Free Blizzard of the Blue Moon: A Merlin Mission by Mary Pope Osborne Page A

at the book.
“Find a Treasure You Must Never Lose,”
he said.
    “Hey, that’s a really good one!” said Annie. “The unicorn’s a treasure. So that rhyme could take care of our whole mission.”
    “But it only
partly
fits,” said Jack. “You could call the unicorn a treasure. But once we find him, we
have
to lose him. He has to go back home.”
    “Oh, right…,” said Annie. “What else?”
    “Your favorite,” said Jack.
“Turn into Ducks.”
    Annie laughed. “I can’t wait to use that one!” she said.
    “I hope we
never
use that one,” said Jack. He didn’t want to waddle around and quack like a duck. “These leftover rhymes don’t seem very helpful to me.”
    “Well, let’s just wait and see,” said Annie. “But now…” She held up Morgan’s research book and smiled.
    Jack nodded. “New York City, here we come,” he said. He pointed at the book’s cover. “I wish we could go
there
!”
    The wind started to blow.
    The tree house started to spin.
    It spun faster and faster.
    Then everything was still.
    Absolutely still.
    The wind started to blow.
    The tree house started to spin.
    It spun faster and faster.
    Then everything was still.
    Absolutely still.

S now blew into the tree house.
    Jack and Annie wore wool coats, hats, and mittens. Jack’s canvas backpack had turned into a leather briefcase with buckles and a shoulder strap. Jack and Annie looked out the window.
    Below the tree house was a wide, snow-covered field that ended in a wall of evergreen trees. Beyond the trees was a city skyline.
    “This is definitely New York,” said Annie. “See the Empire State Building? Remember our visit to the top?” She pointed to a faraway buildingthat rose above the others. “This must be Central Park. I remember that big field.”

    “Yeah, I do, too,” said Jack. “But we’ve landed in New York in 1938. It was different back then.” He opened their research book and read from the introduction:
    The city of New York is the largest city in the Western Hemisphere. It covers an area of 322 square miles.
    Jack closed the book. “Whoa. Even in 1938, New York was a huge city,” he said. “This is going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
    “I’ll read our mission poem again,” said Annie. She read the first verse aloud:
    The very last unicorn
Is now hidden well
By those who have put him
Under a spell.
    “Okay, so this unicorn was put under a spell,” said Jack, “and he must be hidden somewhere in New York, or Merlin wouldn’t have sent us here.”
    “Right,” said Annie. She read the next verse:
    Four centuries, four decades
From that afternoon,
At the end of November,
Before the blue moon,
    “What’s a blue moon?” asked Annie, looking up. “I’ve heard that expression before.”
    “It’s when you have two full moons in the same month,” said Jack. “It doesn’t happen very often.”
    “Oh,” said Annie. She read on:
    He will wake once more
And be free to go home
If you call out his name:
Divine Flower of Rome.
    “Wait, does that mean the unicorn’s name is Divine Flower of Rome?” asked Jack.
    “I guess,” said Annie. She read on:
    You must coax him to stand
Once his name is spoken.
His chain will breaks
And the spell, too, be broken.
    Then a young girl must love him
And show him the way,
Lest he be trapped forever
On public display.
    If he loses this chance
To rise and depart,
All magic will fade
From his horn and his heart.
    “So
I’m
the young girl!” said Annie. “And Ihave to help him get home, or his magic will fade away forever!”
    “Right,” said Jack. “Okay. Let’s review: There’s a unicorn on public display somewhere in New York City. He’s under a spell. The spell runs out in late November before a blue moon. But he’ll only wake up when someone calls his name, which is
Divine Flower of Rome.
Then a young girl—
you
— must love him and show him the way home.”
    “Great,” said Annie. “Let’s get started.”
    “Get