Carnival at Candlelight (3 page)

J
ack found Annie standing behind a column in a lantern-lit courtyard. The courtyard was quiet and empty. “Everyone in Venice must be at Carnival,” said Jack. “I just hope the ruler is home.”

“Yeah, we’ll ask him if he knows the Grand Lady of the Lagoon,” said Annie. “And we’ll tell him he has to help us save her from a terrible disaster.”

Jack looked at his map of the palace. Several rooms were labeled
Ruler’s Living Chambers.
“I
guess that’s where he lives,” said Jack. “We have to go up some stairs called the Giants’ Stairs to get there.”

“The Giants’ Stairs?” said Annie.

“Yeah,” said Jack. “Listen to this.”

“Cool,” said Annie. “Let’s go.”

Jack and Annie hurried down the passageway that ran along the courtyard until they came to a wide staircase. On either side of the stairs were giant marble statues of strong-looking men.

“Mars and Neptune,” said Jack. “This is it. Come on.”

Jack and Annie quickly climbed the Giants’ Stairs. At the top, Jack looked at the map again. “Now we turn right and head for the Golden Staircase,” he said.

Keeping an eye out for more guards, they crept down a hall until they came to a fancy staircase under a gold ceiling.

“There it is,” said Jack. “Let’s climb up.” He and Annie hurried up the Golden Staircase. When they got to the top, they froze. Another guard was slouched against the wall by the stairs. His eyes were closed, and he was snoring softly.

Jack motioned to Annie, and they tiptoed past the sleeping guard to the entrance of the ruler’s living chambers. Jack glanced at the map. “This is it,” he whispered.

The door was open. Jack and Annie peeked inside. “Knock, knock?” Annie said in a soft voice.

No one answered.

They stepped through the doorway. A fire blazed on the hearth. Overhead many candles burned brightly. The dancing flames cast shadows on a marble floor and a carved gold ceiling.

“I have a feeling the ruler’s not here,” said Annie. “Maybe we should leave.”

Jack looked at their book. “Wait, the next room is the Map Room,” he said. “Let’s just take a look.”

“Okay, but we’d better hurry,” said Annie.

Jack led the way into the Map Room. Colorful maps hung on the walls. In the middle of the floor were two huge globes. Jack sighed. “I
love
this room,” he said.

“Look, more lions,” said Annie. She pointed to three paintings of winged lions on one of the walls. “Why are there lions with wings everywhere?”

Jack looked up
winged lions
in their book. He turned to the right page and read:

As Jack and Annie looked back up at the lion paintings, they heard footsteps. The grouchy guard and the sleepy guard rushed into the room.

“Hi, we’re looking—” began Annie.

“There they are! The thieves!” the sleepy guard shouted at the grouchy guard. “I
told
you I heard voices!”

“We’re not thieves,” said Annie. “We were just looking for your ruler to ask for his help.”

“She’s right,” said Jack. “We have to tell him that—”

“Won’t admit your crime, eh?” said the grouchy guard. “The worst cells are reserved for criminals like you! Move!”

“But we—” started Annie.

“Move!” shouted the grouchy guard, raising his rifle and pointing to the door.

Jack knew there was no use arguing. He took Annie’s hand and led her out of the ruler’s living chambers. The two guards walked behind them, pointing guns at their backs.

“To the end of the hall and down the steps!” growled the grouchy guard.

Jack and Annie walked quickly down the hall, then down some steep, narrow steps. They
moved through a low stone corridor, the guards close behind them.

“Over the Bridge of Sighs!” shouted the grouchy guard. “And be sure to sigh when you cross it—because you won’t be coming back for a long time!”

Jack gripped Annie’s hand as they crossed a covered footbridge to another building. Once inside, they started down a lantern-lit hallway filled with puddles. Jack’s shoes felt squishy and soggy as he sloshed through the water.

“Halt!” shouted the grouchy guard.

Jack and Annie stopped in front of a heavy wooden door. The grouchy guard opened the door and pushed them into a dark, damp cell.

The door slammed shut. Jack heard a heavy metal bolt clank into place. Then he heard the guards splash away down the hall, arguing with each other.

The prison was eerily quiet. It was hard to breathe in the stale cell. It was hard to see, too. Only the dim light of the hallway shone faintly
through the barred window. Under the window was a wooden bench.

“What now?” Annie asked in a small voice.

For a moment, Jack couldn’t answer. He was stunned. Minutes ago they’d been at the bright Carnival. Now they were locked in a dingy prison cell. “I—I’ll look in the book,” he said.

Jack felt shaky as he opened their research book. He moved close to the barred window to read by the dim light. He looked up
prison
in the index. He found it and read aloud:

Jack heard a squeak from a dark corner. He stopped reading and looked up. He heard the squeak again. The hair went up on his neck.
Was that a rat?
he wondered.

“Was that a rat?” said Annie.

The squeak came again from the dark corner. Then a squeak came from another corner. Jack heard rustling along the walls and more squeaking.

“Oh, man,” he breathed.
There were rats everywhere.

“I think it’s time for magic,” said Annie.

“Yep,” said Jack, “definitely.” He kept his eye on the dark corners while Annie reached into his backpack and pulled out Teddy and Kathleen’s book.

Annie read from the table of contents:
“Make a Stone Come Alive. Make Metal Soft. Turn into Ducks.”
Annie looked up. “Are rats afraid of ducks?” she asked.

“Forget ducks!” said Jack. “Go back to
Make Metal Soft—
that’s what we need to do! You read the rhyme, and I’ll try to pull the bars apart.”

“Okay, good,” said Annie.

Jack jumped onto the wooden bench under the barred window. The squeaking grew louder.

Jack reached up and felt the iron bars. They were cold and hard and very solid. Jack couldn’t imagine bending them.

The squeaks were getting louder. Jack gripped two bars in the middle of the window and took a deep breath. “Read the rhyme!” he said.

Annie read aloud:

Iron or copper, brass or steel
,

Bree-on-saw! Bro-on-beel!

As Annie finished the rhyme, the bars began to glow. They grew warmer in Jack’s hands. “I think it’s working!” he cried.

Holding the bars tightly Jack pulled in opposite directions. Slowly the glowing bars began to stretch and bend. Jack pulled till there was an opening large enough for Annie and him to fit through.

“We did it!” he cried.

“Great! Hurry, hurry! The rats are coming!” cried Annie as she jumped on the bench.

Jack heard a chorus of squeaks from all sides of the cell. He looked down. He saw the shadowy shapes of dozens of rats. They seemed to be sniffing the air below the window.

“Go! Go!” Jack cried to Annie.

Annie squeezed between the bars and jumped down into the hallway. Jack followed her. He hit the wet floor and scrambled to his feet. “Come on!” he cried.

Jack and Annie sloshed down the watery hallway. At the end of it, they nearly bumped right into the two guards. Jack and Annie kept running.

“Hey!” the grouchy guard shouted, running after them. He reached for Jack. The other guard tried to catch Annie.

Jack and Annie dodged away from them. The guards crashed into each other, falling to the floor. Jack and Annie kept running. They dashed across the Bridge of Sighs. They ran through the corridor and up the steep stone steps.

“This way!” cried Jack. He and Annie tore down the hall, heading for the Golden Staircase.

“Hey! Hey!” the guards yelled from far behind.

Jack and Annie bounded down the Golden Staircase two steps at a time. They flew down the hall and down the Giants’ Stairs. They ran past the statues of Mars and Neptune and charged down the long, open passageway. Finally, they dashed through the entrance of the palace and escaped into Saint Mark’s Square.

“W
e have to save all of Venice?” said Jack. “That’s a big responsibility. What do we have to save Venice
from
?
”

“Well, if Neptune’s going to help us, it must have something to do with water,” said Annie.

“Yeah, like the water that’s flooding the alleys,” said Jack.

“But the woman at the café told us not to worry about that,” said Annie.

“I’m still worried,” said Jack. “Let’s look up
floods
in our Venice book.” He found
floods
in the
index. He turned to the right page and read:

“A flood disaster! That must be it!” said Annie. “So what are the conditions?”

“It lists them here,” said Jack. He read:

“There’s a high tide tonight—the passenger with the bird mask in the gondola told us that,” said Annie.

“Yeah, and winds from the south—the weather vane told us that,” said Jack.

“And water’s flowing down from the mountains—the woman at the café told us that,” said Annie.

“Yeah, and storms out at sea—I saw lightning when we crossed the water,” said Jack.

“All the conditions are here,” said Annie.

Jack and Annie looked around. Water was now flowing steadily from the alleyways into the small square. It had risen above their ankles.

“I get it now,” said Jack. “The water will just keep getting higher and higher until it destroys the whole city. And no one’s paying attention!”

“Neptune’s the only one who can help us stop the flood,” said Annie.

“But Neptune’s not real,” said Jack. “I mean, he’s a character in mythology, and mythology’s not real life. It’s—”

“Okay, okay,” said Annie. “Let’s just take one step at a time. At midnight two guys will tell us the time, and then we should climb to the top of their tower, right?”

“Right,” said Jack.

“So what we have to do now is find those two guys!” said Annie.

“Let’s go back to the waterfront,” said Jack. “The man with the dog said everyone in Venice would be there for the fireworks.”

Jack put away their book. Then he and Annie retraced their steps over the footbridge and back through the alleys. Lots of seaweed was floating in the narrow lanes between buildings.
Water is definitely flowing in from the sea
, Jack thought.

When they got back to Saint Mark’s Square, people were streaming toward the waterfront. Jack and Annie walked with the crowd. Everyone was talking and laughing as they looked up at the sky over the water, waiting for the fireworks to begin. No one paid attention to the damp winds or the seawater spilling over the side of the canal, soaking their shoes.

“Excuse me!” Annie shouted. “Can anyone tell us the time?”

No one answered, for just then the first explosion of fireworks shook the night. The crowd cheered as blue and red showers exploded in the sky.

In the distance, a clock started to chime. Jack counted the bongs.

“Twelve!” he said. “It’s midnight now, according to
that
clock.”

More fireworks exploded over the waterfront, and another clock began clanging. This time, Jack counted only eleven bongs. He shook his head. “This is crazy!” he muttered.

Jack looked around at the crowd. “Can anyone tell us the real time?” he yelled. “Is it midnight yet? Can anyone tell us?”

No one answered—not even
one
man, much less two. Everyone was
oohing
and
aahing
over the dazzling fireworks.

Another clock began to sound. This one was much louder than the first two.

BONG!

“This is hopeless!” said Jack.

BONG!

“We’ll never know the right time,” he said.

BONG!

“Jack, look over there—” said Annie.

BONG!

“We’ll never find the two men with the tower,” said Jack.

BONG!

“Jack, look—” said Annie.

BONG!

“All of Venice is about to drown in a flood,” said Jack.

BONG!

“And everyone’s just cheering for fireworks!” said Jack.

BONG!

“JACK! LOOK!”
said Annie. She pointed toward the clock tower in Saint Mark’s Square.

BONG!

Jack saw a huge bell on top of the tower. Two bronze statues were holding a club and striking the bell.

BONG!

The statues were of
two men.

BONG!

“At midnight two men will tell you the time,”
said Annie.

BONG!

The two men struck the bell for the twelfth time and then stopped.

“Come on!” cried Jack. “We have to climb that tower!”

More fireworks thundered over the canal as Jack and Annie pushed their way back through the crowd. They ran into Saint Mark’s Square and splashed their way to the tall tower with the two men on top. They ran to the arched entrance of the tower and stepped inside. The air was damp and musty.

“Stairs!” said Jack. He ran to a dark, winding stairway and started up. Annie followed. They climbed and climbed until they reached the top of the tower.

Jack was breathing hard as he pushed open a heavy door that led out onto the bell terrace. The two statues were frozen on either side of the bronze bell.

As soon as Jack and Annie stepped onto the terrace, the wind blew their hats off their heads. The air was filled with cracking and hissing sounds as more fireworks burst through the sky. Everyone on the waterfront was clapping and cheering.

“What’s the next thing Merlin tells us to do to find Neptune?” Annie shouted.

Jack pulled out Merlin’s letter. Holding on to it tightly as it flapped in the wind, he read aloud:

The King of the Jungle will carry you there
,

Not over land, but high in the air.

“The King of the Jungle is a lion,” said Annie. “So it sounds like we need to find a flying lion!”

“Right,” said Jack. “But where?”

“How about
that
one?” said Annie. She was pointing over the terrace railing.

Jack looked down. Standing on the wide ledge below was the stone statue of a lion. Growing out of the lion’s back were two powerful-looking carved wings.

“But that’s just a statue,” cried Jack. “How can a statue take us anywhere?”

Annie grinned. “I think it’s time to use a little more magic,” she said.