Ch3-Lost in Central Park

CHAPTER THREE Lost in Central Park 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