Magic Tree House2The Knight at Dawn.docx

1、Magic Tree House2The Knight at DawnThe Knight at Dawn(Magic Tree House #2: ) 1 The Dark Woods Jack couldnt sleep. He put his glasses on. He looked at the clock. 530. Too early to get up. Yesterday so many strange things had happened. Now he was trying to figure them out. He turned on the light. He p

2、icked up his notebook. He looked at the list hed made before going to bed. found tree house in woods found lots of books in itpointed to Pteranodon picture in book made a wishwent to time of dinosaurs Pointed to picture of Frog Creek woods made a wish Came home to Frog Creek Jack pushed his glasses

3、into place. Who was going to believe any of this? Not his mom. Or his dad. Or his third-grade teacher， Ms. Watkins. Only his seven-year-old sister， Annie. Shed gone with him to the time of the dinosaurs. “Cant you sleep?” It was Annie， standing in his doorway. “Nope，” said Jack. “Me neither，” said A

4、nnie. “What are you doing?” She walked over to Jack and looked at his notebook. She read the list. “Aren t you going to write about the gold medal?” she asked. “You mean the gold medallion， ” said Jack. He picked up his pencil and wrote： found this in dinosaur time “Arent you going to put the letter

5、 M on the medal?” said Annie. “Medallion，” said Jack. “Not medal.” He added an M： “Arent you going to write about the magic person?” said Annie. “We dont know for sure if there is a magic person，” said Jack. “Well， someone built the tree house in the woods. Someone put the books in it. Someone lost

6、a gold medal in dinosaur time.” “Medallion!” said Jack for the third time. “And Im just writing the facts.The stuff we know for sure.” “Let s go back to the tree house right now，” said Annie. “And find out if the magic person is a fact.” “Are you nuts?” said Jack. “The suns not even up yet.” “Come o

7、n，” said Annie. “Maybe we can catch them sleeping.” “I don t think we should，” said Jack. He was worried. What if the “magic person” was mean? What if he or she didnt want kids to know about the tree house? “Well， Im going，” said Annie. Jack looked out his window at the dark-gray sky. It was almost

8、dawn. He sighed. “Okay. Lets get dressed. Ill meet you at the back door. Be quiet.” “Yay!” whispered Annie. She tiptoed away as quietly as a mouse. Jack put on jeans， a warm sweatshirt， and sneakers. He tossed his notebook and pencil in his backpack. He crept downstairs. Annie was waiting by the bac

9、k door. She shined a flashlight in Jacks face. “Ta-da! A magic wand!” she said. “Shhh! Don t wake up Mom and Dad，” whispered Jack. “And turn that flashlight off. We dont want anyone to see us.” Annie nodded and turned it off. Then she clipped it onto her belt. They slipped out the door into the cool

10、 early-morning air. Crickets were chirping. The dog next door barked. “Quiet， Henry!” whispered Annie. Henry stopped barking. Animals always seemed to do what Annie said. “Lets run!” said Jack. They dashed across the dark， wet lawn and didnt stop until they reached the woods. “We need the flashlight

11、 now，” said Jack. Annie took it off her belt and switched it on. Step by step， she and Jack walked between the trees. Jack held his breath. The dark woods were scary. “Gotcha!” said Annie， shining the flashlight in Jacks face. Jack jumped back. Then he frowned. “Cut it out!” he siad. “I scared you，”

12、 said Annie. Jack glared at her. “Stop pretending!” he whispered. “This is serious.” “Okay， okay.” Annie shined her flashlight over the tops of the trees. “Now what are you doing?” said Jack. “Looking for the tree house!” The light stopped moving. There it was. The mysterious tree house. At the top

13、of the tallest tree in the woods. Annie shined her light at the tree house， and then down the tall ladder. All the way to the ground. “Im going up，” she said. She gripped the flashlight and began to climb. “Wait!” Jack called. What if someone was in the tree house? “Annie! Come back!” But she was go

14、ne. The light disappeared. Jack was alone in the dark. 2 Leaving Again “No ones here!” Annie shouted down. Jack thought about going home. Then he thought about all the books in the tree house. He started up the ladder. When he was nearly to the tree house， he saw light in the distant sky. Dawn was s

15、tarting to break. He crawled through a hole in the floor and took off his backpack. It was dark inside the tree house. Annie was shining her flashlight on the books scattered about. “Theyre still here，” she said. She stopped the light on a dinosaur book. It was the book that had taken them to the ti

16、me of the dinosaurs. “Remember the Tyrannosaurus?” asked Annie. Jack shuddered. Of coures he remembered! How could anyone forget seeing a real live Tyrannosaurus rex? The light fell on a book about Pennsylvania. A red silk bookmark stuck out of it. “Remember the picture of Frog Creek?” said Annie. “

17、Of course，” said Jack. That was the picture that had brought them home. “Theres my favorite，” said Annie. The light was shining on a book about knights and castles. There was a blue leather bookmark in it. Annie turned to the page with the bookmark. There was a picture of a knight on a black horse.

18、He was riding toward a castle.“Annie， close that book，” said Jack. “I know what youre thinking.” Annie pointed at the knight. “Dont， Annie!” “We wish we could see this guy for real，” Annie said. “No， we dont!” shouted Jack. They heard a strange sound. “Neeee-hhhh！” It sounded like a horse neighing.

19、They both went to the window. Annie shined the flashlight down on the ground. “Oh no，” whispered Jack. “A knight!” said Annie. Aknight in shining armor! Riding a black horse! Through the Frog Creek woods! Then the wind began to moan. The leaves began to tremble. It was happening again. “Were leaving

20、!” cried Annie. “Get down!” The wind moaned louder. The leaves shook harder. And the tree house started to spin. It spun faster and faster! Jack squeezed his eyes shut. Then everything was still. Absolutely still. Jack opened his eyes. He shivered. The air was damp and cool. The sound of a horses wh

21、inny came again from below. “Neeee-hhhh！” “I think were here，” whispered Annie. She was still holding the castle book. Jack peeked out the window. A huge castle loomed out of the fog. He looked around. The tree house was in a different oak tree. And down below， the knight on the black horse was ridi

22、ng by. “We cant stay here，” said Jack. “We have to go home and make a plan first.” He picked up the book about Pennsylvania. He opened it tothe page with the red silk bookmark. He pointed to the photograph of the Frog Creek woods. “I wish” “No!” said Annie. She yanked the book away from him. “Lets s

23、tay! I want to visit the castle!” “Youre nuts. We have to examine the situation，” said Jack. “From home.” “Lets examine it here!” said Annie. “Come on.” He held out his hand. “Give it.” Annie gave Jack the book. “Okay. You can go home. Im staying，” she said. She clipped the flashlight to her belt. “

24、Wait!” said Jack. “Im going to take a peek. A teeny peek，” she said. And she scooted down the ladder. Jack groaned. Okay， she had won. He couldn t leave without her. Besides， he sort of wanted to take a peek himself. He put down the book about Pennsylvania. He dropped the castle book into his pack.

25、He stepped onto the ladder. And headed down into the cool， misty air. 3 Across the Bridge Annie was under the tree， looking across the foggy ground. “The knight s riding toward that bridge， I think，” said Annie. “The bridge goes to the castle.” “Wait. Ill look it up，” said Jack. “Give me the flashli

26、ght!” He took the flashlight from her and pulled the castle book out of his pack. He opened it to the page with the leather bookmark. He read the words under the picture of the knight： This is a knight arriving for a castle feast. Knights wore armor when they traveled long and dangerous distances. T

27、he armor was very heavy. A helmet alone could weigh up to forty pounds. Wow. Jack had weighted forty pounds when he was five years old. So it d be like riding a horse with a five-year-old on your head. Jakc pulled out his notebook. He wanted to take notes， as hed done on their dinosaur trip. He wrot

28、e： heavy head What else? He turned the pages of the castle book.He found a picture that showed the whole castle and the buildings around it. “The knights crossing the bridge，” said Annie. “Hes going through the gate. Hes gone.” Jack studied the bridge in the picture. He read： A drawbridge crossed th

29、e moat. The moat was filled with water， to help protect the castle from enemies. Some people believe crocodiles were kept in the moat. Jack wrote in his notebook： crocodiles in moat? “Look!” said Annie， peering through the mist. “A windmill! Right over there!” “Yeah， there s a windmill in here， too，

30、” said Jack， pointing at the picture. “Look at the real one， Jack，” said Annie. “Not the one in the book.” A piercing shriek split the air. “Yikes，” said Annie. “It sounded like it came from that little house over there!” She pointed through the fog. “There s a little house here，” said Jack， studyin

31、g the picture. He turned the page and read： The hawk house was in the inner ward of the castle. Hawks were trained to hunt other birds and small animals. Jack wrote in his notebook： hawks in hawk house “We must be in the inner ward，” said Jack. “Listen!” whispered Annie. “You hear that? Drums! Horns! Theyre coming from the castle. Lets go see.” “Wait，” said Jakc. He turned more pages of the book. “I want to see whats really going on， Jack. Not whats in the book，” said Annie. “But look at this!” said Jack. He pointed to a picture of a big party. Men were