Jack opened his eyes. Bright, golden sunlightpoured into the tree house. The air felt crisp and cool.
Annie was wearing a long dress, a white cap, andan apron.
Jack wore a jacket with a frilly collar. He woreshort pants, long socks, leather shoes, and a hat. Hisbackpack was now a leather bag.
"I like your hat," said Annie. "It's funny.""Yours, too," said Jack.
"You look like a Pilgrim," said Annie.
"So do you," said Jack. "Oh, man. I bet we're in thetime of the Pilgrims!"He and Annie scrambled to the window.
The tree house had landed in a tall oak near theedge of a forest. Red and yellow leaves rattled in thecool breeze. Past the forest was a small village andpast the village was the ocean.
"It looks like where the Pilgrims lived," said Jack.
"We studied it in school."He opened the research book and found a picture ofthe village by the sea. He read aloudIn 1620, a group of 102 passengers sailed fromEngland to America on a ship called the Mayflower.
Many of the people on board wanted freedom ofreligion. They wanted to worship God in their ownway--not the way the king of England made them.
Others wanted to find a new life in a new land.
Today, we call all the people who sailed on theMayflower Pilgrims.
"Yes!" said Annie.
Jack read on:
The Pilgrims wanted to settle near New York. But astorm blew their ship north. They landed in a bay onthe coast of what is now Massachusetts. Six yearsbefore, Captain John Smith had explored the coast Hehad named the bay Plymouth.
"Plymouth?" said Annie. "That's where the firstThanksgiving was!""Oh, man.. ." Jack smiled. "So that's the feast.""Wow," said Annie. "My class put on a play aboutthe first Thanksgiving. ""Mine, too," said Jack.
"I played Priscilla," said Annie. "I played a turkey,"said Jack.
"Now we'll get to meet the real Priscilla!" saidAnnie. "And Squanto! And Governor Bradford andMiles Standish! Come on!"She started down the ladder.
"Wait. What will we say?" asked Jack.
"We'll just tell them hi and stuff," said Annie.
"Are you nuts?" said Jack. He put the book into hisbag. "They won't understand who we are! We need aplan."He slung the bag over his shoulder and hurrieddown the ladder after Annie.
"Listen, we need--" Jack started.
"I know, a plan," said Annie. "But first let's getcloser to the village and just watch.""Okay," said Jack, "but we can't let anyone see us.
We have to be careful and quiet."He and Annie started walking carefully through thewoods. But they did not walk quietly. The autumnleaves crunched and crackled under their leathershoes.
"Shh!" said Jack.
"I can't help it," said Annie. "You're doing it, too!""Then we have to stop," said Jack. "Let's get behindthat tree and watch from there."They crunched over to a tree at the edge of thewoods. In the distance was a row of small log houseswith steep thatched roofs.
Jack pulled out the book. He found the part aboutthe village. Then he pushed his glasses up and read tohimself:
The Pilgrims brought chickens, geese, goats, andsheep from England. They brought seeds to plant, andthey knew how to make traps to catch wild animalsfor food. But they could not have survived withoutthe help of a Wampanoag (wom-puh-NO-ag) Indiannamed Squanto. Squanto taught them how to growcorn.
"Hi, you," Annie whispered. Jack lookedAnnie was talking to a skinny yellow dog. The dogwas sniffing a tree near them.
"Don't let him see us," Jack whispered;"Why?" said Annie.
The dog looked at them and barked.
"That's why!" said Jack.
The skinny dog barked again and again.
Two Pilgrim men ran from the other side of thehouses. Then more Pilgrims appeared. They all lookedin the direction of the barking dog.
"Oh, no!" said Jack. "Let's go back! We don't have aplan yet!"He packed up his book and started away from thetree. Suddenly something tightened around his ankle.
A tree branch snapped.
"AHHH!" Jack shouted as he was jerked up into theair. |