Winter of the Ice Wizard

the sky had turned to a light shade of gray.
    â€œIt’s almost dawn,” said Jack. “Remember what the wizard said? We have to bring back his eye by the break of day—or we’ll never see Merlin or Morgan again!”
    Jack held Annie’s hand and they trudged together through the snow. When they got to the sleigh, they climbed inside. Annie took her place at the rudder. Jack pulled out the wind-string and untied a knot.
    The breeze rocked the sleigh. Jack untied a second knot, and the sail began to fill. He untied a third, and the silver sleigh moved forward, gliding over the white ground.
    Swish—swish—swish.
The sleigh moved through the thick snow and away from the Hollow Hill. As they sailed over the white plain, the sky was turning from gray to pale pink.
    â€œWe have to go faster!” said Annie.
    Jack untied a fourth knot. The wind whistled in his ears. The sleigh picked up speed. Annie steered it past the rocks and over the sea ice. She steered it over the plain, south to the palace of the Ice Wizard.
    When the sleigh drew close to the palace, Jack tied a knot, and they began to slow down. He tied three more, and the sleigh came to a stop.
    Jack and Annie looked around in the faint, cold light. “I wonder where Teddy and Kathleen are,” said Annie. “They said they’d meet us here at dawn.”
    Jack studied the vast white plain, but he saw no sign of their friends. He wished he had Kathleen’s vision. “I hope they’re okay,” he said. “I hope they didn’t run into the white wolves.”
    â€œI have a feeling the wolves wouldn’t hurt them,” said Annie. “The wolf in my dream seemed nice.”
    â€œDream wolves are different from real wolves,” said Jack.
    â€œI don’t think we can wait for them,” saidAnnie. “The eye has to be back by the time the sun comes up.”
    â€œThe eye!” said Jack. “We never looked to see if it was inside the hailstone.”
    Annie reached in her pocket and pulled out the hailstone. She held it up.

    Jack gasped. Staring out at him from inside the ice was an eyeball. It was about the size of a large marble. The eyeball was white with a sparkling blue center.
    â€œOh, man,” whispered Jack.
    â€œIt’s beautiful, isn’t it?” said Annie.
    â€œI don’t know about that.” Jack felt a little queasy. Seeing an eye outside of a human head was too weird for him. “Put it away for now,” he said.
    Annie put the hailstone back in her pocket. Jack looked around again. The sky had brightened from pale pink to red. A thin sliver of the sun was peeking over the horizon.
    â€œThe sun!” cried Jack. “Hurry!” He and Annie jumped out of the sleigh and charged toward the palace.
    When they got to the entrance, Annie stopped. “Look!” she said, pointing to big paw prints in the snow. “Wolf tracks!”
    â€œOh, no,” said Jack. “Do you think the white wolves are inside? That’s weird.”
    â€œIt doesn’t matter! We have to go in! Hurry!” said Annie. They rushed into the palace—just as the fiery ball of the sun rose over the horizon.

J ack and Annie walked through the front hall of the palace, past the ice columns, and into the wizard’s throne room. The walls and floor glittered with the brilliant, cold light of dawn.
    â€œUh-oh,” said Jack.
    The wizard was waiting for them—and the two white wolves were sleeping on either side of his throne. Jack was confused.
Why are they here?
he wondered.
Do they belong to the wizard?
    The wolves lifted their heads and sniffed the air. Their ears pricked up. When they caughtsight of Jack and Annie, they sprang to their feet. They stared at them with piercing yellow eyes.
    The Ice Wizard was staring intently at Jack and Annie, too. “Well?” he said. “Did you bring back my eye?”
    â€œYes,” said Jack.
    Annie took the hailstone out of her pocket and held it up to the wizard. Jack watched the wolves nervously as the hailstone passed from Annie’s small hand into the wizard’s large, rough hand.
    The wizard stared down at the chunk of ice. Then he looked at Jack and Annie. “Indeed, you
are
heroes,” he said breathlessly.
    â€œNot really,” Jack murmured.
    The wizard looked again at his eye inside the hailstone. Then, with a quick movement, he slammed the ice chunk against the