Ch2-Pirate Captain

CHAPTER TWO Pirate Captain Jack shivered. The air was chilly, but the sun was bright. Bare branches outside the tree house swayed in the wind. Annie was wearing a long dress with an apron. Jack wore a cotton shirt over a red undershirt and a pair of trousers with suspenders. His backpack had turned into a leather bag.

Jack looked into the bag. Inside were his notebook and pencil, the message from Teddy and Kathleen, and the bottle with the magic potion. "Good," he said, "it's all here." "We've worn clothes like these before," said Annie. "Yeah, when we ran from that twister on the prairie," said Jack. "And when we helped Clara Barton in the Civil War," said Annie. "Right," said Jack. "So, did we land at the White House?"

They looked out the window. The tree house had landed in a grove of bare, sunlit trees. Beyond the trees, horse-drawn carriages rumbled over a circular carriageway toward a stately white mansion with tall columns. "Oh, man," whispered Jack. The White House was breathtaking in the morning air, bathed in sunlight. A crowd was gathered outside the front entrance: men in long black coats and tall hats, and women in hoopskirts and bonnets with big bows.

"Looks like lots of people are visiting Abraham Lincoln today," said Annie. Jack thumbed through their research book until he found another black-and-white photograph of the White House. He read aloud: When Abraham Lincoln became president in 1861, the White House was considered to belong to all the citizens of the country, as well as to the president and his family. Anyone could walk right in. President Lincoln sometimes found it hard to work in his White House office because of the number of people swarming through the building. "So anyone can just walk right into the White House and look for the president?" said Annie. "That's crazy," said Jack. "But it's good for us!" said Annie. "I guess," said Jack, "but I don't want to be one of those people who make it hard for the president to work." "Don't forget," said Annie, "we're supposed to give him hope."

"With a feather that he's supposed to give us," said Jack. He shook his head, then took out their note from Teddy and Kathleen. The third thing to break the spell is a single feather from a hero's hand. Use it wisely to give him hope— the hope he needs to heal his land. "How can we get a feather from him?" said Jack. "And how can it give him hope?" "It's better to do just one thing at a time," said Annie. "First we have to find the president." "Hey, Willie! Look!" someone shouted from below. "It's a tree house! See? See?" "Oh, no!" whispered Jack. Jack and Annie peeked out the window. A boy about seven or eight years old was looking up at the tree house. The boy wore baggy gray trousers with suspenders and a white shirt. He had dark, piercing eyes. "Hello!" the boy shouted when he saw Jack and Annie. "Who are you? Why are you in our tree

house?" "Your tree house?" said Jack. "It's not your tree house!" "Yes, it is!" the boy said confidently. "Tad, hush!" An older boy ran to join the younger one. He had a friendly, open smile and looked to be around Jack's age. "Don't mind my brother Tad!" he shouted. "But it's ours, Willie!" said Tad. "The White House is our house! And the tree house is in our yard!" Oh, man, thought Jack. That was what the book said, too: the White House was considered to belong to all the citizens of the country, as well as to the president. "I'm sorry, but this tree house is not like the White House," Jack called. "It doesn't belong to the citizens of the country. It's ours!" "No, it's not!" yelled Tad. "I'm coming up!" "No, you're not!" Jack yelled back. He reached for the rope ladder to pull it up. But Tad had already started climbing. "Hide our stuff!" Jack said to Annie.