CHAPTER SEVEN
THE MAGIC OF THE RING
"Come on, you two," Spinolli said in his thick accent, "Out of da cave!"
Jack and Annie raised their hands and walked out into the sunlight. Annie rushed to bend over Indy and see how he was, but Spinolli would have none of it. "Leave him be," he said in a gruff tone, "He no dead, but he will be if you no give me da ring!"
"How did you know about the Ring?" Jack asked.
Spinolli laughed. "I follow you and Jones to the Museum and listen in. The guard, he easily bribed, so he dinna tell nobody I wuz there. I hear you talking about the Ring de Guinevere'. Once you find out da island…I leave by my seaplane before you left London." He laughed again. "I been waiting here for you to come."
"Now! No more talk" he stated, pointing the gun out at Jack and Annie, "Give me da ring or I take it from you…as you Americans say, da hard way!"
Jack looked over at Annie and nodded nervously. Annie reached in her satchel and felt for the ring. She got it on the end of her index finger and pushed it on, against the side of the satchel.. "I hope this works,' she thought. She pulled out her hand.
Jack saw the ring and figured out what Annie was going to do. "Oh, brother" he thought.
Annie raised her ringed hand towards Spinolli.
He looked at it; the ring was glowing again, ever slightly. "Put down your gun," Annie ordered in a low calm voice. Spinolli nodded, a glazed look came over his eyes. He bent down to the ground and laid his pistol on it. Annie nearly laughed. She composed herself. "Back up," she ordered again. The Italian mercenary did as he was told. Jack's eyes were wide in amazement. Annie looked over at him and indicated the gun with her head. Jack shook himself and went over and got the gun and pointed it the man..
"Stand right there and don't move until I tell you to," Annie ordered Spinolli again. Then she went over to Indiana Jones. He was starting to come to, rubbing the back of his head. Annie helped him to his feet.
"What happened?" he asked groggedly.
His eyes focused and he saw Spinolli standing there, totally still, with Jack holding the gun on him. Indy looked around confused. While he was, Annie slipped the ring off her finger and put it back in her satchel. As soon as she did Spinolli seemed to snap out of his trance and looked around confused. Then he saw Jack with his own gun pointed at him and he slowly raised his hands.
"We, uh, got the drop on him," Jack explained.
Both Spinolli and Indiana were surprised by that explanation, the Italian more so. Indy took the gun from Jack with a "Good work, kid. I'll cover him now." Jack happily relinquished the gun to the older man. "Okay, Enrico," Indy began, "Let's go" and he motioned down the hillside.
The four people hiked back to the waiting seaplane. Indiana Jones tied up Spinolli and shoved him in the back of the passenger compartment. "We'll turn him over to the Norwegian police when we get back to Narvik", he said.
The flight back was uneventful. Spinolli was taken into custody by the police. It seems he had stolen fuel for his flight to Spitsbergen and was promptly taken off to jail. Jack and Annie and Indy continued on back to Scotland, where they said farewell to the pilot and then boarded the train back to London. On the way back, Jones talked to the teenagers about the Ring.
"Jack, Annie," he started, "You know that that is an important artifact. It belongs in a museum. Technically it belongs to the people of England; it's part of their history."
Jack disagreed. "No, Indy. It really doesn't. Remember what you said? You said the King Arthur and Camelot stories were just myths, not 'real history.' If this ring is put on display, then it'll prove the stories are not myths, but facts. Myths are important things, in some ways much more important than facts. It gives people something to strive for…something to dream about."
Jones pondered this for a moment, then said, "You're pretty smart for a kid." He smiled and Jack and Annie both smiled back. "So what are you going to do with it?"
"It's going to go someplace where it's needed," Annie said, "I know you wouldn't believe us if we told you where…but trust us. It's important."
Jones nodded. "Whatever you say, Annie." Then he made a slight grin. "You're not using that ring on me right now, are you?"
Annie laughed. "No…just my normal magical charm."
Indy grinned bigger. "Well…THAT is pretty powerful in itself."
Arriving back in London, Indiana Jones drove Jack and Annie back out to the Salisbury Plain to Stonehenge, where he had first met them. Again, he was a bit confused as to why they wanted him to just leave them out there, but he didn't question it. As they stood near the large stone formation, they said their goodbyes.
Jack stuck out his hand and Indiana Jones shook it. "Thanks, Indy," Jack began, "Thanks for everything." Jones smiled. "I told you, Jack, you'd make a pretty good archeologist. If you decide you want to pursue it, look me up at Marshall College in Connecticut." Jack nodded, though he knew that Jones wouldn't be there in their time.
Annie hugged Jones. "Goodbye, Indy. Thank you for all your help." She kissed him on the cheek and then stepped back. Jones smiled again. "Anytime, kid."
Indy looked around. The plain was empty, no tourists or cars were in sight. "So, I'm just leaving you here?" he asked.
"We'll be all right," Jack answered. Jones shrugged and went back down to his car. He turned one last time and waved goodbye to the brother and sister. Then, he got in and drove off, back towards London.
Jack and Annie walked down the hill to the Magic Treehouse. They climbed the rope ladder and again, crawled inside the cramped room. Jack pulled out the Pennsylvania book and pointed the picture of the Frog Creek Woods.
The wind started to blow. The Treehouse started to spin. It spun faster and faster. Then everything was still…absolutely still.
