Ch11-Gifts to the World

CHAPTER ELEVEN Gifts to the World No time at all had passed in Frog Creek. The sky was lit by the orange afterglow of the sunset. Jack and Annie were wearing their jeans and jackets and sneakers again. The green velvet bag had changed back into Jack's backpack.

"Jack! Annie!" two voices called from the woods below. Jack and Annie looked out the window. Teddy and Kathleen stood in the shadows beneath them! "Hi! Hi!" Annie and Jack called. They quickly climbed down the rope ladder and hopped to the ground. "We're glad to see you!" said Annie. "Why are you here?" Before Teddy or Kathleen could answer, the leaves rustled, and out from the dark trees stepped Morgan le Fay and Merlin the magician. "Morgan! Merlin!" said Annie. Peep.

"Penny!" said Jack. Waddling behind Merlin was the baby penguin Jack and Annie had given to Merlin after their trip to Antarctica. Peep. Kathleen picked up Penny and held the little penguin in her arms. Peep. Peep. Jack and Annie laughed. "How are you, Penny?" asked Jack. "She is wonderful," said Morgan. "She is dearly loved in Camelot. I would say Penny has become the very heart of our kingdom." "She hasn't gotten any bigger," said Jack.

Merlin smiled. "Time passes very slowly in Camelot," he said. "Indeed," said Morgan. "Camelot has hardly aged at all since we last saw you." "But you have accomplished much in that time," said Merlin. "You have completed your missions to help four artists give their gifts to the world." "And from all we hear," said Morgan, "you were as successful with Charles Dickens as you were with Lady Augusta Gregory, Louis Armstrong, and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart." "I guess we were," Jack said modestly. "I loved Charles," said Annie. "I loved all of them. I felt like we became good friends with

them." "Yeah, and I'm really sad that I won't see them again," said Jack. "We thought you might feel that way," said Kathleen. "Merlin and Morgan have something to show you," said Teddy. "But first, may we have the magic violin and bow back?" asked Kathleen. "Oh, sure," said Jack. He reached into his backpack and pulled out the violin and bow. Teddy took the violin from him, and Kathleen took the bow. "On your last four missions, you played a magic violin, a magic Irish whistle, a magic trumpet, and a magic flute," said Kathleen.

Jack and Annie nodded. "Do you remember where the magic came from?" said Kathleen. She tossed the violin bow into the air. It was still for a moment. Then it began to twirl around and around. There was a flash of blue light. The violin and bow disappeared. Floating in the air was an object shaped like the spiraled horn of a unicorn. "The Wand of Dianthus!" Jack and Annie said together. "Yes," said Kathleen. She plucked the wand from the air and handed it to Merlin. Merlin closed his eyes. He waved the Wand of Dianthus in a circle and whispered words Jack couldn't understand.