Chapter 8: The Hall of Mirrors

Wolfie took off running toward the palace. "The whole world, I don't think so," said Lincoln to his 10 sisters. His sisters smiled. "Come on, let's go back inside," said Lynn.

Lincoln and his 10 sisters 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?" asked Nan. "I was in the garden!" said Wolfie. "Oh, Nan, the most amazing thing-" he said. "Not now, Wolfie, we don't have time," said Nan. She brushed off his jacket and straightened his wig.

"I love music, Nan!" said Wolfie. Lincoln and his sisters made me love music again!" he said, pointing at Lincoln and his 10 sisters. "I'm glad, good, come now," said Nan. "We have to hurry to the Hall of Mirrors!" she said. "Papa's there waiting for us!" said Nan. Nan pulled Wolfie toward the door. "Lincoln and your 10 sisters, come with us!" Wolfie yelled over his shoulder. "In a minute, we'll be right there!" said Lori.

As Wolfie and Nan went inside, Lincoln's sisters tried to smooth their clothes. The laces on their dresses ripped. The bottoms of their dresses were dirty. Their bows had become untied. The hoops of their dresses were bent. "We're a mess," they said to Lincoln. "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," said Lincoln. "What about Wolfie?" asked Lola. "Forget it, we don't have time to hang out with Wolfie," said Lincoln. "But we told him we'd come," said Luan. "We can't spend our whole lives chasing after Wolfie!" said Lincoln. "Because of him, we've already used up our only chance to make magic and we haven't even started on our mission yet!" he said. "Okay, okay," said his sisters. "But we should least say like goodbye to him and Nan," said Leni. Lucy sighed. "Okay, a quick good-bye," he said.

Lincoln and his 10 sisters walked across the terrace and stepped into the palace. "Excuse me," Lori said to a servant. "Where is the Hall of Mirrors?" she asked. 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," said the servant. "Thanks," said Lincoln and his 10 sisters.

Lincoln and his sisters 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.

Lincoln wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But Wolfie saw them and called out, "Lincoln and your 10 sisters, come in!" Lincoln started to slip away. But his sisters pushed the door open and stepped inside. Oh, brother, thought Lincoln, following her.

"Watch me!" cried Wolfie. Then Wolfie shot away from his family and hopped in front of the crowd. Oh, no! thought Lincoln. What's he doing? he thought. Why doesn't someone grab him? thought Lincoln.

Wolfie faced the audience. He placed his hand over his heart and bowed. Then he swept back his coattails and climbed up on a bench in front of an odd-looking piano. His short legs didn't even reach the floor.

Wolfie closed his eyes and bowed his head close to the keyboard. With just one finger he began tapping out some musical notes.

Why's everyone watching this little kid pretending to play the piano? Lincoln wondered. Then he realized something amazing: the simple tune Wolfie was picking out on the keyboard was the same tune the magic flute had played in the garden.

Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath as Wolfie played. He went from tapping with one finger to tapping with two fingers and then three. As Wolfie kept tapping out notes, he didn't look like a silly six-year-old anymore. The expression on his face was thoughtful and dreamy. Suddenly Wolfie was playing with all his fingers. His small hands flew over the black and white keys as he added to the tune of the magic flute.

Lincoln was stunned. He couldn't believe a little kid could make such beautiful music. "Like, this music is beautiful," whispered Leni. "It totally is great," whispered Lori. "It's totally rocking," whispered Luna. "It makes me want to have a tea party," whispered Lola. The sounds from the piano were sometimes light and playful, and at other times heavy and forceful. The slow parts of Wolfie's music made Lily want to close her eyes. The lively parts made her want to bounce up and down.

Wolfie ended his concert with a great flourish. Then he stood up and bowed. The guests jumped to their feet, smiling and laughing, clapping and yelling, "Bravo, bravo!" Wolfie kept bowing. The clapping and cheering would die down, but then it would start up again. As long as people clapped, Wolfie bowed. Finally, Wolfie's father stepped up to the piano. Then Wolfie seemed to turn into a little kid again.

"Papa!" he said as he grabbed his father and buried his face in his father's coat. Wolfie's dad had tears on his cheeks as he hugged his son.

All the guests talked excitedly about the performance they'd just seen: "I couldn't believe my ears!" they said. "I couldn't believe my eyes!" they said. "How did he do it?" they said. "He is so young and small!" they said.

As the party guests kept praising Wolfie, Nan walked over to Lincoln and his 10 sisters. "Thank you for bringing Wolfie back for his concert," she said. "Has he been playing a long time?" asked Lisa. "Papa has been teaching him since he was three," said Nan. "And now Wolfie is even starting to write his own music," she said. "He tells Papa he hears tunes in his head-like the tune he played tonight," said Nan. "I have never heard that one before," said Nan.

Lincoln's sisters smiled at Lincoln, and he smiled back at them. "Cool," said Lucy.

A hush fell over the crowd. Her Imperial Majesty had stepped forward. She took Wolfie's hands in hers. "Thank you for your brilliant performance, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart," she said.

As the crowd clapped wildly again, Lisa looked at her brother and her sisters. "Mozart!" she said.

Lincoln and his sisters were confused. Mozart? They knew the name, Mozart. Their sister, Lisa loved the music of Mozart. Their parents loved it, too. In fact, their parents had taken Lisa to hear a concert of Mozart's music. Lisa couldn't believe that this strange little kid was the world-famous Mozart.

The applause stopped as Her Imperial Majesty spoke to the crowd. "We have witnessed a great event here tonight," she said. "I know we will all remember it in the years to come when our young Wolfgang Mozart brings joy to all the world with his music," said Her Imperial Majesty.

"Oh, man," whispered Lincoln. He looked at his sisters. "Did you hear that?" he asked. His sisters smiled at him and nodded.

"Thank you again for your help," Nan said to them. She started to leave, then turned back. "Oh, I asked Papa your question about the artists living here," she said. "He said he was talking about another palace in Vienna, I'm sorry," said Nan. "That's ok," said Lynn. "No problem," said Nan.

As Nan headed for Wolfie and her father, Lincoln's sisters looked at Lincoln. "We found our great artist," said Lola. "He was with us all along," said Lana.