Tigers at Twilight - Mary Pope Osborne [5]
Kah and Ko bounded ahead of them, two moon shadows leading the way.
“We’re going far from the tree house,” said Jack.
“Don’t worry,” Annie said.
Suddenly, a long roar split the night.
A chill went down Jack’s spine.
The roar came again. It turned into a yowling. The yowling turned into steady moaning. It sounded as if the whole forest were moaning.
“That’s a really sad sound,” said Annie sleepily.
“Yeah,” said Jack.
But the elephants all marched on.
Jack rocked in sleepy rhythm with Saba’s walk. He could hear Teddy snoring in his backpack.
Soon Jack’s head rested on Saba’s back. He began drifting in and out of dreams—dreams of rocking in a boat under the dark treetops.
Caw! Caw!
Awk! Awk! Awk!
Jack slowly came out of his dream. He opened his eyes with a start.
He was surrounded by hazy sunlight.
Where am I? he thought in a panic.
Then he remembered—he was in India, on an elephant’s back!
He sat up. Through the haze, he saw that Saba was standing on a muddy stream bank.
Jack yawned. Where was Annie?
The other elephants were upstream. They sprayed water on each other with their trunks.
Teddy, Kah, and Ko were at the edge of the forest. Teddy sniffed the tall grass. The langurs ate flowers.
“Good morning!” called Annie.
She was sitting on a big black rock downstream. She was barefoot and soaking wet.
“Hi,” said Jack. “How did you get down?”
“Teddy and I slid off Saba into the mud,” said Annie. “Try it. But throw down your sneakers and backpack first.”
Annie went to Saba’s side. Her feet were buried in mud up to her ankles.
Jack threw his things to Annie. Then he patted Saba’s rough, wrinkled skin.
“Thanks for the ride,” he said softly.
The elephant touched him one last time with her trunk.
Jack slid down her side—feet first—and fell into the mud. He caught himself with his hands. They sank into the mud past his wrists. His glasses were spattered, too.
“Wash off in the stream,” Annie said.
She put Jack’s pack and shoes on the rock while Jack waded into the cool water.
He washed the mud off his hands and feet. He rinsed off his glasses. Then he looked around.
Saba had joined the rest of the herd. The elephants looked beautiful in the morning mist.
Everything looked beautiful.
Yellow and blue water birds spread their wings. Mossy hanging vines swayed in the breeze. Huge white flowers floated on top of the stream.
Then Jack saw a strange sight. It looked like a horn and two ears sticking out of the water. One ear flicked away a fly.
“There’s a weird creature out here,” he called to Annie. “It looks like it has a horn.”
Annie waded into the stream.
“I better check the book,” said Jack.
He hurried to his pack, wiping his wet hands on his T-shirt. He pulled out the India book.
There was a picture of a horn sticking out of the water. He read:
The one-horned rhinoceros, or “rhino,” washes in a forest stream. Rhinos are not usually dangerous. But because they do not see well, they sometimes charge at things by mistake. A loud noise will usually stop them.
Jack felt sorry for the rhinos. Too bad animals can’t wear glasses, he thought. He read more:
The Indian rhino is a very endangered animal. This means that there are not many left. People called poachers kill them and sell their body parts as medicine and good-luck charms.
Jack started to take out his notebook.
Just then, a slurpy, sloshing sound came from the water.
“Whoa!” said Annie.
Jack looked up.
The rhino rose from the stream. He looked like an ancient swamp creature.
“Oh, man!” said Jack.
The rhino peered at Annie with his tiny eyes.
Then he snorted and lowered his head. His horn pointed right at Annie.
“Make a loud noise!” Jack yelled.
Annie clapped her hands and shouted, “We come in peace!”
The rhino stopped. He grunted. Then he sank back into the water.
Annie laughed.
“Whew,” said Jack. “I better take some notes about that big guy.”
Arf! Arf! Teddy barked from the edge of the forest.
“And I better get Teddy,” said Annie.
She hurried out of the stream and ran to get the dog. Jack