A little croak came from the cage on the floor.
"Teddy!" cried Annie.
"We almost forgot you!" said Jack. Queek, Teddycroaked again.
"Let me change him back," Annie said to Jack.
"Okay, but let me get out of the way firsts 11 saidJack. He handed Annie the hazel twig. Then hequickly stepped over to the window.
Annie moved closer to Teddy's cage. She85closed her eyes and thought for a moment. Thenshe waved the wand over the cage and said:
"0 hazeltwig from hazel tree! Make him Teddy! Set himfree!"There was a mighty roar, a blast of heat, and ablaze of light! Then the cage was gone, and Teddywas a boy again, sitting on the floor. "Yay!" saidAnnie.
"Nicely done," said Teddy. "Thanks." "Welcomeback!" said Jack. He and Anniehelped Teddy stand up.
Teddy shook his arms and legs. "Ahhh! 'Tis good tobe human again!" he said. "And now we must helpthe duke's family. Where's the diamond?""We lost it!" said Annie.
"Yeah, I had it in my beak," said Jack. "But I musthave dropped it when Annie changed us back intoourselves.""Don't worry," said Teddy, "it must be heresomewhere."86The three of them got on their hands and knees andstarted crawling around the floor of the nursery.
There was no sign of the diamond. Suddenly Jackheard Teddy gasp.
"Oh, my," Teddy whispered. "Look." He was staringat the corner.
The Diamond of Destiny was rising from the basketof wool by the spinning wheel.
"The ghost girl must have hidden it when theRaven King came!" whispered Annie.
The diamond moved slowly toward Jack andstopped in front of him. Jack held out his hand, andthe diamond settled into his palm.
"Thank you," Jack said to the ghost girl. "I'll put itback in its place now."Carefully holding the diamond, Jack crossed theroom. Annie pulled the tapestry aside, and Jackopened the golden door of the cabinet.
He looked one last time at the shining stone. "Ireally felt brave when I was carrying this diamond,"he said softly.
87began to take shape beside Teddy. She wore a whitenightgown. She had dark curly hair. She was aboutTeddy's age.
At the chess table, two boys took shape, too. Theylooked just alike. They were twins about Annie's age.
At first the children were a bit pale and cloudy.
Slowly they grew more and more visible, until theywere solid and rosy-cheeked.
At the same time, a large brown dog became visibleby the door. He barked and ran to the girl.
"Oliver!" she cried. She hugged him. Then shelooked at Jack, Annie, and Teddy. She gave them abig smile. "Hello," she said.
"W" said Annie. "Are the three of you the onlypeople in this castle?""Oh, no, everyone else is here, too," the girl said,"but they were all asleep when the Raven King stolethe diamond. We were supposed to be asleep, too. Butsometimes we like to sneak out88of bedand play. We were playing hide and seek when Ifound the secret door behind the tapestry. I wanted tosee the diamond better so I put it on the windowledge to catch the moonlight. Then Tom and Harrystarted to play chess-"She pointed to the boys.
Gwendolyn started spinning," Said Tom, "and89Oliver went down to the great hall to look forscraps.""That's when the Raven King swooped down90to the window and stole the diamond, " saidGwendolyn. "Before we could even go tell our motherand father, we began to fade away.""Mother! Father!" said Tom, as if he'd justremembered their parents. "We must wake them,Gwendolyn!""I know," she said. "We shall go upstairs and wakethem at once. Since they were sleeping, I suspect theynever even knew they were invisible!"Gwendolyn took her brothers' hands, and the threeof them started out of the nursery. At the door, shelooked back at Jack, Annie, and Teddy. "Thank youfor helping us," she said, "whoever you are."The duke's children then slipped out of the nursery.
Oliver grabbed his bone and bounded after them.
Jack handed the hazel twig to Teddy. "Listen," Jacksaid. "I don't think this is something that kids shouldplay with-even91sorcerer kids. You'd better give it back to yourcousin.""Aye, perhaps that is a good plan," said Teddy. Hegrinned impishly as he slipped the twig back into hispocket. Then he gestured toward the door. "Shall we?"Jack and Annie nodded.
Teddy picked up his lantern and blew out thecandle. Then he led them all out of the castlenursery into the hallway. As they started down thestairs, servants rushed by.
"Ring the bells!" one said.
"Bring water for the duke and duchess!" saidanother.
"We're getting a late start today!" said a third.
Jack, Annie, and Teddy kept winding down thestairs, past the great hall, past the armor room, downto the entrance of the keep.
As they stepped into the courtyard, bright sunlightshone on the castle towers.
The92bells began to ring. Roosters crowed. Horsesneighed. Servants were making a big cooking fire.
Ablacksmith was pounding his anvil. A milkmaidwas hauling her pails.
"o AaIn the bright daylight, Jack, Annie, and93Teddy walked through the busy courtyard. Theypassed through the gatehouse and crossed thewooden bridge. When they got to the other side, theylooked back.
Archers now stood guard on top of the castle walls.
Teddy waved to them. Then he looked at Jack andAnnie. "Order has returned to the castle!" he said.
"Our mission is done!"Laughing, they ran through the patch of treestoward the small village. As they hurried along thedirt path past the cottages, they saw villagers in theirdoorways. They were all staring in the direction ofthe ringing castle bells.
Maggie, the old woman, grinned toothlessly at thethree of them. "The bells are ringing again," she saidin a creaky voice.
"Yes!" said Jack. "The boys and the girl and thehound are all back! There's nothing to be afraid ofanymore. The whole castle is alive and well!"Jack, Annie, and Teddy left the village and94headed for the woods. As they walked through thefallen leaves, sunlight filtered down through the treebranches.
Merlin's words echoed in Jack's mind: Youare about to entera tunnelof fear. Proceed onward with courage, and youwill comeout intothe light.
Jack looked around. The forest was bright with themost beautiful golden light he had ever seen. |