10 Dreamtime

Chapter 10 Dreamtime The boy was on the ground on his hands and knees. “ Meet my young helper from Camelot, ” said Morgan. The boy glanced up. He had a friendly freckled face and twinkly dark eyes. His hair was the same color that Teddy’s fur had been. He looked a bit older than Jack, about ten or so. “ Am I back?” he asked.

“ You’re back, ” said Morgan. The boy leaped up and hugged her. “ Thank you! ” he cried. “ And I hope next time you’ll ask before trying the spells in my spell book, ” said Morgan. The boy grinned sheepishly. “ I promise. ” Then he looked at Jack and Annie. “ I accidentally changed myself into a dog, ” he said. Annie laughed. “ But at least I got to have exciting adventures as a dog! ” he said. “ You were a great dog, ” said Annie. “ We liked you as Teddy. What’s your real name?” “ If you like, you can keep calling me Teddy, ” the boy said. “ Or how about Ted?” “ Okay, Ted, ” said Annie.

Jack just nodded. He was still in shock. “ Ted is training to work in my library at Camelot, ” said Morgan. “ He has a rare gift for magic. ” “ Cool, ” said Annie. “ You—you helped us a lot, Ted, ” said Jack, finally finding his voice. “ Oh, no, it was both of you who helped me, ” said Ted. “ You helped break the spell. And I found new stories to take home. ” “ You did?” said Annie. Ted nodded. “ The story of the Titanic, the story of White Buffalo Woman, the story of the wounded tiger, and the story of the Rainbow Serpent, ” he said. “ I’ll write them down as soon as I get home. So people can read them in Morgan’s library. ”

“ And home is where we must go now, I’m afraid, ” said Morgan. “ Oh, ” said Annie sadly. “ That’s too bad. ” “ Yeah, ” said Jack. He was sad, too. “ I know we will meet again someday, ” said Ted. “ I hope so, ” said Jack. “ Me, too, ” said Annie. “ Bye! ” She started down the ladder. Jack pulled on his pack. With a heavy heart, he followed. When they got to the ground, they looked up. Morgan and Ted were at the window. They both seemed to glow in the late afternoon light. “ The magic tree house will return for you soon, ” said Morgan. “ I promise. ”

She waved, and they waved back. “ Good-bye, Jack and Annie, ” she said. “ Arf! ” said Ted. In a flutter of time … in the spin of a whirlwind … the magic tree house was gone. For a long moment, Jack and Annie stared at the empty tree. “ Ready for dinner?” Annie asked softly. Jack nodded. He felt dazed as they walked silently through the Frog Creek woods. When they came to their street, the sun was setting. A flock of black birds flew through the silvery pink sky. Annie broke their silence as they headed for their house.

“ We had great adventures with Teddy—I mean Ted—didn’t we?” she said. “ Yeah, ” said Jack. “ It was like … ” He searched for the right words. “ Like … ” “ Like living in Dreamtime, ” said Annie. “ Yeah, ” said Jack. He smiled. That was exactly what it was like.