Jack and Annie kept walking until they came to the ice pondagain. "We've been here before," said Jack. "We're going incircles. How do we get out of the park?""We have to try to walk in a straight line," said Annie.
Annie and Jack struggled on. Jack kept looking back, trying tocatch sight of Teddy and Kathleen again. But it was gettingharder and harder to see anything. Wet snow kept sticking to hisglasses. Snow had blown up the sleeves of his jacket, under hisneck scarf, and into his mittens.
34"Yikes!" said Annie. She grabbed Jack's arm. "Look!"A huge wolf-like dog stood on a ledge above them, his mouthopen.
"Whoa!" said Jack.
The dog didn't move. He stood perfectly still.
35Annie laughed. "Oh, he's a statue!" she said. She ran to aplaque under the dog statue, brushed off the snow, and shoutedto Jack. "His name is Balto! In 1925, he carried medicine sixhundred miles through a blizzard in Alaska!""That's really great," said Jack. "But how do we get out of thepark?""Well, if we follow this path, it's bound to lead somewhere,"said Annie.
Jack followed Annie up a wide path. They walked andwalked, passing a snow-covered outdoor stage and a fountainwith the statue of an angel. Raising her outspread wings, theangel seemed about to fly away.
"Which way now?" said Jack.
Two paths led away from the angel fountain: one to the right,one to the left. "I don't know," said Annie. "Pick one."Jack headed to the left. Annie followed. They passed a frozenlake and walked over an arched bridge. Jack kept his eyes on theground and36walked and walked and walked. Every time he lifted his head,the snow felt like needles against his skin.
Jack tried to keep walking in a straight line, but the path theywere following began twisting and turning like a maze.
Different paths branched off, curving this way and that. Jackremembered information from their research book:
The park has thirty-two miles of winding footpaths.
"We havegotto get off these paths!" he shouted to Annie. "Or we'll be lostin Central Park forever!"Annie didn't answer. "Annie!" Jack shielded his face from thecutting wind and looked back. He didn't see her.
Jack turned around and around, looking for Annie. But hecouldn't see anything-the world was completely white.
"Annie!" he cried. Had she gone off on another path? Was shelost? "Annie!"She could wander around in the storm for37hours!
thought Jack.
She could freeze to death! I have to find her!
Jack tried to stay calm. He took a few breaths.
A rhyme,he thought. He couldn't remember which magic rhymes wereleft. He struggled to unbuckle his briefcase-his fingers feltfrozen. He pulled out the book and hunched over it, trying toshelter it from the storm. He wiped his glasses off and read:
Turn into Ducks.
That wouldn't help.
Pull a Cloud from the Sky.
That would only make things worse.
Find a Treasure You Must Never Lose.
Is Annie a treasure? Jack wondered. He'd always thought of a"treasure" as something super valuable, like gold or silver or rarejewels. But right now Annie seemed more valuable than any ofthose things. She seemed like the most valuable thing in theworld. Jack found the rhyme and shouted:
Treasure forever must never be lost! Um-motta cal, um-mottabost!
38"Jack!"Jack whirled around. Annie was standing right behind him.
"There you are," she said. "I was afraid you got lost.""Iwasn't lost," said Jack.
"Youwere lost." He slipped the rhyme book back into his briefcase.
"Not me,you,"said Annie.
"Whatever," said Jack. "Just stay near me now." He took herhand and gripped it tightly.
"Okay, let's figure out what to do.""Wait, is that a castle over there?" said Annie.
"A what?"said Jack. "A castle. Look!"Peering through the storm, Jack saw a small castle sitting ontop of a snowy hill. A light burned in a window.
"A castle in Central Park?" Jack said. "That's weird.""Let's go see if anyone's inside," said Annie. "Maybe they canhelp us. People in a castle might know about unicorns."39"Or at least know how to get out of the park," said Jack.
40Jack and Annie struggled up the stone steps that led to thecastle. At the top of the steps, Jack glanced back at the park. Hecould barely make out two figures in the snow: one in a darkcape and one in a raincoat.
"Them-it's them!" said Jack.
A cloud of wind-driven snow blew over the couple. Jack keptlooking, eager for another glimpse of the two young enchanters.
But the snow hid everything in sight.
"They'll find us," said Annie. "Come on." She pushed open thedoor to the castle and led the way inside.
The door slammed shut behind them. Jack and Annie stood ina dimly lit hallway.
"Hello? Who's there?" a man called. "Jack and Annie!" shoutedAnnie.
A tall, thin man came down a curving stone stairway. Hewore an old-fashioned blue-striped suit. "Goodness! Twochildren!" he said. "What are you doing here on a day liketoday?""We got lost in the park," said Jack. "My41name's Jack and this is my sister, Annie.""Pleased to meet you. I'm Bill Perkins," said the man.
"Welcome to Belvedere Castle.""What is this place?" asked Annie.
"The castle was built in 1869," said Mr. Perkins. "It was meantto be a delightful surprise when one wandered the park. Todayit's a delightful surprise with a nature observatory and weatherinstruments inside.""Weather instruments?" said Jack.
"Yes. I've come from the U.S. Weather Bureau to check them,"said Mr. Perkins. "I'm afraid right now our data is telling us thatthe weather's undergoing a rapid and terrible change."Jack shivered in his damp clothes. "Our data is telling us thesame thing," he said.
"A storm has blown in from the Midwest, bringing wind andsnow," said Mr. Perkins. "But after nightfall, things will getworse. Another storm is coming up from the South, gatheringspeed on its way."42"That sounds serious," said Annie.
"It's worse than serious," Mr. Perkins said. "It's disastrous.
After dark, the two systems will meet and create a monsterblizzard! It could be the worst in New York history! Even worsethan the Blizzard of '88!"Jack caught his breath.
"Poor New York," said Annie.
"Ah, yes, it's the last thing our great city needs during thesehard times," said Mr. Perkins, shaking his head.
"Excuse me, but I have a question," said Annie. "Do you knowif there's a full moon tonight?""Well, yes, there is," said Bill Perkins. "You won't see it,though-not through those storm clouds. Actually, it'll be thesecond full moon this month.""A blue moon!"said Annie.
"You're exactly right, a blue moon indeed," said Mr. Perkins.
"I have another question," said Annie. "Do you know wherewe can find--"43"Um-any unusual animals?" Jack interrupted. "On publicdisplay somewhere? In New York City?""Well, your best bet in New York would be the Bronx Zoo,"said Mr. Perkins. "They display all kinds of animals from all overthe world.""Great!" said Annie. "How do we get there?""What? You can't go to the zoo today!" said Mr. Perkins. "Notin this storm!""No, no, of course not," Jack said quickly. "But if we everdecide to go to the zoo-in the future-how would we get there?""Well, the best way would be to take the West Side IRT," saidMr. Perkins.
"What's that?" said Jack.
"A subway line that runs up the West Side," said Mr. Perkins.
"The number two train on that line will take you to the BronxZoo.""Oh, great, thanks for everything," said Jack. "We'd better getgoing now." He and Annie started toward the door.
"Wait, there's a telephone upstairs. Let me ring up your parents. Perhaps they can come get you," saidMr. Perkins.
"Um, well," said Annie. "We-uh-we haven't lived here verylong, and we don't have a telephone yet.""She's right," said Jack. "But it's not far to where we live. Wejust need to get out of the park to the street.""To the West Side!" said Annie.
"Yeah, yeah, the West Side," said Jack. "Can you tell us how toget there from here?""Certainly!" Mr. Perkins opened the door. Wind and snowblasted inside as he pointed to the right. "Cross the terrace andthen walk down the stairs to a path. That path will take you outof the park to Eighty-first Street," he said. "Hurry home now!""We will!" said Jack.
"Thanks a lot, Mr. Perkins!" said Annie. And she and Jackheaded back out into the blizzard. |