Haunted Castle on Hallow's Eve - Mary Pope Osborne [6]
Jack felt silly. “Right. Sorry, sorry,” he said. He took a deep breath. “Okay, let’s find the stairway.”
“Aye,” said Teddy. He started walking slowly down a dark passage-way. Jack and Annie followed close behind.
The air was heavy and damp. Jack’s heart was pounding. Now? he wondered. Now are we in the tunnel of fear?
A moaning sound came through the passageway. Then a loud bang!
“Yikes!” said Annie. She and Jack grabbed each other.
Teddy laughed. “’Twas only the shutters banging,” he said.
“What about that moaning?” asked Jack.
“’Twas only the wind blowing through the crannies,” said Teddy.
Jack took another deep breath and kept going. Soon they came to a twisting stairway.
“The stairs!” said Annie.
Good, thought Jack. Climbing the stairway was a solid part of their plan.
“Shall we?” said Teddy.
“Indeed. Upward!” said Jack, trying to sound like Teddy.
Teddy held up his lantern and started up the steep stone stairs. Jack and Annie followed. They climbed around and around the twisting stairway.
When they came to the first landing, Teddy led them to the doorway of a room. They peeked in. They saw rows of helmets, breastplates, gauntlets, shields, spears, and swords.
“The armor room,” said Jack.
“Aye,” said Teddy.
“Everything seems in order here,” said Annie.
Jack nodded. He liked the order in the room. It made him feel safer.
“Shall we keep going?” said Teddy.
“Of course,” said Jack. He was starting to feel a lot braver now.
They returned to the stairs and began climbing again. On the third floor, they peered through an arched entrance into a huge room.
Teddy used the candle from his lantern to light torches on either side of the doorway. In the flickering light, Jack saw a high ceiling and walls hung with tapestries.
“It’s the great hall,” he said, “where they have feasts and stuff.”
“Let’s look around,” said Annie. “See if anything seems out of order.”
As the three of them slowly walked forward, Jack kept an eye out for ghosts.
Teddy held up his lantern. It shone on a long banquet table.
“Aha!” he said. The table was littered with bread crumbs, candle wax, and the petals of dead flowers. The floor near the table was messy, too, with bits of food and meat bones.
“Finally we’ve found something to put in order,” said Teddy. “Shall we?”
Jack caught sight of a straw broom in the corner. “Sure, I’ll sweep,” he said.
“I’ll clear the table,” said Annie.
“I will scrape the wax,” said Teddy.
Jack grabbed the straw broom and began sweeping the floor around the table. He swept up apple peelings, fish bones, bits of eggshells, and old cheese.
As he swept everything into a neat pile, he felt good. They were finally carrying out their mission. We’re bringing order to the castle, just like Merlin told us to, he thought. Soon we can leave.
Suddenly Annie screamed.
Jack dropped his broom and whirled around.
“Look!” Annie cried, her eyes wide. She pointed toward a stone hearth at the other end of the great hall.
In front of the hearth, a large white bone hovered in the air. It bobbed up and down. Then it began floating straight toward them!
“AHHH!” yelled Teddy.
“AHHH!” yelled Jack.
“AHHH!” yelled Annie.
Still screaming, they all ran toward the door. The bone came after them.
Teddy led the way as they tore through the archway and scrambled up the winding staircase.
Jack looked behind them.
“It’s still coming!” he shrieked.
“AHHH!” they all screamed again.
On the next landing, Teddy charged into a nearby room.
“Make haste!” he yelled.
He pulled Jack and Annie into the room and slammed the door behind them. Out of breath, they all leaned against the door, panting and trembling.
“Safe—” Teddy gasped. “Safe from the bone!” Then he started laughing.
Jack laughed, too. He laughed out of sheer terror. He couldn’t stop.
“Listen, guys! Listen!” said Annie. “I hear a noise!”
Teddy stopped laughing. Jack clapped his hand over his mouth. He listened. He heard a faint clicking sound, but he couldn’t see anything.
Teddy used the fire from his lantern to light torches near the door. Then they