Dragon of the Red Dawn: A Merlin Mission by Mary Pope Osborne Read Free Book Online Page A

Annie dashed up the sidewalk. They crossed the street and headed into the Frog Creek woods. They ran between the trees, through shadows and light, until they came to the tallest oak.
    High in the tree was the magic tree house. The rope ladder was swaying in the chilly morning wind.
    “How did you know it was here?” asked Jack, catching his breath.
    “I woke up thinking about Teddy and Kathleen,” said Annie, “and I had this strange feeling.”
    “Really?” said Jack. “Teddy! Kathleen!” he shouted up at the tree house.
    Two young teenagers looked out the tree house window: a curly-haired boy with freckles and a big grin and a smiling girl with sea-blue eyes and dark wavy hair.
    “Jack! Annie!” the girl said.
    “Come up! Come up!” said the boy.
    Jack and Annie hurried up the rope ladder. When they climbed inside the tree house, they threw their arms around their friends.
    “Are we going to look for another secret of happiness?” said Annie. “To help Merlin?”
    “Yes, and this time you will travel back to Florence, Italy, five hundred years ago,” said Teddy.
    “Florence, Italy?” said Jack. “What’s there?”
    “An amazing person who will help you,” said Kathleen.
    “Who?” asked Annie. “Is this person magical?”
    Teddy grinned. “Some people might say so,” he said. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a book. The cover showed a drawing of a man wearing a purple cloak and floppy blue cap. He had a long nose, bright, kind eyes with heavy eyebrows, and a flowing beard. The title said:

    “Leonardo da Vinci!” said Jack. “Are you kidding?”
    “I’ve heard of him,” said Annie.
    “Who hasn’t?” said Jack. “He was an incredible genius!”
    “This biography of Leonardo will help you on your mission,” said Teddy.
    “And so will this rhyme from Morgan,” said Kathleen. She pulled a small piece of parchment paper from her cloak and gave it to Annie.
    Annie read the words on the paper aloud.
To Jack and Annie of Frog Creek:
Though the question is quite simple,
Simple answers might be wrong.
If you want to know the right one,
Help the genius all day long,
Morning, noon, and afternoon,
Till the night bird sings its song.
    “So to find the secret of happiness, we need to spend the whole day helping Leonardo da Vinci,” said Jack.
    “Yes,” said Kathleen. Teddy nodded.
    “I wish you could come, too,” said Annie.
    “And help us, ” said Jack.
    “Never fear,” said Kathleen. “You will have the help of the great genius and the Wand of Dianthus.”
    “Oh!” Annie said to Jack. “Did you bring our wand?”
    “Of course,” said Jack. “I always carry it with me for safekeeping.” He reached into his backpack and pulled out a gleaming silver wand.
    “The Wand of Dianthus,” Teddy said in a hushed voice.
    The wand looked like the horn of a unicorn. It burned in Jack’s hand—with cold or warmth, he couldn’t tell which. He carefully put the wand back into his pack.
    “Remember the three rules of the wand?” said Kathleen.
    “Sure,” said Annie. “You can only use it for the good of others. You can only use it after you’ve tried your hardest. And you can only use it with a command of five words.”
    “Excellent,” said Kathleen.
    “Thanks,” said Annie. “Ready?” she asked Jack.
    Jack nodded. “Bye, Teddy. Bye, Kathleen.”
    “Good-bye,” said Teddy.
    “And good luck,” said Kathleen.
    Jack pointed at the cover of the book. “I wish we could go to Leonardo da Vinci!”
    In the distance, the school bell started to ring, letting kids know that school would start in ten minutes. But in the Frog Creek woods, 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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