Blizzard of the Blue Moon

by Mary Pope Osborne

  Jack 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.”

  Jack 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 snow-covered outdoor stage and a fountain with the statue of an angel. Raising her outspread wings, the angel seemed about to fly away.

  “Which way now?” said Jack.

  Two paths led away from the angel fountain: one to the right, one to the left. “I don’t know,” said Annie. “Pick one.”

  Jack headed to the left. Annie followed. They passed a frozen lake and walked over an arched bridge. Jack kept his eyes on the ground and walked and walked and walked. Every time he lifted his head, the snow felt like needles against his skin.

  Jack tried to keep walking in a straight line, but the path they were following began twisting and turning like a maze. Different paths branched off, curving this way and that. Jack remembered information from their research book: The park has thirty-two miles of winding footpaths.

  “We have got to get off these paths!” he shouted to Annie. “Or we’ll be lost in Central Park forever!”

  Annie didn’t answer. “Annie!” Jack shielded his face from the cutting wind and looked back. He didn’t see her.

  Jack turned around and around, looking for Annie. But he couldn’t see anything—the world was completely white.

  “Annie!” he cried. Had she gone off on another path? Was she lost? “Annie!”

  She could wander around in the storm for

  hours! thought Jack. She could freeze to death! I have to find her!

  Jack tried to stay calm. He took a few breaths. A rhyme, he thought. He couldn’t remember which magic rhymes were left. He struggled to unbuckle his briefcase—his fingers felt frozen. He pulled out the book and hunched over it, trying to shelter it from the storm. He wiped his glasses off and read: Turn into Ducks. That wouldn’t help. Pull a Cloud from the Sky. That would only make things worse. Find a Treasure You Must Never Lose.

  Is Annie a treasure? Jack wondered. He’d always thought of a “treasure” as something super valuable, like gold or silver or rare jewels. But right now Annie seemed more valuable than any of those things. She seemed like the most valuable thing in the world. Jack found the rhyme and shouted:

  Treasure forever must never be lost!

  Um-motta cal, um-motta bost!

  “Jack!”

  Jack whirled around. Annie was standing right behind him. “There you are,” she said. “I was afraid you got lost.”

  “ I wasn’t lost,” said Jack. “You were lost.” He slipped the rhyme book back into his briefcase.

  “Not me, you,” said Annie.

  “Whatever,” said Jack. “Just stay near me now.” He took her hand and gripped it tightly. “Okay, let’s figure out what to do.”

  “Wait, is that a castle over there?” said Annie.

  “A what?” said Jack.

  “A castle. Look!”

  Peering through the storm, Jack saw a small castle sitting on top of a snowy hill. A light burned in a window.

  “A castle in Central Park?” Jack said. “That’s weird.”

  “Let’s go see if anyone’s inside,” said Annie. “Maybe they can help us. People in a castle might know about unicorns.”

  “Or at least know how to get out of the park,” said Jack.

  Jack and Annie struggled up the stone steps that led to the castle. At the top of the steps, Jack glanced back at the park. He could barely make out two figures in the snow: one in a dark cape and one in a raincoat.

  “
Them—it’s them!” said Jack.

  A cloud of wind-driven snow blew over the couple. Jack kept looking, eager for another glimpse of the two young enchanters. But the snow hid everything in sight.

  “They’ll find us,” said Annie. “Come on.” She pushed open the door to the castle and led the way inside.

  The door slammed shut behind them. Jack and Annie stood in a dimly lit hallway.

  “Hello? Who’s there?” a man called.

  “Jack and Annie!” shouted Annie.

  A tall, thin man came down a curving stone stairway. He wore an old-fashioned blue-striped suit. “Goodness! Two children!” he said. “What are you doing here on a day like today?”

  “We got lost in the park,” said Jack. “My name’s Jack and this is my sister, Annie.”

  “Pleased to meet you. I’m Bill Perkins,” said the man. “Welcome to Belvedere Castle.”

  “What is this place?” asked Annie.

  “The castle was built in 1869,” said Mr. Perkins. “It was meant to be a delightful surprise when one wandered the park. Today it’s a delightful surprise with a nature observatory and weather instruments inside.”

  “Weather instruments?” said Jack.

  “Yes. I’ve come from the U.S. Weather Bureau to check them,” said Mr. Perkins. “I’m afraid right now our data is telling us that the weather’s undergoing a rapid and terrible change.”

  Jack shivered in his damp clothes. “Our data is telling us the same thing,” he said.

  “A storm has blown in from the Midwest, bringing wind and snow,” said Mr. Perkins. “But after nightfall, things will get worse. Another storm is coming up from the South, gathering speed on its way.”

  “That sounds serious,” said Annie.

  “It’s worse than serious,” Mr. Perkins said. “It’s disastrous. After dark, the two systems will meet and create a monster blizzard! It could be the worst in New York history! Even worse than the Blizzard of ’88!”

  Jack caught his breath.

  “Poor New York,” said Annie.

  “Ah, yes, it’s the last thing our great city needs during these hard times,” said Mr. Perkins, shaking his head.

  “Excuse me, but I have a question,” said Annie. “Do you know if there’s a full moon tonight?”

  “Well, yes, there is,” said Bill Perkins. “You won’t see it, though—not through those storm clouds. Actually, it’ll be the second full moon this month.”

  “A blue moon!” said Annie.

  “You’re exactly right, a blue moon indeed,” said Mr. Perkins.

  “I have another question,” said Annie. “Do you know where we can find—”

  “Um—any unusual animals?” Jack interrupted. “On public display somewhere? In New York City?”

  “Well, your best bet in New York would be the Bronx Zoo,” said Mr. Perkins. “They display all kinds of animals from all over the world.”

  “Great!” said Annie. “How do we get there?”

  “What? You can’t go to the zoo today!” said Mr. Perkins. “Not in this storm!”

  “No, no, of course not,” Jack said quickly. “But if we ever decide to go to the zoo—in the future— how would we get there?”

  “Well, the best way would be to take the West Side IRT,” said Mr. Perkins.

  “What’s that?” said Jack.

  “A subway line that runs up the West Side,” said Mr. Perkins. “The number two train on that line will take you to the Bronx Zoo.”

  “Oh, great, thanks for everything,” said Jack. “We’d better get going now.” He and Annie started toward the door.

  “Wait, there’s a telephone upstairs. Let me ring up your parents. Perhaps they can come get you,” said Mr. Perkins.

  “Um, well,” said Annie. “We—uh—we haven’t lived here very long, and we don’t have a telephone yet.”

  “She’s right,” said Jack. “But it’s not far to where we live. We just need to get out of the park to the street.”

  “To the West Side!” said Annie.

  “Yeah, yeah, the West Side,” said Jack. “Can you tell us how to get there from here?”

  “Certainly!” Mr. Perkins opened the door. Wind and snow blasted inside as he pointed to the right. “Cross the terrace and then walk down the stairs to a path. That path will take you out of the park to Eighty-first Street,” he said. “Hurry home now!”

  “We will!” said Jack.

  “Thanks a lot, Mr. Perkins!” said Annie. And she and Jack headed back out into the blizzard.

  The wind lashed the bare trees and swept the snow into tall drifts. “That way!” said Annie. She led the way down the castle steps to the path.

  “Mr. Perkins was a nice guy,” said Annie as they headed toward the west side of the park.

  “Yeah,” said Jack. “Someday I’d like to go back there and see all his weather instruments.”

  Jack and Annie trudged through the storm, until they saw buildings just beyond the trees.

  “We’re almost out of Central Park!” Annie said.

  Jack looked around. “Do you see Teddy and Kathleen?” he said.

  “No, but we’d better keep going if we want to get to the zoo today,” said Annie.

  Jack agreed. Mr. Perkins had said that the blizzard was going to turn into a monster after dark. And dark came early in November.

  They left the park and came to a wide city street. All sorts of things were blowing about in the wind: newspapers, hats, and umbrellas turned inside out. Jack and Annie grabbed a lamppost and clung to it, trying to keep from getting blown away, too. When there was a lull in the storm, they trudged across the avenue. It was lined with cars half buried in the snow.

  Jack and Annie started down a side street. They passed an old man and woman huddled in a doorway, wrapped in torn blankets, burning a fire in a small stove. They passed a line of men dressed in ragged clothes standing outside a building. A sign said “Free Soup.”

  Jack hoped everyone outside would find better shelter before the monster blizzard hit.

  “Excuse me!” Annie called to the men in the line for free soup. “Do you know where the West Side IRT subway is?”

  “Two blocks!” said a man. “Keep going!”

  “Thanks!” said Annie.

  Jack and Annie kept going. They passed a firehouse, a cheese store, and a newsstand. Everything was closed and shuttered. Peddlers’ carts were stuck in drifts.

  Signs banged in the wind. One said:

  Another said:

  A third said:

  Jack and Annie crossed the street. They saw newsboys huddled under a theater awning. The boys had wrapped their feet and legs in newspapers to keep warm.

  “Excuse me, where’s the subway?” Jack shouted.

  “End of the block and around the corner! Green ball!” said a boy.

  Green ball? wondered Jack. What does that mean?

  “Thanks!” said Annie. “You guys should go home! After dark, the storm’s turning into a monster!”

  Jack and Annie trudged on. When they turned the corner, Annie shouted, “Look! A green ball!”

  On top of a post was a large green ball. The post was next to a stairway that led underground. A sign said:

  UPTOWN IRT TRAINS, 1,2,3

  “That’s it! Mr. Perkins said we take the number two!” said Annie.

  “Wait, do you see Teddy and Kathleen?” said Jack, peering through the snow. Annie looked with him down the city street.

  “I don’t see them. But I’m sure they’ll find us,” said Annie. She and Jack started down the stairs that led underground. The stairway was filled with people trying to get out of the storm. Jack and Annie walked with the crowd into the subway station.

  A long line waited in front of a turnstile. A sign over the turnstile said:

  SUBWAY: 5¢

  “Oops, do you have any money for the subway?” Annie asked Jack.

  “Yeah, I think I left home with at least a dollar in change,” said Jack. He reached into hi
s pocket and pulled out two nickels.

  “Cool,” said Annie. She led the way to the line.

  As they waited, Jack looked around the station. A banjo player played a silly tune, but no one smiled. A man in rags walked around, holding out a hat, begging for money. Jack took another nickel from his pocket and dropped it into the hat.

  “Thank you, thank you. Bless you,” said the beggar.

  “Sure,” said Jack.

  As the beggar walked on, Jack looked at Annie. “Boy, just a little nickel made him so happy,” he said.

  “I know. Everyone seems really poor and desperate here,” said Annie.

  “I wonder why,” said Jack. While the line moved slowly toward the turnstile, he pulled out their research book. He read aloud from the introduction:

  In the 1930s, New York City, as well as the rest of the United States, suffered through hard times known as the Great Depression. Jobs were scarce, and many people had no money or homes.

  “That’s what Mr. Perkins was talking about,” said Jack. “Hard times.”

  “I wish we could help everyone,” said Annie.

  “Me too,” said Jack.

  “But right now our mission is to save a unicorn under a spell,” said Annie.

  Jack frowned. “Our mission sounds like a fairy tale from a make-believe world,” he said. “Not the real world of the Great Depression.”

  “I know,” said Annie. “Hey, it’s almost our turn. What do we do?”

  “Let’s watch the person in front of us,” said Jack.

  Jack and Annie watched an old woman put her nickel in the slot of the turnstile, which led to the train platform. The woman pushed through and joined the crowd of people waiting for the train. Jack and Annie put their nickels into the slot and pushed through, too.

  The platform was bitterly cold. People looked worried, as if they feared the subway train might never come. Jack felt worried, too, but mainly because their mission wasn’t making any sense. They were trying to get to the zoo before the blue moon, and before a monster blizzard hit the city. But when they got to the zoo, what then?