Winter of the Ice Wizard - Mary Pope Osborne [15]
The sleigh was heavier than before, so Jack quickly untied two more knots. The sleigh bolted across the snow.
“Stand fast!” said Teddy.
As the sleigh swished through the dawn, Annie turned to Morgan and Merlin. “I have a question,” she said. “Can you tell us what the giant looks like—the Frost Giant?”
Merlin smiled. “There is no Frost Giant,” he said.
“What?” said Kathleen and Teddy.
“Sure there is,” said Annie. “We heard his breathing!”
“He nearly froze us to death!” said Jack.
“At night, the wind often swirls through the Hollow Hill like a cyclone,” said Merlin. “You experienced one of those storms.”
“But what about the Norns’ story of giving the wizard’s eye to the Frost Giant as a gift?” said Jack.
“Many ancient peoples believe that the forces of nature are actual giants or monsters,” said Morgan. “The Norns are the last of their kind. They hold to the idea that the Frost Giant is a living creature who haunts the Hollow Hill. In truth, the Frost Giant never accepted their gift because there is no Frost Giant.”
Jack shook his head. “We believed what the Norns believed. They told us we’d freeze to death if we looked directly at the Frost Giant.”
“And we believed what the wizard told us, too,” said Annie, “that the wolves would eat us if they caught up to us!”
“People often try to convince us that the world is scarier than it truly is,” said Morgan.
Right now the world didn’t seem at all scary to Jack. Everything was calm and bright. Soft, rose-colored light was breaking through the morning clouds.
“Today is the first day after the winter solstice,” said Morgan. “Today the light starts to return. The days will grow longer.”
Jack turned to look at the sun. He caught sight of the tree house sitting on top of a snowdrift, not far away.
Jack tied a knot in the wind-string. He tied three more, and the sleigh came to a stop at the foot of the snowdrift.
Merlin looked at them. “On the winter solstice, you showed great courage,” he said. “You endured storms and terror and extraordinary cold. You reunited the Ice Wizard and the swan maiden. And perhaps most important, you retrieved my Staff of Strength. I thank you.”
“Sure,” Jack and Annie said modestly.
“You have done much for the kingdom of Camelot on your last four missions,” said Merlin. “On your next adventure, you will have a mission back in your world—in real time, not in the time of myth and magicians.”
“We will call for you again soon,” said Morgan.
“Great!” said Annie.
Jack and Annie climbed out of the sleigh. They looked back at Teddy and Kathleen. “I hope you will help us with our next journey, too,” said Annie.
Teddy smiled. “If we all work together, we can do anything, aye?” he said.
“Aye!” said Jack and Annie together. Then they turned and trudged up the snowdrift. At the top, they climbed into the window of the tree house. Once they were inside, they looked back.
The sleigh was gone.
“Bye,” Annie said softly.
Jack picked up the small gray stone from the floor. He pointed at the words Frog Creek in the wizard’s message. “I wish we could go there,” he said.
The wind started to blow.
It blew harder and harder.
Then everything was still.
Absolutely still.
Jack opened his eyes. They were back in the Frog Creek woods. No time at all had passed while they’d been gone. It was almost twilight. Snowflakes fell like tiny feathers outside the tree house window.
Annie shivered. “I’m cold,” she said.
“Here—take my scarf,” said Jack. He pulled off his scarf.
“No, you need it,” said Annie.
“No, take it. I’ll be okay.” Jack put his scarf around Annie’s neck. “What will you tell Mom when she asks about your scarf?” he asked.
“I’ll just tell her the Sisters of Fate took it as payment for telling us how to find the eye of the Ice Wizard in a hole in the Hollow Hill,” said Annie.
“Right,” said Jack, laughing.
“We’d better get home before dark,” said Annie. She started down the rope ladder. Jack followed her.
As they stepped onto the ground, Jack remembered the wind-string. “We forgot to give this