A Perfect Time for Pandas: A Merlin Mission

The black ooze was filled with rock fragments and plants.
    Annie!
thought Jack. He lifted his head out of the mud before it smothered him. He reached around and felt Annie’s kicking feet. He pulled her out of the thick, wet goo.
    “You okay?” Jack shouted.
    “Yes!” sputtered Annie. “But we’re sliding over the cliff!”
    Annie was right. With the force of a tidal wave, the mudslide was pushing them across the highway toward the cliff!
    Jack clutched Annie under one of his huge arms. Then he struggled through the grimy ooze until they were clear of the mudslide. Covered with mud from his hair to his shoes, Jack felt heavy and uncomfortable. He even had mud in his mouth. He put Annie down and sat on the road.
    “At least we’re—we’re safe,” Annie said.
    Jack coughed, gagging on mud.
    “You look like a giant swamp monster,” Annie said.
    Jack couldn’t talk. As the rain fell harder, he threw back his head and let rainwater wash hisface and fill his mouth. He choked and spit and coughed until his throat was clear. With help from the pelting rain, he washed the mud off his bare arms and his shirt, jeans, and sneakers. Finally he looked at Annie.
    “How long do you think I’ve been a giant now?” he asked hoarsely.
    “I don’t know,” she said. “It seems like a long time.”
    “We’d better get moving. We only have an hour,” he said.
    “What’ll we do if you’re still a giant when we get to the center?” asked Annie.
    “I’ll hide outside,” said Jack, “until I’m small again.” He figured the last thing the staff needed now was to see a twenty-five-foot-tall kid.
    Slowly they both stood up, soaking wet, but cleaner. Jack lifted Annie back onto his shoulder. He began striding uphill again, sloshing through mud puddles and stepping over crushed rocks. Jack walked through the falling rain, never stopping. But by the time they reached the pandacenter, he was so tired he could barely take another step.
    With Annie on his shoulder, Jack stood on the bank of the river and they stared across at the damage wrought by the earthquake.
    The parking lot was filled with mud. The center’s sign had been knocked down. Portions of the bridge had collapsed into the river, and fallen brush and debris were piled up on the other side of the entrance gate.
    The slopes that surrounded the center were now gray and bare. Landslides had stripped them of foliage.
    “If it’s this bad outside the center,” said Jack, “I wonder how bad it is inside.”
    “How do we even
get
inside?” said Annie, staring down at the raging river.
    “Don’t worry,” said Jack. “I’m pretty sure I’m tall enough to wade across.” He took a deep breath, then stepped into the river. The cold water swirled around his waist. The current nearly knocked himover. Slowly and carefully, he stepped around a huge rock that had rolled into the river. Suddenly Jack felt his body start to quake.
    Another aftershock
, he thought. He paused, but his body kept shaking. As Jack shook, he started to grow smaller. In an instant he had shrunk back to his normal size.
    He and Annie plunged into the swiftly churning water. Jack grabbed the branch of a fallen tree. Clinging to the branch, he looked around frantically for Annie. She was holding on to a log. “Here!” shrieked Jack. He reached out his hand, and Annie grabbed it. As the water swirled around them, he pulled her over to him.
    “Can we get to the bridge?” Annie cried.
    “Try!” yelled Jack. They both let go of the branch and thrashed through the water until they grabbed on to a piece of the wrecked bridge.
    Jack and Annie hoisted themselves up onto the slab of concrete. Jack pointed to the part of the bridge that still stood at the edge of the ravine. Hetook another deep breath and leapt over the gap onto the broken bridge. Annie followed.
    Jack and Annie clung to a piece of bridge railing and stared at the entrance gate of the panda center. Muddy rocks, branches, and leaves were piled on the other side.
    “I think we can climb over,” said Annie. She led the way, stepping onto the railing next to the gate.
    Jack followed her. They climbed over the gate and kept climbing over the heap of branches, brush, and rocks that blocked the entrance. When they reached the top of the wreckage, they looked down.
    Staff members were rushing around with buckets, shovels, and first-aid kits. When Master Lee and Dr. Ling caught sight of Jack and Annie, they both stopped dead in