Children of the Red King Book 01 Midnight for Charlie Bone

by Jenny Nimmo

  They stepped out into the cold night and walked across the frozen ground toward the ruin.

  Behind them, children had gathered at the long windows of the gallery Disobedience was rife that night. Olivia Vertigo had spread the word: A boy was lost in the ruin. Ignoring rules and Matron's commands, children slipped out of bed and ran down the dark passages, whispering anxiously Fidelio found himself standing next to Olivia by the windows. "Can you feel it?" she asked.

  A wind was stirring. It swirled around the three figures marching toward the tall stone walls, lifting their capes into great billowing shadows. None of the three carried a lantern, and Fidelio saw that the black clouds had blown away and a full moon now filled the garden with silver light.

  "It's Tancred," Olivia murmured. "I've been asking 375

  around. Tancred can bring the wind, they say and storms, too."

  "What about Lysander?" asked Fidelio.

  "No one's quite sure," said Olivia. "But he's powerful. Someone said he can summon spirits. Everyone agrees on one thing though. Asa Pike can change his shape, but only after dark."

  "So that's who it was," said Fidelio. He already knew what Manfred could do, and he had heard that Zelda Dobinski could move things with her mind. But what sort of things, he wondered. Could she move people? Deep in the ruin, Charlie was crouching beside a wall. He thought he had escaped the beast but it was getting close again. He could hear the rattle of loose stones as it leaped around the crumbling courtyards. Charlie dragged himself upright. He took a few steps forward and something crashed into his path. He bent down and felt the rough contours of a statue. It had almost killed him. He crawled over the statue and crept forward. There was a crack and a mighty splash as a fountain toppled into its pool. A great wave

  376

  of water knocked Charlie to the ground and stones from the broken fountain rained down on him.

  He rolled onto his stomach, shielding his head with his hands. "I won't give up, I won't! I won't!" he muttered. But how long could he last? His enemies were very powerful. Was there no one strong enough to help him? Like an answer, a breeze whistled through the undergrowth. It grew stronger and became a mighty wind howling around the ancient stones and roaring through the sky It rocked the great cathedral bell so that it rang continuously across the town, like a warning of some imminent catastrophe. Looking up, Charlie saw the full moon emerging from the clouds. Its brilliant light filled the ruin so that all the dangers could be clearly seen. Some of the huge stones began to tumble out of the walls and now Charlie could walk straight through them. But which way should he go?

  The beast, too, could see its way It was getting angrier. Its snarl seemed to come from everywhere and, suddenly there it was, standing only a few meters in

  377

  front of Charlie. Its eyes were a glowing, luminous yellow and its bristling snout was drawn back to reveal long, shining fangs. Charlie stood motionless, waiting for the beast to leap, but, all at once, something pale and ghostly slipped between them. Charlie could make out a spear and a shield. Another figure emerged, and then another. They surrounded the beast and the cornered animal gave a howl of fear. As Charlie backed away from the ghostly figures, his foot caught on a grass-covered stone and he fell sideways, landing in a bed of thorns. Seeing its victim lying helpless, the beast lunged forward, but two bright spears came down, barring its way and almost slicing through the black snout. The beast growled and its furious eyes glared at Charlie, unable to reach him; it was afraid of those glittering spears and dared not pass them.

  Charlie got to his feet and stumbled away The thorns had torn into his face and hands and he could taste blood on his lips and feel it trickling over his

  378

  fingers. He found that he was shivering violently His feet were growing numb and he felt so light-headed he could hardly think. "I've got to get out before I freeze to death," he muttered, his jaw shaking with cold. Something warm brushed against his legs and, looking down, he saw the copper-colored cat, Aries. Sagittarius appeared on his other side, and then Leo slipped from behind a statue just ahead of him. Nose to tail the cats began to circle Charlie, and the heat from their glowing fur seeped through his body right into his aching bones.

  As he increased his pace, the cats stepped in front of him and, like a single bright flame, began to lead the way through the ruined castle. Gradually Charlie became aware that he was passing statues he recognized; many of them had fallen to the ground, but he was glad to see that the stone fish fountain was still standing.

  At last they reached the courtyard with the five entrances. The wind died and the distant bells stopped

  379

  ringing. The three cats jumped onto a stone seat and began to wash themselves.

  ?Aren't you coming out with me?" asked Charlie.

  They looked at him and purred.

  "Thank you, anyway" said Charlie.

  He could see the sweep of white, frozen grass beyond the last arch. But who, or what, was out there? Was he really free? Charlie hesitated, took a breath, and walked through the arch.

  Someone stepped up beside him.

  "Hi there, Charlie," said Gabriel Silk. "You're safe." Charlie's relief was so enormous he thought he was going to faint. But before he could fall, strong arms lifted him upright, and Tancred and Lysander peered anxiously into his face.

  "Whoa!" said Tancred.

  "You OK?" asked Lysander.

  "Yes," said Charlie. "Thanks." He noticed that twigs and branches littered the ground and that frozen snow had been swept into great icy banks.

  "There's been a storm," he said.

  380

  "Among other things," said Lysander with a laugh.

  "Too much for some people," added Tancred, laughing even louder than his friend.

  Charlie saw two figures kneeling on the ground. He recognized Manfred and Zelda.

  "Come on," said Gabriel. "Cook will be preparing a midnight feast."

  "A feast?" said Charlie. "Is that allowed?"

  "Tonight is an exceptional night," said Lysander. "Everything is allowed." As they approached the dark mass of Bloor's Academy Charlie noticed that some of the windows were blazing with light. In front of a great crowd of children, he could make out Olivia and Fidelio, dancing and waving. Charlie waved back. "It's my friends, they look so funny"

  "Fidelio told me you were missing," said Gabriel. "If he hadn't, you might still be in the ruin."

  Charlie shuddered.

  381

  Tancred opened the garden door and they walked into a wall of children, all talking and shouting at once.

  "How did you get out, Charlie?"

  "What happened in there?"

  "Did you see the beast?"

  "Why did you get lost?"

  "Make way" shouted Lysander, pushing through the crowd.

  "Come on, you guys," urged Tancred. "Let Charlie through." The crowd obediently gave way before Tancred and Lysander, and Charlie found himself walking down a narrow path between rows of children. When he finally got through into the hall, he saw that the long table of lanterns was now spread with plates of sandwiches, pies, hot dogs, and chips. Cook was bustling about beside the table, doling out the food.

  ?Ah, the guest of honor," she said when she saw Charlie. "Now then, you poor frozen child, what do you want to eat?"

  382

  Charlie was overwhelmed. "Er -well," he muttered, eyeing the food. "I don't - uh..."

  "Everything," said Lysander. "He wants it all."

  "Everything coming up," said Cook, piling a plate with food. Charlie spied Fidelio and Olivia trying to get through the crowd. "Can my friends have some next?" he asked Cook. "They're just..."

  "No," said Cook, handing him his plate. "These three first." She pointed to Charlie's rescuers. "If it weren't for them, you wouldn't be here at all, would you?"

  "Uh, I suppose not," said Charlie. "Sorry" Cook gave him a big wink and handed out plates of food to Gabriel and Tancred, who had e
verything, and Lysander, who just wanted chips. Charlie saw that all the teachers from the music department were in the hall. They were trying to organize the children into groups. Mr. Paltry looked flustered and angry but Dr. Saltweather seemed to be enjoying himself. Now and again, he would burst into song as he shepherded children toward the table.

  383

  Miss Chrystal beamed at Charlie and gave him the thumbs-up sign. She was helping Mrs. Dance keep some of the younger children out of the hall. With the exception of Tancred and Lysander, only children from the music department were allowed at the feast.

  Olivia had managed to find a blue cape and, so far, none of the staff had noticed that she didn't belong in music. She came running up to Charlie with two plates of hot dogs.

  "I got an extra one for you. You poor thing, you're covered in bruises and just look at your hair!"

  Charlie patted his mop of hair, which had collected so many leaves and twigs it felt like a real hedge. "Oh, I forgot," he said. He was rather full, but he couldn't bring himself to refuse Olivia's offering. "Let's share it," he suggested, then, lowering his voice, he asked, "How did you get hold of that blue cape?"

  "It's Billy's," she said. "He was too tired to come down, poor little fellow. He found the medal, you know"

  384

  "Yes, I did," said Charlie.

  Fidelio darted him a quick look and raised one eyebrow They would have to have a talk with Billy Raven, Charlie decided. Somebody or something was making him act very strangely

  "I can't believe all this food was put out, just because I got stuck in a ruin," he murmured.

  "It's Cook," said Fidelio. "When Cook makes up her mind about something, none of the teachers can stop her. Not even Dr. Bloor. Last year, a boy called Ollie Sparks disappeared for three days. He got lost in the old part of the building and no one could find him. He finally got out by crawling through a hole in the floor. He was covered in cuts and bruises, his hair was full of spiders, and for a while he couldn't even speak. Anyway Cook gave him a big midnight feast, and after that he went home. He never came back."

  "I don't blame..." Charlie's next words died on his lips, for the door into the garden suddenly flew open and Dr. Bloor and Aunt Lucretia appeared. Between them they were dragging the drooping figure of 385

  Manfred Bloor. He certainly didn't look threatening anymore. His head hung forward and his dreadful eyes were half-closed. Aunt Lucretia threw a withering glance in Charlie's direction before she disappeared through the door into the west wing.

  Silence descended on the hall as Mr. Carp and another teacher appeared, carrying the limp form of Zelda Dobinski.

  Even though everyone was scared of Zelda and Manfred, seeing them looking half-dead took all the fun out of the party Very soon most of the children began to drift off to bed.

  All the boys in the dormitory seemed to be asleep when Charlie, Gabriel, and Fidelio crept in, but there was a snuffling noise coming from Billy's side of the room. In the darkness, Charlie made his way to the end of Billy's bed.

  "Billy" he whispered. ?Are you awake?"

  "I'm sorry I left you in the ruin," Billy mumbled. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt."

  "It's OK," said Charlie. "But you betrayed Emilia, 386

  didn't you? You told someone about her waking up. Why did you do it, Billy?" There was no reply

  "Did someone make you do it?" asked Charlie.

  There was a long silence before Billy murmured, "I just want to be adopted. Is that so wrong?"

  Charlie didn't have an answer.

  Next day life returned to normal. The only difference was that most of the teachers were more understanding than usual. They tended to ignore Charlie's yawns and forgetfulness. He actually fell asleep during the English lesson. Only Mr. Paltry was his usual bad-tempered self. And then, at lunchtime, Fidelio came bouncing up to Charlie with the most amazing news. His brother Felix had arrived, on the pretext of delivering a repaired violin, but really to let Fidelio know what had been happening in the outside world.

  "Emma and Miss Ingledew have locked themselves

  387

  in the bookshop," said Fidelio. "They won't let anyone in. The Moons have been pounding on the door and demanding that Emma come back to them. They say that Dr. Tolly's tapes don't prove anything. Without papers and a signature, they don't believe that Emma is the inventor's daughter."

  Charlie sat up. "You mean after everything we've done, Miss Ingledew can't get Emma back for good?"

  "Seems not," said Fidelio. "Unless the papers are found."

  "What papers?" said Charlie.

  "You know the stuff that proves who you are. Your birth certificate, adoption papers - stuff like that."

  Charlie groaned. "They've got them, haven't they? The Bloors. I bet they've hidden them somewhere."

  "Must have," agreed Fidelio. "Next thing we've got to do is find them." Charlie had horrible visions of being caught climbing into dark attics and getting detention for years and years. "That's not going to be easy" he muttered.

  388

  As it happened, Fidelio and Charlie didn't have to do anything. Someone else did it for them. In a very dramatic way

  The explosions began half an hour before lights out. The first one was hardly noticed. The lantern above the main doors gave a little pop and a few pieces of glass fell out. The next one was louder. A pane in one of the windows in the west wing cracked and smashed onto the cobblestones in the courtyard.

  Children leaped out of bed, or ran from bathrooms, dropping towels and toothbrushes in the rush to see what was going on.

  Charlie opened the window in his dormitory and twelve heads poked out over the sill. Beneath them, the boys saw a tall man in a long, dark coat. He wore black gloves and a white scarf and his abundant black hair glistened like polished stone.

  "Wow!"

  "Who is he?"

  "What's he doing?"

  Whispers ran around Charlie's head, and he saw

  389

  that other windows had opened and children were peering down into the courtyard.

  "He's my uncle," said Charlie, with a slightly proud smile.

  "Your uncle?"

  "What does he want?"

  "Did he smash that window?"

  "How did he do it?"

  "He doesn't look like someone who breaks windows." The whispers grew louder and Matron could be heard marching down corridors shouting, "Shut those windows! Get into bed! Lights out!

  Lights out!"

  Some of the children scuttled back to bed, but others still watched the man in the courtyard. He was turning in slow circles now, and staring up at the children. When he saw Charlie, he grinned. Charlie held his breath. He could feel the strange humming that always preceded his uncle's lightbulb accidents.

  "Bloor!" Paton suddenly shouted. "You know what I'm here for. Let me in." 390

  The bronze-studded doors remained closed. The whispers died. Everyone waited to see what would happen.

  "Very well," roared Paton. He had his back to the children now and was facing the Bloors' private rooms in the west wing.

  There was a bang, and the panes of a lighted window flew out into the air. Another followed and then another. Each time the explosion was louder, and the flying glass hit the ground with greater force. Charlie was amazed. He hadn't realized how powerful his uncle's talent could become when he really wanted to use it.

  "Yewbeam!" a voice bellowed. "Stop it, or I'll call the police."

  "Oh, I don't think so," Paton shouted back. "There are things going on here that you wouldn't want them to know. Now give me Emma Tolly's papers before I break every light in the building." Charlie saw a window in the west wing close quickly

  391

  The room beyond it was in darkness, but a second later another window shattered. And now Paton turned his attention to the east wing, where some of the teachers, unaware that electric lights were the cause of the explosions, were still busily tidying up the classrooms. BANG. BA
NG. BANG!. Three windows in the science lab blew out. But this time the situation was more serious. Something in the lab had caught on fire. Black smoke and the stink of burning chemicals drifted up to the watching children.

  "Stop it!" cried Dr. Bloor. "Paton, I implore you!"

  "Give me the papers," Paton demanded.

  Silence.

  And then a shower of jewel-like colors burst over the glass already littering the ground. Someone had forgotten to turn off the lights in the chapel, and the beautiful stained-glass windows were now only a memory

  "All right!" screamed a voice.

  In the silence that followed, a cloud of paper

  392

  floated gently from an upstairs window Slowly it spun and hovered, before falling to earth like playful, giant snowflakes. As he ran to catch the falling papers, Paton began to chuckle. The chuckle became a full-throated laugh, and then a resounding roar, a great big Ha! Ha! Ha! of triumph.

  The watching children couldn't stop themselves from joining in, and soon the courtyard of Bloor's Academy was so filled with laughter, the echo could still be heard at Christmas.

  392

  393

  THE LONGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR

  The newspapers reported the breaking window incident as MYSTERIOUS

  EXPLOSIONS IN AN ANCIENT SCHOOL. No one would have believed the truth, even if they'd been told.

  Paton took Emma Tolly's papers to Miss Ingledew and when it was proved, beyond a doubt, that Emilia Moon was really Emma Tolly the Moons gave her up. They were mildly fond of Emma, but it was the money they would miss, more than the child. Dr. Bloor had paid them well to look after her. It was quite clear that Dr. Tolly's signature on the adoption papers had been forged, but Miss Ingledew let that pass. She just wanted Emma, and Emma wanted nothing more than to live with her aunt forever, in the wonderful house of books.

  On the morning after the explosions, the courtyard of Bloor's Academy was a sight to behold. Glass

  394

  littered the ground. Large gleaming panes, diamond-bright spears, and glinting fragments of color were all covered with a fine silvery dust that flashed and blazed in the morning sunlight.