7 To the East

　　Jack and Annie stood still for a long moment.

　　Annie spoke first. “Well， I guess the tall ninja was pointing to the east，” she said. “I

　　guess that’s the way we go.”

　　“Wait，” said Jack. “I need to write some stuff down.”

　　He took out his notebook. In the moonlight， he wrote：

　　1.use nature

　　2.be nature

　　3.follow nature

　　“Look， Jack，” whispered Annie. “Do I look like a ninja?”

　　He looked at her. She had pulled her sweatshirt hood over her head and tied the strings

　　tightly.

　　She did look like a ninja—a very small one.

　　“Good idea，” Jack whispered. He pulled his hood up， too.

　　“Okay， let’s go，” said Annie.

　　Jack put his notebook away. Then he and Annie headed east into the woods.

　　They slipped between trees. And more trees. And more trees.

　　All the trees looked the same. Jack got confused. Were they still going in the right

　　direction?

　　“Wait，” he said.

　　Annie stopped. They both stared at the woods around them.

　　“Do you think we’re still going east?” asked Jack.

　　“I guess so，” said Annie.

　　“We can’t just guess，” said Jack. “We have to know for sure.”

　　“How do we do that?” said Annie. “We don’t have a compass.”

　　Just then the master’s words came back to Jack.

　　“The ninja master said to use nature，” he said.

　　“How do we do that?” said Annie.

　　“Wait， I remember something—” Jack closed his eyes.

　　He remembered something in a camping book. Now what was it?

　　He opened his eyes. “I’ve got it! First we need a stick，” he said.

　　Annie picked up a stick. “Here—” she said.

　　“Great， now we just need a space with moonlight，” said Jack.

　　“There—” said Annie.

　　They moved into a moonlit space between the shadows.

　　“Now push the stick into the ground，” Jack said.

　　Annie pushed the stick into the ground.

　　“The stick’s shadow looks like it’s more than six inches，” said Jack. “What do you

　　think?”

　　“It looks like it，” said Annie.

　　“Okay. Then that means the shadow’s pointing east，” said Jack.

　　“Neat，” said Annie.

　　“So that way is east!” Jack pointed to a new direction. “At least I hope it is.”

　　“We’re real ninjas now!” said Annie.

　　“Yep，” said Jack. “Maybe we are. Come on!”

　　They took off—heading east， they hoped.

　　Soon they were out of the pine woods and walking down the rocky mountainside. They moved

　　slowly from rock to rock. Finally they rested against a giant rock.

　　“Let’s check our direction again，” said Jack.

　　Annie stuck another stick into the dirt.

　　“There，” he said. He pointed to the shadow on the ground. “That way—”

　　Annie peeked over the rock， down the mountain.

　　“Yikes，” she said softly.

　　Jack looked， too. His heart nearly stopped.

　　There were flames of fire coming up the mountain. The samurai!

　　Jack and Annie ducked behind the rock.

　　Squeak， said the mouse.

　　“Quiet， Peanut，” said Annie.

　　Jack reached into his pack. He pulled out the ninja book.

　　“I hope something in here can help us，” he said.

　　Jack flipped through page after page until he found what he was looking for. It was a picture

　　of warriors wearing bamboo armor. They we

　　re holding swords. He read：

　　The samurai were fierce Japanese fighters. They carried two swords to cut down their enemies.

　　Annie tapped Jack on the shoulder.

　　Jack looked at her.

　　She pointed up the mountain.

　　A figure was coming down toward them. He was very near.

　　In the moonlight， his bamboo armor was shining. His two swords were gleaming.

　　It was a samurai warrior!

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