Ch5-Hellooo

CHAPTER FIVE Hellooo? Jack and Annie pressed through the crowd of people swarming about the Hall of Machines. Finally they reached the exit and slipped back out into the warm Paris night. The fair was just as crowded outside the hall as inside. Musicians played guitars, singers sang,

food sellers shouted, "Chocolate milk! Cheese! Bread! Wine!" "We have to get to the Pasteur Institute fast!" Annie shouted to Jack. Jack pulled out their guide book and scanned the index, looking for the Pasteur Institute. "It's not in here," he said. He closed the guide book. "It must not be part of the fair." "Maybe one of those horse-and-buggies can take us there," said Annie. She pointed to a row of carriages along a street. There was a line of people waiting to get into them. "Come on!" said Jack.

Annie and Jack made their way through the crowd and stood in the carriage line. "Thomas Alva Edison and Alexander Graham Bell!" said Jack. "The sorcerer must think they're new magicians with secret powers!" "And now he's invited them to some kind of party," said Annie, "so he can steal their secrets." "I'll bet he's inviting the other two," said Jack, "the Magician of Iron and the Magician of the Invisible." "I wonder if they're inventors, too," said Annie.

"Come on, it's our turn," said Jack. They had reached the front of the carriage line. "We need to go to a place called the Pasteur Institute," Jack called to the coachman. "Can you take us?" "But of course," said the man. "Thanks!" said Annie. She and Jack climbed into the back of the open carriage. The coachman shook the reins, and his white horse clopped down the cobblestone street. "Excuse me," Annie said, leaning forward. "But what exactly is the Pasteur Institute?"

"It is a laboratory for finding the cures for diseases," said the coachman. "Oh…," said Annie. "Interesting." She turned back to Jack. "Why would an evil sorcerer look for magicians in a place like that?" "I don't know," said Jack. "Maybe the sorcerer got sick," said Annie. "I don't think so," said Jack. "But now we really need a plan. What if we run into him at the institute? Remember, he has magic powers." "But we have magic powers, too," said Annie.

"Right," breathed Jack. He reached into his satchel and pulled out their book: 10 MAGIC RHYMES FOR ANNIE AND JACK FROM TEDDY AND KATHLEEN By the light of the carriage lantern, Jack and Annie looked at the table of contents. "Remember, we can only use a rhyme once," Jack said to Annie. "Make a Stone Come Alive— we've done that. Make Helpers Appear out of Nowhere—