Moonlight on the Magic Flute: A Merlin Mission (6 page)

“S
tand back!” Wolfie shouted at the leopard. “I have a sword! And I’m not afraid to use it!”

“Oh, brother,” whispered Jack. There was no way Wolfie’s tiny sword could ward off the huge leopard. But if Jack and Annie rushed in to rescue Wolfie, the leopard might leap up and attack him.

Annie nudged Jack’s arm. She pointed at the pocket of his coat. She held up her hands, pretending to play a flute.

Jack had forgotten all about their magic flute! He remembered Teddy’s words:
Playing this flute will deliver you from danger.

But what can the flute do?
Jack wondered.
How can it help us?
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the flute anyway.

“You play—just blow over the mouthpiece,” whispered Annie. “I’ll make up a song. Remember, whatever I sing will come true.”

Jack nodded and held up the magic flute. It glistened in the light of the moon. Jack wasn’t sure he was holding it right, but he hoped it wouldn’t matter. He closed his eyes and blew gently across the mouthpiece.

Music streamed from the silver instrument! The pure sound wafted through the air like a feather on the wind. The melody was simple, yet beautiful.

Annie started singing, making up a song:

The leopard turned its head and looked at Jack and Annie. It pricked up its spotted ears.

Clown?
thought Jack.
Is that me?
He didn’t love Annie’s choice of words, but he didn’t have time to worry about it. The leopard rose to its feet and began walking toward Jack and Annie.

Jack was so scared that he almost turned and ran away. But he didn’t dare. He knew that as soon as he stopped playing the flute, the magic would end.

Annie tugged on Jack’s sleeve, and they started walking slowly down the path, back toward the palace. The leopard padded silently after them as Annie kept singing:

Without a word, Wolfie bravely hopped down from the tree. He followed the leopard, Jack, and
Annie. They all walked down the path between the trees. Jack had no idea where they were going. He only knew that he should keep playing, Annie should keep singing, and they should all keep moving.

Jack heard branches breaking. He heard grunting and snorting. The giant bear lumbered out from behind some trees. But Jack kept playing, and Annie kept singing:

The bear followed Jack, Annie, the leopard, and Wolfie down the path. The moonlight grew brighter and brighter. The magic music was making the night as bright as day!

Next the hyena’s laugh rippled through the air.
WHOOP-WHOOP!
The hyena slunk out from behind a tree trunk.

Jack kept playing, and Annie kept singing:

The hyena joined the parade.

More creatures appeared: the gazelle and the ostrich and the peacock. Annie sang to them as Jack played the magic flute:

The animals all joined the parade. Jack heard Wolfie laughing with joy. He looked back and saw the little boy waving his arms as if he were conducting the magic music, a big grin on his face.

Jack kept playing, and Annie kept singing:

Baboons and bunnies, snakes and squirrels, lizards and foxes—all the ordinary and extraordinary creatures in the woods followed Jack and Annie. On the other side of the wide square, candles twinkled in the rear windows of the palace. Jack wondered where he should lead all the wild creatures. Where was the zoo? How could he and Annie get the animals back into their cages?

But Annie had
another
idea, as she sang:

As Annie sang the last words over and over, the creatures began to vanish into thin air. The leopard, bear, hyena, ostrich, gazelle, peacock, baboon, and crane all disappeared. Soon, the only animals left in the woods were the ones that belonged there.

Annie stopped singing, Jack stopped playing, and Wolfie stopped waving his hands. The bright light faded to silver moonlight, and the cats, squirrels, and bunnies scampered off into the dark. The garden became quiet and peaceful again, except for the chirping of crickets.

“Where did the wild animals go?” asked Wolfie.

“Home,” Annie said simply.

Jack put the flute back in his pocket and heaved a sigh. “Good work,” he said to Annie. “But did you have to keep calling me a clown?”

Annie giggled. “Sorry, but ‘clown’ sounds good with so many other words.”

“I’m glad they went home,” said Wolfie. “I wanted them to be free.”

“Listen, Wolfie,” said Jack. “Don’t ever,
ever
again try to free animals from a zoo. Someone could have gotten hurt!”

“I’m sorry,” said Wolfie. “I promise I’ll never do it again. But how did you make them follow you?”

“It wasn’t us,” said Annie. “It was our music.”

“Was it magic?” asked Wolfie.

“Yes, as a matter of fact it was,” said Annie.

“Music
is
magic,” said Wolfie thoughtfully. “I love music.”

“Cool,” said Jack.

“I
really
love it!” said Wolfie.

“Uh … good,” said Jack.

“I love it more than anything!” said Wolfie. He whirled around, clapping his hands and dancing for joy.

What a weird kid,
thought Jack.

As Wolfie twirled, the palace clock sounded:
bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong, bong.

“Seven,” said Annie. “Seven o’clock.”

Wolfie stopped twirling and stumbled dizzily.
“Oh, no! I must go!” he cried. “I will be late!” Wolfie grabbed Jack and Annie. “Come with me! You have to come with me!”

“Uh, okay,” said Jack.
Why is Wolfie so frantic?
he wondered.

Wolfie pulled Jack and Annie toward the palace. “Hurry! I cannot be late!” he cried.

“Late for what?” said Jack.

Before Wolfie could answer, someone called his name. “Wolfie! Where are you?” It was Nan. She was standing on the back terrace of the palace. “Wolfie!” she called again.

“Coming!” shouted Wolfie. “Poor Nan! She is waiting for me! Papa is waiting for me! The
whole world
is waiting for me!”

W
olfie took off running toward the palace.

“The whole world?” Jack said to Annie. “I don’t think so.”

Annie smiled. “Come on, let’s go back inside,” she said.

Jack and Annie hurried through the moonlit garden back to the summer palace. They followed Wolfie up the stairway that led to the terrace.

“I’m here, Nan!” Wolfie called.

Nan ran across the terrace and grabbed him. “Oh, Wolfie! Where were you?” she asked.

“I was in the garden! Oh, Nan, the most amazing thing—” said Wolfie.

“Not now, Wolfie, we don’t have time,” Nan said. She brushed off his jacket and straightened his wig.

“I love music, Nan! Jack and Annie made me love music again!” Wolfie said, pointing at Jack and Annie.

“I’m glad, good, come now,” said Nan. “ We have to hurry to the Hall of Mirrors! Papa’s there waiting for us!” Nan pulled Wolfie toward the door.

“Jack, Annie, come with us!” Wolfie yelled over his shoulder.

“In a minute! We’ll be right there!” said Annie.

As Wolfie and Nan went inside, Annie tried to smooth her clothes. The lace on her petticoat was ripped. The bottom of her dress was dirty. Her bows had come untied. The hoop of her skirt was bent. “I’m a mess,” she said to Jack.

“Me too,” he said. His jacket was dirty and his pants were torn. He found his wig and hat where he’d
left them and scrunched them back onto his head. “But we have to look for the artists now,” he said.

“What about Wolfie?” said Annie.

“Forget it. We don’t have time to hang out with Wolfie,” said Jack.

“But we told him we’d come,” said Annie.

“ We can’t spend our whole lives chasing after Wolfie!” said Jack. “Because of him, we’ve already used up our only chance to make magic. And we haven’t even started our mission yet!”

“Okay, okay,” said Annie. “But we should at least say good-bye to him and Nan.”

Jack sighed. “Okay. A
quick
good-bye,” he said.

Jack and Annie walked across the terrace and stepped into the palace.

“Excuse me,” Annie said to a servant, “where is the Hall of Mirrors?”

The servant frowned at their appearance. But he pointed to a door on the right. “Pass through the next three rooms, then through the Great Rosa Room, into the Hall of Mirrors.”

“Thanks!” Jack and Annie hurried through the four rooms until they came to a large door. They opened it and peeked into the Hall of Mirrors.

Mirrors hung on the walls. The room was filled with party guests sitting in rows of chairs. Her Imperial Majesty and the imperial children sat in the front row. Wolfie was standing near the front of the room with Nan and their father.

Jack wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But Wolfie saw them and called out, “Jack! Annie! Come in!”

Jack started to slip away. But Annie pushed the door open and stepped inside.
Oh, brother,
thought Jack, following her.

“Watch me!” cried Wolfie. Then Wolfie shot away from his family and hopped in front of the crowd.

Oh, no!
thought Jack.
What’s he doing? Why doesn’t someone grab him?

Wolfie faced the audience. He placed his hand over his heart and bowed. Then he swept back his
coattails and climbed up on a bench in front of an odd-looking piano. His short legs didn’t even reach the floor.

Wolfie closed his eyes and bowed his head close to the keyboard. With just one finger he began tapping out some musical notes.

Why’s everyone watching this little kid pretend to play the piano?
Jack wondered. Then he realized something amazing: the simple tune Wolfie was picking out on the keyboard was the same tune the magic flute had played in the garden.

Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath as Wolfie played. He went from tapping with one finger to tapping with two fingers and then three. As Wolfie kept tapping out notes, he didn’t look like a silly six-year-old anymore. The expression on his face was thoughtful and dreamy.