Blizzard of the Blue Moon (7 page)

Down from high, out of the sky
,

Ee-no-fain-ee-ro-lie!

A thick white fog instantly filled the cloister. The fog was so dense that Jack couldn’t even see his own hand.

“Balor, where are you?” shrieked Grinda.

“Here!” the boy yelled.

Someone grabbed Jack. He struggled to break free. “Let me go!” he shouted.

“It’s me!” whispered Annie. “Come on!”

Jack stood up, clinging to Annie. They stumbled together through the garden. Feeling their way along the walkway, they came to the door that led to the main hall.

“Dianthus, here!” Annie whispered.

Jack heard the soft crunch of the unicorn’s hooves in the frozen snow.

“Where did he go?” Balor shouted.

“Find him!” yelled Grinda.

Jack reached out and felt the unicorn’s soft mane. Annie pushed open the door. Then she, Dianthus, and Jack slipped inside the main hall.

Jack closed the door before Balor and Grinda could escape the garden. There wasn’t a wisp of fog in the main hall. The museum lady was still behind her desk. She stared at Jack, Annie, and the glowing unicorn that had just come in from
the garden. Her mouth opened, and then closed.

Dianthus stepped lightly over the wooden floor. Jack and Annie followed him.

The museum lady never blinked. As Dianthus walked gracefully past her desk, she reached out and touched him. She gasped and quickly drew back her hand.

“Thanks for keeping the museum open today,” said Annie. “And thank Mr. Rockefeller for his gifts.”

The museum lady opened and closed her mouth again, still unable to speak.

Jack opened the door that led to the street. Jack and Annie followed Dianthus out of the museum and down the stone steps. The blizzard had gotten much worse. Snow was coming down harder than ever. The wind was wailing. The unicorn shook his head and knelt down.

“He wants us to get on his back!” said Annie. “Quick! Climb on behind me!” Annie climbed onto the unicorn’s back. Jack climbed on behind her.

Dianthus stood up to his full height.

Grinda and Balor burst out the door of the museum. “Stop!” screamed Grinda.

Dianthus looked back at them. Then he leapt nimbly over a snowdrift and headed into the darkening storm.

J
ack clung to Annie. Dianthus cleared the driveway of the Cloisters and began to run with ease down the street. His long strides were so light and graceful, Jack could hardly feel the movement.

As the unicorn ran, he held his head high. His long, spiraled horn pierced the raging storm, seeming to calm the winds and snow. Jack realized he could feel his fingers and toes again. His whole body began to feel warm.

Dianthus headed down a deserted parkway along the waterfront, past an empty bridge. The
bridge’s towers and cables formed a silver arc over a wide river. Whitecaps swept across the water’s surface. As the unicorn trotted past the river, the water became still.

Dianthus left the riverside and headed down a city street. The wind whistled between tall buildings, blowing the snow into great drifts. But the unicorn’s horn turned the howling wind into a soft breeze. The wild blowing snow became floating, star-shaped flakes, like the snowflakes on Christmas cards.

As the unicorn trotted down the street, snow-bound taxis and streetcars started moving again. Lights came on in cafés and jazz clubs. Jack heard happy music coming from inside.

With a calm, steady trot, the unicorn pranced on through the city. As he moved past old mansions, broken-down tenements, and shabby hotels, people peeked out of doorways and windows to see why the sounds of the storm had died away. When they caught sight of Dianthus, with his horn shining in the windless air, they broke
into joyful smiles. Church bells started ringing through the white silence.

Finally Dianthus came to a stone wall bordering Central Park. He jumped over the wall and landed knee-deep in a heap of snow. The unicorn leapt effortlessly out of the drift and cantered over a field and down a slope.

Slowly the clouds parted, and light from the setting sun poured down.

“Hot corn!” a peddler shouted, plowing his pushcart through the snow.

“Roasted chestnuts!” shouted another.

The good smells of the corn and nuts filled the
crisp golden air of the park. The unicorn trotted past Belvedere Castle. Bill Perkins stood outside, staring up at the clear blue sky.

“Hey, Mr. Perkins, the monster storm’s not coming!” shouted Annie.

The weatherman saw Jack and Annie on the back of the white unicorn. His jaw dropped. Then he smiled and waved.

Jack and Annie rode on. When they passed the statue of the winged angel, Jack thought he saw her move her great wings. “Did you see that?” he cried.

“Yes!” said Annie.

When they passed the statue of Balto, Jack heard the sled dog bark.

When they rode past the merry-go-round, Jack heard a chorus of neighs and whinnies accompanied by lively carousel music.

Dianthus pranced down a shimmering pathway. He leapt over a stone wall and cantered over another field.

The unicorn’s horn glistened, and the snowy field reflected gold and copper light. Not until the unicorn came to the tree that held the tree house did he stop.

Annie hugged the unicorn’s long, graceful neck. “Thank you, thank you!” she whispered, and kissed him.

“Yeah, wow,” breathed Jack.

Annie looked at Jack over her shoulder. “What now?” she asked.

“I guess we climb off,” said Jack.

“But then what?” Annie asked sadly. “Where does he go?”

“That’s a good question,” said Jack.

“He comes with us, of course,”
someone said.

Jack and Annie gasped.

Balor and Grinda slunk out from behind the tree. Balor carried the black rope.

Jack was stunned. “How—how did you get here so fast?” he asked.

“We took the A train,” said Balor. “’Tis actually
a bit faster than riding a unicorn.” The boy laughed meanly.

“Shut up, Balor,” said Grinda. Then she turned to Jack and Annie. “I am glad you had a happy little ride. But you can say good-bye to Dianthus now. We will take him from here.”

“No, you won’t!” said Annie.

“Stay away from us!” said Jack.

“Come on, Dianthus, let’s go!” said Annie.

Before Dianthus could move, Grinda rushed forward and grabbed his collar with both hands. The unicorn snorted and shook his head. Grinda clung fiercely to the collar. “Get the rope over his head, Balor!” she yelled. “Now!”

Balor looped the black rope into a noose again. The unicorn twisted and turned his head.

Jack kicked at Balor. “Stop!” he yelled. “Get away from us!” Jack felt stupid just yelling and kicking, but he didn’t know what else to do.

As Balor and Grinda struggled to get the noose over the unicorn’s head, Annie pointed at them. In a loud voice, she shouted:

Fowl of air, appear now here!

Aka-aka-aka-mere!

The black rope fell to the snow. Balor and Grinda started to spin around. They spun like two spinning tops. As they spun, they grew smaller and smaller. Jack saw a blur of colors: gray and brown, green and white, a dash of orange, a dash of yellow.

The spinning slowly came to a stop. The two scary teenagers were gone. In their place were two small mallard ducks.

O
ne duck was gray with black and white markings. The other had a glossy green head and a rust-colored chest. Both had orange webbed feet and long yellow bills.
Quack, quack
, they said.

Annie looked over her shoulder at Jack. “I memorized the duck rhyme a while ago,” she said with a grin. “I knew it would come in handy someday.”

Jack laughed. “Good work,” he said.

The two ducks waddled around on their bright orange feet, quacking. Answering cries
came from overhead. A flock of ducks was flying through the clear November sky.

“Go on, Balor and Grinda!” Annie shouted to the two mallards. “Go with them now!”

The mallards quacked at Annie.

“Go on!” Jack chimed in. “Fly south for the winter! You’ll have fun! We promise!”

The two mallards quacked and flapped their wings. First one and then the other rose off the ground. They flew high into the sky. Jack held his breath as he watched the mallards soar away, flying south over New York City.

Annie put her arms around the unicorn’s neck. Then she rested her head on his silky white mane. “You’re safe now,” she said. “But you have to leave us. I have to show you the way to Camelot. The problem is, I don’t know how to do that.”

AH-U-GA! AH-U-GA!

Jack looked over at an avenue that bordered the park. A big yellow taxi was parked by the
curb. The driver was honking his horn. He waved through the window.

“What’s that guy want?” said Annie, sitting up.

“I don’t know,” said Jack.

The driver jumped out of the car. He wore a cap and a plaid scarf. “Hey, it’s the same driver who deserted us outside the Cloisters,” said Annie.

The passenger door of the taxi opened, and a girl stepped out. She was wearing a purple shawl. “And that’s the girl who told us to get off at the wrong subway stop,” said Jack.

The taxi driver and the girl in the shawl both waved at Jack and Annie. Then the driver lifted his cap and pulled down his scarf. He had red curly hair and a wonderfully familiar grin.

The girl pulled the shawl off her head. Beautiful long black curls fell down to her waist.

“It’s
them
!” said Jack.

“Teddy! Kathleen!” Annie shouted.

Jack and Annie slid off the unicorn’s back onto
the snowy ground. The young enchanters ran across the snow to them. Annie threw her arms around Teddy. Kathleen threw her arms around Jack. The four of them laughed and talked at the same time.

“That was
you!”

“That was
you!”

“That was
us!”

“I’m sorry I told you to get off at the wrong stop,” said Kathleen. “But Teddy was waiting for you there!”