Night of the Ninjas 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

  Text copyright © 1995 by Mary Pope Osborne.

  Illustrations copyright © 1995 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.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Osborne, Mary Pope. Night of the Ninjas / by Mary Pope Osborne;

  illustrated by Sal Murdocca.

  p. cm. — (The Magic tree house series; #5) “A First stepping stone book.”

  SUMMARY: The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie back in time to feudal Japan where the siblings learn about the ways of the Ninja.

  eISBN: 978-0-375-89422-0

  [1. Time travel—Fiction. 2. Ninja—Fiction. 3. Japan—Fiction.]

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

  Magic tree house series; #5.

  PZ7.O81167Ni 1995 [Fic]—dc20 94-29142

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

  v3.0

  For Penn Sultan

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Prologue

  1. Back into the Woods

  2. The Open Book

  3. E-hy!

  4. Captured

  5. Flames in the Mist

  6. Shadow Warrior

  7. To the East

  8. Dragon Water

  9. Mouse-walk

  10. ’Night, Peanut

  Special Preview of Magic Tree House #6: Afternoon on the Amazon

  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 to point to a picture and wish to be there.

  Jack and Annie visited the time of dinosaurs, old England, ancient Egypt, and a pirate ship.

  Along the way, they discovered that the tree house belonged to Morgan le Fay. Morgan was a magical librarian from the time of King Arthur. She traveled through time and space, gathering books.

  Jack and Annie are about to start a whole new adventure … in Night of the Ninjas.

  “Let’s look again, Jack,” said Annie.

  Jack and Annie were walking home from the library. The path went right by the Frog Creek woods.

  Jack sighed. “We looked this morning,” he said. “We looked the day before. And the day before that.”

  “Then you don’t have to come,” said Annie. “I’ll go look by myself.”

  She took off into the woods.

  “Annie, wait!” Jack called. “It’s almost dark! We have to get home!”

  But Annie had disappeared among the trees.

  Jack stared at the woods. He was starting to lose hope. Maybe he would never see Morgan again.

  Weeks had passed. And there had not been one sign of Morgan le Fay. Nor had there been one sign of her magic tree house.

  “Jack!” Annie called from the woods. “It’s back!”

  Oh, she’s just pretending as usual, Jack thought. But his heart started to race.

  “Hurry!” called Annie.

  “She better not be kidding,” said Jack.

  He took off into the woods to find Annie.

  Night was falling fast. Crickets chirped loudly. It was hard to see through the shadows.

  “Annie!” Jack shouted.

  “Here!” she called.

  Jack kept walking. “Here where?” he called back.

  “Here here!”

  Annie’s voice came from above.

  Jack looked up.

  “Oh man,” he breathed.

  Annie waved from the window of a tree house. It was in the tallest oak in the woods. A long rope ladder hung down from it.

  The magic tree house was back.

  “Come on up!” Annie shouted.

  Jack ran to the rope ladder. He started climbing.

  He climbed and climbed and climbed.

  As he climbed, he looked out over the woods. High above the treetops it was still light.

  At last, Jack pulled himself into the tree house.

  Annie sat in the shadows. Books were scattered everywhere.

  On the floor the letter M glowed in the dim light. The M stood for Morgan le Fay.

  But there was no sign of Morgan herself.

  “I wonder where Morgan is,” said Jack.

  “Maybe she went to the library to get some more books,” said Annie.

  “We were just at the library. We would have seen her,�
�� said Jack. “Besides, the library’s closed now.”

  Squeak!

  A little mouse ran out from behind a stack of books. It ran to the M shining in the floor.

  “Yikes,” said Annie.

  The mouse sat on the middle of the M. It looked up at Jack and Annie.

  “Oh, it’s so cute,” Annie said.

  Jack had to admit the mouse was cute. It had brown-and-white fur and big dark eyes.

  Annie slowly reached out her hand. The mouse didn’t move. Annie patted its tiny head.

  “Hi, Peanut,” she said. “Can I call you Peanut?”

  “Oh brother,” said Jack.

  “Do you know where Morgan is?” Annie asked the mouse.

  Squeak.

  “You’re nuts, Annie,” said Jack. “Just because the mouse is in the tree house doesn’t mean it’s magic. It’s a plain old mouse that crawled in, that’s all.”

  Jack looked around again. He saw a piece of paper on the floor.

  “What’s that?” he said.

  “What’s what?” asked Annie.

  Jack went over and picked up the paper. There was writing on it.

  “Oh man,” whispered Jack, after he read the words.

  “What is it?” said Annie.

  “A note,” said Jack. “It must be from Morgan. I think she’s in big trouble!”

  Jack showed Annie the piece of paper. It said:

  “Oh no,” said Annie. “We have to help her. But what’s a thin?”

  “Maybe she was trying to write things,” said Jack. “See how the n sort of runs off the page?”

  “Maybe the spell was starting to make her disappear or something,” said Annie.

  “Right,” said Jack. “I wonder if she left any other clues.” He glanced around the tree house.

  “Look!” Annie pointed at a book in the corner. “That’s the only open book,” she said.

  Jack looked around again. Annie was right. He felt a shiver go down his spine.

  Jack went over to the book and picked it up. He held it near the window. Light from the setting sun was golden on the page.

  Jack stared at the picture on it. In the picture were trees with white flowers. The trees were on the side of a mountain. Near a wide, rushing stream.

  Two people were also in the picture. They wore dark clothes. They had black scarves over their faces. And long swords strapped to their backs.

  “Oh man,” whispered Jack.

  “Who are they?” Annie asked.

  “Ninjas, I think,” said Jack.

  “Ninjas? Really?” said Annie.

  “Morgan must have left the book open to this page for a reason,” said Jack.

  “Maybe that’s where she was when the spell got her,” Annie said.

  “Or maybe that’s where the four things are,” said Jack.

  “Let’s go!” said Annie.

  “Now?” said Jack.

  “Yes, Morgan’s in trouble! She needs us now!” said Annie.

  “But we should read this book first,” said Jack. “So we’ll be prepared.”

  “Forget it!” said Annie. “Every minute counts!” She grabbed the book from Jack.

  “Give it back,” he said. “We have to find out about this place.”

  Annie held the book out of reach. “We’ll find out when we get there,” she said.

  “We don’t even know where there is!” Jack said.

  But Annie pointed at the picture. “I wish we could go here,” she said.

  The leaves of the oak tree began to shake.

  Squeak!

  “Don’t be scared, Peanut,” said Annie. She scooped up the mouse. Then she put it in the pouch of her sweatshirt.

  The wind began to blow.

  It blew harder and harder.

  The tree house started to spin.

  Faster and faster!

  Jack squeezed his eyes shut.

  Then everything was still. Absolutely still.

  Except for the sound of rushing water.

  Jack opened his eyes.

  Annie was already looking out the window. The mouse peeked out of her pouch.

  Jack looked out the window, too. The air was fresh and cool.

  The tree house was in a tree with white flowers. The tree was in a grove of trees on the side of a mountain. Nearby a wild stream rushed downhill.

  Two ninjas were standing on rocks near the water. They were staring at the valley below.

  One ninja was tall. The other was short. They wore black pants and shirts. They had black scarves around their heads. And swords strapped to their backs.

  It was exactly like the picture in the book.

  Jack crouched below the window.

  “Be careful,” he whispered. “Don’t let them see you.”

  “Why not?” Annie whispered back.

  “They might think we’re some kind of enemy,” said Jack quietly.

  Annie crouched beside him.

  Jack pushed his glasses into place. Now he was going to look at the ninja book.

  He picked up the book. He turned to the beginning. He read:

  Very little is known about the shadowy warriors called ninjas. Historians believe that ninjas lived in Japan between the 14th and 17th centuries. Both men and women were ninjas. Sometimes they fought to protect their families. Sometimes warlords hired them to be spies.

  “Wow,” whispered Jack. “We’re in Japan, hundreds of years ago.”

  Jack opened his backpack. He pulled out his notebook and pencil. He liked to take notes. He wrote:

  “Jack,” whispered Annie. “They’re looking up. I think they know we’re here.”

  Jack peeked over the windowsill. His eyes met the dark eyes of the tall ninja.

  “E-hy!” the ninja cried. He dashed toward the tree. The other ninja followed.

  “Oh no!” said Annie.

  “We’ve got to go!” Jack said. “Where’s the Pennsylvania book?”

  He and Annie looked around wildly.

  But where was the book about Pennsylvania? It had the picture of the Frog Creek woods in it. Jack and Annie couldn’t get home without it.

  “It’s not anywhere!” cried Annie.

  “We’ve got to do something. Fast!” said Jack. “Pull up the ladder!”

  He and Annie grabbed the top of the rope ladder. They pulled the ladder into the tree house.

  But the tall ninja leaped at the tree trunk. Then he started climbing up the tree! The short ninja followed. They climbed just like cats!

  Jack and Annie huddled in a corner.

  The ninjas climbed into the tree house. Neither one made a sound.

  The ninjas pulled iron bands off their hands. The bands had spikes like claws on them.

  “That’s how they climbed the tree,” Annie whispered to Jack.

  The ninjas stared at Jack and Annie with dark, piercing eyes. The rest of their faces were covered by their scarves.

  Jack felt frozen under their stares.

  Annie wasn’t frozen, though. She stepped right up to them.

  “Hi,” she said.

  The ninjas didn’t say “hi” back. They didn’t move at all. They were as still as Jack.

  “We’re trying to help our friend, Morgan,” said Annie.

  She held up Morgan’s note.

  The tall ninja took the note from her. He looked at it. Then he gave it to the short ninja.

  The two ninjas stared at each other. Then they looked back at Jack and Annie.

  Finally the short ninja nodded once. He put the note into the pocket of his shirt.

  “You can help us?” Annie asked.

  Neither ninja spoke. Jack wished he could see their faces. He couldn’t tell what they were thinking.

  The short ninja tossed the rope ladder back out of the tree house. The tall one pointed down the ladder. Then he pointed at Jack and Annie.

  Uh-oh, thought Jack. Were they being captured?

  “Us? Go with you?” said Annie.

  The ninja nodded
.

  “Oh boy!” said Annie.

  Oh boy? Is she nuts? wondered Jack.

  The short ninja darted down the ladder. He went hand over hand. His feet didn’t touch the rungs of the ladder.

  The tall one did the same.

  Jack gasped. The ninjas moved very fast. They were like spiders dropping from webs.

  “Wow!” said Annie.

  “Now’s our chance to leave,” said Jack. “Quick!” He looked around the tree house again. Where was that Pennsylvania book?

  “Let’s go with them, Jack,” said Annie.

  “No! This isn’t a game!” Jack said.

  “But I think they know something about Morgan!” said Annie.

  She started down the ladder.

  “Come back!” said Jack.

  But it was too late.

  Jack sighed. “Why does this always happen?” he asked himself.

  “Come on, Jack!” came Annie’s voice from below.

  Jack put his notebook and the ninja book into his pack. He pushed his glasses into place. And he started down the ladder.

  Jack joined Annie and the ninjas on the ground.

  The sun had fallen behind the hills. The sky was streaked with red and gold.

  The mouse peeked out from Annie’s sweatshirt pouch.

  “Don’t be scared, Peanut,” Annie whispered. “We’ll take care of you.”

  Great, thought Jack. But who is going to take care of us?

  The short ninja held Jack’s arm in one hand and Annie’s arm in the other. He led them through the twilight. The tall ninja walked behind them.

  “Where are we going?” Jack asked.

  The ninjas stopped near the rushing water of the wide stream. The water roared as it raced downhill.

  The short ninja looked at Jack and Annie. He let go of their arms. Then he pushed them toward the stream.

  “You want us to cross it?” shouted Annie.

  The ninja nodded. Then he and the short ninja stepped into the wild stream. They started wading across.

  “Let’s run back to the tree house!” said Jack.

  “No, we have to follow them!” said Annie. “For Morgan’s sake!”

  Jack took a deep breath. She was right.

  Annie grabbed Jack’s hand. Together they stepped into the water.