"W ake up, lazybones! You can't sleep allafternoon!" said a friendly voice.
Jack's eyes shot open. Oh, no! he thought. Whattime is it? He sat up and looked around.
The seals were gone. Standing over Jack and Anniewas a barefoot boy with a happy, freckled face.
"Teddy!" said Jack. For a moment he forgot allabout the time.
"Teddy! Teddy!" cried Annie. She leaped up andhugged the young sorcerer.
56Teddy grinned from ear to ear. He was wearing abrown tunic. His red hair was damp.
"You're finally here!" said Jack, laughing.
"I have been here for some time," said Teddy.
"Merlin sent me early this morning. I was waiting foryou on the beach when Kathleen came along andinvited me to go for a swim with her."57Teddy turned to a girl standing a little farther downthe beach. Like Teddy, she looked to be aboutthirteen. "Kathleen!" he called. "Come meet myfriends!"58The girl smiled and began walking over the rockstoward Jack, Annie, and Teddy. She wore a greendress that looked as if it had been woven from grass.
Her hair fell in black ringlets down to her waist like adark waterfall.
"These are my good friends Jack and Annie," Teddysaid to the girl. "They come from a faraway land.""Hello, Jack and Annie!" the girl said in a bold,friendly voice. "I am very happy to meet you! Myname is Kathleen." As she spoke, Kathleen's largeeyes sparkled with the blue of the sky and water.
Jack couldn't speak. Kathleen was the mostbeautiful girl he'd ever seen.
"I like your dress," said Annie.
Kathleen laughed. "I wove it from sea grass," shesaid. "I am not a very good weaver, I am sad to say.""Do you live here?" asked Annie.
59"I do," said Kathleen, "with my nineteen sisters.""Nineteensisters!" said Annie.
"Yes," said Kathleen, tossing back her long curls. "Iam the youngest of us all. We live in a cave up in thecliffs.""Cool," said Annie. "Is your cave like the Cave ofthe Spider Queen?""No, no," said Kathleen. "It is much more cheerfulthan Morag's cave.""So that's her name," said Annie. "I'm worried thatshe might be lonely.""Ah, do not worry," said Kathleen. "Morag hasmany friends--bats, crabs, starfish. But it is kind ofyou to be concerned about her." She smiled at Annie.
Kathleen's friendly manner finally gave Jack thecourage to speak. He cleared his throat. "The WaterKnight was really cool, too," he said.
"The Water Knight?" said Kathleen.
60"Yeah," he said, "the guy who carried us across thefirst cove."Kathleen looked puzzled.
"His horse had a fish's tail!" said Annie.
"How strange," said Kathleen. "I often swim in thatcove, but I've never seen or heard of such a knight.""Have you lived here a long time?" asked Annie.
"Always," said Kathleen.
"Kathleen is a selkie," said Teddy.
"A selkie?" said Jack and Annie together.
"Yes," said Kathleen, laughing.
"You're in Merlin's rhyme!" said Annie. "It says,Swim with a selkie clothed in green""Merlin's rhyme?" asked Teddy.
"Merlin gave us a rhyme to help us find the Swordof Light," said Jack.
The smile left Kathleen's face. Her beautiful eyesdarkened. "You have come in search of the Sword ofLight?" she said. "Oh, dear...."61"What's wrong?" said Jack.
"Many have passed through here seeking the Swordof Light," said Kathleen. "But as soon as anyoneenters the cove beyond the Jellyfish Cave, terriblewinter storms seem to burst out of nowhere. Even insummer, the storms have icy winds and rain. Noseekers of the sword have ever survived these gales.""Have you ever been to the cove beyond theJellyfish Cave?" asked Jack.
Kathleen shook her head. "My older sisters havealways forbidden me to go there," she said. "In fact,no selkie has ever dared swim into the Cove of theStormy Coast.""Cove of the Stormy Coast?" said Annie. "That's thenext line in Merlin's rhyme! Enter the Cove of theStormy Coast!""What isMerlin's rhyme?" asked Teddy.
"Here," said Jack. "Look."He handed the seashell to Teddy.
The boy sorcerer quickly read Merlin's
message and rhyme. Then he looked at the sky.
"The sun moves on," he said. "Let us make haste! Wemust find the sword before nightfall! Or somedayArthur will meet his doom!""Wait a minute," said Annie. She looked atKathleen. "The rhyme says we're supposed to swimwith you. Will you come with us?"Kathleen looked at them for a long moment. Thenshe stood up and tossed back her curls.
63Her eyes were bright. "I have always wanted toexplore that cove," she said.
"Hurray!" said Teddy. "You will be the first selkie todo so! A grand adventure awaits us all! Onward!""Hold on," said Jack. "What about that JellyfishCave?""You need not worry about the jellyfish," saidKathleen. "They cannot harm us.""They cannot?" said Jack.
"No," said the selkie, "not if we all change intoseals." |