The Golden Acorn by Catherine Cooper Read Free Book Online

shaking and the wand wobbled about but the sparks had stopped.
    ‘Imagine it’s a pen,’ urged Elan.
    Jack concentrated hard. He visualized his pen and prepared to say scriptum, but before the words left his lips his wand transformed itself.
    ‘You’ve done it!’ squealed Elan as she jumped up and down.
    ‘Brilliant,’ said Nora.
    ‘Beginner’s luck,’ Camelin croaked.
    ‘I can’t believe I just did that. Was it me or the wand?’
    ‘It was you,’ replied Nora. ‘The wand only works to your command.’
    ‘Try writing something to me,’ said Elan as she ran into the kitchen. ‘I’ll write back and you can see how it works.’
    Nora passed Jack the open book. He didn’t know what to write. He put Elan’s name at the top of the page and underneath wrote…
    …Am I doing this right?
    He watched the words sink into the page and disappear. Seconds later Elan’s reply appeared…
    …Yes… we’ll try it again tonight when you get home.
    ‘I think that’s probably enough for today,’ said Nora.
    Jack put his wand into his left hand. The smoothness vanished immediately. He knew without looking that he was holding the twig again; he could feel the rough bark under his fingertips.
    ‘If you have any questions about the task you have agreed to undertake just ask your book,’ explained Nora. ‘It also contains the history of the Otherworld in the section about The Annals of Annwn.’
    Jack flicked through the pages; they were all blank.
    ‘But…’ he began.
    ‘It’s magic Jack,’ laughed Nora. ‘You have to know what to do before it will reveal any secrets.’
    ‘Do I have to use the wand?’ asked Jack nervously. He didn’t want any accidents in Grandad’s house.
    ‘No, it couldn’t be easier,’ continued Nora. ‘Touch your name with your finger and the book will recognise you; ask a question and it will reveal the answer.’
    ‘If you want to write any secrets down, use the back pages. It will be invisible to anyone who might pick it up,’ added Elan.
    ‘It’s amazing!’ exclaimed Jack. ‘Thanks!’
    He couldn’t wait to try it out. It was going to be better than a laptop. He’d have an email, notebook and search engine, only he was going to be the power source. It still sounded incredible but he’d seen it work. It had really happened and he felt confident he’d be able to do it again when he was back at Grandad’s.
    ‘Camelin will take you down to the hedge,’ announced Nora.
    Jack would rather have gone out of the front door and he suspected Camelin didn’t really want go with him through the garden.
    ‘Come back tomorrow,’ Nora continued, ‘we’ve got a lot of things to do before you’re going to be ready for the ritual.’
    ‘Ritual?’
    ‘We’ll talk about it tomorrow.’
    Before Jack could ask anything else Nora and Elan went back into the kitchen leaving him alone in the garden with Camelin.
    ‘This way,’ Camelin grumped.
    Jack’s mind was working overtime as they made their way to the hedge. He was too busy with his own thoughts to worry about speaking to Camelin. He wondered what other surprises were in store for him. Could he be getting himself into something dangerous? Maybe Camelin was right and he wasn’t going to be worthy, or it could all be a dreadful mistake and this prophecy didn’t mean him after all. Perhaps he’d find out more from his Book of Shadows.
    ‘Here you are,’ croaked Camelin.
    ‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
    ‘Can you bring some cheese with you?’
    ‘I don’t know if Grandad’s got any cheese.’
    Camelin looked disappointed.
    ‘I’ll see what I can find,’ said Jack kindly.
    ‘You won’t tell Nora?’
    ‘No, I promise, but she might find out.’
    ‘Not if I meet you here tomorrow. I’ve got a safe eating place. It can be our secret.’
    Camelin didn’t seem to be as grumpy now he was talking about food.
    ‘If you haven’t got cheese anything will do, except banana. I don’t like banana.’
    ‘I won’t