Night of the Ninth Dragon

by Mary Pope Osborne

  Jack burst out laughing, too. “Oh, man, that was quick thinking.”

  “Thank you!” said Annie.

  Jack looked back at the king and queen. Arthur had slept through the whole incident. Guinevere was sitting up, holding Oki. The puppy was still barking at the fleeing horsemen.

  “What happened?” the queen asked. “Oki was barking so loudly, I could not hear. Where did those men go?”

  “Annie saved us, Your Majesty,” said Jack. “She tricked them. I don’t think we’ll be seeing them again.”

  “What did you do, Annie?” said the queen.

  Annie turned around and grinned. Guinevere cried out in alarm.

  “It’s okay!” said Annie, laughing. “I just marked my face with this!” She held up Jack’s highlighter. “I told them we all had yellow fever.”

  “Oh. Oh!” said Guinevere. “I see!” Then she started to laugh, too.

  “All right! Let’s get this show back on the road!” said Jack. Their success had lifted his spirits. He shook the reins. “Hike!”

  The oxen started forward, and the queen settled back in the cart. Jack pulled his notebook out of his pack and handed it to Annie. “Read the riddle again,” he said. “We’ll figure it out.”

  Annie read aloud: “Moon so bright. Munith Mor night. Curtain of white.”

  “Curtain of white,” Jack broke in. “That’s probably just a white curtain, right? Like a window curtain inside a house?”

  “Maybe,” said Annie. “Or a curtain in front of a closet?”

  “Maybe,” said Jack. “Keep reading.”

  Annie read more: “Hides from sight.”

  “Wait,” said Jack. “Does that mean the curtain hides from sight? So it’s a hidden curtain?”

  “Maybe,” said Annie. “Or maybe…the curtain is hiding something else?”

  “Yes!” said Jack. “That makes more sense. Keep reading.”

  Annie read on: “Magic for flight. Do you think magic for flight is what the curtain is hiding?”

  “Yes!” said Jack again. “I’ll bet the robbers hid the gold dragon behind a white curtain.”

  “That’s it!” said Annie.

  “But I wonder where they are,” said Jack.

  “Who? The robbers?” asked Annie.

  “Yeah,” said Jack. “What if we run into them when we find the place with the curtain?”

  “Well, we could try the yellow marker trick again,” said Annie.

  “But if it’s nighttime?” said Jack.

  “Hmm, maybe not,” said Annie. “Let’s just find the white curtain first.”

  “Okay,” said Jack. “Read the last lines.”

  Annie read aloud: “Before dawn’s light. Or lose the fight.”

  “That means we have to hurry,” said Jack.

  “Yep,” said Annie. “Hurry.”

  Dark clouds covered the sky as the cart creaked and rattled over the weedy path. The air was heavy with impending rain. Jack glanced back at the king and queen. The king was shivering as Guinevere wiped his forehead with a cloth.

  The queen looked up and caught Jack’s gaze. “He is very weak now,” she said. “But he never gives up. No matter how great the struggle, he and his knights never give up. They keep going, without food and rest, through wind and hail and freezing cold.”

  “We do that, too,” said Annie.

  “We never give up,” said Jack, sitting a little straighter.

  “Thank you, Jack and Annie,” said Guinevere.

  The oxen pulled the cart past deserted farms, thatched huts, and clusters of orchards. As they traveled farther across the countryside, there were fewer and fewer trees. Just before sunset, they came to an open plain that stretched from the base of a mountain. There was no road or path to follow.

  “Your Majesty, could this be the moorlands at the foot of Munith Mor that Cafelle talked about?” asked Annie.

  “Yes, it could be,” said Guinevere.

  “So we keep going,” said Jack. “Hike!”

  The oxen started across the moorlands. Riding over the scrubby land toward the mountains, Jack searched for any sign of a human settlement. He looked in vain for a hut, a fort, a tent, a lighted window, or chimney smoke. Where will we ever find a white curtain? he wondered.

  As the sky darkened to dusk, the wind blew harder and a thin drizzle started to fall. Jack pulled off his cloak and held it out to the queen. “Your Majesty, please give this to King Arthur,” he said.

  “Thank you.” Guinevere took Jack’s cloak and covered the sleeping king and Oki. Annie pulled her cloak off, too. “And for you, Your Majesty,” she said.

  “No, Annie, you must keep yourself warm,” said Guinevere.

  “Please take it,” said Annie. “I’m fine. Really.”

  The queen took the cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders.

  “You children are very kind,” she said.

  “No problem,” said Jack, though he was freezing. The drizzle had quickly become a windblown rain.

  “Your Majesty, can you tell us about the Isle of Avalon?” asked Annie.

  “I have never been there, Annie,” said Guinevere. “But Arthur has. He tells me it is a large island in a vast, hidden lake surrounded by mountains. It is covered with green pastures and groves of apple trees.”

  “Apple trees?” said Jack, shivering in the gloomy rain.

  “In truth, Avalon means ‘apples,’ ” said the queen. “But the isle has trees of all kinds, as well as flowers, birds, butterflies, and animals, both magical and real.”

  Oki barked. “Yes, like you,” the queen said, smiling at the puppy. “Arthur says that swans pull boats and mermaids swim in the lake.”

  “Mermaids!” exclaimed Annie. “Really?”

  “Yes, and Avalon has sunshine and gentle breezes and clear, starry nights all year long, and the air smells of lilac and lavender,” said the queen. As she spoke, her words seemed to soothe the elements: the rain clouds passed, the wind died down, and the air grew warmer. The nearly full moon was rising over the moorlands, shining brightly in the early-evening sky.

  “Sounds like heaven,” said Jack.

  “Our most beautiful dreams and happiest thoughts come from Avalon,” said Guinevere. “There is singing and poetry and playacting, dancing and games and running and swimming. I remember when Arthur journeyed there once with Merlin. He—”

  The queen’s story was interrupted by a sudden jolt. The cart jerked forward violently, and Jack and Annie were thrown from the bench onto the wet grass.

  The oxen bellowed. Oki barked wildly.

  “Jack! Annie!” Guinevere cried. As she climbed out of the back of the cart, Oki was barking, but King Arthur slept on. “Are you all right?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Annie said, standing up with Jack.

  “The rope snapped in two,” said Jack.

  “I see,” said the queen. The wooden pole that had been lashed to the oxen’s yoke had fallen to the ground. The rope was frayed and broken. The oxen were no longer connected to the cart.

  “Can we fix it?” Annie asked hopefully.

  “No, I fear not,” the queen said, holding the pieces of the rope. She took a deep breath. “Nothing can be fixed now. Even if we get to Munith Mor and find the gold dragon statue, we will never get back to Camelot’s garden by dawn.”

  “Oh,” said Annie.

  No one said anything for a moment.

  Finally Jack broke the silence. “We never give up,” he said. “We have to do something.”

  “Like what?” said Annie.

  “We’ll have to walk,” said Jack.

  “The king cannot walk, Jack,” said the queen. “He is too weak.”

  “Then we’ll pull him in the cart,” said Jack. “The pole is still attached. Annie and I can pick it up and pull the cart to Munith Mor.”

  “Sure,” said Annie. “It’s not that far. We’re almost there. We can do it.”

  Guinevere took a deep breath. “Yes,” she said. “
Thank you, children. I will pull, too.”

  “Should we take the yoke off the oxen first?” Annie asked. “Maybe they’ll return home on their own.”

  “Yes, of course,” said the queen.

  With Guinevere’s help, Jack and Annie lifted the heavy yoke from the necks of the two oxen and set it on the ground.

  “Go home. You’re free,” Jack said.

  Neither ox moved.

  “Go back home to Camelot,” said Annie. “That’s what we need you to do now. Don’t worry about us.”

  The heavy animals snorted. Then they both began lumbering back across the moor.

  “Good job! Bye, guys! Thanks!” Annie called after them.

  “Come on, let’s get going,” said Jack. He picked up his pack. As he placed it in the back of the cart, he saw that the king was still sleeping in the hay under his cloak. Oki was lying on the king’s chest. “Good dog. Stay with him,” Jack whispered.

  Jack hurried to Annie and Guinevere. “Ready?” he said.

  “Ready,” they both answered.

  Jack and Annie stood at one end of the pole, and Guinevere stood at the other. “Okay, team!” said Jack. “Grab and lift!”

  All of them wrapped their arms around the wooden pole. “Heave!” said Annie. Puffing and panting, they lifted the pole off the ground.

  “Onward!” said Jack. Gripping the pole, they struggled together, trying to move the cart forward. But it didn’t budge.

  “Wait, I’ll push,” said Jack. He went to the back of the cart and pushed. He pushed so hard that his feet slipped, and he fell to his knees. But he scrambled up and tried again.

  As Jack pushed, Annie and Guinevere pulled from the front. The cart rocked forward, then slipped back. Jack pushed as hard as he could. Finally the wheels creaked and moaned, and the cart began rolling over the ground.

  “Yay! Keep going,” called Annie.

  Keep going echoed in Jack’s mind as he pushed the cart across the moor. Even the squeak of the wheels seemed to say Keep going, keep going.

  Jack kept pushing while Annie and Guinevere kept pulling, until at last the cart rolled to a stop at the foot of the mountains.

  “We’re here,” Jack said, panting. He ran to the front of the cart and helped Annie and Guinevere lower the pole to the ground.

  Then they all looked up at Munith Mor looming overhead.

  A stream of moonlit water splashed over the ridges of the mountainside. The shimmering white waterfall spilled into a pool and then coursed down a narrow streambed. Except for the soft rushing sound of the water, the night was still.

  “Are we in Avalon?” a deep voice rasped. King Arthur was sitting up in the hay.

  The queen hurried to him. “We are very close,” she said.

  “Help…help me down,” he said.

  As Guinevere helped Arthur from the back of the cart, Annie put Oki on the ground. Then she turned to Jack. “We have to solve Cafelle’s riddle now,” she said.

  Jack pulled his notebook out of his backpack and turned to the riddle. “There’s not enough light,” he said.

  “Don’t worry, we can remember,” said Annie. “Moon so bright. Munith Mor night.”

  “Then Curtain of white. Hides from sight,” said Jack.

  “Yes! Magic for flight,” said Annie.

  “Got it,” said Jack. He repeated the whole riddle: “Moon so bright. Munith Mor night. Curtain of white. Hides from sight. Magic for flight. Before dawn’s light. Or lose the fight.”

  “The moon is bright, and we’re at Munith Mor,” said Annie. “So where’s the curtain?”

  They looked around at the barren landscape.

  “That’s the big question,” said Jack.

  “Hey, look at that waterfall!” said Annie. “Doesn’t it kind of look like a curtain?”

  Jack stared at the sparkling torrent flowing over the side of the mountain. It did look like a curtain, he thought.

  “Yes! A curtain of white!” Jack said.

  “Hides from sight!” said Annie. “The waterfall’s hiding something!”

  “Magic for flight,” said Jack.

  “The gold dragon statue!” said Annie.

  “Behind the waterfall!” said Jack.

  “That’s the hidden place!” said Annie.

  “Yes!” said Jack. He turned to the king and queen. “The gold dragon is somewhere behind that waterfall,” he said.

  “We’re going to check it out. You guys stay here,” Annie said to the queen. “I mean, Your Majesties stay here.”

  Guinevere smiled. “Pray, be careful,” she said.

  “We will,” said Annie. As she and Jack started toward the waterfall, Oki ran along beside them.

  “No! Go back!” Jack commanded.

  Oki barked at him.

  “Let’s just put him in your bag,” said Annie. She picked up the puppy and lowered him into Jack’s backpack. “There you go.”

  “Come on!” said Jack. And they headed toward the shimmering curtain of white.

  “Wait, I need to wash off the yellow marks!” said Annie. She ran to the streambed and splashed water on her face. When she finished, she hurried back to Jack. “All set,” she said.

  Jack and Annie climbed up to a rocky ledge and gazed at the cascade. Oki sneezed in Jack’s pack. “Hang in there, buddy,” said Jack. “Okay. See that rock formation jutting out? See how the water shoots over it and then splashes down on the rocks below? It looks like there’s an opening of some kind behind the waterfall…doesn’t it?”

  “Yes!” Annie said. “Let’s go!”

  Jack followed Annie over the wet rocks to the waterfall. In the moonlight, he could barely make out a hollow space in the cliff behind it.

  “That looks like a cave!” said Annie.

  “A cave that hides from sight behind a curtain of white,” said Jack.

  Yip! Yip! Oki popped his head out of Jack’s backpack.

  The little dog kept barking as Jack and Annie slipped behind the waterfall and made their way inside the cave.

  The air in the cramped cave smelled of wet rocks and mold. Jack had to bend down to keep his head from hitting the ceiling, and Oki tumbled out of his backpack.

  Before Jack could catch him, the puppy dashed off.

  “Oki!” cried Annie.

  Yip! Yip!

  Oki’s barking came from deep within the cave. “We’re coming!” called Annie. She and Jack moved their hands along the cave wall to guide their way. As they followed the sound of Oki’s barks and whines, the cave became more like a tunnel. The ceiling was so low that Annie and Jack had to get on their hands and knees and crawl in the blackness toward Oki’s cries.

  Suddenly Jack heard a flapping and squeaking off to the side. “Watch out for bats,” he called.

  “Yikes. You think spiders could be in here, too?” said Annie.

  “Probably yes,” said Jack.

  “Oh, no,” said Annie.

  “Keep going,” said Jack. “Just keep your head down.”

  Close by, Oki yelped furiously.

  Jack felt around blindly for the puppy. But instead of fur, his hand touched a cold, smooth object. He quickly drew back, afraid he might have touched a snake or some other creature.

  “Gotcha!” said Annie. “I got Oki!”

  “Good,” said Jack.

  “Hey, there’s something else here,” said Annie.

  “What?” said Jack.

  “It’s heavy, but it feels like a plate,” said Annie.

  “Actually, I felt something, too,” said Jack. He reached out and touched the cold object again. He picked it up and ran his fingers over it. “I think I found a goblet,” he said.

  “I just found something else,” said Annie. “Oh, wow…it’s too heavy to lift with one hand.”

  “Where is it?” said Jack, reaching toward the sound of Annie’s voice.

  “Here,” said Annie. She guided his hand to the object.

  When Jack tried to pick the object up, he almost droppe
d it. It was very heavy. Jack ran his fingers over its surface….Is that a head? A snout? he wondered. Wings? Claws? “Oh, man, we found it!” he whispered.

  “The dragon?” asked Annie.

  “Yes, I think so!” said Jack. “Let’s get it outside!”

  “Okay, I’ll carry Oki,” said Annie.

  Jack stuffed the heavy object in his backpack. Crawling and then crouching, he and Annie made their way back through the cave, until they came to the entrance. The waterfall showered them with spray as they climbed over the rocks to the ground.

  Jack set down his backpack and pulled out the object. In the moonlight, the ninth dragon was magnificent. Its golden wings were raised behind its back, and its eyes seemed to be gazing into the far distant hills.

  “Your Majesties!” Annie called. “We found the ninth dragon!” She put Oki on the ground, and they all hurried to show Arthur and Guinevere the golden statue. But when they reached the cart, there was no sign of the king or queen.

  “Where are they?” said Jack.

  Oki yelped and dashed into the shadows.

  “There they are!” said Annie, pointing to a cluster of rocks.

  Guinevere was kneeling on the grass, holding Arthur in her arms. Oki whined and pawed the ground.

  “We found it!” Jack shouted as he and Annie ran to them.

  Jack placed the gold dragon statue next to Arthur. “See, we found the ninth dragon!” he said. But Arthur and Guinevere were both still.

  “What—what’s wrong?” said Annie.

  “The king is dying,” the queen said in a hollow voice.

  Oki let out a howl.

  “He can’t be,” said Jack. Not now. “What about the water, the healing water from Avalon? Wait!” Jack ran to the cart and grabbed the leather flask and brought it back to the queen.

  “There is no more,” said Guinevere.

  Jack turned the leather flask upside down. Not a drop of the healing water was left.

  “Listen,” said Annie.

  Jack heard a faint whinnying sound and the thunder of horse hooves. Peering across the moonlit moor, he saw riders in the distance galloping toward them.

  “The robbers,” said Guinevere.

  “Oh, no,” said Annie.

  “They’re coming back for their treasure,” said the queen.