T he sea serpent moved its head very close to Jackand Annie and hissed a long, whispery sssssssss.
The serpent's flicking tongue touched the sword fora moment. Jack's heart nearly stopped. But then theserpent slowly pulled back its head and began touncoil itself from around the rocky island.
The monster kept uncoiling its great body, untilonce again one wide ring surrounded the cove like acircle of green hills. Then the serpent's98head sank beneath the water with barely a ripple. Itwas impossible to tell where its body started andwhere it ended.
Jack and Annie lowered the Sword of Light and laidit back on the rock. Then they let out a huge sigh ofrelief and sat down next to the sword.
Kathleen and Teddy poked their seal heads up fromthe calm waters. Barrh! Barrh!they barked.
Jack and Annie laughed. "It's safe to come outnow!" Annie called.
The seals hauled themselves onto the rocky island.
Then they plopped on their sides.
"The sword helped us answer the ancient question,"said Jack.
They all looked at the Sword of Light. It glowedbrightly, even though the sun had slipped below thehorizon and the purple sky was fading into twilight.
99"We still have to get it out of here before it'scompletely dark," said Annie.
"I know," said Jack. "But how?""Look at Merlin's rhyme," said Annie.
Jack took the shell from his pocket. He read the lastline of Merlin's rhyme:
With rhyme and sword, your home is nearJack looked up. "That doesn't make sense," he said.
"Perhaps it does," said Teddy.
Jack and Annie turned around. Teddy and Kathleenwere standing behind them. Their seal skins hadsilently slipped off. They were human again.
"Perhaps it calls for a magical rhyme," said Teddy.
"And I ama magician, remember?"Annie laughed. "How could we forget?" she said.
Teddy grinned. "I have gotten much better at myrhymes," he said. "Just watch." He100rubbed his hands together. Then he carefully pickedup the Sword of Light. He gripped its handle withboth hands. He pointed the silver blade toward thetree house on the distant sea cliff.
Teddy took a deep breath. Then he shouted:
O Sword of Light, now light the night!
Teddy paused. Jack grew worried. Teddy alwayshad trouble finishing his rhymes. And even the oneshe did finish never worked the way they weresupposed to.
Kathleen stepped close to the young sorcerer. "Sayit again," she said softly.
Teddy called out again:
O Sword of Light, now light the night!
Kathleen finished the rhyme in selkie language:
Ma-ee-bree-stro-eh-brite!
The sword began to vibrate in Teddy's hands. Therewas a roar and a blast of white light. Shimmeringbeams shot through the dark. The101beams wiggled and waved, then streamed togetherto make a glittering bridge.
The bridge spanned the purple darkness of dusk. Itstretched from the rocky island in the middle of thecove to the sea cliff above the coast. When Teddylowered the sword, the bridge remained in the sky.
"Wow!" whispered Annie. She turned to Kathleen.
"What did you say to finish the rhyme?""Ma-ee-bree-stro-eh-brite," Kathleen told her.
"Make a bridge, strong and bright.""Yes, that is exactly what I was going to say," saidTeddy.
"Indeed," said Kathleen, smiling. She took Teddy'shand, then turned to Jack and Annie. "'Tis a brightbridge to take you from my world back to yours.""You mean--we can walk on it?" said Annie.
"Try it," said Teddy.
"Oh, man," said Jack. He laughed nervously. Thenhe raised his foot and put it down on the102[Image: The boys.]
light. It felt solid. He put his other foot on the lightand took a step forward. The light felt as firm as abrick pathway.
Annie stepped onto the light bridge beside Jack. Itwas wide enough for them to stand side by side. "Thisis so cool," she whispered104"Wait, do not forget this,"said Teddy. He carefullyhanded Jack and Annie the Sword of Light.
Together they gripped the handle of the sword.
"What about you guys?" asked Jack.
"I must return to my cave now," said Kathleen, "ormy sisters will begin to worry.""And I will see Kathleen back home," said Teddy,"then return to the future in Camelot.""After you stay for supper with me and my sisters,"Kathleen reminded Teddy.
"Oh ...," said Jack. He wanted to have supper withthe selkies, too. He wanted to spend more time withKathleen and Teddy, whatever they were doing.
"We'd better get going, Jack," said Annie. "It'salmost dark.""Okay," said Jack.
"Good-bye for now," Kathleen said to them. "Andthank you. 'Tis amazing how you defeated theenemy."105"The sea serpent wasn't really our enemy," saidJack.
"He was like the Spider Queen," said Annie. "Theyboth seemed really scary until we got to know them.""Yeah," said Jack.
"Will we see you again?" Annie asked Teddy andKathleen.
"Yes, I have a feeling you will see both of us againsoon," said the selkie,"We will find you when you least expect it," saidTeddy with a grin. "Now, my friends, you must go.
Night comes quickly upon you. Farewell.""Farewell," said Jack and Annie. They turned andstarted walking up the bright bridge. High above thewater, the sword's light swung over the cove like aswaying lantern. The water below shimmered withsparkling ripples.
Jack heard two splashes behind them. He stoppedand listened.
"Go, go, go," whispered Annie.
Jack started walking again. He and Annie climbedhigher and higher, until they came to the end of thebright pathway.
They stepped off the bridge onto the rocky sea cliffabove the coves. Clutching the handle of the sword,they looked back.
The shining bridge shattered into a million pieces ofgolden light. Like the sparks of a firecracker, theglittering pieces rained down through the sky. Thenthey quickly burned out.
The cove below was dark and silent--except for thedistant barking of seals. |