Abe Lincoln at Last!: A Merlin Mission (4 page)

“Pa, don’t! Don’t, Pa, don’t!” Tad screamed and giggled and kicked.

Pa? Pa?
Jack thought.
Abraham Lincoln is Tad’s “pa”!

The president laughed. He stopped tickling Tad and kissed the top of his head. “What are you doing in here, my boy?” he said.

“Pa, me and Willie found a tree house,” said Tad. “Did you know there was a tree house here? Two kids were in it. Jack and Annie. Jack said it belonged to them. I told him it was mine because it’s in our yard. Isn’t it mine, Pa?”

Jack wanted to shout,
No, it’s ours!
But he was afraid to be caught under the bed.

“Wait—what did you say their names were?” the president asked, sounding serious. “Jack and Annie?”

“Yes,” said Tad. “They came out of nowhere. Don’t you think the tree house is mine, Pa? Mine and Willie’s?”

“They came out of nowhere?” said the president. “And their names are Jack and Annie? Are you sure?”

Why doesn’t Tad tell him I’m right here—under the bed?
Jack wondered.
Should I just crawl out?

“Yes, Pa, Jack and Annie,” said Tad. “But I want to know about the tree house. Do—”

The door opened. “Mr. President, you must come at once,” a man said briskly. “You are late for your first meeting.”

“Sorry, Mr. Nicolay,” President Lincoln said. “I’ll be right there.” He stood up.

“The crowd is growing restless, sir,” Mr. Nicolay said. “Before you know it, they’ll storm your bedroom.”

“Oh, they wouldn’t dare,” said the president, chuckling. “Not with my bodyguard here.” He ruffled Tad’s hair. “Come along, tadpole. Escort me to my new office down the hall.”

“But when will you come and see the tree house, Pa?” Tad said as they started out of the door.

“Perhaps when I take my horseback ride later,” the president said. “I’d like to meet this Jack and Annie.” The door closed. And the room was quiet.

Tad forgot about me!
Jack thought. He couldn’t
believe it! Then he realized he’d better get out of the president’s bedroom. He started to crawl out from under the bed, but the door opened again, so he quickly crawled back.

“Dust first?” Jack heard a girl say.

“Aye, then shake out the pillows and change the linens,” said another.

Jack could only see the black stockings and shoes of the two maids as they bustled around the room.
Now
, he thought,
before they make the bed!
He scrambled out and ran to the door.

One of the girls screamed. Jack didn’t look back. He threw open the door and headed for the stairs. As he bounded down the steps, one of the maids shrieked, “There was a boy under the bed!”

Jack reached the bottom of the stairs and squeezed through the crowd until he found a nook off the hallway. He scrunched against the wall, then peeked around the corner to see if anyone was coming after him.

Someone grabbed his arm.

“Ahh!” Jack yelled.

“It’s me!” said Annie. “Where have you been? I’ve been looking all over for you!”

“I was upstairs! In President Lincoln’s bedroom!” Jack said. “Tad made me go in there! Did you know that President Lincoln is Tad and Willie’s dad?”

“That’s what I was going to tell you. Willie introduced me to their mom!” said Annie. “She was really nice. Those were all her relatives in the parlor.”

“Well, Tad tricked me into hiding under the bed, and I almost got caught!” Jack said. “And Tad didn’t even remember I was there. He kept talking about the tree house, saying it was
his
.”

“Willie says Tad gets overly excited,” said Annie. “He can’t help it. Plus, it’s their very first week in the White House.”

“Well, it was awful,” said Jack. “I was trapped under the president’s bed!”

Annie giggled. “You know, that’s actually pretty funny,” she said.

“Not really,” said Jack.

“Don’t worry,” said Annie. “Willie would have saved you. He told me to find you and then come upstairs to his dad’s office and he’ll introduce us. It’s on the second floor at the end of the hall.”

“Okay,” said Jack, sighing. “I heard the president say he’d like to meet us.”

“Really?” said Annie.

“Yep, when Tad told him about the tree house and you and me, the president kept saying, ‘Jack and Annie? Jack and Annie? Are you sure their names are Jack and Annie?’ ”

“That’s weird,” said Annie. “But I’m glad he wants to meet us. Come on.”

Jack and Annie headed down the hallway and up the stairs. On the second floor, Jack kept his head down, just in case the maids were looking for him. Jack followed Annie down the hall toward a group of people standing outside a door.

A skinny man with a small pointed beard was speaking to them. “Ladies and gentlemen, please! I’m sorry, but only the names on my list can meet with the president today!”

Jack recognized the man’s voice. “That’s Mr. Nicolay,” he told Annie.

“Who are you to tell us we can’t see the president?” a woman in a pink bonnet asked Mr. Nicolay.

“I am President Lincoln’s secretary, ma’am,” Mr. Nicolay said sourly, “and if you do not have an appointment, you must leave.”

“Excuse me, Mr. Nicolay, but I believe that I am on your list,” said a dignified man. He showed the secretary a piece of paper. The secretary checked the paper against his list.

“Of course. This way, Mr. Bennet,” Mr. Nicolay said. He opened the door and nodded for Mr. Bennet to enter, then followed him inside. While the door was open, Jack and Annie peeked into the room.

Abraham Lincoln was sitting at a long table. Tad was perched on his lap, fiddling with his dad’s tie. Willie was studying a map on the wall, while
the president was listening to one of the men at the table.

“Willie!” Annie whispered loudly.

Willie didn’t hear, but Mr. Nicolay did—he rushed back out of the president’s office.

“Willie!” Annie shouted.

Willie turned around just as Mr. Nicolay closed the door.

CHAPTER FIVE
Leave Now!

“E
xcuse me, young lady!” Mr. Nicolay said. “This is not a time for play.”

“I’m not playing, sir,” said Annie as she and Jack stood at the front of the crowd. “We’re friends of Tad and Willie’s, and Willie just told us to come here to the president’s office. He wants to introduce us to his dad.”

Mr. Nicolay scowled. “I’m afraid Mr. Willie misspoke. The president does not have time to meet you now,” he said. “He is in a private meeting with delegates from California, Indiana, and Maine.”

“Maybe later, then?” said Annie.

“Not maybe later,” said Mr. Nicolay. “After this meeting he is scheduled to have a meeting with his generals, and then a meeting with the Department of the Navy.”

“Excuse me—” a man in the crowd called out.

“But I heard the president say he’d like to meet us!” Jack broke in.

“I can’t imagine why he said that,” said Mr. Nicolay, shaking his head. “Following all the meetings I just listed, President Lincoln will meet with foreign diplomats, then with a group of senators, and then with reporters from the
New York Times
.”

“Mr. Nicolay! Listen to me!” someone shouted.

“So, sir,” Annie interrupted, “you’re saying he’ll have no free time at all today?”

“Oh, he might have a free moment,” said Mr. Nicolay. “But should that miracle occur,
the president will go for a horseback ride in the country—and have a private meeting with himself!”

“Got it,” said Annie. She took a deep breath. “Well, maybe you can just answer one question for us. Do you know if the president collects feathers?”

Mr. Nicolay threw up his hands. “This is no time for silly questions,” he said. “Our country is divided, young lady. We are on the brink of war.”

“What do you mean, sir?” one of the men in the crowd shouted. “What’s the news from Fort Sumter?”

“Yes! What do you know that we don’t know?” a lady called.

Everyone started shouting at once.

“That’s it! Leave now, everyone!” Mr. Nicolay said. “The president is busy! He works night and day for you and for the unity of this nation!”

As the crowd shouted back at the secretary, Jack tugged on Annie’s sleeve. “Let’s get out of here,” he said.

“We should wait for Willie,” said Annie.

“I don’t think Willie can help us,” said Jack. “Come on. Let’s go back to the tree house and look at our research book. Maybe we can think of something else.”

“Okay,” said Annie, sighing.

She and Jack hurried along the hallway, then down the stairs to the first floor. They wove through the crowd, then escaped out the main door.

“Phew! That place is nuts!” said Jack as they walked between the tall white columns of the White House.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t wait for Willie?” said Annie.

“I’m sure,” said Jack. He hurried down the carriageway. “Even if Willie took us back to the office to meet his dad, we wouldn’t be alone with the president. Lots of other people would be there, too. We couldn’t ask him for a feather. And we sure couldn’t give him any hope. Everyone would laugh.”

“You’re right,” said Annie.

Jack shook his head. “How can the president
even think in that place, with Tad jumping on him, his relatives visiting, his secretary yelling—”

“And a thousand people scheduled to meet with him,” said Annie.

“And another thousand who are
trying
to meet with him!” said Jack.

They had arrived back at the tree house. “Whew. No wonder the president needs to take a ride in the countryside by himself,” Jack said. He grabbed the sides of the ladder. “Let’s go up and look at the book.”

“Wait,” said Annie. “I have a good idea.”

“What?” asked Jack.

“Right now we really need to have our own meeting with Abraham Lincoln, alone,” said Annie. “Right?”

“Yes … so?” said Jack.

“So if that’s the one thing we need, our book can’t really help,” said Annie. “But I know something that
can
.”

“What?” said Jack.

Annie reached into her apron pocket. She pulled
out the bottle and read the label aloud: “ ‘Take a sip. Make a wish for
one thing
to help you on your mission. Remember: Trust the magic.’ ”

Annie looked up at Jack. “So why don’t we make a wish to have a private meeting with Abraham Lincoln?”

“Isn’t it too soon to use our only magic?” said Jack.

“Maybe. But maybe it’s the perfect time,” said Annie.

“So we wish to have a meeting with the president all by ourselves?” said Jack.

“Yep,” said Annie.

Jack couldn’t think of another plan. “Well … okay,” he said. “Let’s do it.”

“Just remember, we have to trust the magic,” said Annie.

Jack nodded.

Annie took the top off the bottle. She raised the bottle to her lips, then swallowed a quick sip of the potion. She handed the bottle to Jack, and he did the same.

“You can make our wish,” said Annie.

Jack squeezed his eyes shut. “We wish to have a meeting with Abraham Lincoln!” he said. “Alone!”

There was a deafening
WHOOSH
and a
ROAR
. The earth shook, like a speeding train passing by. The ground opened, and Jack felt as if he were falling through space,