Magic Tree House: The Return of the Three Keepers

Chapter Four: Mysterious Magic

Sasha opened her eyes and looked around warily. The woman was gone and the only sign of the woman's appearance was the opened book of Pennsylvania.
"Let's take off our hoods." said Sasha.
Sasha sighed with relief when she swiped off her hood and saw her body returned to her. She watched as her sisters became visible.
"Where are we?" said Eva with a frown as she looked out the window.
Sasha and Vicky joined Eva. Sasha can see the tops of trees. In the distance, she could see buildings of the countryside of Pennsylvania, a library, a elementary school, and a park. Sasha squinted in the fading sunlight. She thought she could even see what looked like a pair of dogs being walked by their owners.
Sasha glanced at the other direction and gasped. She can see Jack and Annie's house at the end of the nearby street, along with other houses. Next door was Henry, a big black dog trotting around in his yard. He looked very tiny from up here.
"We're in Frog Creek, Pennsylvania." said Sasha, startled.
Vicky picked up the Pennsylvania book and glanced at Sasha with a confused expression when she saw the picture of Frog Creek woods, the picture was almost an exact match, as if the photo had been taken from this tree house.
"How do you know that?" asked Eva to Sasha.
"Remember our first visit to Pennsylvania? We had met our younger cousins for the first time." said Sasha.
"That's right." said Vicky as she and Eva remembered the memory.
"But how's that possible?" whispered Eva.
"Maybe the tree house or the books are in enchanted by that mysterious woman." suggested Vicky.
Sasha and Vicky nodded their agreement.
"The tree house takes the traveler into any place of the world, by the same time and place of the book." said Sasha, figuring out what the puzzle was.
"You mean like time-travel?" said Eva.
"Exactly like time-travel." said Sasha with a smile and a nod.
"Now what?" asked Vicky.
Sasha shrugged and gave a shiver from the chilly breeze. Sasha and her sisters started to feel really curious about the glowing M.
Sasha gently touched the M with her fingers over the letter. Vicky and Eva also touched the glowing M. Sasha wasn't sure about her sisters, but her skin suddenly seemed to tingle and the three rings on the three girls' fingers seemed to glow with the same light as the M.
"Wow." said Sasha and Eva in unison.
"I really wish we could meet the person who made a magic tree house." whispered Vicky.
Suddenly the sapphire, the aquamarine, and the moonstone on their golden rings seemed to light up again.
The letter suddenly flashed and to Sasha's amazement, her hands suddenly sank right through the floor.
Uh-oh. thought Sasha stunned and scared.
She cried out in fear and she felt her sisters trying to pull her back from the M. Sasha tried to pull her trapped her hand with her free hand, only for her other hand to sink through the floor as well! Now off balance and her sisters loosing their fight to the letter, Sasha and her sisters screamed as they fell head-first and right into through the letter in the tree house floor.
Sasha, Vicky, and Eva screamed as they fell down into what Sasha assumed what was inside the tree. They kept screaming as they further into the tree, going faster and faster. Sasha glanced around as she fell and was surprised to see hundreds of books and lanterns flashing past her and her sisters.
"APRRITEZZ MOMENTIO!" A loud voice called out and Sasha felt her body suddenly jerk to a stop and braced herself for the pain that was surely coming next, but she didn't feel any. She didn't even feel the ground beneath her.
Sasha opened her eyes, and then she widened them. She and her sisters were all floating in the air just above the ground! As soon as she realized that, whatever was holding Sasha and her sisters up suddenly disappeared and she fell on the ground with a thud. Nearby she heard a louder thud, Sasha glanced over her shoulder and saw that Vicky had crashed landed onto Eva, then the two of them both landed hard on the floor.
"Oww." said Sasha as she got up and rubbed her sore shoulder.
Vicky got up and winced as she rubbed her shoulders and knees.
"Ouch." said Eva as she checked some new bruises on her knees.
"What . . . just happened?" asked Vicky as she looked at their surroundings.
"I have no idea." said Sasha softly and shivered with uncertainty.
"This day is getting more weirder by the minute." commented Eva as she got up.
"Oh, now you noticed the craziness?" teased Sasha to Eva.
Vicky gave Eva amused look and the three girls started chuckling.
Sasha took in their surroundings. The round room was lit by floating lanterns and small torches hung on the walls. Shadows and faint paintings danced on the curved brown walls. A carved wooden chair stood by itself with a litted torch hung on the left and right, almost everywhere on the table, desk, and floor was scrolls and ancient-looking books. Sasha walked towards a shadowed hallway, which was soonly litted up with torches and glow-in-the-dark paintings. She could see another room filled with scrolls and ancient-looking books.
"What's that?" asked Vicky, snapping Sasha from her searching.
Sasha walked away from the mysterious hallway and towards Vicky. Eva joined Vicky's other side.
"What's what?" asked Sasha as she and Eva looked at Vicky.
"That." said Vicky as she pointed to something hanging on the wall.
Sasha and Eva followed Vicky's gaze. Sasha rolled her eyes at Vicky. Vicky was pointing to a huge mirror framed in gold.
"Oh for the love of Pete, Vicky." said Sasha with annoyed sigh. "Anyone would know that's a mirror."
"No," said Vicky. "I meant what's inside that mirror?"
Sasha sighed and looked inside the mirror. She stumbled back when she saw a desert with two or three prymaids, the sun shining high in the desert sky, and a oasis with fresh water and sort of dried out trees.
"Okay, now I see it." said Sasha with a apologetic glance at Vicky.
"Um, how did that desert end up in a mirror in the first place?" asked Eva with a confused look.
"Magic?" guessed Sasha with a grin.
"Yeah, that probably answers it." said Vicky as she nodded her agreement.
"Won't argue against that." said Eva with a shrug.
"Now what should we do?" asked Sasha.
As if to answer Sasha's unanswered question, a huge cloud of black and gold mist shot out underneath them and swirled around the girls. Sasha shut her eyes and felt her feet leave the floor. The wind rushed in her ears and a bright flashed before her eyes. She and her sisters had done this before when they chased hunters out from the nature preserve, but this new form is quite new for them.
Then all was quiet. Sasha, Vicky, and Eva fell back down to the floor, landing on their feet. It took Sasha second to realize that they're were on four feet, instead of the usual two.
"How do I look?" asked Sasha to her sisters. But all they heard was a loud. "Meow!"
Uh? Sasha glanced down at herself and saw that her hands had become paws and her body was covered in sleek black fur. Her ears felt different and when Sasha reached for them she found that they were now on top of her head.
What am I? Sasha looked her sisters. They too looked confused and Sasha's jaw dropped with astonishment. She and her sisters are black cats!
But then the wind began to blow.
It blew harder and harder.
The rings started glowing brighter and brighter!
The three transformed girls closed their eyes.
Then everything was still.