The Knight at Dawn (5 page)

Jack felt his fingers slipping. Then down he fell.

Down through the darkness.

SPLASH!

Water filled Jack's nose and covered his head. His glasses fell off. He grabbed them just in time. He coughed and flailed his arms.

“Jack!” Annie was calling from above.

“I'm in … the moat!” said Jack, gasping for air. He tried to tread water and put his glasses back on. With his backpack, his shoes, and his heavy clothes, he could hardly stay afloat.

SPLASH!

“Hi! I'm here!” Annie sputtered.

Jack could hear her nearby. But he couldn't see her.

“Which way's land?” Annie asked.

“I don't know! Just swim!”

Jack dog-paddled through the cold black water.

He heard Annie swimming, too. At first it seemed as if she was swimming in front of him. But then he heard a splash behind him.

“Annie?” he called.

“What?” Her voice came from in front. Not behind.

Another splash.
Behind
.

Jack's heart almost stopped. Crocodiles? He couldn't see anything through his water-streaked glasses.

“Annie!” he whispered.

“What?”

“Swim faster!”

“But I'm here! I'm over here! Near the edge!” she whispered.

Jack swam through the dark toward her voice. He imagined a crocodile slithering after him.

Another splash! Not far away!

Jack's hand touched a wet, live thing.

“
Ahhhh
!” he cried.

“It's me! Take my hand!” said Annie.

Jack grabbed her hand. She pulled him to the edge of the moat. They crawled over an embankment onto the wet grass.

Safe!

Another splash came from the moat waters.

“Oh, man,” Jack said.

He was shivering all over. His teeth were
chattering. He shook the water off his glasses and put them back on.

It was so misty he couldn't see the castle. He couldn't even see the moat, much less a crocodile.

“We … we made it,” said Annie. Her teeth were chattering, too.

“I know,” said Jack. “But where are we?” He peered at the foggy darkness.

Where was the drawbridge? The windmill? The hawk house? The grove of trees? The tree house?

Everything had been swallowed up by the thick, soupy darkness.

Jack reached into his wet backpack and pulled out the flashlight. He pushed the switch. No more light.

They were trapped. Not in a dungeon. But in the still, cold darkness.

“
Neeee-hhhh
!”

A horse's whinny.

Just then the clouds parted. A full moon was shining in the sky. A pool of light spread through the mist.

Then Jack and Annie saw him just a few feet away. The knight.

He sat on the black horse. His armor shone in the moonlight. A visor hid his face. But he seemed to be staring straight at Jack and Annie.

Jack froze.

“It's him,” Annie whispered.

The knight held out his gloved hand.

“Come on, Jack,” Annie said.

“Where are you going?” said Jack.

“He wants to help us,” said Annie.

“How do you know?”

“I can just tell,” said Annie.

Annie stepped toward the horse. The knight dismounted.

The knight picked Annie up and put her on the back of his horse.

“Come on, Jack,” she called.

Jack moved slowly toward the knight. It was like a dream.

The knight picked him up, too. He placed Jack on the horse, behind Annie.

The knight got on behind them. He slapped the reins.

The black horse cantered beside the moonlit water of the moat.

Jack rocked back and forth in the saddle. The wind blew his hair. He felt very brave and very powerful.

He felt as if he could ride forever on this horse, with this mysterious knight. Over the ocean. Over the world. Over the moon.

A hawk shrieked in the darkness.

“There's the tree house,” said Annie. She pointed toward a grove of trees.

The knight steered the horse toward the trees.

“See. There it is,” Annie said, pointing to the ladder.

The knight brought his horse to a stop. He dismounted and helped Annie down.

“Thank you, sir,” she said. And she bowed.

Then Jack. “Thank you,” he said. And he bowed also.

The knight got back on his horse. He raised his gloved hand. Then he slapped the reins and rode off through the mist.

Annie started up the tall ladder, and Jack followed. They climbed into the dark tree house and looked out the window.

The knight was riding toward the outer wall. They saw him go through the outer gate.

Clouds started to cover the moon again.
For a brief moment, Jack thought he saw the knight's armor gleaming on the top of a hill beyond the castle.

The clouds covered the moon completely. And a black mist swallowed the land.

“He's gone,” whispered Annie.

Jack shivered in his wet clothes as he kept staring at the blackness.

“I'm cold,” said Annie. “Where's the Pennsylvania book?”

Jack heard Annie fumble in the darkness. He kept looking out the window.

“I think this is it,” said Annie. “I feel a silk bookmark.”

Jack was only half-listening. He was hoping to see the knight's armor gleam again in the distance.

“Okay. I'm going to use this,” said Annie. “Because I think it's the right one.
Here goes. Okay. I'm pointing. I'm going to wish. I wish we could go to Frog Creek!”

Jack heard the wind begin to blow. Softly at first.

“I hope I pointed to the right picture in the right book,” said Annie.

“What?” Jack looked back at her. “Right picture? Right book?”

The tree house began to rock. The wind got louder and louder.

“I hope it wasn't the dinosaur book!” said Annie.

“Stop!” Jack shouted at the tree house.

Too late.

The tree house started to spin. It was spinning and spinning!

The wind was screaming.

Then suddenly there was silence.

Absolute silence.

The air was warm.

It was dawn. Far away a dog barked.

“I think that's Henry barking!” Annie said. “We
did
come home.”

They both looked out the tree house window.

“That was close,” said Jack.

In the distance, streetlights lit their street. There was a light on in their upstairs window.

“Uh-oh,” said Annie. “I think Mom and Dad are up. Hurry!”

“Wait.” In a daze, Jack unzipped his backpack. He pulled out the castle book. It was quite wet. But Jack placed it back with all the other books.

“Come on! Hurry!” said Annie, scooting out of the tree house.

Jack followed her down the ladder.

They reached the ground and took off between the gray-black trees.

They left the woods and ran down their deserted street.

They got to their yard and crept across the lawn. Right up to the back door.

Jack and Annie slipped inside the house.

“They're not downstairs yet,” whispered Annie.

“Shhh,” said Jack.

He led the way up the stairs and down the hall. No sign of his mom or dad. But he
could hear water running in the bathroom.

Their house was so different from the dark, cold castle. So safe and cozy and friendly.

Annie stopped at her bedroom door. She gave Jack a smile, then disappeared inside her room.

Jack hurried into his room. He took off his damp clothes and pulled on his dry, soft pajamas.

He sat down on his bed and unzipped his backpack. He took out his wet notebook. He felt around for the pencil, but his hand touched something else.

Jack pulled the blue leather bookmark out of his pack. It must have fallen out of the castle book.

Jack held the bookmark close to his lamp and studied it. The leather was smooth and
worn. It seemed ancient.

For the first time Jack noticed a letter on the bookmark. A fancy M.