by Jenny Nimmo
"Sorry Mom."
"It wasn't fair to give you detention on your first week," she said hotly. “But we'll forget it, shall we? Maisie's got all your favorite food." Charlie already felt hungry.
They crossed the square with the fountain and walked down the alley that led to High Street. It was only when they were halfway down High Street that Charlie became aware of an old man keeping pace with them on the other side of the road.
Charlie knew who it was, immediately The disguise was hopeless. None of the old man's clothes fitted properly and his white beard was obviously false.
It just didn't match the bright red hair that stuck out at the back of the ratty old cap.
"Can you walk a bit faster, Mom?" asked Charlie. "We're being followed."
"Followed?" Mrs. Bone stopped and looked back. "Who's following us?"
"Just a boy,” Charlie told her. "He's on the other side of the road. It's silly because he knows where I live. He just seems to like stalking people."
"Come on, Charlie!" Mrs. Bone grabbed Charlie's arm and pulled him down another narrow alley. “It'll take us longer this way but I can't stand to be followed."
This had happened to his mother before, Charlie realized. It was soon after their wedding that his father had begun to look over his shoulder, Charlie's mother had told him. But who had been following them then? Mrs. Bone now took a route through the narrow alleys that was completely new to Charlie. "I haven't been this way for a long time, but it hasn't changed much. Ah, here we are!" As she said this, they emerged into the small square in front of the cathedral. "Oh!"
she exclaimed, and she put her hand to her heart, as if the sight of the huge building had taken her breath away. “Your father used to play the organ here," she murmured. "But I haven't been back since... since he stopped."
She increased her pace, as if she could hardly wait to get away from the place and, of course, they found themselves passing Ingledew's bookshop.
"I know the lady who lives here," Charlie said, stopping to peer into the window. “Can we go in?"
"It's closed," his mother said quickly. “Look at the sign." And then, as they hurried on, she added, "Paton was here last night. He came home with a bag full of books. Something has gotten into your uncle lately he's not himself at all." Was Uncle Paton raising his head at last?
Maisie had seen them coming long before they climbed the steps to number nine. When Charlie stepped through the kitchen door, the kettle was on and a feast was laid out on the table.
"They'd no right to keep you from us for another whole day,” cried Maisie, giving Charlie a suffocating hug.
"He broke the rules," said a voice from the rocker by the stove. "He's got to learn." Grandma Bone frowned at Charlie. "Look at your hair, boy!
Didn't you take a comb to school?"
"Yes," said Charlie, "but the matron's not too fussy about our hair, and you know who I mean by the matron!"
“Aunt Lucretia, of course," snapped Grandma Bone.
This was a great surprise to Maisie and Amy who gaped at Grandma Bone in amazement.
"Why didn't you tell us?" exclaimed Charlie's mother.
"Why should I?" sniffed the old woman. She returned to the book she'd been reading as though nothing had happened.
"Well," said Maisie. "Some people take the cake." Grandma Bone ignored this remark, just as she ignored the hearty tea that the other members of the house were settling into, excluding Paton, of course.
Charlie thought to ask after his uncle, but Grandma Bone looked so frosty he decided not to. He didn't want any more arguments, he just wanted to fill himself with good food and then go and see Benjamin.
"And where are you off to?" Grandma Bone demanded after tea when Charlie made for the front door.
"He's going to see his friend, of course," said Maisie.
“And why is that?" asked Grandma Bone. "It's his duty to stay with his family on his weekends at home."
"Don't be silly Grizelda," said Maisie. "Off you go, Charlie." Charlie shot out the door before Grandma Bone could open her mouth again. He ran across to number twelve, where he found not only Benjamin, but Fidelio as well. They seemed very excited and immediately dragged Charlie into the kitchen where the remains of pizza, chips, bananas, and cookies littered the kitchen table. Runner Bean was enjoying the bits that had fallen to the floor, but he made a great fuss over Charlie when he came in, jumping up and licking his face with a very sticky tongue.
Charlie managed to break away from Runner Bean, while Benjamin began to explain what had happened. It seemed that an important discovery had been made.
"It was Fidelio," said Benjamin. "You know the voice in the dog you gave me, well, Fidelio said perhaps if we ran the tape forward there might be more. And there was. A lot more."
"So that's what you were trying to tell me this morning," said Charlie. His friends' strange antics suddenly made sense. "You were pretending to pull a dog's tail."
"Didn't you realize?" Fidelio grinned. "Sit down, Charlie, and listen to an amazing story."
Charlie noticed that his friends had already managed to haul Dr. Tolly's case out of the cellar. He pulled up a chair and sat at the table. The metal dog stood in the center, surrounded by cardboard and crumbs.
"Listen," said Fidelio. He pulled the dog's tail and, as soon as Dr. Tolly's familiar voice began to give instructions, Fidelio pressed the dog's left ear and forwarded the tape. "Now" he said. "Here it comes."
When Dr. Tolly spoke again, his voice sounded different, more urgent and sorrowful. Charlie pulled his chair closer.
My dear Julia, the voice began, if you are listening to this you have discovered the secret of my beloved child; the child who was once Emma Tolly and now has another name. I hope you have found a safe place for the box marked Tolly Twelve Bells. I could not send the key or instruct you how to open it because I can trust no one, Julia. They listen at my door, they steal my letters, and, by the time you hear this message they will have stolen my life. I know it. I am already weak. I cannot leave my bed. My enemies have poisoned me, Julia, and it is just punishment for what I did to my child.
And so now I shall tell you how it came about, how I found myself in this sorry predicament. As you know, I decided to hand over our little Emma. It was greed that drove me. What they offered in return for my daughter was the most exciting challenge of my life. They gave me a replica of my ancestor, the knight from Toledo with the sharpest sword in the world. I was to bring it to life - how arrogant I was to believe that I could. For five years I toiled. To no avail. I am only a scientist, not a magician. When Emma was seven, I asked them to return her. They refused. I had failed in my task, they said.
At this point Benjamin sneezed, breaking the spell that Dr. Tolly's compelling voice had cast over them.
"Well, it's interesting," said Charlie. "But it doesn't tell us very much."
"Poisoning is very interesting," said Benjamin.
"Listen," commanded Fidelio, stopping the tape. "The next part is the best. It's where everything happens."
Benjamin and Charlie were dutifully silent while Fidelio started the tape again. Once more Dr. Tolly's deep voice resounded from the metal dog. Julia, they promised I could see her, visit her. I thought it would be a good life for little Emma, surrounded by a loving family - a mother, a father, and a brother-rather than remaining with me, a crusty, absentminded man. But they were supposed to tell her who she really was so that one day, she might choose to return to me, and to you, dear Julia. That was my hope. That was before I knew what Manfred could do.
Charlie looked at Fidelio, who rolled his eyes. Benjamin whispered, "Is that the...?" "Shh!" said Fidelio.
Remember the day, continued Dr. Tolly remember I came to the shop first, and you dressed little Emma in her new white dress and tied a ribbon in her hair. But you wouldn't come with us to the square in front of the cathedral. If only you had.
There were four of them - Bloor and his wife and son, and the old man.
The boy was about eight at the time. They placed a case at my feet and, indeed, there was a figure in it; then I lifted my little girl and the old man held out his arms.
That's when it happened, Julia. When everything went wrong. As the great clock above us began to chime, a man came out of the cathedral. I recognized him immediately. It was the young organist. The choir was still singing when he came toward us. He lifted his hand and said, "Stop! You can't do this!"
As he stepped in front of me, the old man struck him in the face. The organist struck back, and the old man fell on the stones, hitting his head. He screamed with pain. And then I noticed Manfred staring at the young man; his eyes were like fiery coals. The organist covered his face with his hands and sank to his knees.
By this time Emma was crying with fright, but Manfred turned his terrible eyes on me, and I found myself putting my screaming child into his arms. As the cathedral clock struck twelve, he looked at her and she stopped crying. She seemed to be transfixed.
I was a coward, Julia. I did a terrible thing then. I ran away. I picked up the case and fled down those narrow alleys as though all the fiends of hell were behind me.
Later, I found out that they'd sent Emma to another family. They refused to tell me where. The old man was crippled for life by his fall. As for the young organist, I never saw him again. I realized that both he and my little Emma had been worse than hypnotized. They were spellbound for life, unless I could find a way to wake them up. And so I did, Julia. At least I believe I did. In the case marked Tolly Twelve Bells there is a sound that might wake our little Emma. The Bloors found out what I was doing and, of course, they want to destroy my invention. If you press the letters on the side, one by one, firmly and carefully, it will open.
"So that's how it opens," said Charlie.
"Wait!" Fidelio raised his hand. "Listen to this!" I almost forgot, said Dr. Tolly's voice. Why did they want my child? We were students together, Dr. Bloor and I. It was natural that I confide in my old friend. Certainly, I could tell no one else. Emma can fly. It happened only once, when she was a few months old. But who knows...? Take care, Julia. This recording is finished. The courier is at the door. Farewell.
"What do you think?" asked Fidelio. "Quite a story isn't it? Imagine!
That girl, whoever she is, can fly."
"We think it's Emilia Moon," Charlie murmured. "And the organist..."
"What about the organist?" said Fidelio.
"Nothing," said Charlie. The young organist might have been his father, but how could they find him now? He could be anywhere. First they must wake Emma Tolly and then, perhaps, one day his father.
Fidelio was eager to put plans into action as soon as possible. "We've got to get that case out of here, tonight," he said. "Now we know what it can do."
“Asa's on my trail again," said Charlie. "He'll be watching every move we make."
"No problem," said Fidelio. He showed Charlie the huge xylophone case he'd brought along. "My dad said he'd pick me up from here by car. If you and Benjamin start walking around the block, Asa will probably follow you. Dad's coming in about ten minutes, so with any luck, Asa won't be around to see me take the xylophone case out to the car. If he does, he might think it's just a musical instrument." They all agreed this was a very good plan. Dr. Tolly's case was lifted into the empty xylophone case and Charlie and Benjamin set off for the park. It was dark by now, but with Runner Bean bounding beside them they felt quite safe. They soon became aware of Asa's badly disguised figure, sneaking from tree to tree on the other side of the road, but they tried not to show that they had seen him.
After twenty minutes of walking around, Charlie and Benjamin returned to number twelve, Filbert Street. Fidelio and the big case had disappeared.
"We did it!" cheered Benjamin.
"Good old Fidelio," said Charlie. "I'd better get home now. See you tomorrow"
"We'll take the tape to Miss Ingledew, shall we?"
"Good idea," said Charlie.
He ran back across the street, eager to tell his uncle everything that had happened. Paton was standing, very conveniently alone in the hall, but he was in no mood for secrets. He was about to go out. He was wearing a very smart black suit and, amazingly a purple bow tie. His hair had been cut and his face looked very white and freshly shaven. He smelled of something spicy rather than the usual mixture of ink and old paper.
"Wow!" said Charlie. "Where are you going, Uncle Paton?" Paton looked embarrassed. "You asked me to get a key for you," he said, "from Miss Ingledew." "We don't need it now,” whispered Charlie. Paton took no notice. "I er..." he cleared his throat. "I'm taking Miss Ingledew out to dinner."
"Really!" This was news indeed. As far as Charlie could remember, Paton had never, ever taken anyone out to dinner.
His uncle lowered his voice and, leaning close to Charlie, he said, "Grizelda's not very happy about it."
"She wouldn't be," said Charlie with a grin.
Uncle Paton patted him on the shoulder, winked, and left. It was a very dark night.
Charlie felt quite excited for his uncle. He silently wished him good luck and an accident-free night.
Grandma Bone had shut herself in her room, so there was a nice peaceful atmosphere in the kitchen. Maisie and Charlie's mother were both reading magazines. They looked up when Charlie came in, eager to hear all about his first week at the new school. Charlie told them the funny interesting bits. He left out Gabriel Silk and his strange assertion that Charlie's father was not dead. He also left out the part about the cape. He would have to find an explanation for that later. He was allowed to stay up much later than usual. With Grandma Bone out of the way there was no one to insist on an early bedtime. Besides, it was Sunday the next day and his mother assured him he could stay in bed as long as he wanted. But at length Charlie's eyes began to close, he yawned several times, and had to admit that he was in danger of falling asleep. Kissing Maisie and his mother good night, he went to bed. Charlie couldn't have said how long he'd been asleep before he became aware of something strange going on. There were slow steps outside his door. Up and down. Up and down. The stairs creaked and someone crossed the hall. Tired as he was, Charlie slipped out of bed and tiptoed downstairs.
Uncle Paton was sitting at the kitchen table, where a single candle flickered mournfully He had flung his coat and tie on the floor and his face was buried in his folded arms.
“Uncle Paton, what is it?" Charlie whispered. "What happened?" His uncle wouldn't reply He just groaned. Charlie pulled out a chair and sat opposite his uncle, waiting for him to recover from whatever it was that had caused such terrible despair.
At last Paton lifted his head and said, "Charlie, it's all over."
"What is?" said Charlie.
"I couldn't help myself," Paton said pensively. “It was bound to happen. Our friend, Miss Ingledew, looked so stunning. She wore a black dress and her hair was piled on her head, and her neck was as white as a swan's... well, I was bowled over."
"Of course," said Charlie.
"I restrained myself until the pudding."
"Oh. That was good."
"No, it wasn't," moaned Paton, "although I suppose she did enjoy most of the meal."
"What did you have?"
"Oysters. A Caesar salad. Roast duck and a pavlova pudding."
"Yum!" said Charlie, who didn't know what any of it was, except the duck.
"But the wine went to my head, and I was so intoxicated, so happy," Paton sighed hugely. "There was a candle on our table, so that was all right, but behind Julia, on the wall, there was a light in a red shade and poof-off it went. Glass everywhere. All over her hair and her lovely black dress. I jumped up and another one went off at the next table. Imagine my distress."
"But they didn't know it was you," said Charlie.
“Ah, that's when I made a fool of myself. ‘Sorry sorry,' I cried, and another lamp shattered. Then another. I rushed out, still apologizing. I was so embarrassed. I couldn't stay in there, ev
ery light in the restaurant would have exploded."
"Never mind," said Charlie soothingly. “I'm sure you'll think of an explanation for Miss Ingledew."
"But, Charlie, I didn't pay the bill!" cried Paton. "Imagine her disgust. She thinks I'm a coward, frightened of a few popping lightbulbs, and I left her to pay the bill."
"You'll just have to tell her the truth," said Charlie.
"Nooo!" Uncle Paton gave a thundering moan of despair. "We're doomed, Charlie. You and I. Doomed in our differences. In our horrible family afflictions."
"We're not," said Charlie fiercely. “Please pull yourself together, Uncle Paton. I've got something very important to tell you, and I really need you to concentrate." Uncle Paton laid his head on his folded arms again, and this time he didn't seem inclined to move. So Charlie began to recount everything Dr. Tolly had said on the tape. At last Paton lifted his head, and Charlie had his full attention.
"Good Lord," said Paton, as Charlie came to the part that concerned the organist, "Lyell!"
"It was my father, wasn't it?"
"Must've been," said Paton. "Go on, Charlie." By the time Charlie had finished the strange story of Dr. Tolly Paton was beginning to look much more lively.
"My dear boy this is all too extraordinary for words," he said. "Tragic, too. So tragic. That poor child. And your father -how I wish I could have prevented that. There's no doubt at all, in my mind, that in trying to save the child, he sealed his own fate."
"But Uncle Paton, my father's still alive," said Charlie.
"What? No, I'm sorry Charlie, you must be wrong." Charlie told his uncle about Gabriel Silk, the blue cape, and his father's tie. "I don't see why he would lie," said Charlie. "You should have seen him, Uncle Paton. He knows these things. Just like I hear voices and Manfred can hypnotize... and you can explode light-bulbs."
"I suppose I must believe you, Charlie. But I saw the place where the car went into the quarry Your father couldn't have gotten out, and if he did, where is he now?"
Charlie gave a gloomy shrug. He didn't know the answer, but it was interesting to learn that no one had found his father's body. "I think Grandma stopped them from finishing Dad off because he was her son. But she let it happen, the accident and everything, because she couldn't make him do what she wanted. They were all in it, the Bloors and the Yewbeams, all except you, Uncle Paton. If anyone stands in their way or does something they don't like, they finish them off, or hide them, or make them forget who they are."