Amanda on the Danube: The Sounds of Music

“A mysterious travel adventure with a brave, inquisitive, compassionate heroine. This is a fast-paced, fun read! Amanda will take you on a wonderful, visual, descriptive adventure.”

—Author PJ Sarah Collins & Daughter, Elena Collins, Age 11

“Young readers will have great fun travelling alongside Amanda Ross in this fast-paced mystery that will keep readers guessing until the very last chapter.”

—Jan L. Coates, Author, Finalist - Governor General's Literary Awards

“A charming and fast-paced story that will delight its young audience as Amanda and Leah travel along the historic Danube River to deliver a very unique and mysterious violin.”

—Suzanne de Montigny, Author

“A mysterious violin case, two boys and other intriguing characters among ancient castles make this a page turning adventure for young readers.”

—Margriet Ruurs, Author

“The intrepid Amanda and her friend Leah are off on another lively adventure. A recommended read for 10 to 14 year olds.”

—Norma Charles, Author & Teacher/Librarian

“There is A LOT of action packed into this little book!”

—Mother Daughter Reviews

Book of the Month: “Amanda in England: a delightful romp through modern-day London. Recommended for readers in late elementary school or for anyone who loves solving playful mysteries that do not reveal their secrets easily.”

—Long and Short Reviews

“I love how Ms. Foster puts the reader right in the action and kids get to learn about the exciting places Amanda goes.”

—This Kid Reviews Books

The
Amanda Travels
Series:

Amanda in Arabia: The Perfume Flask

Amanda in Spain: The Girl in the Painting

Amanda in England: The Missing Novel

Amanda in Alberta: The Writing on the Stone

Copyright © 2016 Darlene Foster

Cover and internal design © 2016 Central Avenue Marketing Ltd.

Photography: © iStock - pongschole1; NatuskaDPI; Askold Romanov

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by Central Avenue Publishing, an imprint of Central Avenue Marketing Ltd.
www.centralavenuepublishing.com

Published in Canada

Printed in United States of America

1. JUVENILE FICTION/Travel 2. JUVENILE FICTION / People & Places - Europe

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Foster, Darlene, author

Amanda on the Danube : the sounds of music / Darlene Foster.

(Amanda ; 5)

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-77168-102-5 (paperback).--ISBN 978-1-77168-103-2 (epub).--ISBN 978-1-77168-104-9 (mobi)

I. Title.

PS8611.O7883A81 2016       jC813'.6       C2016-902753-8

                                                                    C2016-902754-6

To Mom,

With Love

P
leeease, Mom. Can we go? Please. Please?” Amanda Ross stared at the computer screen. “Come and look at this website. The boat looks awesome, and the scenery along the river is amazing.”

Mrs. Ross approached the laptop. “A river cruise on the Danube would be nice, Amanda, but I don't think your dad and I can get the time off.”

“But, Mom, it would be so much fun and you'd get to meet Leah's parents. They're real cool. I know you'd like them.”

“Those river cruises are quite expensive. I'm not sure we can afford it.”

“It says here in Leah's email that if we book now, we can get a big discount. I really want to see Leah again.”

Amanda's mom sighed. “It was nice of the Andersons to invite us. I could use a holiday. I'll discuss it with your dad and we'll see. Don't get your hopes up, sweetie.” She patted Amanda's head.

Amanda sent an email back to Leah, “This just might work out.”

“
Guten Tag, fräulein
.” The young, blond flight attendant smiled at Amanda as she left the plane.

‘I like it here already,' Amanda thought as she saw a large sign.

WILLKOMMEN TO NUREMBERG

“Can you believe we're in Germany, Mom?”

“Just stay close to us, Amanda. I don't want you getting lost in this big airport.”

“Mom, you seem to forget I have been to big airports before. This isn't any bigger than the ones in London, Madrid or Dubai.”

Mrs. Ross rolled her eyes. “Are you going to remind us this entire trip that you've travelled more than we have?”

“This way to the baggage.” Don Ross pointed to a sign.

After a comfortable sleep in a squeaky clean hotel with the biggest, fluffiest pillows Amanda had ever seen, the Ross family was ready to start their trip down the Danube River.

“There's our boat!” shouted Amanda as she peered out the cab window. “
The Sound of Music
. That's our boat. I wonder if Leah and her parents are here already.”

The cab dropped them off beside a long, low boat with
The Sound of Music
written in large letters on the side. The ‘f' was replaced with a treble clef.

Once on board, they entered an elegant lobby furnished with blue velvet chairs and couches. “This is sooo adorable,” Amanda said. “You love
The Sound Of Music
movie, Mom, and there are pictures of the von Trapp family all over the walls.”

Her mom's face lit up when she saw the familiar scenes.

Suddenly, everything went black and Amanda couldn't see a thing.

“Hiya, Canadian girl.”

Amanda recognized that English accent. She peeled off the hands covering her glasses and turned around. “Leah!” She gave her tall, blonde friend a huge hug.

“We only just got here ourselves. Mum and Dad are putting the luggage in our room. Your room is just across from us.” Leah flashed a wide grin at Amanda's parents. “I'm so glad you could make this trip. We are all going to have loads of fun. Come, Amanda, let's explore the boat.”

“See you later.” Amanda barely looked at her parents as she tripped down the narrow hallway behind Leah.

First stop was a large room completely surrounded by windows. Round tables with crisp white tablecloths, set for a meal—without a fork or knife out of place—indicated it was the dining room. Sparkling chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

“Wow! Every table has a view. This will be a fab place to eat.” Amanda looked around. “I hope we can all eat together.”

“Mum has already made sure of that. We got here early so we got to pick which table we wanted for the entire trip.” Leah pointed to a table at the very front of the boat. “Ours is that table for six, the one with the best view.”