"Merlin! Morgan!" shouted Annie.
Teddy and Kathleen cried out in amazement.
Annie rushed to Morgan and hugged her.
Jack was filled with giddy relief. "Hi!" he said. "Hi!""Welcome back, sir!" Teddy said to Merlin.
"Thank you," said Merlin. He looked at Jack andAnnie. "And thank you for turning us back intoourselves.""We didn't know you and Morgan were thewolves!" Annie said.
103"We were following you so we could help you,"said Morgan.
"The wizard told us that if you caught up with us,you would eat us!" said Jack.
"Really?" said Morgan.
They all looked at the Ice Wizard. Standing with hissister, he stared guiltily at Morgan and Merlin.
"I feared that if they got close to you, they mightdiscover who you were," he said. "But I will do nomore harm, I promise--for I can see clearly now." Thewizard looked back at his sister, and his blue eyesshined with joy.
"You can see because you have your heart back,"said Morgan. "It was not only your eye that wasmissing--it was also your heart. We see with ourhearts as well as our eyes.""And now perhaps you can find the wisdom youwere seeking from the Norns," said Merlin, "forwisdom is knowledge learned with the heart as wellas the head."104The Ice Wizard nodded. "Please find it in yourhearts to forgive me," he said. "Use my sleigh to takeyou safely home.""Yes, indeed, we must leave now," said Morgan.
"We have been gone from Camelot too long.""The next time you come to Camelot, my friend,you must come as a guest," said Merlin, "not as a thiefin the night.""And you must bring your sister also," Morgan saidto the wizard.
"Indeed I will," the wizard said.
Merlin looked at Jack, Annie, Teddy, and Kathleen.
"Is everyone ready to leave now?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," they all answered together.
Merlin looked at the Staff of Strength in Jack'shands.
"Oh! Sorry, I almost forgot," said Jack. He handedthe heavy staff to Merlin.
As soon as Merlin held the Staff of Strength, heseemed more powerful. "Let us be off!" he said briskly.
105Merlin and Morgan led the way out of the throneroom, their red cloaks billowing behind them. Teddyand Kathleen followed, and Jack and Annie hurriedafter them.
Just before they left the room, Jack and Annieglanced back at the Ice Wizard and his swan sister.
They were deep in conversation again.
"They haven't seen each other for years," saidAnnie. "They must have a lot to talk about.""Yeah," said Jack. He couldn't imagine not seeingAnnie for years. "Come on, let's go." He took herhand and pulled her out of the throne room, throughthe front hall, and into the cold dawn.
Jack and Annie followed their four Camelot friendsto the wizard's sleigh. Everyone climbed in.
Annie sat at the rudder. Jack stood at the front. Hepulled out the wind-string and untied a knot. Thesleigh rocked forward. He untied106another, and the sleigh started moving very slowly.
The sleigh was heavier than before, so Jack quicklyuntied two more knots. The sleigh bolted across thesnow.
"Stand fast!" said Teddy.
As the sleigh swished through the dawn, Annieturned to Morgan and Merlin. "I have a question," shesaid. "Can you tell us what the giant looks like--theFrost Giant?"Merlin smiled. "There is no Frost Giant," he said.
"What?" said Kathleen and Teddy.
"Sure there is," said Annie. "We heard hisbreathing!""He nearly froze us to death!" said Jack.
"At night, the wind often swirls through theHollow Hill like a cyclone," said Merlin. "Youexperienced one of those storms.""But what about the Norns' story of giving thewizard's eye to the Frost Giant as a gift?" said Jack.
"Many ancient peoples believe that the forces107of nature are actual giants or monsters," saidMorgan. "The Norns are the last of their kind. Theyhold to the idea that the Frost Giant is a livingcreature who haunts the Hollow Hill. In truth, theFrost Giant never accepted their gift because there isno Frost Giant."Jack shook his head. "We believed what the Nornsbelieved. They told us we'd freeze to death if welooked directly at the Frost Giant.""And we believed what the wizard told us, too,"said Annie, "that the wolves would eat us if theycaught up to us!""People often try to convince us that the world isscarier than it truly is," said Morgan.
Right now the world didn't seem at all scary toJack. Everything was calm and bright. Soft, rose-colored light was breaking through the morningclouds.
"Today is the first day after the winter solstice,"said Morgan. "Today the light starts to return. Thedays will grow longer."108[ILLUSTRATION: A building on top of amountain.]
109Jack turned to look at the sun. He caught sight ofthe tree house sitting on top of a snowdrift, not faraway.
Jack tied a knot in the wind-string. He tied threemore, and the sleigh came to a stop at the loot of thesnowdrift.
110Merlin looked at them. "On the winter solstice, youshowed great courage," he said. "You endured stormsand terror and extraordinary cold. You reunited theIce Wizard and the swan maiden. And perhaps mostimportant, you retrieved my Staff of Strength. I thankyou.""Sure," Jack and Annie said modestly.
"You have done much for the kingdom of Cameloton your last four missions," said Merlin. "On yournext adventure, you will have a mission back in yourworld--in real time, not in the time of myth andmagicians.""We will call for you again soon," said Morgan.
"Great!" said Annie.
Jack and Annie climbed out of the sleigh. Theylooked back at Teddy and Kathleen. "I hope you willhelp us with our next journey, too," said Annie.
Teddy smiled. "If we all work together, we can doanything, aye?" he said.
"Aye!" said Jack and Annie together. Then theyturned and trudged up the snowdrift. At111the top, they climbed into the window of the treehouse. Once they were inside, they looked back.
The sleigh was gone.
"Bye," Annie said softly.
Jack picked up the small gray stone from the floor.
He pointed at the words Frog Creek in the wizard'smessage. "I wish we could go there," he said.
The wind started to blow.
It blew harder and harder.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
Jack opened his eyes. They were back in the FrogCreek woods. No time at all had passed while they'dbeen gone. It was almost twilight. Snowflakes fell liketiny feathers outside the tree house window.
Annie shivered. "I'm cold," she said.
"Here--take my scarf," said Jack. He pulled off hisscarf.
112"No, you need it," said Annie.
"No, take it. I'll be okay." Jack put his scarf aroundAnnie's neck. "What will you tell Mom when she asksabout your scarf?" he asked.
"I'll just tell her the Sisters of Fate took it aspayment for telling us how to find the eye of the IceWizard in a hole in the Hollow Hill," said Annie.
"Right," said Jack, laughing.
"We'd better get home before dark," said Annie. Shestarted down the rope ladder. Jack followed her.
As they stepped onto the ground, Jack rememberedthe wind-string. "We forgot to give this back," he said.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the string.
"I guess Merlin's magic took the sleigh back toCamelot."Jack and Annie looked at the string for a moment.
"Untie a knot," Annie whispered.
Jack took off his gloves and untied a knot. He heldhis breath and waited. Nothing happened. He gaveAnnie a little smile. "I guess in our113world, it's just a piece of string," he said.
Jack put the string back in his pocket. He and Anniestarted walking over the snowy-ground between thetrees. As they walked, Jack looked for Teddy's andKathleen's footprints. But they were completely gone.
Jack and Annie moved out of the woods and downtheir street. They saw Christmas tree lights sparklingin people's houses and candles shining in windows.
Their boots squeaked as they crossed their snow-covered yard. When they got to the stairs of theporch, Jack stopped. He stared in astonishment.
Annie's red woolen scarf was draped over therailing of the porch.
"I don't believe it!" said Jack.
"I do!" said Annie.
They hurried up the stairs and Annie grabbed herscarf. "Look!" she said.
She held up the scarf to show Jack. There114was a tiny picture woven into it: a picture of himand Annie and two white wolves.
Jack was speechless.
115"Cool, huh?" said Annie. She gave Jack back hisscarf. Then she tied her scarf around her neck. Shetucked the part with the picture under her jacketcollar.
116The front door opened. A delicious smell wafted outfrom the house.
"Hi!" said their mom. "The cookies are ready. Comeinside and get warm!" |