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must be here somewhere.”
    The three of them got on their hands and knees and started crawling around the floor of the nursery. There was no sign of the diamond. Suddenly Jack heard Teddy gasp.
    â€œOh, my,” Teddy whispered. “Look.” He was staring at the corner.
    The Diamond of Destiny was rising from the basket of wool by the spinning wheel.
    â€œThe ghost girl must have hidden it when the Raven King came!” whispered Annie.
    The diamond moved slowly toward Jack and stopped in front of him. Jack held out his hand, and the diamond settled into his palm.
    â€œThank you,” Jack said to the ghost girl. “I’ll put it back in its place now.”
    Carefully holding the diamond, Jack crossed the room. Annie pulled the tapestry aside, and Jack opened the golden door of the cabinet.
    He looked one last time at the shining stone. “I really felt brave when I was carrying this diamond,” he said softly.
    â€œJack,” said Annie, “you were pretty brave just now without it.”
    â€œIndeed you were,” said Teddy.
    Jack smiled. He carefully put the Diamond of Destiny back in its place and closed the golden door. Then Annie covered the cabinet once more with the tapestry.
    The air in the nursery grew warmer. A girlbegan to take shape beside Teddy. She wore a white nightgown. She had dark curly hair. She was about Teddy’s age.

    At the chess table, two boys took shape, too. They looked just alike. They were twins about Annie’s age.
    At first the children were a bit pale and cloudy. Slowly they grew more and more visible, until they were solid and rosy-cheeked.
    At the same time, a large brown dog became visible by the door. He barked and ran to the girl.
    â€œOliver!” she cried. She hugged him. Then she looked at Jack, Annie, and Teddy. She gave them a big smile. “Hello,” she said.
    â€œHi!” said Annie. “Are the three of you the only people in this castle?”
    â€œOh, no, everyone else is here, too,” the girl said, “but they were all asleep when the Raven King stole the diamond. We were supposed to be asleep, too. But sometimes we like to sneak outof bed and play. We were playing hide-and-seek when I found the secret door behind the tapestry. I wanted to see the diamond better, so I put it on the window ledge to catch the moonlight. Then Tom and Henry started to play chess—” She pointed to the boys.
    â€œGwendolyn started spinning,” said Tom. “AndOliver went down to the great hall to look for scraps.”

    â€œThat’s when the Raven King swooped downto the window and stole the diamond,” said Gwendolyn. “Before we could even go tell our mother and father, we began to fade away.”
    â€œMother! Father!” said Tom, as if he’d just remembered their parents. “We must wake them, Gwendolyn!”
    â€œI know,” she said. “We shall go upstairs and wake them at once. Since they were sleeping, I suspect they never even knew they were invisible!”
    Gwendolyn took her brothers’ hands, and the three of them started out of the nursery. At the door, she looked back at Jack, Annie, and Teddy. “Thank you for helping us,” she said, “whoever you are.”
    The duke’s children then slipped out of the nursery. Oliver grabbed his bone and bounded after them.
    Jack handed the hazel twig to Teddy.
    â€œListen,” Jack said. “I don’t think this is something that kids should play with—even sorcerer kids. You’d better give it back to your cousin.”
    â€œAye, perhaps that is a good plan,” said Teddy. He grinned impishly as he slipped the twig back into his pocket. Then he gestured toward the door. “Shall we?”
    Jack and Annie nodded.
    Teddy picked up his lantern and blew out the candle. Then he led them all out of the castle nursery into the hallway. As they started down the stairs, servants rushed