Jack didn’t move. He had never been so tired in all his life.
“Breathe,” said Annie.
Jack gulped in cool, clean air. He opened his eyes. He couldn’t see a thing.
“Take off your glasses,” said Annie. “They’re filthy.”
Jack took off his glasses. The first thing he saw was his backpack. The white tunics and lace-up sandals were gone. So were their pillow hats and the leather bag.
Jack let out a long, deep breath. As he cleaned his glasses on his shirt, a voice came from behind him. “I’m very glad to see you safe and sound.”
Morgan le Fay stood in the corner of the tree house. She looked as lovely and mysterious as ever.
“Happy to be home?” she asked.
Jack nodded. The sound of the erupting volcano still echoed in his ears.
“It—it was pretty scary,” he said in a hoarse voice.
“I know. But you were truly brave,” said Morgan. “You witnessed a famous event in history. Nowadays, scientists study the remains of Pompeii to find out more about Roman times.”
“I feel bad for all those people,” said Annie.
“Yes,” said Morgan. “But most of the people of Pompeii did escape. The city wasn’t completely buried by ash until the next day.”
“We were almost trapped,” said Annie. “But we asked the ancient story to save us. Then a huge gladiator helped us.”
Jack reached into his pack. He breathed a sigh of relief. The scroll was still there! He took it out. It was covered with dust and ashes.
“Here’s the story,” said Jack.
He handed it to Morgan.
“I am deeply grateful,” she said softly. “You risked everything to bring this to me. I can never thank you enough.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Jack. He didn’t want Morgan to know how scared he had been.
“Yeah, no problem,” said Annie.
Morgan smiled. “You are amazing Master Librarians,” she said. “Do you think you’re up to rescuing another ancient story?”
“Yes!” said Annie.
“Now?” said Jack. Actually he was a little tired now.
Morgan laughed. “No. Take a nice vacation. Come back two weeks from today. Then you will take a trip to ancient China,” she said.
“Ancient China? Wow,” said Annie.
“Oh, man,” said Jack.
“Go home now and rest,” said Morgan. She handed Jack his pack.
“Thanks,” he said. “Bye.”
“Bye,” said Annie.
Morgan gave them a little wave. Then Annie and Jack left the tree house and headed down the rope ladder. When they reached the ground, Jack looked up.
“Morgan,” he called. “What is that story about—the one we just rescued?”
“It’s called The Strongest Man in the World,” said Morgan. “It’s a lost tale about Hercules.”
“Hercules?” said Jack.
“Yes, he was one of the heroes of the Greeks and the Romans,” said Morgan. “He was a son of Jupiter.”
“Oh, wow. Now I get it,” said Annie.
“I’m taking it back now to Camelot’s library,” said Morgan. “Everyone will be so excited to read it, thanks to you.” She waved to them. “Good-bye for now!”
As she waved, the wind began to whirl. The tree house began to spin. In a blur of shadow and light, Morgan and the magic tree house were gone.
Jack and Annie started walking through the woods.
“Get it? Get it?” said Annie.
“Get what?” said Jack.
“We were saved by Hercules!” said Annie. “We asked the story to save us—and Hercules appeared!”
“That’s not possible,” said Jack. “It was just some gladiator guy. The story of Hercules is a myth. That means he never really lived.”
They left the woods and started up their street.
“I know it’s a myth,” said Annie. “But I have a simple explanation.”
“Hercules is a myth to people in this time,” said Annie. “But in Roman times, lots of people believed he was real. So, since we were in Roman times, he was real to us.”
“I don’t know … ” said Jack.
“Did you ever hear the saying?” said Annie. “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”
Jack laughed. “Yeah.” He looked up at the sky. “Thanks, Hercules,” he said softly, “whatever you are.”
“Jack! Annie!” their dad called from their front porch. “Time to go!”
“Oh, brother, I forgot,” said Jack.
“Yeah, I hope nothing exciting happens on our vacation,” said Annie.
“Yeah,” said Jack. “I hope it’s really, really boring.”
“Coming!” they called.
Then they took off running for home—and a restful vacation.