Amanda on the Danube: The Sounds of Music Read Free Page A

secure between her legs. Leaning their bodies to the left, the girls negotiated the corner by a church with a tall steeple.
    Amanda pointed to the water in the distance. “We’re almost there.”
    Just then another Segway came up beside them, almost running into Amanda.
    â€œHey, watch where you’re going!” yelled Amanda. She recognized the boy from the toy store.
    With a mischievous grin, he aimed his Segway at hers and got close enough to reach over and grab the violin case. Amanda knocked his hand away, keeping one hand tightly on the handlebar of her Segway. Leah appeared on the other side of the boy, leaned sharply to the right and almost pushed him over. He yelled something in a language they didn’t understand while he gained control of his machine and sped off.
    â€œWhat did he think he was doing, anyway?” asked Leah.
    Amanda shook her head and shrugged.
    They turned another corner and descended downhill to the port where
The Sound of Music
waited. The crew was about to pull up the gangway.
    â€œWait for us!” shouted Amanda.
    The girls left the Segways on the dock, as instructed, before they dashed up the gangway and onto the boat.
    Mr. Anderson waited at the entrance with a stern look. “You two almost missed the boat.”
    â€œSorry, Dad. We only just missed the bus. Amanda had this great idea to rent the Segways to get us here faster. They were totally brill.”
    â€œHow will you return them?”
    â€œThe guy said he would come to fetch them. No worries.”
    Leah’s dad shook his head in disbelief. “Go freshen up and meet us up on top.”
    Once in their room, Amanda placed the violin in the bottom drawer of the dresser, underneath her socks and underwear. She hoped no one would find it there.
    Before dinner, the passengers stood on the open-top deck to watch the boat depart from the city of Nuremberg and enter the Danube River.
    Amanda looked down into the grey-green water and exclaimed, “This water is not blue at all!”
    Everyone around her laughed.
    An elderly German gentleman with a big belly and a bushy, white beard chuckled. “Maybe it once was, I don’t know. So many visitors think the river should be blue like in the song made famous by Johann Strauss II.” His hearty laugh and white beard made Amanda think of Santa. All he needed was a red suit and a large bag of toys on his back.
    â€œAmanda, are you listening?” her dad asked. “Do you want to go to the presentation in the lounge? It’s all about the locks we will be going through.”
    â€œWhat do you think, Leah? Should we go?”
    Leah shrugged. “I guess we can check it out.”
    Michael conducted the presentation and seemed to know a lot about the topic. “A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches ofwater of different levels on rivers and canals,” he explained. “Locks are used to make a river easier to navigate and uses the river’s own water to raise and lower the boats.”
    Michael looked directly at Leah and Amanda. “Did you know water could do that?”
    He switched to another slide and continued, “We will pass through many locks on the Danube. Here is a map of where all the locks are located.”
    Leah yawned and texted on her cell phone. She leaned over to Amanda and whispered, “This is totally boring. Let’s leave.”
    Amanda nodded. “I think I know everything I need to know about locks. Let’s go.”
    They discreetly left the lounge and went back to the deck on top of the boat. Not many people were there anymore. The jolly old man with the white beard stood looking over the railing. He broke into a huge smile when he noticed the girls.
    â€œSo, how do you like our not-so-blue Danube River?”
    â€œIt’s awesome,” said Amanda.
    â€œIt’s lovely,” said Leah.
    He reached out his chubby hand. “I’m