Jack and Teddy were speechless. They kept staringat Annie as she got down on her knees and talked tothe invisible dog.
"Hi, you," she said in a soft voice. "Are youhungry?"The bone dropped toward the floor. It flipped over,then rocked from side to side.
"See," Annie said to Jack and Teddy. "Now he'srolling on his back with his bone in his mouth. Poorthing.""Poor thing?" said Jack.
50"We have to help him," said Annie. She stood up.
"We have to help them, too-the girl and her brothers."She hurried across the room. Jack and Teddyfollowed. Annie stopped at the small spinning wheel.
"We can't see you," said Annie, "but we're notafraid of you. We want to help you. Can you hearme?"The spinning wheel stopped spinning.
"She can hear us!" Annie said to Jack andTeddy. Annie turned back to the ghost girl. "Whathappened to you and your brothers and your dog andeveryone else in the castle? How did you all becomeinvisible?"Jack felt a wave of cold air whoosh past him. "Ithink she's moving," said Annie.
"Aye," said Teddy, "to the looking glass. See?"An invisible finger had begun to write something inthe thick dust of the mirror. Four words slowlyappeared:
51"I can't believe it!" said Teddy. "This must be thesecret castle that guards the Diamond of Destiny!""What's that?" said Jack.
"A magic diamond that belongs to Merlin," saidTeddy. "It was set in the handle of the very swordKing Arthur pulled from the stone many years ago."52"Oh I know that story," said Annie. "That's howArthur became king!""Yes!" said Teddy. "And someday the Diamond ofDestiny will give the same strength and power to thenext rightful ruler of Camelot.""That's what Merlin must have meant when he saidthe future of Camelot depends on us," said Annie.
"Indeed, " said Teddy.
"Wait, wait, " said Jack. "I'm confused. What doesthe Diamond of Destiny have to do with invisiblekids and dogs?""After Arthur became king, Merlin gave thediamond to a noble family of Camelot," said Teddy.
"The name of the family was kept secret. As long asthe family kept the diamond safe, they would havegood fortune. But should they fail to protect it, theywould fade from life.""Oh! So the family let the diamond get stolen," saidAnnie. "And now they've all turned into ghosts!"53"Precisely," said Teddy.
"I wonder where the diamond was kept," said Jack.
"Good question," said Teddy. "Certainly somespecial hiding place, perhaps in one of the towers.""Guys, look!" said Annie. She pointed to the wallnear the mirror.
A long, heavy tapestry had been pulled aside toreveal a small door in the stone wall. The door wasslowly swinging open.
"The ghost girl!" said Annie. "She's showing us thediamond's secret hiding place!"The three of them hurried to the stone wall andlooked inside a tiny cabinet. The walls of the cabinetwere made of gold and ivory. But the cabinet wasempty.
Annie looked around. "Ghost girl?" she said. "Whostole the Diamond of Destiny from its hiding place?"Letters began to appear on the mirror again.
In the thick dust, the invisible finger wrote:
"Oh no!" whispered Teddy. "Please, no." Jack felt afresh wave of fear. "Oh-no-please no-what?" he said.
"Wait, " said Teddy, pointing at the mirror. Thefinger wrote one more word in the dust:
"Just as I feared, " said Teddy in a hushed voice.
"The Raven King!" |