04 Swing Time

Chapter 04 Swing Time Annie grabbed a vine. Jack looked back at the python. The giant snake was still winding its way up the tree. It had almost reached their branch. Jack took a deep breath. Then he grabbed a vine, too. “ Lean back, like Kah and Ko did, ” said Annie. Jack and Annie leaned back. “ One, two, three—go! ” said Annie.

They swung out of the tree. Jack felt his stomach drop. Air rushed by. Leaves and branches slapped at him. Suddenly, the forest shook with a great roar. Like a flame, a tiger leaped up from the bushes! His yellow eyes blazed. His teeth shone like daggers. His claws barely missed Jack and Annie! “ AAAHHH! ” they yelled. The tiger crashed back down into the bushes. Jack and Annie swung into the langurs’ tree. Jack threw one leg around the trunk. He let go of his vine and held on tightly to a branch.

“ Oh, man! ” he said. He was in shock. The langurs patted him, as if to make sure he was okay. “ Wow, that was fun, ” said Annie, sitting on a big branch. “ Fun? Are you nuts?” said Jack. “ The swinging was fun, ” said Annie. “ The tiger was scary. ” Just then, the tree began to shake. Branches snapped below. “ Oh, no! ” said Jack. “ Can tigers climb trees?” asked Annie. “ Probably, ” said Jack. He hugged the trunk and squeezed his eyes shut. From below came loud sounds of chewing, smacking, and crunching. Teddy growled. Jack groaned.

“ Now the tiger’s eating the tree, ” he said. Annie burst into laughter. Kah and Ko whooped as if they were laughing, too. Arf! Arf! barked Teddy. “ What?” said Jack, opening his eyes. “ Look! ” Annie pointed at the twilight. A thick gray tube was waving in the air.

“ Another snake?” said Jack, horrified. “ No! An elephant trunk! ” said Annie. The trunk wiggled near Jack and Annie, as if it were sniffing them. Then it picked leaves from the tree and disappeared. “ Let’s go see! ” said Annie. With Teddy still in his backpack, Jack followed Annie down to a lower branch. They peered out at the twilight forest. In the gray gloom, they saw a herd of elephants. One stood beneath their tree, eating leaves. Others munched grass. “ Hey, I’ve got a really cool idea, ” said Annie.