The young Lorenzo gave Leo a bag of coins.
Mandy and Vinnie ate their cake politely.
"Leo, take this to Master Verrocchio," Lorenzo said.
"And come back tomorrow.
I hear you are a genius with machines.
I want you to do something for me."
As they left the Medici Palace, Mandy was excited.
"He's going to be a great ruler!" she blurted out.
"He's only seventeen,"
said Leo, staring curiously at her.
But Mandy had learned about Lorenzo in school.
Under his rule, Florence became the most important city of the time.
"If I were you, I would take his offer," she said to Leo.
He laughed and replied, "Are you a fortune teller?
Can you tell the future?"
Vinnie squeezed Mandy's arm.
"Hey, don't say any more," he whispered.
"I want to show you something," Leo said.
He took them to a huge dome-shaped building.
"Isn't it beautiful?"
The building was a large cathedral.
The marble panels outside were light green and pink.
The huge dome was made of red brick.
A tall bell tower rose beside it.
"I come here every day to sketch,"
Leo said, showing them his drawings.
"What are these machines?" asked Vinnie.
He expected to see drawings of the cathedral, but the pages were filled with machines.
One sketch showed a large wooden wheel.
Another sketch was of a crane.
"Machines built this cathedral," Leo replied.
"To me machines are more fascinating than the buildings they make."
Again Vinnie and Mandy were amazed at his talent.
"Come inside," said Leo.
"There are beautiful paintings and stained glass."
As they followed Leo inside, Mandy whispered,
"There's something special about Leo."
"He's just a kid with talent," said Vinnie.
"I don't think so, Vinnie," Mandy said.
She stopped and looked around.
"Vinnie! I think we're close to the end of our journey."
They could see beautiful stained-glass windows.
Tall arches curved above them.
"I think this is the place in the photo," Mandy whispered.
"Come look," Leo called.
He sat, opened his notebook, and began to draw with his left hand.
Mandy watched him sketch and said,
"You're so talented!"
"Even for a lefty?" Leo grinned.
"Who cares if you are left-handed?" asked Vinnie.
"Many people think left-handed people are weird," replied Leo.
"But it doesn't bother me."
He got up, leaving his notebook open on the floor.
"I want to see some paintings in the dome,"
he said and walked off.
Mandy leaned over the open notebook and tried to read the writing.
"I can't tell what it says," she said.
"The writing is so strange!"