Blizzard of the Blue Moon: A Merlin Mission

now,” said Merlin. He turned to Teddy and Kathleen. “You may ride Dianthus home to Camelot. I will be along shortly. But first, I would like to drive that taxi around New York City myself. Morgan, will you join me?”
    “Indeed,” said Morgan. “But drive a bit more slowly than Teddy, please.”
    “I promise nothing,” said Merlin. He lookedat Jack and Annie. “Good evening to you, my friends. I will call for you again soon.”
    “Bye,” said Annie and Jack.
    Merlin took Morgan’s arm, and the two walked back to the taxi and climbed into the front seat. The big yellow car sputtered and then took off wildly. As it careened up the avenue, Merlin blew its horn.
    AH-U-GA! AH-U-GA!

J ack, Annie, Teddy, and Kathleen laughed.
    “My,” said Kathleen. “I believe I would much rather ride Dianthus than go with Merlin!”
    The white unicorn knelt in the snow. Kathleen and Teddy climbed onto his back. Dianthus stood up.
    Teddy smiled down at Jack and Annie. “You know ’tis a very great honor to be given the Wand of Dianthus,” he said.
    “I know,” said Jack shyly. “Thanks for getting us to the right place at the right time today.”
    “Hey, were you guys in Venice, looking out for us there, too?” said Annie. “And Baghdad? And Paris?”
    The two young enchanters looked at one another. Then they nodded their heads.
    “We knew it!” said Annie. “Thanks for helping us!”
    “And thanks for the book of magic rhymes,” said Jack.
    “You are most welcome,” said Teddy. “And now we must go. We hope to see you again soon.”
    “Good-bye, Dianthus,” said Annie. She stroked the unicorn’s neck one last time.
    Dianthus lowered his head and stared at her with his soft blue eyes. They sparkled in the last bit of daylight. Annie stood on her toes and whispered in the unicorn’s ear. Then she stepped back.
    Dianthus snorted. He raised his head. Then he leapt forward. In a flash of silver, the unicorn and his two riders were gone.
    Standing in the cold dusk, Annie stared silently into the distance.
    “What did you say to him?” asked Jack.
    “I told him he had to go with Teddy and Kathleen,” Annie said. She blinked back tears. “I told him they would show him the way home now.”
    “Oh,” said Jack. He put his hand on Annie’s back. “Don’t worry. We’ll see Dianthus again someday. I just feel it.”
    Annie smiled. “You’re starting to sound like me,” she said.
    “Uh-oh,” said Jack. He shivered. Night was falling fast. “Ready?”
    “Sure, let’s go,” said Annie. She followed Jack to the tree house and up the rope ladder. They climbed inside and looked out the window.
    The lights of New York City were starting to come on. A full moon was rising over the snow-covered park.
    “Hello, blue moon,” said Jack.
    “Good-bye, blue moon,” said Annie.
    Jack picked up the scroll from Merlin. He pointed to the words
Frog Creek
in Merlin’s note. “I wish we could go home!” he said.
    The wind started to blow.
    The tree house started to spin.
    It spun faster and faster.
    Then everything was still.
    Absolutely still.
    * * *
    A cold wind blew through the Frog Creek woods. A few fat snowflakes drifted into the tree house. Jack and Annie were dressed in their own clothes again. Jack’s briefcase had turned back into a backpack.
    Jack quickly opened the pack and looked inside. “Good,” he said. “The Wand of Dianthus is still there.”
    “Should we take it home with us?” asked Annie.
    “I think so,” said Jack. “We can keep it safeuntil our next mission.” He pulled Teddy and Kathleen’s book of rhymes out of his pack.
    “I guess we can keep our book of rhymes as a souvenir,” Jack said. “We won’t be using it anymore since we’ve used up all the rhymes.” He stuffed the book back into his backpack.
    “We haven’t used
all
of them,” said Annie. “We still have one left, remember?
Find a Treasure You Must Never Lose.”
    “Oh, I already used that one,” said Jack. “Come on, let’s go.” He grabbed his pack and started down the rope ladder.
    “What do you mean you already used that one?” Annie said as she followed him down. “When did you use
that
rhyme?”
    Jack stepped onto the ground. “How do you think I found you when you got lost in Central Park?” he said.
    “Wait, you thought
I
was a treasure?” said Annie.
    Jack shrugged. “I guess,” he said. “At least today I did.”
    Annie smiled. “Cool,” she said. “Thanks for finding me when