Ch10-Questions

CHAPTER TEN Questions. It was twilight when Annie and Jack stepped back out into the street. "Where's the tree with the tree house?" asked Annie. "Somewhere over the bridge beyond the big dome," said Jack.

They kept their eyes on the dome as they threaded their way through the streets of Florence. When they came to the cathedral, the square was quiet. The cathedral's great doors were open. Jack and Annie could see candles burning inside. Jack and Annie kept walking and soon came to the market. The hundreds of tents and stalls were all closed for the night. The square was empty. Jack and Annie returned the way they had come that morning. Walking down the same narrow lanes, they saw that all the shops were closed now, too. They crossed the covered bridge and walked along the flowing river, past quiet houses where smoke curled from chimneys into the darkening sky.

Finally Jack and Annie came to the hedge that hid the tree with the tree house. In the gray light of dusk, they climbed up the rope ladder. "Before we go home, I want to look something up," said Jack. He pulled their research book out of his bag and looked in the index for Mona Lisa. He found it and turned to the right page. "Look! It's Lisa!" said Annie. Jack and Annie stared at a picture of Leonardo's painting. It looked exactly the same, except now there was a smile on Lisa's face, the same smile they'd just seen in real life. Jack read aloud: Leonardo da Vinci's painting of Mona Lisa is perhaps the most famous painting in the world. It is believed to be a portrait of Lisa

del Gioconda. (The Italian word mona means "my lady.") Leonardo da Vinci never sold the portrait of Lisa. He took it with him everywhere he traveled until he died. Jack closed the book. "He kept his promise," he said.

"I knew he would," said Annie. She sighed. "Good-bye, Leonardo," she whispered. Then she picked up their note from Morgan and pointed at the words Frog Creek. "I wish we could go there," she said. The wind started to blow. The tree house started to spin. It spun faster and faster. Then everything was still. Absolutely still. Sunlight flooded through the tree house window. No time had passed in Frog Creek. The school bell was still ringing, announcing that class

would start in ten minutes. Jack and Annie were wearing their school clothes. Jack's cloth bag had changed back into his backpack. "We have to hurry," said Annie. "I know," said Jack. He looked inside his pack. He was happy to see the Wand of Dianthus. As he pulled out their research book, a piece of paper fell out. It was the sketch of Leonardo's angel. "Oh, I forgot all about this," said Jack. He and Annie looked at the sketch. "It shows he was really a good drawer," said Annie. "Yep," said Jack. "And it will remind us about Leonardo's secret of happiness."