Moonlight on the Magic Flute Page 5

  Josef gave Annie his hand and helped her into the coach. Then he helped Jack. Josef climbed up onto his bench and snapped the reins, and the two horses clomped over the cobblestones.

  “So tell me now, young lady,” said Josef, “did you have a good time at the party? What did you see and what did you do?”

  “I had a great time!” said Annie. “I was received by Her Imperial Majesty. I saw a room lit with a thousand candles. I made good friends, met some zoo animals, heard a great concert, and saw a silly clown.”

  “Excellent,” said Josef. “And you, young man?”

  “I did all those things, too,” said Jack. “But the clown was the best part. He knew how to make great use of his wits and his talents.”

  Annie laughed. Josef drove the coach through the palace gate and stopped on the cobblestone street. “Where do you need to go?” he asked.

  “Oh, this is perfect,” said Annie. “ We can get out right here. Thank you.”

  Jack and Annie climbed out of the coach and looked up at Josef.

  “Thank you, Josef!” said Annie.

  “Yeah, thanks a lot for the ride,” said Jack.

  “You two are very mysterious,” said Josef. “You appeared out of the twilight and now you disappear into the moonlight.”

  “We’re magicians,” said Annie.

  “It would seem so,” said Josef, smiling. He tipped his hat. “Well, I had better return now. Good night, my young friends.”

  “Good night, Josef,” said Jack and Annie.

  Josef flicked the reins, and the milk white horses clomped back toward the palace gates.

  “Nice guy,” said Jack. “Let’s go.”

  Jack and Annie ran to the trees that lined the cobblestone street. “There!” said Annie. She grabbed the rope ladder.

  Annie started up to the tree house. Jack followed her. When they got inside, they looked out the window at the full moon shining over Vienna, Austria.

  “Good-bye, Wolfie,” said Annie.

  “Good luck, kid,” said Jack.

  Then Jack picked up the envelope from their invitation. He pointed at the words Frog Creek. “I wish we could go there!” he said.

  The tree house started to spin.

  It spun faster and faster.

  Then everything was still.

  Absolutely still.

  Jack opened his eyes. “Ahhh,” he sighed with relief. They were back in the Frog Creek woods. They were wearing their own clothes again. Jack was holding the magic flute.

  “Ready?” asked Annie.

  “Totally” said Jack.

  Jack carefully laid the flute in a corner of the tree house. Then he and Annie climbed down the rope ladder and started for home.

  Jack was in such a good mood, he nearly bounced through the woods. The sun was going down, dappling the ground with lovely light. The air was soft and smelled like new leaves. Jack knew a good dinner was waiting for them at home.

  When Jack and Annie came out of the woods, they took off running down the street. They crossed their yard, scrambled onto the porch, and banged through the front door.

  “We’re back!” Annie called.

  “Just in time,” their dad said from the kitchen. “Dinner’s in a few minutes.”

  “Quick, before we eat …,” Jack said to Annie. He led her over to the computer. He sat down and typed in one word: Mozart.

  There were 48,400,207 entries.

  “Whoa!” said Jack. He clicked the first one. He read aloud:

  Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the most famous child musician in history. He performed all over Europe for many years. As Mozart grew up, he composed more than six hundred pieces of music. For over two hundred years, his music has brought joy to the world.

  “ Yes!” said Annie.

  As Jack scrolled down, three words leapt out at him. He gasped. “Listen to this!” he said. And then he read to Annie:

  Mozart’s last great opera was called The Magic Flute.

  Annie smiled at Jack. “Wolfie kept his promise,” she said. “He never forgot us.”

  Born in Austria in 1756, Mozart was baptized Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart. When Mozart was three years old, his father, Leopold, began teaching him to play the organ, the violin, and the harpsichord (an early piano-like instrument). Mozart started to write his first musical compositions when he was only five.

  In October 1762, Leopold took Mozart and his sister, Maria Anna (also called Nannerl), to Vienna to play for the Empress Maria Theresa and her court at her summer palace, known as Schönbrunn Palace. According to a letter from his father, during the visit the young Mozart clambered onto the lap of the empress and hugged and kissed her. The only time he did not behave like a small child was when he sat at the harpsichord to play. His genius then stunned everyone in the court.

  For the next three years, Mozart and Nannerl toured the capitals of Europe as child wonders. Nannerl was considered to be as talented as her brother. But this changed when she and Mozart grew older and he began performing his own compositions. Today many consider Mozart the best classical composer who ever lived.

  The summer palace of Empress Maria Theresa actually had one of the first zoos in the world. It was built in 1752 by her husband, Emperor Franz Stephan, who had a great interest in natural history. The zoo at first housed mostly exotic waterfowl. But over the years, more and more wild animals were brought there from expeditions all over the world. In 1828, the arrival of the first giraffe caused a huge sensation. Today the Schönbrunn Zoo is still a favorite tourist spot in Vienna.

  Here’s a special preview of

  Magic Tree House #42

  (A Merlin Mission)

  A Good Night For Ghosts

  Available now!

  Excerpt copyright © 2009 by Mary Pope Osborne.

  Published by Random House Children’s Books,

  a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

  Jack was asleep. He was dreaming that he was sleeping on a boat. It was rocking back and forth, back and forth…

  “Jack.”

  Jack opened his eyes. It was just getting light outside. Rain was tapping against the window-pane. Tappity-tap-tap. Jack closed his eyes again.

  “Jack, get up.”

  Jack opened one eye and looked up. Annie stood next to his bed. She was already dressed. She was even wearing her raincoat. “They’re here,” she whispered.

  “No, they’re not,” Jack said. He closed his eye.

  “Yes, they are,” said Annie. “They’re waiting for us.”

  “How do you know?” Jack asked.

  “I dreamed it,” said Annie.

  “Oh, you dreamed it.” Jack turned over and pulled the covers over his head. “Go back to bed. It’s really early, and it’s raining.”

  “Come on, Jack,” said Annie. “I saw them. They were wearing their cloaks and looking out the tree house window.”

  “Great,” said Jack. “I just dreamed I was sleeping on a boat.”

  “But my dream was real, Jack,” said Annie.

  Jack pretended to snore.

  “Okay,” said Annie. “I guess you want me to go there all by myself. You want me to have a great adventure while you just lie here, dreaming about sleeping. If that’s really what you want, I’ll leave you alone.”

  “Good,” said Jack. “Have fun.”

  “Don’t worry, I will,” said Annie, and she left Jack’s room.

  Jack lay still for a moment, listening to the rain fall outside. Darn, he thought, what if she’s right?

  Jack heaved a sigh. Then he climbed out of bed. He pulled on his clothes and grabbed his backpack. He slipped down the stairs, put on his rain boots and raincoat, then headed out the front door.

  Annie was standing on the porch, waiting for him. “Ready?” she said.

  Jack just grunted. But as he and Annie took off into the cool, rainy dawn, he woke up completely. As they charged up the sidewalk, Jack’s heart pounded with excitement. By the time t
hey headed into the Frog Creek woods, Jack felt like he’d dreamed Annie’s dream, too.

  Raindrops tapped on tree branches. Jack and Annie scrunched over fallen red and gold leaves until they came to the tallest oak. Jack looked up.

  “Ta-da!” said Annie.

  The tree house was back. And Teddy and Kathleen were dressed in their dark cloaks, looking out the window.

  A Good Night for Ghosts

  “Good morning!” called Kathleen.

  “We dreamed about you!” said Jack. “At least Annie did.”

  Teddy and Kathleen smiled, as if this news didn’t surprise them at all.

  Annie and Jack started up the rope ladder. When they climbed inside the tree house, they hugged the two young enchanters. “Welcome,” said Kathleen. Her beautiful sea-blue eyes sparkled.

  “Do you have a new mission for us?” said Jack.

  “Indeed,” said Teddy, smiling. “Just like last time, Merlin wants you to help a creative person bring his gifts to the world.”

  “And this will help you,” said Kathleen. She pulled a book from her cloak.

  “Great!” said Jack. He took the book from Kathleen. The cover showed a street parade with musicians playing trumpets and trombones. The title was A History of New Orleans Music.

  “New Orleans?” said Annie.

  “Yes, New Orleans, Louisiana,” said Kathleen.

  “You will love this city,” said Teddy.

  “Cool,” said Annie.

  “And here is your magic flute.” Kathleen picked up a gleaming silver flute from the corner of the tree house. It was the magic flute Jack had played on their adventure in Vienna, Austria. “Only this time…” Kathleen tossed the flute into the air. It hovered for a moment, then began to twirl around and around. There was a flash of blue light—and the flute was gone! Floating in its place was a shining brass instrument.

  Kathleen plucked the instrument from the air. “This time you will play a magic trumpet,” she said.

  “Oh, man,” breathed Jack. “That’s incredible.”

  “Yeah,” said Annie. “I’ve always wanted to play the trumpet.”

  Kathleen laughed. “Well, this is your chance,” she said. “The trumpet’s magic will make you a brilliant performer.”

  “But the magic can only happen once,” Teddy reminded Jack and Annie, “just as on your last journey with the magic flute. Play the trumpet only when you face your greatest danger.”

  “And while one of us plays, the other has to make up a song, right?” said Annie. “And whatever we sing will come true.”

  “Precisely,” said Teddy.

  “Um… what danger will we face in New Orleans?” asked Jack.

  “Perhaps none,” said Teddy. “But keep the magic trumpet with you just in case. And remember, after you have played it, the magic will be gone and it will become an ordinary trumpet.”

  “Got it,” said Jack. He took a deep breath.

  “Okay,” said Annie. “Ready?”

  “Wait,” said Jack. “Can you tell us what kind of creative genius we’re looking for?”

  “We can do more than that,” said Kathleen with a smile. “We can tell you his name. It is Louis Armstrong.”

  “Louis Armstrong,” repeated Jack. He knew that name.

  “He is the King of Jazz,” said Teddy.

  “The King of Jazz?” said Annie. “Cool!”

  “Yes,” said Kathleen. “But Louis Armstrong won’t know that when you meet him. It is your job to put him on the right path.”

  “To give his gifts to the world,” said Annie. “Got it.”

  “Good,” said Teddy. “And now you should go.”

  “Right,” said Jack. He pointed at the cover of the book. “I wish we could go there,” he said. “To New Orleans!”

  “To meet the King of Jazz!” said Annie.

  “Good luck!” said Teddy as he and Kathleen waved good-bye.

  The wind started to blow.

  The tree house started to spin.

  It spun faster and faster.

  Then everything was still.

  Absolutely still.

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  Jack and Annie have a musical CD!

  For more information about

  MAGIC TREE HOUSE: THE MUSICAL

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  visit www.mthmusical.com.

  Discover the facts

  behind the fiction with the

  Magic Tree House® Books

  #1: DINOSAURS BEFORE DARK

  #2: THE KNIGHT AT DAWN

  #3: MUMMIES IN THE MORNING

  #4: PIRATES PAST NOON

  #5: NIGHT OF THE NINJAS

  #6: AFTERNOON ON THE AMAZON

  #7: SUNSET OF THE SABERTOOTH

  #8: MIDNIGHT ON THE MOON

  #9: DOLPHINS AT DAYBREAK

  #10: GHOST TOWN AT SUNDOWN

  #11: LIONS AT LUNCHTIME

  #12: POLAR BEARS PAST BEDTIME

  #13: VACATION UNDER THE VOLCANO

  #14: DAY OF THE DRAGON KING

  #15: VIKING SHIPS AT SUNRISE

  #16: HOUR OF THE OLYMPICS

  #17: TONIGHT ON THE TITANIC

  #18: BUFFALO BEFORE BREAKFAST

  #19: TIGERS AT TWILIGHT

  #20: DINGOES AT DINNERTIME

  #21: CIVIL WAR ON SUNDAY

  #22: REVOLUTIONARY WAR ON WEDNESDAY

  #23: TWISTER ON TUESDAY

  #24: EARTHQUAKE IN THE EARLY MORNING

  #25: STAGE FRIGHT ON A SUMMER NIGHT

  #26: GOOD MORNING, GORILLAS

  #27: THANKSGIVING ON THURSDAY

  #28: HIGH TIDE IN HAWAII

  Merlin Missions

  #29: CHRISTMAS IN CAMELOT

  #30: HAUNTED CASTLE ON HALLOWS EVE

  #31: SUMMER OF THE SEA SERPENT

  #32: WINTER OF THE ICE WIZARD

  #33: CARNIVAL AT CANDLELIGHT

  #34: SEASON OF THE SANDSTORMS

  #35: NIGHT OF THE NEW MAGICIANS

  #36: BLIZZARD OF THE BLUE MOON

  #37: DRAGON OF THE RED DAWN

  #38: MONDAY WITH A MAD GENIUS

  #39: DARK DAY IN THE DEEP SEA

  #40: EVE OF THE EMPEROR PENGUIN

  #41: MOONLIGHT ON THE MAGIC FLUTE

  #42: A GOOD NIGHT FOR GHOSTS

  #43: LEPRECHAUN IN LATE WINTER

  #44: A GHOST TALE FOR CHRISTMAS TIME

  Magic Tree House® Research Guides

  DINOSAURS

  KNIGHTS AND CASTLES

  MUMMIES AND PYRAMIDS

  PIRATES

  RAIN FORESTS

  SPACE

  TITANIC

  TWISTERS AND OTHER TERRIBLE STORMS

  DOLPHINS AND SHARKS

  ANCIENT GREECE AND THE OLYMPICS

  AMERICAN REVOLUTION

  SABERTOOTHS AND THE ICE AGE

  PILGRIMS

  ANCIENT ROME AND POMPEII

  TSUNAMIS AND OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS

  POLAR BEARS AND THE ARCTIC

  SEA MONSTERS

  PENGUINS AND ANTARCTICA

  LEONARDO DA VINCI

  GHOSTS

  LEPRECHAUNS AND IRISH FOLKLORE

  RAGS AND RICHES: KIDS IN THE TIME OF CHARLES DICKENS

  More Magic Tree House®

  GAMES AND PUZZLES FROM THE TREE HOUSE

 

 

 
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