"Boy, I'm glad to be back in my jeans," said Annie.
Jack opened his eyes. He still felt damp. But he wasglad to be wearing his jeans again, too.
"Welcome home," said Morgan. She was standing inthe shadows. "Are you all right?""Of course!" piped Annie.
"And we brought back the lost book," said Jack.
He reached in his backpack and took out thejeweled book of Brother Michael. He handed it toMorgan.
The enchantress sighed. She ran her hand over thesparkling cover.
"A great work of art," she said.
Morgan then put the book next to the scroll fromRoman times and the bamboo book from ancientChina.
"I'm afraid the story you wanted is not all there,"said Jack. "Brother Michael didn't get the chance tofinish it."Morgan nodded.
"I know," she said. "Sadly, we have only bits andpieces of many wonderful old stories.""What's the story about?" asked Annie.
"It's an ancient Irish tale about a great serpentnamed Sarph," said Morgan.
"He saved us by pushing our ship over the stormywaves!" Annie said.
"Sarph was a huge, ugly monster," said Jack.
Morgan smiled.
"Sometimes monsters can be heroes," she said.
"What about Vikings?" asked Jack.
"Oh, most definitely, Vikings could be heroes, too,"she said. "In fact, once the Vikings settled down, theybecame more than just a warrior people. Theyactually added a lot to civilization.""We found civilization on our trip," said Annie.
"Yeah," said Jack, "in the library of the monastery."Morgan smiled again.
"Their library was a light in the Dark Ages, wasn'tit?" she said.
Jack nodded. He thought of Brother Michael andthe other monks making their beautiful books bycandlelight.
"Thank you also for your great courage," Morgansaid. "You are both heroes, too."Jack smiled shyly.
"Go home now and rest," said Morgan.
"Bye," Jack and Annie said together.
They started down the tree house ladder. The skywas turning pink and gold.
When they reached the ground, Morgan called outto them, "Come back in two weeks. I need you to findone more lost book.""Where is it?" said Jack.
"Ancient Greece," said Morgan. "A place with thehighest civilization--and the first Olympic games.""Oh, wow!" said Annie.
Jack was thrilled. He had always wanted to go toancient Greece.
Jack and Annie took off through the woods.
The sun was rising when they got to their frontporch.
Annie opened the front door. She stuck her headinside and listened.
"Everything's quiet," she whispered. "I think Momand Dad are still sleeping."She moved quietly inside.
Jack turned back to watch the red sun rise througha clear blue sky.
He thought about how it was the same sun that hadrisen in Ireland--over a thousand years ago.
"Shine, 0 light of the sun," Jack whispered, "on thisday filled with wonder."Then he slipped inside his quiet house.
MORE FACTS FOR YOU AND JACK have onlyfragments of many old Celtic stories.
1) In the fifth century, St. Patrick converted Irelandto Christianity. Scholars and crafts-men from all overEurope studied with the Irish monks in theirmonasteries.
2) Monks in the monasteries made beautifulmanuscripts to reflect the glory of God. Most of theirmanuscripts were religious in nature.
3) The first recorded people of Ireland were theCelts. Before the Irish became Christians, theypracticed the Celtic religion and developed a Celticmythology.
4) The great sea serpent Sarph was a Celtic creaturewho was identified with the Milky Way. Just as Jackand Annie were not able to rescue the complete storyof Sarph, today we have only fragments of many oldCeltic stories.
5) The word Vikings means "fighting men." Vikingsincluded Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes.
6) In the ninth century, Viking raiders attacked thecoastal villages of England, Scotland, and Ireland,stealing treasure and carrying people off to be slaves.
7) The Vikings were the greatest shipbuilders oftheir time. The shallowness of their war-shipsallowed them to land on most beaches.
8) The Vikings were "settling men" as well as"fighting men." Eventually they settled down inEurope and became traders, exchanging goods ratherthan stealing them. They were also expert craftsmen. |