The Knight at Dawn (4 page)

“Hurry,” said Annie.

“It'll take just a second,” said Jack. “Hold this.” He handed Annie the flashlight.

He tried to lift a helmet from a shelf. It was too heavy.

He bent over and dragged the helmet over his head. The visor slammed shut.

Oh, forget it. It was
worse
than having a five-year-old on your head. More like having a ten-year-old on your head.

Not only could Jack not lift his head, he couldn't see anything, either.

“Jack!” Annie's voice sounded far away.
“The voices are getting closer!”

“Turn off the flashlight!” Jack's voice echoed inside the metal chamber.

He struggled to get the helmet off.

Suddenly he lost his balance and went crashing into other pieces of armor.

The metal plates and weapons clattered to the floor.

Jack lay on the floor in the dark.

He tried to get up. But his head was too heavy.

He heard deep voices.

Someone grabbed him by the arm. The next thing he knew, his helmet was yanked off. He was staring into the blazing light of a fiery torch.

In the torchlight, Jack saw three huge men standing over him.

One with very squinty eyes held the torch. One with a very red face held Jack. And one with a very long mustache held on to Annie.

Annie was kicking and yelling.

“Stop!” said the one with the very long mustache.

“Who art thou?” said the one with the very red face.

“Spies? Foreigners? Egyptians? Romans? Persians?” said the squinty-eyed one.

“No, you dummies!” said Annie.

“Oh, brother,” Jack muttered.

“Arrest them!” said Red-face.

“The dungeon!” said Squinty-eyes.

The guards marched Jack and Annie out of the armory. Jack looked back frantically. Where was his backpack?

“Go!” said a guard, giving him a push.

Jack went.

Down they marched, down the long, dark hallway. Squinty, Annie, Mustache, Jack, and Red.

Down a narrow, winding staircase.

Jack heard Annie shouting at the guards. “Dummies! Meanies! We didn't do anything!”

The guards laughed. They didn't take her seriously at all.

At the bottom of the stairs was a big iron door with a bar across it.

Squinty pushed the bar off the door. Then he shoved at the door. It creaked open.

Jack and Annie were pushed into a cold, clammy room.

The fiery torch lit the dungeon. There were chains hanging from the filthy walls. Water dripped from the ceiling, making puddles on the stone floor. It was the creepiest place Jack had ever seen.

“We'll keep them here till the feast is done. Then turn them over to the Duke,” said Squinty. “He knows how to take care of thieves.”

“There will be a hanging tomorrow,” said Mustache.

“If the rats don't get them first,” said Red.

They all laughed.

Jack saw that Annie had his backpack. She was quietly unzipping it.

“Come on, let's chain the two of 'em,” said Squinty.

The guards started toward them. Annie whipped her flashlight out of the pack.

“Ta-da!” she yelled.

The guards froze. They stared at the shiny flashlight in her hand.

Annie switched the light on. The guards gasped in fear. They jumped back against the wall.

Squinty dropped the torch. It fell into a dirty puddle on the floor, sputtered, and went out.

“My magic wand!” Annie said, waving the flashlight. “Get down. Or I'll wipe you out!”

Jack's mouth dropped open.

Annie fiercely pointed her light at one, then the other. Each howled and covered his face.

“Down! All of you! Get down!” shouted Annie.

One by one, the guards lay down on the wet floor.

Jack couldn't believe it.

“Come on,” Annie said to him. “Let's go.”

Jack looked at the open doorway. He looked at the guards quaking on the ground.

“Hurry!” said Annie.

In one quick leap, Jack followed her out of the terrible dungeon.

Annie and Jack raced back up the winding stairs and down the long hallway.

They hadn't gone far when they heard shouting behind them.

Dogs barked in the distance.

“They're coming!” Annie cried.

“In here!” said Jack. He shoved open a door off the hallway and pulled Annie into a dark room.

Jack pushed the door shut. Then Annie shined her flashlight around the room. There were rows of sacks and wooden barrels.

“I'd better look in the book,” said Jack. “Give it to me!”

Annie gave him the flashlight and his backpack. He pulled out the book and started tearing through it.

“Shhh!” said Annie. “Someone's coming.”

Jack and Annie jumped behind the door as it creaked open.

Jack held his breath. A light from a torch danced wildly over the sacks and barrels.

The light disappeared. The door slammed shut.

“Oh, man,” whispered Jack. “We have to hurry. They might come back.”

His hands were trembling as he flipped through the pages of the castle book.

“Here's a map of the castle,” he said. “Look, this must be the room we're in. It's a storeroom.” Jack studied the room in the book.
“These are sacks of flour and barrels of wine.”

“Who cares? We have to go!” said Annie. “Before they come back!”

“No. Look,” said Jack. He pointed at the map. “Here's a trapdoor.”

He read aloud:

“What's a precipice?” said Annie.

“I don't know. We'll find out,” said Jack. “But first we have to find the door.”

Jack looked at the picture carefully. Then he shined the flashlight around the room.

The floor of the room was made up of stones. The trapdoor in the picture was five stones away from the door to the hall.

Jack shined the light on the floor and
counted the stones. “One, two, three, four, five.”

He stamped on the fifth stone. It was loose!

He put the flashlight on the floor. He worked his fingers under the thin sheet of stone and tried to lift it.

“Help,” Jack said.

Annie came over and helped him lift the stone square out of its place. Underneath was a small wooden door.

Jack and Annie tugged on the rope handle of the door. The door fell open with a thunk.

Jack picked up the flashlight and shined it on the hole.

“There's a little ladder,” he said. “Let's go!”

He clipped on the flashlight and felt his way down the small ladder. Annie followed.

When they both reached the bottom of the ladder, Jack shined the light around them.

There was a tunnel!

He crouched down and began moving through the damp, creepy tunnel. The flashlight barely lit the stone walls.

He shook the light. Were the batteries running down?

“I think our light's dying!” he said to Annie.

“Hurry!” she called from behind.

Jack went faster. His back hurt from crouching.

The light got dimmer and dimmer.

He was desperate to get out of the castle before the batteries died completely.

Soon he reached another small wooden door. The door at the end of the tunnel!

Jack unlatched the door and pushed it open.

He poked his head outside.

He couldn't see anything in the misty darkness.

The air felt good. Cool and fresh. He took a deep breath.

“Where are we?” whispered Annie behind him. “What do you see?”

“Nothing. But I think we've come to the outside of the castle,” said Jack. “I'll find out.”

Jack put the flashlight in his pack. He put the pack on his back. He stuck his hand out the door. He couldn't feel the ground. Just air.

“I'm going to have to go feet first,” he said.

Jack turned around in the small tunnel. He lay down on his stomach. He stuck one
leg out the door. Then the other.

Jack inched down, bit by bit. Until he was hanging out the door, clinging to the ledge.

“This must be the precipice!” he called to Annie. “Pull me up!”

Annie reached for Jack's hands. “I can't hold you!” she said.