Blizzard of the Blue Moon (4 page)

Jack caught his breath.

“Poor New York,” said Annie.

“Ah, yes, it’s the last thing our great city needs during these hard times,” said Mr. Perkins, shaking his head.

“Excuse me, but I have a question,” said Annie. “Do you know if there’s a full moon tonight?”

“Well, yes, there is,” said Bill Perkins. “You won’t see it, though—not through those storm clouds. Actually, it’ll be the second full moon this month.”

“A blue moon!”
said Annie.

“You’re exactly right, a blue moon indeed,” said Mr. Perkins.

“I have another question,” said Annie. “Do you know where we can find—”

“Um—any unusual animals?” Jack interrupted. “On public display somewhere? In New York City?”

“Well, your best bet in New York would be the Bronx Zoo,” said Mr. Perkins. “They display all kinds of animals from all over the world.”

“Great!” said Annie. “How do we get there?”

“What? You can’t go to the zoo today!” said Mr. Perkins. “Not in this storm!”

“No, no, of course not,” Jack said quickly. “But if we ever decide to go to the zoo—in the future— how would we get there?”

“Well, the best way would be to take the West Side IRT,” said Mr. Perkins.

“What’s that?” said Jack.

“A subway line that runs up the West Side,” said Mr. Perkins. “The number two train on that line will take you to the Bronx Zoo.”

“Oh, great, thanks for everything,” said Jack. “We’d better get going now.” He and Annie started toward the door.

“Wait, there’s a telephone upstairs. Let me
ring up your parents. Perhaps they can come get you,” said Mr. Perkins.

“Um, well,” said Annie. “We—uh—we haven’t lived here very long, and we don’t have a telephone yet.”

“She’s right,” said Jack. “But it’s not far to where we live. We just need to get out of the park to the street.”

“To the West Side!” said Annie.

“Yeah, yeah, the West Side,” said Jack. “Can you tell us how to get there from here?”

“Certainly!” Mr. Perkins opened the door. Wind and snow blasted inside as he pointed to the right. “Cross the terrace and then walk down the stairs to a path. That path will take you out of the park to Eighty-first Street,” he said. “Hurry home now!”

“We will!” said Jack.

“Thanks a lot, Mr. Perkins!” said Annie. And she and Jack headed back out into the blizzard.

T
he wind lashed the bare trees and swept the snow into tall drifts. “That way!” said Annie. She led the way down the castle steps to the path.

“Mr. Perkins was a nice guy,” said Annie as they headed toward the west side of the park.

“Yeah,” said Jack. “Someday I’d like to go back there and see all his weather instruments.”

Jack and Annie trudged through the storm, until they saw buildings just beyond the trees.

“We’re almost out of Central Park!” Annie said.

Jack looked around. “Do you see Teddy and Kathleen?” he said.

“No, but we’d better keep going if we want to get to the zoo today,” said Annie.

Jack agreed. Mr. Perkins had said that the blizzard was going to turn into a monster after dark. And dark came early in November.

They left the park and came to a wide city street. All sorts of things were blowing about in the wind: newspapers, hats, and umbrellas turned inside out. Jack and Annie grabbed a lamppost and clung to it, trying to keep from getting blown away, too. When there was a lull in the storm, they trudged across the avenue. It was lined with cars half buried in the snow.

Jack and Annie started down a side street. They passed an old man and woman huddled in a doorway, wrapped in torn blankets, burning a fire in a small stove. They passed a line of men dressed in ragged clothes standing outside a building. A sign said “Free Soup.”

Jack hoped everyone outside would find better shelter before the monster blizzard hit.

“Excuse me!” Annie called to the men in the line for free soup. “Do you know where the West Side IRT subway is?”

“Two blocks!” said a man. “Keep going!”

“Thanks!” said Annie.

Jack and Annie kept going. They passed a firehouse, a cheese store, and a newsstand. Everything was closed and shuttered. Peddlers’ carts were stuck in drifts.

Signs banged in the wind. One said:

Another said:

A third said:

Jack and Annie crossed the street. They saw newsboys huddled under a theater awning. The boys had wrapped their feet and legs in newspapers to keep warm.

“Excuse me, where’s the subway?” Jack shouted.

“End of the block and around the corner! Green ball!” said a boy.

Green ball?
wondered Jack.
What does that mean?

“Thanks!” said Annie. “You guys should go home! After dark, the storm’s turning into a monster!”

Jack and Annie trudged on. When they turned the corner, Annie shouted, “Look! A green ball!”

On top of a post was a large green ball. The post was next to a stairway that led underground. A sign said:

“That’s it! Mr. Perkins said we take the number two!” said Annie.

“Wait, do you see Teddy and Kathleen?” said Jack, peering through the snow. Annie looked with him down the city street.

“I don’t see them. But I’m sure they’ll find
us,” said Annie. She and Jack started down the stairs that led underground. The stairway was filled with people trying to get out of the storm. Jack and Annie walked with the crowd into the subway station.

A long line waited in front of a turnstile. A sign over the turnstile said:

“Oops, do you have any money for the subway?” Annie asked Jack.

“Yeah, I think I left home with at least a dollar in change,” said Jack. He reached into his pocket and pulled out two nickels.

“Cool,” said Annie. She led the way to the line.

As they waited, Jack looked around the station. A banjo player played a silly tune, but no one smiled. A man in rags walked around, holding out a hat, begging for money. Jack took another nickel from his pocket and dropped it into the hat.

“Thank you, thank you. Bless you,” said the beggar.

“Sure,” said Jack.

As the beggar walked on, Jack looked at Annie. “Boy, just a little nickel made him so happy,” he said.

“I know. Everyone seems really poor and desperate here,” said Annie.

“I wonder why,” said Jack. While the line moved slowly toward the turnstile, he pulled out their research book. He read aloud from the introduction:

“That’s what Mr. Perkins was talking about,” said Jack. “Hard times.”

“I wish we could help everyone,” said Annie.

“Me too,” said Jack.

“But right now our mission is to save a unicorn under a spell,” said Annie.

Jack frowned. “Our mission sounds like a fairy tale from a make-believe world,” he said. “Not the real world of the Great Depression.”

“I know,” said Annie. “Hey, it’s almost our turn. What do we do?”

“Let’s watch the person in front of us,” said Jack.

Jack and Annie watched an old woman put her nickel in the slot of the turnstile, which led to the train platform. The woman pushed through and joined the crowd of people waiting for the train. Jack and Annie put their nickels into the slot and pushed through, too.

The platform was bitterly cold. People looked worried, as if they feared the subway train might never come. Jack felt worried, too, but mainly because their mission wasn’t making any sense. They were trying to get to the zoo before the blue moon,
and
before a monster blizzard hit the city. But when they got to the zoo, what then?

“This is what I don’t understand,” Jack said to Annie. “The poem says the unicorn is on public display. But if that’s true, why haven’t we ever read about New York City once having a unicorn in a zoo? That would be major news.”

“Yeah, but remember the poem says he’s ‘hidden well,’ and he’s ‘under a spell,’” said Annie. “So maybe the spell makes him look like a regular animal. But when we get to the zoo and say his name, he’ll come out of hiding and—and—”

“Reveal his true nature?” said Jack.

“Exactly!” said Annie.

“Okay …,” said Jack. “But how will we know what kind of animal to look for?”

A signal bell clanged. Lights appeared at the end of the tunnel. Jack and Annie moved with the crowd as it surged forward.

The subway train rumbled down the tracks. On the side of the train, Jack saw a big number 2. “That’s us!” he said.