Ghost Town at Sundown

This installment of the Magic Tree House series follows siblings Jack and Annie on a time-travel adventure to the American Wild West, where they must solve a riddle to advance toward becoming Master Librarians.

Jack and Annie are sitting on their porch in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, when Annie spots an unusual long-legged rabbit hopping toward the nearby woods. She takes it as a sign that Morgan le Fay, an enchantress librarian who sends them on missions through time using a magic tree house, has returned. They follow the rabbit and find the tree house high in the tallest tree, with Morgan waving from the window. Morgan explains that Jack and Annie are close to becoming Master Librarians, helpers who travel through time for her, and after this mission they will have only two riddles left to solve. She gives Jack a research book titled Days of the Wild West and hands Annie a scroll containing their next riddle. Annie wishes to travel to the Wild West, and the tree house spins and transports them.

The tree house lands in a lone tree on a hot, dry prairie near a small, empty town with a graveyard off to one side. Jack and Annie unroll the scroll and read the riddle: "Out of the blue, / my lonely voice / calls out to you. / Who am I? Am I?" (10). Jack is puzzled that "Am I?" seems to appear twice. From the research book, he learns that Rattlesnake Flats was an 1870s stagecoach rest stop between Santa Fe and Fort Worth that became a ghost town by 1880 when its creek dried up. After climbing down, they encounter a rattlesnake that sends them running into town.

Rattlesnake Flats consists of one unpaved street and a few old buildings. Inside the general store, Annie finds cowboy hats and boots that fit them. She hears piano music and suggests it might be the lonely voice from the riddle. They follow the sound to the hotel, where a piano's keys move up and down with no one visible and the air turns very cold. Jack reads that player pianos were popular in the Old West, but Annie points out there was no electricity in the Wild West, leaving the self-playing piano unexplained.

They hurry outside just as three rustlers, or horse thieves, herd a small band of horses into town. Jack and Annie hide in empty barrels outside the hotel. Jack lets out a sneeze, but a beautiful red mare with a black mane and a white star above her eyes rears up, creating a distraction. The rustlers mention they left her colt behind because he was too slow, and their leader says they will sell the mare across the border. After the rustlers ride off, Annie voices her anger at how they treated the horse.

Soon a small red colt with the same markings as the mare runs down the road, looking lost. Annie approaches the young mustang gently, leads him to a post, and climbs onto his back, naming him Sunset. Jack reads that over a million wild mustangs, descendants of runaway Spanish horses, once roamed the West. He also finds rules for treating a horse: a soft hand, a firm voice, a sunny attitude, praise, and reward.

A deep voice orders them to put their hands up. A bony, tanned cowboy named Slim Cooley rides out on his gray horse, Dusty, pointing a six-shooter and accusing them of being horse thieves. Annie explains the situation, and Slim realizes the rustlers stole his last five mustangs. He holsters his gun and gives them cowboy nicknames: "Smiley" for Annie and "Shorty" for Jack. Annie claims they arrived by stagecoach, and Slim accepts the story. He invites them to help rescue the mare, saying he could use their assistance.

They gallop across the prairie and arrive after dark at a low rise overlooking the rustlers' campfire. Slim assigns roles: Annie stays on the rise with Sunset, Jack stays on Dusty near the camp to keep the horse quiet, and Slim sneaks in to cut the mare loose. When Dusty grows restless, Jack applies the horse rules, patting Dusty softly, speaking firmly, and whispering reassurances until the horse calms.

Slim frees the mare and rides her past Jack at a gallop. Annie takes off on Sunset, and the whole band of mustangs stampedes after them. The rustlers fire guns and give chase. Jack snaps the reins and Dusty leaps over the rise, but Jack falls from the saddle. As he scrambles to remount, a shimmering white figure moves across the top of the rise, panicking the rustlers' horses and halting their pursuit. Jack pulls himself back into the saddle and escapes.

He catches up with Slim and Annie in Blue Canyon, a boxy open space surrounded by moonlit rock walls. Annie reunites Sunset with his mother. Jack remembers the last two horse rules, praise and reward, and whispers thanks to Dusty. Annie asks Slim about the self-playing piano. Slim explains it is the ghost of Lonesome Luke, a cowboy who was heartbroken when the woman he loved left the Wild West. Luke played "Red River Valley" on the hotel piano every night until he vanished into the prairie and was found dead. His ghost still returns to play the song. Jack realizes the shimmering white figure that scared off the rustlers was Lonesome Luke. Slim plays "Red River Valley" on his harmonica, and Jack falls asleep listening.

The next morning, Slim reveals he originally came west to write a book but became a mustang herder instead. Annie urges him to write the book and let the mustangs go free. Slim decides he will settle in Laramie and become a writer. They ride Dusty out of the canyon. At the rim, Annie shouts goodbye to Sunset, and a voice calls back "Bye!" Slim cups his hands and shouts "Who am I?" (62), and the echo returns "Am I?" (62), matching the riddle's final line. Jack and Annie realize the answer is "echo": a lonely voice that calls out of the blue and repeats back. Slim smiles, suggesting he knew the answer all along.

Slim drops them off at the hotel as the sun sinks low. He thanks them for steering him toward writing, promises to repay them someday, and affirms that a cowboy never goes back on his word before riding off into the sunset. Jack and Annie gratefully swap their stiff boots for sneakers. Piano music drifts through the air again. They peek inside the hotel and see the dim, shimmering shape of Lonesome Luke sitting at the piano. The ghost waves at them; they wave back, and he fades away as cold air wafts past. They dash to the tree house and climb up. The ancient scroll now displays the glowing word "ECHO" (68), confirming they solved the riddle. Jack wishes to go home, and the tree house spins them back to Frog Creek.

Annie places the solved scroll next to the one from their previous adventure. Two more riddles remain before they become Master Librarians. Then Annie notices that the author of the Wild West book is Slim Cooley. Jack opens to the title page: It was published by Texas Press, Dallas, in 1895, and the dedication reads, "WITH THANKS TO SMILEY AND SHORTY, TWO STRANGERS WHO CHANGED MY LIFE" (72). Slim kept his promise. Jack and Annie head home, reflecting that reading Slim's book is like hearing an echo from the past, his voice still reaching them across time. Their father calls them home, and they run toward his voice through the long shadows of the setting sun.