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Or had it vanished altogether?
    “Are you sure it was them?” said Annie.
    “Well, I guess
anybody
could wear a glass ring,” said Jack. “But still…”
    “Maybe Morgan and Merlin told them to watch over us,” said Annie.
    “Yeah, to make sure we’d be safe,” said Jack.
    “And be patient and follow instructions,” said Annie.
    “Right,” said Jack. “Well, Venice wasn’t destroyed by a flood. So I guess we passed our first test.”
    “I think we did,” said Annie.
    With Lorenzo’s canvas tucked under his arm, Jack led the way into the walled garden. Annie followed him to the rope ladder.
    When they climbed into the tree house, Jack pulled Merlin’s letter from his backpack. Heunfolded it and pointed to the words
Frog Creek.
    “I wish we could go there!” he said.
    “Good-bye, Grand Lady of the Lagoon!” said Annie.
    The wind started to blow.
    The tree house started to spin.
    It spun faster and faster.
    Then everything was still.
    Absolutely still.

    A nippy wind rustled the Frog Creek trees. Jack and Annie were wearing their jeans and jackets again. It was dawn.
    Annie sighed. “I wish we’d had a little more time to visit Venice,” she said.
    “I’m glad Lorenzo gave us his painting to finish,” said Jack. “That’ll be like living our trip all over again.”
    “Cool,” said Annie.
    “We’d better leave Morgan’s research book here,” said Jack. He pulled the book out of hisbackpack and put it on the floor. “And this.” He took out Teddy and Kathleen’s book of magic rhymes.
    “Wait,” said Annie. “Don’t you think we should take the book of rhymes with us? For safekeeping?”
    Jack nodded. “We can’t use them in Frog Creek,” he said. “We’ll just keep it safe till we go on our next mission.”
    “That’s what I was thinking,” said Annie. “Come on. Hurry, before Mom and Dad wake up.”
    Jack put the book of rhymes back into his pack. Carrying Lorenzo’s canvas, Annie climbed down the ladder. Jack followed.
    As they walked through the chilly dawn woods, Annie held up Lorenzo’s canvas. The shimmering light and waters of Venice looked just like they had in real life. “So what should we put in our painting?” she asked.
    “Gondolas, of course,” said Jack, “with people in costumes.”
    “Wearing black capes and bird masks,” said Annie, “and fancy dresses and wigs.”
    “And we could paint the clock tower in the background,” said Jack, “with the two men striking the bell.”
    “And the watchtower, too,” said Annie, “with the gold angel on top.”
    “And the ruler’s palace,” said Jack.
    “And the old man and Rosa walking along the canal,” said Annie, “and, of course, Lorenzo.”
    “And the lion flying across the sky,” said Jack, “and Neptune’s spear rising out of the water.”
    “With Neptune himself peeking out!” said Annie. “We’ll show just the top of his head and his mysterious eyes.”
    “That’s a lot of stuff for one painting,” said Jack.
    “We didn’t even put ourselves in yet,” said Annie.
    “We’ll paint ourselves on the back of the lion,” said Jack, “wearing our clown suits and red slippers.”
    “Yeah, with huge smiles on our faces,” said Annie, “like we’re thinking,
Wow! Wow! Wow!”
    Jack laughed.
    A chilly dawn breeze swept through the bare trees. The bells of a Frog Creek church began to chime. Jack and Annie took off running for home.

More Facts About Venice
    Venice has been called a “timeless city,” as well as a city “frozen in time.” This is because so much of the city and its traditions has been preserved through time.
    The festival of Carnival goes back over a thousand years in Venice, but it was most popular during the 1700s.
    Gondolas have glided along the waterways of Venice for over a thousand years. In the 1700s, there were about 14,000 on the canals. Today there are around 400.
    Saint Mark the Apostle is the patron saint of Venice. According to legend, the saint’s