Ghost Town at Sundown 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 Reader,

  Over the past year, many of you have asked me to send Jack and Annie to the Wild West. I thought this was a good idea, but I wasn’t sure what should happen in the story.

  Then one day, I received a letter from a girl named Alexandra, who lives in Washington. She suggested that Jack and Annie help a colt find his mother, who has been stolen by horse thieves.

  What an excellent idea, I thought. Many thanks to Alexandra for helping me with this book.

  Also, thanks to everyone who has written. More Tree House books are in the planning … so all your thoughts and suggestions are very welcome. Keep them coming!

  Text copyright © 1997 by Mary Pope Osborne.

  Illustrations copyright © 1997 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.

  http://www.randomhouse.com/

  http://www.randomhouse.com/magictreehouse

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Osborne, Mary Pope. Ghost town at sundown / by Mary Pope Osborne; illustrated by Sal Murdocca.

  p. cm. — (The magic tree house series; #10)

  SUMMARY: Their magic tree house takes Jack and Annie back to the Wild West, where they experience excitement and danger and try to solve a riddle.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-89427-5

  [1. Frontier and pioneer life—West (U.S.)—Fiction. 2. West (U.S.)—Fiction. 3. Time travel—Fiction. 4. Magic—Fiction. 5.Tree houses—Fiction.]

  I. Murdocca, Sal, ill. II. Title. III. Series: Osborne, Mary Pope.

  Magic tree house series; #10.

  PZ7.081167Gh 1997 [Fic]—dc21 97-7298

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

  v3.0

  Cover

  Dear Reader

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  1. How Wild?

  2. Rattlesnake Flats

  3. Player Piano

  4. Hands Up!

  5. Slim

  6. Split the Wind

  7. Ghost Story

  8. Who Am I?

  9. Lonesome Luke

  10. Echo from the Past

  Special Preview of Magic Tree House #11: Lions at Lunchtime

  For Nick Plakias—wonderful friend and singing cowboy poet

  Jack and Annie were sitting on the porch of their house. Annie was gazing down the street at the Frog Creek woods. Jack was reading a book.

  “I have a feeling we should check the woods again,” said Annie.

  “Why?” said Jack without looking up.

  “A rabbit’s hopping by,” said Annie.

  “So? We’ve seen rabbits before.”

  “Not like this one,” said Annie.

  “What do you mean?” Jack stood up and looked with her.

  He saw a rabbit with very long legs hopping down their street. Soon the rabbit left the sidewalk and headed into the woods.

  “He’s a sign,” said Annie.

  “A sign of what?” said Jack.

  “That Morgan’s back,” said Annie. She jumped off the porch. “Come on!”

  “But what about dinner?” Jack said. “Dad said it would be ready soon.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Annie. “You know when we leave in the tree house, time stops.”

  She ran across their yard.

  Jack pulled on his backpack. “Back in ten minutes!” he called through the screen door. Then he followed Annie.

  They hurried down their street and into the Frog Creek woods. The sun was setting above the trees.

  “There he is!” said Annie.

  The rabbit was standing in a ray of sunlight. When he saw them, he took off.

  Jack and Annie followed the rabbit until he vanished behind the tallest tree.

  “I told you! See?” said Annie, panting. She pointed up at the tree.

  Morgan le Fay was waving to them from the magic tree house high in the branches.

  Jack and Annie waved back to her. As always, Jack was very happy to see the enchantress librarian again.

  “Come on up!” she called.

  Annie and Jack started up the rope ladder. They climbed up to the tree house.

  “We followed a strange rabbit here,” said Annie. “Is he your friend?”

  “Perhaps,” said Morgan. She smiled mysteriously. “I have many odd friends.”

  “Including us,” said Annie.

  Morgan laughed. “That’s right.”

  “How are you?” said Jack.

  “I’m still having problems with Merlin,” said the enchantress, “which leaves me little time to do my real work. But soon you both
will become Master Librarians, and that will be a big help to me.”

  Jack smiled. He was going to be a Master Librarian who traveled through time and space. It was almost too good to believe.

  “Are you ready to solve another riddle?” asked Morgan.

  “Yes!” said Jack and Annie together.

  “Good,” said Morgan. “First, you’ll need this for research … ”

  She pulled a book from her robe and handed it to Jack. It was the book that would help them on their journey.

  The title of the book was Days of the Wild West. On the cover was a picture of a western town on a prairie.

  “Oh, wow,” said Annie. “The Wild West!”

  Jack took a deep breath. Just how wild? he wondered.

  Morgan reached into the folds of her robe again and pulled out a scroll. She handed it to Annie.

  “Read this when the tree house lands,” she said.

  “Is it the riddle?” asked Jack.

  “Yes,” said Morgan. “Then you’ll only have two more to solve. Are you ready to go?”

  Jack and Annie nodded. Annie pointed to the picture on the cover of the Wild West book.

  “I wish we could go there,” she said.

  The wind started to blow.

  “Good-bye!” said Morgan. “Good luck!”

  The tree house started to spin.

  Jack squeezed his eyes shut.

  The tree house spun faster and faster.

  Then everything was still.

  Absolutely still.

  Jack opened his eyes.

  Morgan le Fay was gone.

  A fly buzzed around his head.

  The air was hot and dry.

  Jack and Annie peeked outside.

  The tree house had landed in a lone tree on a prairie. The sun was low in the sky.

  Right in front of them was the town from the cover of the book. In real life it looked empty and spooky.

  To one side of the town was a patch of ground with several tombstones.

  “That’s creepy,” said Annie.

  “Yeah,” said Jack. He took a deep breath. “What’s our riddle say?”

  Annie held up the ancient scroll. She unrolled it. Then she and Jack read together:

  Out of the blue,

  my lonely voice

  calls out to you.

  Who am I? Am I?

  Jack pushed his glasses into place and read the riddle again to himself.

  “There must be a mistake,” he said. “ ‘Am I?’ is written twice.”

  “Well, I don’t hear any voices now,” Annie said as she looked out the window.

  There were no human sounds at all—only the buzzing of flies and the whistling of the dry wind.

  “Let’s look at the book,” Jack said.

  He opened the book. The pages were yellow with age. He found a picture of the town and read the words beneath it out loud:

  In the 1870s, Rattlesnake Flats was a rest stop for the stagecoach that carried passengers from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to Fort Worth, Texas. When the creek dried up, everyone left. By 1880, it was a “ghost town.”

  “Wow, a ghost town,” said Annie, her eyes wide.

  “Let’s take a quick look around,” said Jack. “So we can leave before dark.”

  “Right,” said Annie. “Let’s hurry.” She started down the rope ladder.

  Jack put the old book into his pack. Then he followed Annie down the ladder.

  They stood by the tree and looked about. Tumbleweeds blew across the dry ground.

  Suddenly something jumped past them.

  “Yikes!” they both said.

  But it was just a rabbit—a lone, long-legged rabbit hopping past them.

  “Hey, he’s just like that rabbit we saw at home,” said Jack.

  “Yeah, that rabbit must have been a sign of things to come,” said Annie.

  The rabbit hopped across the prairie and out of sight.

  “I’d better take notes,” said Jack.

  He reached into his backpack and took out his notebook and pencil.

  He wrote:

  “What’s that sound?” said Annie.

  “What sound?” asked Jack.

  “That rattling sound!” said Annie.

  Jack looked up. “What?” he said.

  “There!” Annie pointed to a rattlesnake. It was about a hundred feet away. It was coiled up and rattling.

  Jack took one look at the snake and ran. Annie ran, too. They ran past the graveyard and right into the ghost town.

  “I guess that’s why this town is called Rattlesnake Flats,” said Annie when they stopped.

  Jack looked around. The town was hardly big enough to call a town. There was one unpaved street and a few old buildings.

  It was quiet, too quiet.

  “Look, a store,” said Annie.

  She pointed to a building. The faded sign said GENERAL STORE. “Let’s look inside. Maybe the answer to the riddle is in there.”

  Jack and Annie stepped onto the porch. The wooden boards creaked loudly. The door had fallen off its hinges. They peeked inside.

  The air was thick with dust. Spider webs hung from the ceiling.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t go in,” said Jack.

  “But what if the answer’s here?” said Annie. “Let’s just take a quick look.”

  Jack took a deep breath. “Okay.”

  He and Annie tiptoed into the store.

  “Look,” said Annie. She picked up a pair of rusty spurs.

  “Careful,” said Jack. He poked at other stuff in the store—an old feed sack, a rusted tin cup, a faded calendar dated 1878.

  “Oh, wow,” said Annie. She held up two cowboy hats. She put one on and handed the other one to Jack. “For you.”

  “It’s too dusty,” said Jack.

  “Just blow on it,” said Annie.

  Jack blew on his hat. A cloud of dust rose up. Jack sneezed.

  “Just try it on!” said Annie.

  Jack put the hat on. It nearly covered his eyes.

  “Boots!” said Annie. She pointed to a row of cowboy boots on a shelf. “There are even some small ones, like our sizes. Here’s a pair for you.” She handed the boots to Jack.

  “They’re not ours,” he said.

  “I know, but just try them on,” said Annie.

  Jack turned his boots upside down and shook them as hard as he could.

  “What are you doing?” Annie asked, pulling on another pair of boots.

  “Checking for scorpions,” Jack said.

  “Ja-ack.” Annie laughed. “Try them on!”

  Jack sighed. He pulled off his sneakers. He pushed his feet into the boots. He pushed and pushed. The boots were really stiff. Finally he got his feet inside. Then he tried to walk.

  “Owww!” he said. “Forget it.” He started to pull off the boots.

  “What’s that?” Annie said.

  Jack froze.

  “Piano music,” said Annie. “Maybe it’s the voice in the riddle! Come on!”

  Jack threw his sneakers into his backpack and hobbled after Annie.

  Outside, the sad tune played on.

  “It’s coming from there,” said Annie.

  She crept toward a building that had a sign with the word HOTEL on it. Jack limped after her.

  Annie slowly pushed open a swinging door. They peeked inside.

  The fading daylight lit a piano in the corner of the room. The keys were moving up and down. But no one was there!

  “Yikes,” whispered Annie. “A ghost playing the piano!”

  Suddenly the keys were still. The air got very cold.

  “No. No way,” said Jack. “There’s no such thing as a ghost.”

  “We saw one in ancient Egypt,” whispered Annie.

  “Yeah, but that was ancient Egypt,” said Jack. Even so, his heart raced.

  “I’ll look it up.” Jack pulled out the Wild West book. He found a picture of a piano. He read aloud:

  Player pianos were popular
in the Old West. The piano played automatically when someone pumped its floor pedals. Later, with the help of electricity, the piano played all by itself.

  “Whew.” Jack closed the book. “I knew there was an answer,” he said. “It must be electric, and somehow it came on.”

  “I didn’t know they had electricity in the Wild West,” said Annie.

  “They didn’t,” said Jack.

  He looked at Annie. “Oh, man, let’s get out of here!” he said.

  Jack and Annie backed out of the hotel.

  When they got outside, they heard another sound: horse hooves thumping against the hard ground.

  A cloud of dust seemed to be moving toward the town. As it got closer, Jack saw three riders. They were herding a small band of horses.

  “Hide!” Jack said.

  “Where?” said Annie.

  Jack looked around wildly. He saw two barrels outside the hotel.

  “There!” he said.

  Jack and Annie hurried to the empty barrels. Jack climbed inside one and tried to scrunch down. His hat wouldn’t fit! He jumped out of the barrel and threw his hat into the hotel.

  “Mine, too!” said Annie.

  Jack grabbed hers and threw it. Then he scrambled back into the barrel. Just in time.

  Jack heard the horses thunder into town. He peeked through a crack in the barrel and saw a blur of cowboys and horses go by.

  “Whoa!” “Whoa!” “Whoa!” men shouted.

  Jack heard the horses come to a halt. They stamped and snorted. All he could see were shadows through the crack.

  Dust covered Jack. He had to sneeze. He pinched his nose.

  “The creek bed must have dried up!” a cowboy yelled. “This town’s a ghost!”

  “Yup, it gives me the shivers,” said another. “Let’s camp over the rise.”

  Jack really had to sneeze now. He pinched his nose tighter. But he couldn’t stop the sneeze. He let out a choked “Ah-choo!”