9 Ch9-The Lost Knights

CHAPTER NINE The Lost Knights Annie chased Jack around the circle. "Stop, Jack!" she cried. "Stop!" She grabbed his shirt and tried to pull him out of the dance. "Let go, Annie!" he said. "Leave me alone!" But Annie wouldn't let go. Finally, she pulled so hard that Jack broke hands with the dancers and

tumbled backward into the grass. The winged dancers didn't seem to notice. They closed their circle and kept going around and around. "Why did you do that?" said Jack, sitting up. "I was having fun!" "Look at the knights!" said Annie. "See them?" Jack still couldn't see. The world was spinning before his eyes. He ached to get back into the dance. "Here, I found your glasses!" said Annie. "Put them on!" Jack put on his glasses. He peered at the circle of dancers. He caught sight of armor glinting in the sunlight. He saw three knights dancing in a

row. Two of them looked very young. The third looked much older. As they came closer, Jack saw their faces. All the joy of the music drained out of him. The knights looked tired and sick. Their hair and beards were long and scraggly. Their faces were bony and pale. Their eyes stared wildly and their lips were frozen in ghostly smiles. "What's wrong with them?" asked Jack. "They can't stop dancing!" said Annie. "They're dancing themselves to death!" "They must be the lost knights from Camelot," said Jack. "We have to save them!" said Annie.

"Yeah," said Jack. He tried to clear his mind and think. "What about this? We get back in the dance—and we take places between the dancers and the knights." "Yes! Then we can pull the knights out of the circle!" said Annie. "Wait," said Jack. "What if I can't stop dancing again?" "Just don't let yourself get caught by the music," said Annie. "You have to think about something else. Think about why we're here. Think about Morgan." "Okay," said Jack. "I'll try." Jack and Annie crouched in the grass. They watched and waited as the knights danced

closer… and closer… and closer.… "Now!" shouted Annie. Jack and Annie rushed forward. They broke into the circle on either side of the knights. As Jack started dancing, his feet seemed to fly to the beat of the drum. He felt a wave of great joy. His worries left him. "Now, Jack!" cried Annie. "Pull away!" But Jack didn't want to pull away. The music rang in his ears. Nothing mattered except the dancing. "Jack! Pull away NOW!" Annie shouted again. Jack shook his head, trying to shake off Annie's voice.

"Morgan! Morgan!" Annie yelled. The word Morgan made Jack stumble a bit in the dance. "Morgan! Morgan!" Annie shouted. Jack stumbled again. Then he used all his might to stop himself from dancing. He let go of the hand of the dancer on his right and threw himself out of the dance—pulling the knight on his left with him. Annie and the other two knights tumbled back with them onto the grass. Just as before, the dancers didn't seem to notice. They closed their circle and kept going round and round in their joyous, timeless dance.