Christmas in Camelot (8 page)

“What do we do now?” said Jack.

“Let's try putting a drop of water on each of them! Morgan first!” said Annie.

“Okay,” said Jack. “Come on.”

Holding his breath and keeping his eyes on the cup, Jack walked carefully toward the
Round Table. Suddenly, his left foot stepped on the shoelace of his right sneaker—and he stumbled.

“Jack!” yelled Annie.

Jack tried to regain his balance, but it was too late! As he fell to the floor, the silver cup slipped from his hands.

J
ack and Annie watched in horror as the water from the cup splashed over the stone floor. It trickled into the cracks between the stones and disappeared.

Jack scrambled to the cup. He picked it up. It was completely empty.

“Oh, no,” Jack moaned. He sat back and put his head in his hands.
Camelot will never wake up now,
he thought.
The legend will end forever.

“Jack!” said Annie. “Look!”

Jack raised his head. He pushed his glasses
into place. A golden cloud was rising from the cracks between all the stones of the floor.

The cloud spread quickly throughout the great hall, filling the room with wonderful smells—the scent of cedar smoke and evergreen, of roses and almonds.

The cloud rose up and up, then wafted out through the upper windows of the hall. Suddenly, a white dove flew through one of the windows. It soared across the dark room like a bright light, then swooped back out into the night.

Soft, gentle laughter came from the end of the hall. The laughter grew louder. Jack saw King Arthur and Queen Guinevere looking at one another—they were laughing! The Knights of the Round Table were laughing, too!

Best of all, Jack saw Morgan le Fay smiling at him and Annie!

“Jack! Annie! Come here!” she called. She held out her arms.

“Morgan!” cried Annie. She ran to Morgan and threw her arms around the enchantress. Jack stood up. Still holding the empty cup, he ran to Morgan and hugged her, too.

“We did what the Christmas Knight told us to do!” said Annie. “We brought back the Water of Memory and Imagination!”

“But I dropped the cup,” said Jack, “and spilled all the water!”

“But the water made a gold cloud,” said Annie. “And everyone came back to life!”

Morgan laughed with amazement.

“You have just returned from the Otherworld?” she asked.

“Yes!” said Annie.

“A white stag brought us back!” said Jack. He turned to King Arthur.

“Your Majesty,” he said, “we have good news. Your knights are safe. Sir Lancelot said to tell you they'll be home before the first night of the New Year.”

The king looked bewildered. “You found them—?”

“Yes, and they're all fine,” said Annie.

“Here—” said Jack. He handed the silver cup to the king. “Please give this back to Sir Galahad.”

“And this to Sir Lancelot,” said Annie. She took the glass key from around her neck and gave it to King Arthur.

“Oh, and this to Sir Percival,” said Jack. He pulled the wooden compass box from his pack and gave it to the king.

At first, King Arthur was too stunned to speak. Then he clapped his hands and laughed joyfully.

“Thank you!” he said to Jack and Annie.

The Knights of the Round Table all cheered.

“Ring the bells!” King Arthur shouted. “Call the people of Camelot to the castle!”

“They have already gathered outside the doors, Your Majesty,” said a page.

“Bring them in!” said King Arthur. “We must rejoice together!”

Queen Guinevere smiled at Jack and Annie. Her eyes sparkled now. “Once again, you have helped save Camelot,” she said. “Thank you very much.”

“You're welcome,” said Jack and Annie together.

Then Jack heard the sounds of children talking and laughing. He turned to see a crowd of people streaming through the arched doorway of the great hall. They carried candles, a giant fir tree, and boughs of holly and pine. Musicians followed them with stringed instruments.

As everyone started to decorate the hall, the musicians began playing and singing a beautiful Christmas carol.

“Jack!” said Annie. “Look!”

The white stag was standing in the arched doorway.

Jack turned excitedly to Morgan. “See that
white stag?” he said. “He took us to the Otherworld! See him?”

Morgan smiled.

“Yes, I
do
see him,” she said. “And now I see
everything
.”

Jack looked back at the doorway. The stag was gone. In his place stood an old man with a long white beard. He held a staff and wore a flowing red cloak—the same cloak Jack and Annie had worn on their quest.

“Who's that?” Jack asked.

“That is Merlin the magician,” said Morgan. “It was
Merlin
who invited you here. I see that now.”

“Merlin?” said Jack. “
He
sent us the Royal Invitation?”

“Yes,” said Morgan. “Then he put the rest of us under a spell. And he carried you to the Otherworld.”

“No,” said Annie, “the
Christmas Knight
put you under a spell.”

“And the
white stag
carried us to the Otherworld,” said Jack.

Morgan smiled.

“Merlin was both the Christmas Knight and the white stag,” she said. “Remember, he's a magician, not a mortal. He can change his shape whenever he wishes.”

“Oh, wow,” whispered Annie.

“Why did Merlin do these things?” asked Jack.

“Merlin was angry when King Arthur banished magic from Camelot,” said Morgan. “I see now he finally took matters into his own hands.”

“How?” said Jack.

“He knew King Arthur would send no more knights to the Otherworld for the Water of Memory and Imagination,” said Morgan. “So I assume he brought you to Camelot hoping that you would offer to go instead.”

“Why did he want
us
to go?” asked Annie.

“Merlin has often heard my tales of your adventures in the tree house,” said Morgan. “He knows you both have a great desire to fight for the good. And he knows you use the gift of imagination very well. Those are two special qualities needed to succeed in
any
quest.”

Jack and Annie looked back at Merlin. From far across the room, the white-bearded magician smiled at them. He raised his staff. Then he slipped out the door.

Jack looked around the great hall. All the
candles and torches were lit now. A fire blazed in the hearth. The musicians were playing. Everyone was singing. The room glowed with warm firelight and rosy faces.

At last, Christmas in Camelot was just as Jack had imagined it would be. The spell of the Dark Wizard had been broken. The great hall was filled with beauty and love and joy and light.

“W
ake up, Jack,” said Annie.

Jack opened his eyes.

He was lying in the dark on the wooden floor of the tree house. Through the window, he saw the cloudy sky above the Frog Creek woods.

“Time to go home,” said Annie.

“Oh, I must have fallen asleep,” said Jack. “I had the most incredible dream. I dreamed that we went to Camelot. It was Christmas, and Merlin—”

“That wasn't a dream,” said Annie. “It was
real. You fell asleep at the Round Table during the party. King Arthur carried you to the tree house. And I made the wish for us to come home.”

Jack sat up.

“Seriously?” he whispered.

“Seriously,” she said.

“Ja-ack! An-nie!” their mom called in the distance.

“Coming!” Annie shouted out the tree house window. She turned to Jack. “Let's go!”

“I mean—seriously? It
really
happened?” Jack asked Annie again.

“Yes! Really!” she said. She held up the Royal Invitation. “See? Proof.”

“Oh … yeah,” he whispered.

“This time, the letter
M
stood for Merlin, not Morgan,” said Annie.

Jack smiled.

“Thanks, Merlin,” he said softly.

Jack picked up his backpack. Then he and
Annie started down the rope ladder and headed home. As they walked through the deep December twilight, snowflakes started to fall.

By the time they left the woods and headed down their street, snow was swirling everywhere. Ahead they could see their house glowing with lamplight. Their mom was waiting on their front porch.

“Hi, Mom!” said Annie.

“Hi, Mom!” said Jack.

“Hi, kids. Did you have a good day?” she asked.

“Yeah,” said Jack.

“Pretty good,” said Annie.

“I'm glad,” said their mom. “Welcome home.” She held the door open, and Jack and Annie slipped inside.

Their house felt extra warm and cozy. Good smells came from the kitchen. Jack and Annie took off their snow-covered jackets, then headed up the stairs.

In the hallway, Annie turned to Jack. “Merry Christmas,” she said simply.

“Merry Christmas,” he said.

Annie slipped into her room, and Jack into his.

Jack closed his door and sat on his bed. He took his notebook out of his pack and opened it. His spirits sank. Except for the three rhymes, he'd taken no notes on their journey—not one.

Exhausted, Jack lay back on his bed. He squeezed his eyes shut. He tried to remember the details of their adventures in Camelot and the Otherworld.

He could feel the terrible chill in the great hall when Morgan was frozen. He could hear the joyful music as the winged dancers danced around in their circle. He could taste the sweet, bitter, spicy taste of the Water of Memory and Imagination.

Jack sat up. All at once, he felt very awake. He turned to a clean page in his notebook. He grabbed his pencil and wrote: