Magic Tree House- The Hidden Helper
Day of the Dragon King (Preview!)
Natalie breathed a sigh of relief. The scholar heard her and shot her a smile. Natalie smiled back.
The oxcart made its way through the beautiful gardens beyond the wall. It passed by huge mounds of earth surrounded by a low brick wall.
"That is the Imperial burial grounds." Said the scholar, pointing to the mounds.
"Who is buried there?" Jack asked.
"The ancestors of the Dragon King." The scholar replied.
"What are ancestors?" Annie asked.
"Ancestors are the people in your family who lived before you." Natalie explained, turning to look at them. "Your grandmother and grandfather can be considered ancestors."
The scholar nodded. "Someday the Dragon King himself will buried in there." He motioned again to the mounds. "Three hundred thousand workers have been ordered to build his burial tomb."
"Oh man." Jack looked shocked, and Natalie forward again to hide a grin. She had a pretty good idea why so many workers had been needed, but she didn't want to spoil it. Hopefully they would be able to take a quick peek inside the burial mounds once they had accomplished their mission.
Now that Natalie was facing forward, she suddenly noticed a dark cloud of smoke rising from a courtyard up ahead. Seeing the smoke, Natalie felt sudden panic shoot through her.
"On no!" She exclaimed, causing everyone to look at her.
"Meilin, what's wrong?" Jack asked.
With a shaking hand, Natalie pointed to the smoke. "Please tell me that isn't what I think it is!" She begged.
Everyone looked where Natalie was pointing. She could hear the scholar gasp in alarm.
"Fire!" He exclaimed.
"The books!" Jack shouted.
"Hurry!" Annie urged.
The scholar snapped the reins. The oxen quickly trotted up the stone path.
Natalie felt her heart race. The Burning of the Books was happening right now! And Natalie had a feeling it was going to be well-attended. This meant they would need to get in, find the story Jack and Annie were looking for amongst who knew how many books there were, and get out again without attracting attention! This was starting to sound impossible!
A few moments later, the cart rolled into the palace courtyard, and into a scene of chaos.
Soldiers were everywhere! Some were throwing wood on a huge bonfire. Others were carrying bamboo strips down the steep stairs that led to the palace. Men were shouting orders over the roar of the fire.
"Are those the books?" asked Jack.
"Yes. The strips are tied together to form different bundles," moaned the scholar as he surveyed the scene with a look of despair on his face. "Each bundle is a single book."
"How are we ever going to find the story you're looking for without being arrested by the soldiers?" Natalie wondered aloud.
"I-I don't know." Jack stammered, looking nervous.
Natalie immediately felt guilty. Her job was to protect Jack, not antagonize him! She placed a hand on Jack's shoulder and gave him a calming smile. "Do not worry, I am certain we will succeed. We just need to be careful." He assured her cousin.
Jack didn't say anything, but he did look a little more confident.
"Look!" Annie suddenly said, pointing to the palace entrance.
Everyone did look.
A group of men had stepped outside. They wore rich, flowing robes, long colored ribbons fluttered from their waists, and they wore winged headdresses. Then a tall man stepped out from the crowd. Even from this distance, Natalie could see that this man's robe was fancier than the others, and he was wearing a tall hat with what looked like a veil of beads in the front that fell down to his forehead. The other men bowed as he stepped forward, and so did the soldiers.
Natalie stiffened. This man had to be the Dragon King!
The Dragon King watched the bonfire as it blazed up towards the sky. One of the other men stepped forward, his head bowed, and appeared to speak to him. Natalie suspected that he must be a minister. Probably all those men were the Dragon King's imperial ministers.
Not wanting to look at the Dragon King anymore, Natalie's gaze swept the rest of the courtyard. Bamboo books were stacked beside the fire in neat little piles. By the fire, the air was thick and wavy. It felt like everything in the courtyard, including the air, was holding its breath.
"We must hurry!" cried the scholar.
The oxcart came to a stop, and the four of them jumped down. Annie and Jack took the lead as they joined the crowd by the fire, threading their way towards the books.
Just as they reached the closest stack, Natalie caught movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see the Dragon King take another step froward.
"BEGIN!" He shouted at the soldiers.
The soldiers began throwing books into the fire. The bamboo crackled as it burned.
"No! Stop!" Annie cried, starting forward. But Natalie grabbed her.
"Quiet Annie! We can't draw attention to ourselves!" She scolded.
"She's right, we need a plan!" Jack agreed.
But Annie wasn't listening. She tried to pull away from Natalie.
"Stop!" She shouted again, but her voice was lost over the roaring fire. Everyone else in the courtyard was either busy, or watching the books burn. No one had noticed them yet, which Natalie considered a miracle.
"There! I see the story that you seek!" The scholar pointed to a bamboo book that had fallen off of a nearby stack.
"I'll get it!" said Annie, finally breaking free from Natalie's grasp before dashing over to the book.
"Annie!" Jack called in alarm.
"I will get her back." Natalie assured him before moving forward as quickly as she could.
As Natalie hurried up, she saw Annie had snatched up the bamboo book. Then, to her surprise, Annie grabbed a few more off the stack and turned to Natalie.
"Here!" Annie shoved the other books into Natalie's hands. "I know it's not much, but we should try to save what we can!"
Natalie did not argue. Instead, she nodded before adjusting her grip on the books. Then, spotting two more bamboo books on the ground, she knelt down and scooped them up.
"Come, we must get back to the others before someone sees us." She urged.
Annie nodded and the two of them charged back to Jack and the scholar.
"We got the story, and a few others as well!" Annie said. "Quick, put them all in your sack!"
Jack nodded before undoing the sack. He and Annie stuffed the bamboo books that she and Natalie had brought over into the sack.
As Natalie watched her cousins work, she suddenly felt eyes on her. She looked around, and gasped.
The Dragon King had spotted her, and he did not look happy!
"Uh oh." The words tumbled from Natalie's lips before she could stop them. Jack and Annie looked around, and both gasped when they saw the Dragon King glaring at them!
The ministers noticed them as well. "What are those children doing here?!" One of them shouted, pointing towards Jack, Annie, and Natalie.
Nearly all the soldiers in the courtyard stopped what they were doing at the minister's voice. Heads turned towards the trio.
"We need to move. Back away slowly." Natalie instructed, moving to stand in front of her cousins.
Behind her, Jack and Annie slowly got to their feet. But when Jack picked up his sack, Natalie heard something fall to the ground and roll past her. Natalie glanced down to see a bamboo book roll to a stop in front of her.
"TREASON!" The same minister yelled. "They are stealing books!"
"SEIZE THEM!" The Dragon King ordered, pointing at them.
Soldiers started moving towards them.
Natalie suddenly dove and scooped up the book at her feet. "Let's get out of here!" She exclaimed.
And Cut!
Hello Everyone! Yes, I'm still here! I SINCERELY apologize for not being more active on Fanfiction, but thanks to multiple story ideas all clamoring for my attention, my hectic work schedule, and other hindrances, I find myself with less and less time to write and even less opportunity to upload what I DO manage to finish writing. (Recall: My current living situation only allows me Wi-fi at certain times).
But now that it is summer, and I have more readily-available Wi-fi Access, I will try to make up for lost time.
This is a preview of my laters Magic Tree House chapter, based on Book 14, Day of the Dragon King. I'm still working on the ending and hope to have it finished by the end of the summer. Fingers Crossed!
In the meantime, enjoy this preview and, as always, don't forget to review and/or respond!
Until Next Time!
