11 The Crgstal Cave

11 The Crystal Cave “ The 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 Imagina stion 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.