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“Pet him, Jack.”
    Jack rubbed his hand slowly over the baby’s head. The elephant’s fuzzy hair felt coarse and tickly. Jack laughed.
    “Enjoy being home in the wild again,” Annie said to Morning Breeze. “Jack and I have to go back to
our
home now.”

    “Thanks, Morning Breeze,” said Jack. “Good luck.”
    “We love you,” said Annie.
    Morning Breeze flapped her ears and waved her trunk at them. Then she turned and lumbered off with her baby at her heels. The two of them kicked up grass and dirt as they disappeared into the brush.
    “Wow,” said Annie.
    “Yeah,” said Jack.
    Annie turned to Jack and laughed. “We look like we’ve been in a train wreck,” she said.
    “No kidding,” said Jack. They’d both lost their pointy shoes, and their coats were torn and dirty.
    “At least we have our emerald rose,” said Annie. “And Morning Breeze is back with her baby.”
    “Mission done,” said Jack.
    “So let’s go back to the tree house,” said Annie.
    “Yeah,” said Jack. He looked around. “But … where the heck are we?”
    “I think the big field we came through is overthere,” said Annie, pointing. “I hear a lot of bug noise. Let’s look.”
    Jack and Annie headed for the field. “Oww! Oww!” Weeds and rocks jabbed their bare feet. Jack just missed stepping on a large anthill. He and Annie picked their way through the scrubby forest, until they came to the edge of the yellow field.
    The sounds of buzzing and chirping filled the air. The tall grasses rustled in the dry, hot wind.
    “That’s it,” said Jack. “So to get back to the tree house, we cross the field, then go on the dirt path, then head back through the bazaar and down the road to the Red Fort. Got it?”
    “Got it,” said Annie.
    “I just hope we don’t get eaten alive by bugs,” said Jack, “or get heatstroke or get clobbered by those angry guys in the bazaar or—”
    “Enough, stop,” said Annie, grinning. “One thing at a time. Come on, don’t be chicken. The bugs are more afraid of us than we are of them. Run!”
    Annie and Jack started running through the dry, dusty field. Their torn silk coats billowed behind them. Jack could feel grasshoppers and all sorts of buzzy and jumpy things bashing against him, but nothing really hurt. His feet crushed the dry, tough grass, until he and Annie finally reached the dirt path.
    “Yes! We—we made it!” Annie said, out of breath. “Oh! Look …”
    Jack was burning up. He felt dizzy. “Whew, we—”
    “
Look!
” Annie said again. She grabbed Jack and pointed to a farmer hauling hay. The farmer was talking to an imperial guard in a horse-drawn carriage. It was the same guard who had escorted them to the Great Mogul’s balcony!
    The farmer pointed back at Jack and Annie. The guard turned and saw them.
    “Oh, no! He must be searching for us,” said Jack. “Hide!”
    But it was too late. The guard had jumped outof the carriage. He was striding toward the edge of the field. “Stop, ambassadors from Frog Creek!” he called.
    Jack held his breath as he and Annie waited for the guard.
    The guard looked about as he approached them. “Where is the elephant?” he asked.
    “She threw us off,” said Annie.
    “Yeah, and then she ran that way,” said Jack. He pointed to the right, while Annie pointed to the left.
    But the guard didn’t seem to care about the elephant, nor did he seem to care about their bare feet and torn coats. “You must come with me,” he said gruffly.
    “Why?” asked Jack.
    The guard wrapped his hand around the hilt of his sword. “Because if you do
not
, you will be put in jail for the rest of your lives,” he said.
    “Oh,” said Jack. “Good reason.”

J ack and Annie silently followed the guard to his carriage and climbed in the back. The guard flicked the reins, and the pair of black horses took off, trotting down the dirt path.
    Annie looked at Jack. “I wonder where we’re going,” she whispered.
    Jack just shook his