A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time

This is a book in the Magic Tree House Merlin Missions series, in which siblings Jack and Annie from Frog Creek, Pennsylvania, travel through time using a magic tree house belonging to Morgan le Fay, a magical librarian from the legendary realm of Camelot. On previous missions assigned by the magician Merlin, Jack and Annie proved they could use magic wisely and earned the Wand of Dianthus, a powerful magic wand. Merlin then tasked them with helping four creative people give their gifts to the world. Having already helped composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, jazz musician Louis Armstrong, and Irish playwright Lady Augusta Gregory, they are ready to find and help the fourth person.

Jack and Annie spot a streak of light over the Frog Creek woods and race to the magic tree house, where two young enchanters named Teddy and Kathleen explain that Merlin wants them to travel to Victorian England to help a writer named Charles Dickens. Kathleen gives them a research book about Victorian London and transforms the magic whistle from their last mission into a magic violin and bow. She instructs Jack to play the violin while Annie makes up a song; whatever Annie sings will come true. Annie wishes them to Victorian London, and the tree house carries them away.

Jack and Annie arrive dressed as boys in velvet jackets and shiny boots, landing in Hyde Park. Their research book reveals that Dickens, born in 1812, is one of the most famous writers of all time. As they hire a cab to cross the city, Jack reads about Queen Victoria and the Industrial Revolution, learning that while many people grew wealthy during this era, many more, including young children, worked under terrible conditions in factories and mines.

At Dickens's home, the housekeeper Mrs. Tibbs refuses to let them in, insisting Dickens cannot be disturbed while writing. Dickens's wife then exits the gate with a baby and small children, calling one "Charley." Jack and Annie briefly fear Charles Dickens is a child, but they calculate the year must be 1843, making Dickens thirty-one. Annie hatches a plan to get inside by trading clothes with two chimney sweeps who arrive to clean the house. She pays the boys generously, and they exchange their ragged coats and worn shoes for Jack and Annie's velvet outfits. Jack and Annie also forget to empty their pockets, giving away all their remaining money.

Disguised as sweeps, Jack and Annie enter through the back door and wander into Dickens's study. Dickens enters, slamming the door and shouting that no one should disturb him. He does not notice the children crouched in the hearth. They watch him write in a strange, theatrical manner, leaping up to act out scenes at a mirror, then crumpling his paper in frustration, despairing that he cannot write. Annie speaks up, and Dickens discovers them. Overwhelmed, he flees the house. Mrs. Tibbs realizes Jack and Annie are not the regular sweeps and throws them out.

Jack and Annie chase Dickens through the streets, but their ragged appearance works against them. Their former cab driver refuses them a ride, not recognizing them in dirty clothes. Jack reflects that everyone was kind when they looked rich. In a poor neighborhood, two street boys grab Jack's bag containing the magic violin and research book. Jack wrestles the bag back, but the boys chase Jack and Annie shouting "Stop, thief!" and rally a mob. Cornered in an alley, Jack is arrested by a policeman.

Annie spots Dickens across the street and calls for help. Dickens vouches for their innocence, telling the officer the bag belongs to Jack. He lectures the crowd, declaring that "goodness dresses in rags and patches as often as it dresses in velvet and silk" (60). The policeman releases Jack. Dickens escorts them to safety and asks them to call him Charles. He notes that their experience of being falsely accused mirrors a scene from his novel Oliver Twist, which makes Jack feel less alone. Annie reveals she is a girl, and Charles is charmed.

Charles treats them to dinner at an inn. Annie notices a thin man on a crutch and a small boy staring through the window at their food and takes a portion of her meal outside to them. The stingy innkeeper, Mr. Pinch, chases after her, furious. Charles defends Annie, but Mr. Pinch retorts with cruel indifference, insisting the poor should go to workhouses or debtors' prisons and exclaiming, "Bah, humbug!" (69). Charles is visibly shaken and unable to respond. Outside, he gives Jack and Annie his wallet, urging them to buy boots and food, then disappears into the fog.

Jack and Annie follow Charles to a streetlamp near the river, where they find him weeping. He reveals that near this spot was a shoe polish factory where he worked at age twelve, pasting labels for eleven hours a day, barely surviving. His father was sent to a debtors' prison, a place where people in Victorian England were jailed for owing money, and his mother chose to live there with his father, leaving Charles alone. He says he has never told anyone this story. Charles declares that writing is useless, just ink on a page that cannot feed the hungry, and announces he will write no more.

Jack consults the research book and discovers that Dickens is the author of A Christmas Carol, the famous story about a miserly man transformed by three ghosts. Both children remember seeing the play with their family. Annie proposes using the magic violin to create their own ghost story for Charles, with three ghosts to change his mind, just as the ghosts change the character Scrooge in the tale.

Jack plays the violin and Annie sings. Three ghosts appear to Charles in succession. The Ghost of Christmas Past shows Charles a vision of himself as a small boy finding hope in books. The Ghost of Christmas Present, a giant in a green robe, shows visions of people inspired by Charles's writing, including Queen Victoria reading Oliver Twist and realizing children in her kingdom suffer. The Ghost of Christmas Future, a dark hooded figure, shows a graveyard where a woman weeps at Charles's tombstone, lamenting that he stopped writing and never touched the hearts of millions. Charles cries out that he has changed his mind and will keep writing.

When the streetlamp flickers back on, Charles excitedly tells Jack and Annie about the visions. Annie suggests the experience sounds like a scene in a book, and Charles seizes on the idea: He will write a Christmas story about a greedy man changed by three ghosts. Annie suggests the name "Scrooge," and Jack suggests the title A Christmas Carol. Charles enthusiastically adopts both, declaring that his pen is his sword and that he will use books to fight greed and cruelty. In the cab, he calls himself "as light as a feather" and "as happy as an angel" (99). Jack returns Charles's wallet, and Annie asks him to share the money with those less fortunate. Charles tells them they are the most extraordinary children he has ever met. They part at Hyde Park.

Jack and Annie find the tree house in the fog. Jack reflects that Charles never knew they were the ones who helped him. Annie says that helping someone without seeking credit is the best way to help, because then you know you are doing it for the right reasons. Jack wishes them home, and the tree house returns them to Frog Creek.

Back in Frog Creek, Teddy, Kathleen, Morgan le Fay, Merlin, and Penny—a baby penguin Jack and Annie had given to Merlin after a previous mission to Antarctica—appear to congratulate them. The violin and bow transform back into the Wand of Dianthus, revealing that all four magic instruments originated from the wand. Merlin transports everyone to locations where the legacies of the four artists live on: a quartet rehearsing Mozart, a school band playing a Louis Armstrong song, a storyteller sharing Augusta Gregory's folktales, and actors rehearsing A Christmas Carol at the Frog Creek Little Theater. Morgan explains that great artists live on through their work. Onstage, the actor playing Scrooge shouts that he is "as light as a feather" and "as happy as an angel" (109), echoing Charles's own joyful words. When Jack turns around, Merlin, Morgan, Teddy, Kathleen, and Penny have vanished back to Camelot. Jack and Annie slip out and run home through the autumn evening.