《神奇树屋》 第三十八册 Monday with a Mad Genius 08 Wings!

　　Annie held up the wand. "Close your eyes,Leonardo," she said.



Leonardo just shook his head.



"Please?" said Annie. "Just for a second?" Leonardoput his head in his hands.



"Listen," said Annie. "This morning you said that agreat artist has to combine observation withimagination."Leonardo barely nodded.



"Well, watch out-becausethisis the imagination part!" said Annie. She waved thewand at91Leonardo, then at herself and Jack 1. Counting herwords on her fingers, she said in a loud, clear voice:



"Make. Us. Fly. Like. Birds."Leonardo's arms whipped out to his sides. Theysprouted long grayish feathers. He let out a yelp 2. Thenext thing Jack knew,hisarms had turned into feathery wings, too! So hadAnnie's!



"What's happening?" cried Leonardo.



"Wings!" said Annie.



Jack's wings felt light and airy, yet strong andpowerful.



"Now we can fly!" said Annie.



"Wings?" said Leonardo, looking stunned 3. Then heburst out laughing. "We have wings! We have wings!



Run! Run into the wind!"Jack, Annie, and Leonardo all stretched out theirwings and took quick steps forward. The wind rushedunder their feathers and lifted them off the ground.



"WHOOOAH!" cried Leonardo.



Leonardo, Jack, and Annie flapped their92wings and soared high into the sky. Then theycaught a gentle wind and stopped flapping. Twistingthis way and that, they glided 4 in a big circle abovethe countryside.



Jack felt as light as the wind. His heart beat wildly.



"Incredible, huh?" yelled Annie.



"Best flying ever!" shouted Jack.



Jack and Annie had flown lots before. They'd flownon a dragon, on a bicycle, on a winged lion, on amagic carpet, and on the back of a white stag inCamelot. They'd even flown as ravens 5 over a hauntedcastle. But this was the first time they'd ever flown ontheir own, just as themselves.



"Follow me!" cried Leonardo. He tilted 6 his wingsand flew out of the circle. Jack and Annie flew afterhim. They all swooped 7 high up over the quiet hillsand glided through low clouds.



The cool, wet mist blew against Jack's face. He feltas if he were swimming through the sky, as if theclouds were water keeping him afloat.



93Laughing and whooping 8 with delight, Leonardo ledJack and Annie out of the clouds and down over theyellow meadows and the pale green olive -groves 9.



"Helloooo!" Leonardo shouted to farmers plowing 10 a field. Butthe farmers didn't look up.



"Helloooo!" he called to grape pickers working in a vineyard,but they didn't look up, either.



No one on the ground looked up, but all the birds inthe sky seemed to take notice. Birds cawed andswooped near them, as if welcoming them to theirworld. Birds flew alongside them and spread out infront of them, leading them over the city walls ofFlorence.



Jack, Annie, and Leonardo circled with the birdsover the sea of red-tiled roofs, over the great dome 11 ofthe cathedral, and over the bell tower of the palace ofthe great council.



"Florence looks so neat and orderly from up here!"Leonardo cried to Jack and Annie. "I wish I had mysketchbook!"94[picture]



96The citydidlook orderly from the sky, thought Jack: the busymarket with its rows of stalls and tents, the narrowlanes with the brightly colored clothes waving fromclotheslines, the long covered bridge, the winding,sparkling river.



Jack, Annie, and Leonardo soared with the birdsback over the city walls out to the countryside. Theyglided over the olive groves and vineyards. Then theycircled above the spot where Leonardo's Great Birdlay broken in the grass.



The birds swooped up and vanished behind theclouds. Leonardo, Jack, and Annie glided downtoward the ground. They opened their wings wideand then, gently and easily, their feet touched thegrass. Their wings fluttered with tiny beats, and thethree of them took quick hopping 12 steps before comingto a full stop.



When Jack, Annie, and Leonardo were steady97on their feet, their long feathers disappeared andtheir bird wings became arms again. Leonardo lookeddazed. He stared up at the sky. Then he staggered afew steps and fell facedown into the grass.



"Leonardo?" said Annie.



Oh, no, thought Jack.



He's had a heart attack.



"Leonardo?" said Annie. She knelt down near him.



Leonardo rolled over and stared up at Jack andAnnie. "What ...what just happened?" he stammered 13.



"Did we fly? Did we really fly? Or was it a dream?""Uh ...well..." Jack didn't know what to say. Toexplain the wand to Leonardo, they'd have to startway back at the very beginning-with the tree house,Morgan, Merlin, Teddy, Kathleen, Dianthus. It wouldtake forever.



"Well," said Annie. "One day a long time ago, wewere playing in the woods and we saw-""Annie-" Jack shook his head.



98Annie frowned. "I guess it can't really beexplained," she said.



Leonardo looked up at the sky. "No, no," he said. "Ithink you are right. Perhaps some things shouldremain mysteries and are better kept in our hearts.



We should not try to explain them."That's an amazing statement, Jack thought,from a person who always tries to explaineverything.



"But if Ihadto explain it, I would explain it this way," saidLeonardo. He leapt to his feet. "For years, I wrotedown all my observations of bird flight. I madehundreds of drawings. These things helped me buildmy flying machine. But in the end, something wasmissing-something very important.""What?" asked Annie.



"Thespiritof a bird!" said Leonardo. "A bird is not just amachine. A bird has a spirit. And with the two of you,I somehow gained that spirit. If only for a short timeand if only in99my imagination, we all became more bird thanhuman!""And did the spirit of the bird mend your heart?"Annie asked.



Leonardo smiled. "Yes, my heart is mended now. Iam ready to leave this dream behind and move on toothers. And it does not matter that the world willnever know of my great triumph.""So maybe fame isn't the secret of happiness?" saidJack.



"Absolutely not," said Leonardo. "I know that now.



We must do what we do to satisfy our own hearts.



For instance, I am working on a painting now. I loveit. I do not care if others ever see it.... Oh! Oh, no!



What time is it?" He jerked his head around to look atthe sun. "I must go! I will be late!""Late for what?" said Annie.



"To meet my model at the studio!" said Leonardo.



"The woman I am painting in the portrait I was justtalking about! We must return!"100Jack, Annie, and Leonardo hurried back to the cartand climbed in. Leonardo snapped the reins 14, and thewhite horse started clopping back toward Florence.