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Kathleen. She hugged Jack and Annie.
    “Wait,” said Jack, “what was the last part of the rhyme again, the part you just translated? Do you remember?”
    “Yes, I do,” said Teddy. Then he recited the words from memory:
    When these four things come together

with the one who cast the spell
,
the spell will then be broken

and all again be well
.
    “Oh, now I get it,” said Annie. “
You
broke the spell, Teddy. You broke it all by yourself. By feeling all the feelings you felt for Penny, you broke the spell.”
    “Yes,” said Kathleen. “I quite think that’s what happened. The four things that Jack and Annie brought back did not break the spell. They only served to awaken feelings deep within you, Teddy. And that is what really broke the spell.”
    “Yes. You must be right,” said Teddy. “I’m sorry you two had to go to such trouble to help me, and that Kathleen had to worry so. Not only Penny, but all of you suffered on my behalf.”
    “That’s okay. We loved all our missions,” saidAnnie. “We helped an elephant find her baby. We helped a funny dog find out that he was a great dog, and a president find hope, and some pandas find their way home.”
    “All because you were trying to help Penny,” said Kathleen.
    “True,” said Jack, stroking the little penguin. “It’s weird how that works sometimes.”
    The trumpets sounded again.
    “Hurry,” said Kathleen. “They’re getting closer.” Annie brushed her hand down Penny’s back.
    “Bye, Penny,” she said.
    Peep
.
    “And
peep
to you,” said Jack. He kissed the top of the penguin’s fuzzy head.
    Jack and Annie then scrambled up the rope ladder into the tree house. Annie grabbed the Pennsylvania book, while Jack hurried to the window.
    Sunlight poured into the tree house, making it blindingly bright. Trumpet sounds filled the fresh morning air.
    “I wish we could go home!” Annie said, pointingto a picture of the Frog Creek woods.
    “Farewell!” Teddy shouted from the dazzling light. “Thank you!”
    The wind began to blow.
    The tree house started to spin.
    It spun faster and faster.
    Then everything was still.
    Absolutely still.
    * * *
    “We’re back,” said Jack. He and Annie looked out the tree house window. Dappled light danced in the woods. As always, no time at all had passed in Frog Creek while they were gone.
    “Time for school,” said Annie.
    Jack groaned. He was exhausted. Every muscle in his body ached. He opened his backpack and took out their guide book to Southwest China. “Hey, we forgot. Our breakfast sandwiches are in here,” he said.
    “They must be cold by now,” said Annie.
    “Who cares?” said Jack. “I’m starving.”
    “Me too,” said Annie.
    Jack gave Annie a cold egg sandwich. Then he unwrapped his own and took a big bite. “Yum!” he said. “It really tastes great.”
    “This is
our
panda bread,” said Annie, “made with love by Mom, one of our keepers.”
    Jack laughed. “Right.”
    “So the panda bread stands for protecting the pandas,” Annie said between bites. “I think it stands for protecting birds, too, like Penny.”
    “Of course,” said Jack, his mouth full.
    “And trees and other plants,” said Annie.
    Jack nodded as he chewed.
    “And dolphins and whales and fish,” said Annie. “All the stuff in the ocean …”
    Jack nodded again.
    Annie finished her sandwich and wiped her mouth. “In fact, there are
millions
of things to protect,” she said.
    “Whoa, slow down,” said Jack. He pulled on his backpack. “One panda at a time.”
    “Right,” said Annie. “One penguin at a time.”
    “Right,” said Jack.
    The two of them climbed down the rope ladder. Then they hurried through the Frog Creek woods, finally on their way to school.

Author’s Note
    O n May 12, 2008, the Great Sichuan Earthquake killed many thousands of people in Southwest China. Though the quake devastated the Wolong Giant Panda Reserve Center, all the workers and all but one of the giant pandas