Christmas In Camelot

Annie chases Jack around the ring and cries out to him to stop dancing. He tells her to leave him alone, but she grabs his shirt and pulls until he tumbles out of the circle. The winged dancers close the circle and carry on as though they don’t notice his absence. Jack scolds his sister for interrupting his fun. Annie gives him his glasses and tells him to look at the knights. One of the knights looks much older than the other two, but they all appear tired and ill with bony, pallid faces “frozen in ghostly smiles” (61). The children realize that they are looking at Camelot’s lost knights and that the men will dance themselves to death unless they rescue them.

Jack suggests that he and Annie rejoin the circle and position themselves between the winged dancers and the knights so that they can pull the men to safety. He worries about losing himself to the music again, so Annie tells him to focus on Morgan. On Annie’s signal, the children rush into the ring on either side of the knights and join in the dance. Immediately, Jack is swept up in “a wave of great joy” that washes his worries away (61). Annie shouts at her brother to pull away from the circle, but to no avail. When she yells out Morgan’s name, Jack remembers his quest and lets go of the winged dancer’s hand. It takes all of his strength, but he and Annie manage to break free with the three knights. The five humans tumble onto the grass, and the dancers close the circle and continue their endless dance.

The knights gasp for breath as they lie in the grass. The oldest of the three asks Jack and Annie who they are, and the children explain that they are friends who have journeyed from King Arthur’s castle on a quest to find the Water of Memory and Imagination and save Camelot. The oldest knight acknowledges that he is Sir Lancelot, traveling with his son, Sir Galahad, and their companion Sir Percival. Jack surmises that the winged dancers are the Keepers of the Cauldron and they guard it by trapping people in their dance. Sir Percival asks the children to wait until the knights have regained their strength and can accompany them on their journey, but Jack and Annie explain that Camelot is running out of time. To aid them on their quest, each of the three knights bestows a gift upon the siblings. Sir Galahad gives them a silver cup, Sir Percival gives them a wooden compass, and Sir Lancelot gives them a key made of glass.

After presenting these gifts, the three knights fall fast asleep. Annie whispers, “Sweet dreams [...] You guys need a long nap” (68). Jack retrieves his backpack and checks his notes. With the Christmas Knight’s cloak and the objects from the lost knights, they now have all four of the gifts mentioned in the second rhyme. Jack reads the third rhyme again, which tells them to look to the west for a secret door. Confidently, Annie proclaims that they can easily use the compass to travel west, unlock the door with the key, and fill the silver cup with the cauldron’s water. However, Jack worries that this is all a “little too easy” (71). He puts the cup in his backpack and uses the compass to guide them west. The children walk into a tangled thicket full of thorny branches. The landscape is eerily silent compared to the glade, and Jack begins to wonder if the compass is broken. Annie spots a glass door set in a hill on the other side of the thicket.

Jack and Annie scramble through the thicket and up the hill. Using Sir Lancelot’s glass key, she unlocks the secret door. The children step into an enormous cave made entirely of glittering, clear crystal. They find a room in which a golden cauldron hangs over a purple fire. Jack gives Annie a boost so she can reach the cauldron and fill the silver cup with the shimmering Water of Memory and Imagination. Annie is thrilled that they have what they need to save Morgan, but the children’s excitement turns to fear when they smell something rotten and hear ominous sounds. A scaly, winged creature with “glowing red eyes and long, curled claws” crawls toward them (77). Blue flames spew from its jaws. Soon, the children are surrounded by four dragons. Jack realizes that the fearsome creatures are the “real Keepers of the Cauldron” (77).

The four angry dragons crawl closer to Jack and Annie. She suggests that drinking the Water of Memory and Imagination could help them think of a way to escape. He thinks the idea is absurd, but the dragons’ approach convinces him to give her plan a try. Annie takes a sip from the cup and gives it to Jack, who holds it with trembling hands. After they both drink the water, Annie urges her brother, “Now imagine we’re saved!” (79). He closes his eyes and imagines the dragons retreating. Annie asks him if he’s ready to fight, and he suddenly feels fearless and strong. The children hurry to the fire under the cauldron and seize branches that “blazed with purple fire like flaming swords” (80). Jack and Annie charge, shouting and waving the burning branches. The dragons hiss and hurl blue fireballs. Eventually, the dragons’ flames grow weaker, and they each retreat down a different corridor. The siblings use the burning branches to block the dragons’ routes so they won’t come back. Annie picks up the cup of water, and they leave the crystal cave. Jack feels calm and composed until he locks the secret door behind them. Then his knees give out, and he slumps to the ground.