Ch6-Morning Breeze

CHAPTER SIX Morning Breeze "Your Majesty, sir!" Annie called to the Great Mogul. "She's just an animal! Please don't let anyone hurt her!" "Shhh! You can't talk to him!" Jack whispered furiously. "Please help her!" Annie said to the Great Mogul. "She doesn't know how great you are. She doesn't know she should respect you."

The Great Mogul kept staring at Annie but said nothing. "Don't you love animals?" Annie asked. The Great Mogul didn't answer. "Don't you love anything?" asked Annie. The ambassadors gasped. Two of the guards grabbed Annie by her arms. "No, please, she—he can't help it!" Jack explained to the guards. "That's just the way my brother is. He can't stop himself from talking. Please, tell your ruler that!" The Great Mogul murmured something to a bodyguard. Then he turned and left the balcony. The guard looked startled. He said something in a low voice to the men holding Annie. Jack held his breath. Were they going to drag her away? To his surprise, the guards let Annie go. "Is the Great Mogul going to punish the elephant?" Annie asked. "No, he is not," a guard said. "He has given her to you as a gift." "What?" said Jack. "Really?" said Annie.

"Given her to us as a gift? What does that mean, exactly?" Jack asked. "It means you must take her home," said the guard. "Back to your own country." "Take the elephant home?" said Jack. "Come with me," the guard said. "Come on, Jack!" Annie called as she hurried after the guard, leaving the balcony. "Take the elephant home?" Jack repeated. The ambassadors were still gaping at him. "Who are you?" one of them asked. "Where are you from?" "Jack, ambassador from Frog Creek," said Jack. "Excuse me." In a daze, he hurried after Annie and the guard. When he caught up to them, he whispered to Annie, "Have you lost your mind? We can't take an elephant home!" "We can't let her stay here, either," said Annie. "They'll punish her!" "Okay. Then you can be the one who carries her up the rope ladder," said Jack. "Ha-ha," said Annie. "It's not ha-ha," said Jack, "it's insane."

"Look, let's just get her out of the Red Fort first," said Annie. "Then we'll figure out what to do." Jack and Annie followed the guard until they emerged at the edge of the square in front of the Hall of Public Audience. Several guards were scuffling with the elephant. They had a rope around her neck. Her ears were flapping. She was snorting and stamping her feet.

The guards pulled on the rope, forcing the elephant down on her knees. Her eyes looked desperate and furious. "Hey, don't hurt her!" Jack blurted out. A guard pointed his saber at Jack. "Climb on. Now. Both of you," he said. "You have caused enough trouble this day. It is a miracle you are still alive!" Jack clutched his bag and scrambled awkwardly into the straw carriage on the elephant's back. Annie climbed in behind him. Crammed together, they gripped the sides of the carriage. "Her name is Morning Breeze!" the guard shouted. "Take her back to your own land! Go now! Before the Great Mogul changes his mind!" As if obeying the guard, Morning Breeze rose to her full height. She moved quickly across the square and headed down the stone road that led to the gate. Jack and Annie bounced up and down. They clutched the sides of the straw carriage, trying not to fall out. Jack could hear the guards roaring with laughter behind them. "Slow down!" Jack shouted to the elephant.

But Morning Breeze ran even faster, her big leathery ears flapping and her bells jangling. "She's more like a wind than a breeze!" shouted Annie. "More like a tornado!" Jack yelled. Morning Breeze thundered through the gate and over the wooden drawbridge. Jack and Annie held on to the sides of the carriage for dear life. After she'd crossed the moat, the elephant finally slowed to a walk. Morning Breeze held her trunk high. She seemed to be sniffing the hot wind. Her ears spread out as if she were listening for a distant sound. "We're near the tree house! It's right there in that row of trees!" said Jack. "We have the emerald rose. If we can just make her stop, we can jump off and go home. We can get out of this heat and away from this place—" "I know, I know," said Annie. "But—" "Stop! Stop, Morning Breeze!" said Jack. "Let us off!" "But what about her?" said Annie. "We can't just leave her here by herself!"