Blizzard of the Blue Moon: A Merlin Mission

and Annie started across the wide field. The snow was falling fast and furiously. The wind blew harder.
    “Look, a frozen pond,” said Annie, pointing. “That must be where the skaters were coming from.”
    Wet snow stuck to Jack’s glasses. He wiped them off so he could see. No one was skating on the pond now. Whirlwinds of powdery snow swirled over the ice.
    “Keep going,” said Jack.
    They kept trudging through the snow.
    “Hey, look! Remember that?” said Annie.
    “What?” said Jack. He wiped the snow off his glasses again. He saw a merry-go-round. “Oh, yeah.” On their trip to New York with their aunt Mallory, they’d taken a ride on it. But now the riderless painted horses looked sad and lonely.

    “I feel like we’re the last living creatures in Central Park,” said Jack.
    “Which way do we go now?” asked Annie. “Which way did we come from?”
    It was hard to see anything in the white haze of the falling snow. The buildings bordering the park and the skyscrapers in the distance had disappeared.
    “Let’s see what our book says,” said Jack. He unbuckled his leather briefcase and pulled out their research book. He found a picture of Central Park and read:
    Central Park is a vast natural area in the middle of New York City. The park has thirty-two miles of winding footpaths and covers 840 acres of land. It has rock formations, woods, and many bodies of water. It also has—
    “Okay, okay, got it,” said Annie. “It’s a
big
park. Is there a map that shows where we are?”
    Jack tried to read from the index, but the wind and snow made it impossible. He stuffed the book back into his briefcase. “Forget it,” he said. “Let’s just try to get out of the park.”
    Jack and Annie turned away from the lonely merry-go-round and walked across the snow. A gust of wind blew Jack’s cap off. As he turned around to grab it, he saw a couple walking a short distance behind them.
    The two people looked like teenagers. They were walking with their heads bowed against the wind. The girl wore a dark cape with a hood. The boy wore a hat and a tan raincoat with a belt.
    “Hey, look—” Jack said to Annie. But at that moment, the wind shook the trees, and big clumps of snow fell from the branches. Jack and Annie ducked and covered their heads. When the wind died down, Jack looked around for the couple.
    “They’re gone now,” he said.
    “Who’s
gone?” said Annie. “Who did you see?”
    “Two teenagers, I think,” said Jack. “A boy and a girl. We saw them earlier from the tree house. I think they might be following us.”
    “Wait a second,” said Annie. “Two teenagers? A boy and a girl? Following us? Who does that remind you of?”
    A big smile crossed Jack’s face. “Teddy and Kathleen?” he said.
    “Think about it,” said Annie. “On our last three missions, it seemed like Teddy and
    Kathleen were always nearby, wearing disguises, ready to help us when we needed it.”
    “Right,” said Jack. “We could sure use their help now.” He turned around. “Hello!” he shouted.
    “Hello!” Annie yelled.
    But the wind answered them with a howl. More clumps of snow blew down on Jack and Annie.
    “Let’s get going,” said Annie. “They’ll find us sooner or later. They always do.”

J ack and Annie kept walking until they came to the ice pond again. “We’ve been here before,” said Jack. “We’re going in circles. How do we get out of the park?”
    “We have to try to walk in a straight line,” said Annie.
    Annie and Jack struggled on. Jack kept looking back, trying to catch sight of Teddy and Kathleen again. But it was getting harder and harder to see anything. Wet snow kept sticking to his glasses. Snow had blown up the sleeves of his jacket, under his neck scarf, and into his mittens.
    “Yikes!” said Annie. She grabbed Jack’s arm. “Look!”
    A huge wolf-like dog stood on a ledge above them, his mouth open.
    “Whoa!” said Jack.
    The dog didn’t move. He stood perfectly still.

    Annie laughed. “Oh, he’s a statue!” she said. She ran to a plaque under the dog statue, brushed off the snow, and shouted to Jack. “His name is Balto! In 1925, he carried medicine six hundred miles through a blizzard in Alaska!”
    “That’s really great,” said Jack. “But how do we get out of the park?”
    “Well, if we follow this path, it’s bound to lead somewhere,” said Annie.
    Jack followed Annie up a wide path. They walked and walked, passing a