Jack gasped. He couldn’t believe it.

“Oh, no,” said Annie.

“Yes. Right now we have a small supply of healing water from Avalon that is keeping Arthur alive,” said Guinevere. “But it will not last much longer.”

“What can we do?” said Jack.

“Your courage and intelligence are legendary in Camelot,” said the queen. “And that is why I sent for you. Will you help me find the gold dragon so the king can journey to Avalon, where Morgan can save his life?”

“Yes!” said Annie and Jack.

“Thank you,” said the queen. “He awaits us now.”

“You mean King Arthur is here?” asked Annie.

“Yes. Sir Tristan and Sir Lamorak brought him back to Camelot two nights ago,” said Guinevere. “Let us go now and see the king.”

Oki scampered ahead with the queen as she led the way back through the library and down the passageway to the staircase. When they reached the inner courtyard of the castle, they crossed the cobblestones to a small private chapel. Jack picked up Oki, and the queen tapped on the chapel’s door. The door slowly opened.

A bearded knight stared at Jack and Annie with dark, tired eyes. He held an iron lance. Another battle-worn knight stepped from the shadows.

When Oki growled at the two knights, Jack held him tighter. “Quiet,” he whispered.

“Sir Lamorak, Sir Tristan, Jack and Annie have arrived,” the queen said. “It is time to prepare.”

Without a word, the two knights bowed to the queen, then strode across the courtyard. Guinevere motioned for Jack and Annie to step inside the candlelit chapel.

“Thank you for coming, my friends,” a man said in a low, hoarse voice. King Arthur was sitting in a carved wooden chair beneath a stained-glass window. In the flickering candlelight, the king’s rugged, handsome face was very pale.

Yip! Oki leapt out of Jack’s arms and dashed toward King Arthur.

“Oki, stay!” said Annie. Before she could grab him, the puppy jumped into the king’s lap.

“What—what is this?” Arthur stammered. But when the puppy licked his face, the king smiled. “Well! Greetings, little one,” he said. Then he looked up at Jack and Annie. His eyes were clouded with pain.

“Hail, Your Majesty,” said Jack, bowing.

“Hail, Your Majesty,” echoed Annie, bowing also. “We’re so sorry to hear you were wounded.”

“No talk…of that,” the king said, struggling to breathe. “I…will…prevail.”

The queen stepped forward. “Arthur, rest,” she said. “I will tell them our plan.”

“No…I must explain,” said the king. He took a deep breath, as if gathering his strength. Then, trembling, he leaned forward. “Deep in the forest lives an old woman…a seer who has a kind heart and the gift of prophecy…an old friend…my nursemaid long ago….Her name is Cafelle….She can help us find the gold dragon.”

“That sounds good, Your Majesty,” said Annie.

“Yes…yes…,” the king said. “The tree leaves speak to her…in the wind. Do…you…understand?”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said Annie.

Jack nodded, but he was a little worried that the king might have lost his mind.

Guinevere placed a hand on her husband’s shoulder. “When Arthur was a boy, Cafelle told him that the wind speaks to her through the rustling of leaves. In her trances, she listens to the trees, then shares her prophecies in the form of riddles.”

“That is why we sent…for you,” said King Arthur.

“We know that you are particularly brilliant at solving riddles,” said Guinevere. “If you can solve the riddle of Cafelle’s prophecy, we can find the gold dragon.”

“We’ll do our best, Your Majesty,” said Annie.

“Uh, sure,” said Jack, nodding. “We’ll do our best, Your Majesty.”

“Good,” said the queen. “Sir Tristan and Sir Lamorak are preparing for our departure.”

“Cool,” said Jack. He was glad the knights were traveling with them. Hopefully, they could come up with a better plan.

“Then let us go,” said the king.

“No, not you, my lord,” Queen Guinevere said. “You should rest here and wait for us to return with the dragon.”

“But—I…I must go…,” said the king.

“I fear you should not,” said Guinevere. “I will tell Cafelle—”

“No, I must go,” the king repeated. “She will share her prophecies only with me.”

The queen took a deep breath. “Then so be it,” she said. She looked at Jack and Annie. “Please help the king rise.”

Jack and Annie stepped over to the wounded king. They held his arms as he stood up from the carved wooden chair.

“Thank you. Let us go forth,” said the king.

Oki scampered ahead as Jack and Annie helped Arthur out of the chapel. Then the queen slowly led them all across the courtyard toward the gatehouse.

A rumbling sound came from the stables. Jack turned to see Sir Tristan and Sir Lamorak driving a wooden hay cart across the courtyard. A pair of oxen pulled the four-wheeled cart as it wobbled over the cobblestones.

Oki rushed forward and barked at the oxen. Annie hurried after the puppy and grabbed him.

“This is our carriage,” said the queen. “No one will suspect the king is riding in a hay cart.”

Jack was glad to see the two knights again. But he wondered how such a small, rickety cart could carry all six people. Would he and Annie be walking?

The oxen came to a halt, and the knights climbed down from the drivers’ bench. Sir Lamorak grabbed tattered cloaks from the back of the cart and handed them to Arthur and Guinevere.

The queen helped the king pull on his disguise, then traded her green velvet cape for a patched gray cloak with a hood to hide her golden hair.

“Don your disguises now,” she said to Jack and Annie.

Sir Tristan handed Jack and Annie two more ragged cloaks. “Thank you,” said Jack. He and Annie pulled the cloaks on over their clothes.

The two knights helped the king and queen climb onto sheepskins spread over the hay. Sir Tristan handed a leather water flask to Guinevere. Then the knights stepped away.

Oki barked and squirmed in Annie’s arms as if he was eager to ride in the hay cart, too. “Should he stay in the back with us?” the queen asked Jack and Annie. “Or sit with you while you drive the cart?”

Drive the cart? Won’t the knights be driving the cart? Jack wondered.

“Do you really want Jack and me to drive, Your Majesty?” Annie asked.

“Yes, of course,” said the queen.

“Cool. Then Oki should ride with you,” said Annie. She placed the puppy in the back of the cart.

King Arthur was lying in the hay with his eyes closed. “Take care of him, Oki,” whispered Annie.

The puppy scrambled over to the king and snuggled against him.

“Okay, let’s go,” said Jack.

He and Annie climbed up to the drivers’ bench. As Annie picked up the reins, Jack looked at Sir Tristan and Sir Lamorak standing near the gatehouse. The knights must be planning to ride horses alongside the cart, he thought.

“Hike!” Annie shouted, using a command they’d learned from Alaskan dogsledders.

“Wait, wait,” said Jack. He looked back at the queen. “Should we wait for Sir Tristan and Sir Lamorak to get their horses, Your Majesty?”

“No, Jack. We will be traveling alone,” said Guinevere. “If we come across the enemy, they must believe we are a simple family—a poor farm couple traveling with our two children.”

“Sounds good,” said Annie. Then she called out to the oxen again. “Hike!”

It’s just us? Jack thought. Just us?

The oxen took a few steps forward. Their neck yoke was hitched to a wooden pole attached to the front of the cart. As they lumbered over the stones of the courtyard, the cart wobbled along behind them.

Sir Tristan raised the iron gate that sealed off the main entrance to the castle.

As the oxen headed across the outer courtyard, Annie waved to the two knights, who silently watched them leave. “See you later!” she called.

The knights each raised a hand in farewell.

“Here we go!” said Annie.

“Here we go,” Jack repeated softly. “Just us.” And the hay cart clattered through the gateway, leaving the castle of Camelot behind.