Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve - Mary Pope Osborne [14]
“Hi!” said Annie. “Are the three of you the only people in this castle?”
“Oh, no, everyone else is here, too,” the girl said, “but they were all asleep when the Raven King stole the diamond. We were supposed to be asleep, too. But sometimes we like to sneak out of bed and play. We were playing hide-and-seek when I found the secret door behind the tapestry. I wanted to see the diamond better, so I put it on the window ledge to catch the moonlight. Then Tom and Henry started to play chess—” She pointed to the boys.
“Gwendolyn started spinning,” said Tom. “And Oliver went down to the great hall to look for scraps.”
“That’s when the Raven King swooped down to the window and stole the diamond,” said Gwendolyn. “Before we could even go tell our mother and father, we began to fade away.”
“Mother! Father!” said Tom, as if he’d just remembered their parents. “We must wake them, Gwendolyn!”
“I know,” she said. “We shall go upstairs and wake them at once. Since they were sleeping, I suspect they never even knew they were invisible!”
Gwendolyn took her brothers’ hands, and the three of them started out of the nursery. At the door, she looked back at Jack, Annie, and Teddy. “Thank you for 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,” Jack said. “I don’t think this is something that kids should play with—even sorcerer kids. You’d better give it back to your cousin.”
“Aye, perhaps that is a good plan,” said Teddy. He grinned impishly as he slipped the twig back into his pocket. Then he gestured toward the door. “Shall we?”
Jack and Annie nodded.
Teddy picked up his lantern and blew out the candle. Then he led them all out of the castle nursery into the hallway. As they started down the stairs, servants rushed by.
“Ring the bells!” one said.
“Bring water for the duke and duchess!” said another.
“We’re getting a late start today!” said a third.
Jack, Annie, and Teddy kept winding down the stairs, past the great hall, past the armor room, down to the entrance of the keep.
As they stepped into the courtyard, bright sunlight shone on the castle towers. The bells began to ring. Roosters crowed. Horses neighed.
Servants were making a big cooking fire. A blacksmith was pounding his anvil. A milkmaid was hauling her pails.
In the bright daylight, Jack, Annie, and, Teddy walked through the busy courtyard. They passed through the gatehouse and crossed the wooden bridge. When they got to the other side, they looked back.
Archers now stood guard on top of the castle walls.
Teddy waved to them. Then he looked at Jack and Annie. “Order has returned to the castle!” he said. “Our mission is done!”
Laughing, they ran through the patch of trees toward the small village. As they hurried along the dirt path past the cottages, they saw villagers in their doorways. They were all staring in the direction of the ringing castle bells.
Maggie, the old woman, grinned toothlessly at the three of them. “The bells are ringing again,” she said in a creaky voice.
“Yes!” said Jack. “The boys and the girl and the hound are all back! There’s nothing to be afraid of anymore. The whole castle is alive and well!”
Jack, Annie, and Teddy left the village and headed for the woods. As they walked through the fallen leaves, sunlight filtered down through the tree branches.
Merlin’s words echoed in Jack’s mind: You are about to enter a tunnel of fear. Proceed onward with courage, and you will come out into the light.
Jack looked around. The forest was bright with the most beautiful golden light he had ever seen.
Jack, Annie, and Teddy crunched through fallen leaves until they came to Merlin’s oak. They found the hidden door near the rope ladder. Teddy pushed on the bark.
The door opened. One by one, they slipped into the candlelit hollow of the tree trunk. Merlin was sitting in his tall wooden chair.
“So you restored order to the castle?” he said calmly.
“Yes, sir,” said