Christmas in Camelot - Mary Pope Osborne [14]
The knights solemnly bowed.
The white stag blew out a puff of frosty air. Then he started down the mountainside.
When the stag came to the base of the mountain, he took off again like a white comet. The red cloak billowed around Jack and Annie, keeping them warm and safe.
The stag dashed across the wintry fields. He ran past quiet stables and thatched huts. He ran past flocks of sheep and herds of goats asleep in meadows. He leaped over frozen streams and stone walls and hedgerows.
The stag ran on and on through the starry night, until he brought Jack and Annie back to the dark castle grounds of Camelot.
He walked over the frozen grass of the outer courtyard. He came to a halt near the grove below the tree house. He knelt in the grass, and Jack and Annie climbed off his back.
Miraculously, the silver cup still brimmed with water from the cauldron. Not a drop had spilled out.
“We’d better leave the cloak here,” said Jack, “so I don’t trip on it.”
Jack carefully set the cup on the ground. Annie helped him unbutton the red velvet cloak from around his neck. Then she draped it over the stag’s back.
“To keep you warm and safe,” she whispered to him. “And thanks for everything.”
“Yeah, thanks,” said Jack. “Good-bye.”
The white stag stared at them with his mysterious amber eyes. He nodded once. Then he turned and headed into the darkness.
Jack picked up the cup. “Come on!” he said. He started walking quickly through the outer courtyard.
“Careful, careful!” said Annie.
“I got it, I got it,” said Jack.
They crossed the drawbridge to the inner courtyard of the castle. Then they pushed open the giant arched doors.
The great hall was just as they had left it—dimly lit and freezing cold. King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, the Knights of the Round Table, and Morgan le Fay were all still frozen and silent.
“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.
Jack 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.