Ch8-The Hall of Mirrors

CHAPTER EIGHT The Hall of Mirrors. Wolfie took off running toward the palace. "The whole world?" Jack said to Annie. "I don't think so." Annie smiled. "Come on, let's go back inside," she said.

Jack and Annie hurried through the moonlit garden back to the summer palace. They followed Wolfie up the stairway that led to the terrace. "I'm here, Nan!" Wolfie called. Nan ran across the terrace and grabbed him. "Oh, Wolfie! Where were you?" she asked. "I was in the garden! Oh, Nan, the most amazing thing—" said Wolfie. "Not now, Wolfie, we don't have time," Nan said. She brushed off his jacket and straightened his wig. "I love music, Nan! Jack and Annie made me love music again!" Wolfie said, pointing at Jack and Annie.

"I'm glad, good, come now," said Nan. "We have to hurry to the Hall of Mirrors! Papa's there waiting for us!" Nan pulled Wolfie toward the door. "Jack, Annie, come with us!" Wolfie yelled over his shoulder. "In a minute! We'll be right there!" said Annie. As Wolfie and Nan went inside, Annie tried to smooth her clothes. The lace on her petticoat was ripped. The bottom of her dress was dirty. Her bows had come untied. The hoop of her skirt was bent. "I'm a mess," she said to Jack. "Me too," he said. His jacket was dirty and his pants were torn. He found his wig and hat where he'd left them and scrunched them back onto his

head. "But we have to look for the artists now," he said. "What about Wolfie?" said Annie. "Forget it. We don't have time to hang out with Wolfie," said Jack. "But we told him we'd come," said Annie. "We can't spend our whole lives chasing after Wolfie!" said Jack. "Because of him, we've already used up our only chance to make magic. And we haven't even started our mission yet!" "Okay, okay," said Annie. "But we should at least say good-bye to him and Nan." Jack sighed. "Okay. A quick good-bye," he said.

Jack and Annie walked across the terrace and stepped into the palace. "Excuse me," Annie said to a servant, "where is the Hall of Mirrors?" The servant frowned at their appearance. But he pointed to a door on the right. "Pass through the next three rooms, then through the Great Rosa Room, into the Hall of Mirrors." "Thanks!" Jack and Annie hurried through the four rooms until they came to a large door. They opened it and peeked into the Hall of Mirrors. Mirrors hung on the walls. The room was filled with party guests sitting in rows of chairs. Her Imperial Majesty and the imperial children sat in

the front row. Wolfie was standing near the front of the room with Nan and their father. Jack wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But Wolfie saw them and called out, "Jack! Annie! Come in!" Jack started to slip away. But Annie pushed the door open and stepped inside. Oh, brother, thought Jack, following her. "Watch me!" cried Wolfie. Then Wolfie shot away from his family and hopped in front of the crowd. Oh, no! thought Jack. What's he doing? Why doesn't someone grab him? Wolfie faced the audience. He placed his hand over his heart and bowed. Then he swept back his