Annie was laughing so hard that she could barelystand up. "What--what happened to you in there?"she said. "After I curtsied, I left. When I looked backin the room, you were still bowing!""She didn't say 'rise'!" said Jack.
"Yes, she did, dummy!" said Annie.
"Well, I didn't hear her!" said Jack. He turned awayfrom Annie and started walking as fast as he could.
He strode through one elegant room into another. Hedidn't know where he was. These rooms all look thesame,he thought angrily, with36stupid velvet furniture and stupid gold-trimmedwalls.
"Jack, wait!" Annie called. She hurried after him.
Jack kept walking, desperate to get far away fromthe scene of his disaster. Finally he came to a doorthat led outside. He opened it and stepped out onto along marble terrace overlooking the back of thepalace. Bright silvery light from a full moon shone ona huge garden.
Jack stood in the chilly air, trying to calm down. Hetook a deep breath. He desperately wanted to runback to the tree house and go home.
"Jack!" Annie slipped out to join him. "I'm sorry Icalled you a dummy," she said. "Are you okay?""I didn't hear her say to rise," said Jack. "And theflute fell out of my coat and my hat came off... andmy wig . . . and I sneezed and I slipped. . . . Come on,let's leave. We can go down these stairs.""No, we can't leave now," said Annie. "We have37a mission from Merlin. Don't feel bad. Hardlyanyone saw what you did.""Yeah, except Her Imperial Majesty and all thoseimperial kids," said Jack. "They all laughed at me.""They weren't being mean," said Annie. "You werefunny. Here, give me your wig."Jack handed Annie his wig, and she put it back onhis head and straightened it.
"Your hat," she said.
Jack gave her his hat, and she placed it over hiswig. "Hide the flute," said Annie.
Jack stuck the silver flute back into his pocket. "Idon't know what we need this flute for," he said.
"There's nothing dangerous here. I don't get thiswhole mission.""We'll figure it out. Let's just go back in," saidAnnie. She pulled Jack back inside the palace.
"So what do we do now?" asked Jack.
"We should find the party we were invited to," saidAnnie. "That must be what Merlin wanted us38to do." She pointed across the room. People werestreaming through a set of doors into another room.
Loud party noises came from inside: the chatter ofguests, tinkling china, and harp and violin music.
Jack pulled back. But Annie took him by the arm.
"Don't worry, I'll bet there are hundreds of people inthere," she said. "We'll get lost in the crowd.""But what about all those kids and Her ImperialMajesty?" Jack asked.
"They don't care about us," said Annie. "They havetoo many other guests to think about. Come on."Annie led Jack through the double doors into theparty room.
"Whoa," breathed Jack. He and Annie stopped andstared.
The party room was the size of a football field.
Grand paintings covered the towering ceiling.
Everything was trimmed in gold. The glossy whitewalls and tall mirrors reflected the glow of at least athousand candles.
39Musicians played harps and violins while hundredsof guests stood around long dinner tables, chattingand laughing. Women fanned themselves, theirdiamonds and rubies flashing in the candlelight. Theair smelled of perfume, powder, and roses.
"Okay! Let's talk about our mission," said Annie.
"We have to help a brilliant artist get on the rightpath to bring joy to the world.""Yeah, but first we have to find one ...," said Jack.
"Right, so let's look around," said Annie.
Jack and Annie started drifting together throughthe huge room. Jack gazed at the grownups. Dressedin their finery, they all looked pretty much the same.
What does a brilliant artist look like?Jack wondered.
"Jack of Frog Creek!" came a high little voice.
Oh, no!thought Jack. He whirled around.
The boy with the tiny sword was grinning up athim. "I have been looking all over for you!" he said.
40"Hi!" said Annie. "What's your name?""Wolfie," said the boy.
"That's a funny name," said Annie.
"So is Jack of Frog Creek!" said Wolfie. His eyesshone as he looked up at Jack. "Are you a clown?" heasked.
Annie giggled.
"Yeah, that's right, I'm a clown," said Jack.
"How old are you, Wolfie?" said Annie, changingthe subject.
"Six!" the little boy said.
"Six?" said Jack. This kid looked more like a fouryear-old, he thought, five at the most.
"And I'm eleven," a girl said.
For the first time, Jack noticed the girl standingbehind Wolfie. She wore a white dress with red roses.
She was the girl who had helped them in line!
"Hi!" said Annie.
"Hello again," the girl said in a soft, lovely voice. "Iam Wolfie's sister."41Jack felt his face grow red. The girl must have seenhim make a fool of himself.
"My name is Nanner!," said the girl.
42"Nannerl?" said Annie, trying to pronounce hername.
The girl smiled. "You can call me Nan if you like,"she said. "Wolfie and I enjoyed your performance inthe Great Rosa Room, Jack. You must be very proud.
Her Imperial Majesty does not laugh easily."Jack shrugged and scratched his wig. He wonderedif the girl was joking. But she looked serious, so hedecided not to tell her he hadn't meant to be funny.
"Do you call your mother 'Her Imperial Majesty'?"Annie asked Nan.
Nan looked confused. "No.""We call her Mama!" said Wolfie.
"But you just said Her Imperial Majesty doesn'tlaugh much," said Annie.
"Oh, Her Imperial Majesty is not our mother!" Nansaid. "Our mother is back home in Salzburg. We arejust visiting the palace.""Then why was Wolfie sitting on Her ImperialMajesty's lap?" asked Annie.
43"Because she likes me very much!" Wolfie piped up.
Oh, brother,thought Jack.
"Wolfie, be modest," said Nan, shaking her head.
"Actually, Wolfie jumped in her lap when wepresented ourselves. I tried to grab him, but HerImperial Majesty wanted him to stay with her.""Were all those other kids imperial children?" Annieasked.
"Oh, yes," said Nan. "Papa taught me all theirnames before we came here: Leopold, Ferdinand,Maximilian, Joseph, Maria Antonia, Maria Caroline,Maria Josepha, Maria Amalie, Maria Elisabeth, MariaChristina, Maria Johanna, and Maria Anna.""Hmm," said Jack. "Maria's a popular name aroundhere."Nan laughed. Jack liked making her laugh.
"Hey, look at me!" said Wolfie. He pulled off hiswig. He pretended to sneeze and then fell to the floor.
"I'm Jack the Clown!" he said.
"Ha-ha. Very funny," said Jack, forcing a smile.
44He'd had just about enough of Wolfie.
"Nan, we have a question for you," said Annie. "Doyou know if there are any brilliant artists here at theparty?""I haven't really been in Vienna long enough tomeet many people," said Nan. "But Papa told me thatartists do live--""Wait!" Wolfie broke in. He jumped to his feet. "Iknow someone here who is very brilliant.""Who?" asked Annie.
"Me!" said Wolfie. And he bowed.
"Wolfie," said Nan, shaking her head.
"Right," said Jack. He turned back to Nan. "Whatwere you about to say?"But Wolfie broke in again. "Nan and I are bothbrilliant!" he exclaimed in his high voice. "Our papateaches us math, history, writing, reading, geography,music, drawing, riding, fencing, and dancing." Wolfieraised his arms over his head and did a little dancestep.
Annie laughed.
45"Wolfie, stop!" said Nan.
Yeah, cool it, kid,thought Jack.
"Do you want to go outside and play in thegarden?" Wolfie asked Jack and Annie. "We can alldance!""I don't think so, Wolfie," said Jack. "But thanks."He turned back to Nan. "So! What were you going totell us about artists?""Oh, yes," said Nan. "Papa told me that HerImperial Majesty often invites artists to live in thepalace and work here.""Perfect!" said Jack.
"Do you think any of them are here at the partynow?" asked Annie.
"I don't know," said Nan. "The palace is very big.
Papa told us that more than fifteen hundred peoplelive here. Why are you looking for brilliant artists?""Oh," said Annie, "we're on a mission to--"Jack interrupted her. ". . . to party with brilliantartists," he finished. "That's our mission." Then he laughed because he knew he soundedstupid.
Nan laughed, too. "I see," she said. "All right then,at dinner I will ask Papa where the artists stay.""Thank you!" said Jack. Finally, he thought, theywere starting their Merlin mission! |