Charlie Bone and the Hidden King (Children of the Red King, Book 5) (12 page)

"A witch," added Charlie. "I must warn the others, but we don't want her to know we're on to her."

"We'll just be on our guard," said Billy.

They scrambled down one of the five dark passages that led out of the courtyard. At the end of the passage there was a wide, grassy area, surrounded by trees and thick, broken walls. The boys sat on a wall and Charlie rubbed his cold hands together, thinking of Bartholomew Bloor. "The Red King is still in his castle," the explorer had said. "But he's hidden."

"So where is he?" Charlie said, almost to himself.

"Where's who?" asked Billy.

"The Red King. We need him, Billy."

A cold breeze blew into their faces and the leafless branches crackled above them. A twig snapped, and then another. Charlie turned, half expecting Asa in his beast form to come leaping out of the bushes. But it wasn't Asa. Standing very still, beneath one of the trees, Charlie saw a white horse.

"It's the queen," said Charlie softly.

The boys slid off the wall and the queen came trotting toward them.

"It's you, it's really you," said Charlie, stroking the silky white neck.

Billy grunted and whinnied, and then the queen lowered her head to hear better the odd little hums and snorts that burst out of Billy like sneezes. She replied in her own way, with several long whinnies.

Charlie, burning with impatience, demanded to know what the queen was saying.

"I asked her if the king was here," said Billy, "and she said that he was deep, deep inside his castle. I asked her how we could reach him, and she told me that when the time came, he would be found."

"That's all?" Charlie was disappointed. "But when will the time come?"

The white horse nuzzled his ear, and he laid his arm over her long mane. She caressed their heads and their faces and then, suddenly, she looked into the sky.

There was a rumble in the air that was too sinister to be thunder. The sound was followed by a darkening sky; it was as though a heavy curtain had been pulled over the land.

In the somber light the queen's eyes shone white with fear. She gave a scream, reared up, and galloped away, her pounding hooves becoming ever more distant as the sound in the air turned to a deafening roar.

Charlie and Billy tore out of the ruin. They raced across the grounds, tripping over their own feet in their hurry to reach the shelter of the school.

"What's that noise?" Billy panted. "Is it an earthquake?"

"Perhaps it's the end of the world," yelled Charlie.

They got to the school door and found it locked. Charlie banged insistently on the hard oak panels until, at last, the door opened and Manfred looked down on them.

"Scared of a bit of thunder, were you?" Manfred said scornfully.

"That's not thunder," said Charlie. "It's . . . it's . . . Please, can we come in?"

"You're a nuisance, Charlie Bone, but all right, go to your dormitory." Manfred stood aside and the boys leaped into the hall. It was now deserted, the heads having all dispersed to various classrooms.

"It wasn't thunder, sir," said Billy.

"I wonder what it was, then." Manfred seemed to know the answer but he wasn't about to tell them.

"When is the Grand Ball, sir?" asked Billy, feeling more courageous now that he was inside the building.

"The guests will arrive at half past seven, and you'd better keep out of the way, Billy Raven. There'll be five hundred people coming through our doors tonight."

"Five hundred!" Charlie exclaimed.

"It's
the
occasion of the decade," Manfred boasted. "The mayor will be here, and the entire town council. There will be three judges, a duke and a duchess, the owner of every large business in the city, a bishop, several chairmen, directors, and presidents . . .. No, not American presidents," said Manfred as Charlie's mouth dropped open. "I mean company presidents."

"Wow!" Charlie was grudgingly impressed.

Manfred smiled with satisfaction. "Would you like to see the ballroom?" he offered.

The two boys wondered what had come over him.

Manfred wasn't usually this friendly. Perhaps he just couldn't resist the temptation to impress.

Billy said, "Yes, please," before Manfred could change his mind.

"Follow me." Manfred unlocked the small door that led to the Music Tower. When the door opened, Charlie was amazed to see the usually dim hallway transformed by thick carpeting and a ceiling strung with sparkling stars.

He had never noticed the doors into the ballroom. Now, restored to their former splendor, the arched doors gleamed with polish. Manfred gave them a little push and they opened into a room whose magnificence almost took Charlie's breath away.

"What do you think, boys?" Manfred seemed a little breathless himself. He pressed a switch and four chandeliers hung with crystals came alive with a glittering burst of light. They were suspended from a ceiling decorated with plaster creatures. Not real, everyday creatures, but monsters: goblins, gnomes, trolls, bats with fangs, devils with forked tails, demons, and wicked-looking dragons.

Charlie struggled for words. At length Billy came up with "Awesome!"

The shining floor swept up to a stage with a grand piano in one corner and several music stands in the other. Charlie imagined the ballroom crowded with swaying figures in long dresses that sparkled in the chandelier light.

"Good, isn't it?" Manfred switched off the lights and hauled the boys out.

"Yes," they agreed. "Great."

As they walked away from the ballroom, a light footstep made them all turn to look back. The piano teacher, Mr. Pilgrim, appeared at the other end of the hall. Charlie was surprised to see him. He thought Mr. Pilgrim had left the school.

"Hello, Mr. Pilgrim," he said.

"Hello, who . . ." The teacher looked puzzled.

"I suggest you return to the music room, Mr. Pilgrim," Manfred said imperiously.

"I thought . . ."

"Cook will bring you some lunch."

"I'm not hungry." Mr. Pilgrim nervously brushed a lock of black hair away from his pale face.

"Suit yourself. Come on, boys." Manfred herded the boys down the hall, where he locked the ancient door behind him.

"You've locked Mr. Pilgrim out," said Charlie.

"In," said Manfred. "I've locked him in for his own good. He can't deal with crowds." He stuck out his skinny neck and stared at Charlie. "Take off your coats and get back to the dormitory."

Charlie wasn't afraid of Manfred's black hypnotic eyes. He stared right back and it was Manfred who looked away.
He's losing his old power,
Charlie thought.
But now there's something else. What is it?

Manfred shoved his hands in his pockets and strode away.

Back in the dormitory, Charlie and Billy sat on their beds and waited. Their stomachs began to rumble. A whole hour to go until lunchtime. Charlie didn't think he could last much longer without a snack. He had just decided to go see Cook when her messenger arrived.

Several loud barks outside the door announced Blessed's arrival.

"Food!" Billy leaped off the bed. "Blessed says there's food in the cafeteria." He opened the door and patted the old dog's wrinkled head. "Thanks, Blessed."

In the cafeteria they found a pile of sandwiches sitting on a table. They could hear Cook shouting orders in the kitchen. The place seemed to be in an uproar all over again, with more than a hundred fancy lunches to prepare in the dining hall.

When Charlie and Billy had finished their sandwiches, they looked into the kitchen, hoping for a chocolate cookie at the very least.

"In that cupboard," said Cook, pointing. She was very red in the face and her apron was covered in big splotches of yellow and brown. "And, Charlie, you're to get your bag and go to the main doors before half past twelve. Your uncle will pick you up."

"Uncle Paton, but he can't ever . . ."

"He'll have to," puffed Cook. "No one else is available. I'm told it's all been arranged. Now, off you go!"

Grabbing their chocolate cookies, the two boys backed out. Charlie looked at his watch. It was twenty minutes past twelve. He had ten minutes to pack his bag and get to the main doors.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" asked Charlie as they raced up to the dormitory.

"I want to see the ladies in their ball gowns," said Billy. "Then I can tell you all about it." He didn't add that he wanted to imagine one of the beautiful dancing figures was his mother.

Mr. Weedon was waiting in the hall when Charlie came clattering downstairs with his bag. There was one minute to go.

"Nearly didn't make it, did you, Charlie Bone?" Mr. Weedon had the sort of sneery tone that always made Charlie want to say something rude. But he was a little afraid of the bald, muscle-bound handyman. If he said the wrong thing now, Mr. Weedon was quite capable of locking him in a storeroom, or worse.

"Thank you," Charlie managed to say, as the burly man slid back the bolts and unlocked the door.

"Haven't opened it yet, have I?" mocked Mr. Weedon.

"No, sir."

Mr. Weedon opened one of the doors a fraction. Charlie squeezed through the gap and ran across the courtyard. He bounded down the steps into the cobble-stoned square, almost falling off the last one, he was so happy to see Uncle Paton's car parked at the end of the square.

Uncle Paton didn't hear Charlie's joyful shouts. He was wearing his dark glasses and appeared to be completely engrossed in the book on his lap.

"Uncle Paton!" Charlie wrenched open the car door and slid into the passenger seat. "I'm here."

Uncle Paton looked up. "So you are." He gave Charlie a faint smile.

"Is everything all right? I mean, Maisie - has she? Is she . . . ?"

"No change there, I'm afraid." Uncle Paton sighed.

"I'm sorry you had to come out in daylight. Did you have any accidents?"

"None so far." Paton started the engine. He seemed distracted.

"Are you OK, Uncle P.?" asked Charlie.

"Me? Yes, I'm fine. It's just . . . well, I'm worried about your mother, Charlie."

"Why?" asked Charlie in alarm.

"She's going to the Grand Ball."

"Mom?" Charlie couldn't believe it. "How on earth? They'd never let her. Who's she going with? My mom? She can't be."

"Well, she is." Paton put his foot down and they bumped over the cobblestones and out of the square.

BARTHOLOMEW'S DIARIES

Uncle Paton insisted on taking a route that would avoid any traffic lights. There had been instances when one glance at a red light had resulted in a shower of glass.

Charlie found it difficult to be patient. He kept throwing questions at his uncle, who seemed to have no answers, though he did know that Amy's invitation had come from Kingdom's, the store that had provided the fatal prawns.

"Maybe they're trying to make it up to her, for Maisie's accident," said Charlie.

Uncle Paton shook his head. "Maisie's trouble was no accident. It was meant to put me out of action. And your mother's behavior these last few days leads me to believe that this invitation means a great deal more to her than mere compensation. She's positively glowing."

"Glowing?" Charlie had never heard the word applied to his mother.

"You'll see what I mean, in a minute." Paton drew up outside number nine. "Your mother's not at work today."

Charlie was out of the car and up the steps before his uncle could reach for his key. As soon as he was in the hall, Charlie cried, "Mom! Mom!" at the top of his voice.

Grandma Bone stepped out of the kitchen and barked, "Quiet! You're too old to be calling for your mother like that."

"I want her to know that I'm back," said Charlie, leaping up the stairs before his grandmother could stop him.

He found his mom in her little room at the top of the house. The ball gown was the first thing he saw when he opened the door. It hung on the wardrobe, a deep, gleaming blue, with thin straps, a tight waist, and a long flaring skirt.

"Do you like it, Charlie?" Amy Bone looked up from her dressing table. Her hair was different. It was glossy and smooth with streaks of lighter blond.

"Mom, why are you going to this ball?" asked Charlie.

"Charlie, don't look so solemn." Amy Bone's new glowing face smiled at him from her mirror. "I want to have some fun. I want to go out and sparkle again." She was gleamy and glittery and not her usual self at all.

Charlie swallowed hard and asked, "Who are you going with?"

"Mr. Noble. He's the new owner at Kingdom's. Such a nice man. You'd like him, Charlie."

"Like him? Why should I?"

"He's good to me, Charlie. Doesn't that mean anything to you? He makes me feel special." Her voice took on a dreamy quality. "He uses such wonderful words."

Charlie went up to the blue dress and touched the slippery material. It felt bewitched. "Has Aunt Venetia been at this dress?"

"Oh, Charlie, of course not. I bought it at Kingdom's. I watched the girl pack it myself."

"Must have cost a bundle," Charlie muttered.

"It was a gift," his mother said shyly.

A trap, more like,
thought Charlie. "You can't leave Maisie," he blurted out. "Not all frozen. You said you couldn't."

"Don't be silly, Charlie. Uncle Paton will be here if Maisie - unfreezes. If you can't say anything nice, you'd better go."

Charlie's hands fell to his sides. He felt that he was losing a battle. He didn't know what weapons to use against the man who was stealing his mother with wonderful words. He crept out of her room and closed the door.

On his way downstairs, Charlie looked in on Maisie. She was still lying in the bathtub. Someone had put a sleeping mask over her eyes, and it made her look more like a burglar than a frozen granny. Except for the pink sweater.

"I suppose you're hungry," said Grandma Bone when Charlie entered the kitchen.

"No thanks, I've just had lunch," said Charlie.

"I wasn't offering, I was asking," said his grandmother, without looking up from her newspaper.

Charlie sighed. "Did the basket come?" he asked.

"Of course. Paton wouldn't touch a thing, silly man. It was all quite delicious." Grandma Bone smacked her lips.

"So there's nothing left?"

"Not a crumb."

Charlie sighed again. He went upstairs and tapped on his uncle's door.

"Come in, dear boy, come in," called Uncle Paton.

Charlie went in and sat on the edge of his uncle's horribly untidy bed, while Paton pushed some papers into a drawer in his desk.

"You're right, Uncle P.," Charlie said miserably. "Mom's more than glowing. I think she's been kind of enchanted."

"Me, too!" Paton whizzed around on his swivel chair and stared hard at Charlie. "But look here, dear boy, it's not all gloom and doom. We've got news for you."

"Good news?" said Charlie hopefully.

"Interesting, at least," his uncle told him. "When our good ladies have left for the ball, Miss Ingledew will join us here for supper. Emma is staying with the Vertigos apparently. Julia has a most intriguing-looking package for you, and we are both dying to know what's in it."

"For me?" Charlie was puzzled. His uncle could tell him no more, so he went to his room and unpacked his bag. The white moth flew down from the curtain and settled on his shoulder. Charlie sensed that it was her way of greeting him.

Time passed very slowly. Charlie thought of visiting Benjamin, but he felt uncomfortable in number twelve, knowing that the Browns were spies. Benjamin would have to come over to him.

At seven o'clock, Grandma Bone's door opened and she rustled downstairs. The front door slammed and Charlie looked out his window. Below him, Grandma Bone and two of his great-aunts, Eustacia and Venetia, stood in a huddle talking in low voices. They all wore long dark cloaks, but Venetia's had a particularly slimy look. It glistened like the track of a slug.

The three sisters got into Eustacia's car, and the next minute it was hooting its way irritably up Filbert Street. A few seconds later there was a swish of silk outside Charlie's room. The door opened and a woman stepped in. Charlie barely recognized her. Was this beautiful woman in a blue gown really his mother?

"How do I look?" she asked.

Charlie's gaze traveled down her pale, bare arms. A wide silver bracelet encircled her left wrist, but her diamond ring was gone. Charlie shivered. He had never seen his mother without her ring. Never.

"Your ring!" He looked into her face.

"My ring? Oh, I took it off. I don't want to sparkle too much, do I?" She gave a funny little laugh.

"But, Mom . . ."

"Good night, Charlie." She suddenly bent forward and kissed him on the cheek, and Charlie was enveloped in a scent that was utterly unfamiliar. For a few minutes, he stood in a daze, and then he rushed downstairs after his mother. Someone was already ringing the bell, and Amy Bone left the house without a backward glance. A man in a black uniform closed the door behind her.

"Mom!" Charlie wrenched open the door, just in time to see his mother get into the back of a long, gold limousine. It had dark, smoked windows that he couldn't see through. The man in black, a chauffeur, no doubt, gave Charlie a nasty look, and then got into the driver's seat. The gold limousine glided away, as silently as a serpent.

"Don't stand in the cold, dear boy." Uncle Paton came up behind Charlie.

"Uncle P., did you see Mom?"

"No. Sorry. I missed that. Did she look good?" Uncle Paton drew Charlie aside and closed the door.

"Yes," Charlie said slowly. "But she'd taken off her ring."

"Hmmm. What does that signify, I wonder? Come on, help me set the table for Julia. She'll be here any minute."

They went into the kitchen where Uncle Paton had already set candles on every available surface. Charlie laid out the knives, forks, and spoons, while Uncle Paton dealt with the glasses. There was a delicious smell coming from the oven, and by the time Miss Ingledew arrived, Charlie was feeling so hungry, he had eaten three of Grandma Bone's favorite cookies.

The brown paper package that Miss Ingledew carried certainly Looked interesting. It was tied up with string and stamped with so much sealing wax, Charlie didn't know where to start untying it. His name was printed in large capital letters above Miss Ingledew's address.

"It was delivered by hand," Miss Ingledew told Charlie, "by a rather nervous-looking Asian woman. Quite elderly."

"Meng!" Charlie nearly dropped the package.

"Meng?" said his uncle. "Do you know this woman?"

Charlie hesitated. In uttering Meng's name, he had already half broken his promise to Bartholomew. But surely, of all the people in the world, Uncle Paton and Miss Ingledew were the most trustworthy. So he sat down with the package on his lap and told them everything about his visit to the wilderness and, for good measure, added an account of what he'd heard during the Hundred Heads' Dinner.

"I don't like the sound of it," said Miss Ingledew. "I worry about you all in the hands of those dreadful people."

Uncle Paton didn't seem so concerned. "Dr. Bloor's father is back!" he exclaimed. "Well, I never."

"I promised him I wouldn't tell," said Charlie, tearing at the brown paper. "He doesn't want anyone to know."

"I don't blame him. He had a bad time with Ezekiel, his father, and never got on with his son. And then Mary died." Paton shook his head. "Poor Barty."

"He knew my father," Charlie said.

"He did indeed." Paton handed Charlie a steak knife.

"They went climbing together, just a year before Lyell - disappeared."

Charlie used the knife on the last piece of string and the brown paper slipped to the floor, along with several small books. Charlie picked them up. Battered and weather-stained, they were each bound with a thin strip of leather to keep the loose and slightly dogeared pages together.

"Diaries," Miss Ingledew declared. "See, they all have the years printed on the cover. Five years in each book."

"Diaries?" said Charlie. "Why has he sent them to me?"

Uncle Paton advised eating his specially prepared meal before examining Bartholomew's diaries. Roast duck, roast parsnips, potatoes, carrots, and peas quickly appeared on the table, followed by a pineapple pudding that melted in their mouths. Uncle Paton was obviously trying hard to impress his guest.

As soon as the dishes had been cleared away,

Charlie put the diaries on the table and undid the first leather string. When he opened the book he found a letter tucked inside.

Dear Charlie
he read,

I thought you should know what you are up against. You talked of 'the shadow,' and I have remembered his name at last. In these diaries I have marked the places where he is mentioned . . . Harken Badlock. As you will see, I traveled extensively before settling in China. In almost every country I visited, I came across stories of the Red King. I wrote them down, and one day, you will have time to read them all. But now you must concentrate on those that concern 'the shadow.' He is known by many different names but here, in Europe, he is Count Harken Badlock.

When you have pieced together the true accounts of the shadow, you will know that he is a hunter and a murderer. He steals souls and breaks hearts. Every creature that crossed his path has suffered for it.

Somewhere in these books there is a spell that may defeat him. I wrote it down in the language of its creator, and I believe it will lead you to the Red King. But you may need help to understand it.

Be safe, my friend, and don't be afraid.

Bartholomew

Miss Ingledew caught the letter as it fluttered out of Charlie's hands. "He shouldn't have written those things," she said crossly, "scaring Charlie half to death."

"I had to know," said Charlie.

Uncle Paton scratched his head. "Let's have a look." He picked up the diaries. Each one had several slim leather markers hanging out of them. "Let's begin with 1965."

A flurry of sleet whirled past the window and Miss Ingledew closed the curtains. Uncle Paton brought another candle to the table and they pulled their chairs close together, so that they could all read Bartholomew Bloor's spidery, travel-stained writing.

Hardly a word was said. They only spoke to tell one another when to turn a page, or to exclaim over some unbelievable atrocity. The night grew colder and the candles wore down until they were flickering stubs of wax. Uncle Paton got up and fetched new candles from a drawer.

They read on. All three were now caught up in the adventures that had led Bartholomew to uncover the stories of "the shadow." It seemed that he had passed through almost every country in Europe, Asia, and Africa. But it was on his Italian journey that he found the true origin of the Red King's portrait.

A certain Luigi Salutati had inherited the king's red cloak from his ancestor the Princess Guanhamara. Luigi was a painter and sometime in the fifteenth century he had traveled to Venice to study with the great painter Jacopo Bellini. One night, alone in the studio, Luigi had thrown the cloak over his shoulders to keep warm. As soon as he did this he had been overwhelmed by a desire to paint a portrait of a man who had been visiting him in dreams. The face had now become so clear to him, it was as if they were in the same room. Realizing that this must be his ancestor, the legendary Red King, Luigi began to paint him. But while he worked, Luigi was aware of a hostile presence in the room, a shadow that persisted in entering the portrait. Try as he might, Luigi could not prevent his brush from drifting sideways, where a dark shadow began to form behind the figure of the king. Luigi accepted that he was in the power of some malevolent enchanter who was determined to haunt the Red King's memory.

The painting had remained in Venice until Luigi's descendants brought it to Britain in the sixteenth century. It was at this time that they changed their name to Silk.

"Gabriel!" cried Charlie. "Gabriel's family owns the Red King's portrait!"

"Not anymore." Uncle Paton ran his finger down the page. "It says here that the painting was bought from the Silks by trickery and now hangs in Bloor's Academy."

Charlie rubbed his eyes. Reading by candlelight wasn't easy, especially when he was half asleep. "It was all lies," he said. "All that stuff I heard about Count Harken when I was under the table. They said he had come to protect the king's children, but he only wanted to cause trouble. He taught them to murder and torture, to hunt animals to extinction, just like Bartholomew said."