The Mystery of the Mosaic CHAPTER 1 The Floating City Ella Briar and her twin brother, Ethan, had never been to Venice, Italy, before. They'd never been to a floating city, either! Venice was made up of a bunch of tiny islands connected by canals and bridges. The canals were like streets, except filled with water. So some people were using boats to get around, and others were walking over the bridges from one little street to another! The Briar family had traveled by water taxi from the airport. The sleek motorboat pulled up to a cream-colored building with lots of balconies. "Here's our hotel!" the twins' mother, Josephine Briar, said brightly. Their dad, Andrew, pushed his glasses up on his nose and pointed to his guidebook. "It says here that the Pensione Mistero is one of the oldest hotels in Venice." "Is it older than you guys?" Ella asked with a sneaky smile. Mr. Briar laughed. "I should hope so. It was built more than eight hundred years ago." The four of them stepped out of the boat with their suitcases. Pink, yellow, and pale green buildings lined both sides of the canal. Pretty flowers and vines filled the window boxes. There were no cars or bicycles on the cobblestone streets, only people walking. Excerpted from The Mystery of the Mosaic by Harper Paris All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
