Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve - Mary Pope Osborne [13]
The Raven King had vanished. His cape lay on the floor. Rok hopped away, unharmed.
From under the feathered cape came a hoarse cry. Awk.
Annie lifted the cape and uncovered a tiny raven. “Ohh!” she said softly.
The bird stretched out his scrawny neck. Awk, he croaked again.
“Hello yourself,” Annie said, smiling. She stroked the downy feathers on the creature’s head. Then she looked up at Jack. “How did you come up with that rhyme?”
“It just came to me,” said Jack.
“I knew I had to save Rok. But I didn’t want to hurt the Raven King. I think I actually felt sorry for him.”
“So you helped him finally get what he wanted,” said Annie. “You turned him into a baby raven.”
“Yeah,” Jack said. “Now he can live his whole life as a bird.”
Rok flew up to the window ledge. He looked around at the other ravens. It was clear he had become their new leader.
“GRO! GRO!” Rok croaked.
He stepped aside. The raven troops began to leave the nursery, one by one. Two of them escorted the new member of their flock as he timidly flapped his small wings.
Rok was the last to leave. He stared at Annie and Jack with a long gaze. Then he lifted off the window ledge and flew away into the light of the silver dawn.
Queek.
A little croak came from the cage on the floor.
“Teddy!” cried Annie.
“We almost forgot you!” said Jack.
Queek, Teddy croaked again.
“Let me change him back,” Annie said to Jack.
“Okay, but let me get out of the way first,” said Jack. He handed Annie the hazel twig. Then he quickly stepped over to the window.
Annie moved closer to Teddy’s cage. She closed her eyes and thought for a moment. Then she waved the wand over the cage and said:
“O hazel twig from hazel tree!
Make him Teddy! Set him free!”
There was a mighty roar, a blast of heat, and a blaze of light! Then the cage was gone, and Teddy was a boy again, sitting on the floor.
“Yay!” said Annie.
“Nicely done,” said Teddy. “Thanks.”
“Welcome back!” said Jack. He and Annie helped Teddy stand up.
Teddy shook his arms and legs. “Ahhh! ’Tis good to be human again!” he said. “And now we must help the duke’s family. Where’s the diamond?”
“We lost it!” said Annie.
“Yeah, I had it in my beak,” said Jack. “But I must have dropped it when Annie changed us back into ourselves.”
“Don’t worry,” said Teddy, “it must be here somewhere.”
The three of them got on their hands and knees and started crawling around the floor of the nursery. There was no sign of the diamond. Suddenly Jack heard Teddy gasp.
“Oh, my,” Teddy whispered. “Look.” He was staring at the corner.
The Diamond of Destiny was rising from the basket of wool by the spinning wheel.
“The ghost girl must have hidden it when the Raven King came!” whispered Annie.
The diamond moved slowly toward Jack and stopped in front of him. Jack held out his hand, and the diamond settled into his palm.
“Thank you,” Jack said to the ghost girl. “I’ll put it back in its place now.”
Carefully holding the diamond, Jack crossed the room. Annie pulled the tapestry aside, and Jack opened the golden door of the cabinet.
He looked one last time at the shining stone. “I really felt brave when I was carrying this diamond,” he said softly.
“Jack,” said Annie, “you were pretty brave just now without it.”
“Indeed you were,” said Teddy.
Jack smiled. He carefully put the Diamond of Destiny back in its place and closed the golden door. Then Annie covered the cabinet once more with the tapestry.
The air in the nursery grew warmer. A girl began to take shape beside Teddy. She wore a white nightgown. She had dark curly hair. She was about Teddy’s age.
At the chess table, two boys took shape, too. They looked 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 they were solid and rosy-cheeked.
At the same time, a large brown dog became visible by the door. He barked and ran to the girl.
“Oliver!” she cried. She hugged him. Then she looked at Jack, Annie, and Teddy. She gave them