Winter of the Ice Wizard Read online

  “Jack! Come look!” Annie called. She, Teddy, and Kathleen were standing on the slope of a huge snowdrift.

  Jack hurried to join them.

  “Look!” said Annie.

  “Oh, man,” Jack said softly.

  On the other side of the snowdrift was a glimmering palace made from huge blocks of ice.

  Beneath the rising moon, its gleaming spires pierced the blue dusk.

  “I wonder who lives there … ,” said Jack.

  “Let us go and find out!” said Teddy.

  Teddy led the way down the slope to the ice palace. Long icicles hung like spears in front of the entrance.

  “It seems no one has visited this place in quite a while,” said Kathleen.

  “Indeed,” said Teddy. He broke off several icicles, and they clattered to the ground. “Onward?” he said.

  The others nodded.

  Kicking aside the chunks of ice, Teddy led them all into the ice palace.

  The air inside the palace was even colder than the air outside. Moonlight flooded through tall arches in the walls. The floor shined like a skating rink. Thick columns of sparkling ice held up a domed ceiling.

  “WELCOME, JACK AND ANNIE,” boomed a voice from beyond the columns.

  Jack gasped. “Is that Merlin?” he whispered.

  “It does not sound like Merlin,” whispered Teddy.

  “But how does he know our names?” whispered Annie.

  “COME, JACK AND ANNIE. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU,” bellowed the voice.

  “Maybe it is Merlin!” said Annie. “Maybe he’s just using a different voice! Come on!”

  “Annie, wait!” Jack called. But Annie had already disappeared into the sparkly room. “We have to follow her,” he said to Teddy and Kathleen.

  The three of them hurried after Annie. Beyond the columns, steps made of carved ice led up to a platform. Sitting on a throne on the platform was a huge bearded man.

  The man on the throne was definitely not Merlin. He was dressed in a worn robe trimmed with dirty fur. He had a rugged, weather-beaten face, a bushy beard, and a black eye patch. He leaned forward and glared down at Annie with his one good eye.

  “Who are you?” he demanded. “I was expecting Jack and Annie of Frog Creek.”

  Annie stepped toward the throne. “I am Annie and he’s Jack,” she said. “And these are our friends Teddy and Kathleen. We come in peace.”

  “Annie? Jack?” the man snorted. “You are not Annie and Jack! You are far too small!”

  “We’re not so small,” said Annie. “I’m nine. Jack’s ten.”

  “But you are children,” the man said with scorn. “Jack and Annie are heroes!”

  “Well, I don’t know if I’d call us heroes,” said Annie. “But we sometimes help Merlin and Morgan le Fay.”

  “Annie, shhh!” said Jack. He didn’t trust the man on the throne and worried that Annie was saying too much.

  But Annie went on. “In fact, Merlin told us to come to the Land-Behind-the-Clouds today,” she said. “He sent us a message written on a stone.”

  “Ah … ,” said the man on the throne. “Perhaps you really are Jack and Annie.” He leaned forward and spoke in a low voice:

  To Jack and Annie of Frog Creek:

  My Staff of Strength has been stolen. On the winter solstice, journey to the Land-Behind-the-Clouds. Travel toward the setting sun and retrieve my staff—or all will be lost.

  Jack didn’t understand. “How … ?”

  “How do I know what was in Merlin’s message?” the man said. “I know because I wrote it myself! I hoped it would find its way to you somehow.”

  Jack stepped back. So Merlin hadn’t sent them on this mission at all. The weird man on the throne had tricked them!

  “Who are you?” demanded Teddy.

  “I am the Ice Wizard,” said the man. “The Wizard of Winter.”

  Teddy gulped.

  Oh, no! thought Jack. They had heard about this wizard on their past Merlin missions. It was the Wizard of Winter who had put a spell on the Raven King and who had stolen the Sword of Light!

  The wizard glanced coldly from Teddy to Kathleen. “And who are the two of you?”

  “I am Teddy of Camelot,” said Teddy. “I am an apprentice to Morgan le Fay, in training to be a sorcerer myself.”

  “A sorcerer?” said the wizard.

  “Yes,” said Teddy. “My father was a sorcerer. My mother was a wood sprite.”

  “And I am a selkie,” said Kathleen, “one of the ancient seal people.”

  “So you are both from my world,” said the Ice Wizard. “You are of no use to me.” He looked back at Jack and Annie. “I am interested only in the two mortals, Jack and Annie of Frog Creek.”

  “Why are you interested in us?” said Jack.

  “Because of what you have done for Merlin!” bellowed the Ice Wizard. “For Merlin, you found the Water of Memory and Imagination! For Merlin, you found the Diamond of Destiny! For Merlin, you found the Sword of Light! Now I want you to find something for me.”

  “What do you want us to find?” asked Annie.

  The Ice Wizard grabbed the black patch covering his left eye. He yanked it off, revealing a dark, empty socket underneath.

  “Yikes,” Annie said softly.

  “I want you to find my eye,” the Ice Wizard said.

  “Oh, man,” said Jack. He was horrified.

  “Are—are you quite serious?” said Teddy. “You want them to find your eye?”

  The wizard covered his empty eye socket with the patch again. “Yes,” he said. “I want Jack and Annie to find my eye—and bring it back to me.”

  “But—why?” said Jack. “Even if we found it, we couldn’t make it work. We’re not medical experts or anything.”

  “And anyway, why can’t you get your eye yourself?” said Annie. “You’re a wizard!”

  “DO NOT QUESTION MY ORDERS!” the wizard roared at her.

  “Hey, don’t yell at my sister!” said Jack.

  The wizard raised a bushy eyebrow. “You are brother and sister?” he said.

  “Yes,” said Jack.

  The wizard nodded slowly. His voice grew softer. “And you protect your sister,” he said.

  “We protect each other,” said Jack.

  “I see,” whispered the wizard. Then his voice turned gruff again. “Long ago, I traded my eye for something I wanted very much. But I never got what I wanted. So now I want my eye back.”

  “Who did you trade with?” asked Annie.

  “The Fates!” said the wizard. “I traded with the Fates! But they cheated me! And that is why I sent for you and Jack. You must go to the Fates and find my eye, and you must go alone.”

  “Why alone?” asked Jack.

  “Because only mortals can undo a bargain with the Fates,” said the Ice Wizard, “not wizards like me—nor seal girls, nor the sons of sorcerers, like your two friends.”

  “But Jack and I succeeded in our other missions because Teddy and Kathleen or Morgan and Merlin helped us,” said Annie.

  “What kind of help did they give you?” said the wizard.

  “Well, mostly magic rhymes and riddles,” said Annie.

  “Ah. Then I shall do the same,” said the wizard. He thought for a moment, then leaned forward on his throne. In a growly voice, he said:

  Take my sleigh

  And find your way

  To the House of the Norns

  In the curve of the bay.

  Pay them whatever

  They tell you to pay.

  And bring back my eye

  By break of day.

  The wizard reached into the folds of his ragged robe and pulled out a thick string with a row of knots. “This wind-string will speed you on your journey,” he said. He tossed the string to Jack.

  What’s a wind-string? Jack wondered. And who are the Norns?

  Before Jack could ask any questions, the Ice Wizard pointed at him. “Now listen carefully to this warning,” he said
. “Beware the white wolves of the night. They may follow you on your quest. Never let them catch up with you. If they catch you, they will eat you!”

  Jack felt a chill run down his spine.

  The Ice Wizard picked up a carved wooden stick from the floor beside his throne. Its smooth, polished wood glowed in the moonlight.

  Teddy gasped. “ ’Tis Merlin’s Staff of Strength!” he said.

  “Indeed,” said the wizard. He turned to Jack and Annie. “Go now and find my eye,” he said. “Or you will never see Merlin and Morgan le Fay again.”

  “What have you done with them?” cried Annie.

  The wizard stared at her coldly. “I will not tell you,” he said. “You will see them again only if you return my eye before the break of day.”

  “But—” said Annie.

  “No more questions!” said the wizard. “Be on your way!” Before any of them could speak, the Ice Wizard slashed the air with Merlin’s Staff of Strength and shouted a spell—“OW-NIGH!”

  A flash of blue fire shot from the end of the staff. In an instant, Jack, Annie, Teddy, and Kathleen found themselves outside the palace in the freezing night.

  Jack sat on the frozen ground. Annie, Teddy, and Kathleen sat nearby. They were all too shocked to speak. The night was quiet. Overhead the full moon shined brightly, and a few cold stars twinkled in the clear sky.

  Finally Annie broke the silence. “I wonder what he did to Merlin and Morgan,” she said.

  “I wonder where you will find his eye,” said Teddy.

  “I wonder how we’ll carry it around,” said Jack.

  “And I wonder if the wolves are near,” said Kathleen. She stood up and looked around, pulling her cloak tightly around her.

  “Well, does anyone remember the Ice Wizard’s rhyme?” said Teddy.

  “Yes,” said Kathleen. She repeated the rhyme perfectly by heart:

  Take my sleigh

  And find your way

  To the House of the Norns

  In the curve of the bay.

  Pay them whatever

  They tell you to pay

  And bring back my eye

  By break of day.

  “What are Norns?” asked Jack.

  “I have read about the Norns in Morgan’s books,” said Teddy. “They are known as the Sisters of Fate. They spend their days weaving great tapestries. Their weaving determines the fate of all who live in the Land-Behind-the-Clouds.”

  “So the Norns have his eye?” said Jack. “That’s who he meant when he said he ‘traded with the Fates’?”

  “It would seem so,” said Teddy.

  “He said we should take his sleigh to find them,” said Annie. “Where’s his sleigh?”

  “Look,” said Kathleen, pointing. “ ’Tis there.”

  “Oh, wow,” said Annie.

  Not far away, a strange-looking silver sleigh glided silently from behind a snowbank. The sleigh looked like a small sailing ship with shiny runners. No one was steering it, and no horses or reindeer were pulling it. From its mast, a white sail drooped in the still air.

  As the sleigh slid to a stop, an eerie howl shattered the calm of the windless night.

  “Wolves!” cried Teddy. “Let us make haste!”

  Kathleen grabbed his arm. “Do not run,” she said. “If we run, they will chase us.”

  “Yes, of course,” said Teddy. “They must not see that we are afraid.”

  Another howl shattered the air.

  “Run!” cried Teddy.

  They all charged across the snow to the sleigh and scrambled into it. Jack and Kathleen stood at the front, and Annie and Teddy stood at the back.

  “There they are!” cried Teddy, pointing. “The white wolves of the night!”

  Jack turned and saw two large white wolves dashing across the plain in the moonlight. As the wolves ran toward the sleigh, their big paws scattered snow around them.

  “Go, go, go!” Jack cried, clutching the front of the sleigh.

  But the sleigh didn’t move. And the wolves kept coming. “How can we make it go?” cried Jack.

  “Use the wind-string!” said Teddy.

  Jack pulled the knotted string the wizard had given him out of his pocket. “Use it how?” he shouted.

  “Untie a knot!” said Teddy.

  Jack pulled off his gloves. His fingers were trembling as he tried to untie one of the knots. This is crazy! he thought. How can untying a knot in a string help us? But soon he managed to loosen one of the knots.

  A cold breeze began blowing from behind the sleigh. It ruffled the sail overhead.

  “Untie another!” shouted Teddy. “Hurry!”

  Jack quickly untied a second knot. The breeze grew stronger, and the sail filled out a bit more. The sleigh’s shiny runners began sliding across the snow.

  “Yay!” called Annie. “It works!”

  “Yes, but not nearly swiftly enough!” said Teddy.

  Jack looked back. The two white wolves had almost caught up with them. They were yelping and running behind the sleigh. Their mouths were open, showing their sharp teeth.

  Jack quickly untied a third knot. A cold wind blasted the sail. It opened with a snap, and the sleigh shot forward!

  “Stand fast!” cried Teddy.

  Jack, Annie, and Kathleen held tightly to the sides of the sleigh to keep from falling out. Teddy grabbed the rudder and steered them over the snow, away from the ice palace.

  The wizard’s sleigh zoomed across the frozen ground, leaving the white wolves in its wake. Their yelping noises grew fainter and fainter, until they could be heard no more.

  The wind kept pushing the silver sleigh over the ice and snow. The runners made swish-swish sounds as they slid over the moonlit plain. The square sail billowed in the wind, like the sail of a Viking ship. With the wolves far behind, the ride was really fun, but cold.

  “How did you know untying knots would make the wind blow?” Jack asked Teddy.

  “ ’Tis an ancient magic,” said Teddy. “I have read of wind-strings but had never seen one.”

  “It’s a good thing you read so much,” said Annie.

  “Oh, look!” said Kathleen. “Hares and foxes!”

  “Where?” said Annie.

  “There!” Kathleen pointed into the dark distance. “Playing in the snow! And listen! Whistling swans—overhead, behind that cloud.”

  “Wow,” said Annie.

  Jack was amazed by Kathleen’s power to see and hear so many things. As before, the moonlit landscape seemed completely empty to him.

  “Where are you steering us?” Annie asked Teddy.

  “I have no idea!” said Teddy, laughing.

  “We’re supposed to go to a curve of a bay to find the Norns,” said Annie.

  “Then turn left and follow the swans!” said Kathleen, pointing across the snowy plain. “They are flying toward the sea!”

  Teddy swerved the sleigh to the left. For a while, they bounced up and down over the snow. Then the ride grew smoother.

  “We are on sea ice now!” said Kathleen. “Seals are beneath! I see their breathing holes! Perhaps we should stop.”

  “Indeed!” said Teddy as they whizzed along. “But how?”

  “Try tying a knot!” said Annie.

  “Excellent idea!” said Teddy. “Jack?”

  Jack yanked off his gloves. With cold, shaky fingers, he tied a knot in the string. The wind lessened a bit. The sleigh began to slow down. He tied another. The sail started to droop.

  “Hooray!” said Annie.

  Jack tied a third knot and the wind completely died away. The sleigh glided to a stop.

  “Well done!” said Teddy.

  “Thanks,” said Jack. He tucked the string back in his pocket and looked around. “I wonder if this is where the Norns live.”

  “I will ask,” said Kathleen.

  Ask who? thought Jack.

  Kathleen climbed out of the sleigh. She walked over the sea ice, studying it closely. Then she stopped above a sm
all hole.

  Kathleen knelt down and spoke softly in selkie language. Then she put her ear close to the hole in the ice and listened.

  A moment later, she stood up. “The seal told me the curve of the bay lies just beyond those sea rocks,” she said, pointing. “That is where we will find the Norns.”

  “Great,” said Annie.

  Jack, Annie, Teddy, and Kathleen crunched over the frozen sea under the bright moon. They walked through a narrow passage between the sea rocks. When they stepped out from the passage, they stopped.

  “There ’tis,” said Teddy.

  About fifty yards away was a large, snowy white mound. Smoke was coming from a chimney on top of the mound. Lantern light flickered from a small, round window.

  “I know you must bargain for the Ice Wizard’s eye alone,” said Teddy. “But I would at least like to take a peek at the Norns.”

  He moved quietly to the window and peered into the house. The others joined him. They saw a large fire burning on a hearth. In its rosy glow, three strange creatures were weaving at a big loom. Jack caught his breath. Their appearance was shocking.

  The three Sisters of Fate were as skinny as skeletons. They all had straggly hair, long noses, and huge, bulging eyes. Their crooked, bony fingers fluttered over a large tapestry. Around the room other tapestries were stacked to the ceiling.

  “They look like witches in a fairy tale,” whispered Annie.

  “Aye, but they are not witches,” said Teddy. “Every cloth they weave is the history of a life.”

  “Wow,” said Annie.

  “Well, good luck,” said Teddy. “Kathleen and I will wait out here while you go inside and ask for the wizard’s eye.”

  Suddenly a terrible howl pierced the silence.

  “Yikes!” said Annie.

  “The wolves!” said Kathleen.

  Teddy hurried to the door and threw it open. “Everyone inside!” he said.

  And all four of them scrambled into the House of the Norns.

  Teddy slammed the door against the wolves. Jack caught his breath.

  “Welcome!” the three Norns said in unison. They all looked exactly alike, except they wore gowns of different colors—blue, brown, and gray.