself."

"I know, but it's fun," said Annie. "I love being a World Turtle Expert. Don't you?" "I—I don't know…," said Jack. "Hey, it's just like the time Morgan gave us magic baseball caps, remember?" said Annie. "When we wore them, we instantly became batboys in a major- league game. We knew everything we needed to know." "Yeah… right, we did," said Jack. Annie read more from the note: Show them to strangers, And they'll all agree. No matter your age, "Experts" they'll see. "Wow, this is so incredible," said Annie. "When strangers see our badges, they'll totally believe we're grown-up experts. They won't see us as know- nothing kids." "How's that possible?" said Jack. "It's Morgan's magic!" said Annie. "Remember when people saw us wearing the magic baseball caps? They thought we were both teenage boys!"