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It had a hood and long sleeves. It went all the way down to her sneakers.

Cro-Magnons made:

Near the fire were knives, axes, and hollowed-out stones.

Jack pulled out his notebook and pencil. He started a list:

"Let's go inside and get warm," said Annie.

A small flame danced from a bed of glowing coals.

Their shadows danced on the stone walls.

Jack and Annie moved quickly to the fire and warmed their hands.

Animal skins were neatly stacked against the wall.

"Maybe it's the home of the Cro-Magnons we saw," said Jack, looking around.

plant ropes

Jack and Annie crept to the cave and peeked inside.

bone flutes

"People must live here," said Annie.

"Ta-da!" said Annie.

stone axes and knives

Jack looked up. Annie was wearing a coat.

Jack pulled out his Ice Age book. He found a picture of a cave. He read: Cro-Magnons made many things from animals, plants, and stone. They made flute-like musical instruments from mammoth bones. They made ropes by braiding plant fibers. They made axes and knives from stone.

He turned the pages in the book until he found a picture of Cro-Magnon women sewing. He read: Cro-Magnons scraped reindeer skins with flint rocks to make them soft. They used bone needles to sew the skins together for clothing.

"Where did you get that?" said Jack.

She picked up another coat and handed it to Jack.

"From that pile of furry skins," said Annie, pointing. "These must be their clothes. Maybe they're being mended."

"Try one. It's really warm," she said.

"I wonder how they made these coats," said Jack.

It did feel very warm -- and soft.

Squeak. Peanut peeked out of Jack's pack lying on the floor.

"We look like cave kids," said Annie.

"You stay in there," said Annie. "There's no teeny coat for you."

Peanut vanished back into the pack.

Jack put his backpack and towel down on the hard dirt floor. He slipped on the coat.

Jack added to his list: reindeer-skin clothes

"I hope the cave people won't mind if we borrow their coats," said Jack.

Jack tucked the book under his arm. He and Annie carried their stone lamps to the back of the cave.

"And my goggles, too," said Annie.

"I know," she said.

He lit another lamp and gave it to Annie.

He picked up one stone. It was smaller than a soup bowl, but much heavier.

"I'll find out how Cro-Magnons saw in the dark," said Jack.

Jack held the stone close to the fire and lit the piece of moss.

"We have to be careful," said Jack.

"Maybe we should give them our towels," said Annie. "To thank them."

He opened the Ice Age book. He found a picture of cave people holding odd-looking lamps. He read aloud to Annie: Cro-Magnons made stone lamps. They hollowed out a rock, filled it with animal fat, then burned a wick made from moss.

"It's too dark in the back," said Annie. "We won't be able to see anything."

"Good idea."

"Let's explore the cave before they come home," said Jack.

They left their gifts on top of the rest of the animal skins.

"Carry it with two hands," he said.

"There!" said Annie. She pointed to two stones near the fire. In the hollow of each was gooey white stuff and a pile of moss.

He put down his lamp and flipped through the Ice Age book.

"Hey, I wonder where this goes," said Annie. She held her lamp up to an opening in the wall.

"I think it's a tunnel," she said. "Be right back."

Too late -- she had squeezed into the opening and was gone.

Annie held her lamp close to the wall.

He closed his book and peeked into the opening.

Jack could see her lamp flickering at the other end.

"Oh brother," said Jack, sighing.

"I'll check in the book," said Jack.

"No! You come here! " said Annie. Her voice sounded far away. "You won't believe this!"

"Come back here!" he said.

Jack picked up his lamp and book. He ducked into a small tunnel.

There were cave bears and lions, elk and reindeer, bison and woolly rhinos and mammoths.

"Wait a second," said Jack.

"Wow!" came Annie's voice.

Crouching clown, he hurried toward her. At the end of the tunnel was a huge cavern with a high ceiling.

"Look," she said. Her voice echoed.

Animals were painted on the wall in strokes of red and black and yellow.

In the flickering light, the prehistoric beasts looked alive.