Night of the New Magicians by Mary Pope Osborne Page A

Quack!”
    Jack looked up.
    “Just kidding,” said Annie.
    “You’d better not make jokes about these rhymes,” Jack said. “You might end up saying the wrong one at the wrong time and really get us in trouble.” He closed the rhyme book. “Ready to go?”
    “Ready,” said Annie.
    Jack took a deep breath and picked up the guide book to the 1889 Paris World’s Fair. He pointed to the title. “I wish we could go there,” he said.
    The wind started to blow.
    The tree house started to spin.
    It spun faster and faster.
    Then everything was still.
    Absolutely still.

J ack opened his eyes. The scent of roses floated through the warm twilight. Jack was wearing an old-fashioned cap, a rust-colored jacket, and knee-length pants. His backpack had turned into a leather satchel.
    Annie was wearing a puffy white blouse and a long purple skirt with a ruffle. “Look, there’s the Eiffel Tower,” she said.
    Jack looked. They had landed in a park filled with trees. Beyond the park, rising into the sky, was a tall tower with lights beaming from the top.
    “That’s the Eiffel Tower, all right,” said Jack.“But where’s the World’s Fair?” He opened their guide book and found a map. “Oh, great, it looks like the fair is directly below the tower. That should make it easy to find.”

    “Let’s get going,” said Annie.
    “Wait, we need to go over what we have to do on our mission,” said Jack.
    “It’s simple,” said Annie. “We have to find the Magician of Sound, the Magician of Light, the Magician of the Invisible, and the Magician of Iron. We have to warn them about the evil sorcerer and then learn their secrets for Merlin.”
    “That doesn’t sound simple to me,” said Jack. “It sounds like a huge responsibility.”
    “So we’d better start
now,”
said Annie. “Come on.” Annie led the way down the tree house ladder.
    Jack put their World’s Fair guide into his satchel, along with their letter from Merlin and the book of rhymes from Teddy and Kathleen.Then he followed Annie down the ladder.
    As Jack and Annie started across the park, a clinking sound came from Annie’s skirt pocket. She reached into the pocket and pulled out a handful of coins. “Hey, our ice cream money got changed into French coins!” she said.
    “Good,” said Jack. “We might need them at the fair.”
    Jack and Annie followed a gravel path that led out of the park and onto an avenue lit by gas streetlamps. Horse-drawn carriages and old-fashioned bicycles clattered over the cobblestones. They all seemed to be headed toward a crowded bridge that crossed a wide river.
    Boats were gliding down the river, their lights reflecting in the water. On the far side of the river, thousands of tiny lamps twinkled along the bank. The Eiffel Tower glowed in the silver twilight.
    “Paris is so beautiful,” said Annie.
    “No kidding,” said Jack. “Let’s cross thatbridge to the fair.” They hurried to join the people streaming across the bridge.
    Jack and Annie blended in easily with the happy crowd. The kids in the crowd were all wearing clothes like theirs. Most of the men wore black top hats and black coats and pants. The women wore hats as big as flower baskets. Their long, colorful dresses puffed out in back.
    There seemed to be visitors from many countries. Jack saw Chinese straw hats, Dutch caps, several Indian turbans, and a Mexican sombrero.
    “This reminds me of the carnival we went to in Venice,” said Annie.
    “Me too,” said Jack. “Except in Venice, people were wearing costumes. Here, they’re wearing their real clothes. Remember, this is a
world’s
fair.”
    “Cool,” said Annie.
    Jack looked around. How would they recognize the four new magicians? he wondered. Would they be dressed like people from Paris?Or people from another country? Or would they look like Merlin or Morgan in flowing medieval robes? And what about the evil sorcerer?
    “Looks like we buy our tickets over there,” said Annie as they