Carnival at Candlelight

by Mary Pope Osborne

  “Was that a rat?” said Annie.

  The squeak came again from the dark corner. Then a squeak came from another corner. Jack heard rustling along the walls and more squeaking.

  “Oh, man,” he breathed. There were rats everywhere.

  “I think it’s time for magic,” said Annie.

  “Yep,” said Jack, “definitely.” He kept his eye on the dark corners while Annie reached into his backpack and pulled out Teddy and Kathleen’s book.

  Annie read from the table of contents: “Make a Stone Come Alive. Make Metal Soft. Turn into Ducks.” Annie looked up. “Are rats afraid of ducks?” she asked.

  “Forget ducks!” said Jack. “Go back to Make Metal Soft—that’s what we need to do! You read the rhyme, and I’ll try to pull the bars apart.”

  “Okay, good,” said Annie.

  Jack jumped onto the wooden bench under the barred window. The squeaking grew louder.

  Jack reached up and felt the iron bars. They were cold and hard and very solid. Jack couldn’t imagine bending them.

  The squeaks were getting louder. Jack gripped two bars in the middle of the window and took a deep breath. “Read the rhyme!” he said.

  Annie read aloud:

  Iron or copper, brass or steel,

  Bree-on-saw! Bro-on-beel!

  As Annie finished the rhyme, the bars began to glow. They grew warmer in Jack’s hands. “I think it’s working!” he cried.

  Holding the bars tightly Jack pulled in opposite directions. Slowly the glowing bars began to stretch and bend. Jack pulled till there was an opening large enough for Annie and him to fit through.

  “We did it!” he cried.

  “Great! Hurry, hurry! The rats are coming!” cried Annie as she jumped on the bench.

  Jack heard a chorus of squeaks from all sides of the cell. He looked down. He saw the shadowy shapes of dozens of rats. They seemed to be sniffing the air below the window.

  “Go! Go!” Jack cried to Annie.

  Annie squeezed between the bars and jumped down into the hallway. Jack followed her. He hit the wet floor and scrambled to his feet. “Come on!” he cried.

  Jack and Annie sloshed down the watery hallway. At the end of it, they nearly bumped right into the two guards. Jack and Annie kept running.

  “Hey!” the grouchy guard shouted, running after them. He reached for Jack. The other guard tried to catch Annie.

  Jack and Annie dodged away from them. The guards crashed into each other, falling to the floor. Jack and Annie kept running. They dashed across the Bridge of Sighs. They ran through the corridor and up the steep stone steps.

  “This way!” cried Jack. He and Annie tore down the hall, heading for the Golden Staircase.

  “Hey! Hey!” the guards yelled from far behind.

  Jack and Annie bounded down the Golden Staircase two steps at a time. They flew down the hall and down the Giants’ Stairs. They ran past the statues of Mars and Neptune and charged down the long, open passageway. Finally, they dashed through the entrance of the palace and escaped into Saint Mark’s Square.

  Jack and Annie ran through the square, dodging dancers, fortune-tellers, and acrobats. They didn’t stop until they were hidden in the middle of a crowd watching a puppet show.

  As Jack tried to catch his breath, he looked around at all the pirate and animal and clown costumes. He was glad now that he and Annie were dressed in silly outfits, too. When they looked at each other, they laughed nervously.

  “Maybe we shouldn’t have skipped ahead,” said Jack.

  “Yeah, you were right,” said Annie. “We should have been more patient. Let’s go back to the part about the painter Tiepolo.”

  Jack nodded. “I think we should go to his house,” he said. “Maybe he’s there after all. Maybe that clown had the wrong information.”

  “I hope so,” said Annie.

  “The clown said Tiepolo lives near the Church of San Felice,” said Jack. He pulled out their map and studied it. “Okay, so we’re here in Saint Mark’s Square. And we have to get there.” He traced the route with his finger. “Got it. Let’s go. Stay in the shadows in case those guards come looking for us.”

  Jack stuffed the book into his backpack. Annie grabbed his hand, and together they squeezed through the Carnival crowd until they came to an alley off the square.

  The wind was blowing harder as Jack and Annie headed down one shadowy alley, then another. They walked between rows of tightly packed shops, cafés, and houses. As they walked farther from Saint Mark’s Square, the streets became less crowded.

  After a while, they came to a small footbridge that crossed a canal. As they hurried over the bridge, Jack noticed water washing onto the sidewalks. “What’s going on with the water?” he said.

  “Let’s ask her,” said Annie. She pointed to a young woman locking up a café. The woman wore a blue mask and a lacy purple dress. Water was swirling around her high black shoes.

  “Excuse me,” said Annie, “do you know why there’s so much water in the streets?”

  “Oh, there has been much rain in the mountains,” said the young woman. “It all washes down to the lagoon. It makes the water very high.”

  “Is that dangerous?” asked Jack.

  The woman smiled. “Oh, no,” she said. “We often have high water here in Venice. You shouldn’t worry. You should go watch the fire-works on the waterfront near Saint Mark’s. Everyone is going there.”

  “Thanks!” said Annie.

  The woman waved and went on her way.

  “I guess we can stop worrying about the water,” Annie said to Jack.

  “Yeah,” said Jack. But he couldn’t help worrying as he saw a clump of seaweed wash past them down the alley.

  As Jack and Annie walked toward the Church of San Felice, a bell started to chime. Jack counted the bongs: eleven. Another bell started to toll. Jack counted ten bongs. “What time do you think it is, really?” he asked. “I don’t understand.”

  “Patience, remember?” said Annie. “One thing at a time. We just have to find Tiepolo’s house now.”

  Soon they came to the small Church of San Felice. The square next to the church was empty except for an old man walking a small, fat dog.

  “Good evening, little clowns,” the man said with a friendly smile. “Why aren’t you at the waterfront by Saint Mark’s Square? I’d be there myself, except my Rosa is afraid of fireworks.” He smiled at his chubby dog.

  “Actually, we’re trying to find the house of a painter named Tiepolo,” said Jack.

  “Oh, he is my neighbor,” said the old man. “He lives there—” He pointed to a dark house off the square. “But you won’t find him home.”

  “I know, we heard he’s away,” said Jack. “We were just wondering if he was coming back soon.”

  “I fear not,” said the man. “Tiepolo told everyone that he would be gone for many months. But you should get along to the fireworks on the waterfront now. Everyone in Venice will be there to see them. They are quite magnificent on the last night of Carnival.”

  “Thanks,” said Jack.

  The old man waved. As he and Rosa walked slowly across the square, the church bell began to sound. It bonged eleven times.

  “Excuse me, sir,” Jack called. “All the clocks in Venice tell different times. Which one is right?”

  “None!” the old man called. “That is one of the wonderful things about our city. Venice is timeless!” The man laughed, and he and Rosa went inside a small yellow house.

  Jack sat down on a bench in the square. He put his head in his hands. Annie sat next to him. “I guess we do have to skip Tiepolo,” she said. “What’s the next thing Merlin tells us to do?”

  Jack sighed. He pulled out the magician’s letter and read the next two lines:

  At midnight two men will tell you the time.

  To the top of their tower hurry and climb.

  “Oh, great,” said Jack. “How will we know if it’s really midnight? The man just said none of
the clocks are right because Venice is timeless.”

  “According to Merlin, two men will tell us the right time,” said Annie. “Two men who own some kind of tower we have to climb.”

  “Right,” said Jack. “But that makes no sense, either. Who are they? How are we supposed to find them? We’ll have to skip that part, too. We’re skipping our whole mission, whatever it is. A terrible disaster’s about to happen to some Grand Lady of the Lagoon, and we have no idea who she is. We don’t know what the disaster is. We don’t know where to find the Ruler of the Seas or how to find a painter named Tiepolo—or even how to tell the right time! We’re completely failing Merlin’s test!”

  “Calm down. We just have to be patient,” said Annie. “Everything will make sense soon.”

  “How soon?” said Jack. He felt cold and wet and miserable.

  “Very soon …,” said Annie. “In fact, I think I see a light now inside Tiepolo’s house.” She stood up. “I definitely see a light!”

  Annie ran over to the small house off the square. She peeped through a window. “Jack!” she called in a loud whisper. “Come here!”

  Jack walked over to her. “Someone’s painting in there,” said Annie.

  Through the window, Jack saw a candle burning in a corner of the room. He saw canvases and pots of paint. He saw a boy standing at an easel. The boy was painting a picture on a large canvas.

  “He’s just a kid,” said Jack with disappointment. “He can’t be Tiepolo.”

  “So what?” said Annie. “Maybe he can help us.” She tapped on the glass.

  The boy looked up. He carried his candle to the window and opened it. He had reddish brown hair and big eyes. “Hello,” he said. “Are you looking for someone?”

  “I’m Annie, and this is my brother, Jack,” said Annie. “We’re visiting Venice. And we were hoping to find a painter named Tiepolo.”

  “You have just done so,” the boy said. “My name is Lorenzo Tiepolo.” Lorenzo had a very serious manner.

  “You’re a painter, too?” asked Annie.

  “Yes. As you can see, I am painting right now. I help my father and my older brother with their paintings,” said Lorenzo. “And when they are gone, I paint my own. I will even miss the last night of Carnival to paint. But why are you not there?”

  “We’re on a mission,” said Annie. “We just escaped from the palace prison. We got caught looking for the Ruler of the Seas.”

  “The Ruler of the Seas?” said Lorenzo. “Why were you looking in the palace? The Ruler of the Seas is right here.”

  “What?” said Jack. “The Ruler of the Seas is here?”

  Lorenzo smiled. Then he walked to a large covered canvas propped against the wall. He pulled off the cloth cover. He held up his candle to show a painting of a beautiful woman resting her hand on the head of a golden lion. A man was giving coins to the woman. The man had a bare chest, a rugged face, long dark hair, and a white beard. Behind him was a three-pronged fishing spear.

  “My father has been working on this painting for some time,” said Lorenzo. He pointed at the bearded man. “’Tis Neptune.”

  “Neptune?” said Jack. “He’s one of the gods in Roman mythology, right?”

  “Yes, the Ruler of the Seas,” said Lorenzo.

  “Ohhh … We thought the Ruler of the Seas was the ruler of Venice,” said Annie. “We thought he lived in the palace on Saint Mark’s Square.”

  Lorenzo laughed. “Oh, no, the palace is just the home of our city’s human ruler,” he said. “The true ruler of all the seas is Neptune.”

  “Where does Neptune live, Lorenzo?” Annie asked.

  “He lives beneath the water in a beautiful palace made of coral and sparkling jewels,” said Lorenzo. “But only a few people can actually see Neptune.”

  “Like who?” asked Annie.

  “Those with imaginations, like my father, my brother, and myself,” said Lorenzo. “We have heard the waves around Neptune roar like wild bulls. We have seen his fishing spear rising high above the surface of the sea, gleaming in the moonlight.”

  “That sounds great,” said Annie.

  “Yeah, great,” Jack said politely. “You guys must have really good imaginations. Thanks, Lorenzo.” He turned to Annie. “I’m going to look at the research book some more.”

  Jack walked back to the bench and pulled out their book. He felt totally discouraged. Neptune wasn’t a real person. They’d come to another dead end.

  Annie stayed by the window. “Lorenzo, one more question,” she said. “Why is Neptune giving a gift to that lady?”

  “Neptune is offering the riches of the sea to Venice,” answered Lorenzo.

  “So the lady in the painting is supposed to be the city of Venice?” said Annie.

  “Yes,” said Lorenzo. “This is how my father thinks of Venice. She is the Grand Lady of the Lagoon.”

  Jack looked up from the book. He felt goose bumps on his skin.

  “Thanks, Lorenzo!” said Annie. “You helped us a lot!”

  “You are welcome, Annie,” said Lorenzo. “Good night.” Then he closed the window.

  “Jack! Jack!” said Annie, hurrying to him. “The Grand Lady of the Lagoon is Venice!”

  “I know! I heard!” said Jack.

  “Now I understand our mission,” said Annie. “We have to save Venice from a terrible disaster. We have to save all of Venice!”

  “We have to save all of Venice?” said Jack. “That’s a big responsibility. What do we have to save Venice from?”

  “Well, if Neptune’s going to help us, it must have something to do with water,” said Annie.

  “Yeah, like the water that’s flooding the alleys,” said Jack.

  “But the woman at the café told us not to worry about that,” said Annie.

  “I’m still worried,” said Jack. “Let’s look up floods in our Venice book.” He found floods in the index. He turned to the right page and read:

  Most of the time, high water in Venice is not serious. But if several conditions are present at the same time, a flood disaster can occur.

  “A flood disaster! That must be it!” said Annie. “So what are the conditions?”

  “It lists them here,” said Jack. He read:

  A high tide

  Strong winds from the south

  Heavy flow of water from the mountains

  Severe storms at sea

  “There’s a high tide tonight—the passenger with the bird mask in the gondola told us that,” said Annie.

  “Yeah, and winds from the south—the weather vane told us that,” said Jack.

  “And water’s flowing down from the mountains—the woman at the café told us that,” said Annie.

  “Yeah, and storms out at sea—I saw lightning when we crossed the water,” said Jack.

  “All the conditions are here,” said Annie.

  Jack and Annie looked around. Water was now flowing steadily from the alleyways into the small square. It had risen above their ankles.

  “I get it now,” said Jack. “The water will just keep getting higher and higher until it destroys the whole city. And no one’s paying attention!”

  “Neptune’s the only one who can help us stop the flood,” said Annie.

  “But Neptune’s not real,” said Jack. “I mean, he’s a character in mythology, and mythology’s not real life. It’s—”

  “Okay, okay,” said Annie. “Let’s just take one step at a time. At midnight two guys will tell us the time, and then we should climb to the top of their tower, right?”

  “Right,” said Jack.

  “So what we have to do now is find those two guys!” said Annie.

  “Let’s go back to the waterfront,” said Jack. “The man with the dog said everyone in Venice would be there for the fireworks.”

  Jack put away their book. Then he and Annie retraced their steps over the footbridge and back through the alleys. Lots of seaweed was floating in the narrow lanes between buildings. Water is definitely flowi
ng in from the sea, Jack thought.

  When they got back to Saint Mark’s Square, people were streaming toward the waterfront. Jack and Annie walked with the crowd. Everyone was talking and laughing as they looked up at the sky over the water, waiting for the fireworks to begin. No one paid attention to the damp winds or the seawater spilling over the side of the canal, soaking their shoes.

  “Excuse me!” Annie shouted. “Can anyone tell us the time?”

  No one answered, for just then the first explosion of fireworks shook the night. The crowd cheered as blue and red showers exploded in the sky.

  In the distance, a clock started to chime. Jack counted the bongs.

  “Twelve!” he said. “It’s midnight now, according to that clock.”

  More fireworks exploded over the waterfront, and another clock began clanging. This time, Jack counted only eleven bongs. He shook his head. “This is crazy!” he muttered.

  Jack looked around at the crowd. “Can anyone tell us the real time?” he yelled. “Is it midnight yet? Can anyone tell us?”

  No one answered—not even one man, much less two. Everyone was oohing and aahing over the dazzling fireworks.

  Another clock began to sound. This one was much louder than the first two.

  BONG!

  “This is hopeless!” said Jack.

  BONG!

  “We’ll never know the right time,” he said.

  BONG!

  “Jack, look over there—” said Annie.

  BONG!

  “We’ll never find the two men with the tower,” said Jack.

  BONG!

  “Jack, look—” said Annie.

  BONG!

  “All of Venice is about to drown in a flood,” said Jack.

  BONG!

  “And everyone’s just cheering for fireworks!” said Jack.

  BONG!

  “JACK! LOOK!” said Annie. She pointed toward the clock tower in Saint Mark’s Square.

  BONG!

  Jack saw a huge bell on top of the tower. Two bronze statues were holding a club and striking the bell.

  BONG!

  The statues were of two men.