Abe Lincoln at Last!: A Merlin Mission

tangle of undergrowth was so thick that Jack began to lose what little hope he had.
    “I can’t see pushing our way through this stuff for a whole mile,” he said.
    “Me neither,” said Annie. “Let’s go just a little further and see if it opens up again.”
    Jack and Annie pushed past more brambles and vines. “This whole journey is leading nowhere,” Jack grumbled. “No spring water, no split wood, no cow’s milk. Worst of all, no Abraham Lincoln. We’ve missed our only chance to use the magic to have a private meeting with him.”
    “I know,” said Annie. “But we couldn’t just leave Sam to try to do his chores. Offering to help him was the right thing to do.”
    “I know,” said Jack.
    “It’s weird,” said Annie. “Even though helping Sam isn’t part of our mission, I feel like doing one good thing is somehow connected to doing anothergood thing. If we’re helping Sam, we’re also helping Penny.”
    “Yeah …,” said Jack. Despite his worries, he agreed with what Annie said. “There’s only one problem: we have to get this feather from—”
    “Yikes!” said Annie.
    Jack looked back at her. “Yikes, what? You forgot we had to get a feather?”
    “No. Yikes, did you hear that?” she whispered.
    “Hear what?” whispered Jack. He held his breath and listened.
    “A growl,” whispered Annie.
    Jack looked around, his heart pounding. “Like, uh—a wildcat growl? Or a wolf growl?” he asked.
    “Like—
that
growl,” said Annie.
    Jack heard the long, low growl. He heard twigs breaking. The hair went up on the back of his neck.

CHAPTER NINE
Corn Bread and Molasses
    “T urn around slowly,” Jack said to Annie.
    Clutching the water jugs, Jack and Annie turned around and started back the way they’d come. They tried not to make noise, but sticks and branches cracked and snapped.
    The growl came again.
Louder
.
    “Forget slow!” said Jack. “Run!”
    Annie bolted ahead through the brush. Jack ran after her. His heart pounded. Brambles and vines blocked their way. Thorns snagged their clothes. They ran as fast as they could, not knowingif all the breathing and thrashing sounds were coming from them—or from the beast chasing them.
    They burst into the clearing. Jack looked back. He didn’t see a wolf or wildcat, but he wasn’t ready to stop yet. “Keep going!” he cried.
    Jack and Annie tore across the scrubby clearing. Finally they came to the cabin.
    Sam was standing by the woodpile, swinging the ax! He gracefully split a log in two. He looked up at Jack and Annie and smiled. “How do?” he said.
    Jack and Annie laughed as they tried to catch their breath. For some reason, Jack felt safe now, with Sam. “Fine!” he said. “Fine, fine, fine!”
    “How do
you
do?” said Annie. “Why are you splitting wood?”
    “I said to myself, I ain’t going to lie in bed forever,” said Sam. “My headache stopped as soon as I started my chores. I figured the two of you had left.”
    “Oh, no, we tried to do your chores,” said Jack. “But—”
    “We were headed to the spring to get water and we heard a growl,” said Annie.
    “Like a wolf,” said Jack.
    “Or a wildcat,” Annie said.
    “So we ran,” said Jack.
    Annie held up a jug. “No water. Sorry.”
    “No milk, either,” said Jack.
    “No split wood,” said Annie.
    “No corn bread,” said Jack.
    Sam gave them a big grin. “Don’t worry. I took care of milking the cow, and I found water in the rain bucket. The corn bread’s baking now.”
    “Wow,” said Annie.
    “That’s amazing,” said Jack. Now that Sam was better, he wondered if he could lead them to the president. “Do you still have time to help us find Abraham Lincoln?” he asked.
    “Sure,” said Sam. “I gave you my word.”
    “Great. Do you think he’s still riding his horse in the country?” said Jack.
    “Nope. He’s not riding anymore,” said Sam.“But I guarantee you he’s around here.”
    “Like where?” said Jack.
    “Don’t worry. I’ll introduce you to him very soon,” said Sam. “Let’s go inside first.”
    Sam stuck his ax in a log. He picked up an armload of wood and headed into the cabin. As Jack and Annie followed, Jack glanced at the sky. The sun would be going down soon.
    Inside, Sam put more wood on the fire. Then he lit two oil lamps. “Would you like to have some corn bread with butter and molasses?” he asked.
    “Oh … wow …” Jack didn’t know what to say. He was desperate to look for