Blizzard of the Blue Moon: A Merlin Mission

taxi?” he called.
    “Yes!” shouted Annie. “Come on, Jack! He can take us to the zoo!” Jack hurried after her through the snow.
    The taxi driver stepped out of the cab and opened the back door. “Hop in!” he said. His cheerful voice was muffled through a plaid scarf that covered half his face.
    “Thanks!” said Jack. He stepped onto a running board and then climbed inside.
    The taxi was very roomy. Jack could stretch his legs out and not even touch the front seat. “Boy, lots more room in old cars than ours,” he said to Annie.
    “Yeah,” said Annie. “And there’s no seat belts.”
    “Oh, yeah,” said Jack. “I guess old cars didn’t have any. I hope this guy is a good driver.”
    The driver slid open a little window that separated the front seat from the back. “Where to?” he asked.
    “Can you please take us to the Bronx Zoo?” said Annie.
    “We’re in a big hurry to get there,” said Jack.
    “Sure thing, kiddos,” said the driver.
    “Great,” said Jack.
    “Oh, how much will it cost?” asked Annie.
    “About thirty cents,” said the driver. “Can you afford it?”
    “Sure thing, kiddo,” said Annie.
    The driver laughed and closed the window.
    Then the taxi began moving through the snow.
    “Everything’s so cheap here,” Annie said to Jack.
    “To
us
it is,” said Jack. “But it’s the Great Depression. Lots of people don’t even have a nickel.”
    The taxi slid over the icy road and bumped over the curb. “Whoa!” said Jack, slipping off the seat.
    “Sorry, kiddos!” called the driver. He got the taxi back onto the street. Then he plowed on through the snow, swerving this way and that.
    The ride seemed dangerous in the bad weather, but Jack didn’t want to get out now. He stared nervously out the window. The streets were empty of people. All the stores were closed and shuttered. Snow was piling up on apartment stoops, fire escapes, and iron balconies. Many of the buildings were shabby and crumbling, with broken windows.
    “Hard times,” Annie said softly.
    “Yep,” said Jack. He took a deep breath.
    The taxi climbed up a road lined with tall evergreen trees. Suddenly it skidded and came to a stop. The engine roared, but the taxi’s wheels only spun in the snow.
    “What’s happening?” Jack wondered aloud. He tapped on the glass that separated them from the driver.
    The driver slid the window open. “Too bad, kiddos, looks like I’m stuck,” he said.
    “Are we near the zoo?” asked Annie.
    “It’s still a long ways from here, I’m sorry to say,” said the driver. “But this taxi’s not going anywhere. I don’t know what else to tell you.”
    “Oh. Well, thanks,” said Annie. “How much do we owe you?”
    “Forget it, kiddo,” said the driver. “Good luck!”
    “Good luck yourself, kiddo,” said Annie. She opened the door, and she and Jack climbed out into the cold wind. The taxi motor kept running,but the wheels only spun in place, sending up sprays of dirty snow.
    “I don’t believe this,” said Jack.
    “Maybe there’s a subway station somewhere near here,” said Annie.
    “The man in the booth said the subways aren’t running all the way to the zoo,” said Jack.
    “I know, but maybe we can at least get closer,” said Annie.
    Jack and Annie struggled through the storm until they came to a steep cliff. Over the edge of the cliff they saw nothing but a cloud of wind-blown snow.
    “Where are we?” said Annie.
    “I have no idea,” said Jack. His teeth chattered. His eyes and ears stung with the cold, and his hands and feet felt numb.
Isn’t this what frostbite feels like?
he thought.
Numb?
    “Let’s go back and sit in that taxi until we figure out what to do,” said Jack. “At least get out of the wind.”
    “Okay,” said Annie. “Maybe the driver will get it going again.”
    Jack and Annie headed back the way they’d come. But the taxi was gone!
    “Hey, he must’ve got unstuck!” said Annie. “And he left us!”
    “Oh, man,” said Jack. “We’re having really rotten luck. And I think I’m starting to get frostbite. Seriously.”
    “It looks like there’s a building over there,” said Annie. “I see a tower.”
    “Yeah, me too,” said Jack. “Let’s go there and try to figure out what to do next.”
    Jack and Annie trekked up what looked like a long driveway until they came to the gray stone building. Jack wiped snow from a sign in front.
CLOISTERS OF THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM, OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
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