Ghost Town at Sundown is the tenth installment to the Magic Tree House series.
Contents[]
- How Wild? (1)
- Rattlesnake Flats (7)
- Player Piano (17)
- Hands Up! (26)
- Slim (33)
- Split the Wind (40)
- Ghost Story (48)
- Who Am I? (57)
- Lonesome Luke (63)
- Echo From the Past (69)
Synopsis[]
The magic tree house takes Jack and Annie back to the American "Wild West", where they experience excitement and danger and try to solve a riddle.
Plot[]
While Jack had been reading on the porch, Annie glanced toward the Frog Creek woods and noticed a strange looking rabbit, a jack rabbit. She believed it was a sign that Morgan le Fay, the enchantress, had returned. The children decided to follow the rabbit into the woods, where they discovered Morgan inside the magical tree house. The enchantress presented them with a new riddle. After handing them a book about the Wild West and a scroll, she told them to read the scroll once they arrived. The tree house landed outside Rattlesnake Flats, a deserted ghost town from the late 1800s. Jack and Annie opened the scroll and read its riddle.
Out of the blue,
my lonely voice
calls out to you.
Who am I? Am I?
At the abandoned general store, they put on cowboy boots and hats. The sound of music drew them to a nearby hotel, where they found a piano playing on its own. Feeling uneasy, they left, only to hear the sound of approaching horses. They hid inside two empty barrels and watched as a group of horse thieves rode into town. The thieves discussed the mustang they had stolen and its colt, which they had left behind because it was too slow. Afterward, the thieves rode off, planning to stay nearby.
Moments later, the colt appeared in town. Annie immediately bonded with the horse and named him Sunset. Determined to reunite him with his mother, she climbed onto the colt’s back. Before they could make a plan, a cowboy named Slim approached. He revealed that the colt and all the stolen horses belonged to him. Annie suggested helping Slim reunite Sunset with his mother, and he agreed to take them along.
The three of them tracked down the thieves’ camp. Slim shared his plan: He and Annie would ride into the camp and free Sunset’s mother, while Jack would wait with Sunset. Once they had the mustang, they would head for Blue Canyon. Slim successfully rescued the mustang, but the thieves spotted them and started shooting. As they fled, Jack fell off the colt and struggled to get back on. Just then, he saw a ghostly figure on the ridge, which startled the thieves’ horses. Taking advantage of the distraction, Jack managed to mount the colt again and rode after Annie and Slim.
The group made it to Blue Canyon, where they decided to spend the night. Jack and Annie shared the riddle with Slim, but he had no answer. When Annie asked about the self-playing piano, Slim explained that it had been played by a ghost named Lonesome Luke. Jack remembered the ghostly figure on the ridge and believed it was Luke helping them.
Slim then told them the story of Luke: He had been in love with a woman who didn’t enjoy the West and left to return home. Heartbroken, Luke would sit at the hotel each night and play “Red River Valley” on the piano. One day, he disappeared into the prairie and was never seen again. As Slim played the tune on his harmonica, Jack and Annie recognized it as the same song the piano had been playing.
Jack, Annie, and Slim hear an echo, the answer to the second riddle.
The next morning, Slim shared biscuits and coffee with the children. He told them he had always dreamed of writing a book. Annie encouraged him to release his mustangs and follow that dream. Slim liked the idea and set the two horses free. When Annie called goodbye to the horses, her voice echoed off the canyon walls. Jack and Annie suddenly realized that “echo” was the answer to Morgan’s riddle.
Back in town, Jack and Annie bid farewell to Slim. As they removed their borrowed cowboy boots, they heard the piano playing again. Rushing back to the hotel, they saw Lonesome Luke playing the piano. He waved at them before disappearing. The children then returned to the magic tree house and traveled back home.
Once they were home, Jack realized the Wild West book Morgan had given them was written by Slim. In the book’s dedication, Slim had thanked them. Though Annie felt sad about never seeing Slim again, Jack reassured her that reading his book would allow them to keep in touch with him.
Trivia[]
- This book is dedicated to a "singing cowboy poet" and friend of Mary Pope Osbourne, Nick Plakias.