Wolfie took off running toward the palace.
"The whole world?" Jack said to Annie. "I don'tthink so."Annie smiled. "Come on, let's go back inside," shesaid.
Jack and Annie hurried through the moonlit gardenback to the summer palace. They followed Wolfie upthe 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.
80"I was in the garden! Oh, Nan, the most amazingthing--" 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 lovemusic again!" Wolfie said, pointing at Jack and Annie.
"I'm glad, good, come now," said Nan. "We have tohurry to the Hall of Mirrors! Papa's there waiting forus!" Nan pulled Wolfie toward the door.
"Jack, Annie, come with us!" Wolfie yelled over hisshoulder.
"In a minute! We'll be right there!" said Annie.
As Wolfie and Nan went inside, Annie tried tosmooth her clothes. The lace on her petticoat wasripped. The bottom of her dress was dirty. Her bowshad come untied. The hoop of her skirt was bent. "I'ma mess," she said to Jack.
"Me too," he said. His jacket was dirty and his pantswere torn. He found his wig and hat where he'd81left 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 withWolfie," said Jack.
"But we told him we'd come," said Annie.
"We can't spend our whole lives chasing afterWolfie!" said Jack. "Because of him, we've alreadyused up our only chance to make magic. And wehaven't even started our mission yet!""Okay, okay," said Annie. "But we should at leastsay good-bye to him and Nan."Jack sighed. "Okay. A quickgood-bye," he said.
Jack and Annie walked across the terrace andstepped into the palace.
"Excuse me," Annie said to a servant, "where is theHall of Mirrors?"The servant frowned at their appearance. But hepointed to a door on the right. "Pass through the nextthree rooms, then through the Great Rosa Room, intothe Hall of Mirrors."82"Thanks!" Jack and Annie hurried through the fourrooms until they came to a large door. They opened itand peeked into the Hall of Mirrors.
Mirrors hung on the walls. The room was filledwith party guests sitting in rows of chairs. HerImperial Majesty and the imperial children sat in thefront row. Wolfie was standing near the front of theroom with Nan and their father.
Jack wanted to leave as quickly as possible. ButWolfie saw them and called out, "Jack! Annie! Comein!"Jack started to slip away. But Annie pushed thedoor open and stepped inside. Oh, brother, thoughtJack, following her.
"Watch me!" cried Wolfie. Then Wolfie shot awayfrom his family and hopped in front of the crowd.
Oh, no! thought Jack. What's he doing? Whydoesn't someone grab him?
Wolfie faced the audience. He placed his hand overhis heart and bowed. Then he swept back his83coattails and climbed up on a bench in front of anodd-looking piano. His short legs didn't even reachthe floor.
Wolfie closed his eyes and bowed his head close tothe keyboard. With just one finger he began tappingout some musical notes.
Why's everyone watching this little kid pretend toplay the piano? Jack wondered. Then he realizedsomething amazing: the simple tune Wolfie waspicking out on the keyboard was the same tune themagic flute had played in the garden.
Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breathas Wolfie played. He went from tapping with onefinger to tapping with two fingers and then three. AsWolfie kept tapping out notes, he didn't look like asilly six-year-old anymore. The expression on his facewas thoughtful and dreamy.
Suddenly Wolfie was playing with all his fingers.
His small hands flew over the black and white keys ashe added to the tune of the magic flute.
84Jack was stunned. He couldn't believe a little kidcould make such beautiful music. The sounds fromthe piano were sometimes light and playful,85and at other times heavy and forceful. The slowparts of Wolfie's music made Jack want to close hiseyes. The lively parts made him want to bounce upand down.
86Wolfie ended his concert with a great flourish.
Then he stood up and bowed.
The guests jumped to their feet, smiling andlaughing, clapping and yelling, "Bravo! Bravo!"Wolfie kept bowing. The clapping and cheeringwould die down, but then it would start up again. Aslong as people clapped, Wolfie bowed.
Finally Wolfie's father stepped up to the piano.
Then Wolfie seemed to turn into a little kid again.
"Papa!" he said. He grabbed his father and buried hisface in his father's coat. Wolfie's dad had tears on hischeeks as he hugged his son.
All the guests talked excitedly about theperformance they'd just seen:
"I couldn't believe my ears!""I couldn't believe my eyes!""How did he do it? He is so young and small!"As the party guests kept praising Wolfie, Nanwalked over to Jack and Annie. "Thank you forbringing Wolfie back for his concert," she said.
"Has he been playing a long time?" Annie asked.
87"Papa has been teaching him since he was three,"said Nan. "And now Wolfie is even starting to writehis own music. He tells Papa he hears tunes in hishead--like the tune he played tonight. I have neverheard that one before."Annie smiled at Jack, and he smiled back at her.
"Cool," Annie said.
A hush fell over the crowd. Her Imperial Majestyhad stepped forward. She took Wolfie's hands in hers.
"Thank you for your brilliant performance, WolfgangAmadeus Mozart," she said.
As the crowd clapped wildly again, Annie looked atJack. "Mozart!" she said.
Jack was confused. Mozart? He knew the nameMozart. Their piano teacher loved the music ofMozart. Their parents loved it, too. In fact, they'donce taken Annie and Jack to hear a concert ofMozart's music. Jack couldn't believe that this strangelittle kid was the world-famous Mozart.
The applause stopped as Her Imperial Majestyspoke to the crowd. "We have witnessed a great eventhere tonight. I know we will all remember it88in the years to come, when our young WolfgangMozart brings joy to all the world with his music.""Oh, man," Jack whispered. He looked at Annie.
"Did you hear that?"Annie smiled at him and nodded.
"Thank you again for your help," Nan said to them.
She started to leave, then turned back. "Oh, I askedPapa your question about the artists living here. Hesaid he was talking about another palace in Vienna. Iam sorry.""That's okay," said Annie. "No problem."As Nan headed for Wolfie and her father, Annielooked at Jack. "We found our great artist," she said.
"He was with us all along." |