Earthquake in the Early Morning Read online

  Here’s what kids have to say to

  Mary Pope Osborne, author of

  the Magic Tree House series:

  WOW! You have an imagination like no other.—Adam W.

  I love your books. If you stop writing books, it will be like losing a best friend.—Ben M.

  I think you are the real Morgan le Fay. There is always magic in your books.—Erica Y.

  One day I was really bored and I didn’t want to read … I looked in your book. I read a sentence, and it was interesting. So I read some more, until the book was done. It was so good I read more and more. Then I had read all of your books, and now I hope you write lots more.—Danai K.

  I always read [your books] over and over … 1 time, 2 times, 3 times, 4 times … —Yuan C.

  You are my best author in the world. I love your books. I read all the time. I read everywhere. My mom is like freaking out.—Ellen C.

  I hope you make these books for all yours and mine’s life.—Riki H.

  Teachers and librarians love

  Magic Tree House® books, too!

  Thank you for opening faraway places and times to my class through your books. They have given me the chance to bring in additional books, materials, and videos to share with the class.—J. Cameron

  It excites me to see how involved [my fourth-grade reading class] is in your books … I would do anything to get my students more involved, and this has done it.—C. Rutz

  I discovered your books last year … WOW! Our students have gone crazy over them. I can’t order enough copies! … Thanks for contributing so much to children’s literature!—C. Kendziora

  I first came across your Magic Tree House series when my son brought one home … I have since introduced this great series to my class. They have absolutely fallen in love with these books! … My students are now asking me for more independent reading time to read them. Your stories have inspired even my most struggling readers.—M. Payne

  I love how I can go beyond the [Magic Tree House] books and use them as springboards for other learning.—R. Gale

  We have enjoyed your books all year long. We check your Web site to find new information. We pull our map down to find the areas where the adventures take place. My class always chimes in at key parts of the story. It feels good to hear my students ask for a book and cheer when a new book comes out.—J. Korinek

  Our students have “Magic Tree House fever.” I can’t keep your books on the library shelf.—J. Rafferty

  Your books truly invite children into the pleasure of reading. Thanks for such terrific work.—S. Smith

  The children in the fourth grade even hide the [Magic Tree House] books in the library so that they will be able to find them when they are ready to check them out.—K. Mortensen

  My Magic Tree House books are never on the bookshelf because they are always being read by my students. Thank you for creating such a wonderful series.—K. Mahoney

  Dear Readers,

  When I write a Magic Tree House book, I draw from three sources: my imagination, my research, and my own experience. While working on this book, my imagination came up with the idea of Jack and Annie visiting San Francisco during the earthquake of 1906. My research gave me information about the actual event. And my own experience inspired me to put my nephews, Andrew and Peter, into the story. Fortunately, my nephews and I have never been through an earthquake together, but we’ve shared many adventures, so it was fun to imagine them meeting Jack and Annie.

  Fun—that’s the magic word for me. Writing a story should always be fun. At the same time, it requires lots of work, such as rewriting and rewriting. I rewrite one Magic Tree House book many times, but I always try to have fun while I’m doing it.

  As I’ve said before, I hope you’ll try writing your own stories. You might want to check out our Readers & Writers Club on the Magic Tree House Web site. The address is listed on the back of this book. Find out where your imagination, your research, and your own experiences lead you. But watch out—you might end up in the middle of an earthquake!

  All my best,

  Text copyright © 2001 by Mary Pope Osborne

  Illustrations copyright © 2001 by Sal Murdocca

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

  www.randomhouse.com/magictreehouse

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Osborne, Mary Pope.

  Earthquake in the early morning / Mary Pope Osborne;

  illustrated by Sal Murdocca.

  p. cm. — (Magic tree house; 24) “A stepping stone book.”

  SUMMARY: The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie to San Francisco in 1906, in time for them to experience one of the biggest earthquakes the United States had ever known.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-89481-7

  1. Earthquakes—California—San Francisco—Juvenile fiction.

  [1. Earthquakes—California—San Francisco—Fiction. 2. San Francisco (Calif.) —Fiction. 3. Time travel—Fiction. 4. Magic—Fiction. 5. Tree houses—Fiction.]

  I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title.

  PZ7.O81167 Ear 2001 [Fic]—dc21 00-045701

  Random House, Inc. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland

  RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks and A STEPPING STONE BOOK and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc. MAGIC TREE HOUSE is a registered trademark of Mary Pope Osborne; used under license.

  v3.0

  Cover

  Dear Readers

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Prologue

  1. Tweet-tweet

  2. Thunder Under the Ground

  3. The Great Shake

  4. What’s the Story?

  5. Stop! Stop!

  6. Something to Lend

  7. Dynamite!

  8. Good Luck, San Francisco!

  9. The Wonderful Room

  10. The Mystery of Morgan’s Library

  More Facts

  Special Preview of Magic Tree House #25: Stage Fright on a Summer Night

  For Chi Hyon,

  Andrew and Peter’s mother

  One summer day in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, a mysterious tree house appeared in the woods.

  Eight-year-old Jack and his seven-year-old sister, Annie, climbed into the tree house. They found that it was filled with books.

  Jack and Annie soon discovered that the tree house was magic. It could take them to the places in the books. All they had to do was point to a picture and wish to go there.

  Along the way, Jack and Annie discovered that the tree house belongs to Morgan le Fay. Morgan is a magical librarian from Camelot, the long-ago kingdom of King Arthur. She travels through time and space, gathering books.

  In Magic Tree House Books #5–8, Jack and Annie helped free Morgan from a spell. In Books #9–12, they solved four ancient riddles and became Master Librarians.

  In Magic Tree House Books #13–16, Jack and Annie had to save four ancient stories from being lost forever.

  In Magic Tree House Books #17–20, Jack and Annie freed a mysterious little dog from a magic spell.

  In Magic Tree House Books #21–24, Jack and Annie have a new challenge. They must find four special kinds of writing for Morgan’s library to help save Camelot. They are about to set off to find the third of these … .

  Jack sat up in bed. He stared out his window.

  The sky was dark gray. The sun would be rising soon.

  “It’s almost time,” he whispered to himself.

  The day befo
re, in the magic tree house, Morgan’s note had said, “Come back tomorrow, in the early morning.”

  Jack jumped out of bed. He put on his jeans and T-shirt. Then he grabbed his backpack and crept out into the hall.

  Jack peeked into Annie’s room. She wasn’t there. He slipped downstairs and out the front door.

  Annie was sitting on the porch steps. Jack sat down beside her.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  “I was waiting for the birds to start singing,” said Annie. “Then I was going to wake you up.”

  Jack and Annie watched the sky go from dark gray to light gray. Then the birds began their song.

  “Tweet-tweet,” said Annie.

  Without another word, Jack and Annie left their porch. They headed up their street to the Frog Creek woods.

  It was cool beneath the trees. Jack and Annie hurried through the woods to the rope ladder. It hung from the tallest oak. At the top of the oak was the magic tree house.

  They climbed up into the tree house. It was barely light inside.

  Annie picked up the note lying on the floor. She held it up to the window and read aloud:

  Dear Jack and Annie,

  Camelot is in trouble. To save the kingdom, please find these four special kinds of writing for my library:

  Something to follow

  Something to send

  Something to learn

  Something to lend

  Thank you,

  Morgan

  Jack took a deep breath.

  “Okay,” he said. “We have our first special writing: a list from the Civil War.”

  “We have the second,” said Annie, “a letter from the Revolutionary War.”

  “We have the third,” said Jack, “a poem from a pioneer schoolhouse.”

  “Now we just need one more,” said Annie.

  “I wonder why we have to find these special writings for Morgan’s library,” said Jack. “How are they going to save Camelot?”

  “I don’t know,” said Annie. “But let’s get going so we can solve the mystery. Where’s our research book?”

  They looked around the tree house.

  Their Pennsylvania book, the book that always brought them home, was lying in the corner. Beside it was another book. Annie picked it up.

  “This is it,” she said softly. She showed the book’s cover to Jack. It said:

  SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, 1906

  “California?” said Jack. “I’ve always wanted to go to California.”

  “Me too,” said Annie. She laughed. “I guess I told Miss Neely the truth after all.”

  “Yeah,” said Jack, smiling.

  The magic tree house had taken them to a pioneer school in their last adventure. There, Annie had told the teacher, Miss Neely, that they were on their way to California.

  Annie pointed at the cover of the California book.

  “We really wish we could go there,” she said.

  The wind started to blow.

  The tree house started to spin.

  It spun faster and faster.

  Then everything was still.

  Absolutely still.

  “Nice clothes,” said Annie.

  Jack opened his eyes.

  Annie was wearing a blue-and-white dress with a big sailor collar and white stockings.

  Jack was wearing brown knee-length pants, a jacket, a cap, and a tie. His backpack had become a leather bag. He and Annie both wore short lace-up boots.

  A church bell started to ring.

  Gong. Gong. Gong. Gong. Gong.

  “It rang five times,” said Jack. “It must be five in the morning.”

  “Yeah,” said Annie. She was looking out the window.

  Jack looked with her. The early-morning air felt fresh and cool.

  The tree house had landed in a tree at the bottom of a hill. Painted wooden houses and gaslights lined a quiet cobblestone street. A trolley car moved along tracks up the street. It rounded the top of the hill and disappeared.

  Tall buildings towered farther off. The sun was behind them, making pink streaks in the blue sky.

  “It’s really pretty here,” said Annie.

  “Yeah,” said Jack.

  He opened the research book and read:

  On Wednesday, April 18, 1906, San Francisco was the biggest city on the west coast of the United States. It had a population of half a million people. It was also one of the loveliest cities in the country.

  Jack pulled out his notebook. He wrote:

  “Let’s go!” Annie said impatiently.

  Jack looked back at the book. He wanted to learn more.

  “Now,” said Annie. She took the book and notebook away from him and put them into his leather bag. “Let’s not waste any more time.”

  Annie left the tree house.

  “Doing research is not wasting time,” Jack called after her.

  But he slung his bag over his shoulder and followed Annie down the rope ladder. When they had both stepped onto the grass, Jack looked around.

  “Where to?” he said.

  “Anywhere!” said Annie. “Let’s just explore and see the sights. We can be tourists.”

  “Okay,” said Jack. “But don’t forget we have to find the writing for Morgan’s library.”

  They started up the cobblestone street. As they walked up the steep hill, the sun rose above the tall buildings.

  The early light turned everything to gold: stones, streetlamps, and the glass windows of the silent houses.

  “It’s so quiet and peaceful,” said Annie.

  “Yeah, everyone must still be sleeping,” said Jack.

  Suddenly, out of the quiet came a deep rumbling noise.

  Jack stopped. He grabbed Annie’s arm.

  “What’s that?” he said.

  The noise got louder. It sounded like thunder coming from under the ground.

  The earth started shaking.

  Church bells clanged wildly.

  The whole street began to move. The cobblestones rolled like waves on the ocean.

  “What’s happening?” Annie cried.

  Chimneys fell off roofs!

  Gaslights toppled over!

  Bricks crashed to the street!

  “Get down!” shouted Jack. “Cover your head!”

  Jack and Annie crouched on the ground with their arms over their heads. All around them was rumbling, clanging, crashing, and breaking.

  Then the world grew still. The rumbling stopped.

  Jack and Annie raised their heads. The air was filled with dust.

  “It’s over,” said Jack.

  “That must have been an earthquake!” said Annie.

  “I think so,” Jack agreed.

  “I guess I should have let you do a little more research on this place,” Annie said.

  “Yeah, probably,” said Jack. “Except I don’t know exactly what we could have done.”

  Jack slowly stood up. His legs felt wobbly. As he brushed off his pants, the deep rumbling came again—louder than before.

  Then the terrible shaking started. It was even harder than before.

  Jack was hurled to the ground. The earth trembled and quaked. Jack bounced against the hard cobblestones.

  “Annie!” he cried.

  He tried to stand, but fell again. Through the dusty air, he saw the tall buildings swaying against the sky!

  Roofs were caving in!

  Up and down the street, bricks, glass, and concrete showered down!

  It seemed like a long time before the dreadful noise and shaking finally stopped.

  A cloud of dust billowed around Jack. He could hardly breathe. He couldn’t see. But he could hear Annie coughing.

  Jack opened his mouth to call to her. But dust filled his throat.

  “Jack!” Between coughs, Annie shouted his name. “Jack!”

  “I’m here!” he said hoarsely.

  “I think I’m in trouble,” she said.

  Jack tried to sit up. He hurt
all over. His clothes were ripped and covered with dirt. His cap was gone.

  “Where are you?” he called.

  “Here!” said Annie.

  Jack started to stand. But he fell down again. His legs were like rubber.

  “Wh-where?” he repeated. Jack cleaned his glasses, then looked around. But he still couldn’t see Annie through the thick haze of dust.

  “I fell into the ground!” said Annie.

  Jack crawled in the direction of Annie’s voice.

  “Keep talking,” he said.

  “Here”—she coughed—“here!”

  Jack felt a ledge with his hands. He looked down into a huge crack in the street. Through the dust, he could see Annie right below him.

  “You found me!” she said between coughs.

  “I’ll pull you out,” said Jack.

  He grabbed Annie’s hands. He tried to pull her out of the crack, but she was too heavy.

  “I can’t do it,” he said.

  “Bring me something to stand on,” Annie said. “Maybe I can get out by myself.”

  Jack stood up and stumbled away from the crack. He gathered an armload of bricks. Then he went back to the crack and handed them down to Annie, one by one.

  Annie carefully stacked the bricks on top of each other.

  “I need more,” she said.

  Jack ran to get more bricks. He was afraid there’d be another earthquake and the crack would close—with Annie inside!

  He handed the bricks down to her.

  “Hurry!” he said.

  “I’m hurrying,” she said.

  At last, Annie finished stacking the bricks. She stood on the stack. With her bare hands, she slowly pulled herself up.

  Jack helped her stand. She was covered with dirt. Her stockings were torn. Her knees were skinned.

  “Are you hurt?” Jack asked.

  “A little scraped,” said Annie. “How about you?”

  “A little shaky,” said Jack. Actually, he was very shaky.

  “Me too,” said Annie.

  “I think San Francisco just had a really huge earthquake,” Jack said. He coughed. His throat was clogged with dust.