Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve (8 page)

J
ack, Annie, and Teddy crunched through fallen leaves until they came to Merlin's oak. They found the hidden door near the rope ladder. Teddy pushed on the bark.

The door opened. One by one, they slipped into the candlelit hollow of the tree trunk. Merlin was sitting in his tall wooden chair.

“So you restored order to the castle?” he said calmly.

“Yes, sir,” said Teddy. “Had to use a bit of magic, but now all is well.”

“Your rhyming must have improved,” Merlin said to Teddy.

Teddy grinned sheepishly. “Well, to be truthful, the real magic was not in my rhymes. 'Twas the magic of Jack and Annie's courage and kindness that saved the day—and saved me, too.”

“Indeed?” said Merlin.

“Aye,” said Teddy. “They have a magic as powerful as any sorcerer's rhymes or enchanted hazel twig.”

Merlin raised a bushy eyebrow. “Enchanted hazel twig?” he said.

“'Tis only a figure of speech,” Teddy said quickly.

Merlin turned to Jack and Annie. “I thank you for your help,” he said. “All the realm of Camelot thanks you.”

“You're welcome,” they said.

Merlin stood up. “Come along, my boy,” he said to Teddy. “I will help speed you back to
Morgan now. My research is done. We must return these rare books to her library.”

He reached down and picked up a stack of ancient-looking books from the floor. He piled them into Teddy's arms.

Teddy turned awkwardly with his books. Then he and Jack and Annie followed Merlin out of the heart of the oak.

The sun had risen higher in the sky. The woods were still.

Teddy peered over the tops of the books. “I suppose we must say good-bye now,” he said to Jack and Annie.

“When will we see you again?” asked Annie.

“When duty calls, I suppose,” said Teddy. He looked at Merlin.

The magician smiled.

“Will you be able to find your way home all right?” Teddy asked them.

“Oh, sure,” said Jack. “The tree house will take us back.”

He and Annie looked up at the magic tree house at the top of the oak. A sudden gust of wind rustled the leaves.

Jack and Annie turned back to Merlin and Teddy. But they were gone. Bright yellow
leaves swirled and danced in the spot where they'd been standing.

“Wow …,” said Annie.

“Yeah …,” said Jack.

“Well,” said Annie, sighing. “Onward?”

“
Home
ward!” said Jack.

Annie started up the rope ladder. Jack followed. When they climbed inside the tree house, Merlin's leaf invitation was fluttering off the floor. Before it could blow out the window, Annie grabbed it. She pointed to the words
Frog Creek.

“I wish we could go there!” she said.

The wind started to blow.

The tree house started to spin.

It spun faster and faster!

Then everything was still.

Absolutely still.

* * *

Jack opened his eyes. He and Annie sat quietly on the floor of the tree house for a moment. Jack
looked out the window. High overhead, a bird was soaring through the dusky sky.

Jack could hardly believe that just a little while ago, he had been a bird himself.

“Ready to go home?” said Annie.

Jack nodded. There was no way to explain what had just happened to them, he thought. There was no way to even talk about it.

Annie carefully placed Merlin's autumn leaf in the corner of the tree house, next to their Royal Christmas Invitation. Then she and Jack climbed down the ladder and started through the woods.

In the gathering dark of Halloween night, nothing seemed very spooky. Jack knew all the trees. He knew the familiar path out to their street.

As he and Annie headed toward home, three creatures stepped onto the sidewalk in front of them—a hideous witch, a grinning skeleton, and a huge, hairy eyeball.

The creatures cackled and rattled and hissed.

Jack and Annie laughed.

“Oh, brother,” said Jack.

“Good costumes,” said Annie.

Jack and Annie crossed their yard and climbed their front steps. “Are you ready for trick-or-treating?” said Annie.

Jack pushed his glasses into place. “You know, I think maybe I'll stay home this year,” he said, “and help Mom and Dad give out the treats.”

“Yeah, maybe I will, too,” said Annie. “But I think I'll wear my vampire-princess costume anyway.”

Jack smiled. “Cool,” he said.

Then he and Annie slipped inside their warm, cozy house—and closed the door against the dark of All Hallows Eve.

F
airy tales and mythology often inspire ideas for my work. While I was writing
Haunted Castle on Hallows Eve
, details of old stories from Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, and Persia found their way into my story. For example, in a book of Celtic tales from Ireland and Wales, I read many stories about people being transformed into animals. I also read about an army of ravens called the “raven troops.” In a collection of stories from
The Arabian Nights
, I came across a magnificent bird called the Roc. All these legends stirred my imagination—and the
next thing I knew, I was writing a story in which my characters transformed into ravens and saved the life of an amazing bird named Rok.

When researching the ancient world of the British Isles, I learned that it was common for people to have awe and respect for sacred stones. I learned, in particular, about a famous stone in Scotland known as the “Stone of Destiny,” which is surrounded by myth and legend. The stone was once used in sacred ceremonies for enthroning kings. This information inspired me to create Merlin's “Diamond of Destiny.” And where did I get my idea for Teddy's magic hazel wand? For many years, I have loved a certain poem by the Irish poet William Butler Yeats. In the first stanza of “The Song of Wandering Aengus,” Yeats writes:

I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

Old tales and poetry from around the world are a constant source of inspiration for story-tellers. Creating something new from something old allows us to link hands with people of the past. Or, as Morgan le Fay once said to Jack and Annie (in Magic Tree House #16,
Hour of the Olympics)
, “The old stories are always with us. We are never alone.”

Here's a special preview of
Magic Tree House #31
(A Merlin Mission)
Summer of the Sea Serpent

Available now!

Excerpt copyright ©
2004
by Mary Pope Osborne.
Published by Random House Children's Books,
a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

J
ack was sitting on the porch reading the newspaper. It was a warm summer day, but the porch was shady and cool.

Annie poked her head out of the screen door. “Hey, Mom says she'll drive us to the lake this afternoon,” she said.

Jack didn't raise his eyes from the weather page. “Did you know today is the summer solstice?” he said.