10 The Third Writing

10 The Third Writing Jack opened his eyes. Morning light filled the tree house. He and Annie were wearing their own clothes again. “ Home, ” said Annie, smiling. Jack looked out the window. He saw their nice, cozy house in the distance, their lawn, their sidewalk, their paved street. “ Life here is pretty easy compared to pioneer life, " said Jack.

“ We're lucky, " said Annie. Jack reached into his bag and pulled out the small slate. “ Our third writing, " he said. He added the poem to the list from the Civil War and the letter from the Revolutionary War. “ You did just what that poem says you should do, " said Annie. “ What do you mean?" Jack asked. “ If at first you don't succeed, try, try again, " Annie said. “ You kept trying to make friends with Jeb. In the end, you did. ” “ I guess you're right, " said Jack. “ We have to get only one more special writing for Morgan's library, " said Annie. “ I wonder how that will help save Camelot?" said Jack. Annie shrugged. “ It's a mystery, " she said.

She and Jack looked around the tree house. “ Look-” Annie picked up a piece of paper lying in the corner. She read aloud: Come back early Wednesday morning. “ Wednesday? Man, that's tomorrow! ” said Jack. “ So?” said Annie. She started down the rope ladder. “ Not much time to recover, ” said Jack, pulling on his backpack.

“ Recover from what?" Annie said. “ The twister, " said Jack. “ Oh yeah, I'd almost forgotten about that, " said Annie. Jack smiled. Actually, the nightmare of the twister was fading from his memory, too. We must try to hold on to the good memories, Miss Neely had said, and let go of the bad ones. The kindness of Will and Kate, making friends with Jeb, the courage of Miss Neely these memories, Jack thought, he would never forget.