Ch3-The Grand Lady, of the Lagoon

CHAPTER THREE The Grand Lady of the Lagoon. The gondola glided toward a landing at the edge of the canal. As the gondolier tied up the boat, water was sloshing from the canal onto a wide walkway filled with Carnival-goers.

The gondolier reached a gloved hand toward Annie and helped her out of the boat. He then held out a hand to Jack. When Jack grabbed it, he was surprised that the gondolier's hand felt small under the white glove, like a kid's hand. As soon as Jack had stepped out of the boat, the gondolier untied the rope, pushed off from the landing, and began rowing away. "Bye! Thanks!" called Annie. The two strangers in the white bird masks waved. Jack and Annie watched the gondola disappear over the choppy waters. Then they looked back at the shore. The Carnival crowd

was parading up and down the wide walkway along the canal. "Hey look," said Annie. "There's a bunch of people dressed like us! And like the two people in our gondola!" Jack saw lots of black cloaks, bird masks, funny hats, and ruffled collars. He also saw people dressed as chickens, pirates, and knights. None of the costumed people seemed to mind the water spilling over the edge of the canal, soaking their boots and slippers. As Jack and Annie stared at the crowd, a distant bell began to ring. The bell rang nine

times. "I guess that means it's nine o'clock," said Jack. Just then another bell began to chime. Jack counted again. This time, ten chimes rang out. "Ten?" said Jack, puzzled. "So what time is it? Nine o'clock or ten o'clock?" "Don't worry about that now," said Annie. "I think I see the Grand Lady of the Lagoon!" "Where?" said Jack. Annie pointed to a tall woman at the edge of the parade. She was wearing a black mask. She wore piles of jewelry, a white wig, and a wide hoop skirt. Jack and Annie moved toward the lady. "Excuse me," said Annie. "Hi."

The lady looked at Annie. "Hello," she said in a deep man's voice. "Whoa," said Jack, stepping back. Annie laughed. "You're a man!" she said. "Of course," said the man. "But for Carnival, I am a very beautiful lady, no?" "We're looking for someone called the Grand Lady of—" started Annie. But before she could finish, a giant chicken grabbed the man's hand and pulled him away into the crowd. "Oh, brother," said Jack, looking around. Lots of people were dressed as grand ladies! "How are we supposed to know who to visit?"

"Maybe it's time to use one of Kathleen and Teddy's rhymes," said Annie. "No, we should save our rhymes," said Jack. "Then let's just skip visiting the Grand Lady of the Lagoon for now," said Annie. "What's the next thing Merlin tells us to do?" Jack looked at Merlin's directions and read aloud: To find out where you need to go, Seek out a painter named Tiepolo. "Good, that's clear," said Jack. "Let's see if Tiepolo is in our research book."