Ch4-Take My Sleigh

CHAPTER FOUR Take My Sleigh. Jack sat on the frozen ground. Annie, Teddy, and Kathleen sat nearby. They were all too shocked to speak. The night was quiet. Overhead the full moon shined brightly, and a few cold stars twinkled in the clear sky. Finally Annie broke the silence. "I wonder what he did to Merlin and Morgan," she said.

"I wonder where you will find his eye," said Teddy. "I wonder how we'll carry it around," said Jack. "And I wonder if the wolves are near," said Kathleen. She stood up and looked around, pulling her cloak tightly around her. "Well, does anyone remember the Ice Wizard's rhyme?" said Teddy. "Yes," said Kathleen. She repeated the rhyme perfectly by heart: Take my sleigh And find your way To the House of the Norns In the curve of the bay.

Pay them whatever They tell you to pay And bring back my eye By break of day. "What are Norns?" asked Jack. "I have read about the Norns in Morgan's books," said Teddy. "They are known as the Sisters of Fate. They spend their days weaving great tapestries. Their weaving determines the fate of all who live in the Land-Behind-the-Clouds." "So the Norns have his eye?" said Jack. "That's who he meant when he said he 'traded with the Fates'?" "It would seem so," said Teddy.

"He said we should take his sleigh to find them," said Annie. "Where's his sleigh?" "Look," said Kathleen, pointing. "'Tis there." "Oh, wow," said Annie. Not far away, a strange-looking silver sleigh glided silently from behind a snowbank. The sleigh looked like a small sailing ship with shiny runners. No one was steering it, and no horses or reindeer were pulling it. From its mast, a white sail drooped in the still air. As the sleigh slid to a stop, an eerie howl shattered the calm of the windless night. "Wolves!" cried Teddy. "Let us make haste!" Kathleen grabbed his arm. "Do not run," she said. "If we run, they will chase us."

"Yes, of course," said Teddy. "They must not see that we are afraid." Another howl shattered the air. "Run!" cried Teddy. They all charged across the snow to the sleigh and scrambled into it. Jack and Kathleen stood at the front, and Annie and Teddy stood at the back. "There they are!" cried Teddy, pointing. "The white wolves of the night!" Jack turned and saw two large white wolves dashing across the plain in the moonlight. As the wolves ran toward the sleigh, their big paws scattered snow around them. "Go, go, go!" Jack cried, clutching the front of the sleigh.

But the sleigh didn't move. And the wolves kept coming. "How can we make it go?" cried Jack. "Use the wind-string!" said Teddy. Jack pulled the knotted string the wizard had given him out of his pocket. "Use it how?" he shouted. "Untie a knot!" said Teddy. Jack pulled off his gloves. His fingers were trembling as he tried to untie one of the knots. This is crazy! he thought. How can untying a knot in a string help us? But soon he managed to loosen one of the knots. A cold breeze began blowing from behind the sleigh. It ruffled the sail overhead. "Untie another!" shouted Teddy. "Hurry!"