48 pages • 1 hour read
Mary Pope OsborneChristmas In Camelot
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 1995A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 13-16Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 13 Summary: “Your Horses Are Waiting”
Jack laughs in amazement and disbelief at their daring escape. While he simply pictured the dragons retreating, Annie envisioned fighting the dragons with flaming swords. He compliments his little sister’s imagination. A “shriek of fury” from inside the cave prompts the children to hasten down the hill (84). Annie carries the silver cup carefully to avoid spilling the precious water. When they reach the thicket, Jack takes out Sir Percival’s compass and finds east so they can go back the way they came. He goes first so he can clear a path through the tangled branches for his sister. On the other side of the thicket, they see the glade where the winged people whirl around in their endless dance. Although Jack longs to return to the circle, he knows that he would not escape the dance’s power a third time.
Sir Lancelot, Sir Galahad, and Sir Percival look a little healthier after their rest. Although they’re still tired, they’re able to walk and buckle on their swords. Annie shows the knights the cup full of the Water of Memory and Imagination. Sir Lancelot wants to help the children return to Camelot, but he doesn’t know where he and his fellow knights left their horses. The siblings explain that the loyal steeds are waiting for their riders nearby. Jack retrieves the Christmas Knight’s cloak, and they all go to the meadow. Sir Lancelot helps the siblings onto his horse so they can ride with him. Jack worriedly asks Annie, “Can you carry the water without spilling it?” (87). She promises to try her best.
When the group reaches the iron gate, Lancelot calls to the guards in a strong, deep voice and orders them to open it in the name of King Arthur. The guards obey and watch in silence as the knights pass through the gate and ride over the wooden bridge. At once, Jack is struck by the contrast between the sunny, colorful Otherworld and the dark, freezing world of Camelot. The white stag awaits the children on the other side of the bridge.
Chapter 14 Summary: “Return”
Annie gives Jack the silver cup and runs to embrace the white stag. Jack explains to the awestruck knights that the magical deer carried them to the Otherworld’s gate. Sir Percival asks if the children are wizards, and Jack replies that they are “just ordinary kids” (91). Sir Lancelot encourages the siblings to ride the stag back to Camelot so they can deliver the Water of Memory and Imagination as quickly as possible. The knights ask the children to tell King Arthur that they will be back before New Year’s Day and bid their rescuers farewell with a bow.
As the white stag carries Jack and Annie across the frozen countryside, the Christmas Knight’s cloak keeps them safe and warm. At last, they reach the courtyard of King Arthur’s castle. The stag kneels below the magic tree house so the children can dismount. Annie gives the cloak to the deer to thank him for all of his help. The siblings tell the stag goodbye, and he walks off into the night. Magically, not so much as a drop spilled from the silver cup during the ride to Camelot. Jack quickly carries the cup across the courtyard. Annie hurries after him, urging him to be careful. When the children reach the frigid great hall, Morgan Le Fay, King Arthur, Queen Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table are still frozen like statues. Annie suggests, “Let’s try putting a drop of water on each of them! Morgan first!” (94). As Jack approaches the Round Table, he trips on his shoelace and falls to the floor. The silver cup and its precious contents slip out of his grasp.
Chapter 15 Summary: “Christmas Magic”
The horrified children watch as the water vanishes between the cracks in the stone floor. Jack picks up the empty cup and puts his head in his hands in despair. He thinks, “Camelot will never wake up now [...] The legend will end forever” (97). Annie calls his name, and Jack looks up to see a gold cloud rising from the floor. The cloud fills the room with fragrant aromas and then glides out of the windows. A white dove flies through one of the windows, swoops around the hall, and then flies away. The king, the queen, the knights, and the enchantress come back to life and burst into joyous laughter. Jack and Annie run to Morgan and hug her tight. The children tell her all about their quest to the Otherworld, the white stag, and the gold cloud. Next, they reassure King Arthur that the lost knights have been found and will return to Camelot by New Year’s Day. They give the king the silver cup, the glass key, and the wooden compass so he can return them to their rightful owners. The overjoyed royals thank the children for saving their kingdom, and the Knights of the Round Table give a cheer.
The people of Camelot flock to the castle, and Arthur welcomes them to a celebration. The crowd decorates the great hall with “candles, a giant fir tree, and boughs of holly and pine” while musicians play Christmas carols (100). Suddenly, the white stag appears. The deer transforms into an old man with a white beard who carries a staff and wears the Christmas Knight’s cloak. Morgan explains that this is Merlin the magician. She realizes that Merlin sent the invitation to bring Jack and Annie to Camelot, assumed the shape of the Christmas Knight, and then carried them to the Otherworld as the white stag. The magician was furious that King Arthur forbade magic, and this was his way of restoring Camelot to its former glory. Knowing all about the children’s imagination and their desire to do good thanks to Morgan’s stories, Merlin enlisted their help. He smiles at Jack and Annie, salutes them with his magic staff, and then leaves. As Jack looks around the great hall, he sees that Christmas in Camelot is now as beautiful and joyous as he hoped it would be.
Chapter 16 Summary: “Welcome Home”
Jack wakes up inside the tree house and begins telling Annie about his Christmas in Camelot, which he believes was a dream. She explains that their adventure really happened and that King Arthur carried Jack to the tree house after he fell asleep in the great hall during the celebration. As proof, she shows him the invitation, noting that “the letter M stood for Merlin, not Morgan” (107). Jack is grateful that the magician trusted them to complete the quest.
The children hear their mother calling them. As they leave the tree house and walk home, snow begins to fall. Their mother greets them on the front porch of their cozy home and asks if they had a good day, and they tell her that they did. Delicious smells waft from the kitchen as the children take off their coats and head upstairs. Annie and Jack wish each other a merry Christmas and go to their rooms. Jack examines his notebook and is disappointed with himself when he sees that the only notes he took on his latest adventure were the three rhymes. He lies back on his bed, closes his eyes, and uses his memory and imagination to conjure up the sights, sounds, sensations, and tastes of his time in Camelot and the Otherworld. He recalls the bitter chill that swept through the great hall when the Christmas Knight froze his friends, the music of the winged dancers, and the taste of the Water of Memory and Imagination. Suddenly feeling wide awake, Jack turns to a fresh page in his notebook and writes, “It all started when we saw the white dove in the twilight…” (110). He keeps writing until he has recorded the whole story of his and Annie’s Christmas in Camelot.
Chapters 13-16 Analysis
In the novel’s final section—the story’s denouement—Jack and Annie save Christmas, breaking the curse on Camelot and completing The Journey From Innocence to Heroism. Osborne calls attention to the children’s heroics in the scene in which the three knights feel awestruck at everything the siblings have accomplished, including riding the mystical white stag. Jack maintains that he and his sister are “just ordinary kids” (91), the central conceit of Osborne’s series that children are capable of extraordinary bravery and ingenuity. In Chapter 15, Morgan Le Fay offers further underscores this premise when she explains why Merlin enlisted Jack and Annie’s help. The enchantress praises the children’s imagination and their desire to do the right thing as “two special qualities needed to succeed in any quest” (105). Jack and Annie’s innocent idealism and youthful creativity make them the heroes this story needs.
The children’s return to Camelot highlights the thematic significance of The Magic of Christmas and its Values. For example, Annie demonstrates the value of generosity when she gives the cloak to the stag: “‘To keep you warm and safe,’ she whispered to him. ‘And thanks for everything’” (94). Because the white stag and the Christmas Knight are both guises of Merlin, this gracious gift returns the cloak to its rightful owner, pointing to the order Jack and Annie have restored in Camelot. This thematic interest reaches its apex in Chapter 15, fittingly titled “Christmas Magic,” which emphasizes the values of joy and togetherness. Jack and Annie reunite with their friend Morgan, and the kingdom’s citizens gather for a celebration. The people of Camelot enhance the theme by singing joyous carols and decking the once cold and austere great hall with traditional Christmas decorations– “candles, a giant fir tree, and boughs of holly and pine” (100). Camelot’s magical Christmas celebration, full of music, light, and laughter, represents all of the things that the kingdom lacked for months under the curse.
The theme of hope and imagination remains crucial to securing the story’s happy ending. Osborne brings the narrative full circle by making Jack’s daydream in Chapter 1 a reality in Chapter 15: “At last, Christmas in Camelot was just as Jack had imagined it would be” (105). Thanks to the siblings’ hope and perseverance, the curse is broken, and Jack’s beautiful imaginings are realized. The story’s final scene also centers The Significance of Hope and Imagination as Jack relies on both his memory and imagination to record his and Annie’s adventures in writing. Jack’s writing reinforces the main characters’ efforts to ensure that the story of Camelot will go live on.
Osborne’s motifs and symbols add layers of thematic meaning to the story’s resolution. The magical water that represents memory and imagination remains the story’s central symbol. As the object of the siblings’ quest, the magical water drives the plot, fuels the protagonists’ motivation, and rejuvenates the setting of Camelot. In addition, the motif of Merlin’s animal guises reinforces the theme of The Magic of Christmas and its Values. The stag returns in Chapter 13 to carry Jack and Annie back to Camelot: “Standing high on a rock, in a swirl of fog, was the white stag” (90). This mystical description and the knights’ awe of the creature underline the stag’s connection to the magic of Christmas. In Chapter 15, the white dove that led the children through the Frog Creek woods appears in the great hall after Jack spills the Water of Memory and Imagination, suggesting that the bird is overseeing the magical water’s effect on the kingdom.
Osborne also continues to utilize color symbolism to emphasize Camelot’s restoration. After Jack spills the water, he experiences a moment of despair in which he fears that he has doomed the kingdom. Like the cauldron that contained the water, the cloud that forms from the spilled water is golden. The brightly colored cloud soothes Jack’s fears and brings back Camelot’s joy.
Osborne’s use of sensory language in her scene descriptions enhances the tone of the story’s resolution. In Chapter 16, visual imagery accentuates the coziness of Jack and Annie’s homecoming: “Ahead they could see their house glowing with lamplight” (108). The house’s light and warmth emphasize the sense of safety the children feel, returning home to their family after their perilous quest. At the end, the wealth of imagery provided throughout the story gains added significance because it allows Jack to recall all the details of his and his sister’s adventures in Camelot: “He could hear the joyful music as the winged dancers danced around in their circle. He could taste the sweet, bitter, spicy taste of the Water of Memory and Imagination” (110). The narration’s vivid sensory details help him reflect on his experiences as he records them, characterizing him as a writer in his own right. The story’s happy ending celebrates the magic of Christmas and the power of the imagination.
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