神奇树屋11 -Lions at lunchtime-第三章

 Disaster

“Come on, Jack!” Annie called.  She was almost to the river.

       “Just a minute!” he shouted.  He wanted to study the giraffes and zebras.

       He pulled out the Africa book and found a picture of giraffes.  He read:

The giraffe is the tallest animal in the world.  Its legs alone can be six feet tall, and its hooves can be as big as dinner plates.  The giraffe has a very powerful kick, which makes it dangerous to attack.  For this reason, lions tend to avoid giraffes.

Jack pulled out his notebook and wrote:

Notes on Africa--Lions avoid giraffes.

He turned the page and read more:

Zebras live in family groups.  As no two zebras have exactly the same pattern of stripes, every baby zebra must learn its own mother’s pattern.

Jack studied the zebras, trying to see their different patterns.  But in the hazy afternoon light, all the stripes made him dizzy.

He blinked to clear his head, then read more:

Zebras are the first to cross the river because they eat the coarsest grass.  After they’ve thinned down the top layer, the wildebeests arrive and eat the next layer.  They prepare the grass for the gazelles, who come last.

Wow, thought Jack.  Each animal depends on the one that goes before.

He wrote:

Animals all connected.

Jack heard Annie shouting from the riverbank.  “Jump, beasts!  Jump!  You can do it!  Don’t be afraid!  Come on!”

    He looked up.  Annie herself was jumping as she called to the wildebeests.

Jack sighed.  I’d better stop her before there’s trouble, he thought.

He put away the Africa book and his notebook.  Then he jogged toward the river.  His pack was heavy and lumpy, bumping against his back.  He’d forgotten to take out the jar of peanut butter and the loaf of bread.

Jack decided to leave them at the tree house.  He turned to go back.

But just then, Annie’s shouting stopped.

Jack looked at the river.

She had vanished.

“Annie?” he called.

No answer.

Where was she?

“Annie!” Jack shouted.

She had completely disappeared.

“Oh, man,” said Jack.

Their trip had barely begun, and already disaster had struck!

He forgot about the stuff in his pack.  He just ran as fast as he could.

He wove his way between the grazing zebras and giraffes as he raced to the river.

“Help!” called Annie.