Dinosaurs Before Dark by Mary Pope Osborne Page A

oak tree. “Look,” she said. She was pointing at a rope ladder.
    The longest rope ladder Jack had ever seen.
    â€œWow,” he whispered.
    The ladder went all the way up to the top of the tree.
    There—at the top—was a tree house. It was tucked between two branches.
    â€œThat must be the highest tree house in the world,” said Annie.
    â€œWho built it?” asked Jack. “I’ve never seen it before.”
    â€œI don’t know. But I’m going up,” said Annie.
    â€œNo. We don’t know who it belongs to,” said Jack.
    â€œJust for a teeny minute,” said Annie. She started up the ladder.
    â€œAnnie, come back!”
    She kept climbing.

    Jack sighed. “Annie, it’s almost dark. We have to go home.”
    Annie disappeared inside the tree house.
    â€œAn-nie!”
    Jack waited a moment. He was about to call again when Annie poked her head out of the tree house window.
    â€œBooks!” she shouted.
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œIt’s filled with books!”
    Oh, man! Jack loved books.
    He pushed his glasses into place. He gripped the sides of the rope ladder, and up he went.

Jack crawled through a hole in the tree house floor.
    Wow. The tree house
was
filled with books. Books everywhere. Very old books with dusty covers. New books with shiny, bright covers.
    â€œLook. You can see far, far away,” said Annie. She was peering out the tree house window.
    Jack looked out the window with her. Down below were the tops of the other trees. In the distance he saw the Frog Creek library.The elementary school. The park.
    Annie pointed in the other direction.
    â€œThere’s our house,” she said.
    Sure enough. There was their white wooden house with the green porch. Next door was their neighbor’s black dog, Henry. He looked very tiny.
    â€œHi, Henry!” shouted Annie.
    â€œShush!” said Jack. “We’re not supposed to be up here.”
    He glanced around the tree house again.
    â€œI wonder who owns all these books,” he said. He noticed bookmarks were sticking out of many of them.
    â€œI like this one,” said Annie. She held up a book with a castle on the cover.
    â€œHere’s a book about Pennsylvania,” said Jack. He turned to the page with the bookmark.
    â€œHey, there’s a picture of Frog Creek in here,” said Jack. “It’s a picture of
these
woods!”
    â€œOh, here’s a book for you,” said Annie. She held up a book about dinosaurs. A blue silk bookmark was sticking out of it.
    â€œLet me see it.” Jack set down his backpack and grabbed the book from her.
    â€œYou look at that one, and I’ll look at the one about castles,” said Annie.
    â€œNo, we better not,” said Jack. “We don’t know who these books belong to.”
    But even as he said this, Jack opened the dinosaur book to where the bookmark was. He couldn’t help himself.
    He turned to a picture of an ancient flying reptile. A Pteranodon.
    He touched the huge bat-like wings.
    â€œWow,” whispered Jack. “I wish I couldsee a Pteranodon for real.”
    Jack studied the picture of the odd-looking creature soaring through the sky.
    â€œAhhh!” screamed Annie.
    â€œWhat?” said Jack.
    â€œA monster!” Annie cried. She pointed to the tree house window.
    â€œStop pretending, Annie,” said Jack.
    â€œNo, really!” said Annie.
    Jack looked out the window.
    A giant creature was gliding above the treetops! He had a long, weird crest on the back of his head. A skinny beak. And huge bat-like wings!
    It was a real live Pteranodon!
    The creature curved through the sky. He was coming straight toward the tree house. He looked like a glider plane!

    The wind began to blow.
    The leaves trembled.
    Suddenly the creature soared up. High into the sky. Jack nearly fell out the window trying to see it.
    The wind picked up. It was whistling now.
    The tree house