Carnival at Candlelight (4 page)

“O
h, yeah. Of course,” whispered Jack. He’d forgotten all about Teddy and Kathleen’s book of magic rhymes!

Jack pulled the book out of his backpack. He and Annie studied the table of contents.
“Make a Stone Come Alive,”
said Annie.
“Make Metal Soft. Turn into Ducks. Fly Through the Air
— that’s it!”

“No,” said Jack. “Go back to
Make a Stone Come Alive.”

“Why?” said Annie.

“Because the lion’s supposed to carry us,” said Jack, “and he already has wings. But he’s made of stone. So what we need to do is make him come alive.”

“Oh, right,” said Annie.

“But then what?” said Jack. “Where will we go?”

“Merlin’s letter said an angel of gold would show us the way, remember?” said Annie.

“Angel of gold?” said Jack. “Where are we going to find that? And how will we find Neptune? How will he help us save Venice?”

“Patience”
said Annie. “If we need more magic, we’ll go back to the book.”

“Okay. But let’s hurry,” said Jack. He opened Teddy and Kathleen’s book to the second rhyme. He took a deep breath. He looked down at the lion on the ledge. Then he read in a loud, clear voice:

Stone so silent, cold, and hard
,

Cum-matta-lie, cum-matta-skaard
!

A cracking sound seemed to come from deep within the lion’s body. As Jack and Annie peered down at the statue, the lion’s stone mane ruffled into a mass of shaggy fur. His stone back softened into a sleek golden coat. His stone wings stretched into long, luminous feathers.

“Wow,” breathed Annie. Jack couldn’t speak. Before their eyes, the statue had turned into a living lion with magnificent golden wings. The lion shook his mane and yawned. He had huge, sharp teeth and a long pink tongue. His ears twitched. His tufted tail swayed back and forth.

The lion crouched and leapt off the ledge like a cat. He spread his wings and caught a strong current of wind. His wings flapped, and he began circling above the square.

“Here! Here!” Annie shouted. She waved wildly.

The winged lion turned and flew back toward the tower. He glided silently onto the terrace, landing just a few feet away from Jack and
Annie. He stared at them with his golden eyes.

“You have to help us save Venice from a flood disaster,” Jack said.

“Can you carry us to Neptune?” said Annie.

The lion padded toward them. He kept staring straight at them. He tilted his tremendous head and let out a long growl, as if he was trying to answer.

“We have to climb on your back,” said Jack.

“I hope we won’t hurt you,” said Annie.

The lion let out another growl, but he didn’t sound angry. He sounded as if he was telling them to hurry. He crouched down so they could climb on.

“I’ll go first,” Jack said to Annie. “I’ll hold on to his mane, and you hold on to me.” Jack slipped off his backpack and dropped it onto the terrace.

“Take the book of rhymes,” said Annie.

“Got it,” said Jack. He tucked the book under his arm and carefully climbed onto the lion’s back.

Annie climbed on behind Jack and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Jack twisted his fingers into the lion’s mane. The mane felt surprisingly soft.

“Okay we’re ready” said Jack.

The lion stood up. He trembled slightly. Then he leapt off the terrace.

“Ahh!” Jack yelled. The rhyme book slipped from under his arm and fell down into the flooded square below.

“Oh, no! Our book!” cried Jack.

“Hang on!” cried Annie.

The lion flapped his great wings and rose through the sky. Jack pressed his knees into the lion’s warm back and clung to his mane.

The lion flew toward the fireworks. A shower of red sparks was opening like an umbrella. Booms and whistles filled the night. Fiery bits rained down through the darkness, whistling into the canal.

“Help! We’re heading straight into the fireworks!” cried Annie.

The lion dipped and turned away from the fireworks. The red showers gave way to bursts of blue and green.

“Which way do we go?” shouted Annie.

As the lion flew back toward the square, Jack saw the gold weather vane on top of the
watchtower.
It was in the shape of an angel.

“The angel of gold!” shouted Jack.

The weather vane was no longer pointing north with the winds. The angel was turning slowly around and around, pointing in all directions.

“Fly closer to the angel!” shouted Annie.

The lion turned and flew toward the watchtower. As they drew near the golden angel, Jack called out, “Which way do we go? Which way?”

The weather vane turned in a full circle and then came to a complete stop. The angel was pointing toward the southeast, over the choppy water.

“To the sea!” Annie called over the wind.

The lion turned and soared into the wind, his strong wings shining like gold.

“Oh, wow!” cried Annie.

The flying lion glided past the fireworks and over the wide canal. Leaving Venice behind, he flew high over the stormy seas.

Jack gripped the lion’s mane with all his
might. The lion sailed in and out of thick, fast-moving clouds. He flew above crashing waves and past bolts of lightning. He flew through screaming winds and pelting rain.

In the middle of the sea, far from land, the lion began circling above the water. “What’s he doing?” cried Jack.

“Looking for Neptune!” shouted Annie.

“But Neptune’s not real!” said Jack.

“I know!” shouted Annie. “We’ll have to use our imaginations! Like Lorenzo! Try to imagine Neptune!”

Jack tried to imagine Neptune, but he was too scared to think clearly.

“Neptune!” shouted Annie. “Rise from the water! Save Venice, Neptune! Help us!” Annie’s voice was lost in the wind.

Jack wrapped his arms around the lion’s neck. He buried his face in the lion’s mane. He tried desperately to imagine Neptune.

The lion let out a roar. With his hands under
the lion’s throat, Jack felt as if he himself were roaring. The lion roared again. The roaring made Jack feel stronger and calmer. The details of Tiepolo’s painting came into his mind.

In his imagination, Jack saw Neptune, Ruler of the Seas, with his white beard and long hair, his strong arms and shoulders. He saw a lovely lady who was Venice, the Grand Lady of the Lagoon…. He saw Neptune giving the Grand Lady a gift….

“I see something!” cried Annie.

Jack opened his eyes and sat up. “Where?” he cried.

“In the water!” said Annie.

Clinging to the lion’s mane, Jack peered down into the darkness below. Lightning flashed over the sea. Jack saw a huge three-pronged spear rising out of the foaming, churning waves.

The sea below the spear began to heave and billow. Lightning flashed again, and Jack saw a great mass of swirling seaweed rising from the
waves.
Not seaweed—hair!
Jack realized. A man’s giant head and neck appeared above the surface of the water. Then the man’s massive shoulders, chest, and arms rose above the storm-tossed sea. The giant loomed high above them, as tall as a mountain.

“Neptune!” cried Annie.

The lion let out a roar and then another and another.

Lit by flashes of lightning, Neptune’s face looked as if it had been weathered by thousands of years of wind and sand and waves. He had deep-set eyes, craggy cheeks, a white beard, and tangled hair hanging to his shoulders.

“Neptune, save Venice from the flood!” cried Jack.

“Please!” called Annie. “Save the Grand Lady of the Lagoon!”

Neptune looked at them for a moment. Then, with his powerful arms, he lifted his spear and thrust it down into the waves. When the spear pierced the surface of the water, the sea made a gurgling sound—and then a long
slurp
, as if water were flowing down a drain.

The thunder and lightning stopped. The storm-tossed waves grew calm. The wind died to a gentle breeze. The clouds parted, and the stars shined brightly.

Neptune raised his spear. He nodded to Jack and Annie and the lion.

“Thanks!” cried Annie.

“Thanks!” shouted Jack. The lion roared again.

Then Neptune began to sink back into the sea. His long arms … huge shoulders … thick neck … craggy face … floating hair—all disappeared. The prongs of his spear sank below the surface of the water.

The Ruler of the Seas was gone. Only a shimmering whirlpool swirled in the moonlight.

T
he gondolier silently helped Jack and Annie into the boat. Then he untied the gondola and pushed off from the landing.

As the boat glided through the shallow waters, Jack looked back at Venice. Bathed in early sunlight, the Grand Lady of the Lagoon
did
seem timeless.

The gondola moved around the bend and up the narrow canal near the walled garden. The gondolier tied the boat to a striped pole. He then offered his gloved hand to Annie to help her out
of the boat. Annie climbed out and the gondolier offered his hand to Jack.

As the gondolier helped Jack onto the landing, the boat rocked in the water. Jack tripped, pulling the glove off the gondolier’s hand.

“Oh, sorry,” said Jack. As he handed the glove back, he gasped.
On the gondolier’s finger was a pale blue glass ring.

Before Jack could say anything, the gondolier pulled his glove back on and pushed the boat away from the landing.

“Hey—hey!” Jack sputtered. “Teddy? Kathleen? Wait! Come back!”

Neither of the masked people looked back at Jack and Annie.

“Teddy and Kathleen? Where?” said Annie.

“His glove—it came off! There was a blue glass ring on his finger!” said Jack.

Jack and Annie watched the gondola disappear into a blaze of sunlight shining on the water. Had it just glided around the bend? Or had it vanished altogether?

“Are you sure it was them?” said Annie.

“Well, I guess
anybody
could wear a glass ring,” said Jack. “But still…”

“Maybe Morgan and Merlin told them to watch over us,” said Annie.

“Yeah, to make sure we’d be safe,” said Jack.

“And be patient and follow instructions,” said Annie.

“Right,” said Jack. “Well, Venice wasn’t destroyed by a flood. So I guess we passed our first test.”

“I think we did,” said Annie.

With Lorenzo’s canvas tucked under his arm, Jack led the way into the walled garden. Annie followed him to the rope ladder.

When they climbed into the tree house, Jack pulled Merlin’s letter from his backpack. He
unfolded it and pointed to the words
Frog Creek.

“I wish we could go there!” he said.

“Good-bye, Grand Lady of the Lagoon!” said Annie.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun faster and faster.

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

A nippy wind rustled the Frog Creek trees. Jack and Annie were wearing their jeans and jackets again. It was dawn.

Annie sighed. “I wish we’d had a little more time to visit Venice,” she said.

“I’m glad Lorenzo gave us his painting to finish,” said Jack. “That’ll be like living our trip all over again.”

“Cool,” said Annie.

“We’d better leave Morgan’s research book here,” said Jack. He pulled the book out of his
backpack and put it on the floor. “And this.” He took out Teddy and Kathleen’s book of magic rhymes.

“Wait,” said Annie. “Don’t you think we should take the book of rhymes with us? For safekeeping?”

Jack nodded. “We can’t use them in Frog Creek,” he said. “We’ll just keep it safe till we go on our next mission.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” said Annie. “Come on. Hurry, before Mom and Dad wake up.”

Jack put the book of rhymes back into his pack. Carrying Lorenzo’s canvas, Annie climbed down the ladder. Jack followed.

As they walked through the chilly dawn woods, Annie held up Lorenzo’s canvas. The shimmering light and waters of Venice looked just like they had in real life. “So what should we put in our painting?” she asked.

“Gondolas, of course,” said Jack, “with people in costumes.”

“Wearing black capes and bird masks,” said Annie, “and fancy dresses and wigs.”

“And we could paint the clock tower in the background,” said Jack, “with the two men striking the bell.”

“And the watchtower, too,” said Annie, “with the gold angel on top.”

“And the ruler’s palace,” said Jack.

“And the old man and Rosa walking along the canal,” said Annie, “and, of course, Lorenzo.”

“And the lion flying across the sky,” said Jack, “and Neptune’s spear rising out of the water.”

“With Neptune himself peeking out!” said Annie. “We’ll show just the top of his head and his mysterious eyes.”

“That’s a lot of stuff for one painting,” said Jack.

“We didn’t even put ourselves in yet,” said Annie.

“We’ll paint ourselves on the back of the lion,” said Jack, “wearing our clown suits and red slippers.”

“Yeah, with huge smiles on our faces,” said Annie, “like we’re thinking,
Wow! Wow! Wow!”

Jack laughed.

A chilly dawn breeze swept through the bare trees. The bells of a Frog Creek church began to chime. Jack and Annie took off running for home.