“Why not?”
“You would not understand.”
“I might. I know that I don’t know as much as everyone else, but I might be able to understand.”
Merlin chuckled and lifted his head again. He seemed much older and sadder than he had just a few minutes ago. He leaned more heavily on his staff. “I cannot change things because I know how they are supposed to be. Sometimes—often, I’ve found—there’s a difference between the way things are supposed to be and the way we wish they were.”
Cavall scrunched up his brows as he tried to parse that. Finally, he shook his head. “You’re right, I don’t understand.”
“Luckily for you, the two are one and the same.” Merlin reached out and laid a gentle hand on Cavall’s head. “You wish to protect Arthur?”
“More than anything.”
“Then it is good that that is precisely what you are supposed to do.” He gave Cavall a gentle pat. “Your part in Arthur’s story is not yet done, nor Mordred’s nor Morgana’s, nor Gless’s, for that matter.”
“Then . . . it will be up to me again to save Arthur?”
“Not you alone, no, though the task will fall most heavily on you.” He brought his hand back and motioned with his eyes up the stairs. “But do not worry about that for the moment. For now, be with your person. You’ve earned it.”
Cavall wagged his tail in appreciation, turned, and bounded up the stairs. He ran to Arthur’s room, where the door had been left ajar for him. Gwen gave a muffled gasp as he burst in, and Arthur just laughed and knelt down to scratch Cavall’s ears. “See, I told you he’d join us.”
“Fine,” Gwen huffed as she climbed under the sheet. “But remember, no dogs on the bed, no matter what sorts of dreams you’ve been having about them.”
“Sorry,” Arthur said to Cavall, “I have no power here, it seems.” He continued to scratch at Cavall’s ears, roughing them up and reaching that one place Cavall could never get at with his back paw. It was perfect.
Eventually, Arthur had to stop, even though Cavall kept nudging with his nose to keep going. He could tell that his person was tired, so he let him get into bed next to Gwen. Cavall came around the bed to find Luwella scooting over on the rug to make room for him.
“I suppose I should congratulate you,” she said quietly. “I truly did not believe you would return from the Dreamink.” Silence for a moment. “You did well. And by helpink your person, you have helped mine as well. So . . . I wish to thank you.”
Cavall was a bit startled by that. “You’re welcome.”
She tilted her head in gratitude and then lay back down. He curled up next to her, but not so close that their fur touched. He wasn’t sure he’d really earned that yet, though she seemed to have warmed up to him. Perhaps they might be friends yet.
He laid his head to rest on the rug and watched as Arthur leaned over the nightstand to snuff out the candlelight. Darkness enveloped the room, except for the silvery beams of the full moon shining through the window. Cavall closed his eyes and allowed himself to be whisked off to the Dreaming once more.
Acknowledgments
Like Cavall, I have no shortage of wonderful people (and dogs) surrounding me. It’s humbling to think that Cavall’s story might not have seen the light of day if even just one of these people hadn’t been involved in some way.
Firstly, I would like to thank my agents, Lauren Galit Knight and Caitlen Rubino-Bradway, from LKG Agency, not only for believing in this book enough to represent it, but for going above and beyond for me on more occasions than I can count.
Next, I would like to thank my editors at HarperCollins, Abby Ranger and Rose Pleuler, who did all the behind-the-scenes work of getting this book into production.
I would like to thank my friends and beta readers Sean Fletcher, Rowena Williamson, Mike McNeff, Karen Roethbeck; my writing group, Just Write on the Pier; and the Salty Mug for hosting us every week. Special thanks to Andrea Hurst for her continued support and for being an amazing friend. And to Fingal, the deerhound who inspired Cavall.
And lastly, I would like to thank my family. To my mom, Laura; to my dad, David; and to my brother, Will. From a young age, they nurtured my passion, supported my dreams, and taught me the Golden Rule: always treat others as you would like to be treated.
I feel so lucky to have so many incredible people in my life.
About the Author
Photo by Steve Alexander, Alexander’s Photos
AUDREY MACKAMAN grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, reading fantasy novels and hoping someday to write her own. Now she lives on Whidbey Island in Washington, where she helps aspiring authors with their books while writing Cavall’s adventures. Audrey is an animal lover who volunteers at animal shelters and dog-sits whenever she can. Her clients’ pooches were the inspiration for Cavall and the rest of the dogs at Camelot. This is her debut novel.
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Copyright
CAVALL IN CAMELOT: A DOG IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT. Text copyright © 2018 by Audrey Mackaman. Illustrations by Cory Godbey. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
COVER ART BY CORY GODBEY
COVER DESIGN BY JOE MERKEL
* * *
Digital Edition August 2018 ISBN: 978-0-06-249452-8
Print ISBN: 978-0-06-249448-1
* * *
1819202122CG/LSCH10987654321
FIRST EDITION
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