It was on the afternoon of the third day that the telephone call came. Roger and Ann's mother answered it, and after the first few words she turned perfectly white. "Yes," she said. "Yes. Of course." Something about the way she said it made everybody in the room stop talking in mid-word and look at her. Then she hung up.
Aunt Katharine went to her quickly and they left the room together, and could be heard murmuring in low voices in the hall. The four children sat in silence in the living room, where they'd all been playing rummy when the call came, and Ann and Roger remembered other low voices that had gone on and on, that day back at home, and they were worried.
And then Aunt Katharine came back in and told them that it had been the hospital calling, and that the doctors had decided their father had to have an operation right away, today.
"Your mother's going straight out there now," she said. "I'm going with her." And she went to the phone to see about getting a room at the hospital where she and the children's mother could stay tonight till the worry was over.
Roger and Ann went upstairs to find their mother. The three of them didn't talk very much, but each one knew how the other two felt, and Roger and Ann were quiet and helpful about such things as packing their mother's bag for her and remembering what she ought to put in.
Their mother didn't even say good-bye, just kissed them both hard. And then she was gone. And pretty soon Jack and Eliza came upstairs, and the four of them drifted into Roger's room and sat, and nobody said anything much, but you could tell that Jack and Eliza were feeling friendly and sympathetic and wondering what they could do to help, and yet there didn't seem to be anything.
After a while Eliza got red and stared at the floor and said, "Look. Does the magic have to happen tonight? Maybe you'd rather it didn't. Maybe it could be indefinitely postponed."
"No," said Roger, unhappily. "Even if it could, it can't," he went on, not very clearly.
"Don't worry about us," said Jack quickly. "We'll understand."
"Sure," said Eliza. "Maybe I could have my adventure next week. Maybe we can fix it with the Old One."
"No, don't do that!" said Roger. "It's got to be tonight!"
"Why?" said Eliza.
But Roger looked so desperate that Jack gave his sister a surreptitious kick, and she did not repeat her question. Instead she asked if Roger and Ann would like to take a walk, but Roger said he thought they ought to stay, in case there were a message. And guessing that maybe they wanted to be alone, Eliza and Jack went away.
And when they'd gone, Roger told Ann a thing he'd been keeping to himself all this time. He told her about the wish he'd made that their father would get well in Baltimore, Maryland.
"And the Old One said wishes have to be earned," he told her anxiously. "And you see I haven't earned it, and this is my last chance. This is a warning."
Ann's eyes grew solemn. "Let's talk to him," she said. And she went and found the Old One and held him in her hands and stroked him lovingly, and after a while he rather reluctantly warmed up and began to speak.
"Ods fish," he said. "Degenerate times, generation of vipers, posterity is just around the corner and welcome to it! Canst thou not decide a single thing for thyself any more? Have courage and steadfast hearts gone down the drain, pardie?"
"It isn't that," said Ann. "We try. And we mean well, but something always happens."
"Ah yes," said the Old One. "Good intentions. Forsooth we all know what road paveth itself with them! On the other hand, if at first thou succeedeth not, try subsequently. And never forget the good old rule that magic goeth by threes."
"Can't you tell us any more, sir?" said Roger. "We know that."
The Old One gave him rather a sharp look. "Dost thou?" he said. "Art thou sure?" Then his eyes grew dreamy and his voice seemed to come from farther away. "Meseemeth I remember an ancient rune for just such cases as thine," he murmured. "How didst it run? Ah yes." And he recited slowly:
"Sword from stone the hero taketh—
Then the snowbound sleepers waketh!
Wisdom then the hero learneth!
Wishes then the hero earneth!"
And after that he wouldn't say another word, and he grew cold and heavy as lead (which he was) in Ann's hand.
"What did all that mean?" said Roger, as Ann put the Old One back in the castle. "Swords in the stone? That's the wrong story."
"And snowbound sleepers," said Ann, "only there aren't any. We didn't put any snow in. Did we?" But she wrote the ancient rune down in her notebook, anyway.
It was a few minutes after that that the phone rang. It was their mother. She said the operation was over and everything was fine so far. Roger sent a silent look of gratitude in the direction of the castle and the Old One. So far, so good.
And then Jack and Eliza came in' from their walk, and Roger and Ann showed them the ancient rune, and they couldn't figure it out, either, though they all tried till dinnertime and all through dinner and after dinner, and Jack even consulted his book on secret codes, to no avail.
"Maybe there's more in it than meets the eye," said Eliza. "Maybe it doesn't mean what it says. Maybe it's kind of symbolic. Maybe it's something else we're supposed to quest for. Something that looks like a sword or a stone."
"What looks like a stone besides a stone?" said Ann.
Nobody knew. And then all of a sudden the hours, which usually moved on laggard feet on magic nights, decided to cooperate for once, and it was bedtime.
Roger stayed awake for a while after the others, in case the telephone should ring again, but it didn't. All was still, save for the breathing of Jack on his couch. The gentle rhythm lulled Roger, and soon he knew no more. And soon after that the magic began.
The four cousins met on the usual greensward. Four pairs of eyes shone with eagerness and four hearts beat faster with the excitement of the quest. Where to begin was the question of the hour.
"I remembered one thing," said Ann. "I know where the red velvet train went, and part of the fur coat, too. Cedric the Saxon's got them on."
"And he's way over in Sherwood Forest," said Roger, "and the other things are in the castle, mostly."
"We'll have to separate," said Jack.
"Who'll go where?" said Ann.
"You and Jack take the castle," said Eliza, assuming command. "I'll go with Roger. Then each fair lady will have a champion to save her from worse than death, whatever that is."
"Are you nervous?" said Ann to Roger, privately.
"Yes," he admitted.
"I know," said Ann.
"So much depends on it," said Roger.
"Yes," said Ann.
"What depends on what?" said Eliza, coming up to them.
"Why, the quest depends on us," said Roger. But that wasn't what he was thinking of.
And now all clasped hands in a solemn good-bye. "Good luck," Roger said. "Watch out for Normans." And he and Eliza turned toward Sherwood.
Ann and Jack watched them out of sight; then they set off for Torquilstone.
As they drew near the castle and passed through the park with the statue of St. George Peabody, the rose trees pinkly perfumed the air.
"There's something we can start with," said Ann. "The roses from the quilt." She checked off an item on the list in her notebook, and they both started picking.
"Did you plant this many?" Jack asked after a while.
"I don't see how we could have," said Ann, wearily.
"They must have spread." They went on picking. Then suddenly a hand seized Ann by the shoulder. She turned in its grasp. A guard stood eyeing them sternly. He wore a peculiar uniform Ann had never seen before.
"Picking flowers in public parks is forbidden by the Leader," he said. "Punishable by twenty years' imprisonment. You are under arrest."
"But I put them there in the first place!" cried Ann. "I am the mighty sorceress!"
"Magic," said the guard, even more sternly, "is specially forbidden by the Leader. Punishable by burning at the stake, at
least. Guards, ho!"
But before more guards could appear, Jack grabbed Ann's hand. "Come on," he said, and clutching their armfuls of roses to them, they ran. The guard gave chase, but they dodged among the shrubbery and lost him.
"What do you suppose has happened?" Ann whispered pantingly as they ran. "Who's this Leader?"
"I don't know," Jack whispered back. "Something terrible must have gone wrong."
"After we were so careful, too," said Ann. "You'd think that magic did it on purpose!" And after that she saved her breath for running.
The park was left behind now, and they were on unfamiliar ground. Then, just as Ann reached her last gasp, they saw a sort of great high-ceilinged building ahead, with black iron hangings pushed back at the sides, and they knew where they were.
Jack pulled Ann to a stop. "Lurk!" he whispered. "Maybe we can find out what's up." And they crept toward the curtained chamber, lurked behind the nearest drapery, and peered through its iron folds.
Prince John stood in the middle of the room, surrounded by more oddly-uniformed guards. He wore a peculiar-looking cap on his head, and he was in a fury.
"Answer me!" he was shouting. "Who hath stolen my throne?"
"We know not, oh Leader," said a guard, raising his arm in a peculiar salute.
"Then find out!" snapped Prince John. "What was the use of my seizing the throne in the first place if ye let the first Tom, Dick or Harry who cometh along steal it the moment my back be turned?"
Ann and Jack looked at each other. Now they knew who was Leader in England, and why England was no longer merry.
Then Jack thought of his camera. This was too good a shot to miss. He reached for it, took careful focus, and Ann heard him snap the shutter. Unfortunately Prince John heard him, too.
"A spy!" he cried. "Seize him!"
Rough hands grasped Jack and dragged him from his hiding place. Other hands seized Ann and dragged her after Jack. And at that very moment the guard who had tried to arrest them in the rose garden came puffing up behind them, just to make things worse.
"Hold them!" he cried. "They be both of them mighty sorcerers. The small one hath confessed it."
"Mayhap 'tis they who hath stolen the throne," suggested a guard.
"Their garb is strange, like to that of Roger," whispered another.
"Silence!" cried Prince John. "Hath not thy Leader forbidden that name to be mentioned? There is no Roger." He glared at Ann and Jack and saw the camera. "What be yon devil's instrument?"
"It isn't," said Jack. "It's a camera. I just took your picture. And there is too a Roger. He's my cousin."
"What a camera may be," said Prince John, "I neither know nor care. But making pictures behind this iron curtain"—and he pointed to the draperies—"is punishable by death. So is believing in Roger, let alone being related to him. To the dungeon with them. They shall be burnt at sunrise."
And Ann and Jack were dragged away.
"How did it happen? Where did all these terrible new ideas come from?" Ann said to Jack as they were hustled along. "We certainly didn't put them in!"
"Maybe they just sort of leaked in from the outside world," said Jack. "Goodness knows there's enough of them around!"
The dungeon, when they got to it, proved to be so full already that they could hardly squeeze in.
"No wonder," said Jack, "with practically all the pleasures of life forbidden now!"
"Exactly," said the nearest prisoner. "I could not agree with thee more!"
Ann recognized him right away. It was the Norman knight, Maurice De Bracy. "What are you doing in jail?" she asked. "I thought Prince John was a friend of yours!"
"No longer," said De Bracy, grimly. "Now he calleth himself Leader, he is no man's friend. He hath become the worst tyrant in history. Some of us fellows finally got up a little petition against him."
"Sure," said Jack. "I know. The Magna Charta."
"Why, yes. How didst thou guess? 'Twas no use, though. He found out about it and clapped us all in jail. We are waiting now, to be burnt at sunrise."
"Why, so are we!" said Ann.
"Practically everybody is," said De Bracy, gloomily.
"Where's Rowena?" Ann wondered. "You seemed to be awfully good friends the last time I saw you."
The Norman's face darkened. "Never speak that name," he said. " 'Twas she who betrayed me. She maketh her great eyes at the Leader now. She hopeth to be Leaderess. When the guards arrested me, she laughed."
"I'm not a bit surprised," said Ann. "She never was good enough even for you, let alone Ivanhoe. I always kind of liked you. For a villain, you weren't bad at all."
"Thanks," said De Bracy, blushing modestly. "Then perhaps in that case thou wouldst not mind rescuing me and my comrades? I have heard tell that thou art a mighty sorceress."
"Oh," said Ann, blushing now in her turn. "Well, about that." Then she broke off, staring at his luxurious curling blond whiskers. She had almost forgotten about the quest. Now she remembered. "All right," she said. "But first there's just one thing."
"Anything, anything," said De Bracy.
"First," said Ann, "I'll have to cut off your beard."
"What?" The Norman's hand flew up to cover his beautiful whiskers protectively. He stood glaring at her in mistrust.
"I need it," said Ann, "for my mighty sorcery. Besides, it will soon grow out again," she added, feeling sorry for his knightly dignity.
"Well," said De Bracy reluctantly, offering her his sword, "see that thou cuttest clean and pullest not the short hairs." And he laid his head trustfully down on the stone windowsill.
One clean sweep, and the beard was in Ann's hands. She put it carefully with the roses, and checked off another item in her notebook. For the beard was what she had made of the small giant's side-curls one day when she decided De Bracy's face needed an extra touch. Now if she could just remember about the coattails.
"Well?" said De Bracy, when a minute had gone by and nothing had happened. "When doth the mighty sorcery begin?"
"Wait," said Ann, playing for time. "I can't do it all alone. I have to wait for Roger and the witch."
Another minute passed.
"When will they be coming?" said De Bracy.
"Pretty soon," said Ann. "I hope."
"Where are they now?" said De Bracy.
Ann couldn't keep up the pretense any longer. Her lip trembled. "I wish I knew," she said.
While all this was happening, Roger and Eliza were steadily trudging over the plain toward the forest. When they came to the shrubbery at the edge of the wood, Eliza stopped and picked a few leaves.
"Here," she said, handing them to Roger. "The giants' bath mat."
And they were in Sherwood itself. But the mighty forest seemed different today. No birds sang in its trees, no deer galloped gaily down its corridors. Even Eliza's bright conversation dwindled. Suddenly she grabbed Roger's arm. "Chiggers!" she said.
Roger stopped short. Someone was watching them, from behind a tree just ahead. It was a man in Lincoln green, but his jerkin was frayed and worn and his hose had holes in the knees. He had a bow in his hand, but he seemed to lack the strength to use it. He was staring at them with cold, unfriendly eyes that burned in a face so thin and worn that they didn't recognize him at first. Then they did, and ran to him with joyful cries of "Robin!"
But Robin Hood made an effort and raised his bow threateningly. "Stop where ye are, false prophets!" he cried. "Ye have tricked us with lies and led us astray that the vile Prince—I will not call him Leader for he certainly leadeth not me—might pillage our noble greenwood and rob us of our livelihood!"
"No we didn't. Honest," said Roger.
"We were unavoidably detained," said Eliza.
"We couldn't help it. It was magic. It does that sometimes," said Roger.
At last Robin Hood was convinced. "Then thank Heaven ye have returned," he said. "It hath been horrible."
And he raised his horn and blew a faint but cheered-up blast, and the r
est of the outlaws came out of their woodsy hiding, but so changed and weary that Roger would not have known them, and with many missing from their ranks.
Then as they sat on the ground, Robin told Roger and Eliza what De Bracy had told Ann, all about how Prince John was Leader now. And he told them how Prince John had rounded up all the deer in the forest for a collective farming experiment, so that the merry men were reduced to living on berries and tree bark. And how afterwards when they were weakened he had hunted them down with his terrible new army.
Many had been wounded and many more had deserted and fled. But the best men of the band were still loyally hoping for Roger and Ivanhoe to return and lead them to crush Prince John forever.
"Had I my trusty sword by me I shouldst have done it long ago," said the Black Knight. "Where is it?"
"Goodness," said Roger. "It must be in the Giants' Lair, still!" And he and Eliza told them about their adventure with the giants (leaving out the parts that were too magic for them to understand).
"And the mighty Jack?" said Robin Hood, "and the small sorceress?"
Eliza told about their quest, and how Ann and Jack must be somewhere in Torquilstone Castle this very minute.
"Then woe betide them!" cried Maid Marian. "The Prince hath taken it, and is burning folk at sunrise right and left!"
At this, Roger wanted to turn back and rescue Ann right away, but the others dissuaded him. "They've probably found everything and got away by this time," said Eliza. "They're probably on their way here right now. They'll probably be turning up any minute."
"Besides," said Robin Hood, "my men are in no condition to attack." So it was decided that Robin and the Black Knight should ride with Roger and Eliza to the Giants' Lair, while the others rested and consumed what rations they had, in preparation for battle.
"I hate to do this," said Eliza, after she had explained to Cedric the Saxon about needing his cloak for the quest. "Won't you be cold?"
"If 'twill aid my son," said Cedric, "what matter if back and side go bare?" And Friar Tuck said he'd lend him his extra habit, anyway.