Christmas in Camelot (6 page)

T
he three knights lay in the grass, fighting for breath.

“The dance … We must stop … stop dancing,” gasped the older knight.

“You
have
stopped! We pulled you away!” said Annie.

The knight looked up at her and Jack. He had a rough, craggy face.

“Who … who are you?” he asked in a hoarse voice.

“Friends!” said Annie. She spoke loudly to be
heard over the music. “We come from King Arthur's castle!”

“We're on a quest,” said Jack, “to get the Water of Memory and Imagination.”

“To save Camelot!” said Annie.

“Camelot—” whispered the knight. “We come from Camelot …. I don't recognize you ….”

“We're just visiting,” said Annie. “But we know all about
you
. You're Sir Lancelot, aren't you?”

“Yes,” breathed the knight.

“And Sir Percival and Sir Galahad,” said Jack.

“Yes … my son, Galahad … ,” said the knight.

“King Arthur thinks you are lost forever,” said Annie.

Sir Lancelot closed his eyes. “The dance … ,” he said, “it made us forget.… ”

“I know,” said Jack. “The dancers must be
the Keepers of the Cauldron. You can't get past them without getting caught up in their dance.”

“Father … we must find … the water.… ” Sir Galahad tried to sit up, but he was too weary. He lay back in the grass.

“That's okay, we're here now,” said Annie. “You should all rest.”

Sir Galahad closed his eyes.

“Yeah, don't worry,” said Jack. “Annie and I will find the magic water for Camelot.”

“But you … you are just children,” said Sir Percival, the third knight. “You must wait … for us.… ”

“There's no time to wait,” said Jack.

“Camelot is dying!” said Annie. “We have to hurry!”

“Then you must … take this … ,” said Sir Galahad. He reached into a leather pouch that hung around his shoulder. He took out a silver cup. With a trembling hand, the young knight gave the cup to Annie.

“A cup!” she said.

“Take … this, too,” said Sir Percival. He pulled a small wooden box from a bag that hung from his belt. He handed it to Jack.

Jack opened the lid. In the middle of the box was a pointer with markings all around it.

“A compass!” said Jack.

“And this … ,” said Sir Lancelot. He took a silk cord from around his neck. A glass key hung from the cord.

“A key!” whispered Annie.

Lancelot handed the key to Annie. She and Jack looked at it closely. Then Annie hung it around her neck. When she turned back, all the knights were fast asleep.

“Sweet dreams,” Annie said gently. “You guys need a long nap.”

Jack and Annie stood up.

“I think we have all our gifts now,” Jack said. “But I'd better make sure.”

He hurried to get his backpack. It was lying in the grass near the knights' swords. He pulled out his notebook and read the second rhyme:

“Four gifts you will need—

The first from me.

Then a cup, a compass,

And, finally, a key.”

“Great,” said Annie. “We got the cloak from the Christmas Knight and the other three gifts from them. This quest is really easy.”

Jack shook his head.

“It's not over yet,” he said. “We still have to find the cauldron with the Water of Memory and Imagination.”

“We'll find it,” said Annie. “Read the third rhyme.”

Jack looked in his notebook and read the third rhyme aloud:

“If you survive to complete your quest,

The secret door lies to the west.”

“No problem!” said Annie. “We survived the guards and the dance. Now the
compass
can show us how to go west. And the
key
will unlock the secret door. And we'll fill the
cup
with water from the cauldron! See, it's all easy!”

Jack still felt worried.
A little too easy,
he thought.

“What are we waiting for?” said Annie. “Let's go.”

Jack looked down at the compass. “Okay … ,” he said. “The pointer's pointing north. So west must be
that
way.” He pointed left, toward a thicket of bushes and small trees.

“Great,” said Annie. “Here, carry the cup in your pack.”

Jack put his notebook and the silver cup into his pack. Then he and Annie started into the thicket.

They ducked under branches and pushed
past bushes. Thorns scraped their hands. Twigs snapped against their faces.

Jack kept checking the compass. Could they really be searching in the right place? he wondered. What kind of door would they find in a tangled thicket?

“Listen,” said Annie. “It's so quiet now.”

The thicket had grown eerily silent. No birds called from the bushes. No music could be heard in the distance.

Jack checked the compass once more. “It says we're still going west,” he said. “I just hope this thing works.”

“It works,” Annie said softly. “Look—” Annie was holding back a leafy branch. She pointed to a rocky hillside beyond the thicket. Halfway up the hillside was a ledge.

Between two giant boulders on the ledge was a shining glass door.

“T
he secret door!”
whispered Jack.

“Yes!” said Annie.

Jack dropped the compass into his pack. Then he and Annie scrambled through the bushes and climbed up the rocks to the door.

Annie took Sir Lancelot's glass key from around her neck. She slipped the key into the keyhole. She turned the key slowly.

Clink.

“Yippee,” Annie said softly. She pushed open the door.

Beyond the door was a huge, glittering cave. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of clear crystal.

Jack and Annie stepped inside. The cave was filled with dancing streams of purple light.

“It's so bright!” whispered Jack. “Where's all the purple light coming from?”

“There,” said Annie. She pointed to a crack on the far side of the cave. “Let's look.”

They crossed the cave and peered through the crack into a room. Along the brilliant crystal walls of the room were four doorways.

In the far corner of the room was a fire. The fire blazed with leaping purple flames. Over the flames hung a gleaming golden cauldron.

“There it is,” whispered Jack.

“Wow,” whispered Annie.

“The cauldron with the Water of Memory and Imagination,” whispered Jack.

“I know,” whispered Annie. “Let's go!”

They squeezed through the crack, then walked toward the gleaming cauldron. Jack
reached into his pack and pulled out Sir Galahad's silver cup.

“The cauldron's too high,” said Annie. “We can't get to the water.”

“Here, take this,” said Jack, handing her the cup. “Climb on my back.”

He bent over, and Annie climbed on piggyback. Jack stood up shakily. “Hurry!” he said. “You're heavy.”

“I can't reach it,” said Annie. “Move closer.”

Jack staggered forward a few steps. Stretching as far as she could, Annie reached again. She skimmed water from the top of the bubbling cauldron, filling the silver cup.

“Got it!” she whispered. “Now set me down. Slowly!”

Annie held the cup with both hands. Jack slowly bent his knees and Annie climbed carefully off his back. They stared silently for a moment at the Water of Memory and Imagination in the cup. It was clear and shimmering.

“Now we can save Morgan,” said Annie.

Just then Jack smelled something strange—it was like the smell of rotten seaweed. He heard weird gurgling sounds behind them.

He and Annie turned around.

A giant, slimy, mud-colored creature crawled out through one of the doorways. The creature was long and scaly like a crocodile but much,
MUCH bigger. It had wings that looked as if they'd been spun from a thousand spiderwebs. It had glowing red eyes and long, curled claws.

The creature opened its huge jaws. Strands of drool dripped from its sharp, pointed teeth. The creature hissed and hot blue flame shot from its mouth.

Another monster crawled through a different doorway, quickly followed by a third, and then a fourth.

“Yikes!” said Annie.

“The
real
Keepers of the Cauldron … ,” whispered Jack.

T
he four
real
Keepers of the Cauldron crawled closer to Jack and Annie, hissing and snorting blue fire.

“What do we do now?” whispered Annie.

“I don't know,” said Jack. “We're trapped.”

“I have an idea,” whispered Annie. “Let's drink the water.”

“What?” said Jack.

“It's the Water of Memory and Imagination, right?” said Annie. “So maybe if we drink it, we can
imagine
a way to escape!”