Download The Invisible Boy 1957 movie from torrent downloads selecting either torrent or magnet link and watch The Invisible Boy full movie on HD. Pirate Bay proxy, KickAss Torrents users just discovered a new way to download free movies TORRENTS users, who download from websites including KickAss Torrents and The Pirate Bay, and other proxy. The Invisible Boy (aka S.O.S Spaceship) is a 1957 black and white American science fiction. Create a book Download as PDF Printable version. Download in HD If the movie does not work, please try to stream it with other sources. The Invisible Boy 1957 HD 123movies Sci-Fi USA gostream Richard Eyer Philip Abbott Diane Brewster.com and many others ) We do not host or upload any video, films, media files (flv, mpg, avi, mov, mpeg, divx, mp4, torrent, dvd rip, mp3, ipod, psp. List of Comedy films torrent downloads. Download and watch for free Comedy movies using the torrent links. The Invisible Boy (1957) RATING 5.3 / 10.
Douglas Adams: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979)
Originating as a BBC radio series in 1978, Douglas Adams's inspired melding of hippy-trail guidebook and sci-fi comedy turned its novelisations into a publishing phenomenon. Douglas wrote five parts from 1979 onwards (the first sold 250,000 in three months), introducing the world to Marvin the Paranoid Android, the computer Deep Thought, space guitarist Hotblack Desiato (named after Adams's local estate agent) and the Guide itself, a remarkably prescient forerunner to the internet. Andrew Pulver Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Brian W Aldiss: Non-Stop (1958)
Aldiss's first novel is a tour-de-force of adventure, wonder and conceptual breakthrough. Set aboard a vast generation starship millennia after blast-off, the novel follows Roy Complain on a voyage of discovery from ignorance of his surroundings to some understanding of his small place in the universe. Complain is spiteful and small-minded but grows in humanity as his trek through the ship brings him into contact with giant humans, mutated rats and, ultimately, a wondrous view of space beyond the ship. Eric Brown Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Isaac Asimov: Foundation (1951)
One of the first attempts to write a comprehensive 'future history', the trilogy - which also includes Foundation and Empire (1952) and Second Foundation (1953) - is Asimov's version of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, set on a galactic scale. Hari Seldon invents the science of psychohistory with which to combat the fall into barbarianism of the Human Empire, and sets up the Foundation to foster art, science and technology. Wish-fulfilment of the highest order, the novels are a landmark in the history of science fiction. EB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Margaret Atwood: The Blind Assassin (2000)
On planet Zycron, tyrannical Snilfards subjugate poor Ygnirods, providing intercoital entertainment for a radical socialist and his lover. We assume she is Laura Chase, daughter of an Ontario industrialist, who records their sex and sci-fi stories in a novel, The Blind Assassin. Published posthumously by Laura's sister, Iris, the book outrages postwar sensibilities. Iris is 83 in the cantankerous present-day narrative, and ready to set the story straight about the suspicious deaths of her sister, husband and daughter. In this Booker prize-winning novel about novels, Atwood bends genre and traps time, toying brilliantly with the roles of writing and reading. Natalie Cate Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Paul Auster: In the Country of Last Things (1987)
Anna Blume, 19, arrives in a city to look for her brother. She finds a ruin, where buildings collapse on scavenging citizens. All production has stopped. Nobody can leave, except as a corpse collected for fuel. Suicide clubs flourish. Anna buys a trolley and wanders the city, salvaging objects and information. She records horrific scenes, but also a deep capacity for love. This small hope flickers in a world where no apocalyptic event is specified. Instead, Auster creates his dystopia by magnifying familiar flaws and recycling historical detail: the novel's working title was 'Anna Blume Walks Through the 20th Century'. NC Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Iain Banks: The Wasp Factory (1984)
A modern-gothic tale of mutilation, murder and medical experimentation, Banks's first novel - described by the Irish Times as 'a work of unparalleled depravity'- is set on a Scottish island inhabited by the ultimate dysfunctional family: a mad scientist and his unbalanced sons, older brother Eric, who has been locked up for everyone's safety, and Frank, the 16-year-old narrator, tormented by a freak accident that cost him his genitals. Frank's victims are mostly animals - but he has found time to kill a few children … Phil Daoust Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Iain M Banks: Consider Phlebas (1987)
Space opera is unfashionable, but Banks couldn't care less. 'You get the opportunity to work on a proper canvas,' he says. 'Big, big brushes, broad strokes.' The strokes have rarely been broader than in Banks's Culture novels, about a galaxy-spanning society in which humans and artificial intelligences are united by a love of parties, adventure and a damn good fight. Consider Phlebas introduced the first of many misguided or untrustworthy heroes - Horza, who can change his body just by thinking about it - and a typically Banksian collision involving two giant trains in an subterranean station. PD Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Clive Barker: Weaveworld (1987)
Life's rich tapestry is just that in Clive Barker's fantasy. A magic carpet is the last refuge of a people known as the Seerkind, who for centuries have been hunted by both humans and the Scourge, a mysterious being that seems determined to live up to its name. When it all starts to unravel, the carpet people's best hope is a pigeon-fancying insurance clerk and his half-Seerkind companion. Yes, it sounds twee, but as Barker himself said, 'the Seerkind fornicate, fart - they're very far from pure'. PD Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Nicola Barker: Darkmans (2007)
Nicola Barker has been accused of obscurity, but this Booker-shortlisted comic epic has a new lightness of touch and an almost soapy compulsiveness. Set in Ashford, Kent, the kind of everytown that has turned its back on history, the novel dips into the lives of a loosely connected cast of everyday eccentrics who find that history - in the persona of Edward IV's jester - is fighting back. A jumble of voices and typefaces, mortal fear and sarky laughter, the novel is as true as it is truly odd, and beautifully written to boot. Justine Jordan Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Stephen Baxter: The Time Ships (1995)
In his visionary sequel to Wells's The Time Machine, Baxter continues the adventures of the Time-Traveller. He sends him back to the far future in an attempt to save the Eloi woman Weena, only to find himself in a future timeline diverging from the one he left. Baxter's extraordinary continuation and expansion tackles the usual concerns of the time-travel story - paradox and causality - and goes on to explore many of the themes that taxed Wells: destiny, morality and the perfectibility of the human race. EB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Greg Bear: Darwin's Radio (1999)
Bear combines intelligence, humour and the wonder of scientific discovery in a techno-thriller about a threat to the future of humanity. A retro-viral plague sweeps the world, infecting women via their sexual partners and aborting their embryos. But the plague is more than it seems .. What might in other hands have been a mere end-of-the-world runaround is transformed by Bear's scientific knowledge into something marvellous, as reason overcomes paranoia and fear. EB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Alfred Bester: The Stars My Destination (1956)
'Gully Foyle is my name / And Terra is my nation. / Deep space is my dwelling place / And death's my destination …' Marooned in space after an attack on his ship, then ignored by a passing luxury liner, an illiterate mechanic plots revenge on those who left him to die. Somehow surviving, he swiftly gets down to it. Bester's novel updates The Count of Monte Cristo with telepathy, nuclear weapons and interplanetary travel. Those who stumble across it are inevitably surprised to find it was written half a century ago. PD Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Poppy Z Brite: Lost Souls (1992)
Brite's first novel, a lush, decadent and refreshingly provocative take on vampirism told in rich, stylish prose, put her at the forefront of the 1990s horror scene. It's the story of Nothing, an angst-filled teenager who runs away from his adoptive parents to seek out his favourite band. Along the way he joins up with a group of vampires, finds his true family and discovers what he really values, amid much blood, sex, drugs and drink. Keith Brooke Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Algis Budrys: Rogue Moon (1960)
Al Barker is a thrillseeking adventurer recruited to investigate an alien labyrinth on the moon. Everyone who enters the maze dies, so Barker's doppelganger is transmitted there while he remains in telepathic contact. Barker is the first person to survive the trauma of witnessing their own death, returning again and again to explore. Rogue Moon works as both thriller and character study, a classic novel mapping out a new and sophisticated SF, just as Barker maps the alien maze. KB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Mikhail Bulgakov: The Master and Margarita (1966)
When the Devil comes to 1930s Moscow, his victims are pillars of the Soviet establishment: a famous editor has his head cut off; another bureaucrat is made invisible. This is just a curtain-raiser for the main event, however: a magnificent ball for the damned and the diabolical. For his hostess, his satanic majesty chooses Margarita, a courageous young Russian whose lover is in a psychiatric hospital, traumatised by the banning of his novel. No prizes for guessing whom Bulgakov identified with; although Stalin admired his early work, by the 1930s he was personally banning it. This magisterial satire was not published until more than 20 years after the writer's death. PD Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Edward Bulwer-Lytton: The Coming Race (1871)
In this pioneering work of British science fiction, the hero is a bumptious American mining engineer who stumbles on a subterranean civilisation. The 'Vril-ya' enjoy a utopian social organisation based on 'vril', a source of infinitely renewable electrical power (commerce promptly produced the beef essence drink, Bovril). Also present are ray guns, aerial travel and ESP. Ironically, the hero finds utopia too boring. He is rescued from death by the Princess Zee, who flies him to safety. The novel ends with the ominous prophecy that the superior race will invade the upper earth - 'the Darwinian proposition', as Bulwer-Lytton called it. John Sutherland Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Anthony Burgess: A Clockwork Orange (1960)
One of a flurry of novels written by Burgess when he was under the mistaken belief that he had only a short time to live. Set in a dystopian socialist welfare state of the future, the novel fantasises a world without religion. Alex is a 'droog' - a juvenile delinquent who lives for sex, violence and subcult high fashion. The narrative takes the form of a memoir, in Alex's distinctive gang-slang. The state 'programmes' Alex into virtue; later deprogrammed, he discovers what good and evil really are. The novel, internationally popularised by Stanley Kubrick's 1970 film into what Burgess called 'Clockwork Marmalade', is Burgess's tribute to his cradle Catholicism and, as a writer, to James Joyce. JS Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Anthony Burgess: The End of the World News (1982)
In one of the first split-screen narratives, Burgess juxtaposes three key 20th-century themes: communism, psychoanalysis and the millennial fear of Armageddon. Trotsky's 1917 visit to New York is presented as a Broadway musical; a mournful Freud looks back on his life as he prepares to flee the Nazis; and in the year 2000, as a rogue asteroid barrels towards the Earth, humanity argues over who will survive and what kind of society they will take to the stars. JJ Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Edgar Rice Burroughs: A Princess of Mars (1912)
John Carter, a Confederate veteran turned gold prospector, is hiding from Indians in an Arizona cave when he is mysteriously transported to Mars, known to the locals as Barsoom. There, surrounded by four-armed, green-skinned warriors, ferocious white apes, eight-legged horse-substitutes, 10-legged 'dogs', and so on, he falls in love with Princess Dejah Thoris, who might almost be human if she didn't lay eggs. She is, naturally, both beautiful and extremely scantily clad .. Burroughs's first novel, published in serial form, is the purest pulp, and its lack of pretension is its greatest charm. PD Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
William Burroughs: Naked Lunch (1959)
Disjointed, hallucinatory cut-ups form a collage of, as Burroughs explained of the title, 'a frozen moment when everyone sees what is on the end of every fork'. A junkie's picaresque adventures in both the real world and the fantastical 'Interzone', this is satire using the most savage of distorting mirrors: society as an obscene phantasmagoria of addiction, violence, sex and death. Only Cronenberg could have filmed it (in 1991), and even he recreated Burroughs's biography rather than his interior world. JJ Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Octavia Butler: Kindred (1979)
Butler's fourth novel throws African American Dana Franklin back in time to the early 1800s, where she is pitched into the reality of slavery and the individual struggle to survive its horrors. Butler single-handedly brought to the SF genre the concerns of gender politics, racial conflict and slavery. Several of her novels are groundbreaking, but none is more compelling or shocking than Kindred. A brilliant work on many levels, it ingeniously uses the device of time travel to explore the iniquity of slavery through Dana's modern sensibilities. EB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Samuel Butler: Erewhon (1872)
The wittiest of Victorian dystopias by the period's arch anti-Victorian. The hero Higgs finds himself in New Zealand (as, for a while, did the chronic misfit Butler). Assisted by a native, Chowbok, he makes a perilous journey across a mountain range to Erewhon (say it backwards), an upside-down world in which crime is 'cured' and illness 'punished', where universities are institutions of 'Unreason' and technology is banned. The state religion is worship of the goddess Ydgrun (ie 'Mrs Grundy' - bourgeois morality). Does it sound familiar? Higgs escapes by balloon, with the sweetheart he has found there. JS Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Italo Calvino: The Baron in the Trees (1957)
It is 1767: a boy quarrels with his aristocratic parents and climbs a tree, swearing not to touch the earth again. He ends up keeping his promise, witnessing the French revolution and its Napoleonic aftermath from the perspective of the Italian treetops. Drafted soon after Calvino's break with communism over the invasion of Hungary, the novel can be read as a fable about intellectual commitments. At the same time, it's a perfectly turned fantasy, densely imagined but lightly written in a style modelled on Voltaire and Robert Louis Stevenson. Chris Tayler Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Ramsey Campbell: The Influence (1988)
Campbell has long been one of the masters of psychological horror, proving again and again that what's in our heads is far scarier than any monster lurking in the shadows. In this novel, the domineering old spinster Queenie dies - a relief to those around her. Her niece Alison inherits the house, but soon starts to suspect that the old woman is taking over her eight-year-old daughter Rowan. A paranoid, disturbing masterpiece. KB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Lewis Carroll: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865)
The intellectuals' favourite children's story began as an improvised tale told by an Oxford mathematics don to a colleague's daughters; later readers have found absurdism, political satire and linguistic philosophy in a work that, 140 years on, remains fertile and fresh, crisp yet mysterious, and endlessly open to intepretation. Alice, while reading in a meadow, sees a white rabbit rush by, feverishly consulting a watch. She follows him down a hole (Freudian analysis, as elsewhere in the story, is all too easy), where she grows and shrinks in size and encounters creatures mythological, extinct and invented. Morbid jokes and gleeful subversion abound. JS Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Lewis Carroll: Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871)
The trippier sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and, like its predecessor, illustrated by John Tenniel. More donnish in tone, this fantasy follows Alice into a mirror world in which everything is reversed. Her journey is based on chess moves, during the course of which she meets such figures as Humpty Dumpty and the riddling twins Tweedledum and Tweedledee. More challenging intellectually than the first instalment, it explores loneliness, language and the logic of dreams. JS Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Angela Carter: Nights at the Circus (1984)
The year is 1899 - and other times. Fevvers, aerialiste, circus performer and a virgin, claims she was not born, but hatched out of an egg. She has two large and wonderful wings. In fact, she is large and wonderful in every way, from her false eyelashes to her ebullient and astonishing adventures. The journalist Jack Walser comes to interview her and stays to love and wonder, as will every reader of this entirely original extravaganza, which deftly and wittily questions every assumption we make about the lives of men and women on this planet. Carmen Callil Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Michael Chabon: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2000)
The golden age of the American comic book coincided with the outbreak of the second world war and was spearheaded by first- and second-generation Jewish immigrants who installed square-jawed supermen as bulwarks against the forces of evil. Chabon's Pulitzer prize-winning picaresque charts the rise of two young cartoonists, Klayman and Kavalier. It celebrates the transformative power of pop culture, and reveals the harsh truths behind the hyperreal fantasies. XB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Arthur C Clarke: Childhood's End (1953)
Clarke's third novel fuses science and mysticism in an optimistic treatise describing the transcendence of humankind from petty, warring beings to the guardians of utopia, and beyond. One of the first major works to present alien arrival as beneficent, it describes the slow process of social transformation when the Overlords come to Earth and guide us to the light. Humanity ultimately transcends the physical and joins a cosmic overmind, so ushering in the childhood's end of the title EB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
GK Chesterton: The Man Who Was Thursday (1908)
Chesterton's 'nightmare', as he subtitled it, combines Edwardian delicacy with wonderfully melodramatic tub-thumping - beautiful sunsets and Armageddon - to create an Earth as strange as any far-distant planet. Secret policemen infiltrate an anarchist cabal bent on destruction, whose members are known only by the days of the week; but behind each one's disguise, they discover only another policeman. At the centre of all is the terrifying Sunday, a superhuman force of mischief and pandemonium. Chesterton's distorting mirror combines spinetingling terror with round farce to give a fascinating perspective on Edwardian fears of (and flirtations with) anarchism, nihilism and a world without god. JJ Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Susanna Clarke: Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2004)
Clarke's first novel is a vast, hugely satisfying alternative history, a decade in the writing, about the revival of magic - which had fallen into dusty, theoretical scholarship - in the early 19th century. Two rival magicians flex their new powers, pursuing military glory and power at court, striking a dangerous alliance with the Faerie King, and falling into passionate enmity over the use and meaning of the supernatural. The book is studded with footnotes both scholarly and comical, layered with literary pastiche, and invents a whole new strain of folklore: it's dark, charming and very, very English. JJ Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Michael G Coney: Hello Summer, Goodbye (1975)
This classic by an unjustly neglected writer tells the story of Drove and Pallahaxi-Browneyes on a far-flung alien world which undergoes long periods of summer and gruelling winters lasting some 40 years. It's both a love story and a war story, and a deeply felt essay, ahead of its time, about how all living things are mutually dependant. This is just the kind of jargon-free, humane, character-driven novel to convert sceptical readers to science fiction. EB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Douglas Coupland: Girlfriend in a Coma (1998)
Coupland began Girlfriend in a Coma in 'probably the darkest period of my life', and it shows. Listening to the Smiths - whose single gave the book its title - can't have helped. This is a story about the end of the world, and the general falling-off that precedes it, as 17-year-old Karen loses first her virginity, then consciousness. When she reawakens more than a decade later, the young people she knew and loved have died, become junkies or or simply lost that new-teenager smell. Wondering what the future holds? It's wrinkles, disillusionment and the big sleep. PD Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Mark Danielewski: House of Leaves (2000)
It's not often you get to read a book vertically as well as horizontally, but there is much that is uncommon about House of Leaves. It's ostensibly a horror story, but the multiple narrations and typographical tricks - including one chapter that cuts down through the middle of the book - make it as much a comment on metatextuality as a novel. That said, the creepiness stays with you, especially the house that keeps stealthily remodelling itself: surely that long, dark, endless corridor wasn't there yesterday .. Carrie O'Grady Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
The Invisible Boy (1957) Download Torrent 1
Marie Darrieussecq: Pig Tales (1996)
It wasn't a problem at first: to be more voluptuous, to have a firmer, more rounded bottom and breasts, to be pinker and more healthy-looking is far from a disadvantage to a girl working in a massage parlour in a sex-crazed dystopian society. But the changes don't stop there: her hunger dominates (her preferred foods are now flowers and raw potatoes), her pleasant plumpness becomes rolls of fat, her glow turns ruddy. A curly tail, trotters and a snout are not far off. Darrieussecq's modern philosophical tale is witty, telling and hearteningly feminist. Joanna Biggs Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Samuel R Delaney: The Einstein Intersection (1967)
The setting is a post-apocalyptic future, long past the age of humans. Aliens have taken on the forms of human archetypes, in an attempt to come to some understanding of human civilisation and play out the myths of the planet's far past. The novel follows Lobey, who as Orpheus embarks on a quest to bring his lover back from the dead. With lush, poetic imagery and the innovative use of mythic archetypes, Delaney brilliantly delineates the human condition. EB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Philip K Dick: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968)
Dick's novel became the basis for the film Blade Runner, which prompted a resurgence of interest in the man and his works, but similarities film and novel are slight. Here California is under-populated and most animals are extinct; citizens keep electric pets instead. In order to afford a real sheep and so affirm his empathy as a human being, Deckard hunts rogue androids, who lack empathy. As ever with Dick, pathos abounds and with it the inquiry into what is human and what is fake. EB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Philip K Dick: The Man in the High Castle (1962)
Much imitated 'alternative universe' novel by the wayward genius of the genre. The Axis has won the second world war. Imperial Japan occupies the west coast of America; more tyrannically, Nazi Germany (under Martin Bormann, Hitler having died of syphilis) takes over the east coast. The Californian lifestyle adapts well to its oriental master. Germany, although on the brink of space travel and the possessor of vast tracts of Russia, is teetering on collapse. The novel is multi-plotted, its random progression determined, Dick tells us, by consultation with the Chinese I Ching. JS Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
The new season will answer a lot of questions: how much of the Iron Islands and Kingsmoot will make it to this season? 10 episodes Game of Thrones is an epic series whose storylines of treachery and nobility, family and honor, ambition and love, and death and survival. How much of the siege or occupation of Meereen will make it into the season? Based on the popular book series “A Song of Ice and Fire,” by George R.R. Download game of thrones season 4 episode. Martin, this fantasy series chronicles an epic struggle for power in a vast and violent fantasy kingdom.
Umberto Eco: Foucault's Pendulum (1988)
Foucault's Pendulum followed the massive success of Eco's The Name of the Rose, and in complexity, intrigue, labyrinthine plotting and historical scope it is every bit as extravagant. Eco's tale of three Milanese publishers, who feed occult and mystic knowledge into a computer to see what invented connections are created, tapped into the worldwide love of conspiracy theories, particularly those steeped in historical confusion. As 'The Plan' takes over their lives and becomes reality, the novel turns into a brilliant historical thriller of its own that inspired a similar level of obsession among fans. Nicola Barr Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Michel Faber: Under the Skin (2000)
The Invisible Boy (1957) Download Torrent Free
A woman drives around the Scottish highlands, all cleavage and lipstick, picking up well-built male hitchhikers - but there's something odd behind her thick pebble glasses .. Faber's first novel refreshes the elements of horror and SF in luminous, unearthly prose, building with masterly control into a page-turning existential thriller that can also be read as an allegory of animal rights. And in the character of Isserley - her curiosity, resignation, wonderment and pain - he paints an immensely affecting portrait of how it feels to be irreparably damaged and immeasurably far from home. JJ Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
John Fowles: The Magus (1966)
Determined to extricate himself from an increasingly serious relationship, graduate Nicholas Urfe takes a job as an English teacher on a small Greek island. Walking alone one day, he runs into a wealthy eccentric, Maurice Conchis, who draws him into a succession of elaborate psychological games that involve two beautiful young sisters in reenactments of Greek myths and the Nazi occupation. Appearing after The Collector, this was actually the first novel that Fowles wrote, and although it quickly became required reading for a generation, he continued to rework it for a decade after publication. David Newnham Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Neil Gaiman: American Gods (2001)
'Nourishing to the soul' was Michael Chabon's verdict on Gaiman's novel, in which ex-con Shadow gets a job driving for a conman who turns out to be a Norse god. Before long, he is embroiled in a battle between ancient and modern deities: Odin, Anansi, Anubis and the Norns on one side, TV, the movies and technology on the other. A road trip through America's sacred places is spiced up by some troublesome encounters with Shadow's unfaithful wife, Laura. She's dead, which always makes for awkward silences. PD Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Alan Garner: Red Shift (1973)
The author of such outstanding mythical fantasies as Elidor and The Owl Service, Garner has been called 'too good for grown-ups'; but the preoccupations of this young adult novel (love and violence, madness and possession, the pain of relationships outgrown and the awkwardness of the outsider) are not only adolescent. The three narrative strands - young lovers in the 1970s, the chaos of thebetweenalcoholics, English civil war and soldiers going native in a Vietnam-tinged Roman Britain - circle around Mow Cop in Cheshire and an ancient axehead found there. Dipping in and out of time, in blunt, raw dialogue, Garner creates a moving and singular novel. JJ Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
William Gibson: Neuromancer (1984)
'The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel.' From the first line of Gibson's first novel, it was clear that a major talent had arrived. This classic of cyberpunk won Nebula, Hugo and Philip K Dick awards, and popularised the term 'cyberspace', which the author described as 'a consensual hallucination experienced daily by billions'. A fast-paced thriller starring a washed-up hacker, a cybernetically enhanced mercenary and an almost omnipotent artificial intelligence, it inspired and informed a slew of films and novels, not least the Matrix trilogy. PD Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
Charlotte Perkins Gilman: Herland (1915)
When three explorers learn of a country inhabited only by females, Terry, the lady's man, looks forward to Glorious Girls, Van, the scientist, expects them to be uncivilised, and Jeff, the Southern gallant, hopes for clinging vines in need of rescue. The process by which their assumptions are overturned and their own beliefs challenged is told with humour and a light touch in Gilman's brilliantly realised vision of a female Utopia where Mother Love is raised to its highest power. Many of Herland's insights are as relevant today as when it was first published a hundred years ago. Joanna Hines Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
William Golding: Lord of the Flies (1954)
The shadow of the second world war looms over Golding's debut, the classic tale of a group of English schoolboys struggling to recreate their society after surviving a plane crash and descending to murderous savagery. Fat, bespectacled Piggy is sacrificed; handsome, morally upstanding Ralph is victimised; and dangerous, bloodthirsty Jack is lionised, as the boys become 'the Beast' they fear. When the adults finally arrive, childish tears on the beach hint less at relief than fear for the future. NB Buy this book at the Guardian bookshop
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Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar/Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar.htmOLLIE SPARKSNEEDS THE HELP OF CHARLIE BONE!!A new semester isbeginning at Bloor's Academy; and danger is lurking around every corner. FirstCharlie's beloved Uncle Paton disappears on a long and perilous journey. ThenCharlie and his friends make an astonishing discovery: an invisible boy; OllieSparks, has been imprisoned in the attic of the academyCharlie knows it's upto him to use his extraordinary gifts to help his uncle and Ollie. But latelyhis powers have been changing and not for the better. Nothing is what itseems, and Charlie doesn't know if anyone can be trusted including himself . . CONTENTS THE ENDOWED CHILDREN A VERY OLD MOUSE PROLOGUE THE WAND SOMEONE DANGEROUS BULL, BELLS, AND GOLDEN BATS THE INVISIBLE BOY A SORCERER ON THE LOOSE RUNNER BEAN IS DISCOVERED THE FLAMES AND A JOURNEY SPARKLING STONES THE GARDEN IN DARKLY WYND THE SHAPE-SHIFTER LYSANDER'S PLAN THE STARLING THE NIGHT OF WIND AND SPIRITS UNCLE PATON'S RETURN OLLIE AND THE BOA A VISIT TO SKARPO A BELT OF BLACK JEWELS THE ENDOWED CHILDRENThe endowed are all descendedfrom the ten children of the Red King, a magician-king who left Africa in thetwelfth century, accompanied by three leopards.The Red King had alreadylived for several centuries, and he made a marvelous glass sphere, putting intoit memories of his life and travels through the world. He used the sphere totwist through time, visiting the past and the future.In any other hands, the TimeTwister is dangerous and unpredictable. THE CHILDREN OF THE RED KING, CALLED THE ENDOWED MANFRED BLOOR Head boy of Bloor's Academy A hypnotist. He is descended from Borlath, eldest son of the Red King. Borlath was a brutal and sadistic tyrant. CHARLIE BONE Charlie can hear the voices of people in photographs and paintings. He is descended from the Yewbeams, a family with many magical endowments. ZELDA DOBINSKI Descended from a long line of Polish magicians. Zelda is telekinetic. She can move objects with her mind. DORCAS LOOM An endowed girl whose gift is, as yet, undiscovered. ASA PIKE A were-beast. He is descended from a tribe who lived in the northern forests and kept strange beasts. Asa can change shape at dusk. BILLY RAVEN Billy can communicate with animals. One of his ancestors conversed with ravens that sat on a gibbet where dead men hung. For this talent he was banished from his village. LYSANDER SAGE Descended from an African wise man. He can call up his spirit ancestors. GABRIEL SILK Gabriel can feel scenes and emotions through the clothes of others. He comes from a line of psychics. EMMA TOLLY Emma can fly. Her surname derives from the Spanish swordsman from Toledo whose daughter married the Red King. He is therefore an ancestor of all the endowed children. TANCRED TORSSON A storm-bringer His Scandinavian ancestor was named after the thunder god, Thor. Tancred can bring wind, thunder, and lightning.PROLOGUEWhen the Red King leftAfrica, he took with him a rare snake, a boa, given to him by a traveling wiseman. The boa's skin was black and silver and its eyes like beads of jet.Sometimes, the shining eyes would close, but this was a deception. In theking's presence the boa was eternally vigilant. No thief or assassin dared topass it. The king, who could speak its language, regarded the boa as a friend,a guardian, and a wise counselor. He loved the creature dearlyOne day while the king wasabsent on a hunting trip, his eldest son, Borlath, caught the boa in a net. Borlath had the crudest heart of any manliving, and his greatest sport was to torture. Within a week he had turned thewise and gentle boa into a creature that lived only to kill. It would squeezeits victims into oblivion within minutes.The king's daughter,Guanhamara, horrified by the boa's new and deadly nature, rescued the creatureand cast a spell, hoping to cure it. Alas, Guanhamara's spell came too late andmerely weakened the boa's fatal hug. Its victims did not die, but they becameinvisible.When Guanhamara died, the boafell into a deep sleep. It shriveled into a thing that was neither alive nordead. Hoping one day to reawaken the creature, Guanhamara's seven daughters(every one of them a witch) sealed the boa in a jar of liquid made blue withherbs. They also put in a bird with delicate, shiny wings. But the embalmedcreatures were stolen by Borlath and passed down through his descendants, untilEzekiel Bloor, using a method recommended by his grandfather, managed to revivethe boa, whose skin had become a silvery blue. He was less successful with thebird.Ezekiel was now a hundredyears old. He had always longed to become invisible but, as far as he knew theboa's hug was permanent, and he didn't dare to let the creature hug him. Theold man still searched for a way to reverse invisibility while the boa lived inthe shadowy attics of Bloor's Academy keeping its secret, until someone couldbring it the comfort of understanding and listen to its storySOMEONE DANGEROUSAn owl swooped over the roofof number nine Filbert Street. It hovered above a running mouse and thenperched on a branch beside Charlie Bone's window The owl hooted, but Charlieslept on.Across the road, at numbertwelve, Benjamin Brown was already awake. He opened his curtains to look at theowl and saw three figures emerge from the door of number nine. In the palestreetlight their faces were a blur of shadows, but Benjamin would have knownthem anywhere. They were Charlie Bone's great-aunts, Lucretia, Eustacia, andVenetia Yewbeam. As the three women tiptoed furtively down the steps, one ofthem suddenly looked up at Benjamin. He shrank behind the curtain and watchedthem hurry away up the road. They wore black hooded coats and their headstilted toward one another like conspirators.It was half past four in themorning. Why were the Yewbeam sisters out so early? Had they been in Charlie'shouse all night? They've been hatchingsome nasty plot, thought Benjamin.If only Charlie hadn'tinherited such a strange talent. And if only his great-aunts hadn't gotten toknow about it, perhaps he'd have been safe. But when your ancestor is amagician and a king, your relations are bound to expect something of you.'Poor Charlie,' Benjamin murmured.Benjamin's big yellow dog,Runner Bean, whined sympathetically from the bed. Benjamin wondered if he'dguessed what was going to happen to him. Probably. Mr. and Mrs. Brown hadspent the last two days cleaning the house and packing. Dogs always knowsomething is up when people start packing.'Breakfast,Benjamin!' Mrs. Brown called from the kitchen.Mr. Brown could be heardsinging in the shower. Benjamin and Runner Bean wentdownstairs. Three bowls of oatmeal sat on the kitchen table. Benjamin sat down. His mother was fryingsausages and tomatoes and he was glad to see that she hadn't forgotten his dog.Runner Bean's bowl was already full of chopped sausage.Mr. Brown arrived stillsinging and still in his bathrobe. Mrs. Brown was already dressed. She wore aneat gray suit and her straight straw-colored hair was cut very short. She woreno jewelryBenjamin's parents wereprivate detectives and they tried to look as inconspicuous as possible.Sometimes, they wore a false mustache or a wig to disguise themselves. It wasusually only Mr. Brown who wore the false mustaches, but on one occasion (anoccasion Benjamin would like to forget) Mrs. Brown had also found it necessaryto wear one.Benjamin's mother swapped hisnow empty bowl for a full plate and said, 'You'd better take Runner acrossto Charlie as soon as you've brushed your teeth. We'll be leaving in half anhour.'Yes, Mom.'Benjamin gulped down the rest of his breakfast and ran back upstairs. He didn'ttell his mother that Charlie hadn't actually agreed to look after Runner Bean.The Browns' bathroomoverlooked Filbert Street, and while Benjamin was brushing his teeth he saw atall man in a long black coat walk down the steps of number nine. Benjaminstopped brushing and stared. What on earth was going on in Charlie's house?The tall man was PatonYewbeam, Charlie's great-uncle. He was wearing dark glasses and he carried awhite stick. Benjamin assumed the dark glasses had something to do with Paton'sunfortunate talent for exploding lights. Paton never appeared in daylight, ifhe could help it, but this was an extraordinary time to be going out, even forhim. He walked up to a midnight-blue car, opened the trunk, and carefullyplaced the wand (for that's what it was) right at the back.Before Benjamin had evenrinsed his toothbrush, Charlie's uncle had driven off He went in the oppositedirection from his sisters, Benjamin noted. This wasn't surprising, since Patonand his sisters were sworn enemies.'You'd better go over toCharlie's,' Mrs. Brown called from the kitchen. Benjamin packed hispajamas and toothbrush and went downstairs.Runner Bean's tail hungdejectedly His ears were down and his eyes rolled piteously Benjamin feltguilty 'Come on, Runner.' He spoke with an exaggerated cheerfulnessthat didn't fool his dog for one minute.The boy and the dog left thehouse together. They were best friends and Runner Bean wouldn't have dreamed ofdisobeying Benjamin, but today he dragged his paws very reluctantly up thesteps of number nine.Benjamin rang the bell andRunner Bean howled. It was the howl that woke Charlie. Everyone else in thehouse woke briefly thought they'd had a nightmare, and went back to sleep.Charlie, recognizing thehowl, staggered downstairs to open the door. 'What's happened?' heasked, blinking at the streetlights. 'It's still night, isn't it?'Sort of,' saidBenjamin. 'I've got some amazing news. I'm going to Hong Kong.'Charlie rubbed his eyes.'What, now?'Yes.'Charlie stared at his friendin bewilderment and then invited him in for a piece of toast. While the toastwas browning, Charlie asked Benjamin if Runner Bean would be traveling to HongKong with him.'Er no,' saidBenjamin. 'He'd have to be quarantined and he'd hate that.'So where's hegoing?' Charlie glanced at Runner Bean and the big dog gave him a forlornsort of smile.'That's just it,'Benjamin said, with a slight cough. 'There's no one else but you,Charlie.'Me? 1 can't keep a doghere,' said Charlie. 'Grandma Bone would kill it.'Don't say that.'Benjamin looked anxiously at Runner Bean who was crawling under the table.'Now look what you've done. He was upset already'As Charlie began to splutterhis protests, Benjamin quickly explained that the Hong Kong visit had been acomplete surprise. A Chinese billionaire had asked his parents to trace apriceless necklace that had been stolen from his Hong Kong apartment. TheBrowns couldn't resist such a well-paid and challenging case, but, since itmight take several months, they did not want to leave Benjamin behind.Unfortunately this didn't apply to Runner Bean.Charlie slumped at thekitchen table and scratched his head. His bushy hair was even more tangled thanusual. 'Oh,' was all he could say'Thanks, Charlie.'Benjamin shoved a large piece of toast into his mouth. 'I'll let myselfout.' At the kitchen door he looked back guiltily 'I'm sorry I hopeyou'll be all right, Charlie.' And then he was gone.Benjamin was so excited thathe had forgotten to tell Charlie about his uncle and the wand or the visit ofhis three aunts.From the kitchen window,Charlie watched his friend dash across the street and jump into the Browns'large green car. Charlie lifted his hand to wave, but the car drove off beforeBenjamin had seen him.'Now what?' mumbledCharlie.As if in answer, Runner Beangrowled from beneath the table. Benjamin hadn't thought to leave any dog foodfor him, and Mr. and Mrs. Brown were obviously far too busy to think of suchmundane items. 'Detectives!' hemuttered.For five minutes Charliestruggled to think how he was going to keep Runner Bean a secret from GrandmaBone. But thinking was exhausting so early in the day Charlie laid his head onthe table and fell asleep.As luck would have it,Grandma Bone was the first person downstairs that morning. 'What'sthis?' Her shrill voice woke Charlie with a start. 'Sleeping in thekitchen? You're lucky it's Saturday You'd have missed the school bus.'Um.' Charlieblinked up at the tall, stringy woman in her gray bathrobe. A snowy braid hung downher back and it swung from side to side as she began to march around thekitchen, banging on the kettle, slamming the fridge door, and plunking hardbutter on the counter Suddenly she swiveled around and stared at Charlie.'I smell dog,' she said accusinglyCharlie remembered RunnerBean. 'D-dog?' he stammered. Luckily the heavy tablecloth hung almostto the ground and his grandmother couldn't see Runner Bean.'Has that friend ofyours been here? He always smells of dog.'Benjamin? Er yes,' said Charlie. 'He came to say good-bye. He's going to HongKong.'Good riddance,'she grunted.When Grandma Bone went intothe pantry Charlie grabbed Runner Bean's collar and dragged him upstairs.'I don't know what I'mgoing to do with you,' sighed Charlie. 'I've got to go to school onMonday and I won't be back till Friday I have to sleep there, you know'Runner Bean jumped ontoCharlie's bed, wagging his tail. He'd spent many happy hours in Charlie'sbedroom.Charlie decided to ask hisuncle Paton for help. Slipping out of his room, he crept along the landinguntil he came to his uncle's door. A DO NOT DISTURB signhung just above Charlie's eye level. He knocked.There was no replyCharlie cautiously opened thedoor and looked in. Paton wasn't there. It was unlike him to leave the house inthe morning. Charlie went over to a big desk covered with books and scraps ofpaper. On the tallest pile of books there was an envelope with Charlie's nameon it.Charlie withdrew a sheet ofpaper from the envelope and read his uncle's large scrawly handwriting.Charlie, dear boy,My sistersare up to no good. Heard them plotting in the early hours. Have decided to goand put a stop to things . If I don't, someone very dangerous willarrive. No time to explain. Will be back in a few days I hope!Yoursaffectionately,UncleP.P.S.Have taken wand.'Oh, no,' Charliegroaned. 'When are things going to stop going wrong today?'Unfortunately they had onlyjust begun.With a long sigh, Charlieleft his uncle's room and walked straight into a pile of towels.His other grandmother, MaisieJones, who was carrying the towels, staggered backward and then sat down with abang.'Watch out,Charlie!' she shouted.Charlie pulled his ratheroverweight grandmother to her feet and, while he helped gather up the towels,he told Maisie about Paton's note and the problem of Runner Bean.'Don't worryCharlie,' said Maisie. Her voice sank to a whisper as Grandma Bone came upthe stairs. 'I'll look after the poor pooch. As for Uncle P I'm sureit'll all turn out for the best.'Charlie went back to hisroom, dressed quickly and told Runner Bean that food would be coming, if notdirectly then as soon as Grandma Bone went out.This could be any time of dayor not at all, but Runner Bean wasn't bothered. He curled up on the bed andclosed his eyes. Charlie went downstairs.Maisie was filling thewashing machine and Amy Bone, Charlie's mother, was gulping down her second cupof coffee. She told Charlie to have a good day pecked him on the cheek, andrushed off to the market where she worked. Charlie thought she looked too chicfor a day of weighing vegetables. Her golden-brown hair was tied back with avelvet ribbon, and she was wearing a brand-new corn-colored coat. Charliewondered if she'd gotten a boyfriend. He hoped not, for his vanished father'ssake.Five minutes after hismother.had left, Grandma Bone came downstairs in a black coat, her white hairnow bundled up under a black hat. She told Charlie to brush his hair and thenwalked out with an odd smile on her pinched face.As soon as she'd gone,Charlie ran to the fridge and pulled out a bowl of leftovers: last night's lambstew Maisie grinned and shook her head, but she let Charlie take some of it toRunner Bean in a saucer. 'That dog should be exercised before Grandma Bonecomes back,' she called.Charlie took her advice. WhenRunner Bean had wolfed down the stew, Charlie took him out into the backgarden, where they had a great game of hunt the slipper, a slipper that Charliedespised because it had his name embroidered in blue across the front.Runner Bean was just chewingup the last bit of slipper when Maisie flung open an upstairs window andcalled, 'Look out, Charlie. The Yewbeams are coming!'Stay here,Runner,' Charlie commanded. And be quiet, if you can.'He leaped up the steps to theback door and ran to the kitchen where he sat at the table and picked up amagazine. The aunts' voices could be heard as they climbed the front steps. Akey turned in the lock and then they were in the hall: Grandma Bone and herthree sisters, all talking at once.The great-aunts marched intothe kitchen in new spring outfits. Lucretia and Eustacia had exchanged theirusual black suits for charcoal gray but in Aunt Venetia's case it was purple.She also wore high-heeled purple shoes with golden tassels dangling from thelaces. All three sisters hadsinister smiles and threatening looks intheir dark eyes.Aunt Lucretia said, 'So,here you are, Charlie!' She was the eldest, apart from Grandma Bone, and amatron at Charlie's school.'Yes, here I am,'said Charlie nervously 'Same hair, I see,'said Aunt Eustacia, sitting opposite Charlie.'Yes, same hair,'said Charlie. 'Same hair for you too, 1 see.'Don't be smart.'Eustacia patted her abundant gray hair. 'Why haven't you brushed ittoday?'Haven't had time,'said Charlie.He became aware that GrandmaBone was still talking to someone in the hall.Aunt Venetia suddenly said,'Tah dah!' and opened the kitchen door very wide, as if she wereexpecting the Queen or a famous movie star to walk in. But it was Grandma Bonewho appeared, followed by the prettiest girl Charlie had ever seen. She hadgolden curls, bright blue eyes, and lips like an angel.'Hello, Charlie!'The girl held out her hand in the manner of someone expecting a kiss on thefingers, preferably from a boy on bended knees. 'I'm Belle.'Charlie was too flustered todo anything.The girl smiled and satbeside him. 'Oh, my' she said, 'a ladies' magazine.'Charlie realized, to hishorror, that he was holding his mother's magazine. On the cover, a woman inpink underwear held a kitten. Charlie felt very hot. He knew his face must bebright red.'Make us some coffee,Charlie,' Aunt Lucretia said sharply And then we'll be off.'Charlie flung down, the magazineand ran to the coffeemaker while Grandma Bone and the aunts sat babbling athim. Belle would be going to Charlie's school, Bloor's Academy and Charlie musttell her all about it.Charlie sighed. He wanted tovisit his friend, Fidelio. Why did the aunts always have to spoil everything?For half an hour he listened to the chattering and giggling over the coffee andbuns. Belle didn't behave likea child, thought Charlie. She looked about twelve, but sheseemed very comfortable with the aunts.When the last drop had beensqueezed out of the coffeepot, the three Yewbeam sisters left the house,blowing kisses to Belle.'Take care of her,Charlie,' Aunt Venetia called.Charlie wondered how he wassupposed to do that.'Can I wash my hands,Grizel er Mrs. Bone?' Belle held up her sticky fingers.'There's the sink.'Charlie nodded to the kitchen sink.'Upstairs, dear,'said Grandma Bone, with a scowl in Charlie's direction. 'Bathroom's firstleft. There's some nice lavender soap and a clean towel.'Thank you!' Belleskipped out.Charlie gaped. 'What'swrong with the kitchen?' he asked his grandmother.'Belle has tenderskin,' said Grandma Bone. 'She can't use kitchen soap. I want you toset the dining room table for five. I presume Maisie will be joiningus.'The dining room?'said Charlie in disbelief. 'We only eat there on special occasions.'It'sfor Belle,' snapped Grandma Bone. Achild?' Charlie was amazed. 'Belleis not just any child.'So itseems, thought Charlie. He went to set the dining roomtable while Grandma Bone shouted instructions up to Maisie. 'We'd like anice light soup today Maisie. And then some cold ham and salad. Followed byyour lovely Bakewell tart.'Would we indeed, YourHighness?' Maisie shouted from somewhere upstairs. 'Well, we'll haveto wait, I'm afraid. Oops! Who on earth are you?'She had obviously bumped intoBelle.Charlie closed the diningroom door and went to the window There was no sign of Runner Bean in thegarden. Charlie had visions of a dog's lifeless body lying in a gutter. He ranto the back door, but just as he was about to open it, a singsong voice called,'Charleee!'Belle was standing in thehall, staring at him. Charlie could havesworn that her eyes had been blue. Now they were green.'Where are you going,Charlie?' she asked.'Oh, I was just goinginto the garden for a . . . a . . .'Can I come withyou?'No. That is, I'vechanged my mind.'Good. Come and talk tome.'Was it possible? Belle's eyeswere now a grayish brown. Charlie followed her into the living room where shesat on the sofa, patting a cushion beside her. Charlie perched at the otherend.'Now, tell me all aboutBloor's.' Belle smiled invitinglyCharlie cleared his throat.Where should he begin? 'Well, there are three sort of departments. Music,art, and drama. I'm in music, so I have to wear a blue cape.'I shall be inart.'Then you'll weargreen.' Charlie glanced at the girl. 'Haven't my aunts told you allthis? I mean, are you staying with them, or what?'I want to hear it fromyou,' said Belle, ignoring Charlie's question.Charlie continued.'Bloor's is a big gray building on the other side of the city It's veryvery old. There are three coatrooms, three assembly halls, and three cafeterias.You go up some steps between two towers, across a courtyard, up more steps, andinto the main hall. You have to be silent in the hall or you'll get detention.The music students go through a door under crossed trumpets; your door is underthe sign of a pencil and paintbrush.'What's the sign for thedrama students?'Two masks, one sad andone happy' Why did Charlie get the impression that Belle knew all this?Her eyes were blue again. It was unnerving.'There's anotherthing,' he said. Are you er like me, one of the children of the RedKing? I mean, was he your ancestor, too?'Belle turned her bright bluegaze on him. 'Oh, yes. And I'm endowed. But I prefer not to say how I'mtold that you can hear voices from photographs and even paintings.'Yes.' Charlie could domore than hear voices, but he wasn't going to give anything away to thisstrange girl. 'Endowed children have to do their homework in the King'sroom,' he said. 'There are twelve of us. Someone from art will showyou where it is: Emma Tolly She's a friend of mine, and she's endowed,too.'Emma? Ah, I've heardall about her.' Belle inched her way up the sofa toward Charlie. 'Nowtell me about you, Charlie. I believe that your father's dead.'He's not!' saidCharlie fiercely 'His car went off a cliff, but they never found his bodyHe's just lost.'Really? How did youfind that out?'Without thinking, Charliesaid, 'My friend Gabriel's got an amazing gift. He can feel the truth inold clothes. I gave him my father's tie and Gabriel said that he wasn'tdead.'Well, well.' Thegirl gave Charlie a sweet, understanding smile, but the effect was spoiled bythe cold look in her eyes now a dark gray And, was it a trick of the light,or did he glimpse a set of wrinkles just above her curved pink lips?Charlie slipped off the sofa.'I'd better help my other gran with lunch,' he said.He found Maisie in thekitchen, throwing herbs into a saucepan. All this fuss for a child,' shemuttered. 'I've never heard of such a thing.'Nor me,' saidCharlie. 'She's a bit strange, isn't she?'She's downrightpeculiar. Belle indeed!' 'Belle meansbeautiful,' said Charlie, remembering his French. 'And she is verypretty' 'Huh!' said Maisie.When the soup was readyCharlie helped Maisie carry it into the chilly dining room. Grandma Bone wasalready sitting at the head of the table with Belle on her right.'Where's Paton?'asked Grandma Bone.'He won't becoming,' said Charlie.And why not?'He doesn't eat with us,does he?' Charlie reminded her.'Today I want himhere,' said Grandma Bone. 'Well, you won't gethim,' said Maisie. 'He's gone away'Oh?'Grandma Bone stiffened. 'And how do you know that?' She glared, firstat Maisie and then Charlie. Maisielooked at Charlie. Charliesaid, 'He left a note.' Andwhat did it say?' demanded Grandma Bone. 'Ican't remember all of it,' Charlie mumbled. 'Letme see it!' She held out a bony hand. 'Itore it up,' said Charlie.GrandmaBone's eyebrows plummeted in a dark scowl. 'You shouldn't have clone that. Iwant to know what's going on. I must know what my brother said.'He said he'd gone tosee my great-grandpa, your father, although you never go to see him.'His grandmother's tiny blackeyes almost disappeared into their wrinkled sockets. 'That's none of yourbusiness. Paton visited our father last week. He only goes once a month.'Charlie only just stoppedhimself from mentioning his own visit to his great-grandfather. Because of thefamily feud it had to remain a secret. But Uncle Paton had never told him whatcaused the feud or why he mustn't talk about it. He'd have to tell another lie.'It was an emergency'This seemed to satisfyGrandma Bone, but Belle continued to stare at Charlie. Her eyes were now darkgreen, and a chilling thought occurred to him. Uncle Paton had gone to stop someonedangerous from arriving. But perhaps that person was already here?THE INVISIBLE BOYTherest of lunch was eaten in stony silence. Even Maisie seemed at a loss forwords. But just as Charlie was clearing the plates, there was a series of loudbarks from the garden, and Runner Bean's head appeared at the bottom of thewindowGrandma Bone, who had herback to the garden, swung around just as the dog bobbed out of sight.'What was that?'she said.'Obviously a dog,Grizelda,' said Maisie. 'Astray has probably jumped into the garden.'I'll go and shoo itout,' Charlie offered.As he left the room henoticed that Belle looked worried.Charlie ran to open the backdoor and Runner Bean came leaping in.'Shhh!' saidCharlie urgently 'Not a sound!' He put a finger to his lips.Runner Bean appeared tounderstand this and obediently followed Charlie up to his room.'You've got to be quietor it's curtains for you.' Charlie drew a finger across his throat.Runner Bean grunted andcurled up on the bed.'Did you catch it?'asked Belle when Charlie returned to the dining room.'No, I just shooed itaway' said Charlie.Belle stood up. 'I wantto go home now, she said to Grandma Bone.'Very well, dear.'With surprising speed, Grandma Bone walked into the hall and put on her coatand hat.Charlie was amazed. Hisgrandmother always had a nap after lunch, even if it was just a short one. Thegolden-haired girl seemed to have some sort of power over her.'Where is home,exactly?' he asked Belle. 'Don't you know whereyour great-aunts live?' she said.Charlie had to confess thathe didn't. He'd never been invited to their home and never been told where itwas.'I expect you'll findout soon enough,' said Belle mysteriously.'There's no need for himto know, said Grandma Bone, helping her into an elegant green jacket.' 'Bye, 'bye, then,Charlie!' said Belle. 'I'll see you at Bloor's on Monday I'm going tobe on the green bus. Watch out for me.'I'll be on the bluebus. But I guess I'll see you some time.'The strange girl smiled andtossed her golden curls. Her eyes were blue again.When Belle and Grandma Bonehad gone, Charlie went to help Maisie with the dishes.'Where do the auntslive?' he asked Maisie.'Some big house at theend of one of those creepy alleys,' said Maisie. 'Darkly Wynd, Ithink the road's called. Funny name. Maybe it's winding and twisty'I've never beenthere.'Nor me,' saidMaisie. And I certainly wouldn't want to.' She handed him a bowl ofleftovers. 'Here, take this to Runner. I don't know how long we're goingto be able to keep this up. Grandma Bone's bound to smell a rat, you know'As long as it's not adog,' said Charlie, trying to make light of the problem.Maisie just shook her head.On Sunday Charlie managed tosneak Runner Bean in and out of the house before Grandma Bone woke up. They hada good race around the park, and then Charlie fried bacon and eggs for theirbreakfast. Apart from a brief run in the garden after dark, Runner Bean spentthe rest of the day on Charlie's bed.On Monday morning, Charlie'smother promised to take the dog for a walk when she got back from work, andMaisie agreed to keep him fed. But as Charlie got ready for school he began toworry'You must keepquiet,' he told Runner Bean. 'No barking, understand? I'll see you onFriday'With mournful eyes the bigdog watched Charlie close the door between them.As Charlie and his friendFidelio walked up the steps to Bloor's Academy Fidelio said, 'There's avery pretty girl trying to get your attention.'Oh.' Charlieturned to see Belle looking up at him from the bottom of the steps.'Hello, Belle. This isFidelio,' he said.Belle gave Fidelio a dazzlingsmile. 'I see you're in music. Violin?' She nodded at the caseFidelio was carrying.'Yes,' murmured Fidelio.He seemed rather lost for words, which was unusual for him.'See you later.'Belle skipped into the hall. 'I remember,' she whispered. 'Notalking.' And off she waltzed toward the pencil and paintbrush sign. Hergreen cape floated around her in a particularly stylish way as she bobbed intothe green coatroom.'Wow!' said Fidelioas soon as they had passed under the two trumpets. 'Who is she,Charlie?'I'm not sure,'Charlie muttered. 'She's staying with my great-aunts. What color would yousay her eyes were?'Blue,' saidFidelio. 'Bright blue.'Well, the next time yousee her, they'll probably be green or brown,' said Charlie.'Really?' Fideliolooked interested. 'I can't wait to see that.'They went into assembly whereFidelio joined the school orchestra and Charlie took his place beside BillyRaven, the youngest child at Bloor's. He was an albino, with snow-white hairand spectacles that made his round red eyes look permanently surprised.After assembly Charlie had atrumpet lesson with old Mr. Paltry He hadn't practiced over the vacation andfound himself out of breath and out of tune. Mr. Paltry rapped his knuckles,shouting, 'No, no, no! A flat, not sharp!' His squeaky voice almostdeafened Charlie, and when the bell rang, Charlie was so eager to escape thathe almost fell over Olivia Vertigo as he raced for the garden door.Today her hair was stripedblack and gold, her face was covered in white powder, and her eyes were ringedwith black. She looked more like an exotic raccoon than anything else, thoughCharlie refrained from saying so.Unfortunately Fidelio didn't.'Hi, Olivia! Are you playing a raccoon this semester?' he asked as hestrolled up.'Who knows?' saidOlivia. 'Manfred's writing the end-of-semester play with Zelda's help,of course.' She nodded at a group of seniors on the other side of theplaying field. Manfred, the head boy was talking earnestly to Zelda Dobinski, atall, skinny girl with a large nose.Charlie noticed thatManfred's sidekick, Asa Pike, was staring at Belle walking arm in arm withDorcas Loom. Asa broke away from the group of seniors and walked across to thetwo girls. He had a crooked smile on his pale, weasely face and, as heapproached the girls, he ran his fingers through his red hair, almost as if hewere trying to tidy himself up.Charlie grabbed Fidelio'sarm. 'Look!' he said.Asa's speaking to a junior. I bet that's neverhappened before.'Except when he's beentelling them off,' said Fidelio.'That girl with Dorcasis really pretty' muttered Olivia.'Her name's Belle,'Charlie told her. 'She's living with my great-aunts.'Olivia whistled. 'Ican't imagine any child living with them. By the way have you seen Emma?'The boys shook their heads,and Olivia sauntered off to look for her friend. She eventually found Emmasitting on a log by the old castle walls. She was holding what appeared to bea small, neatly written letter.'What's up, Em?'said Olivia, perching beside her.'I found this by Mr.Boldova's desk.' Emma held up the letter 'It must have fallen out ofhis pocket. I didn't mean to read it. I meant to give it back but then sawsomething and . . . well, look.'Olivia took the letter andread,My dear Samuel,Wehave it on good authority that the shifter is heading your way. What form itwill take God only knows. But it will recognize you, so get out of that place,Samuel, as soon as you can. I have resigned myself to losing Ollie, althoughyour mother still grieves. She can't stop herself from buying the jam he soloved. We have a room full of the stuff now, and it breaks my heart to see it.I know you feel your brother's loss as deeply as we do, but you must give upthe search. We could not bear to lose you, too. Come home soon.Dad'What do youthink?' said Emma.'Interesting,' saidOlivia. 'But I think you should put the letter back on Mr. B's desk. It'snone of our business who he is or what he's up to.'But it is.' Emmapushed her long blonde hair out of her face. She was very agitated. Olivia knewher friend liked Mr. Boldova. He was young for a teacher, but he was good atart, and he seemed to be on the children's side whenever there was trouble.'You remember whenManfred locked me in the attic? Well, someone let me out, and whoever it washad a passion for jam. I heard Manfred teasing him about it. I know this soundspeculiar but he, or she, seemed to be invisible. And then there was this boyOllie Sparks, who was lost in the attics ages ago. He got out eventually andeveryone thought he'd gone home, but maybe he didn't. Maybe he was punished.Maybe he's still up there.' She glanced up at the tiled roof of theacademy'Hm. So what do you wantto do about it?' asked Olivia.Emma shook her head. 'Idon't know'A hunting horn sounded acrossthe garden and the two friends agreed to talk again at the afternoon break.Emma's next lesson wasFrench, but first she ran to the art room. It was empty and she was justsneaking the letter onto Mr. Boldova's desk when he walked in.'Emma?' He lookedsurprised. 'Shouldn't you be in another lesson?'French, sir. But, it'sjust that I. . . well, I'm really sorry but I read your letter and . . .'Suddenly Emma found herself telling Mr. Boldova about the invisible presence inthe attic, the person who liked jam.Mr. Boldova listened intentlyand then he sat at his desk and said, 'Thank you, Emma. Thank you verymuch. Will you promise not to tell anyone else about this?'But I've already toldOlivia Vertigo, and she might tell some of our friends.'Can you trust them,Emma?' 'With my life,'said Emma.Mr. Boldova smiled. He lookedlike a rather outdoor sort of person for an artist. His face was tanned andhis dark brown hair was drawn back in a ponytail, somewhat like ManfredBloor's, only Manfred's hair was black and stringyEmma said, 'Whathappened to Ollie, sir? We thought he'd gone home after he escaped from theattics.'I'm afraid not,'sighed the teacher. 'Our parents live a long way from here. Dr. Blooragreed to put Ollie on a train in the company of the matron's sister, a MissYewbeam. She told us that Ollie went to get an orange juice from the station cafeteriaand never came back.'I bet he never even gotas far as the train,' said Emma hotly 'Those Yewbeams are evil.They're Charlie Bone's great-aunts, you know and they make his life amisery'Ah, Charlie Bone,'Mr. Boldova said thoughtfully'I'd like to helpOllie,' Emma went on. 'He helped me, you see, and I could probablyfind the place where he's kept.'Better leave it to me,Emma. It could be dangerous.'Sounds like it could bedangerous for you too, sir.'I can take care ofmyself' Mr. Boldova said cheerfully 'Now run along to your Frenchlesson.'Emma went, but she didn'thurry She had too much on her mind. She was ten minutes late for her Frenchlesson, and Madame Tessier was furious. She was an excitable woman and alwayshated the first day of the semester. She missed the sunny French city where shehad been born and complained constantly about the gloomy gray academy with itscreaking floorboards, erratic heating, and poor lighting. She was only therebecause Dr. Bloor had offered her a salary she couldn't resist.'Go! Go!' sheshrieked at Emma. 'You don't want my lesson, you don't come in. It eez toolate. So allez allez!' Shewaved her long fingers at Emma. 'Get out!'Emma got out quickly'You, too,' came a huskywhisper.Emma looked down the corridorand saw Charlie Bone standing outside the history room. He had just said thatNapoleon was the emperor of Russia. Mr. Pope, the history teacher, had screamedat Charlie, telling him he was an ignoramus, and he didn't want to see him inhis class a minute longer.'I didn't really hearthe question.' Charlie's loud whisper echoed across to Emma. 'I wasthinking about a dog.'Emma glanced up and down thecorridor. There was no one around. 'What dog?' she whispered.In as quiet a voice as hecould manage, Charlie told Emma about Benjamin and Runner Bean. 'Why wereyou sent out?' he asked.'I was just late,'said Emma. She recounted her conversation with Mr. Boldova.Charlie's eyes gleamed withinterest. Yet another mention of someone dangerous on the move. Was it possiblethat they were one and the same? 'So you think Ollie Sparks is in theattics?' He paused and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. 'Let's goand look, shall we?'Emma was horrified. 'What,now?'I can't think of abetter time,' said Charlie. 'We've got half an hour before the end ofthe lesson. Everyone else is in class, so who's going to see us? I'm boredstiff hanging around out here.'Before Emma could think of anexcuse, Charlie had sprinted off toward a staircase at the end of the corridor.Emma wished she hadn't told Charlie about the attics. He was inclined to rushinto things without thinking them through. But she felt she had no choice butto followThey crept up one staircaseafter another. Once they bumped into Dr. Saltweather, who interrupted hishumming to ask where they were going. 'We've been sent to get books fromthe library' said Charlie. And Dr. Saltweather waved them on, althoughthey were nowhere near the library But Dr. Saltweather was oblivious toeverything but his precious music.They ran along dark passagesand through empty creaking rooms and, as they drew near to the west wing of thebuilding, Emma became increasingly nervous. She still had nightmares about thenight when her only escape was to become a bird and fly.Memory or instinct, led herto the cell-like room where Manfred Bloor had once imprisoned her. Light from atiny window showed dark walls patched with green slime, a narrow bed covered infilthy blankets, and black, broken floorboards.'What an awfulplace,' Charlie murmured.'Manfred locked mein,' said Emma. 'But then someone turned the key on the other side,and the door opened. I rushed to see who it was but there was no one there.Manfred caught me and brought me back, but and this is the strange part hesaid to someone, Any more trouble and you won't get jam for a week.'That's whyI thought it might be Mr. Boldova's brother, Ollie. Because he liked jam.'Perhaps he's beenlocked in some other gruesome room like this one.' As Charlie turned tothe door it suddenly slammed shut. Charlie lifted the latch and pulled. Nothinghappened. The door appeared to have jammed. 'Must have been adraft,' muttered Charlie.'There isn't anydraft,' said Emma.'But what else could ithave been? No one came in. We'd have seen them.'Maybe they wereinvisible.'Hey!' calledCharlie. 'Is anyone there?'No reply'What on earth are wegoing to do?' cried Emma. She looked at her watch. 'We've only gottwenty minutes.'This is stupid.'Charlie rattled the door while Emma pulled the latch.'It must be Ollie,'said Emma. 'Ollie! Ollie Sparks, are you there?'Silence.'Ollie, we've come tohelp,' Charlie explained. 'If you're there, open this door,please!'Emma and Charlie waited.There was a soft creak. A key turned in the lock. Charlie pulled the door andit swung inward. There was no one in the passage outside.The two children stepped out.They squinted down the shadowy passage, searching for a door, a recess, anyplace where someone could be hiding. Emma's foot touched an empty jar and itrolled away filling the passage with a loud rumble. When the jar finally cameto rest, faint footfalls could be heard receding into the distance.'He's running away'Emma whispered.They chased the footfallsdown the passage, up a rickety set of steps, and into a long room with a narrowskylight. The floor was littered with empty jam jars and comic books. At thefar end of the room there was a bed with a pillow and a patchwork cover. An oillamp sat on a small bedside table and a huge cabinet stood just inside thedoor. There was nothing else in the room except a spindly chair and a battereddesk that had been placed beneath the skylight.'Ollie,' Emma saidsoftly 'Ollie Sparks, are you here?'What if I am?'said a rather mournful voice. 'Why can't we seeyou?' asked Charlie. There was a pause before thevoice replied,' 'Cause I'm invisible, aren't I?'What happened toyou?' asked Emma. 'The blue boa gotme.'Boa?' said Charlieand Emma.'Snake,' went onthe mournful voice. Awful thing. I saw it, see. No one's meant to see it. It'sa secret. A secret weapon.' There was a croaky laugh. 'Once I'd seenit, they weren't going to let me tell about it, so they brought me back here,and it well, I was like a guinea pig they let the boa squeeze me, only Ididn't die, I just got invisible.'Yikes!' gaspedCharlie.'It didn't get all ofme.' A breathless sort of giggle shivered on the air. 'It missed mybig toe.'In horrified fascination,Charlie's eyes were drawn toward the floor. Emma couldn't help screaming. Shehad already seen it: a small pink blob lying just a few steps away from them.'Sorry' said thevoice. 'It used to have a bit of sock and shoe on it, but the shoe got toosmall, and the sock wore out. A toe's a bit disgusting on its own, isn'tit?'Not at all,' saidCharlie cheerfully'They tried to get allof me back,' said the voice. 'They made me drink revolting potionsand threw smelly liquid over me, and once they covered my bed in spiderwebswhile I was asleep.'That is sogruesome,' said Emma.Charlie said, 'Ollie,why don't you escape? The door's not locked. You could easily run away No onewould see you.'You try it.' Thevoice sounded very aggrieved. 'I came out once. People walked into me,knocked me down some of them screamed. 1 couldn't get out of the main doors;no one can. I didn't feel safe, so I came back here.'It must be so horrible,all alone,' said Emma. 'What do you eat?' She was actually wonderinghow Ollie ate but was too polite to ask.'The food's mostlydisgusting, but Manfred gives me nice jam. I suppose he does it to keep mequiet. And, in case you're wondering, I eat just like anyone else. Only youcan't see the food once it's inside me.'Emma hoped Ollie couldn't seeher blush.Charlie had an idea. 'Ifyou come down to the dining hall at dinnertime, we'd all be sitting still. Noone would bump into you, and I could make room for you between me and my friendFidelio. The food's not so bad on the first day of school.'Silence. Perhaps Ollie wasthinking.Emma remembered the mostimportant thing of all. 'Ollie, your brother's here,' she said.'He's come to look for you.'What? Samuel? I can'tbelieve it. Wow!' Suddenly the pink toe jumped into the air and there wasa small thud as two feet landed back on the floor.'So, if you come down todinner, you can see him,' said Charlie.'Yes. Oh, yes ..' A pause. 'But I won't knowthe time. I haven't got a watch.'Charlie took off his watchand held it out. 'You can borrow this.'It was disturbing to see awatch gradually disappear into thin air.'Don't worry it'll comeback when I take it off. Everything I wear becomes invisible,' Ollieexplained. 'Everything I eat or hold or put on.'Emma glanced at her own watchand cried, 'We've only got five minutes. We'll never make it.'She dashed out of the roomand down the steps while Charlie followed, calling, 'Sorry Ollie. Got toget back to class. Hope to see er hear you later!'Emma and Charlie tore downthe empty passages, often taking the wrong turn or the wrong staircase butending up, at last, on the landing above the entrance hall. Their relief wasshort-lived. Approaching them from the other side of the landing was Dr. Bloor.The big man strode toward thechildren. 'Why aren't you two in class?' he boomed.Emma and Charlie froze. Theycouldn't think of an explanation.Dr. Bloor stared down at themwith cold, pale eyes. Suspicion was written all over his big face with itsdull, gray skin and thick, bluish lips. 'Well, I'm waiting.'We er . . .'Charlie floundered.Ah, there you are,'said a voice, and Mr. Boldova appeared behind the headmaster. 'I've beenlooking for these two,' said the art teacher. 'Did you find it?'Charlie swallowed. 'Um ..'That rat's such arascal.' Mr. Boldova turned to the headmaster. 'I brought it alongfor the children to draw, but it keeps escaping. When I saw these two idlingaway I asked them to look for it. Any luck, Charlie?'No, sir.'And now we're late for ournext lesson,' said Emma meaningfully'Dear, oh dear,'said Mr. Boldova. 'I'd better explain to your teachers. All my fault. Comealong, kids. Sorry about this, Dr. Bloor.'Mr. Boldova propelled the twochildren past Dr. Bloor toward the corridor that led to the classrooms.Dr. Bloor swiveled around towatch them go. 'That rat must be found,' he shouted. 'See to it,Mr. Boldova.'Of course,Headmaster.'As soon as they were out ofearshot, Charlie whispered, 'Thanks, sir. I guess we were heading fordetention.'Keep walking,' theart teacher said quietlyBut Emma couldn't remainsilent any longer. 'We found Ollie,' she said softlyMr. Boldova almost tripped.He gripped the children's shoulders and said, 'What? Tell me how where?'As they hurried to theirclassrooms, Charlie and Emma took turns telling the teacher about poor Ollieand his invisibility'Ollie's going to tryand get down to dinner tonight, sir,' said Charlie. 'So you might . . well, he might be able to talk to you.'I can hardly believeit,' murmured Mr. Boldova. 'Invisible or not, Ollie's here, and he'salive. I thought they'd taken him to one of those awful castles of theirs. I'vespent almost a year trying to find out which one.'Do they have manysir?' asked Charlie.At least five,' saidMr. Boldova. 'This is so incredible. I will take Ollie home at the firstopportunity We'll find a way to cure him when we get home.'They had reached MadameTessier and Mr. Pope, who stood fuming outside their classrooms. Mr. Boldovaquickly explained that he had borrowed Emma and Charlie to search for his rat,Rembrandt, who had escaped from his cage. The two teachers grudgingly acceptedhis apologies and told the children to hurry along to lunch.'I'll see you two atdinnertime,' said Mr. Boldova, giving the children a big smile. And hewalked away whistling merrilyWould Charlie's plan forOllie work? He was sure it wouldn't be as easy as Mr. Boldova seemed to think.RUNNER BEAN IS DISCOVEREDOn his way to the dining hall,Charlie had to pass the portraits. They hung on either side of the long, softlylit passage: haughty-looking women in lace and silk, men in dark robes orwearing velvet coats and white pants. You might think that Charlie would becurious to know what they had to say but to tell the truth, he was beginning tofind their bad-tempered whispering, rude demands, and boring jokes rathertiring. He was also afraid that one of them might come leaping out at him. Sohe usually tried to avoid looking at them.Except for today Somethinghad jogged his memoryAh, there it is.' Hestopped before a portrait of a bold-looking woman in red velvet. She had darkringlets, and a necklace of rose-colored jewels sparkled at her throat. SELENA SPARKS reada small bronze plaque at the bottom of the frame.'Selena Sparks,'Charlie murmured.'What about her?'Fidelio said over Charlie's shoulder.'Shh!' hissedCharlie. He waited for a voice, but Selena had nothing to say to him. Perhapsshe was shy 'I knew I'd seen that name,' Charlie muttered. All thesepeople are descended from the Red King. So maybe Ollie is, too.'Ollie who?' askedFidelio. 'I wish you'd talk sense, Charlie.'Emma and me . . .'Charlie began.He was interrupted by a shoutfrom Manfred, the head boy 'Move on, you two, you're cluttering up thepassage.'The boys hurried on, butCharlie, glancing back, saw Manfred stop and stare at Selena Sparks. Charliehoped Manfred wouldn't guess why he was so interested in the portrait. As they took their places inthe long underground dining hall, Charlie whispered, 'Can you leave a gap,Fido? Someone might want to sit between us. Someone invisible who's hungrierthan we are.'Really?' Fidelioraised his eyebrows. 'It didn't take you long to get tangled up insomething, did it?' He moved closer to his neighbor, leaving a small spacebetween Charlie and himself.It happened to be one of thebest meals Charlie had eaten at Bloor's: morsels of chicken and bacon floatedin a creamy sauce, and he was tempted to eat every scrap, but he pushed a fewpieces to the side of his plate, in case Ollie turned up.'He can have all ofmine,' said Fidelio, who was a vegetarian.'I'll have it,'said his neighbor, a large boy called Morris who played the bassoon.'No, you won't,'said Fidelio. 'It's for Cook's dog. He hasn't been well.'Morris gave him a funny look,then ran his thumb around his own almost-empty plate and licked it. This wasagainst the rules.Charlie wondered if Ollie hadgotten lost. He scanned the three long tables, looking for signs of adisturbance. He couldn't see Emma, who sat somewhere at the art table. Thedrama table was in the middle, and it was by far the noisiest, even thoughManfred sat at the head. Apart from Asa and Zelda, who sat on either side ofManfred, everyone in drama faced away from the head of the table. They perchedrather crookedly on the benches, with the shoulder nearest to Manfred slightlyraised. No one wanted to be caught by the head boy's hypnotizing stare whenthey were halfway through a meal.Aside from these strangepostures, Charlie couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary among the purplecapes, so he turned his attention to the far end of the room, where theteachers sat at a table on a raised platform. From here they could keep an eyeon the children below them.'Who are you lookingfor?' Billy Raven stared at Charlie through a fringe of thin white hair.He was sitting on the other side of the table, a few places away from Charlie.His spectacles made his red eyes look far too large for his head.'I'm not looking foranyone,' said Charlie. 'I thought I saw a bat.'This wasn't so unlikelyHundreds of bats lived in the old building.As Billy looked away Charliefelt something push against his side. Fidelio gave him a surprised look, andthen a piece of chicken disappeared from the side of his plate.'Thanks,' came adisembodied whisper. 'Delicious.'Several more piecesdisappeared, and no one seemed to notice, until Gwyneth Howells, sitting oppositeCharlie, gulped, 'Uh! Your meat just. . .' and the fork that washalfway to her mouth dropped to the floor, laden with peas.Gwyneth bobbed under thetable to retrieve her fork and let out an earsplitting scream. She came up forair, her round, brown eyes popping out of her head. 'I saw.. I saw. . . ,' she cried.'There's a . . . there's a . . . under the table, there's a . . .'There's a what?'said her neighbor, Rosie Stubbs.'There's a TOE!' cried Gwyneth, and shefainted backward over the bench, landing in an untidy heap on the floor.Several girls and even boysscreamed and a husky voice gasped, 'Yikes' in Charlie's ear. Hisplate went flying and his glass rolled to the floor, water spilling all overthe table.'I'd better get out ofhere,' whispered the voice, while Rosie Stubbs shouted, 'Gwyneth's fainted.'Dr. Bloor stared out from hisseat at the head of the high table. Matron Yewbeam and Miss Chrystal came downthe steps into the main hall and ran up to Gwyneth. The matron shook Gwyneth'sshoulder, but since the poor girl was obviously unconscious, she lifted her upand, helped by Miss Chrystal, carried her out of the dining hall.Mr. Boldova had come to theedge of the platform and Charlie caught his eye. The art teacher gave a slightshrug and Charlie shook his head.Ollie had fled and Charlie knewit would be hard to coax him back again. In fact, this time he might even belocked in. From the end of the drama table, Manfred was watching Charliesuspiciously He had seen him looking at Selena Sparks, and he knew Ollie's toewas still visible. Perhaps he had put two and two together.After dinner Charlie gaveFidelio a better explanation about what had happened to Ollie Sparks. He spokein an undertone as they hurried up the long passage leading from the dininghall. This time he didn't even glance at Selena, in case Manfred was watching.'Here we go again,'said Fidelio. Another problem for you, Charlie.' They had reached theblue coat-room, and here the two friends parted. Fidelio was taking books andpens to his classroom, while Charlie had to carry his homework upstairs to theKing's room.How did he manage always tobe late, even when he thought he'd been hurrying? All the other endowedchildren had gotten to the room before him. As Charlie bounded through the tallblack doors, Manfred was making an announcement.'Two of the endowed haveleft the school. 'Manfred glared atCharlie as he dropped his books on the round table. 'Quiet, Bone!'As I was saying, Beth andBindi have left us, but we have a new member.'It had been such anextraordinary day Charlie had almost forgotten Belle. But here she was, sittingbetween Asa and Dorcas. Asa's weasely features were screwed into an odd smirkand his scraggly red hair stuck out in oily spikes. If it hadn't been for hisyellow eyes, you would have found it hard to believe he could turn into abeast.'Her name's Belle,'Manfred continued.'Belle what?' saidTancred, his pale hair bristling with electricity'It's notimportant.' Manfred waved his hand.'It is to me,'Tancred persisted. 'I like to know a person's whole name.'Charlie wished Tancred wouldlook away before Manfred did something nasty The head boy had an angryhypnotizing stare coming on.Tancred's friend, Lysander,gave him a warning nudge. 'Leave it, Tane.'But Tancred was like a dogwith a bone. 'My name's Torsson,' he said, looking at Belle,'and what. . .'Donner,' Bellesaid suddenly'Belledonner? That'sdeadly nightshade,' said Gabriel Silk. 'It can kill you.'Actually that'sbelladonna,' said Belle. 'In small quantities it dilates the pupils.Eyes become shinier, more lustrous and beautiful.' All at once, her ownround blue eyes flashed with purple lights.The effect was so startlingthat even Tancred was speechless. All around the table, books were opened andpens clutched. Homework began in silence.Above the door the Red Kingstared out from his portrait. The cracked and ancient painting always raisedCharlie's spirits. But he'd never managed to hear the King's voice. Sometimeshe caught a low muttering, sometimes a creak and the swish of a cloak, butthen a shadow would fall behind the King, like a dark stain on the canvas: ahooded figure that chilled the blood just to look at it. And Charlie knew thatthe sinister shadow was blocking his contact with the King.Elevenof us now, thought Charlie. Last semester there had beentwelve endowed children. What would happen if there were ten, like theoriginal ten children of the Red King? Would the pattern be repeated, five onone side, five on the other? And this time, who would win?'Get on with yourhomework, Bone!' Manfred's voice made Charlie jump.'Yes, Manfred.'Charlie looked down at his open book.After homework, Emma caughtup with Charlie as he made his way to the dormitories. 'It was Ollie,wasn't it?' she said breathlessly 'The toe under the table?'Charlie nodded. 'I don'tthink we'll be able to get him back again,' he whispered. 'He wasterrified. And I've got a nasty feeling Manfred knows.'I'll tell Mr.Boldova,' said Emma.As they approached Emma'sdormitory they saw two girls standing outside the door. Their heads were closetogether and their furtive giggling seemed to imply that they were sharing anunpleasant secret.'Belle and Dorcas,'Emma observed. 'It's as if Belle has put Dorcas under a spell. They goeverywhere together.'Good luck, Em,'Charlie muttered as Emma slipped into the dormitory'Trying to ignore me,Charlie Bone?' said Belle as Charlie walked past.'Not at all,'Charlie called without looking back. 'I can see that you're busy'You ignore me at your peril,Charlie!'Was it Belle who had spoken?Charlie couldn't be sure. The voice belonged to someone much older, someonewhom it would be foolish to disobey .Charlie hurried on.Belle and Dorcas were seldomseen apart after that day Charlie became convinced that Belle wasn't what shepretended to be. And then there was Ollie Sparks. The summer term was proving to be more than alittle interesting.'You'd better watch it,Charlie,' said Fidelio one day 'If you go up in the attics again,you're bound to get detention.'Or worse,'muttered Olivia. 'Hypnotized forlife,' said Emma meaningfully 'Like Manfred tried to do to me.'They were sitting on a logpile in blazing sunshine. It promised to be a brilliant summer, which was justas well because the school play would be performed in the open air.'What's Belle like as anartist?' Charlie asked Emma. 'I mean, can she draw?'Emma shrugged. 'Whoknows? She makes things. We've been asked to design clothes for the play andthe set.'The hunting horn sounded andthe four children slid off the logs and headed toward the academy'I wish we could dosomething about Ollie,' said Emma as they reached the garden door.'Maybe if we got detention and stayed in school till Saturday . . . Whatabout you, Charlie?'Charlie was tempted but hehad other responsibilities. 'Runner Bean,' he said. 'I've gotto get home to look after him.'It had just been decided thatthey would all meet on Sunday to discuss Ollie's problem, when Fidelio suddenlyannounced, 'I can't. I've got to play in a concert.'Charlie was sorry to hearthis. Fidelio was such a good person to have around in a crisis. He had excellentideas, and he never gave up. But Fidelio was also a brilliant musician. Charliewas afraid he would be seeing less and less of his friend this semester.When Charlie got home onFriday evening, so many things went wrong he forgot all about Ollie. He hadexpected to see his great-uncle, but Paton hadn't returned and there was noteven a word from him.'I'm a bit concerned,'said Maisie. 'It's not like Paton. And I'm afraid it gets worse, Charlie.I've got to leave here tomorrow'What!' Charlie wasreally worried. His mother had to work on Saturday and the thought of spendinga day alone with Grandma Bone was unpleasant to say the least. 'Where areyou going? Can't I come with you?'No chance,Charlie.'Maisie's sister, Doris, hadtaken ill. Maisie would have to go and look after her. There was no one else.But something would have to be done about Runner Bean. While Charlie was atschool, there'd be no one in the house to feed him and look after him.'You'd better take himfor a run now, said Maisie. 'I haven't had time. You can't keep himhidden much longer, Charlie; a lively dog like that is bound to be foundout.'As Charlie ran up to his roomhe could hear Runner Bean whining and scratching the door.'Shhhh!' Charlieleaped into the room and slammed the door behind him.Runner Bean put his paws onCharlie's shoulders and licked his face.'Thanks, but yuck!'whispered Charlie.There was a creak on thelanding and a voice called, 'Is that you, Charlie, slamming doors?'It's me, Grandma,'Charlie sang out. 'I'm changing out of my school stuff.'When Charlie put his head outof the door. Grandma Bone had gone back to her room.'Come on, Runner,'Charlie said softlyHe ran downstairs with thedog bounding behind him. They left by the back door and slipped into the narrowstreet that led to the park. An hour later, Charlie and the dog arrived back atnumber nine, exhausted and hungryHis mother was gettinganxious and Charlie explained that he didn't know the time because he'd sortof lost his watch. Mrs. Bone sighed, 'Honestly Charlie. I suppose you'dbetter wear mine until you find yours.' She handed him her watch, which wasfortunately not too feminine. 'I'm just going to help Maisie with herpacking,' she said. 'Back in a minute.'Charlie searched for the cansof dog food Maisie had hidden. He'd just spotted a can of Bonio in the pantrywhen there was a loud scream and then a growl.Charlie looked around to seeGrandma Bone rooted to the spot, just inside the door. 'WHAT'S THAT DOING IN HERE?' she screeched, pointing atRunner Bean.'It's Benjamin'sdog,' Charlie said nervously 'You know, Runner Bean.'Of course, I know, hutwhy isn't it in Hong Kong?'Before Charlie had time toanswer, Runner Bean, snarling horribly rushed at Grandma Bone, who shriekedagain.'Get it out!' sheshouted.'Er . . .' Charlieplayed for time.Runner Bean bared his teethand snapped at the old lady's ankles.'That's it!' yelledGrandma Bone. She backed out of the kitchen shouting, 'I'm calling pestcontrol the dogs' home the police. They'll have to put that dog down. It'sdangerous.'Grandma, youcan't,' Charlie pleaded.But Grandma Bone was alreadyon the phone, giving her address, telling someone about the killer that neededexterminating. 'They'll be around at half past six, and I'm not comingdownstairs until that wretched Bean has gone.'Charlie was horrified. Hedidn't know what to do. Maisie and Mrs. Bone came running down to see what allthe fuss was about. But they didn't know what to do either. Maisie was soworried about her sister, she said she couldn't think straight.'If only Uncle Patonwere here,' Charlie wailed. 'He'd know what to do.'Charlie felt like takingRunner Bean and rushing over to Fidelio's or Emma's, or even Olivia's place.But could they hide the big dog, or would they want to, with Runner Beanlooking so wild? He hated being shouted at; his eyes were rolling and lowgrowls kept coming from his throat.'We'll explain towhoever comes that he must on no account be put down,' said Mrs. Bone.'We'll tell them that he's never bitten anyone, ever.'Perhaps he'll go to anice dogs' home where you can visit him,' Maisie said hopefully'He'd hate it,'cried Charlie. He took a large dish of goose liver pate and ten slices ofhoney-roast ham out of the fridge and poured them into the dog bowl that Maisiehad hidden under the sink.'Grandma Bone'sspecials,' said Maisie in hushed tones.'I don't care,'said Charlie. He kneeled beside Runner Bean and stroked the dog's wiry head.It was very satisfying to seehis grandmother's favorite food being wolfed down a shaggy throat.The time was twenty-fiveminutes past six.Charlie stood up. 'I'vemade a decision. I'm going to ask Fidelio to hide Runner until Benjamin comesback.'With all those noisymusicians?' said Maisie. 'He wouldn't last a minute.'And then someone rang thedoorbell.SPARKLING STONESIs thatthe dog people?' called Grandma Bone. Charlie'sheart sank.'Don't worry Charlie. Wewon't let them do anything nasty' said his motherGrandma Bone was already inthe hall. She opened the front door and gave a yelp of surprise.Charlie ran into the hall. Asmall furry-looking man stood on the doorstep. Charlie recognized himimmediately It was his friend, Mr. Onimous. Behind him stood threefierce-looking cats the cause of Grandma Bone's yelp. She hated cats,particularly orange cats. These were orange-, yellow-, and copper-colored.Are you the dogexterminator?' she said suspiciously 'I've seen you before, andthese peculiar cats.' She took a step backward.The man held up a card.'Orvil Onimous, madam. Pest control.'You'd better come inand get the dog,' said Grandma Bone. 'Charlie, if it's got a leash,fetch it.'Charlie leaped back into thekitchen, followed by Mr. Onimous and the cats.'It's OK,' Charliewhispered to Maisie and his mother. 'Mr. Onimous has come.'Maisie pulled the leash outof her apron pocket and handed it over. 'You be good to that dog,'she insisted.Mr. Onimous winked.There was some good-naturedgrowling and sniffing between cats and dog as Mr. Onimous clipped the leash toRunner Bean's collar, but the big dog seemed very happy to see them all again.'How did you know aboutRunner?' Charlie whispered.'The cats,' saidMr. Onimous. 'They wanted to pay you a visit. I didn't know nothing till Igot here. Come and see us at the caf, Charlie.'Grandma Bone called,'Come on, come on! Get that dog out of here.'Mr. Onimous led the cheerfuldog away and Runner Bean looked back, just once, to give Charlie an encouragingbark.'Cheerio, folks,'said Mr. Onimous.Grandma Bone slammed thedoor. Luckily it was Charlie who answered the bell when the real pestcontroller turned up. 'It's OK,' Charlie told the man, 'we foundthe dog a home.'With one problem solved,Charlie had a good night's sleep; in fact he overslept. The next thing he knew,Maisie was shaking him awake.'I'm off now; Charlie.The taxi's waiting. Your mom's already gone to work, and Grandma Bone's offsomewhere.' She put a scrap of paper on Charlie's pillow 'It's theYewbeams' address. In case you need them. After all, they are your aunties. I'mleaving you on your own, love, but I've got no choice.'I'll be OK,'yawned Charlie. He couldn't imagine why he would need to call on the Yewbeams.Maisie gave him a peck on thehead, and then she was gone.It seemed unnaturally quiet.Charlie couldn't remember ever being completely alone in the house before. UnclePaton had always been there. Always. What had become of him?After breakfast, Charliestopped by the market to see his mother. She was weighing apples for animpatient-looking man and there was a long line behind him.'I can't stop now,Charlie,' she muttered. 'See you at lunch. You'll be all right, won'tyou?'Sure, I'm going over toEmma's,' Charlie said cheerfullyEmma lived with her aunt,Julia Ingledew, in a bookshop behind the cathedral, but as Charlie began tomake his way up the steep road to Ingledew's, he found himself pulling Maisie'sscrap of paper out of his pocket. His aunts had a very strange address: numberthirteen Darkly Wynd.'Darkly Wynd,'murmured Charlie. Was that a road, an alley or another town entirely? Charliewent into a newsstand. He bought a package of peppermints and showed his scrapof paper to the woman behind the counter.'Darkly Wynd? You're notgoing there, are you?'I thought Imight,' said Charlie.'Not a good idea. It's anasty place. Not suitable for young lads like you.'Charlie was intrigued.'Why?'Very dark. Nostreetlights.'But it's daytime,'Charlie pointed out.'Things have happened inthat place, love. Better not go.'I've got relationsthere,' said Charlie.The woman leaned over the counter,staring at Charlie. 'What sort of relations?' she asked.Aunts. Great-aunts. I'm sureI'll be all right. Please tell me where it is.'The woman sighed and said,'All right, but don't say I didn't warn you. Turn right at the top of thisroad, then go on till you get to Greybank Crescent. It's off theresomewhere.'Thanks.' Charlieleft the shop before the woman could utter any more gloomy warnings.Greybank Crescent was what itsounded like, a crescent of tall, gray buildings facing a semicircle of dustygrass. A huge fir tree stood in the center, lending an air of shadowy menace tothe place.Exactly halfway around thecrescent was a gap in the terraced houses, and a faded sign nailed to a sidewall read DARKLY WYND. Charlieturned into a narrow, murky alley On either side, grimy windowless wallstowered up to the sky A damp wind swirled into his face and it was hard tobelieve that only a moment ago he'd been standing in sunlight.The alley broadened into acourtyard surrounded by gaunt, ancient-looking houses. Like giant walls theyseemed to lean inward, blotting out the light. Above them hung the darkestcloud Charlie had ever seen.He shivered and began to walkpast the houses, counting the numbers on the doors. Nearly every house appearedto be deserted. Windows had been boarded up, peeling doors nailed shut. Someoneor something had driven away all the former residents. At number five a groupof youths burst out of the door, fighting and screaming. Charlie hurried on. Atnumber nine, a rough-looking man emerged from the basement. He bellowed atCharlie, who began to run. At number eleven a trash can lid crashed to thepavement and a rat ran between Charlie's legs.Darkly Wynd didn't leadanywhere. At the end of the courtyard a block of buildings, taller than the others,stood facing Charlie. They had strange turrets and iron-framed balconies, tallarched windows with pediments of gnomish faces and unlikely beasts. The firsthouse was number thirteen.Charlie mounted the stonesteps. On the black door at the top a brass knocker, shaped like a hand, hungabove the number thirteen. Charlie didn't knock. Of course he didn't. Insteadhe leaned over the railings and peered into a long window The room beyond wasfilled with dark, looming furniture. He looked through the window on the otherside of the porch and saw portraits of grim and serious people, hanging threedeep on every wall. The house was silent. It appeared to be emptyAs Charlie retraced his stepshe noticed that the next house was also numbered thirteen and so was the next.'Poor mailman,' muttered Charlie. The second house was also silentand gloomy but from the third came a whirring, ticking sound.To get a better view, Charlieran down the basement steps and climbed onto a narrow ledge beneath the longwindow Standing on tiptoe he could just see into the room beyond.What he saw there was moreinteresting than he could have hoped for. A long oval table almost filled theroom. It was covered with scraps of cloth, sparkling sequins, feathers,buttons, tiny squares of mirror, velvet, leather, and bolts of cotton. A row oflights in bell-like brass shades hung over the table, illuminating threefigures. Belle sat at a sewing machine, while Aunt Venetia and Dorcas Loomstood side by side, watching her. Aunt Venetia was holding a long hatpin with ablack beetle on the tip. Belle said something and Venetia stuck the hatpininto a piece of red velvet. The velvet immediately became a writhing mass ofshiny black beetles.Dorcas gasped and so didCharlie.Belle looked at the windowand her violent blue stare sent Charlie toppling back onto a row of trash cans.Looking down at him, from the front door, was Asa Pike.'Wh-what on earth areyou doing here?' asked Charlie, picking himself up.'I could ask you thesame question.' Asa, who usually went around wearing a tattered disguise,looked extremely sharp. He wore a leather jacket, white shirt, blue-checkedtie, and stone-colored trousers. As if this weren't surprising enough, he wascarrying a bunch of tulips.'My aunts livehere,' said Charlie. 'So why are you spyinginstead of going in?' asked Asa.'Mind your ownbusiness.'Asa shrugged and rang thedoorbell, while Charlie leaped up the basement steps. When he reached thepavement, a sound from above made him glance up. A man looked out from a highbarred window; he had dark hair and a solemn face. Charlie felt sure he knewhim. He got the impression that the man was a prisoner.Charlie ran on, down DarklyWynd, trying to get the horrible picture of crawling beetles out of his mind.'Have you been to ahorror movie?' said Emma as Charlie leaped into Ingledew's. 'You lookawful.'I've been somewherehorrible, all right,' said Charlie. He told Emma about the beetles andDarkly Wynd.Emma's eyes widened and thenshe said, 'To tell the truth, it doesn't surprise me. Your great-aunts areso gruesome. My auntie'smaking sandwiches. Do you want some?'Charlie certainly did. JuliaIngledew made delicious sandwiches with very exotic fillings. Today was noexception. Unfortunately Saturday was Ingledew's busiest day so they all had toeat sitting behind the counter and Miss Ingledew kept jumping up to help thecustomers.A man with expensive taste inbooks and suits, by the look of it, had just left the shop with a rare book onfish. But Miss Ingledew didn't look as happy as she should have, consideringthe huge sum of money she'd been given. She nibbled a sandwich, cleared herthroat, and said, 'Charlie, what's happened to your uncle?'I don't know He's goneoff somewhere.'Miss Ingledew looked anxious.'It's just that he usually comes to the shop at least twice a week, andthere's been no word.'Charlie was pleased to seethat she reddened slightly It meant that his uncle's crush on Miss Ingledewwasn't entirely hopeless.'He left a note sayingthe aunts were plotting,' Charlie explained. And he had to stop someonedangerous from arriving.'Wow!' exclaimedEmma. 'I wonder if he succeeded.'Me, too,' saidCharlie.'I do hope he's allright,' said Miss Ingledew anxiously 'I don't know what I'd dowithout.. I mean, he's sodependable, isn't he, Charlie?'Certainly is,'agreed Charlie.Charlie got home in time forlunch, but wished he hadn't. Grandma Bone decided to put in an appearance,which meant that he had to eat a disgusting vegetable pie instead of his usualpotato chips.There had been no word from UnclePaton, but Grandma Bone didn't seem worried anymore. 'I'm sure he's havinga lovely vacation,' she said.This convinced Charlie thatthe opposite was true. He also had a sneaking suspicion that his grandmothernow knew where Paton had gone. Her smug expression could only mean one thing.His uncle was in danger.After a painful half hour,Grandma Bone left Charlie and his mother to do the dishes.Charlie gave a sigh ofrelief. 'Mom, I'm worried about Uncle Paton. How can we find out wherehe's gone?'We can't, Charlie. Youruncle knows what he's doing.' She glanced at herself in the mirror andbrushed her shoulders.'You haven't got anotherboyfriend, have you?' Charlie asked.His mother's answer wasn'tvery reassuring. 'What makes you think that?'Please don't forgetDad,' said Charlie.She smiled pensively 'Ofcourse I won't, Charlie.'On Sunday afternoon, Charliewent to the Pets' Caf as usual. It was a good place for friends to meet, aslong as they didn't forget to bring a pet.Today the manager, NortonCross, let Charlie in without a pet. 'Mr. Onimous told me all about RunnerBean,' said the big man. 'Your pet's waiting for you, Charlie.'He pointed to a table where Gabriel sat, feeding dog biscuits to Runner Bean.The yellow dog gave a happybark when he saw Charlie and jumped up, almost knocking Charlie over. Aftermaking a big fuss over Runner, Charlie sat beside Gabriel, whose lap wascovered with gerbils.'I'm surprised Runnerdidn't eat those,' Charlie remarked.'I don't think he eatsthings that move,' said Gabriel.The Pets' Caf door clangedopen and three more customers came in. Olivia and a white rabbit, Emma carryinga strange-looking bird in a cage, and a surprising visitor: Mr. Boldova. Heheld up his black rat, Rembrandt, and Norton Cross waved him into the caf.While the girls came over toCharlie's table, Mr. Boldova went to the counter.'Mr. B came into thebookshop yesterday' Emma explained. 'He wants to talk about Ollie andthe boa thing, Charlie. So I brought him here.'Mr. Boldova arrived at thetable with a tray of cookies and orange juice. 'My treat,' he said.'Pass them around.'The art teacher took a seatbetween the girls while the cookies were divided as fairly as possible.'Emma says you want totalk to me, sir,' said Charlie, biting into a giant cookie.Mr. Boldova lost his cheerfulexpression. 'Yes, Charlie. I'll come straight to the point. There's a newgirl in art. Belle Donner. Apparently she's staying with your aunts. Does thatmean she's related to you, Charlie?'Charlie choked on a crumb.'I hope not,' he croaked.'Hey what's goingon?' asked Olivia. 'Is there something we ought to know?'Yes, what do you knowabout Belle?' said Mr. Boldova.'Nothing,' saidCharlie, 'except her eyes keep changing color and . . . and .. I saw ..'What?' said OliviaimpatientlyCharlie told them aboutDarkly Wynd and the beetles. 'It was one of my aunts who did the beetlething, but I'm sure Belle had something to do with it. She's got some sort ofpower over them.'It must be her.'Her who?' saidOlivia.Mr. Boldova gave a grimsmile. 'Emma has probably told you by now that my younger brother, Ollie,was a pupil at Bloor's. Just over a year ago he disappeared. When I came toBloor's to try and discover what had happened to him, I had to take on a newidentity There are people in Bloor's who would certainly want to get rid of meif they knew who I was.'Get rid of you!'said Emma.'I'm afraid so.'Mr. Boldova took a thoughtful bite of his cookie. 'One way oranother.'About Belle . . .'Charlie prompted.'Ah, Belle.' Mr.Boldova wiped his mouth on a brown Pets' Caf napkin and began. 'Beyondthe mountains in the northeast there's a castle. It was built in the twelfthcentury and once it had another name. Now it's known as Yewbeam Castle.'He looked at Charlie.Charlie muttered,'Yewbeam,' but he didn't interrupt.Mr. Boldova continued.'For centuries the descendants of the Red King have lived in YewbeamCastle. Most of the owners have been endowed. In the year 1900, a baby was bornin the castle. She was named Yolanda. Her father was a shape-shifter, hermother a hypnotist. On her twenty-first birthday Yolanda inherited the castle,although . . .' Mr. Boldova glanced at the children's expectantfaces.'. . . although it cannot be said that her father was thoroughlydead.'Thoroughly dead,'squeaked Olivia. 'What does that mean?'It means that one cannever be sure when a shape-shifter has ceased to exist. Yolanda is now morethan a hundred, and she can still take the shape of a twelve-year-oldgirl.'You mean,' breathedCharlie, 'that Yolanda is Belle?'I'm fairlycertain,' said Mr. Boldova. And I'm afraid that she's recognized me. Myhome isn't far from hers, and she has always resented the people in SparklingCastle. There used to be so much fun, so much sparkle, but since Ollie went wedon't enjoy making things glitter anymore, my father and I. Yes, we both havethe talent. Sadly Ollie doesn't. His gift is musical; he was also blessed withboundless curiosity and I was always afraid this would lead him intotrouble.'There's a portrait ofSelena Sparks, sir. Was she a sparkler?' Charlie asked.'Selena ah, yes, awonderful lady by all accounts. We're descended from her brother, who didn'thave the gift. Selena never married. Having too much fun, no doubt.'Charlie longed to ask how thesparkling happened, but he thought that the time wasn't quite right. Oliviahad no such qualms.'What do you do,sir?' she asked. 'How do you make things sparkle?'Never mind aboutthat,' said the teacher. And then, seeing the disappointed faces, he said,'Oh, well,' and reached into his pocket. He brought out a fistful ofsmall stones and, holding them over the table, he let the stones roll gently inhis open palm. Four heads bent closer, and suddenly the stones began tosparkle. The children could feel the heat from the dazzling radiance thestones threw out, and Runner Bean, the rabbit, the parrot, and the gerbils allbegan squeaking and barking in unison.The rat, Rembrandt, beingused to such spectacles, watched in silence.Mr. Boldova closed his fistand the sparkle died. Emma's bird immediately cried, 'I'll be darned.'They can bedangerous,' said Mr. Boldova, slipping the stones into his pocket.'How can you hold them,sir, when they're so hot?' asked Gabriel.'To tell the truth, I'veno idea,' said the teacher.Mr. Onimous appeared besidethe table, wanting to know what had been going on. 'Who's been upsettingmy customers?' he said, meaning the animals.Mr. Boldova was about toconfess when Mr. Onimous suddenly put a finger to his lips. 'No. Don'ttell me. You're one of them, aren't you, sir?' He winked at Charlie andwent on, 'What do you think of old Runner Bean? Looks happy enough,doesn't he?'He looks great, Mr.Onimous. How's he getting on with the cats?'No problems, Charlie.They're pals. Speaking of the flames, they've been showing a lot of interest inthat school of yours just lately Is everything OK there?'For a moment, Charliehesitated, then, looking at Mr. Boldova, he said softly 'No itisn't.' He lowered his voice and told Mr. Onimous about Belle andinvisible Ollie.'Well, I'll be me!'murmured Mr. Onimous. 'No wonder the cats are curious.'At that moment a group ofvery noisy customers arrived: four black dogs with square muzzles and dangerouseyes. The two youths who accompanied them looked mild enough, but Charliesensed something awkward about them. They were both overweight with sandyhair and pink, freckled faces. You could tell that they hadn't spent much timetraining their dogs.'Rottweilers,'muttered Gabriel. 'You'd better watch Runner. They're nastyfighters.'Mr. Onimous hopped away toattend to the barking that had broken out, while Runner Bean began one of hislow growls. He would have liked to get closer to the rottweiler gang but didn'tdare chance it.The children finished theirtea and, after several hugs, Charlie led Runner Bean to safety behind thecounter. 'See you next week,' he said to the yellow dog.As he walked toward the doorthe rottweilers moved into his path. Their growls had a menacing edge, and fora moment Charlie didn't dare pass them.'Sorry' One of theyouths gave a reluctant grin and pulled the rottweilers out of the wayGabriel already had the dooropen and Charlie sprinted through it, almost knocking over the girl standingoutside: Dorcas Loom.'Hi!' said Charlie.'What're you doing here?'I'm waiting for mybrothers,' said Dorcas.'Haven't you got ananimal?' asked Gabriel.'Don't like them,'said Dorcas.At that moment Mr. Boldovacame through the door, followed by Emma and Olivia.'Oh!' Dorcas' eyesgrew very round. 'Imagine seeing you here, sir.'The art teacher gave a slightsmile. 'Hello, Dorcas.'And then Dorcas caught sightof Emma's bird. 'How cute,' she said, 'What is it?'A mynah. I wouldn't . .' She was too late to stop Dorcas from poking her finger into the cage.'Coochie! Coochie!'said Dorcas.The mynah pecked her fingerand Dorcas gave an earsplitting shriek.One of the rottweiler youthsstuck his head out of the door and said, 'What's the matter, Dorcy? Whathappened?'Beastly rotten, vile,smelly bird bit me!' cried Dorcas.'You shouldn't keep vicious pets,' said the youth, glaringat Emma.Mr. Boldova said, 'Don'tbe ridiculous. I'd say four rottweilers posed more of a threat than a meremynah.'The youth raised his fist,thought better of it, and withdrew behind the door, saying, 'We'll be outin a sec, Dorc.'Dorcas had by now calmed downa little, but when Emma apologized for her mynah's behavior, Dorcas wouldn'teven look at her.' 'Bye, Dorcas,'the others called as they walked awayDorcas turned her back andsucked her finger.When they reached the mainstreet, Mr. Boldova said, 'Now look. I don't want any of you to try andrescue Ollie again.'But . . .' Charliebegan.'No. It's toodangerous,' Mr. Boldova said forcefully 'Believe me. I'm grateful foryour help, Charlie and Emma, but it's up to me now. OK?'The children grudginglyagreed and the art teacher walked off in the direction of Bloor's Academy Emmaand Olivia took a street that led to Ingledew's Bookshop, and Gabriel andCharlie headed up to the intersection.Before they parted, Charliesaid, 'Do you think Dorcas was spying on us? She's changed a lot latelyEver since I saw her in the house in Darkly Wynd I've had this feeling thatshe's not what we all thought she was.'She's certainly lostweight,' said Gabriel.'It's not justthat,' Charlie said with a grin.'Well, she's endowed.But we don't know how yet. As for spying, I thought Billy Raven was the spyWe all know he's in league with Manfred and that horrible old Mr.Ezekiel.'There's always room foranother spy' said Charlie thoughtfully And Billy might not be any use tothem, now that we all know Besides, I feel kind of sorry for Billy being anorphan and having to live in that dark old building all the time. Never goinghome, ever. Imagine!'Can't,' Gabrieladmitted with a shiver. 'See you tomorrow, Charlie!'Gabriel loped away with agerbil clinging to a clump of his floppy hair It looked so funny Charliecouldn't help smiling, but then his thoughts turned to Belle and his smilefaded.THESHAPE-SHIFTEROn Sundays, when most childrenwere spending a comfortable night at home, Billy Raven roamed the dark passagesand empty grounds of Bloor's Academy The only other child in the building wasManfred Bloor, but he was now eighteen, hardly a child, and on weekends he shuthimself away in the west wing with his father and old Ezekiel, hisgreat-grandfather.Sometimes, if Billy gaveManfred an interesting piece of news, something about Charlie Bone, for instance,Manfred would reward him with a bar of chocolate. And if he did what Mr.Ezekiel asked, the ancient man would give Billy a late-night mug of cocoa.Today was Billy's eighthbirthday but so far no one had remembered. Last year Cook had made him a cake,but the Bloors had let the day pass without so much as a 'Happy birthdayBilly!'You might wonder how Billyknew it was his birthday; after all, no one had spoken of it since he was ayear old. Billy knew because the date was fixed firmly in his head. He knewbecause the animals knew, and they had told him.Billy was a baby when hisparents died. He was brought up by an aunt who was kind but strict. When Billywas two, a beautiful cake had arrived in the mail. The aunt's dog ate it,candles and all. For this the dog was beaten, and so was the cat, for goodmeasure.On May fourth, when Billy wasthree, the dog and the cat said, 'Cake day Billy!' But no cakearrived. The same thing happened when Billy was four and five. By this time,out of the aunt's hearing, Billy and the animals had been having long conversations.When Billy turned six, he said to the aunt, Am I going to get a caketoday?'The aunt said, 'Who toldyou that it was your birthday?'The dog and thecat,' said BillyThe aunt gaped at him. Atlast she said, 'You can talk to animals, then?'Oh, yes,' saidBilly thinking that this was something everyone could do. 'I talk to thema lot.'The aunt said no more, butthe very next week, Billy was sent to Bloor's AcademyHe felt lonely in the dark,massive building. He kept getting lost, and he began to think that people weretrying to keep things from him. They didn't want him to know who he really was.Cook was kind, though, and he often talked to the dog, Blessed, an old fatcreature with a hairless tail.Blessed might have been uglybut Billy loved him all the same. The old dog always had time to listen to him.Last semester Billy hadkicked Blessed, but he hadn't meant to. It had just happened and Billy regrettedit bitterly Blessed wouldn't speak to him, and there were only the mice and anoccasional rat to talk to. Mice were boring; they were only interested in foodand babies. Rats were better. Mr. Boldova had a rat that told jokes. Its namewas Rembrandt.Today Mr. Boldova had takenRembrandt for a walk. Billy wondered where they had gone. Hoping for a treat ofsome kind he began to make his way to the top of the west wing, where Mr.Ezekiel lived. The old man had a huge, musty room crammed with ancient stuff:urns and pots, bones and swords, and jars full of dead things. Mr. Ezekiel wasa magician but not a very good one.Billy had just reached thetop of a rickety staircase when he heard a scream. He peered down the longgaslit passage that led to Mr. Ezekiel's room. Something was coming towardhim: a short fat dog howling its head off.'Blessed!' Billygrunted in the dog's language. 'What's the matter?'Tail! Tail!' criedBlessed. 'Tail hurt!'The old dog rushed up toBilly 'Can you see?' he begged.Blessed used to have an uglybald tail. What he had today was even worse. A tiny pink stub stuck out fromhis bottom.'Not much tail left, I'mafraid,' said Billy 'What happened?'Snake,' saidBlessed. 'Blue snake. Blessed bit snake. Mr. Zeke said no. Snake squeezedtail. Blessed ran.'Looks like he bit itoff,' Billy observed.'No, no, no! Tail stillthere,' whined Blessed. 'Squashed. Squeezed. Hurt.'Honestly it's notthere,' said Billy'Liar!' criedBlessed. 'Tell Cook.'Billy didn't like the soundof this blue snake. He decided to give Mr. Ezekiel a pass. He would go and lookfor Cook instead.Billy would never forget hiseighth birthday He didn't get a card or a present. He didn't even reach Cook inher kitchen. Something happened on his way there. He was walking across thelanding above the entrance hall when the new girl, Belle, appeared. She camefrom the small door that led to the music tower. Almost at the same time, Mr.Boldova walked out of the green coatroom at the other end of the hall.The girl and the art teacherstared at each other for some time. All at once, Belle said, 'Goodevening, Samuel Sparks.'The art teacher said, Andyou are . . . ?'No prizes for guessingwho I am,' cackled Belle. Her voice was old and deep.'Yolanda,' theteacher whispered as if he was afraid of the name.'Yesssss!' The girlflung out her arms, and as she did this a veil of gray like thin smoke, beganto swirl around her body 'Now you see me, now you don't,' shesnickered.'I can see you,unfortunately' muttered the art teacher.'Sad Samuel. You've cometo find your little brother, haven't you? Well, you never will.' Belle waschanging shape. White hairs drizzled into the blonde curls, her pretty featuresstretched and sagged, and she was growing taller and taller. Now she was anancient woman with yellow skin that hung in folds beneath her chin and a hugecrag of a nose.Billy didn't want to go onwatching, but he couldn't help himself. He sank to his knees and peered betweenthe oak railings.Mr. Boldova approached thehag. He pulled something out of his pocket and opened his fist. A cluster ofsmall stones lay in his palm; gradually they began to glow, and then fierce redsparks flew out of the teacher's hand.Billy gasped, his spectaclesslid off his nose, and he only just managed to catch them. The people belowwere too intent on each other to notice him.'Those won't help you,Mr. Sparks,' sneered Yolanda. 'Ollie was a wicked boy; he had to bepunished. And now I've got to punish you.'We'll see aboutthat!' Mr. Boldova raised his fist and flung the burning stones at the oldwoman. She screamed as her hair and bits of gray clothing began to smolder, andthen, in a deep, chilling voice, she said, 'You've done it now!'She stared at the teacher.Stared and stared. He took a step toward her and faltered. He took another andstopped. His face was white and his eyes looked frightened and farawayDesperately he felt in his pocket, searching for more sparkling stones, but hecouldn't withdraw his hand. He couldn't move. He seemed almost to have stoppedbreathing.'That'll teachyou,' said Yolanda. She patted her hair and the scorch marks on her dress,and then she turned on her heel and disappeared through the door to the musictower, leaving Mr. Boldova as still and silent as a statue.Suddenly with a loud squeak,a black rat jumped out of Mr. Boldova's pocket and ran across the hall. Hebegan to leap up the stairs, and when he got to the top he came racing up toBilly'Help!' squeakedthe rat. 'Help! Help!' He gazed up at Billy imploringly 'HelpRembrandt,' he wailed. 'Help master.'I'll try,' said BillyHe picked up the rat and walked slowly along the landing. The art master hadn'tmoved. Billy descended the widestaircase. The burning stones lay scattered across the hall and Billy had tostep between them. The stones were losing their color now; some were alreadyash-gray like dead coals.Mr. Boldova didn't appear tosee Billy The white-haired boy moved closer and said, 'Sir, yourrat.' He held Rembrandt out to him.'What?' Mr. Boldovastared at Rembrandt. 'What's that?'Your rat, sir,'said Billy'I haven't got arat.'Rembrandt gave a squeak ofdistress.'Honestly it is yours,sir. It's called Rembrandt.'Mr. Boldova began to move,but he clearly wasn't himself He turned and walked in the opposite direction.'Take it away!' he shouted. 'Trash it!'If rats could pass out,Rembrandt would have done just that. As it was, he went quite limp. Billytucked him under his sweater and ran up to his dormitory'Gone,' mutteredthe rat as Billy sank onto his bed.'What'sgone?' said Billy 'Do you mean Mr. B?' 'Dead,'said Rembrandt. 'Light gone out.' Billyrealized what the rat meant. 'You mean his real self, don't you? Hissoul?' Rembrandtsighed.Billy was so shaken by whathe had seen, he couldn't stop shivering. Belle wasn't a girl at all but an old,old woman. She had changed her shape, but she had also done something terribleto Mr. Boldova. Belle was a hypnotist, like Manfred Bloor.'Two endowments,'Billy murmured. He lay back on his bed and closed his eyes. He wished he couldgo home and talk to someone. But there was no home to go to. Mr. Ezekiel hadpromised he would be adopted, but the kind parents he mentioned had neverturned up.'TellCook,' said a voice.Billy opened his eyes. Therat was sitting on his chest, staring at him.'Tell Cook,' the ratrepeated. 'Cook knows many things.'At the mention of Cook'sname, Billy realized he was very hungry He slipped off the bed and, tuckingRembrandt under his sweater, he left the dormitory and made his way downstairs.When he reached the hall, hefound that the lights had come on and the burning embers had been removed. Itwas hard to believe that, only an hour ago, a battle of shifting shapes andflying sparks had taken place. Billy hurried on toward the dining hall. But ashe passed the prefects' room, Manfred Bloor emerged.Ah, there you are,Billy' said the head boy 'You look startled. Anything beenhappening?'Billy hesitated. He felt thatBelle's shape-shifting was something he shouldn't have seen. 'N-no,Manfred.'Nothing to tell me,then?'Billy wanted to talk aboutBelle and Mr. Boldova, but he'd have to mention the rat. And he desperatelywanted to keep him. He shook his head. 'No.'Nothing? No tidbitsabout Charlie Bone?' Manfred's coal-black eyes glittered.Billy couldn't be hypnotized.He had found this out soon after he had arrived at Bloor's. Manfred had triedto practice his horrible skills on him, but it had never worked. Perhaps it wasbecause of his dark-red eyes. 'Nothing to report,' he said.Manfred looked disappointed.'What's that under your sweater?'My gloves. I wasfeeling cold.'Aww!' said Manfredin a mocking voice.'It's my birthdaytoday' said Billy'Too bad. I haven't gotanything for you. Now, if you'd got some news for me, well, I might be able tofind a bit of chocolate.'Billy loved chocolate. And itwas his birthday All he had to do was to tell Manfred what he'd seen and handover the rat. But what would Manfred do to Rembrandt? Billy gave a smallshudder and said, As a matter of fact I've had a very boring day'You're a hopeless case.Did you know that, Billy?' said Manfred scornfully'Sorry Manfred.'Billy scuttled away from the head boy.'I'm afraid I can't cometo your birthday party' Manfred shouted after him.'What birthdayparty?' Billy muttered as he sped past the portraits, past three cafeterias,and down and down into the underground dining hall.And there he found thatsomeone had remembered his birthday A large iced cake sat at the end of themusic table. It had Billy's name on it, surrounded by eight flaming candles.Billy gasped and took a seatbeside the cake. Rembrandt poked his head out of the top of Billy's sweater andsaid, 'Oh, my! Cake and candles.' And then Cook appeared, singing,'Happy Birthday' in a high, trembly voice.'Thanks, Cook.'Billy blew out the candles, made a secret wish, and cut himself a large sliceof cake.'You've brought a guest,I see.' Cook nodded at Rembrandt. 'Where did you find him?'Billy looked at Cook's kind,rosy face and suddenly it all came pouring out: Blessed's tail, the flyingsparks, shape-shifting Belle, and the horrible battle he'd just witnessed.Cook wiped her pink brow withthe hem of her apron and sat beside Billy. She looked worried but notsurprised.'So it's her,' shemuttered. 'I knew there was something not right about that girl. Butwhatever possessed Samuel Sparks to come here?'He came to find hislittle brother,' Billy told Cook.'Ollie Sparks? Is hestill here, then?' Cook seemed very surprised.'Yes. That's what theold woman said. And she said no one would ever find him.'Oh, my goodness.Where've they hidden the poor boy? I was always worried about him. What's hebeen eating? If only I'd known.'Do you think they'restarving him?' said Billy'Oh, I hope not, BillyDear, oh dear. What's to be done?' Cook got up and straightened her apron.'I advise you not to eat all of that cake, Billy When you and the rathave had what you want, I'll come and put the rest away for next weekend.'As Cook made her way towardthe kitchen, Billy called out. 'I know people think I'm a spy but I won'ttell Manfred or Mr. Ezekiel about what I saw I promise.'Cook turned and looked atBilly 'I'm sure they know already As for you being a spy I don't blameyou, Billy One day you'll get the parents you want; if the Bloors don't see toit, then I will. But right now I'd better go and find the poor dog that's lostits tail.'As Cook hurried up thecorridor of portraits, a cold draft rushed around her ankles. This meant thatthe main doors had been opened. She reached the hall in time to see a figureslip through the doors before Mr. Weedon slammed them shut.'Who was that?'asked Cook.'What's it to you?'said Weedon sourlyCook drew back her shouldersand said, 'I asked a civil question. The least you could do is to give mea civil answer.'Ooo!' mockedWeedon. 'Hoity-toity!'Are you going to tellme?' asked Cook.'No.' Weedon boltedthe doors and walked off.Cook, who was extremelyintuitive, knew another victim had been led into a trap. And from what Billyhad told her, she could guess who that victim was.She was right.Mr. Boldova, carrying asuitcase, walked across the courtyard and under the arch between the two towersof Bloor's Academy He descended the steps into the cobbled square, and therehis gaze was drawn to the fountain of stone swans in the center. The cascade ofwater glowed gold in the last rays of the sun.Mr. Boldova frowned. Why washe here? Where was he going? Who was he?A black car pulled up at theother end of the square. The driver, a gray-haired woman, beckoned to Mr.Boldova. He walked over to her.'Can I give you alift?' asked the woman.'Er . . .' Mr.Boldova scratched his head. 'I don't know where I'm going.'I do,' said thewoman. 'I'm clairvoyant. Jump in, Samuel.'I'm not sure . .'Do hurry up. We haven'tgot all day have we?' The woman's laughter was cold and shrill. 'Myname's Eustacia, by the way'Mr. Boldova passed a handover his eyes. There didn't seem to be anywhere else to go. He walked aroundthe car and got into the passenger seat. There was something he ought to donext, but what?'Forget the seatbelt!' Eustacia gave another wild laugh, and the car roared off at analarming speed.At first break, on Mondaymorning, when Charlie and Fidelio were hanging their capes in the bluecoat-room, Billy Raven came in with a bulge under his sweater. The bulge movedand Charlie asked Billy what he was hiding.'Nothing,' saidBilly turning pink.'Come on, Billy It can'tbe nothing,' said Fidelio. 'It squeaked.'Billy was about to deny thiswhen the head of a black rat appeared at the top of his sweater.'That's Rembrandt,'said Charlie. 'What are you doing with him?'Billy pouted, and then hemumbled, 'Mr. Boldova gave him to me.'I bet he didn't,'said Charlie.Billy rushed out and ranalong to the garden door, with Charlie and Fidelio in pursuit.'It's OK, Billy'Charlie called out. 'We're not accusing you of anything. That rat'salways escaping.'Billy didn't stop. He kept onrunning until he was lost in a sea of bobbing figures. Out of that same sea,two girls came rushing toward the boys.'Something awful'shappened,' Emma panted.'What?' said theboys together.While Emma gulped for air,Olivia said, 'Mr. Boldova's left the school.'He can't have,'said Charlie. 'He'd have told us.'Emma got her breath back.'Exactly Something awful's happened to him. I just know it. And I've got ahorrible feeling those two are responsible.' She looked over at Dorcas andBelle, who were sitting on the grass, whispering to each other.Having missed the meeting inthe Pets' Caf, Fidelio hadn't a clue what they were talking about. So the fourfriends walked around the grounds while Charlie filled Fidelio in. They weresoon joined by Gabriel, who announced that he'd just seen Billy Raven feedingbits of toast to a black rat. Could it be Rembrandt?'It could,' saidCharlie. 'In fact it is. And now they say Mr. Boldova's left, but I thinksomething terrible has happened to him.'Something to do withher?' said Gabriel, eyeing pretty blonde Belle, who was now combing hercurls.Olivia suddenly stopped deadin her tracks. 'If that girl's a shape-shifter, it's going to be hard toknow where she is. She could look like anyone.'Or any thing,'said Fidelio darklyThis thought was so awfulthey all fell silent.On his way to homework thatevening, Charlie caught up with Billy Raven, his arms full of books.'Have you got Rembrandtwith you?' Charlie asked.'No. I put him in thedormitory closet,' Billy said quietly'I think we'd betterfind a different place for him,' said Charlie. 'Matron'll hear himscratching, and who knows what she would do if she found a rat in thedorm.'Billy shuddered. 'He'sgoing to be such a good friend. Already he's told me a lot of things I didn'tknow'Has he told you why Mr.Boldova left?' asked Charlie.Billy's ruby eyes gazed overthe top of his spectacle frames. He shrugged.It occurred to Charlie thatBilly might have seen what happened to the art teacher. 'You know something,Billy don't you?' he said.They had reached the tallblack doors of the King's room and, ignoring Charlie, Billy pushed at the doorsand rushed in. His books spilled out of his arms and tumbled to the floor.'Calm down, BillyRaven!' Manfred shouted. 'What's the hurry?'From her seat between Asa andDorcas, Belle smiled at the albino. 'Don't be mean, Manfred. He's onlysmall,' she said.Manfred gave her a surprisedlook.As Charlie bent to help Billyretrieve his books, he noticed that the small boy's hands were trembling. Hewas very frightened.Once, twelve endowed childrenhad sat evenly spaced at the round table. But gradually their positions hadchanged. Now there were two distinct groups. Manfred, Asa, Zelda, Belle, andDorcas sat on one side of the circle while Lysander, Tancred, Gabriel, Emma, andCharlie sat on the other. Billy was the odd one out.'Sit next to me,Billy' Charlie said softlyBilly gave him a gratefulsmile and piled his books next to Charlie's.After homework, Charlie keptclose to Billy as they made their way to the dormitory Gabriel caught up withthem and, always interested in animals, wanted to know what had become ofRembrandt. When he heard that the rat was shut in a closet, he suggested theytake the rat to the art room, where Mr. Boldova had kept him in a large, airycage.'But could I visithim?' Billy asked. 'I don't belong in art.'Of course youcan,' Gabriel assured him. 'Emma's always in the art room. Just askher.'OK.' Billy rushedoff and by the time the others had reached the dormitory he was waiting forthem with Rembrandt under his cape.The art room was on the samefloor as the boys' dormitories. It was a vast space with a high ceiling andlong windows facing north toward the castle ruin. Easels stood in variouspositions all around the room, and canvases were stacked three or four deepagainst the walls. Rembrandt's cage was in a corner beside the paint cabinet.There was no one in the artroom except Emma. She was painting a large white bird flying through a forest.She left the picture to show the boys where Mr. Boldova had kept Rembrandt'sfood, at the bottom of the paint cabinet.When the black rat had beenmade comfortable with fresh water and plenty of grain, Emma secured the cagedoor.'I can't stop thinkingabout Mr. B,' she said. 'We all miss him in art. He seemed to be, youknow, always on our side.'Without any warning, tearsbegan to gush down Billy's cheeks. 'I know, I know,' he sobbed.'I saw'What did you see?'said Charlie.Billy ran his sleeve acrosshis face and, in a frightened, choking voice, recounted the terrible events ofhis eighth birthday: Blessed's tail, the ancient woman who'd emerged fromBelle's body the flying coals, and the sudden and dreadful stillness that hadfallen over the art teacher.'He didn't wantRembrandt,' sobbed Billy 'He seemed to have forgotten everything even who he was.'Hypnotized,'Charlie murmured.The others stared at him inhorror, and Emma said, 'There isn't much that Belle can't do, is there?How are we going to help Ollie now?'Do you know where heis?' asked BillyCharlie couldn't decidewhether to tell him. He was sorry for the small albino, but he had beenManfred's spy It would be better not to give him too much information untilthey were quite sure he could be trusted. The others had obviously come to thesame conclusion.'No, we don't know wherehe is,' said Gabriel. 'I think we'd better get back to ourdormitories now, or Matron will be on the warpath.'Billy begged to be given afew more minutes with Rembrandt, and the other three left him crouching besidethe cage, squeaking softly at the black rat.Billy stayed talking toRembrandt much longer than he had intended. When he finally slipped out of theart room, Matron had already called lights out.He tore along the passage,clamping his spectacles to his nose and tripping over his own feet.'Where've you been,Billy Raven?' Manfred stepped out of a doorway blocking his path.Billy was too scared to lie,but he decided to tell a half-truth. 'I've . . . I've been feeding Mr.Boldova's rat,' he said. 'I found him in the passage.'I don't think that'strue, Billy' Manfred said coldly'It is, it is,'said Billy desperately'I think you sawsomething, Billy I think you rescued that black rat when our dear departed artteacher had a little accident.'No, no!'Manfred glowered down atBilly 'What did you see?'I didn't seeanything,' mumbled Billy looking away from Manfred's dreadful black eyes.'Liar. You saw whathappened to Mr. Boldova and you told Charlie Bone, didn't you?'Billy had a nasty feelingthat if he told the truth it would get Charlie into trouble. 'No,' hesaid defiantly 'I didn't see anything, and I didn't tell Charlieanything.'Manfred gave a sigh ofirritation. 'You probably think I'm leaving Bloor's at the end of thissemester, don't you?'Billy hadn't thought aboutit. He shook his head.All the seniors will beleaving. It's the summer semester. We have exams to take. That's why I'mrather busy at the moment. But I won't be leaving. I'll be here, with time onmy hands to keep an eye on you.'I see,' said Billyin a small voice.'So, you'd betterremember who you're working for, Billy Or you'll never get the nice, kindparents that you want.'THE STARLINGBilly sat on the end of hisbed. Everyone else in the dormitory seemed to be asleep, but Billy had neverfelt more awake. Before his horrible encounter with Manfred, he'd had the mostamazing conversation with Rembrandt.The black rat had talked ofa house full of sparkling light and laughter. A house of books and music andpictures, where once a family had been happy. There had been a boy calledOliver, a gifted flute player. He was expected to develop an even greater gift,like his father and his brother, who could turn stones into fire. But he wassent away to school and never came home again.Billy remembered OllieSparks. He was in music and used to stay with a friend on weekends. Ollie hadbeen a very nosy boy and this used to annoy people. He got into trouble forgoing where he shouldn't.Rembrandt had told Billythat Ollie was still in the academy. The rat had smelledhim out and found him in one of the attics. But Ollie couldn't be seen, exceptfor one toe. There was also a snake up in the old part of the building, adreadful blue thing. It was so ancient Rembrandt's brain could hardly fathomit.'Mind-boggling,'Billy murmured.'Billy are you allright?'Billy almost fell off thebed. He hadn't heard Charlie Bone creep up on him.'I was just thinkingabout Rembrandt,' Billy whispered. 'He told me so much. I can't workit all out.'Do you want to come andstay next weekend?' Charlie asked. 'You could bring the rat.'Could I?' saidBilly 'OK, thanks.'Charlie tiptoed back to bed,while Billy crept under his covers and had the best night's sleep he'd had inages.Over the next few days,Charlie was made aware of just how seriously the academy took its summer playEvery break Olivia could be seen walking around the field learning her lines.Sometimes, Emma walked beside her, holding a folder that contained the scenesManfred had printed out.Fidelio spent more and moretime in the music room, practicing the incidental music for the play andCharlie found that his breaktime companions were usually Gabriel Silk and BillyRaven. It soon became clear that Billy had learned all there was to know aboutthe invisible boy from Rembrandt. But it seemed that he hadn't passed on theinformation to Manfred. Did this mean he could now be trusted? One day he evensuggested that he should go and look for Ollie.At night I'm allowed to visitMr. Ezekiel,' said Billy 'so if I'm caught Matron won't besurprised.'I don't like the soundof it, Billy' Charlie confessed. 'Matron's capable of giving you avery nasty punishment.'Besides, there's thatboa thing lurking around,' said Gabriel. 'We don't want two invisibleboys stuck in the attics.'The boa must have gotBlessed's tail,' said Billy thoughtfully 'Rembrandt says it's so oldhe can't fathom it.'Rats can't understandtime,' said Gabriel knowledgeablyCharlie muttered, 'I'mnot sure I can.'He was just going indoors atthe end of break when Olivia clutched his sleeve. 'Wait a minute,Charlie,' she hissed. 'We've got something to tell you.'Charlie hung back as Billyand Gabriel were swept away with a crowd of children surging into the hall.'What is it? I'll belate for my trumpet lesson.'I'm going out tonight,to look for that room where we met Ollie,' Emma said softly And I'll haveto be alone.'You're going tofly?'Emma nodded. 'I can lookin from the outside. Maybe fly in if there's a window open. I don't think I canrescue him, yet. I just want him to know that we're still trying.'It'll be dark,'said Charlie. 'How are you going to see?'It gets light agesbefore we're up,' Olivia whispered. 'I think it's a brilliant idea. Butwe've got to make sure there's an open window on our floor, so Emma can getback in. Can you do that, Charlie? Belle sleeps next to me. She's bound toclose the dormitory window if I open it. She watches me like a hawk.'Olivia glanced at Emma. 'Well, perhaps not a hawk. More of a viper nooffense to vipers.'Charlie grinned. He lost hissmile when Asa looked out at them and shouted, 'What are you three doing?You look like a mess. You'll be late for your classes if you don't hurryup.'The three friends leaped intothe hall and separated, each rushing to a different coatroom. Charlie managedto reach Mr. Paltry's wind room just before the old man turned up, complainingabout all the extra work he had to do for the school play'You don't need to worryCharlie Bone,' said Mr. Paltry 'It'll take years for you to reach thestandard required for the school band.' And he added in an undertone,'Probably never will.'Charlie just grinned. Trumpetplaying wasn't one of his priorities.Before dinner that night hemet Gabriel and Fidelio coming out of the music room. When he told them ofEmma's intended mission, they were eager to help. Fidelio suggested they leaveas many windows open as possible, but Charlie was worried this would be tooobvious. Matron Yewbeam and her assistants were bound to go around thebuilding checking all the windows.'I just want you tocover for me when I leave the dormitory' he told them. 'Say I'm inthe bathroom or something.'Matron never believes aword I say' Gabriel muttered. 'But we'll do our best.'Charlie waited until he heardthe cathedral clock strike midnight. The sound of those twelve chimes neverfailed to send a shiver down his spine. It was on the stroke of twelve, eightyears ago, that his father, Lyell, had been put into a trance from which hecouldn't wake. Manfred Bloor was responsible. Even as a small boy he hadtremendous power. Lyell's car had been found at the bottom of a deep quarry andeveryone believed that he was dead, but Charlie knew that this wasn't true.Grandma Bone had destroyed every photo of his father and Charlie couldn't evenremember what he looked like, but he was determined that one day he would usehis endowment to find Lyell and wake him. In the meantime, he would doeverything he could to stop the Bloors from getting their own way and ruiningpeople's lives.Charlie got out of bed andcrept to the door. It was pitch dark in the passage and he kept close to thewall until he found the staircase leading to the girls' dormitories.The old treads creaked underhis feet even though he climbed on tiptoe. When he reached the top, Charliegave a sigh of relief and moved quickly to the faint patch of light coming froma small window He opened it, just wide enough to admit a small bird, and was aboutto dash back to the stairs when a shadowy figure caught his eye. It camegliding out of the darkness on the other side of the window, and Charlie wastoo shocked to move. 'What are youdoing?'The voice belonged to one ofthe last people Charlie would have wanted to meet.'Belle!' he said.'I couldn't sleep. Thought I'd take a walk.'On the girls'floor?' She moved closer and Charlie could see the glimmer of her horriblechanging eyes.'Wasn't thinking,'Charlie murmured.'Tsk, tsk! The window'sopen. No wonder it's so cold.' Belle slammed the window shut and latchedit. 'Better run back to bed before Matron finds you.'Er, yes.' Charliewalked back to the staircase. When he looked over his shoulder, Belle was stillstanding there. He would have to find a less conspicuous windowTheart room, thought Charlie. If it was hard to find hisway upstairs, it was even worse getting back again. Charlie wished he had the flashlight Cook hadgiven him last semester. Matron Yewbeam had confiscated it. She was probably keeping it in DarklyWynd, Charlie thought. No chance of getting it back fromthere.He found the right door, atlast, and crept into the art room. If it hadn't been for pale starlightfiltering through the long windows, Charlie would have crashed straight into agroup of easels. As it was, he just managed to step around them and up to thewindows. Here, he realized that only a small section, at the top of eachwindow, could be opened. It was impossible for Charlie to reach that high.In a far corner, a spiralstaircase led down into the sculpture room. Hoping to find an easier windowthere, Charlie made his way between easels and paint boxes and was just aboutto descend when he heard a grinding noise and then a squeak. He could just makeout Rembrandt's dark form, standing up at the bars of his cage.'It's OK, Rembrandt,it's only me.' Charlie wished he could speak the rat's language, likeBilly But Rembrandt seemed reassured by Charlie's voice and went backto some serious nibbling.Charlie tiptoed down the coldspiral of iron steps. As he reached the bottom he heard tapping and noticed atiny light coming from a far corner. Someone else was in the sculpture room.Charlie froze. Mr. Mason, the sculpture teacher, was a strange man. It wouldn'thave surprised Charlie to find the teacher still working at midnight.A voice said, 'Who'sthat?' And a beam of light swung in Charlie's direction. 'Charlie?What are you doing here?'Wh-who's that?'stuttered Charlie.'It's me, Tancred.Lysander's here, too.'Phew!'Charlie walked across to the source of light. Hefound Lysander sitting beside a block of wood, while Tancred stood behind himwith a flashlight. They were both wearing green capes over their pajamas.'What are youdoing?' asked Charlie.Lysander explained that hewas experimenting. 'Gabriel passed on the word about Ollie Sparks,'he said. 'Thought if I could, kind of carve a likeness of Ollie, I mightget the ancestors to give the invisible boy a bit of body you know?'Charlie didn't know He couldn'tunderstand what Lysander was talking about. 'Do you know what Ollie lookedlike?'Of course I do,'said Lysander. 'I remember him well. Nice kid, but nosy Too nosy 1 can seehim like it was yesterday'Sander can dothat,' said Tancred admiringly 'He can remember details perfectlyHe'll carve that piece of wood until it's so real you can see itbreathing.'Really?' The blockof wood was already taking on the shape of a boy and yet Charlie didn't see howit could help Ollie. Lysander's endowment was truly remarkable if he could turna block of wood into a living, breathing person. But the real Ollie was trappedin the attics. How could having another Ollie help him? 'We don't need twoOllies,' Charlie said.Lysander explained that oncehis spirit ancestors had seen a perfect likeness of Ollie they could give theinvisible boy shape and substance; they could make him visible again.Ah!' said Charlie.'That's amazing.'And now may we ask why youare here?' said Tancred.'Emma's going outtonight,' Charlie told them. As a, you know she's flying. She's goingto look for Ollie's room, so he knows we're still trying to rescue him.'Better not tell himabout Mr. B just yet,' warned Tancred.'No. Not yet,'Charlie agreed. 'Thing is, Emma won't be able to get back through allthose old attics. She'd get lost in the dark. So I'm trying to leave a windowopen.' He told the others about Belle.'Hm.' Tancredlooked at the windows. They were exactly the same as those in the art room.Only the small sections at the top could be opened, and at present these weresecurely fastened. 'Mr. Mason sometimes opens them with a pole,' hesaid. 'But it's not here.'The tall, blond boy began tostride around the room, and Charlie could feel a breeze sweeping around hisfeet. Bits of wood and paper, fragments of clay and small chisels began toslither and shuffle across the floorboards.'Watch it, Tane!'said Lysander'OK. OK. I'mfocused,' said Tancred. 'Here we go!'Finding an empty space in thecenter of the room, he spun around, his cape flying out like a green wheel.Charlie watched, mesmerized by the swirling starlit dust motes until, all atonce, Tancred's spinning shape came to rest. He raised his arm, pointing to thetop of the window, and a bolt of pure, icy wind left his fingers and soaredupward. There was a sharp crack, and a pane of glass fell out. It droppedneatly into Tancred's upheld cape.'What about that?'he said proudly'Perfection,' saidLysander.'Out of thisworld,' breathed Charlie.Tancred hid the pane of glassamong a stack of boards standing against the back wall. 'Mr. Mason willnever notice,' he said.Charlie looked up at theempty window frame. 'I wish we could watch her,' he murmured.'I've never seen Emma fly or even become a bird.'Some things are betterdone in secret,' Lysander said mysteriously 'I think we should packup now and get back to bed, or we'll never wake up in the morning.'Tancred led the way with hisflashlight, up the iron spiral and through the art room. Charlie's dormitorywas only halfway down the passage, but, with a whispered 'goodnight,' the two older boys crept down to a dormitory at the far end.At that moment Emma wasopening a window in the corridor outside her dormitory Before she flew she hadmoments of terrible anxiety She was never sure if her arms would become wingsor if the wings would lift her off the ground. She had to close her eyes tightand think of a bird and then believe in herself and in the ancestor who hadpassed on this strange gift.Tonight Emma had chosen theform of a starling. Hidden by a tallcupboard, she began to shrivel and dwindle, becoming smaller and smaller, whileshiny dappled feathers covered her body She put the note she held into hermouth, and when the transformation was complete she lifted her wings. But asshe flew out of the window, someone in a pale nightgown stepped toward her.Emma soared into the starlit sky and the window clanged shut behind her.She tried not to think abouthow she would get back but concentrated on finding the attic room where OllieSparks was imprisoned. Twice she flew around the huge, gaunt building, perchingevery now and then on a window ledge, a pediment, or a gutter. But the blackrooms behind the tiny attic windows gave nothing away Not a light, or a shadow,no rumpled beds, jam jars, or pink toes could be seen.So Emma flew down to thefloor beneath the attics, and here she did see something: a candelit roomwhere an old man, propped up by a mountain of cushions, sat in a four-posterbed. Emma had seen that dreadful, wizened face before, when she too had beenimprisoned in the attics. Old Mr. Ezekiel now wore a red nightcap and a blackvelvet bed jacket covered in beads of shiny jet. He laughed to himself as hisbony finger traveled over the page of a huge black book, and Emma quickly flewon.On the floor below she sawLucretia Yewbeam, in a purple nightgown, brushing out the long strands of hergray-white hair. And farther on, Emma found Manfred Bloor, in a black robe, hisdark hair released from its ponytail and hanging in thin cords around his face.He had his back to the window, but Emma could see his reflection in the longmirror he was gazing into. And then he saw her.Manfred only saw a starling,sitting on the ledge outside his window But he stared at the bird's reflectionand then swung around. Emma flew off, her heart beating wildly She opened herbeak and gave a shrill cry of alarm. And her note floated away on the wind.Heknew it was me, thought Emma. He saw the note. What will he do now?UNCLE PATON'S RETURNNext morning, Charlie thoughthe was the last one down to breakfast, but just as he was hurrying past theportraits, he heard someone shuffling behind him. He looked around to see Emma,pale-faced and sleepy-eyed. While Charlie waited for her to catch up, anotherfigure appeared. It was Olivia. Who else would wear bright yellow shoes withblack socks? It was amazing the weird clothes that drama children managed toget away with.Olivia was rolling along in astrange lopsided way She held up a foot in a yellow shoe. 'They're Mom's.Hope she won't have a fit.'Emma regarded the shoe andyawned.'How did you get on lastnight?' Charlie asked her.Emma frowned. 'Couldn'tfind Ollie's window They all look the same. And I dropped the note.'What note?' saidOlivia. 'You never said anything about a note.'I was carrying one. Toleave for Ollie. But all the attic windows were shut.'Carrying it in your . . ?' Charlie was about to say 'beak' but couldn't quite manageit.'Mouth,' said Emma,giving him a funny look.Charlie said quietly'Did you find the window in the sculpture room?'Emma yawned again.'Eventually Thanks.'It was Tancred.'They had reached the dininghall, and here they had to part, each going to his or her own table. Charlienoticed that Emma had to sit beside Belle. He was worried for his friend.Suppose someone had found the note she'd written? If the Bloors knew she wastrying to rescue Ollie, there was no knowing what they might do. I'm glad she can fly, hethought to himself.Beside him, Fidelio polishedoff his last speck of oatmeal and said, 'I'm sure there are things goingon that I ought to know about, Charlie. Music's taking over my life a bit, butI still want to know what's happening to you all.'Come to the Pets' Cafon Sunday' said Charlie. 'We'll all be there. Maybe even Lysander andTancred.' He noticed Billy staring at him from the other side of thetable. And Billy' he added.'Billy?' Fideliolowered h is voice. 'Is that wise?'Charlie shrugged. 'Ithink he's changing his spots, if you know what I mean.'Hm,' said Fidelio.During the first break, whilethe others were rehearsing for the play Charlie helped Emma search for thenote she'd dropped. He was just peering into the shrubbery beside the gardendoor when Belle and Dorcas walked up to him.Belle said, 'I didn'tknow you were interested in horticulture, Charlie.'Haughty what?'said Charlie.'Never mind. What areyou looking for?'Nothing.' Charlieshoved his hands into his pockets and walked away from them. He looked forTancred and Lysander, but they were nowhere to be seen. Perhaps Lysander wasworking on his carving. Billy was missing too, but he had a rat to feed andcomfort.A few minutes before the endof break, Charlie met Emma. She hadn't found the note either.'I think it must haveblown into the courtyard,' she said.This was bad news. It wasimpossible for any of the children to go in there once the main doors were shuton Monday morning.'What did the notesay?' asked Charlie.Emma bit her lip.'Don't give up hope, Ollie. We haven't forgotten you. E.''E? Just E?' saidCharlie. 'That's not so bad.'E is for Emma,'Emma said gloomily 'They'll know'We'll just have to hopethey don't find it,' said Charlie.His next lesson was historyand, as usual, he found it very hard to concentrate. Luckily Mr. Pope didn'task him any questions. He seemed to have given up on Charlie, which was just aswell, because Charlie was wrestling with several other problems at once, andnone of them had anything to do with Napoleon.For one thing, who were they?The Bloors obviously and Belle, of course. But Weedon, the gardener, was anasty piece of work. And the matron, Charlie's great-aunt Lucretia, wasdefinitely an enemy What about the rest of the staff? It was very difficult toguess. If only he had Uncle Paton to talk to, but there was still no sign ofhim.Before Charlie knew it, thelesson was over and Mr. Pope was shouting, Another lesson has passed you byCharlie Bone. There'll be a test on Napoleon's campaigns first thing on Mondaymorning. If you don't get more than seventy percent, you'll havedetention.'Charlie's jaw dropped. Thismeant a whole weekend wasted on learning dates. He gathered up his books andmarched grimly out of the history room.Other children were facedwith the same problem. News of tests abounded. The staff had apparently caughttest fever. There were very few happy faces at dinner that night.'I don't think I'll beable to make it to the Pets' Caf this Sunday' said Gabriel, staringglumly into his soup.'Nor me,' saidCharlie.Billy leaned across thetable. 'I can still come home with you, can't I?' he begged.Charlie didn't have the heartto say no. 'Of course you can. You can test me on my dates.'Billy beamed. 'You'reon.'On Friday Charlie heard aboutLysander's progress on the carving. He and Emma were caught up in the usualrush to the dormitories to collect their bags. In spite of the looming tests, ababble of excitement had broken out. No one could remain despondent when therewere two days and three nights of freedom to look forward to. Steps wereclimbed two at a time, and dark passages rang with hurrying footsteps and happylaughter.'I saw the carving lastnight,' Emma whispered to Charlie. 'It's fantastic, like a real boyLysander's just begun to paint it. A few more days and it'll be ready'How's he kept itsecret?' asked Charlie.'He puts a sheet over itin the daytime. Mr. Mason never pays any attention to it. He's too busy doinghis own sculpting.'Belle's in art,'said Charlie anxiously'I don't need reminding.But, as far as I know, she hasn't seen the carving.'They parted at the bottom ofanother staircase and Charlie went to find BillyIt was true that Belle hadn'tseen Lysander's carving, but she'd been aware of it. She had merely been bidingher time. As soon as all the other children had climbed aboard the schoolbuses, Belle went into the sculpture room. Mr. Mason was tapping away at achunk of stone by the window He didn't even see Belle. She walked over to awhite sheet that covered something almost exactly her size. Belle pulled offthe sheet. A boy stood before her Not exactly a boy but something so very likea boy it was hard to believe he wasn't real.The boy had brown hair andbright blue eyes. His mouth was quite small, and his nose was thin and poky: aninquisitive nose. He was wearing a blue cape but, as far as Belle could see,the clothes under the cape were, as yet, unpainted. The shoes and pants werethe color of light wood.'So,' murmuredBelle. 'That's their game.'Charlie and Billy got off theblue bus at the top of Filbert Street. Rembrandt had fallen asleep underBilly's sweater but he was obviously having bad dreams. He kept twitching andsqueaking in his sleep. Billy reckoned that the rat had been badly freaked byMr. Boldova's rejection.'You'll have to make upfor it then,' said Charlie. 'You're his best friend now'Billy looked surprised andpleased. '1 suppose I am.'I'm afraid Mom doesn'tknow you're coming,' Charlie warned him. 'She's out all day onSaturday and she doesn't get home till after four.'I don't mind,'said Billy happilyShe'll leave us plenty offood.'Good. Can I give someto Rembrandt?' 'Of course. Don't let mygrandma see him. She can't abide animals. She'd probably kill him.' 'Oh,' said BillynervouslyAbout twenty paces from homeCharlie became aware of a car parked in the road outside number nine. It'scolor might have been described as black. But then again, it wasn't quiteblack. It could have been midnight blue, but it was so streaked with mud andash and was it rust? Or had the vehicle been engulfed in flames? The bumperwas bent and the windshield shattered.'That looks like a carfrom hell,' said Billy'Or a car that's beenthrough hell,' said Charlie. 'It belongs to my uncle Paton.'The boys tore down FilbertStreet. When they reached number nine, Charlie bounded up the steps and lethimself in. Billy followed cautiously'There's no onehere,' Charlie shouted from the kitchen.Billy watched Charlie crossthe hall and begin to mount the stairs.'Should I stayhere?' he asked shyly'No. It's OK. Come onup.' Charlie didn't want to go into his uncle's room alone. The DO NOT DISTURB signlay on the floor, and the hook on the door was bent almost flat, as thoughsomeone had grasped it for support. The signs were so ominous that Charliedidn't know what to do. Should he knock or walk in unannounced?'I'd knock,' Billyadvised.Charlie knocked. Once. Twice.Three times.No sound came from within theroom.Charlie held his breath,opened the door, and walked in. Billy took just one step inside and thenwaited, his hand over the rat.The first thing Charlie sawwas the wand, lying on his uncle's desk. The once slim white cane was almostunrecognizable, but Charlie knew it from its size and the dented silver tip.The rest was a charred and blackened stick.'What happened?' hemurmured. Slowly he turned his gaze toward the bed, and there was his uncle, afigure all in black, lying stretched out on top of the covers, so tall that hisfeet in ash-covered shoes hung over the end.Paton's face beneath streaksof soot was deathly white. But worst of all, to Charlie, was his uncle's hair.Once a luxurious black, it had turned ash gray'Is he dead?' Billywhispered.'No,' said Charliefiercely but to tell the truth he wasn't sure. He touched his uncle's shoulder.There was no response. 'Uncle Paton,' he said softly and then moreurgently 'Please, Uncle Paton, wake up. If you can.'A VISIT TO SKARPOPaton's eyes remained closed.His face looked like carved ice. Not a muscle twitched. Charlie put his ear tohis uncle's chest and caught the faint sound of a heartbeat.'He's alive. But in avery deep sleep,' said Charlie. 'We'll just have to wait until hewakes up.'It was no ordinary sleep, andyet it didn't seem like hypnotism. Paton must have been to Yewbeam Castle. Butwhat terrible thing had happened to him there? Uncle Paton was the only personin the house who could stand up to Grandma Bone, and Charlie shuddered tothink what life would be like if his uncle never woke up.'Let's get out ofhere,' he said.Billy was standing very stillbeside the door and Charlie noticed that Rembrandt's head was poking out of thebottom of Billy's sweater The rat's nose was twitchingviolently. Suddenly he gave a loudsqueak and leaped to the floor. 'Get him!' Charliecried.Billy ran out and Charliefollowed, closing Paton's door behind him. He could see Rembrandt hurryingalong, close to the wall. Billy had almost reached him when a door openedbetween him and the rat.Grandma Bone came out of herroom and stood facing Billy 'Oh?' She raised a long black eyebrow'Has Charlie brought home a little friend?'Billy blinked up at her.Charlie said, 'It'sBilly Raven, Grandma. He's staying the weekend.'I'm not blind. I cansee it's Billy Raven,' said his grandmother. 'I'm glad you've come toyour senses, Charlie. Billy's a nice boy A great improvement on that smellyBenjamin, not to mention fiddling Fidelio and that drip Gabriel.'Charlie hated her talkingabout his friends like that, but he was too worried about the rat to argue. For some reason Rembrandt had stopped rightbehind his grandmother and was now sitting up and watching them.Billy didn't know what to do.He stared at Rembrandt with his mouth hanging open.'Why are you looking atmy shoes, little boy?' said Grandma Bone. 'Look me in the eye. Idon't bite.'Notyet, thought Charlie.As Billy tore his gaze awayfrom the rat, Charlie was relieved to see it scamper downstairs.'Grandma . . .'Charlie began.'What was that?'Grandma Bone leaned over the banisters, but the rat had disappeared.'Well now, Billy'she said. 'The person who usually does the cooking in the house has goneon vacation.'Hardly,' saidCharlie. 'Grandma, do you . . .'Be quiet,' shesnapped. As I said, we haven't got a cook, but I'll do my best to find somenice tidbits for you. Charlie should be on bread and water, since he stole mygoose liver pt!'Charlie pointed to his uncle's door andshouted, Grandma, doyou realize Uncle Paton's lying in there half-dead?'I'm perfectly wellaware of my brother's state,' she said coldly 'He deserved everythinghe got. Meddling, that's what he was doing. Well, he bit off more than hecould chew this time, didn't he? Met his match. Ha! Ha!' She gave a nastysnicker and swept downstairs. 'I'm going to get some prunes,' shecalled, and putting on her hat and coat, she left the house.'I don't likeprunes,' said Billy with a nervous frown.'You won't have to eatthem,' said Charlie. 'Come on, let's find something better.'Billy thought they shouldlook for Rembrandt first, but although they searched every room on the groundfloor, the black rat couldn't be found.'He's probably curled upasleep somewhere,' said Charlie. 'I'm going to put some potatoes inthe oven.'Before he could do this, hismother walked in with an armful of carrots. She showed no surprise on seeing asmall white-haired boy sitting at the kitchen table. She was used to Benjamin'svisits and was glad that Charlie would have a friend around over the weekend.She had guessed that Paton had come home because she'd heard strange noisesvery late the previous night, but she hadn't had time to pop in and see himbefore she left for work.'He's ill, Mom,'said Charlie. 'Really, really ill. His hair's turned gray and he can'tspeak.'Oh, dear, perhaps I'dbetter go and see.' Mrs. Bone ran upstairs.A few minutes later she camedown looking very-worried. 'I'll call the doctor. Does your grandmotherknow about Paton?'She said he deserved itfor meddling,' Charlie told her.Mrs. Bone shook her head.'That family' she muttered.While Charlie got the dinnerready Amy Bone called the doctor. She was on the phone for quite some time,trying to describe Paton's symptoms. It wasn't easyexplaining that someone had turned gray overnight.'I don't think thedoctor believed me,' said Amy replacing the receiver. 'But he'scoming around in an hour, just to check.'At that moment Grandma Bonecame back with her prunes. As soon as she heard that a doctor had been called,she went to the phone and canceled his visit.'How could you dothat?' said Amy 'Paton needs a doctor.'No he doesn't,'Grandma Bone retorted. 'There's nothing a doctor can do. It's a waste ofhis precious time.'Honestly! Your ownbrother,' cried Amy 'Suppose . . . suppose he dies? How would youfeel then?'We all die intime,' said Grandma Bone, rinsing her prunes.Watching the arguments inwide-eyed silence, Billy decided that family life wasn't all that it wascracked up to be.Dinner was an uncomfortableaffair. Refusing ham and potatoes, Grandma Bone worked her way through a bowlof prunes, making a horrible sucking noise in the process.After dinner, while Mrs. Bonemade up a bed for Billy the boys told her about Rembrandt.'Oh, Charlie, notanother animal,' sighed Mrs. Bone.'He's very clean,'said Billy 'and not a biter.' 'But a rat . . .'Just look out for him,please, Mom?' begged Charlie. 'We don't want Grandma to find himfirst.'I should thinknot,' said his mother with a grin. 'I'll do my best, but don't blameme if I scream when I see him.' She left the bedroom saying, 'Rats.Whatever's next?'Billy wanted to continue thesearch for Rembrandt, but Charlie was afraid Grandma Bone would becomesuspicious. Besides, Uncle Paton, who could always be relied on in a crisis,was now lying in some terrible stupor, unable to tell anyone what had happenedto him. Perhaps he would never be quite himself again.'Your uncle breaks lightbulbs,doesn't he?' said Billy. 'He's apower-booster,' said Charlie. 'Something happens when he looks at alight; it just kind of explodes. That's why he doesn't go out until aftermidnight. Someone might see one of his 'accidents.''There was a light on inhis room,' said Billy'What?' Charliehadn't noticed. He had to find out if it was true.When he looked into hisuncle's room, there it was a bright light hanging from the ceiling, rightabove his uncle's desk.'It's gone,Charlie,' came a faint voice from the bed.Paton's dark eyes were nowopen. He was gazing at the light with an expression of horror.'Uncle, you'reawake!' cried Charlie.'If you can call itthat,' croaked Paton. 'Charlie, I'm cleaned out, whipped. He'sstronger than anyone could imagine.'Who?' saidCharlie.Paton closed his eyes again.'Your grandmother put the light on to test me. She wanted to make sure I'dlost the power. Well I have.'But who did this toyou?' Charlie asked.Paton's gray head tossed fromside to side. 'I thought he was dead gone. But he never will be.'Who?' beggedCharlie.'I can't say his name.Perhaps, tomorrow . . .' Paton turned his face to the wall.Charlie realized that hecouldn't press his uncle any further. He was about to leave the room when thewand caught his eye, and the beginning of an idea crept into his mind. Hepicked up the ruined wand and slipped back to his room.Billy was sitting onCharlie's bed, looking very despondent.'Don't worry aboutRembrandt,' said Charlie. 'He's a clever rat, and you're his friend.He'll turn up soon, I bet.' He saw that Billy wasn't really listening tohim; he was gazing at Charlie's hands with an expression of awe.When Charlie looked down hesaw that the burned wand was changing. He could feel it moving gently under hisfingers, as slippery as silk and warm as sunlight. The silver tip began tosparkle and the blackened wood gradually faded until it was a pure white.'How did thathappen?' breathed Billy.Charlie shook his head.'Don't know' He sat beside Billy and ran his fingers over the smoothwhite wood.'It's a wand, isn'tit?' said Billy. 'It was all black and broken and now it's likebrand-new Is it your uncle's?'No,' said Charlieslowly. 'I borrowed it from a person who had stolen it from someone else.'Looks like it reallywanted to be with you,' observed Billy 'Like it belonged toyou.'It can't,' saidCharlie. 'It's impossible. I'm not a wizard or a sorcerer.'But you're endowed,like me.'Not in that way'Charlie muttered. He decided to tell Billy the truth about the wand.Reaching under the bed,Charlie pulled out a small painting. It showed a man in a long black robe withsilver black hair and a beard the same color. He was standing in a room lit bycandles in a tall iron stand. With a piece of chalk he was drawing a star on astone wall already covered in strange symbols.'You brought thatpicture to school last semester, didn't you?' said Billy'Yes. The man's asorcerer called Skarpo. I stole the wand from him.'Billy's jaw dropped. He turnedto Charlie and gave him one of his long dark-red stares. 'You . . .?' he said huskily'I went into thepicture,' said Charlie. 'I'd never done that before, I'd only heardvoices.' He caught a sudden glint in the sorcerer's eye and quickly turnedthe painting over 'I mustn't look at him too long or he'll drag me inagain.'Billy shook his head inwonder. 'How did you get out?'That was a bit trickyLysander helped me.' Charlie glanced at Billy wondering again if he couldreally trust him. He decided he would have to chance it. 'The thing is,Billy I thought I might go in again. That sorcerer is very powerful. He hadloads of stuff in his room, did you notice? Herbs and feathers andthings.'He had a dagger; I sawthat.'Charlie held the painting upto Billy 'What else do you see?'Bowls and books andjars of colored water, and big candles and signs on the wall, oh, and a mouselooking out of his pocket, and loads of junk on the table.'He might have a curefor my uncle,' said Charlie. 'If I give him back the wand, maybehe'll give me something in return. And I could ask him about Ollie. He may knowa cure for invisibility'Lysander's not heretoday' said Billy dubiously 'Suppose you can't get out?'That's where you comein, Billy Just cling on to my arm, will you? And if I'm acting a bit funny giveme a tug. I don't go right in, you see, it's just my mind. But he can see myface, and he'll probably see the wand. I won't go in as far as I did last time.I'll keep to the edge and just talk to him.'Charlie propped the paintingagainst his bedside lamp, then he got up and held the wand in front of him. Areyou ready?'Billy slid off the bed andclutched Charlie's arm. 'Ready'Charlie looked at thesorcerer. It didn't take long for Skarpo to see him. 'You're back,'said a husky singsong voice.Charlie felt himself slidingforward, through a drifting white mist. All he could see was the sorcerer'sbony face, and he quickly lowered his eyes to avoid Skarpo's magnetic yellowgaze. A rich smell of burning herbs filled his nostrils and he sneezedviolently'Stop that!' saidthe voice.'S-s-achoo sorryCouldn't help it,' said Charlie. He looked past the dark robed figure andscanned the objects on the table.'What do you want thistime, you thief?' said Skarpo.'I've brought back yourwand,' said Charlie. And I was just wondering . . .'What?' Skarposeemed to be looking at the wand. 'Take it away' he said in a lowvoice.'But I thought youwanted it,' said Charlie. 'You were so angry when I took it. I cameback to exchange it for well, just a bit of advice, really you being soexperienced in magic and everything. I thought you might be able to helpme.'It's not mine, boy Isee that now' The sorcerer seemed unable to drag his eyes away from thewand. 'Well, I never. It was yours all along.'I don'tunderstand,' said Charlie. 'It's not mine. But anyway the thing is,my uncle's very ill, so ill he's lost the power he used to have. It was him whofirst told me about you, actually so have you got anything for endowed peoplethat have sort of become unendowed?'I'd have to see youruncle.' Skarpo took a step toward Charlie.'You can't dothat.' Charlie took a step backward.Skarpo moved closer.'I'll have to, my wee fellow How can I help a man I don't see? Besides,I've a mind to peek into your century'That'simpossible,' said Charlie firmly 'You belong in your picture.'I'll hitch a ride withyou. The sorcerer's pale hand stretchedout toward Charlie, and Charlie felt something tug his sweater. He stepped backwardvery fast, saying, 'No! No! No! I'm going now. Now! Now!' And againhe stepped back. This time he tripped and found himself falling. It was liketumbling through air, down, down, and down.Charlie had to close his eyesagainst the horrible pitching and tossing that was happening to his body Andthen the back of his head hit something hard, with a loud bang.Charlie opened his eyes. Hewas lying on his bedroom floor, not quite on the floor but on something smalland bumpy.A muffled voice beneath himsaid, 'Charlie, you're squashing me.'Charlie rolled over and foundBilly stretched out beside him. His glasses had fallen off and his eyes werewide with fright.'Sorry' saidCharlie. 'What happened?'Wee-i-erd,' saidBilly sitting up. He found his spectacles and put them on. 'I held on toyou, like you said, but you kept moving backward and saying, 'Now! Now!' andthen you tripped over my foot and we both fell down. I couldn't see anythingbecause you were on top of me, but there was an almighty wind and someonestepped on my hand, and the door blew open.'At that moment the front doorslammed. The boys were silent, waiting to hear footsteps in the hall. Therewere none. Charlie got up and looked out of the window There were severalpeople in the street and a few passing cars. And then, in the distance, he sawa dark shadow traveling very fast against the evening light.Charlie felt slightly queasyWhether it was from banging his head, or the feeling that somehow things hadgone a little bit wrong, he wasn't sure.'What happened inthere?' asked Billy pointing at the picture.Charlie noticed that thesorcerer was still in the painting. That was reassuring. He laid it facedown onthe bedside table. 'He wanted to come out,' he said.'Perhaps he did come out,'said Billy'No. Couldn't have.Let's get ready for bed. You can use the bathroom first.'The two boys changed intotheir pajamas, and Billy took his wash kit to the bathroom. In a few minutes hewas back, with toothpaste around his mouth and a black rat in his hands.'Look what I've found!' he cried.'Rembrandt! Where washe?'In the bathroom, underthe bath.' Billy put Rembrandt on Charlie's bed. 'It's so good tosee you, Rem!'I don't think I wantRem in my bed tonight,' said Charlie, and he ran down to the kitchen tolook for a box.Unfortunately Grandma Bonewas in the kitchen, slurping up another bowl of prunes. 'What are youlooking for?' she demanded as Charlie rummaged around in the pantryA box,' he said.'What for? (Slurp.)'To put somethingin.' Charlie emerged with a box in his hands and six cookies in hisbathrobe pocket.'What sort of thing?Drat!' Grandma Bone missed her mouth and a prune fell on to thetablecloth.'Whoops!' saidCharlie.'What are you putting inthat box?'A monster with sixeyes,, four tails, and bad breath,' said Charlie, running out of the room.'Don't beinsolent,' screeched Grandma Bone. She came into the hall and was about toshout something else when she suddenly changed her mind and said sweetly,'Say good night to that little boy for me.'Charlie was so unnerved byher tone he almost dropped the box. Did his grandmother think she could useBilly against him?'Phew,Grandma certainly likes you,' he said, handingBilly the box. 'This is for Rembrandt. And I've got some cookies for hisdinner. Billy? Billy!'Billy's white eyebrows weredrawn together in an odd frown.'What's up?' saidCharlie.'I've been talking toRembrandt,' Billy said in a puzzled voice.'He gave you some badnews by the look of it,' Charlie remarked.'He said there was a badsmell in the bathroom.'There's always a badsmell,' said Charlie. 'It's Grandma.'No, Charlie. This isdifferent,' Billy said gravely 'Rembrandt says it smells of bad magicand things that should be dead.'Charlie resisted thetemptation to say 'Like I said,' and marched along to the bathroom,followed by Billy who was still clutching Rembrandt.'Can't smell athing,' said Charlie, opening the door.'Look!' Billywhispered. 'Under the sink.'Charlie looked. Sitting underthe sink was a brown mouse. It began to squeak, almost hysterically and whileit squeaked, Rembrandt joined in, squealing even louder than the mouse.Billy began to translateRembrandt's shrill words, if they could be called words. 'He says . . .the mouse is very scared . . . because it doesn't know. . . where it is .. or how it got here. Rembrandt says itssmell is from a long time ago, so long it's messing up his brain.'A long time ago?'Charlie looked at Billy who returned his gaze with a mixture of disbelief andbewilderment.'Skarpo had a mouse inhis pocket,' Charlie said slowly'So, where'sSkarpo?' Billy whispered.A VERY OLD MOUSEWhen thesqueaking had finally died down, Billy said, 'Should we let it go or tryand keep it?'Charlie took a step towardthe mouse and that decided the matter. The little creature darted under thebath, and when Charlie tried to crawl after it, the mouse leaped through a holein the floor.'That's it, then.'Charlie stood up and dusted himself off.'What are we going to doabout the sorcerer?' said Billy'There's nothing we cando. We'll just have to wait.'Charlie was awake for most ofthat night. Billy grunted and chattered in his sleep while the rat made apeculiar twittering sound. Now and again Charlie would shout, 'Shut up,both of you!' but his visitors slept on.Very early next morningCharlie tiptoed downstairs for a bowl of cereal. The house and the streetoutside were eerily quiet. And Rembrandt was right, there was a very strangesmell around the place. Was that how bad magic smelled? Charlie wondered if themouse had brought bad luck as well as bad magic into the house.When he'd finished hiscereal, Charlie took a cup of tea and a cookie up to his uncle's room. Patonwas sitting propped up against a mound of cushions and pillows. He still lookeddeathly white but a bit of life appeared to have seeped back into his grayhair.'Morning, dear boy'Paton's voice was very faint.'You're looking a bitbetter, Uncle,' said Charlie. 'Your hair it was all grayyesterday'Ash,' Paton saidhoarsely He touched his throat. 'Can't talk much.'Charlie noticed that thelight was still on. It flickered now and again, but there were none of thebright explosions that Paton usually managed to generate.'Maybe it's a good thingthat you've lost your . . .' Charliehesitated. 'Well, I mean, now that lights don't explode all aroundyou.'.'It crossed mymind,' Paton whispered, 'but only for a moment. I've realized thatit's never a good thing to lose your talent; you lose a bit of yourself alongwith it.'I suppose so,'said Charlie solemnly 'Uncle Paton, what happened to you?'Paton closed his eyes.'Can't talk now, Charlie. If you see Miss Ingledew tell her . . . tell her. . .'Yes,' said Charlieeagerly 'Tell her what?'Tell her I wish 'Paton shook his head. 'No, I'm afraid it's too late.'Too late!' criedCharlie. His uncle's expression scared him. 'What do you mean, toolate?'Never mind. I'd like tobe alone now Charlie.'Whatever it was that hadhappened to his uncle, Charlie was afraid that the effects might be permanent,or fatal. He quietly closed the door and went back to his room. Billy wassitting on the edge of Charlie's bed with Rembrandt on his knee. 'Ithought it was all a bad dream,' he said, rubbing his eyes. 'But itreally happened, didn't it? The mouse and the sorcerer.' 'Fraid so,' saidCharlie.'What do you thinkSkarpo will do, if he's here somewhere?'We'll just have to waitand see. Billy you won't tell anyone about this, will you?'Billy shook his head. 'Iwon't tell about Skarpo, but I think they already know about you going into picturesand that. I heard them talking once, about the painting, old Mr. Ezekiel andMatron. They said, 'Do you think Charlie will go in?' I didn't understand whatthey were talking about then.'Charlie perched beside thesmall albino. 'I know you couldn't help being a spy' he said,'but it's time you chose sides, Billy I've got to know if I can trustyou.'Billy hung his head.'Mr. Ezekiel said he'd found some really kind people who wanted to be myparents, but it was a lie. I'll never trust him again.'The Bloors lie abouteverything,' said Charlie. 'But when this is all over, I'm suresomeone will find some parents for you.'Cook said she would,but when all what's over?'Charlie wasn't sure, himselfPerhaps he meant when Ollie Sparks had been rescued, and Belle, or Yolanda, haddisappeared. When Uncle Paton was himself again, and Lyell, Charlie's father,had been found. Or perhaps he meant the struggle between those who ruined livesif they didn't get what they wanted and others who couldn't help trying to stopthem. 'The children of the Red King,' Charlie murmured. 'It's abattle between all of us. I meant when that was over.'Billy looked dubious. 'Perhapsit will never be over. Or maybe it will be a long, long time. I think I couldwait quite a long time. Maybe a year. But I don't want to be grown-up before Iget parents. I wish I could remember my real parents. I wish I knew how theyreally died. No one would ever explain it to me.'Charlie thought of his ownfather. Everyone pretended that he was dead. But Charlie knew it was a lie. Atleast Billy had a photo. Charlie didn't even have that. 'You showed me aphoto of your parents once,' he said. 'They looked nice.'Yes,' said Billysadly'Come on, let's getdressed,' said Charlie on a brighter note.They found Mrs. Bone in thekitchen, cooking two large breakfasts. 'I'm sorry I've got to leave you onyour own,' she said, 'but there's plenty of food in the fridge andI'll be back before lunch. Thank goodness Paton is better.' Charlie wasn'tso sure about Paton.'We're not exactly onour own,' said Charlie as a door slammed upstairs. Grandma Bone was on themove.Amy glanced up at the ceilingand said, 'You know what I mean. Enjoy your breakfasts. 'Bye now.'And she was off.By the time Grandma Bone camemarching into the kitchen, Charlie and Billy had eaten their breakfast, andBilly had managed to slip some toast and bacon into his pocket.A bit of starving wouldn'thurt you,' she said, glaring at Charlie, 'after eating everything insight.'Charlie almost told her thatRunner Bean had eaten the pt, but he thought better of it. He wanted apeaceful weekend.'Sorry,' hemumbled. 'I made a mistake. We're going to the park now, Grandma.'He took his plate to the sink, but when he turned around his grandmother gavehim one of her mean smiles.'No, you're not,'she said. 'Someone very important is coming to visit us.'Who?' askedCharlie.'That's for me toknow' she retorted. 'Clean yourselves up and look nice, they'll behere in half an hour.'Billy scuttled nervously tothe sink with his plate.'Wash it up, dear,'said Grandma Bone.Charlie waited while Billydutifully cleaned his plate and put it in the rack.Back in the bedroom, Billyfed the hungry rat and then began to grunt to it. Rembrandt squeaked back.'He says the mouse oughtto go home,' Billy told Charlie. 'It's not good for him here.'It's not good for useither,' said Charlie. 'But even if we found the mouse, I wouldn'tknow how to get it back into the painting. Unless I took it myself, and I don'twant to go in again. I don't trust Skarpo. He might make it impossible for meto get out.'If he's still inthere,' said Billy'He must be,' saidCharlie desperately. 'I mean if he was out, we'd know by now He'sdangerous. He only deals in destruction. He told me once that he liked to maim,poison, burn, shrink, and drive people mad.'Billy's mouth had fallenopen. He uttered a soft 'Oooo' of horror.The two boys waited anxiouslyfor their important visitor to arrive. Occasionally they looked down into thestreet, but no one grand or imposing walked up to the door. No flashy orexpensive car stopped close byAnd then Billy suddenlyshivered and said, 'There it is. It's him.'Charlie saw a black car withsmoked-glass windows gliding to a halt in front of the house. He recognized thecar immediately It had come once before, when Billy had stayed with him.Charlie had never seen the passenger. When he had gone to look in the car, along cane had whipped through the open door and whacked him on the knees something he wasn't likely to forget.A powerful-looking man in ablack suit got out of the driver's seat and walked around to the passenger door.A black chauffeur's hat hid the cropped head, but Charlie knew the broad nose,red face, and small slanting eyes. It was Weedon, the gardener and handyman.Weedon opened the passengerdoor very wide and then leaned into the car. After a moment of maneuvering, hestood up with a weird bundle in his arms. Most of it was covered by a woolenblanket, but Charlie could see a hideously wizened face under a black skullcapand two scrawny legs in white socks with red velvet slippers on the feet.'Is that who I think itis?' said CharlieBilly nodded miserably'Mr. Ezekiel. He's come for me.'Maybenot. Let's wait and see.' As Charlie said this a third person got out ofthe car, slammed all the open doors, and followed Weedon and his bundle.'I should have knownshe'd come, too,' said Charlie as he watched his great-aunt Lucretia mountthe steps.'Charlie! Billy! You'rewanted,' shouted Grandma Bone.Billy put Rembrandt in hisbox and followed Charlie downstairs. Grandma Bone was waiting for them outsidethe living room door. 'Come in, boys. Come in,' she said, smiling asthough they'd won tickets to a soccer match.Charlie went in first andfound himself facing the oldest-looking man he'd ever seen. He was sitting inthe biggest armchair, still wrapped in his woolen blanket. His face was sowithered it looked like a skull, and his thin white hair hung to his shouldersin waxy strands. His mouth had all but disappeared beneath a long, knobblynose, but his black eyes glittered with a frightening intensity'Charlie Bone atlast.' The old man held out a stringy mottled hand.Charlie looked at the hand,wondering if it ate things. He decided he'd better shake it but, before he knewit, his fingers were being pulverized by something that felt like a nutcracker.He retrieved his hand with a gasp of pain, and Mr. Weedon, who was sitting inan upright chair beside the old man, gave a malicious grin.'We know Billy,'said Ezekiel. 'In fact, we know each other very well, don't we,Billy?' He picked up a cane propped against his chair and tapped the floorby Billy's feet.Billy gave a silent nod.'Sit down, boys!'Ezekiel's voice sounded rather like a rusty saw.Charlie and Billy made forthe nearest chair and shared it, both perching on the edge. Grandma Bone satbeside Lucretia on the sofa, and Lucretia said, 'Well, isn't thisnice?'Charlie thought, Hardly.'Now.' Ezekielrubbed his hands together. 'To begin with, I'm very pleased to see you twoboys have made friends. We've all got to work together, haven't we? The more ofus the better. Isn't that so?'Charlie said, 'Itdepends.'Ezekiel frowned, and GrandmaBone and her sister muttered, 'Insolence! Behave yourself.'You're not going to belike your father, are you?' said Ezekiel, raising his voice and glaring atCharlie. 'I expect you've noticed I can't walk. Do you know who'sresponsible? Your father, darn him. He did this to me. He deserved todie.'Charlie gritted his teeth. Hewas so angry he was afraid he might do something violent. Instead he muttered,'He isn't dead.'What?' cried theold man. 'What did you say?'I said my father isn'tdead!' Charlie shouted.The old man's black eyesflashed. He stared at Charlie for several seconds and then he gave a shrillcackle. 'Prove it,' he snickered.Charlie said nothing.'No, you can't, canyou?' said Ezekiel. He was suddenly overcome by a bout of coughing, andGrandma Bone rushed out to fetch him a cup of tea. While she was gone, AuntLucretia snarled, 'You're a very stupid boy Charlie Bone. Why can't yousee sense? Why can't you do the right thing?'Charlie remained silent andBilly squashed himself farther back into the chair.Grandma Bone returned withthree cups of tea and a plate of cookies. She handed the tea and cookies toEzekiel, Lucretia, and Mr. Weedon, but when Charlie put a hand toward theplate, Lucretia gave him a hard slap.'Ouch!' Charliewithdrew his stinging hand.Ezekiel said, Aw, we mustn'thit Charlie. We want him on our side, don't we?'I sometimes wonder ifhe's worth the trouble,' sniffed Grandma Bone.Charlie couldn't stophimself. 'If you want me on your side, you've got a funny way of goingabout it.'Grandma Bone raised hereyebrows. Ezekiel slurped his tea. Lucretia stirred hers. At last the old mansaid, 'We never meant to do you any harm, Charlie. Not permanent harm. Wejust had to teach you a lesson, now and again. You have to be shown theway'And what way isthat?' asked Charlie.Ezekiel shook his head.'I want us all to be on the same side, Charlie. Think how powerful wecould be. All you bright, gifted children children of the Red King. Thinkwhat you could do. Billy understands, don't you, Billy?'Billy squirmed in his seat.'Billy's a goodboy' said Grandma Bone. 'Billy does what he's told. He doesn't breakthe rules.'Rules,' saidCharlie. 'My father broke your rules and you did something horrible tohim. And my uncle Paton went where you didn't want him to go, and now he's all ruined. That's not fair!'Mr. Weedon leaned forward. All'sfair in love and war,' he announced in a commanding voice.The other three adults lookedat him in surprise, and Charlie had an odd feeling that, of all the people inthe room, Mr. Weedon was the one he should fear most.Ezekiel gave an exasperatedsigh. 'I'm tired of this. I don't like arguing with little boys. Justbehave yourself Charlie Bone. You know what I can do to people whodon't.'Charlie was trying to thinkof a clever reply when a mouse suddenly appeared on the mantelpiece. Everyonewatched it scuttling around the candlesticks and china ornaments. And then itstood on its hind legs beside the clock and began to squeak.Grandma Bone and AuntLucretia had already begun to shriek when Ezekiel shouted, 'What's itsaying, Billy? Tell us.'It says it'slost,' said Billy although the mouse was actually saying, 'I'm going out of my mind with worry.Where am I? I don't understand how I got here!'Billy was about to saysomething reassuring to the little creature when Mr. Weedon brought his hatdown, bang, overthe mouse. 'Got the little creep,' he said.Billy and Charlie watched indismay as the big man turned his hat over and put his hand on top of the mouse.But then he gave a grunt of fury and dropped both hat and mouse. 'He bitme!' he yelled.Charlie whispered to Billy'With any luck he'll get the plague.'The mouse leaped out of thehat and raced under the sofa.'Get me out ofhere!' shrieked Ezekiel. 'Weedon, leave the darn mouse. Billy fetchyour bag, you're coming home with me!'But I'm staying withCharlie,' said Billy 'for the weekend. I don't want to go back toBloor's.'Don't argue,'shouted Ezekiel. 'He's a bad influence. Go and get your stuff'Billy wriggled out of thechair and left the room with a look of despair.'It's not fair,'said Charlie. 'Billy's alone every weekend.'Not fair! Notfair!' mimicked Grandma Bone. 'Nothing's fair with you, is it?'No.' Charlie wasso disgusted with everyone, he walked out of the room, growling softly Andit's not fair to keep invisible boys locked up.'What did you say youinsolent boy?' his grandmother shouted.Billy came downstairs withhis bag and Rembrandt in the box. Charlie was about to advise him to hide thebox when Mr. Weedon burst out of the living room carrying the old man.'What's in there?'said Ezekiel, tapping the box with his cane.A a rat!' said Billytoo frightened to lie.'What? Get rid ofit.'But it's afriend,' said Billy faintly'It's not coming into myhouse,' declared Ezekiel.'But it belonged to Mr.Boldova,' said Billy making things worse for himself. And now that he'sgone, there's no one else to look after it.'Grandma Bone and AuntLucretia had come into the hall and both began shouting at once, 'In thehouse? A rat?' 'Someone kill it!'Billy's eyes began to fillwith tears. 'You c-can't . . .' he sobbed.'I'll look afterit,' cried Charlie, seizing the box. 'Don't worry Billy'You will not!'roared Grandma Bone. 'I won't have it in the house. Weedon, bang it on thehead!'But Weedon had his hands fullwith Ezekiel and before anyone else could make a move, Charlie had opened thefront door.'Bye, Billy' he shouted, as he raced down the steps. 'I'm takingRembrandt somewhere where he'll be safe.' 'Comeback!' called Grandma Bone. 'Thatboy's out of control,' bellowed Aunt Lucretia.'Not for long!'said Ezekiel.Charlie didn't hear this. Heran up Filbert Street and on into the city stopping only once to look into thebox. Rembrandt stared out fearfully his nose twitching at least a hundred timesa second.'Sorry Rem,'Charlie panted. 'I hate to do this to you, but you didn't stand a chanceback there.' He raced up Frog Street and sped down the alley to the Pets' Caf.'Hello, Charlie. Youlook winded,' said Norton, the bouncer, as Charlie leaped through thedoor.'I've got to see Mr.Onimous,' said Charlie. 'Is he around?' He held up the box.'Rat,' he said. 'In a bit of trouble.'Orvil's in thekitchen,' said Norton. 'Just go around the counter.'Leaping over a birdcage andtwo dachsunds, Charlie hastily made his way around the counter and through thedoor at the back. Mr. and Mrs. Onimous were having a cup of tea at the longkitchen table. Several large saucepans were bubbling away on the stove, andthey both looked very flushed.'Well, if it isn'tCharlie,' said Mr. Onimous, dabbing his face with a red handkerchief.'Sit down my friend, and have a cup of tea.'Thanks, but I'm in abit of a rush,' said Charlie.There was a joyful bark andRunner Bean erupted from under the table. Charlie put his box on the table andallowed his face to be licked while he rubbed the big dog's rough hair. When helooked around Rembrandt was sitting beside Mrs. OnimOus' cup of tea.'Well, this is a nicesurprise,' she said. A very pretty rat indeed.'Runner Bean growled andCharlie asked him if he would please be quiet because the rat was already inquite a state.'I brought him herebecause Grandma Bone would have killed him,' Charlie explained. 'Ithought he'd be safe with you. Can you look after him, Mrs. Onimous,please?'You'd better tell uswhat all this is about, young Charlie,' said Mr. Onimous.And have some cake while youdo it,' said Mrs. Onimous. 'Sit down, Charlie, and make yourself athome.'Charlie hadn't intended tostay He was worried that his mother would get home from work and find GrandmaBone in a fury But the smell of freshly baked cakes, and the Onimouses'welcoming smiles, were too hard to resist. So he sat between them at the tableand munched his way through an enormous slice of chocolate cake, while he toldhis friends everything, about Ollie Sparks, the blue boa, and the terribleloneliness of Ollie's invisibility. And then the final dreadful scene withEzekiel and poor Billy'Billy wanted to keepthe rat,' said Charlie, feeding Rembrandt a crumb. 'It's a friend,you see. It can understand what Billy says. But that revolting old man said hecouldn't have it, and Grandma Bone told Mr. Weedon to bang it on thehead.'The poor, dearcreature.' Mrs. Onimous clutched her chest. 'Come to me, mylove!'Rembrandt leaped over a plateand landed in Mrs. Onimous' lap. Obviously Billy wasn't the only person hecould understand.'You say your uncle hasa mystery illness,' said Mr. Onimous, who had great respect for PatonYewbeam. And you have no idea what caused this strange affliction?'All I know is that he metsomeone in Yewbeam Castle,' said Charlie. And this person did somethingto him.'The Onimouses stared atCharlie, equally horrified.'That's a terribleplace,' said Mr. Onimous at last.'Have you beenthere?' asked Charlie.'Never.' Mr. Onimousshook his head. 'Wild horses couldn't drag me there. It's an evil place,Charlie. Your uncle was lucky to get out alive.'But maybe he won't stayalive,' said Charlie fearfully'We must live in hope,dear,' said Mrs. Onimous, Who looked anything but hopeful.THE WANDOn his way home, Charlie calledin at the bookshop. Emma was on duty at the counter, while her aunt wrappedbooks in the back room.'Tell Miss Ingledew thatmy uncle's home,' said Charlie. 'But he's not very well.'What's the matter with him?'asked Emma.'It's hard to explain.But it's scary Em. I'm afraid he might not get better ever.'Why?' asked Emmawith a worried frown. 'How did it happen? Is it a mystery bug orsomething?'Can't really say Got togo now Em. There was a bit of trouble before I left.' Charlie hurried offleaving Emma looking baffled.There was anot-quite-peaceful silence inside number nine.Billy had obviously beentaken back to Bloor's and there was no sign of Grandma Bone. It was lunchtimeso Charlie began to help himself from the fridge: cheese, cucumber, salami, andpeanut butter all sandwiched between two thick slices of bread. He was aboutto sit at the table when he remembered his uncle. He made another identicalsandwich and put them both on a tray with a glass of water.Paton called, 'Come in!Come in!' immediately after Charlie knocked.'Praise be,refreshments,' said Uncle Paton when he saw the tray He heaved himself upon his pillows and patted the bed.Charlie put the tray in frontof his uncle. He was glad to see that Paton had managed to change into hispajamas. Hopefully this meant that he'd had a bath, though there was still afunny smell in the room.'Scorched socks!'said Paton, who had noticed Charlie's discreet sniff.'Uncle, whathappened?' asked Charlie. 'Can you talk about it now?'Paton took a long drink ofwater, cleared his throat rather loudly and said, 'Ahem. You'll have toknow something of our past, Charlie. It all began when I was seven. You'llremember I discovered my gift on my seventh birthday'Charlie nodded. 'Thelights exploded and all the other children went home, and you ate all their icecream and were sick.'Good memory,'Paton remarked. 'Well, shortly after this we all went to visit mygreat-aunt, Yolanda, at Yewbeam Castle.'Charlie waited breathlesslywhile his uncle massaged his throat.'My mother wasFrench,' Paton went on. 'A very beautiful woman. She'd been anactress, but when she married my father she found that she loved children. Soshe had five and gave up the stage. She was very proud of my gift. There'd beena few 'unusual talents' in her own family'She told Yolanda aboutme on our very first night there. We were having dinner in a long, dark room onthe ground floor. There were eight of us, and Lyell, your father, who was two.His own father, a pilot, had already been killed crashed his plane in thedesert. Well, my mother said, 'Guesswhat, Aunt Yolanda, Paton is endowed.' I can see Yolanda's face now The wayher eyes lit up.' Paton bit into his sandwich.And then my sister, Venetia,who was twelve, said, 'Like me. And like Eustacia, she's a clairvoyant. ButLucretia and Grizelda aren't endowed, poor things.' The two eldest were veryput out, as you can imagine, but then Grizelda said, 'Who knows? Baby Lyell mayhave a gift one day'Yolanda gazed around atus. She looked so hungry A real predator.' Paton paused and took anotherbite of his sandwich. 'This is uncommonly good, Charlie,' he said.'What's in it?'I've forgotten. Pleasego on, Uncle Paton,' begged Charlie.His uncle looked suddenlyvery grave. 'Yewbeam Castle is a terrible place. It's built of a rock thatseems to attract the night. It's a sooty gray inside and out. And they stillhaven't put in electricity The stairs are narrow; steep, and dark. On oursecond day my mother fell and broke her neck.' Paton gave a frown of painand touched his throat again.'We were all in thegarden, if you can call it that. It's just a field of wild grass that growsright up to the castle walls. I heard my mother cry out, but my father reachedher first I was just two steps behind him. She was lying at the bottom of atreacherous stairway leading out of the hall. I heard her say 'Don't let her . .' And then she was gone.' Paton pulled a handkerchief from under hispillow and vigorously blew his nose.'Yolanda pushed her,didn't she?' Charlie said grimlyPaton gave a huge sigh.'I'm sure she did. But who could prove it? Besides, my sisters werealready under her spell. They wouldn't hear a word against her. In fact, theywouldn't even leave the castle after my mother died. Yolanda tried to keep me,too. She begged and wheedled, she screamed and threw things. She turned into awild dog, a bat, a serpent she's a shape-shifter, you know. She tried tohypnotize my father, but he escaped with me and he never let me out of hissight until he was sure I could take care of myself.'You went to YewbeamCastle to stop Yolanda from coming here, didn't you?' said Charlie.Paton nodded. 'I heardmy sisters plotting the night before I left. So I decided to pay Yolanda avisit. But I was too late. She wasn't there 'Uncle Paton,'Charlie interrupted, 'she's here.'What?' Patonsagged against the pillows. 'I was afraid of that. Is she . . . ? Whatshape has she taken?'She's a girl, quite apretty one. But her eyes keep changing, as if they can't remember what colorthey're supposed to be. I knew right away there was something wrong. She'sliving with the aunts in Darkly Wynd. But why has she come here, Uncle, after allthis time?'I only caught snatchesof my sisters' conversation,' said Paton. 'I was in the kitchenhaving a midnight snack when they arrived. I don't care for their chatter, so Ihid in the pantry Very undignified, but luckily they only had a cup of tea.They discussedYolanda and then moved off, into the living room. From what Icould gather, Yolanda was called in to help the old man Ezekiel in somenefarious plan to disappear.'Charlie gasped. 'Theboa!' he exclaimed. 'Ezekiel's got a blue boa that can make thingsinvisible. He's done it to a boy named Ollie Sparks.'Ah, well, it seems it's justa one-way ticket at the moment. You can go, but you can't come back, if youtake my meaning. Ezekiel wants it both ways, naturally But as he's an incompetentmagician, he can't do it.'So he's practicing onOllie,' Charlie murmured. 'He's kept in the attics.'Dear lord, whatevernext?' sighed Paton.Charlie was still desperateto know about his uncle's visit to the castle. 'Uncle, whathappened?' he said gently 'Why have you lost your power?'Paton closed his eyes. Hisface had a closed look, shuttered and blank. It seemed that he couldn't speakof his ordeal just yet. It had been too terrible.The doorbell rang.Grandma Bone must have beenin the house all the time, because the front door opened and Charlie could hearher voice.'You're not welcomehere. Please leave!'Charlie opened the window andlooked down at the steps. 'It's Miss Ingledew, he told his uncle. AndEmma. Hi, Emma!' he called.'Julia?' Patron'seyes flew open. 'She wants to see me then!'Hi!' said Emma,waving a bunch of roses at Charlie.Miss Ingledew looked up.'Hello, Charlie, I've come to 'She was cut short by GrandmaBone, who stepped out of the house and growled, 'I asked you toleave.'But I've come to seeMr. Yewbeam. I heard he wasn't well.' Miss Ingledew held up a yellow paperbag. 'We've brought flowers and bananas, they're so good for . . .'We've got our ownbananas!' barked Grandma Bone, advancing on her unwelcome visitors.'Mr. Yewbeam is far too ill to have company.' 'He's not!' criedCharlie.'Be quiet!' GrandmaBone glared up at Charlie, while Emma and Miss Ingledew were forced to stepdown on to the pavement.'Really Mrs. Bone,'said Julia. 'I'm sure it wouldn't do Paton any harm to see me. I'mconcerned about him. Don't you understand?'Paton's face turned fromwhite to pink, then back to white again as he struggled out of bed.'Julia,' he said breathlessly 'Don't let her go, Charlie!'Stop stalking mybrother.' Grandma Bone followed Miss Ingledew down the steps. 'You're notwelcome here.'I am not stalking him.I have never stalked anyone in my life.' Clearly upset by Grandma Bone'sinsinuation, Miss Ingledew threw back her head of magnificent chestnut hair andmarched away up the street. Emma waved bleakly at Charlie and ran after her.'Has she gone?'croaked Paton.' 'Fraid so, Uncle,'said Charlie. 'I think Grandma Bone offended her.'Paton put his head in hishands. 'I'm lost,' he moaned. 'I might as well be dead.'Don't say that!'Charlie couldn't bear to see his normally vigorous uncle in such a pitifulstate. 'I'll try and get her back,' he said.Grandma Bone met Charlie inthe hall. 'Where do you think you're going?' she said.'Out,' saidCharlie.'Oh, no, you're not.You've got work to do. Studying, I believe. You've got tests coming up onMonday Lots of them. Get upstairs and take out your books. Right now!'Charlie almost exploded withindignation. 'How could you do that to Uncle Paton?' he demanded.'He really wanted to see Miss Ingledew'That woman's no goodfor him,' said Grandma Bone. 'Now if you don't get to work thisminute, I'll tell them to give you detention next Saturday In fact, after yourdisgraceful behavior this morning, I'll be surprised if you don't get it,anyway'I. . You're just a . . .' Charlie struggled to contain-himself and thenrushed to his room before he said something so rude his grandmother would makesure he had detention for years to come.For several hours Charliewrestled with history dates, geographical locations, English grammar, andFrench verbs. He began to get a headache and found he was forgetting thingsmore than remembering them. Occasionally he looked out of his window; longingto see Benjamin and Runner Bean racing across the street. But no friendly faceappeared, and nothing interesting occurred to break the monotony of Charlie'sawful afternoon . . . until he noticed the wand.It was lying under his bed,caught in a thin beam of sunlight. Charlie picked it up. The wand felt warm andsilky It was very comforting to hold, almost like tasting somethingexceptionally delicious or lying on a bed of feathers.Charlie had an idea. Skarpohad stolen the wand from a Welsh wizard so, reaching for the Welsh dictionary hisuncle had given him, Charlie looked for the words 'help me.' He found'helpu fi' and remembered the 'u' was pronounced'i,' and the 'f' like a 'v.'Charlie sat at his table and,holding the wand in his lap, he stared at a column of French verbs and theirEnglish equivalents. 'Helpi vee,' he said. 'Helpi vee! Helpivee!'For a few moments nothinghappened, and then Charlie had the strangest sensation. It was as if the word'look' was whispered into his brain. He tightened his grip on thewand and looked at the words in front of him. A few minutes later he testedhimself Miraculously he had learned every verb and its meaning.Charlie was so excited hedashed into his uncle's room without knocking.Paton's eyes were closed, buthis face was distorted by a terrible frown. Charlie had forgotten MissIngledew's unfortunate visit.'I'm sorry to disturbyou, Uncle,' Charlie said in a quietly urgent voice, 'but somethingamazing has happened.'What?' Paton saidwearily'You know you took thewand when you went to Yewbeam Castle and it got all burned by something. Well,it got better, somehow It's as good as new; and I just tried using it tomemorize my French, and it's amazing it worked!'Paton's eyes opened. Helooked at Charlie with interest, and then his gaze was drawn to the wand.'Curious,' he murmured. 'Very curious.'Charlie said, 'I knowthis sounds silly but do you think the wand might really be mine?'How could that bepossible, dear boy? You got it from an ancient painting.'Yes, but . . .'Charlie was reluctant to tell his uncle that Skarpo had refused to take thewand back. Paton had warned him, more than once, not to go into the paintingagain.Paton was now staring atCharlie's feet, and Charlie had a horrible feeling he knew exactly what hisuncle was looking at. He had forgotten to shut the door and something had creptinto the room. Yes, there it was, right beside his left foot. It began tosqueak.'That is a very singularmouse,' Paton observed. 'I've always known we had mice in the house,but that one looks abnormally old. I can't say why.'Actually it is,'Charlie confessed.Paton eyed his great-nephewsuspiciously 'Explain!'Charlie explained, as best hecould, how he had taken a step, just a fraction of a step really into thepainting of Skarpo. 'I did it for you, Uncle,' he said. 'Ithought he might have something to cure you. That's when he said the wandbelonged to me. He wanted to meet you, but I wouldn't let him. As you see, Igot out all right, but the mouse that was in his pocket came with me.'What!' Paton'shead dropped back onto the pillows. 'Then the sorcerer's out, too!'Maybe not,' saidCharlie hopefully 'I mean he'd have done some damage by now, wouldn'the?'If the mouse is out,then he is out, you stupid boy' Paton snapped.'But he's still in thepicture.'That's just his image,Charlie. The essence of the man, the living, breathing being, with all itsmischief, magic, and mayhem is OUT!'After a moment of humblesilence, Charlie said, 'What should I do with the mouse, then?'The mouse ran under the bed.'It hardlymatters,' Paton muttered. 'What have you done, Charlie? I thoughtthat life couldn't get worse, but now here I am, done for, and that person ison the loose.' He closed his eyes.Charlie would have liked to bringup the subject of the wand again, but clearly his uncle would rather he leftthe room.'Sorry,' Charliemurmured. He tiptoed out and closed the door on his uncle and, presumably themouse.Amy Bone had just come backfrom work and Charlie could hear her setting the table for dinner. He ran downto the kitchen.'Where's Billy?'asked Mrs. Bone.Charlie told her aboutEzekiel's visit.'That poor boy'said his mother. 'He must be so lonely Something should be done about it.I'm sure someone would adopt him, he seems like such a nice little fellow'The Bloors will neverlet him go,' said Charlie. 'They like to own people.'That they do,' hismother said quietly 'Take your uncle some tea, will you, Charlie?'Um .. I don't think that would be a good idea,'said Charlie.'Why ever not?'Him and me . . . well,I think he's a bit angry with me.'One of the many good thingsabout Amy Bone, from Charlie's point of view, was that she never reproachedhim for any quarrels he might have had with other members of the family.Ah well,' she sighed.'I'll do it then.' She put some tea and cookies on a tray and took itupstairs. In a few minutes she came back looking very worried.'I'm really concernedabout your uncle,' she told Charlie. 'He's just lying there, lookinggray and ill, and so melancholy Whatever is the matter with him?'He went to YewbeamCastle,' Charlie said.His mother gasped.'Where that awful Yolanda lives? Has she done this to Paton?'No, Mom. It wassomething else. He won't say what. Yolanda's here. She's staying with theaunts, only she isn't old. She looks my age. She came here once when you wereout. Her name's Belle.'Mrs. Bone clapped a hand overher forehead. 'Stay out of her way Charlie. She tried to keep your fatherup there, you know When he was young. Luckily it turned out that Lyell wasn'tendowed, so she lost interest in him.'Maybe not so lucky,'said Charlie. 'If Dad had been endowed, he might have been able to savehimself.'Who knows?' Mrs.Bone looked thoughtful. 'I wish you weren't part of that awfulfamily'Well, I am,' saidCharlie. And I don't care. If they try to mess with me, they'll regretit.'His mother gave him anencouraging smile.On Sunday Charlie decided tovisit the Pets' Caf. With the wand's help he had managed to finish all hisstudying.'Runner Bean's waitingfor you!' said Norton, the bouncer, as Charlie stepped into the caf.'Going to take him for a run, then?'Charlie felt guilty He'dalmost forgotten about Runner Bean. 'The park's a bit far away' hesaid.'Take him to thepark,' said Norton. 'He's really missed you, he has.'Charlie was about to goaround the counter when he noticed Lysander and Olivia sitting at a table inthe corner. As soon as she saw Charlie, Olivia jumped out of her seat and wavedfrantically at him. She looked surprisingly normal. Her hair was mouse-brownand her face free of any makeup or decoration.Charlie made his way over totheir table. It took him some time because a gang of lop-eared rabbits keptbouncing around his feet.'No warpaint todaythen?' he said, leaping over Olivia's white rabbit and grabbing a chair.'I'm preparing my facefor the end-of-semester play,' said Olivia. 'I thought if I lookednormal for a while, my transformation would be all the more dramatic.'I can't wait,'said Charlie. 'I didn't think any of you were coming here today.'I got bored,' saidOlivia, 'but I think Sander's here for another reason.'Charlie noticed that thenormally cheerful African boy looked extremely agitated. He kept darting wild,anxious glances around the room, and his gray parrot, Homer, fluttered fromhis head to his shoulder and back again every time he moved.'Where's Tancred?'Charlie asked Lysander. 'His dad made him stayin to study I've done my work. I just had to come out.' 'What's thetrouble?'Lysander shook his head.'My ancestors are angry' he muttered. 'I couldn't sleep. Allnight I heard their drums in my head, their loud voices, their furiouswailing.'All at once, Homer cried,'Catastrophe! Catastrophe!'He knows when thingsare wrong,' said Lysander. 'He feels their rage through me.'Why don't they tell youwhat's upsetting them?' asked Olivia.Lysander frowned at her.'I have to find out myself,' he said.Lysander's spirit ancestorswere very powerful. They were more than ghosts. Charlie had seen their strongbrown hands, their spears and shields. More than once, they had helped to savehim. If they were angry then it was for a very good reason.'Let's go for awalk,' Charlie suggested, hoping fresh air would clear Lysander's head.'Good idea!' saidOlivia, scooping up her rabbit.Charlie was about to go fetchRunner Bean when Mr. Onimous appeared with the dog. Runner Bean rushed up toCharlie, while cats and rabbits scattered in all directions.'Oh, he has missed you,Charlie,' said Mr. Onimous as the big dog leaped up and began lickingCharlie's face and hair.And is the rat OK?'asked Charlie.'Right as rain,'said the little man. 'Very popular with Mrs. Onimous. And the flames adorehim.'How unusual,'Olivia remarked. 'I mean cats liking a rat.'They're unusual,miss,' said Mr. Onimous solemnly 'Off you go now Charlie, give thatdog a nice long run. My legs can't keep up with him.'The three friends left the cafand headed toward the park at the edge of the city Olivia carried her rabbit ina basket, but Lysander's parrot traveled on his shoulder, its head bobbing upand down in rhythm with its master's stride.When they reached the park,Charlie let Runner Bean off the leash and he tore across the grass, barkingjoyfully Homer the parrot left Lysander's shoulder and flew over the big dog'shead, crying, 'What a to-do. Dog ahoy!'Ship ahoy if you don'tmind,' called Olivia.'He's confused,'said Lysander.'I'd say he's gone offthe deep end,' said Olivia, giggling.'It's not a joke,'barked Lysander. 'He gets muddled when he's upset. Like me. I'mmuddled.' 'Sorr-e-e-e!' saidOlivia.Charlie glanced at her. Shemight almost have been laughing at Lysander. It was all very well for her, Charliethought. Olivia could be a good friend when she chose to be, but she didn'treally understand what it was like to be endowed, what a burden and a puzzleit could be.'Cool it,' he said.Olivia raised her eyebrows,but she seemed to understand the warning look in Charlie's eyes.'I don't think I'll goto school tomorrow' Lysander murmured.'Why?' askedCharlie.'Don't really know Ithink there's trouble for me there.' Lysander's voice had sunk so low theycould hardly hear him.'But you've gotto,' Charlie said desperately 'What about the carving? What aboutOllie Sparks?'Why do you care somuch?' said Lysander, surprised by Charlie's vehemence.'I just do,' saidCharlie. 'I can't help it. I feel bad about Ollie because I haven't triedto rescue him again. There's been so much else going on. But think how awful itmust be for him. Alone in those dark attics, not knowing if he'll ever get out.We've got to rescue him soon, Sander. We've just got to. Please say you'll cometo school on Monday Please!'I'll think aboutit,' said Lysander. He whistled to his parrot, and the gray bird wheeled around and flew backto perch on his shoulder.'See you,' saidLysander. Heturned and strode away across the park.The parrot looked back at Charlie and Olivia and called,'Watch it!'BULL, BELLS, AND GOLDEN BATSAs he made his way up thesteep hill to his home, Lysander began to feel breathless. This had never happenedbefore. He was a strong boy tall for his age, a great runner and championhurdler.It was the drums that tookaway his breath. That's what it was. Their angry beats echoed in his head likedistant thunder, making him shudder.'Trouble!' calledHomer from his master's shoulder.'Yeah, trouble,'Lysander agreed.He had just climbed thesteepest part of the hill road, a long curving ascent that ended in a welcomestretch of even ground. Here he stopped and looked out across the city Thecathedral, with its great domed roof dwarfed all the other buildings in thecity Only the shadowy mansion to the north was anywhere near as tall.'Bloor's,' Lysandermuttered.Beyond the gray roof of theacademy and just at the edge of the woods that covered the castle ruin, thereissued a thin plume of smoke.When he saw it, Lysander'seyes began to smart, his skin burned, his throat felt raw Tearing at his collar,he ran the last few meters home. He reached a pair of tall iron gates and,pulling one open, he tore up the path to an imposing white house, set behindlawns as green and smooth as billiard tables.Mrs. Jessamine Sage waswatching a quiz show on TV when her son went pounding up to his room. Mrs. Sageknew her son's trouble immediately She could hear the drums accompanying hisfootsteps. It was from her that Lysander had inherited his power. At certaintimes, she too heard the drums speak and the ancestors clamoring for attention.Mrs. Sage eased herself upfrom her comfortable chair. She was a well-rounded woman of considerablestrength, but she'd been feeling heavy and listless of late. She didn't needdrums to tell her that another baby was on its way There were other veryobvious signs.The beautiful and statelywoman climbed the stairs to the first floor. Behind the two doors on eitherside of her son's room, her daughters, aged ten and fourteen, were playingloud, unmelodic music: guitars and voices. It was all squeaky shouting and rap,rap, rap. Not a drumbeat between them.'Hortense! Alexandra!Reduce!' barked Mrs. Sage in such a commanding tone that both girls immediatelyobeyed.When Mrs. Sage opened herson's door she was met by another barrage of sound, this one so tumultuous italmost knocked her back onto the landing.'Lysander! Calm!'called Mrs. Sage across the room. She never used two words, or even five forthat matter, where one would do.Lysander was lying on his bedwith his eyes shut tight and his hands over his ears. Even so, he heard hismother's powerful voice. He opened his eyes.'Think of a tree,'sang Mrs. Sage.'Roots, leaves,branches.'Holding, lifting . . .'Sky . . .'Think of theKing.'Lysander removed his handsfrom his ears.'There,' said hismother, lowering herself onto the bed. 'Better?'It worked every time. As soonas Lysander thought of a tree, as soon as he saw, in his mind's eye, themysterious painting in the King's room, he felt calmer. He sat up and rubbedhis eyes. The drumbeats were still there, in his head, but now quiet enough forhim to think.'Tell,' said hismother.'Trouble!' criedHomer from his perch by the window'She didn't askyou,' said Lysander with a rueful grin. 'There is trouble,though,' he told his mother. 'I don't know what. But it's at Bloor's.I saw smoke and I felt my skin burn. The ancestors are angry Mom.'They always have areason,' said Mrs. Sage.'I don't want to go toschool on Monday I don't want to face whatever it is. I never felt like thisbefore.'You must face it.'Mrs. Sage patted her son's hand. 'You must go to school.'That's what CharlieBone said.' 'Charlie?'Yes. You know the kidwith rough hair. His uncle had a party last semester, remember? He's smallerthan most of us, but he pushes his way into trouble and somehow we findourselves following; Tancred, me, and Gabriel. He's doing it again, trying torescue a boy from invisibility'Invisibility?'Mrs. Sage frowned.'I'm making a carving,'Lysander went on. 'It's really good, Mom. The best I've ever done. Ithought the ancestors would be able to bring the boy back. But the drums sayno, I've done the wrong thing.'Mrs. Sage stood up. 'Notyou, Lysander. Someone else has done wrong. Go to school and put itright.' She swept out of her son's room, her long, flowered skirtwhispering around her ankles like the sea.'What a picnic!'shrieked Homer'For you, maybe,'said Mrs. Sage, closing the door.On Monday morning, the reasonfor Lysander's terrible foreboding soon became clear.After their history test,Charlie and Fidelio, emerging into the garden, saw a group of their friendsclustered around the remains of a fire. Weedon was always burning garbage onthe grounds, so this wasn't too unusual it was the attitude of the group thatalerted Charlie. Lysander was standing in stony disbelief while Tancred's stiffyellow hair sparked with electricity.Olivia, standing next toLysander, caught Charlie's eye and gestured wildly Charlie and Fidelio rushedover to them.Amid a pile of scorched twigsand burned paper, two blue eyes stared out at them. The eyes were all thatremained of Lysander's beautiful carving.'How could they?'whispered Emma.Lysander was shuddering. Heheld his arms stiffly at his sides and his hands were clenched. He seemedunable to speak.Chartie noticed a group ofseniors watching them. Asa Pike had asatisfied smile on his face, while Zelda Dobinski's long features were twistedin a horrible smirk. Manfred, however, was staring straight at Lysander, as ifhe was outraged at the African boy's clever attempt to rescue Ollie.'No one else knew . .' Lysander muttered. 'Who would . . . ?'Obviously someone inart,' said Olivia.Silence fell over the littlegroup and then, almost as one, they looked over to the walls of the ruin, whereBelle and Dorcas were standing watching them.'But why?' saidLysander.'Because your carvingwas too good,' said Olivia grimly And because someone doesn't want us torescue Ollie Sparks.'Don't give up,Sander,' said Charlie.'You don't know whatit's like for him,' said Tancred. 'He can feel the injury can't you,Sander? It's like he put a bit of his own heart into that piece of wood. Do youknow what that's like, Charlie?'No,' said Charliein a small voice. 'I'm sorry.'What's that?' saidFidelio, rubbing his head. 'I can hear drums.'What do youexpect?' said Tancred, almost angrily 'Come on, Sander, let's get outof here.' He grabbed his friend's arm and steered him away from the fire.Lysander seemed hardly aware of his surroundings. He allowed Tancred to leadhim back toward the school, but not before Charlie too heard the faint throb ofa drum, almost like a heartbeat, following Lysander across the grass.'I didn't ask him to doit,' Charlie murmured, gazing at the accusing blue eyes. 'He wantedto. It was his idea.'It wasn't yourfault,' Fidelio said cheerfully 'Sander will get over it. We'll justhave to think of something else.'It's so awful,'murmured Emma. 'I feel like I'm looking at a real boy or what was a realboy'Let's get away fromhere,' said Olivia, glancing at Belle and Dorcas. 'We don't want themto enjoy our misery for too long, do we?'As they turned away from thefire, Gabriel came leaping up to them. 'I've had a really weird piano lesson,'he panted. 'It went on for ages and . . .' He stopped inmid-sentence. 'Oh, no,' he said, staring at the blue eyes. 'Isthat. . . ?'Lysander'scarving,' said Charlie. And we've got a good idea who did it.'In an effort to cheer themup, Olivia announced that she'd brought a Frisbee to school. 'Let's have agame,' she suggested.While they tossed the redFrisbee from one to the other, Gabriel told them about his strange pianolesson.Mr. Pilgrim, the piano teacher,was an odd person at the best of times. A tall, dark, morose man, he was seldomseen outside the music room at the top of the west tower. He hardly ever spoke,and it was so difficult to get any advice from him that he had lost most ofhis students. During Gabriel's extended piano lesson, however, Mr. Pilgrim hadsaid quite a lot for him.'So come on, tell uswhat he said.' Olivia leaped for the Frisbee, losing a yellow shoemid-leap.'It was weird,'said Gabriel. 'He said, 'I don't know how he got up here, but I couldn'thelp him.' So I said, 'Who, Mr. Pilgrim?' And he said, 'It's all too much, hecan't take it in lights, traffic, plastic things. He doesn't like them; theyconfuse him. He'll do away with them, and who can blame him . . .?' and then Mr. P looked very hard at me,and said, 'I can't see how he'll do it, though, can you?'I said . . .'Gabriel caught the Frisbee and yelped with pain. 'Ouch! That was a hardone, Charlie!'Come on, come on,'cried Olivia. 'So what did you say?'I just said, 'No, sir'I mean, what else could I say?'You could have said,'Do what?' said Fidelio.A nasty thought suddenlyoccurred to Charlie. He stood stock-still with the Frisbee clutched in bothhands.'Come on! Come on! Throwit, Charlie!' called the others.'Hold on,' saidCharlie. 'Did Mr. P describe this mysterious visitor?'Gabriel shook his head.'I couldn't get a name out of him either. He just said, 'He can, you knowHe's quite exceptional. Look what he did to the music!' So I looked, and do youknow, all the notes on one of the music sheets had turned to gold. It wasBeethoven's Sonata Number Twenty-seven, as a matter of fact. And then I noticedthat the bats in the corner Mr. Pilgrim's always had bats in his room, but hedoesn't mind, nor do I, they're just like flying gerbils really . . .'So what had happened tothe bats?' asked Fidelio impatiently'They were gold,too,' said Gabriel.'Oh.' Charlie feltqueasyEmma looked at him.'What is it, Charlie?'Er, nothing,'Charlie mumbled.'So were thespiders,' Gabriel went on blithely 'and their webs. They lookedreally pretty like Christmas decorations.'Charlie was glad to hear thehunting horn. He was beginning to wonder when the next nasty surprise would hithim. For once, all he wanted to do was to bury himself in a complicated mathtest.'I've got a feeling youknow who it is,' said Fidelio, racing Charlie across the grass. 'Mr.P's visitor, I mean.'Shhhh!' hissedCharlie.'Tell us, Charlie, goon!' cried Olivia.They piled into the hall, whereCharlie was grateful for the rule of silence. He walked off to the math roomwith Fidelio in tow, while the girls went to their coatrooms and Gabrieldragged himself up the stairs to a dreaded theory test.Charlie might have longed tobury himself in fractions, but he found he couldn't. His thoughts keptreturning to Mr. Pilgrim's mysterious visitor. Who else would turn spiders intogold? Who else would be confused by lights and traffic? At the end of the test,Charlie knew he'd done badly He wished he'd put the wand to work on mathematicsinstead of French.There was more bad newswaiting for him in the cafeteria. One of the lunch ladies was in quite a state,having only that morning witnessed a large bull charging out of the butcher's,where before there had only been two large sides of beef hanging at the back.'Beef one minute, bullthe next,' Mrs. Gill kept muttering as she handed out plates of shepherd'spie. 'What's happening to the world?'What indeed, Mrs.Gill?' said Fidelio, with his usual charming smile.'I don't think youbelieved her, did you?' whispered Charlie as they made their way to atable.'Well, did you?'said Fidelio. 'Poor old thing, she's a real fruitcake!'Actually I did believeher,' said Charlie.At that moment, Gabriel joinedthem, saying, 'Have you heard what Mrs. Gill's been . . . ?'Yes, we have,'said Fidelio. And Charlie believes her, because he knows why or who or what. . Well, why Charlie?'You know thatpainting?' Charlie said. 'The one I brought to school lastsemester?'Fidelio and Gabriel, withforks halfway to their mouths, stared at Charlie.'You mean the one with the sorcerer?' asked Gabriel in asqueaky whisper.Charlie looked around the cafeteria. No one was paying them anyattention, and the noise of scraping knives and forks and chattering voices wasso loud, not a soul beyond their table could have heard him. All the same,Charlie lowered his voice as he told his two friends about his visit to Skarpo,and the escaped mouse.'You mean, you think he got out, too?' said Fidelio.'Must have,' said Charlie. 'At first I thought it wasimpossible, because he was still in the painting. But my uncle says that's onlyhis image, not his essence. I'd convinced myself that Skarpo couldn't get outbecause I desperately didn't want to believe it.'You mean the golden bats and the bull and stuff are him . . . ?'said Fidelio.'Must be,' said Charlie. And I've got a horrible feeling he'sonly just begun. It could get worse.'************************************ It did.The pupils in Bloor's Academywere about to go out for their afternoon break when a cloud passed over thesun. And then another, and another. The sky was filled with a lurid purple glowIt darkened to deep indigo, which gradually turned black. Pitch black.A crowd of children gatheredaround the garden door, reluctant to be the first to step into the eeriedarkness.'For goodness' sake, youninnies,' sneered Zelda Dobinski. 'Get out! Go on! You're not afraidof a few clouds, are you?'To show her contempt for theyounger children, she pushed through the crowd and took several steps into thedark garden.A toad fell on her head. Andthen another. When the first toad plunked onto Zelda's head, she opened hermouth. When the second one came, she gave a loud shriek and leaped back intothe crowd.Then it began to rain frogs.Some of the children screamedand retreated into the hall. Others put out their hands to catch the frogs, butthe slimy creatures were falling with such force, there were cries of'Ouch!' 'Help!' 'Ow!' and hands were quicklywithdrawn.In the distance, they couldhear police sirens, ambulances, and fire engines wailing around the cityStanding at the back of thecrowd, Charlie's heart sank. Where was Skarpo? How on earth could he be caughtand taken back to where he belonged?It was obviously toodangerous to play outside in complete darkness. The lights came on in thebuilding, and the children were sent back to their classrooms. In Charlie'scase, this was Mr. Carp's English room. Mr. Carp was broad and red-faced. Hekept a slim, wicked-looking cane propped beside his desk and had been known,accidentally of course, to flick children on the ears when he was irritated.Charlie had become rather good at ducking these attacks, but he could tell fromthe malicious gleam in Mr. Carp's small eyes that he was determined to getCharlie one day Charlie thought it might be todayFrom the desk besideCharlie's, Fidelio whispered, 'What's he going to do next, Charlie? Gotany ideas?'Charlie shook his head.In a high-pitched screech,Mr. Carp cried, 'You've got half an hour to study your Wordsworth beforethe test.'Mindful of their ears, twentychildren got out their Wordsworths and silently bent their heads.Outside, the dark cloudslifted and the sun came out. Mr. Weedon and several seniors could soon beobserved collecting frogs in nets, boxes, and bags. Charlie wondered if frogshad fallen all over the city, or had Bloor's been singled out for the favor? Throughthe window, he saw Manfred wiping his slimy hands on his pants, and he smiledto himself. His smile didn't last long.Nobody thought it unusual when the cathedral bells beganto ring. But when the bells in five smaller chuches joined in, people began toworry: Soon the sound of pealing bells resounded throughout the city And theydidn't stop. On and on and on they went. Priests and bell ringers rushed intothe churches to find the bell ropes mysteriously rising and falling, all bythemselves.Fidelio looked at Charlie.Charlie rolled his eyes and shrugged. And then one of the girls in the frontrow put up her hand. When Mr. Carp, who had his hands over his ears, took nonotice, the girl Rosie Stubbs shouted, 'Excuse me, sir, but there's anelephant in the garden.'Everyone turned to look.There was.Mr. Carp, a livid glowspreading over his cheeks, lifted hiscane. Rosie put her hands over her ears.The noise from the bellsincreased.'SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!'screeched Mr. Carp, although the class was completely silent. 'I can'tstand this. Who is doing it? They should be shot!'Everyone gasped.Remembering himself, Mr. Carpshouted, 'Put away your books. It's no good. We can't continue. Classdismissed.'The class gratefully slippedtheir books into their desks and filed out of the classroom into the hall.Other classrooms were emptying. Harassed-looking teachers were rushing down thehall to the staff room, black capes flapping, papers flying, books tumblingout of their arms.The children who had gatheredin the hall, finding it almost impossible to observe the rule of silence,whispered and muttered their way down to the cafeterias where an early lunchwas hoped for.Charlie and Fidelio had justmanaged to grab a cookie and a glass of orange juice when Billy Raven rushed upto Charlie, saying, 'You're wanted in Dr. Bloor's study'Me?' said Charlie,turning pale.All of us. You too,Gabriel.'All of us?' saidGabriel. 'That's unusual. What on earth's going on?'A SORCERER ON THE LOOSECharlie hadnever been to Dr. Bloor's study Nervous as he was, he couldn't help feelingcurious.'I've been there,'said Gabriel as the two boys followed Billy up to the hall. 'It was whenI first came here. I had to go and explain about my clothes problem. It's thesort of room that makes you feel as though you've done something wrong; I don'tknow why'Manfred and Zelda werewaiting for them in the hall, and gradually the other endowed children began toarrive: Dorcas and Belle, with Asa close behind, wearing a silly smile;Tancred, whose hair was crackling with nervous electricity and Emma with apencil behind her ear.'Take that out!'barked Zelda. 'Tidy youself up, girl. What do you think you looklike?'Emma seemed bewildered, untilCharlie pointed to the pencil, which she pulled out and stuck in her pocket,smoothing her blonde hair as best she could.'Ah, here comes thegreat sculptor!' Manfred announced as Lysander slouched gloomily into thehall. 'Cheer up, boy! What's the trouble, eh?'You know verywell,' Lysander said grimly. Dorcas giggled, and Belle'sawful eyes turned from blue, through gray to violet. Manfred look momentarilyuneasy and then said, 'Billy lead the way You know where it is.'Yes, Manfred.'Billy crossed the hall to the door into the west wing. The old door creakedopen, and Charlie, close behind Billy found himself in the dark, musty passagethat led to the music tower.They reached the round roomat the base of the tower and were about to ascend the staircase up to the firstfloor when they saw Mr. Pilgrim sitting on the second step.'Excuse me, sir,'said Billy but Mr. Pilgrim didn't move. He appeared not to have heard Billy'We've got to go to Dr.Bloor's study sir,' said Charlie.Mr. Pilgrim stared at Charliewith a puzzled expression. 'So many bells,' he said. 'Why somany? Who died? Was it me?'Charlie was about to replywhen Manfred suddenly pushed past him and, glaring down at the music teacher,said, 'Please move, Mr. Pilgrim. Now We're in a hurry!'Mr. Pilgrim pushed a thicklock of black hair away from his eyes. 'Is that so?' he said in asurprisingly stubborn voice.'Yes, it is. Move!'Manfred demanded rudely 'Come on. NOW!'His narrow eyes took on an intense, chilling look as he stared at Mr. Pilgrim.Charlie glanced at Manfred'scoal-black eyes and remembered how it felt to be hypnotized. He longed to warnMr. Pilgrim, to make him fight that horrible disabling stare. It was possibleto resist Manfred's power. Charlie, himself, had done it once.But it seemed that Mr.Pilgrim had neither the strength, nor the will, to oppose Manfred. With a groanof dismay the music teacher stood and whirled away up the narrow, curvingsteps. His footsteps could be heard clattering to the top of the tower asManfred led the way to the first floor.They went through a low doorand into a thickly carpeted corridor, where Manfred stopped outside anotherdoor, this one paneled in dark oak. He knocked twice, and a deepvoice said, 'Enter.'Manfred opened the door andherded the others into the room.Behind a large, highlypolished desk sat Dr. Bloor, his broad, grayish face illuminated by a greendesk lamp. The curtains behind him had been drawn against the sunlight, and thebook-lined room was plunged in gloomy shadows. Dr. Bloor beckoned, and the childrenshuffled forward until they stood in a row before his desk.The headmaster scanned theirfaces with steely gray eyes, and then his gaze came to rest on Charlie. 'I wantto know who is responsible,' he demanded in a cold voice.Charlie's legs felt weak. Hehated the way Dr. Bloor could do this to him. He knew the headmaster wasn'tendowed, but he gave the impression that he had enormous power, that he coulddo anything he wanted, and that his will was so strong he could overcomeanything, or anyone.'Children of the RedKing,' Dr. Bloor sneered. 'Look at you! Freaks! That's what youare.'Manfred shifted uncomfortablyand Charlie wondered how it felt to have your father calling you a freak.'All of you!'shouted Dr. Bloor, and then, glancing at Belle, he muttered, Almost all ofyou.'Excuse me, sir,'said Zelda, rather boldly 'But do you mean who's responsible for the bellsand the frogs et cetera? Because itcertainly wasn't me. I got one on the head. Actually it was a toad and therewere two.'Charlie knew he was inserious trouble but he still had an urge to giggle.'I didn't think it wasyou, Zelda,' the headmaster said coldly 'I'm well aware that thatkind of thing is quite beyond you.'Zelda reddened. She glareddown at the line of younger children and said, 'I think it's Tancred,sir.'I do storms,'Tancred retorted angrily 'Weather.'Wind can make bellsring, skies darken, frogs rain,' said Manfred.'Not elephants!'cried Tancred, whose hair crackled violently His green cape lifted and a blastof cold air blew a pile of papers off the desk.'CONTROL YOURSELF!' roared Dr. Bloor.Tancred gritted his teeth,and Dorcas Loom began to gather the papers, putting them, one by one, onto thedesk.'I know who is capableand who is not,' said Dr. Bloor.'But I want a confession. Do you understand my position?' He got upand began to pace behind his desk. 'The people of this city know that Iharbor children with unusual, and in some cases' he glanced at Asa Pike 'undesirable talents. They tolerate you because they respect me. We arethe oldest family in this city We can trace our ancestry back for nearly athousand years.' He gestured toward the bookcases. 'These walls have witnessed alchemy,hypnotism, divination, metamorphosis, magic of unimaginable splendor, shape-shifting,and even' he coughed and lowered his voice 'apparitions.'All at once Dr. Bloor stoppedpacing and swung around to face his victims. 'But never, never,never' he raised his voice 'NEVERhave the events in this building impinged upon the city Never have the citizenshad to suffer for our peculiarities. But now,' hebanged his fist on the desk and bellowed, 'all at once day has turned tonight, bulls have run rampant, bells have gone berserk. Can you imagine whatit's like out there, in the city?' He flung a hand toward the window'The danger, the chaos. There have been more traffic accidents in ten minutes than in a whole year. Themayor was on the phone to meimmediately Oh, he knows very well where the trouble is coming from.'I think we know too,sir,' said a voice.Everyone turned to look atBelle. She gave a wide smile and her eyes changed to a brilliant emerald green.She said, 'It's Charlie Bone. Isn't it, Charlie?'Charlie's mouth went dry Hefelt slightly queasy 'I don't know, he mumbled.'Liar,' saidManfred.'Coward,' hissedZelda.Asa gave an unpleasant snort.'You can go,' saidDr. Bloor, dismissing them all with a wave of his hand.Surprised by the sudden turnof events, the eleven children turned to the door, but before Charlie couldreach it, the headmaster added, 'Not you, Charlie Bone.'Gabriel threw Charlie a lookof sympathy as Manfred pushed him through the door after the others. And thenCharlie was alone with Dr. Bloor. The headmaster paced again, finally sinkinginto his large leather chair and clasping his hands together on a sheaf ofpapers lying on the desk. He gave a sigh of exasperation and declared, 'Youare very stupid, Charlie Bone. I had my doubts, but when I saw you all, standingthere, it didn't take me long to identify the culprit. I gave you a chance toconfess.You should have taken it.'Yes, well. . . but I didn't. . .' began Charlie.You idiot!' roared Dr.Bloor. 'Do you think I don't know what you can do? I'm well aware of thepainting you can enter. I know about the 'person' whom you have so carelesslylet out. Who else could cause this mayhem? There's obviously a sorcerer on theloose, and I want to know what you intend to do about it!'Um find him?'Charlie suggested.And how are you going to dothat?'Er look forhim?' said Charlie.'Oh, brilliant!'said Dr. Bloor sarcastically 'Well done!' He raised his voice.'If this nonsense hasn't stopped by nine o'clock tomorrow, then it will bevery much the worse for you.'In what way sir?'asked Charlie, clearing his throat.'I'll let you know'said the headmaster. 'Your famous relations assured me that you would be anasset to this school, but so far you've been nothing but trouble. They're verydisappointed and I'm sure they'll approve of any punishment I choose even ifthey have to lose you forever.'Charlie shuddered. He thoughtof his father, permanently lost, unreachable, unknown. 'Yes, sir,'he said. 'Can I go now and start looking?'You'd better. You haven'tgot long,' came the grim replyCharlie whisked himselfthrough the door as speedily as he could. Once in the corridor, however, hedecided not to return the way he had come but to walk farther into the Bloors'intriguing quarters. Eventually he hoped, he would find a staircase leading tothe attics. For that was surely where Skarpo must be hiding, among the cobwebsand eerie, empty rooms.Charlie trod softly over therich carpeting in the corridor. He passed dark oak-paneled doors, portraits ingilt frames (these he avoided looking at), shelves crammed with dusty books, acollection of small skeletons in a glass case, and the head of a bear mountedon a wooden shield. 'Gruesome,' Charlie muttered and hastened on,beneath the stuffed birds and bunches of dried herbs suspended from hooks inthe ceiling.He reached the end of thecorridor and climbed a narrow stairway to the second floor. Here, a briefglimpse showed him a shadowy passage where, in the distance, something horriblelike a coffin stood upright against the wall.Charlie hurried up the nextstaircase, this one uncarpeted and creaky At the top he found himself enteringthe airless, gaslit passage that he and Emma had passed through on their way tofind Ollie. The steps to the attic were halfway down, he remembered.A sound drifted toward him:music. Not Mr. Pilgrim's fine piano-playing but a brass band, accompanied by aharsh, quavering voice. Charlie stopped and listened. There was no mistakingthe voice. Old Ezekiel obviously lived in this gloomy region of the house.Charlie cautiously creptforward until he reached the stairs that led to the attic. He had climbedseveral steps when something made him glance upward. There, at the top,something gleamed: a coil of thick, silvery-blue rope. But, of course, itwasn't rope. Charlie could now make out a faint pattern of scales.Sensing Charlie's presence, ahead lifted from the coil, a flattish triangle with black eyes and strangemarkings across the top. Strangest of all were the thin blue feathers sproutingfrom its neck. All at once a hiss, like a gas explosion, erupted from thecreature's wide mouth.Charlie backed away missedhis footing, and tumbled down into the passage, landing on all fours. As thehissing snake began to glide down the steps, Charlie picked himself up and toreto the end of the passage. He had just begun to descend to the second floorwhen Ezekiel's shrill voice called, 'Who's there? Who's upset my treasure?You'd better watch out, whoever you are, or you'll be DUST!'Dust?' Charliemurmured under his breath as he leaped down spirally steps and creakingstairways. 'Nothingness, more like. Zero. Zilch. No more Charlie.'He had just reached thelanding above the entrance hall when he ran straight into Mr. Weedon.'What are you doing inthe west wing?' grunted the handyman. 'It's out-of-bounds.'I was givenpermission,' Charlie panted.Mr. Weedon raised hiseyebrows. 'Oh? And who gave you permission?'Dr. Bloor,' saidCharlie. After all, Dr. Bloor had commanded him to find Skarpo. 'I'mlooking for someone. I suppose you haven't seen him? He's got kind of silveryhair and a beard and he's wearing a dark robe and a little cap on . . .'It's you. Of course.You little squirt. You're responsible for all the mess outside that I've gotto clear up. Not to mention the elephant. Darn near killed me when I tried tomove it.'What happened toit?' asked Charlie, who couldn't help being curious.'Vanished, didn't it but its dung didn't vanish nor its blasted footprints on my lawn. If I do seethat wretched sorcerer, I'll darn well wring his neck.'Oh, I wouldn't try to . .' began Charlie.'Get out of my way,'growled Mr. Weedon. 'I'm sick of the lot of you. Endowed, my foot.'And he marched off toward the west wing, leaving Charlie anxious and relieved allat the same time.Below him, the hall began tofill with children heading for the garden door. The afternoon break had begunand Charlie decided to continue his search outside.'What happened toyou?' said Fidelio as Charlie ran up to his friends.Charlie explained. 'I'vegot to find the sorcerer before nine o'clock tomorrow or I'm dead meat. Worsethan dead meat I'm . . .'He ran his hand across his throat.Fidelio and Gabriel offeredto help.'The woods,'suggested Gabriel.They waded through the thickundergrowth beneath the trees that surrounded the grounds. But the deeper theywent, the harder it was to know if the dark forms sliding around the treetrunks were solid or merely shadows of moving branches. So many resembled atall man in a long robe.When the hunting horn calledthem in for the last lesson, Charlie wasn't sure what to do. Dr. Bloor hadgiven him a task. He would have to risk getting detention from the otherteachers if he was to continue his search for Skarpo.He decided to inspect thedormitories. There were twenty-five of these, scattered over three floors, andCharlie had only searched ten before the dinner bell rang. What should he donow? Surely he wasn't expected to miss his dinner. He began the long journeyfrom the third floor down to the dining hall. As he approached the hall hecould hear raised voices. He was very late and hoped he hadn't missed the firstcourse. When he opened the door and stepped inside, the noise was deafening.And then someone shouted, 'There he is! It's all his fault.'Charlie ducked his head,hoping to look inconspicuous. But everyone was watching him now Someone hadspread the news. Charlie Bone was responsible for frog rain, for darkness, madbulls, golden bats, and vanishing elephants. Worst of all, he was responsiblefor tonight's dinner.As Charlie slid onto thebench beside Fidelio, he saw a heap of cabbage and a slice of stale-lookingbread on his plate. Everyone else had a similar meal.'What's this?'Charlie murmured to Fidelio.'Trouble in thekitchens,' Fidelio explained in a low voice. 'We were going to havescrambled eggs, but one of Cook's assistants found the pantry full of chickensinstead of eggs. You can hear them if you listen.'Charlie could, indeed, hearclucking from behind the door into the kitchen. His heart sank.After watching Charlie takehis place, the rest of the table began to chew their bread and cabbage. Therewere mutters of disgust and sounds of Uurgh!'Yuk!' 'Blurgh!' all around Charlie, but BillyRaven, sitting opposite, whispered, Actually I don't mind cabbage.'And then, from the dramatable, Damian Smerk piped, 'This food is disgusting. I'd like to stuff myfoot down Charlie Bone's throat.'Shut up, fatso,'came Olivia's voice. 'It's not his fault.'It is, you wet cabbage. . .'The rest of Damian's ruderemark was drowned by Dorcas Loom's shout of 'Charlie Bone should be madeto eat slugs for the rest of his life.' She followed this with a loudgiggle, and several of her cronies at the art table joined in.In Charlie's defense, Tancredmade a remark that Charlie couldn't quite hear, but it was evidently so rudethat it caused loud gasps of horror and astonishment.Dr. Bloor stood up and glareddown the room. He was about to speak when Tancred's anger got the better ofhim. Plates and dishes began to slide across the tables as a violent windrushed around the dining hall.Dinners crashed to the floorand members of the staff leaped to their feet in dismay'Enough!' roaredDr. Bloor. 'Tancred Torsson, CONTROLyourself!'The headmaster stood at theedge of the dais, his hands behind his back, glowering at Tancred while thestormy boy calmed down and the dinner tables gradually returned to normal.'Now, go get a dustpan and a cloth,' Dr. Bloor shouted at Tancred. 'Youcan clean up the mess you've caused.'Yes, sir. Tancred slouched out of the hall, only justmanaging to keep his green cape under control.Charlie felt guilty It wasall his fault. Tancred was paying for his terrible carelessness in letting thesorcerer out. He was almost relieved when Dr. Bloor said, 'Charlie Bone,stand up.'Charlie stood, knees shakingslightly hands clinging to the table.'You know where youshould be, don't you?' said the headmaster in a steely voice.'Um, I'm not sure,sir,' said Charlie.'Searching, boySearching!'I have been, sir. Ican't find it er, him.'I'm sure there's oneplace where you haven't looked, isn't there?' He waited for an answer, butwhen Charlie failed to give him one, he repeated, 'ISN'T THERE?'In a small shred of a voice,Charlie croaked, 'Yes, sir.'And where isthat?' 'The ruin, sir.'Every knife and fork wasstill. Every mouth was motionless. Every eye was on Charlie, and every personin the room felt glad to be themselves and not Charlie Bone.'Then you'd better getout there, hadn't you?' Dr. Bloor's voice was now a menacing hiss.'Yes, sir.' Charlie tookone look at his pile of cabbage and left the dining hall.The bright, sunny day hadturned dull and damp, and Charlie shivered as he ran toward the castle ruin. Itwas one thing to go into the castle with a friend, in daylight. It was quiteanother to go alone when dusk was approaching.The tall red walls werehalf-buried in the woods, and when Charlie stepped through the great archedentrance, he paused to catch his breath and to make a decision. He was in apaved courtyard facing five stone arches, each one a different entrance intothe castle. Which one to choose? Charlie eventually made for the middle archbecause he knew where it led.He stepped into a darkpassage where small creatures scurried around his feet and wet, slimy thingsmoved under his fingers as he put out a hand to steady himself. At last heemerged into the light, and crossing yet another courtyard, he descended aflight of stone steps into a glade ringed by broken statues. In the center ofthe glade stood a large stone tomb and, climbing onto its mossy lid, Charliestood up and listened.He hoped that from thisposition he would hear any unusual creaks or rustles that might give awaySkarpo's position. But it was hopeless. Sounds came from all directions: thestirring of leaves and rubble, the sighing of the wind, and the continuouspatter and scrabble of tiny feet.Charlie jumped down from thetomb and walked through the ring of statues to a gap in the wall behind them.He waded through brambles and nettles, he stumbled over fallen walls, andtumbled down hidden steps, and then he began to call. 'Skarpo! Skarpo!Are you there? Please, please tell me. I'll do anything for you if you help menow' Charlie realized this was a bit rash, but he was desperate.Shadows moved across thewalls, trees murmured, and birds scattered, shrieking into the wind.Charlie looked at his watch.Nine o'clock. Homework was over. His friends would all be in bed. Dr. Bloorhadn't told him when to come back. Was he expected to stay in the ruin allnight?'No way,' Charliemuttered to himself He knew what sometimes stalked the ruins after dark: a boywho wasn't a boy Asa Pike on four feet, furred and fanged, his eyes glowing awild yellow, his spiteful snicker turned to a snarl. A running, hunting, deadlybeast.Charlie began to retrace hissteps. Plunging through the undergrowth he reached the ring of statues quickerthan he had hoped. He was about to cross the glade when he saw a movement onthe courtyard above him. Charlie shrank into the bushes behind a statue. In thedying rays of the sun he saw something that made his flesh creep. A woman wasstanding at the top of the steps, an ancient woman in a long white dress,gray-faced, her flesh lined like a spider's web, her white hair hanging in thinstrands over her bony shoulders.'Yolanda,' breathedCharlie. 'Belle.'He wished he hadn't seen her.And he wished he hadn't seen the gray beast crouching in her shadowThe woman's eyes narrowed;she seemed to be looking straight at Charlie, and then she walked away As shemoved, the beast followed, close at her heels, like a dog. Only it wasn't dog,or a wolf, or a hyena. It was a gray thing with a crooked back; a long, droopingtail; yellow eyes; and a snout like a boar.Charlie closed his eyes andheld his breath. They're the same, hethought. Asa and Belle. Both shape-shifters. No wonder Asa can't keep away fromher.It was dark when he felt safeenough to come out of his hiding place. Even so, he crept every inch of the wayBut once he was beyond the castle walls, he tore across the grass and flunghimself through the garden door, tumbling onto the flagstones of the hall, asif he'd been poleaxed.The building was silent.Charlie dragged himself up to his dormitory and fell onto his bed.'Any luck?' Fideliowhispered sleepily'No,' murmuredCharlie. He thought, dismally of the punishment awaiting him. There was noquestion, now, that he would be punished. How could he possibly find Skarpobefore nine o'clock? He thought he was too worried to sleep, but exhaustionovercame him as soon as he closed his eyes.When he woke up, he thoughthe'd been having a nightmare. It was still dark and, at the other end of the dormitoryBilly Raven seemed to be muttering to himself. There was an awful smell in theroom.Damian Smerk moaned,'Billy Raven, get that lousy dog out of here. It stinks to highheaven.'More muttering. A patteringof claws across the floor, and then the door banged shut.Charlie closed his eyesagain, but all at once a voice beside his ear whispered, 'Charlie?Charlie, are you awake?'Uh?' gruntedCharlie.'It's me, Billy Blessedwas here. He says Cook wants to see you. Now It's very urgent.'THE FLAMES AND A JOURNEYAt the back of the bluekitchen, there was a broom closet. The contents of this closet mops,dustpans, brushes, and dusters hid a low door with a handle that looked likea small wooden peg. A duster hung on it permanently as a disguise. If thehandle was turned, however, the door opened into a softly lit corridor.When Cook came to Bloor'sAcademy she had been given a cold room in the east wing, but she had nointention of staying there. The Bloors had no idea of her true identity; theynever imagined that Cook knew more about the ancient building than they didthemselves. She had very soon moved into a secret underground apartment theyknew nothing about.How could the Bloors haveguessed that Cook had arrived with the sole purpose of helping the children ofthe Red King? Being endowed herself (another thing the Bloors had no inklingof) Cook had always had a powerful urge to protect children who might sufferfor their talents. And she had a strong suspicion that of all the endowedchildren at Bloor's Academy it was Charlie Bone, with his eager and oftenclumsy attempts to help people, who was most in need of her watchful eye.Charlie had a tendency torush at things without thinking them through, and now he had made his most foolishmove yet. With Cook's help he would have to put it right.Blessed led Charlie as far asthe kitchen but would go no farther. He lay in front of the door, with his headresting on his paws. Obviously he was in the habit of guarding Cook's quartersat night.Charlie made his way over tothe broom closet. He had been to Cook's underground rooms twice before but, asfar as he knew, Gabriel was the only other person in the school who knew aboutthem, and he had been sworn to secrecyCharlie clambered overbottles of polish, cans, brooms, and piles of rags. He turned the handle in thesmall door and it creaked open. Charlie stepped into the corridor behind it andran toward a flight of steps. He entered another closet and knocked on a panelat the back.'Isthat you, Charlie Bone?' came Cook's voice. 'Yes,'said Charlie softly You'dbetter come in, then.'Charlie stepped into alow-ceilinged room with worn, comfortable armchairs and darkly glinting woodenfurniture. In winter Cook's stove glowed with bright coals, but today the firewas out and the room had an indoor, summer stuffiness.One of the armchairs had beenturned to face the cold stove and, in the lamplight, Charlie could see a longblack shoe and the hem of a dark robe. Someone else was in the room.Cookput a finger to her lips. 'Shhh!'Charlie tiptoed around thechair and almost jumped out of his skin. There, fast asleep, was Skarpo thesorcerer.'Howdid he get here?' whispered Charlie.'I might ask you thesame thing. What have you done, Charlie Bone?'It's not my fault,honestly I didn't think it was possible. You see . . .' Charlie feltslightly embarrassed. 'I went into this painting where he was. And he musthave come out with me. But I didn't see him.'Tsk! Tsk!' Cookshook her head. 'The poor man was in a terrible state when I found him. Hewas crouching in my broom closet, weeping, begging me to let him go home. Hecan't stand it here the noise, the lights, so many people. He'sterrified.'He's done some prettyterrifying things himself,' said Charlie, forgetting to whisper.Skarpo's eyes suddenly flewopen. 'You!' he cried, glaring at Charlie.'Yes, me,' saidCharlie.The sorcerer uttered a stringof words that were quite unintelligible to Charlie. 'What's he talkingabout?' he asked Cook.Cook gave a grim smile.'He speaks in an ancient jargon, but luckily we come from the same part ofthe world, so I can just understand him. The poor man is asking you to take himhome.'How can I dothat?' said Charlie. 'The painting's at home, and I won't get out ofhere till Friday'Skarpo, who'd been watchingCharlie's lips, turned to Cook with a frown. In a strange singsong voice, Cookexplained Charlie's problem.Skarpo groaned.'I'm already in troubleover this,' said Charlie. 'Dr. Bloor guessed it was my fault allthe bells and the frogs and chickens and stuff. I'm dead meat if it doesn'tstop. So you'd better quit putting spells on things or I won't be around tohelp you.'Skarpo scowled and mutteredsomething.'I think heunderstands,' said Cook. She heaved a sigh. 'I suppose I'd betterkeep him here until Friday although I can tell you, I don't enjoy sharing myquarters with a sorcerer. Imagine! His father sailed over from Italy withRizzio, who was Mary Queen of Scots' great chum.'Wasn't hemurdered?' said Charlie.'Horribly,' saidCook in an undertone. 'You'd better pop back to bed now, Charlie, oryou'll never wake up in the morning.'Charlie was about to leavewhen a problem occurred to him. 'How's he going to get out of here withoutbeing seen?'The same way he gotin,' said Cook mysteriously 'Good night, Charlie.'Charlie didn't trust Skarpo.Next morning he waited for something awful to happen. But no more elephants orfrogs arrived. The sky was clear and blue, the sausages remained sausages, andnothing happened to the evening meat loaf.'Too bad,' mutteredFidelio, the vegetarian.All through supper, Charliecould feel Dr. Bloor's cold eyes on him, and he had a feeling that the headmasterwas almost disappointed. He had probably enjoyed thinking up some awfulpunishment for Charlie.In the King's room aftersupper, there was an atmosphere you could cut with a knife, as Grandma Bonewould have put it. Charlie heard Zelda whisper, 'Bone's MayhemMonday' and Asa gave one of his horrible snorts.It was a very uncomfortablehour, with Lysander's drums still throbbing in the background and Tancred'sangry breeze blowing paper off the table. Just to put him in his place, Zeldastarted moving books and pens out of their owners' reach. Worst of all wasManfred's hypnotizing stare, which seemed to be constantly aimed at Charlie.Belle was watching Charlie,too. But her face wore a spiteful, bitter look. What was she up to? Charliewondered.He told no one of hisnighttime visit to Cook, but when he, Gabriel, and Fidelio were on their way tobed, Fidelio said, 'Come on, Charlie, what's happened? Did you find theold fellow?'Yes,' saidCharlie. He looked over his shoulder. There was no one within earshot so hedescribed his meeting with the sorcerer.His friends stood motionlessin the passage and listened with rapt attention.'So that's why the batsaren't gold anymore,' murmured Gabriel.Matron came striding towardthem, shouting, 'Why are you three lurking there? Bed. Come on, now'She clapped her hands aggressivelyTo Charlie's great relief,the rest of the week passed without any more unpleasant or magical incidents.People stopped giving him funny looks and whispering behind his back, and byFriday afternoon most of the school was so occupied with the end-of-semesterplay they had forgotten about Charlie Bone's Mayhem Monday.Charlie had often wished hecould take part in the play All his friends were involved; if they weren't acting,they were painting scenery making costumes, or playing an instrument. EvenBilly Raven had been roped in to play an elfish drummer. But Charlie wasconsidered useless when it came to entertainment.Today, however, Charlie wasglad to get out of school while so many of the others had to stay behind for rehearsals.But as the school bus approached Filbert Street, his stomach began to lurchuncomfortably If Skarpo had managed to get into the house without Grandma Boneseeing him, where would he be? And what would he be doing?Charlie got off the bus and walkedvery slowly down Filbert Steet. He was thinking of a bargain he wanted to makewith Skarpo. He would agree to take him back into the painting only if he couldadvise Charlie how to make Ollie Sparks visible again. Surely a sorcerer wouldknow how to do that?Charlie climbed the steps ofnumber nine and was about to let himself in when the door suddenly opened andthere stood Skarpo.'AAAH!'shrieked Charlie.The sorcerer gave ablack-toothed smile, and Charlie quickly looked around to see if anyone waswatching. But no one in the street paid any attention. They were used to thestrange goings-on at number nine.The sorcerer said somethingthat sounded like 'Whisht!' andpulled Charlie over the threshold.'Has anyone seenyou?' Charlie whispered. 'Awoman? An old woman?'Nae woman,' saidSkarpo. He grabbed Charlie's arm and dragged him into the kitchen where thepainting sat propped against a bowl of fruit on the table. Skarpo nodded at thepainting, and said, 'Now!'Not here,' saidCharlie. 'Someone might come in. Upstairs.' He pointed at theceiling.Skarpo grabbed the paintingand shoved Charlie through the door. He was gabbling away but Charlie couldhardly recognize a single word. Still muttering, the sorcerer pushed him up thestairs and along the landing to his bedroom. Once inside, Skarpo sat on the bedwith the painting on his knee, facing Charlie.It was rather odd seeing himsitting there with his silver-black beard bobbing up and down as he spoke,while the painted Skarpo stood perfectly still in a candlelit room.'Now!' thunderedSkarpo. 'We go!'Actually it's not going towork like that,' said Charlie. 'You've got to do something for mefirst.'Ach!'Skarpo flung down the painting.And you'd better not breakthat or you'll never get back.'The sorcerer glowered atCharlie.Choosing his words verycarefully Charlie explained Ollie's predicament.Skarpo frowned. 'Whatthe snake hath done, the snake must undo.'There was no mistaking hiswords this time, but just to make sure, Charlie asked, 'The snake? Thesnake must do it?'Aye, aye. The snake,'said Skarpo. He beckoned Charlie. 'Thou maun tak me awa frae here.'Hold on,' saidCharlie. 'There's another thing . . .'Nae mooa!' shoutedSkarpo.Charlie stood his ground.'Yes, more. You said you could help my uncle if you saw him. Well, he's inthe room next door.'Ach!'grumbled Skarpo, but without more ado he jumped upand walked out of the room.'Wait!' criedCharlie, fearing Skarpo would meet Grandma Bone. But the sorcerer had alreadymarched through Paton's door. Charlie found him noisily examining the objectson the bedside table while Paton gaped at him from the bed.Without moving his lips,Paton muttered, 'Charlie, is this who I think it is?'Er yes,' saidCharlie. 'He might be able to help you.'And how's he going to dothat?' Paton nervously inquired.All at once, Skarpo reachedinto his voluminous robes and brought out a chain. He smiled at Paton andtwirled the chain in the air.'Ye gods! You are notgoing to chain me to the bed!' yelled Paton.Skarpo's smile grew wider. Heput the chain back and brought out a small silver bell, which he rang justabove Paton's feet. It tinkled pleasantly as the sorcerer began to chant.'What's that? My deathknell?' groaned Paton.'I don't think so, Uncle,'said Charlie. 'You know, it's funny but when I was in the painting I knewwhat he was talking about, but now I can hardly understand a thing hesays.'Nor can I. I imaginethat when you 'go in,' as you put it, you acclimatize to where you've gone;bound to happen, when you think about it.'I see,' saidCharlie thoughtfullySkarpo was now walking aroundthe room, ringing his bell and chanting in a deep singsong voice. All at once,he came to rest beside Paton and commanded, 'Show thy tongue!'Paton scowled up at him andobliged.The sorcerer recoiled,saying, 'Wha hast thou been?'If you mean what Ithink you mean, I've been to Yewbeam Castle,' said Paton.'God's teeth!' thesorcerer exclaimed. A dritful family rogues, scoundrels, murderers. Woe toyee!'Woe indeed,' Patonmurmured.'Vervain!' said thesorcerer. 'The sacred herb. Bathe, wash thy heed, drink, take it on thybreath.'At that moment the doorhandle turned, and before Charlie could stop him, Skarpo sprang to open it.The door swung open revealing Grandma Bone. For a brief second, she staredwordlessly at the sorcerer, and then she closed her eyes and slowly sank to theground.A swoon!' Skarpodeclared.'What's happening?'asked Paton, who couldn't see beyond the door.'Grandma Bone,'said Charlie. 'She's fainted. Seeing Skarpo in the flesh must have been ashock!'Put her on herbed,' said Paton. 'She'll think she's had a nightmare.'Skarpo was one step ahead ofthem. He had already thrown Grandma Bone over his shoulder and, while Charlieled the way he carried the unconscious woman to her room, where he flung her onthe bed. 'Watch it!' saidCharlie. 'Old bones, you know.' Skarpo gave a loud cackle andthen demanded, 'Now Tak me hame!' 'OK,' said Charlie.When they were back in hisbedroom, however, he began to have doubts. 'You will let me come outagain, won't you?' he asked the sorcerer. 'I don't want to be stuckwith you forever.'Nae moor do I,'said the sorcerer. 'I will give thee a poosh.'Right,' said Charliedoubtfully.He put the painting againsthis bedside light and stared into the painted eyes of the sorcerer. Nothinghappened. But then, how could it? Charlie realized that the real Skarpo washere, beside him, clinging to his arm. Beyond those painted eyes there was nosoul, no will to draw him into the painting.'I think you'll have towant me to go in,' Charlie said.Aye.' Two bony handssank into Charlie's shoulder blades. He took a step nearer the painting, andthen another.'Poosh, thou wretch, thoumean beastie,' said a voice behind Charlie's ear.'Do you mind, I'm tryingto hel ' Charlie suddenly found himself flying forward. It was theoddest sensation, for the hands at his back seemed to reach right through hisbody so that they were pulling as well as pushing. Charlie was traveling sofast, he couldn't get his breath. He began to choke on the clouds of dust thatstreamed into his face. He closed his eyes and sneezed violentlyThe familiar mixture ofcandle wax and decay filled Charlie's nostrils. He wiped his eyes and saw, farahead, the flicker of candlelight. Closer now, and there was the sorcerer'sroom, the long table, the symbols on the wall, the skull on the floor. And inthe center, Skarpo himself with a blank stare in his dark yellow eyes.Expecting to fall into thesorcerer's room, Charlie was surprised to find it suddenly receding. He reachedout, trying to grab the man in the painting, but his hands met empty air. Hethrust his feet forward in an effort to touch the ground, but with a sickeningjolt, he was turned upside down and bowled backward.He landed with a painfulthud, facedown on the floor of his own room. Beside him, the sorcerer waskneeling on all fours, with his outer black robe right over his head. Frombeneath this came a muffled moan.'What happened?'gasped Charlie.The sorcerer pulled his robeaway from his face and sat back. He shook his head for a while, and then said,'Moosie!'What?' Ratherunsteadily Charlie got to his feet. 'What do you mean? We were almost there.What happened?'Nae moosie,' saidSkarpo, pointing angrily at Charlie. 'Thou hast stolen the moos.'Moos?' For amoment Charlie stared stupidly at the sorcerer, trying to make sense of hisspeech, and then at last, it came to him. 'Oh, the mouse. Of course, youcan't get back without your mouse. I suppose things have to be exactly thesame as they were when you came out.' Aye,' groaned Skarpo.'The last time I saw itwas in my uncle's room. Won't be a sec.'Skarpo leaped to his feet,anxious not to let Charlie out of his sight. They burst into Paton's room, bothtalking at once about the lost mouse and the unsuccessful traveling.'Do be quiet,'groaned Paton. 'My head is splitting. Why is that man still here?'Charlie explained. 'Wehave to find the mouse or he won't be able to get back.'Ridiculous,' saidPaton. 'That mouse is long gone. You won't find it in here. It's somewhereunder the floorboards. There are probably enough crumbs down there to keep itgoing for months.'Skarpo dropped into a chair,put his head in his hands, and began to rock back and forth, wailing like asiren.'For pity's sake.'Paton clamped his hands over his ears. 'Charlie, find my phone.'Paton had bought himself amail-order cell phone, which he used primarily for ordering books, although,now and again, ill-fitting garments would arrive, only to be hastily sent back.Charlie eventually found hisuncle's phone buried under a mound of paper on the desk. 'What are yougoing to do?' he asked, handing his uncle the phone.'I'm going to call Mr.Onimous,' Paton said, dialing a number. 'The cats will sort thisout.'The cats? They'll killit,' said Charlie.His uncle took no notice. Ah,Mr. Onimous,' he said. 'Paton Yewbeam here. We have a problem,Charlie and I, and ah someone else. I should be very grateful if you couldbring the famous flames to see us. If they are available, of course.' Hepaused, while a light, musical voice came leaking out of the phone. 'Theyare? Splendid.' Paton glanced at the sorcerer. 'Speed would beappreciated. Thank you!'Skarpo had stopped wailingand was now watching Paton with interest. 'Thy fingers hath a magictouch,' he said, wagging his own finger at the cell phone.'Yes, you could saythat,' Paton agreed, avoiding Charlie's eye. 'Now then, Mr. Skarpo?Patience is required. Very soon a good friend of ours will arrive with help.In the meantime, I would be very obliged if you would keep quiet. As you areaware, I am none too well, and any more noise might finish me off Thankyou!'The sorcerer listenedattentively to Paton's speech. He was obviously impressed. Now and again hehummed under his breath, but apart from that the room was so quiet you couldhear a clock Paton had mislaid ticking from the inside of a cupboard.The house was quiet too,until Amy Bone came home from work. Charlie went down to the kitchen to let hismother know what was going on. He spoke so fast it all came out in rather amuddled rush, but Mrs. Bone soon got the gist of what Charlie was trying to sayShe dropped her shopping bag and sat down, saying, 'How amazing, Charlie.Do you mean to say a medieval sorcerer is actually in the flesh sitting inPaton's room?'I think he's probablymore Tudor than medieval,' said Charlie. 'His father had something todo with Mary Queen of Scots.'I can't get over it. Imean, I'd no idea your talent would lead to this. Does your grandmotherknow?'Yes. But she faintedwhen she saw him.'I'm notsurprised.'The bell rang and Charlie ranto open the door.'Here we are, Charlie.At your service.' Mr. Onimous leaped into the hall, followed by the threecats. Afternoon, ma'am,' he said, when Amy Bone popped her head aroundthe door.'I'll leave you toit,' she said, retreating into the kitchen.The presence of the catsalways made Charlie feel unaccountably happy It was like watching the sun comeout after a gray rainy day They paced around his legs, rubbing their headsagainst his knees and filling the hall with their loud purring, while Charlieexplained the situation to Mr. Onimous. 'Uncle Paton thought the flameswould find the mouse,' said Charlie. 'But surely they'll kill it,won't they?'Of course they won't.Not if they know what's wanted,' said Mr. Onimous. 'Upstairs withyou, my beauties!'The cats bounded up the stairs,Aries leading, with orange Leo close behind, and yellow Sagittarius bringingup the rear like a bolt of brilliant light.Unfortunately Grandma Bonechose that moment to open her door. 'Cats!' she screamed.Aries spat at her, Leohissed, and Sagittarius growled.Grandma Bone stepped backinto her room and slammed the door. 'I'm not coming out until thosecreatures have left the house,' she shouted.'That's fine byme,' muttered Charlie.He led Mr. Onimous and thecats into Paton's bedroom, where Mr. Onimous bent over the invalid's bed andsaid, 'I heard olyour affliction, Mr. Yewbeam. Rest assured we'll do allwe can to help.'Thank you, Orvil,'said Paton, 'but it is that man whose needs are most pressing.' Hepointed at Skarpo.Mr. Onimous gave a littlejump. He hadn't noticed the sorcerer, hunched in an armchair beyond Paton'sdesk. 'Mercy! Forgive me, sir. What an honor. Orvil Onimous.' He heldout a pawlike hand.The sorcerer allowed his ownhand to be shaken, but he seemed hardly aware of Mr. Onimous. His gaze wasfixed on the three bright cats. 'Beautiful beasties,' he murmured. Ancientcreatures. Leopards, no doubt. Thine, sir?'They belong to noone,' said Mr. Onimous. 'Though, once, they were the King's. I'mspeaking of the Red King, of course.'The Red King.Aye.' Skarpo nodded, his eyes still on the cats, watching them hungrily.'You can't take themback with you,' said Charlie sternly.Skarpo's beard quivered.'I am not a thief, boy.' Actually . . .' Charliejust stopped himself from mentioning the stolen wand. The situation was delicateenough.'Where's this paintingthen, Charlie?' asked Mr. Onimous.Charlie fetched the paintingfrom his room, and Mr. Onimous, putting a finger on the painted mouse, said,'See that, flames? That mouse there, peeking out of a pocket?'The cats watched Mr. Onimous'finger, and then turned their earnest gaze toward Skarpo. Their bright eyestraveled from his face to a dark pleat on the side of his robe, where therewas, now, no mouse. Their quick understanding was astonishing. In a second theyhad darted around the room, under the bed, and out of the door.Charlie looked into thepassage to see what the cats would do. The house was filled with golden light,and a soft pattering, a gentle scratching, a mewing, and a purring could beheard. Clever paws turned handles, opened cabinets, lifted carpets, papers, curtains,covers; pulled out drawers, boxes, shoes, clothing. And then the trio stoppedand sniffed and listened.Charlie held his breath andlistened with them. Not for long. There was a sudden thump, a squeak, and ayowl. And then up the stairs they came, Sagittarius first, holding a mouse inhis jaws.The flames ran into Paton'sroom and Sagittarius, meowing loudly laid the terrified but unharmed mouse inthe sorcerer's lap.'Moosie!' criedSkarpo, grabbing the mouse. ' 'Tis well done, brave creature.' Hestroked the yellow cat's head. 'I thank thee.' Putting the mouse inhis pocket, he stood up and made a little bow to Paton and Mr. Onimous. 'Gentlemen,fare thee well!' Then he propped the painting against a stack of books onPaton's desk and turned Charlie to face it. 'Now!' he commanded.'OK.' Charlielooked at his uncle and Mr. Onimous. 'Could you help me back if I getstuck?'The flames will keepyou safe,' said Mr. Onimous. And the cats moved closer to Charlie as thewhole uncomfortable business of being pushed and pulled began all over again.But this time, while Charlietraveled, he felt a comforting warmth enfolding him, and as he watched theblank eyes of the sorcerer, he kept glimpsing flashes of red and gold besidehim. When the sorcerer's eyes began to glow with life, Charlie knew he had succeededin bringing him home. Now he must retreat before Skarpo started playing tricks.However, it seemed thatSkarpo had no intention of tricking Charlie. 'Go now, Charlie Bone,'he said, waving his hand. And mind the herb for thine visual'saffliction.'What happened next wascertainly not Skarpo's fault. Behind the sorcerer's table there was a window,and Charlie's gaze was drawn to a stretch of glittering sea beyond. Before hecould tug himself away he found himself flying through the windowAs he sailed over the moonlitwater, Charlie sensed again the warm presence of bright creatures, and he wasn'tafraid. The dark mass of a forest loomed in the distance, and he feltbreathless with anticipation as he drew closer. Now he was floating above thetrees to a place where the topmost leaves were touched with firelight.He looked down into a gladewhere a man stood tending a fire. The man wore a red cloak and his skin was thecolor of warm, brown earth. Charlie felt him to be the saddest man in theworld.Sparks from the fire began tofloat up to the sky and when the man followed them with his eyes, he sawCharlie. Sadness left the man's face and he gave a sudden, joyful smile. In adeep, melodious voice, he called three names and three creatures stepped out ofthe shadows. The firelight danced on their pale, spotted coats, and they lookedup at Charlie with eyes of gold.THE GARDEN IN DARKLY WYNDFlames,' Charliemurmured.'Are you back,Charlie?' asked a voice.A silvery mist surroundedCharlie and when he blinked, he found himself caught in the gaze of six goldeneyes. 'Oh,' he said.The loud purring that hadfilled his ears began to fade, and he bent to stroke the three bright heads.'That was quitesomething, Charlie. I won't forget it for the rest of my life.'The mist receded, and Charliecould see Mr. Onimous in the chair that Skarpo had recently vacated.'What happened?'asked Charlie.'There you were, andthere was the sorcerer,' said Mr. Onimous leaning forward excitedly Andthe sorcerer well, he went right through you. He faded first, like, until hewas just a bit of shadow, and then he vanished. Phew!'And what happened tome?'You? You just stayedwhere you were, Charlie. Standing like a stone and staring at that picture. Butthe cats, now that's a different story Never stopped moving. Around and aroundyour legs they went, purring and singing like I never heard before.'I think they came withme,' said Charlie. 'Came with my mind, I mean, when I traveled.'Did they now? Well, Iwouldn't put it past them.'Charlie didn't mention hisencounter with the leopards and the man in the red cloak. It was so intimateand precious he didn't have the words for it. Instead he turned to his uncleand found he was asleep.'Didn't Uncle Paton seewhat happened?' he asked.'Poor man, he droppedoff before the sorcerer had left us,' said Mr. Onimous. 'Your uncleis a very sick man, Charlie. It's a tragedy to see such a bold and cleverperson brought to this.'I want to helphim,' said Charlie, 'and I'm going to. Skarpo says he has to bathe insomething called vervain. Where do you think I can find it?'Hm.' Mr. Onimousrubbed his furry chin with his forefinger. 'I'll ask around, Charlie.Better be off now Good luck!'In his usual speedy way Mr.Onimous leaped from the chair and was out of the room and down the stairsbefore Charlie could think of another question.'Bye, Mrs. Bonesboth,' he called as he left the house with the bright cats bounding behindhim.'Have they gone?'shouted Grandma Bone.'Yes, Grandma,'said Charlie with a sigh.She appeared in her doorway Allgone?' she said. 'You know who I mean?'Yes, he's gone,too.'Praise be!' Shewent back into her room, slamming the door behind her.Charlie joined his mother fortea, but throughout the meal he kept thinking of his journey beyond thesorcerer's window I've seen the Red King, he thought.And he has seen me. I've seen the leopardsand the forest where they lived. And Charlie became more andmore convinced that Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius had taken him to that distantforest. But why? And how?'Penny for yourthoughts, Charlie,' said his mother.Charlie hesitated. 'Iwas just wondering where I could get vervain.'Vervain? It's a weed,or an herb, but I've never seen it. What do you want it for, Charlie?'To help UnclePaton.'Oh.' His motherraised her eyebrows but said no more.Later that evening, Charlietook a tray of dinner to his uncle's room. But Paton wouldn't touch it. Theroom was in darkness so Charlie lit a candle that stood on Paton's desk.'Please try and eat,' he begged. 'I thought you were gettingbetter.'Paton turned his head away'Sorry Charlie. I think I'm done for. It's in my head, my bones, my guts.He's finished me off.'But what did hedo?' cried Charlie. And who is he?'His uncle wouldn't say In asoft, ragged voice, he asked, 'Has Julia been here again?'Don't think so,'said Charlie.'Oh,' said Patonsadly'She might have comewhile I was at school,' Charlie suggested, regretting his thoughtlessness.'In fact, I expect she did. But Grandma Bone probably wouldn't let herin.'No,' sighed Paton.'She's forgotten me.'Charlie couldn't think whatto say He wondered if he should tell his uncle that he'd seen the Red King.Perhaps it would cheer him up. But he still couldn't find the words to talkabout it. 'You could try vervain,' he said. 'I think the sorcererreally meant to help you.'Vervain,' mutteredPaton. 'The sacred herb.'Do you know where itgrows?'In Eustacia's gardenprobably She grows everything you ever heard of But I advise you not to gothere, Charlie. It's a dangerous place.'I'm not afraid,'said Charlie. 'I've been there before.'His uncle groaned, 'No,Charlie,' and then he fell into another agitated sleep, muttering andmumbling, with his eyes closed, his mouth twisting, and his teeth grinding.Charlie's mind was made up.Somehow he would find a way into Eustacia's garden. But first he had to knowwhat vervain looked like. He didn't want to pick something dangerous and deadlyand he was sure Eustacia would have plenty of those sorts of plants around.On Saturday morning, afterhis mother had left for the market, Charlie went to see Miss Ingledew There wasa surprising buzz of activity in the bookshop. It was usually a quiet place,but today Charlie found Olivia, Tancred, and Lysander prancing around behindthe counter in strange feathered headgear.Emma and Tancred had beenasked to design hats for the play and Tancred had brought Lysander along tocheer him up. It certainly seemed to have worked. The eerie beat of drums couldno longer be heard following Lysander, and he even managed to laugh whenTancred sent his yellow-feathered hat flying up to the ceiling.'You look serious,Charlie,'Tancred remarked. 'Don't worry, we haven't forgotten Ollie.We're working on a plan, but the play kind of got in the way'What exactly is theplay about?' asked Charlie, puzzled by the gaudy hats.'It's a kind of mixtureof The Tinderbox and The Twelve Dancing Princesses,' saidOlivia. 'I'm one of the princesses.'So, who's got thebiggest part?'They haven'tdecided,' said Olivia. 'Manfred wants Lydia Pieman to be the lead. Iguess he's got a thing for her. Zelda's insanely jealous.'Emma's aunt appeared andasked the children if they would please try on their hats in the back room.'I wouldn't like customers to think this place had turned into a clothesshop,' she said with a smile.Charlie explained that hehadn't come to try on hats, but he had a rather urgent mission. 'It's formy uncle,' he said.'I see.' MissIngledew tried not to look interested, but Charlie could see that she was.'Your grandmother believes I was stalking Paton, and I'd like to make itquite clear that I absolutely was not.'Of course not,'said Charlie. 'The thing is, Uncle Paton's getting worse. He won't eveneat now'Oh, Charlie, I didn'trealize. Poor Paton. I must. . . I'm so sorry' Miss Ingledew seemedsuddenly very agitated.'I sort of heard that aplant called vervain might cure him,' said Charlie.Miss Ingledew frowned.'Where did you hear that?'I bet it was thesorcerer,' said Olivia.'Was it?' askedEmma. 'Was it, Charlie?'Tell us,' urgedTancred, 'or I'll blow your shirt off.'Charlie clutched his belt.'Yes, it was,' he admitted with a grin.'I don't know whatyou're talking about,' said Emma's aunt. And I'm not sure I wantto.'The thing is, I don'tknow what vervain looks like,' said Charlie. And I thought there might bea picture of it in one of your amazing books.'At that moment two customerscame into the shop, and Miss Ingledew told the children to search the books inthe back room. 'Look under 'H,' she said. 'Herb to Horticulture.'It was Lysander who found it,partly because he was the tallest and all the 'H's were on the topshelf 'Here it is,' he said, laying the open book on a table andpointing to a photograph. Vervain appeared to be a bushy plant withyellowy-green leaves and tiny mauve flowers at the tip of each shoot. 'Itsays people used to believe it cured everything, even witchcraft.'The sacred herb,'Olivia read over his shoulder, ' 'said by the Romans to cure the plagueand to avert sorcery and witchcraft.'And I know where to findit,' murmured Charlie, gazing at the picture.'WHERE?' Four pairs of eyes weretrained on Charlie.'In my great-aunt'sgarden,' he said. 'In Darkly Wynd.'We'll come withyou,' said Olivia. 'There's no need 'Charlie began.'Of course there's aneed. We're coming,' Lysander insisted. 'I've got to do somethingthat works or I'll blow my top.'Charlie had to agree that itwould be good to have company in Darkly Wynd, though he worried that fivechildren might attract too much attention in such a quiet and gloomy place.'You're stuck withus,' said Tancred.The five friends left thebookshop, telling Miss Ingledew they were off to find vervain. She gave a cautiousnod but was so involved with an elderly couple searching for a cookbook thatshe failed to ask the children any more questions. When her customers had gone,however, she found the book the children had been looking at and brought itinto the shop. Placing it on her counter, she studied the picture of the leafyplant with its tiny mauve flowers. A sacred herb,' she murmured'sorcery . . . witchcraft. . .'The door opened with a loudtinkle, and two girls stepped down into the shop.'Can I help you?'asked Miss Ingledew'We don't want abook,' said the rather pretty blonde girl. 'We're looking for ourfriends.'We thought we saw. themcome out of your shop,' said the other girl, who was shorter and plumperthan her companion.'Oh, you mean Emma, myniece,' said Miss IngledewHer two visitors had by nowreached the counter, and the blonde girl turned around the open book to readit. 'Vervain. How interesting.'Yes.' Emma's auntclosed the book.'So, could you tell uswhere Emma and the others have gone?' asked the plump girl.'I've no idea.'Aww!We were going to meet up,' said the girl.'What a pity,' saidMss Ingledew She had the distinct impression that the girls were lying. Shedisliked them, especially the pretty one. Her eyes kept changing color; it wasmost unnerving.'Oh, well,' sighedthe blonde girl. 'We'll see if we can catch up with them.' She gave abroad smile, showing immaculate white teeth.'Good-bye!' MissIngledew put the book under her arm and watched the girls leave the shop.And what were they upto?' she muttered.Charlie and his friends hadjust reached Greybank Crescent when a figure emerged from a dark alley leadingoff the crescent.Aunt Venetia!' Charliewhispered to the others. 'Quick! Before she sees us.'They leaped over the road andhid behind the large fir tree in the center of the crescent, while VenetiaYewbeam walked on toward the main road. She carried a large leather shoppingbag with a gold 'Y' printed on the side. As she drew closer, Charliepulled the others farther back under the tree. His great-aunt stopped and, fora moment, Charlie thought she was going to cross the road and investigate.After a few seconds, however, Venetia walked on.When his aunt had turned thecorner into the main road, Charlie led the others over to the gloomy alleynamed Darkly Wynd.'What a gruesomeplace,' said Olivia. 'Who would want to live here?'My great-aunts,'said Charlie.They walked past the derelicthouses where rats scuttled out of trashcans and tramps grumbled from dampbasement steps, and then they were facing the three thirteens.'Which one?' saidLysander.'Well, Venetia lives inthe last one, so if it goes by age, Eustacia must be in the middle,' saidCharlie.'Do you think she's athome?' asked Olivia.'Don't know,' saidCharlie. 'But I'm not going to knock on the door and ask.'So how do we get intothe garden?' said Emma.Charlie hadn't thought aboutthat. Luckily Tancred had. 'Over here,' he called, beckoning themfrom a small iron-barred gate. Beyond the gate, a narrow passage ran betweennumber twelve and number thirteen. Obviously a way to the gardens at the back.The gate gave a loud squealas they hurried through, and Charlie glanced nervously at the side of numberthirteen. But there was only one window, high in the wall, and that had acurtain drawn across it.At the back of the houses,yards and gardens were clearly defined by high gray stone walls. An alley ranbetween the gardens of Darkly Wynd and those of the houses in the crescent.But, unlike the others, there were no gates in the walls of the number thirteens.'You'll just have toclimb over,' Lysander told Charlie. 'You can stand on my back.'We'll keep watch,'said Emma.'I'm going withCharlie,' said Tancred.'No, me!' criedOlivia. 'PLEASE!'Shhh!'hissed Charlie. 'You can both come.'As soon as he'd climbed ontoLysander's back and looked over the wall, he realized he would need two morepairs of eyes to help him search. The garden was a mass of plants. Herbs,flowers, shrubs, and weeds crowded together between the walls: a veritablecarpet of vegetation.'Wow!' said Oliviawhen she saw the garden. 'Where do we start?'They decided to keep in aline, working their way from the wall to the house. Charlie could see itwouldn't be easy The plants were so tightly packed it was difficult not to stepon them. Olivia, in her clumpy mauve shoes, made more of a mess than the boys.She kept tripping and crashing into the tallest and most delicate-lookingblooms. Charlie tried not to look at her and kept his eyes trained on theplants in front of him.Now and then, one of themwould call softly 'I see it,' and then, 'No, that's notit.'They had almost reached thehouse when Charlie heard something drop onto the wall between Eustacia's gardenand the yard next door. He jumped over the last clump of plants to see what itwas.A smooth gray pebble sat ontop of the wall. It looked strangely familiar. And then it came to Charlie.'Mr. Boldova,' he murmured. 'The sparks!' But had the stonecome from Eustacia's house, or Venetia's next door?'Have you found it,Charlie?' Tancred called in a harsh whisper. 'No, I..'There was a loud whistle fromthe wall and Lysander called, 'Watch out, Charlie. Something's happeninginside.'Charlie looked up at thegaunt, soot-stained building. He could hear voices. A top window clanged shut,and then they all heard footsteps running down a staircase.'Let's get out,'said Olivia.'But I haven't found thevervain,' said Charlie.'Forget it,' saidTancred. 'Come on, we'll try another day'But there might not beanother day Charlie wouldn't give up. He whirled around, screwing up his eyesand staring at the plants, while the others raced for the wall.'Look out!' yelledTancred as the back door opened.And then Charlie saw it,almost at his feet. There was no time to tear off a sprig; he bent down andyanked the plant right out of the ground, roots and all.'What do you thinkyou're doing?' screeched Great-aunt Eustacia from the doorwayShe ran down the steps asCharlie bounded over the garden, trampling plants as he went. Olivia was alreadyscrambling onto the wall when there was a loud crack under Charlie's rightfoot, and before he could stop himself he was sliding through the earth.'Eeec-er-ooo-ow!'yelled Charlie, trying to cling to a spindly shrub.It was no use; he was tumbling deeper and deeper into a dark pit.'You didn't see my trap,did you, you stupid boy?' cackled Eustacia.'Charlie, where areyou?' called Olivia.'Help!' Charlieclawed at the sides of the pit, but the black earth was slimy with slugs androtting weeds.Of all the great-aunts,Eustacia had the worst laugh. It crackled with spite. 'Ha! Ha! Ha!'She stood right above Charlie, and he had a nasty view of brown tights andblack underwear.He closed his eyes andmurmured feebly 'Help!'It's too late forhelp,' sneered Eustacia. 'You're caught like a rat in a trap, CharlieBone. Now, what shall I do with you?'Charlie looked up. 'Oldwomen can't do this to children,' he said defiantly'Can't? But I justhave,' snickered his great-aunt. 'And if you . . .' All at once,in mid-sentence, Eustacia flew into the air. It was quite astonishing. AsCharlie squinted up at the large figure in the sky it disappeared in a cloudof leaves. He could hear a wind roaring above him now, gathering twigs, earth,stalks, and plants in a great whirlwind.'Tancred,' breathedCharlie as four hands stretched down toward him.'Climb up,Charlie,' came Tancred's voice, though Charlie couldn't see him throughthe flying debris.'Tancred's fixed the oldbat,' said Olivia, 'so come on up.'But Charlie couldn't eventouch the waving hands. 'I can't! I can't!' he cried.Two more hands appeared:strong brown hands that could stretch farther down into the pit. 'Get amove on, Charlie,' said Lysander's voice. 'Push it, man. Come out ofthere!'This time Charlie clamped thevervain between his teeth and leaped as he reached for the brown hands. Theycaught him and slowly he began to climb.Tancred and Olivia grabbedone arm while Lysander pulled the other, and gradually Charlie was draggedtoward the mouth of the pit. He could hear a muffled screaming in the distance,and when he crawled out into the wind, he saw what must have been hisgreat-aunt, covered in greenery fighting the gale that roared through hergarden.'Stop!' shriekedthe green mound as Charlie and the others raced for the wall.Lysander gave Charlie a shovefrom behind, and they all fell into the alley overcome with helpless laughter.'What happened?'asked Emma, who was too small to see over the wall.'Tancred did his thing,and now Charlie's aunt looks like a compost heap!' said Olivia.'She'll take it out onyou, Charlie,' said Emma, too worried to see the funny side.Preferring not to think aboutthis, Charlie took the vervain from his mouth, spat out mud, and dusted himselfoff as they all began to run down the narrow passage into Darkly Wynd. Whenthey got there, Emma, the only one to have thought ahead, took a plastic bagfrom her pocket and held it out to Charlie.'What would we dowithout you?' said Charlie, dropping the muddy vervain into the bag.'It's got roots,'Emma observed. 'You could plant it again.'I'll have to find outif it works first,' said Charlie. They hurried down Darkly Wyndand out into the sunshine of Greybank Crescent. The change in temperature wasdramatic. Behind them lay a place the sun had never touched. An empty forgottenplace of cold stone and gloomy shadows. They all gave an involuntary shiverand turned their faces up to the sun.And then Tancred said,'By the way Charlie, what were you looking at when your aunt came throughthe door?'Charlie had almost forgottenthe pebble. He pulled it out of his pocket. 'This,' he said.They looked at the smoothgray stone lying in Charlie's palm.'Looks familiar,'said Lysander.'I'm sure it belonged toMr. Boldova,' said Charlie. 'The stones that sparkled in his handlooked just like this.'You're right,'said Olivia. 'But how did it get into your aunt's garden?'It was dropped from awindow' said Charlie. 'I think she stole it.'Everyone agreed that this wasa possibility And yet who had dropped the pebble? And why? It was a puzzle.'There are too many puzzles,'said Lysander. 'We'll meet up tomorrow,right? And discuss the Ollie problem.'What about Charlie'suncle?' said Emma. 'Suppose the vervain doesn't work?'I'll comewhatever,' said Charlie.When they reached the mainroad, the five friends parted, and Charlie ran home with the prized vervain. Hecould hardly wait to see if it worked. First he would chop some into tea leavesand take his uncle a cup of vervain tea. He leaped up the steps of number nine,opened the door and walked straight into Grandma Bone.'What's that you'vegot?' she said, eyeing the plastic bag.'Nothing er, somefruit from Mom's shop,' said Charlie.'Liar!I know what you've been doing. Eustacia called me. You're a thief!'No.'Charlie backed out of the open door. 'Giveme that bag!' she demanded. 'No!'yelled Charlie.GrandmaBone made a grab for the bag but, at that N very moment, a largeyellow dog bounded up the steps and leaped on Charlie's grandmother, knockingher back into the house.'Runner!' criedCharlie. He ran down the steps with Runner Bean at his heels, while GrandmaBone roared from the house, 'Stop! Come here! You wait, Charlie Bone! Youwon't get away with this.'Charlie raced up the street,panting, 'Runner, where did you come from? You saved my life!' Andthen he saw Fidelio, speeding toward him.'Hi, Charlie!'called Fidelio. 'Runner got away from me. I guess he couldn't wait to seeyou.'The two boys met halfway upFilbert Street, and Fidelio explained that he had gone to the Pets' Caf hopingto find Charlie, but instead he had run into Norton Cross, who insisted he takeRunner Bean for a walk.'I forgot,' saidCharlie. 'In fact, I keep forgetting. I'm sorry Runner.' He pattedthe dog's shaggy head.'So where were you? Andwhat's going on?' asked Fidelio.Charlie described his visitto Darkly Wynd and the reason for stealing his great-aunt's vervain.'Wish I'd beenthere,' said Fidelio, a little aggrieved at being left out of things.'You'd better come home with me while your grandma cools down.'Charlie thought this was avery good idea.Runner Bean didn't, but hewas so pleased to see Charlie, he was prepared to put up with a place heconsidered to be the noisiest in the world.Fidelio's seven brothers andsisters all played different musical instruments, and at any one time at leastfive of them would be practicing. Add to this the rich bass and shrill sopranoof Mr. and Mrs. Gunn, and you had a sound resembling the work of the mostdaring experimental composer.'Let's go to thetop,' shouted Fidelio as soon as they got inside. 'It's a bit quieterup there.'Runner Bean dragged himselfup the stairs behind the boys, flinching every time he passed a room where adrum, or a trumpet, a horn or a cello, was being beaten, blown, or scraped.At the top of the house,there was a shady attic where the Gunns kept their broken instruments. The twoboys made themselves comfortable on a large crate, and Charlie gave Fidelio amore detailed account of his dealings with Skarpo. But he found that he wasn'tyet ready to tell even his best friend about his mysterious journey over thesea.Fidelio listened thoughtfullyto Charlie's story and then he said, 'You'd better stay out of yourgrandma's way today And let's put that plant in water before it dies.'Down they went again, passingchildren with freckled faces and brown curly hair who all patted Runner Beanand greeted Charlie like a long-lost brother. Into the kitchen, where a singingMrs. Gunn was making banana sandwiches and real lemonade.'That looks like apowerful weed!' she exclaimed when Charlie drew the vervain out of itsbag. 'Do you want me to put it in a pot?'Actually Mom, Charlie needsto hide it from his grandma,' said Fidelio. 'So it wouldn't be anygood in a pot. And it's not a weed, it's a special herb.'Aha!' sang Mrs. Gunn.'We can still plant the roots. I'll snip off some leaves and you can hidethem under your T-shirt when you go, Charlie. The rest of the plant will behere when you need it.'Charlie handed over thevervain, accepted two banana sandwiches (one for himself and one for RunnerBean), and then he and Fidelio took the yellow dog for a run in the park.At four o'clock, afterseveral more sandwiches (Stilton cheese and peanut butter, and egg andblackcurrant), Charlie left Gunn House and took Runner Bean back to the Pets' Caf.He promised Norton he would call again the next day but he was anxious to gel home beforehis mother ran into an angry Grandma Bone.When Charlie reached numbernine, however, Grandma Bone had left the house, and his motherwas about to take Uncle Paton a cup of tea.'Can I do it?'begged Charlie. He pulled the sprigs of vervain from under his T-shirt and putthem on the table. 'I want Uncle Paton to try some of this.'Mrs. Bone frowned.'Where did you get it, Charlie?'From AuntEustacia,' he confessed. Actually I stole it, and there may be a bit oftrouble.'His mother gave him one ofher anxious smiles. 'There's bound to be,' she said. 'Let's hopeit works before your grandmother comes back.' She snipped off a fewleaves, put them in a teacup, and filled it up with boiling water.Charlie watched the waterturn bright green. It looked dangerous. Was Skarpo tricking them?'I hope it doesn't domore harm than good,' said Mrs. Bone. 'It looks very powerful.'It may be Uncle Paton'slast chance, Mom,' said Charlie desperately.He waited until the vervaintea had cooled and then took it up to his uncle, with the rest of the herbtucked under his arm.Paton was lying insemidarkness. The curtains were closed, and from the thin light trickling intothe room you would never have guessed that outside was a bright summerafternoon.Charlie put the tea on hisuncle's bedside table and whispered, 'Uncle Paton, I've brought you adrink.'Paton groaned.'Please take a sip.It'll make you feel better.'Paton raised himself on oneelbow'Here.' Charlieheld out the cup.Paton's eyes were stillhalf-closed and his hand trembled when he grasped the cup. Charlie watchedintently as his uncle raised the tea to his lips.'Go on,' saidCharlie. 'Drink it.'Anyone would think you weretrying to poison me.' Paton made a funny choking noise that was probably alaugh.'I'm trying to help you,'Charlie whispered earnestlyHis uncle opened his eyesproperly and looked at Charlie. 'Very well,' he said and took a sip.'Ugh! What is this?'Vervain,' saidCharlie. 'You remember the sorcerer said it would cure you. And I'vebrought the rest.' He laid the leafy stems on his uncle's bed.'Looks like aweed,' Paton observed. 'I can guess where you've been, Charlie.'He gave a real chuckle and took another sip, and then another.Charlie waited while hisuncle drained the cup.'Not bad,' saidPaton. 'Not bad at all. Bless you, Charlie.' He lay back on thepillows and closed his eyes.Charlie took the empty cupfrom his uncle's hands and tiptoed out of the room.'Did it work?'asked Mrs. Bone when Charlie^came back into the kitchen.'I don't know, Mom. Buthe looked kind of peaceful. It'll probably take awhile.'They found themselves talkingsoftly and moving as quietly as they could. TV was out of the question. Itseemed as though the air in the house had become charged with mysterious anddelicate spirits that could be disturbed by the slightest breath of wind, thetiniest sound.It grew dark, but GrandmaBone didn't come home. Charlie imagined that a meeting was taking place inDarkly Wynd. They would be plotting to put him in his place, once and for all.He glanced at his mother, reading at the kitchen table, and hoped that whatevermight be coming his way wouldn't hurt her as well.Suddenly Mrs. Bone looked upfrom her book. 'Did you hear that?'Charlie did hear it. Upstairsa door was opening. The floorboardscreaked. A moment later the sound of running water could be heard. A bath wasfilling up.When the tap stopped running,the silence was so profound that Charlie could hear the beat of his own heart.And then a strange perfume stole through the house, a perfume laced with magic.LYSANDER'S PLANCharlie opened his eyes andlooked at the kitchen clock. It was midnight. His mother was washing-~a~saucepan in the sink.'I've only just wokenup,' she said, putting two mugs of cocoa on the table. 'I don't knowwhat came over us, Charlie.'Uncle Paton had abath,' Charlie muttered. 'I remember hearing the water running, andthen I fell asleep.'Me, too,' saidMrs. Bone. 'Your grandmother is still out. Let's get to bed before shecomes home.'They drank their cocoa andslipped upstairs. As Charlie passed his uncle's door he stopped and listened.Not a sound came from Paton's room. Not even a snore. Charlie crept into hisown room with a worried frown.Just as he was getting intobed, he heard a car pull up outside. A door slammed and Grandma Bone calledout, 'Good night, Eustacia. I'll fix the little brute, don't you worry.'Charlie pulled the coversover his head and tried not to think about meeting Grandma Bone in the morning.He woke up very early tiptoeddown to the kitchen, and ate a bowl of cereal. He thought of leaving his mothera note explaining he'd be out for the day though he hadn't decided where hewould go. Anything would be better than facing Grandma Bone.But it was already too late fora note. Too late to run out of the house. Charlie froze as a pair of large feetthumped down the stairs. They crossed the hall and the kitchen door opened.'Caught you!'Grandma Bone stood on the threshold in her evil-looking gray bathrobe.'Morning, Grandma,'said Charlie as casually as he could.'I suppose you thoughtyou'd get away before I woke up.'N-no.'Don't lie. You're inbig trouble, Charlie Bone.' His grandmother marched into the kitchen andglared down at Charlie. 'What were you doing in my sister's garden? No,don't bother to answer. You were stealing. And those friends of yours were nobetter. Eustacia's in a terrible state. She almost had a heart attack.'Sorry,' mumbledCharlie.'Sony's not good enough.You'll have to pay!' screeched Grandma Bone. 'Dr. Bloor will benotified, and you'll stay here till we've decided what to do with you.'Not go out?' askedCharlie. 'Not even to school?'NO. Not for a month atleast.'This normally wouldn't haveworried Charlie. But under the circumstances, he had to go to school. There wasa blue boa to be tamed, there was Ollie Sparks to rescue. 'But. . .'he said.And that confounded woman'sin it, too,' growled Grandma Bone. 'A book was seen lying on hercounter, with a picture of the herb you stole, openly displayed.'Charlie couldn't be sure, buthe thought he heard the faint tinkle of broken glass while his grandmother wasshouting. He was just wondering who had seen the book at Ingledew's and passedon the information when his grandmother suddenly thumped the table and shouted, 'WE WONT HAVE IT! THIS CONTINUALMEDDLING, THIS DISOBEDIENCE, THIS, THIS . . . WHY CAN'T YOU TOE THE LINE?'Charlie was about to give afeeble answer when a voice from the doorway said, 'Aha!'There stood Uncle Paton, in ashirt so white it was almost blinding. His hair was two shades blacker than ithad ever been, and he looked at least three inches taller. So tall, in fact,that he had to duck his head to get under the doorframe.Grandma Bone looked as ifshe'd seen a ghost. 'You're better,' she croaked.Aren't you pleased?'said Paton.Grandma Bone nervously lickedher lips. 'But. . . but. . .'Thoughthe'd done me in, didn't you?' said Paton advancing on his sister.'Thought he'd turned me into a flabby fluttering, half-bakedyes-man?' 'I don't know whatyou're talking about,' she said.'Of course you do!'Paton thundered. 'You set it up. You planned it all. You brought thatevil, shape-shifting hag into our midst. What were you up to, EH?'Stop it!' criedGrandma Bone. 'I I could ask you to leave this house!'And I could ask you todo the same thing,' roared Paton, towering over her.Charlie watched infascination as his grandmother gave a strangled gasp and ran out of the kitchenwith both hands over her heart.Paton gave Charlie a beamingsmile and began to make himself a cup of coffee.'It worked!' saidCharlie. 'The vervain. It really worked!'Something worked. Ifeel as bright as a button, said Paton, who looked nothing like a button'I was afraid Skarpo mighthave tricked us, said Charlie. 'But maybe I should trust him now. Wow, UnclePaton! It's great to see you well again 'It feels great,Charlie. Thank you.' Paton made a little bow and brought his cup to thetable. 'So.are you going to tell me how things stand at BloorsAcademy?'Charlie did his best to bringhis uncle up to date with everything that had been going on while he lay on hissickbed. He was just describing events in Eustacia's garden when someonestumped downstairs and walked out of the house, slamming the front door behindthem.Through the window they sawGrandma Bone marching up the street in her new straw hat black with purplecherries on it.'She's off to DarklyWynd, no doubt,' said Paton. 'To hatch another plot. I bet myrecovery will give them a nasty shock, especially that hag Yolanda.' Hechuckled.'Uncle Paton, do youthink you could talk about what happened in the castle now?' Charlie askedtentativelyPaton scratched his chin andsaid, 'Yes, Charlie. It's about time.' He drained his cup and set itback on the table. For a moment he stared into space, and then he began,'Imagine tine castle as I described it, dark without and dark within. Iarrived at dawn but there's never a sunrise at Yewbeam Castle. The sky turns adull yellow and no birds sing. The wind shrieks over the stones. There are notrees, no leaves or flowers, only the dead grass.'The road ends at anarrow footbridge, so I left the car and walked the half-mile to the castle.Thirteen steps carved into the rock lead up to a door that is never locked.After all, who would want to enter a place like that?' Paton paused andhunched his shoulders.And then?' saidCharlie.'It all came back to me,Charlie: my mother's horrible fall, and my father rushing away with me. I almost turned and ran, but I had to find out if Yolandahad left and why she was coming south after all these years.I called, but there was no reply. The place seemed deserted. And then it began.First laughter like I had never heard. More like howling, it was. And then aroar, and the screams of a thousand animals that you could never name. And outof this awful noise a voice called, 'What do you want, Paton Yewbeam?'I stood my ground, butI can tell you, Charlie, my stomach was churning. And I said, is that Yolanda'svoice?' 'No,' came the reply Yolanda's had an invitation she couldn't refuse.'And then the awful laugh came again.'I ran for the door butsomething pushed me back. I brought out the wand and tried to strike theinvisible thing in front of me, but the wand hissed like a thing on fire andburned my hand. After that . . .' Paton sighed and shook his head. 'Idon't know how long I was there. I lay on the stone floor, blind and neverknowing if I was awake or dreaming. My body was either burning or freezing.Sometimes, I would see him but he never looked the same. One minute he'd be achild, then an old man. One day there'd be a great black dog beside me, then abear. There'd be a raven tearing my head, a wolf gnawing my bones. But every time,as soon as he'd gone, I'd crawl a little closer to the door.'Eventually I reachedit. I pulled myself up by the great iron handle, turned it, and fell throughthe door. I stumbled down the thirteen steps, and then I ran. Don't ask me howI could feel him behind me, burning my neck, scorching my shoes. I got to thecar and tumbled in. The nightmare had only begun. He jumped on the roof andsmashed the windshield with his fists. I don't know what shape he was amonster, by the sound of it. He rolled off and ran in front of me, hurlingrocks at the headlights. He threw flames at the tires and the way ahead was litby a thousand sparks.'We reached anotherbridge, and when I drove over it, he fell away Perhaps his power couldn't survivebeyond the borders of his land. But I heard him call after me, and I'll neverforget that awful, wailing voice.' Paton shivered and closed his eyes.Charlie waited expectantlybut then he could wait no longer and begged, 'What did he say?'Paton gave a droll smile.'He said, 'If you harm my dear one, you'll pay for it with yourlife.'And who is he?'Oh, didn't I say?'Paton grimaced. 'He's Yolanda's father, Yorath, a shape-shifter so old hecan't keep his own shape but has to borrow from other beings.' Patonlooked at the burn marks on his right hand and repeated, 'Yes, otherbeings.'Wow, Uncle Paton,'Charlie said gravely 'It's amazing that you didn't end up dead.'Paton nodded. Amazingindeed. I don't know what kept me alive, Charlie, unless it was the memory of mymother and . . . and a certain other person.' He cleared his throat.'Yolanda may have come to help Ezekiel, but now that she knows what youcan do, she'll want to take you back, you know'To YewbeamCastle?' squeaked Charlie.'We won't let ithappen,' said Paton firmly 'And now, on a brighter note, you've gotthings to do, Charlie, plans to make for rescuing the invisible boy If you askme, Billy Raven is the key'Billy how?'He can talk tocreatures, can't he? Get him to talk to that boa. It can't be all bad.'Charlie sat thinking aboutthis while his uncle went to the stove and made himself an enormous breakfast,to make up for all the days he'd been without. A little later Mrs. Bone camedownstairs from her room on the top floor. She'd heard none of the shoutingand slamming that had gone on earlier and was so astonished to see Paton up andabout and better than ever, she almost fainted.Grabbing a chair, Amy Bonesat down heavily and muttered, 'That strange gentleman from the paintingcan't have been so bad after all. Oh, Paton, I'm so glad you're well. We'll allsleep easier in our beds now that you're back in form.'Charlie wondered why Skarpohad stopped being a bad-tempered trickster and decided to be helpful. Was itwhen he saw the wand in Charlie's hands? And if so, why?At one o'clock Charliepolitely declined Paton's offer of a special lunch, ordered by phone from thegrandest store in town, and set off for the Pets' Caf. He had too much on hismind to enjoy a rich meal. Orange juice and cookies would do nicelyAll his friends were there,sitting around the largest table in the room, with birds, gerbils, rabbits, andFidelio's deaf cat sitting on shoulders, heads, and laps. Runner Bean greetedCharlie in the usual rough, wet manner, pawing, licking, and barking, untilCharlie bought him a large cookie and threw it under the table.'Is everyoneready?' said Lysander rather severely 'We've got urgent matters todiscuss. Tancred and I have made a list, and we'd like some input from the restof you.' He placed a sheet of lined paper in the middle of the table. Itread:Everyone stared at the list,written in Lysander's admirable calligraphy They passed the paper around thetable until they had all read it thoroughly When this had been done, theirfaces looked either doubtful or downright gloomy'It's not thatbad,' said Charlie. 'For one thing, I know where the boa is, and Ican find it again.'But how do we tame it?' askedEmma.'Billy,' saidCharlie. 'He cantalk to animals.'So how do we persuadeBilly to do that?'asked Olivia. 'Imean, would you like to have a conversation with an oversized,invisible-making snake?'I trust Billynow,' said Charlie. 'I really think he wantsto help us.'Rembrandt,'Gabriel said thoughtfully 'We'll tell Billy if he helpsus, he canhave Rembrandt. He'd do anything to see that rat again; he lovesit.'Good idea,Gabriel,' said Lysander, 'but with Weedon and Manfred on thelookout not tomention that awful Belle where on earth is Billy going to keep the rat?'Charlie thought of Cook.'I know somewhere,' he said, but when they all lookedat himfor more information, he said, 'Trust me.'OK,' saidLysander. 'Now we have to find a way of gettingthe boa out of theacademy'I've got an idea,'said Charlie. 'I'm working on it.'His friends stared at himwith questions forming on their lips, but Charlie added quickly 'I can'ttell you anything yet, but I know I'll be able to work it out.' Onceagain, he was thinking of Cook.'Now we come toOllie.' Tancred pointed to number five on the sheet.Actually I've thought ofthat,' said Emma. Reddening slightly as everyone turned to look at her,she put an enormous spider on the table.There were several loudgasps, and a wild blast of air blew the paper off the table as Tancred yelled,'Yikes! How's that going to help?'Give her achance,' said Olivia, retrieving the paper.'It's not real,'said Emma, slipping her finger into the spider's body 'It's like a fingerpuppet, only Ollie can put it on his toe. Then he can walk through the maindoors whenever one of the staff goes out, and they'll just see a spider insteadof a toe.'Brilliant!' saideveryone except Tancred, who obviously had a thing about spiders. 'Aleaping spider,' he muttered. 'I mean, it's hardly going to walk likea real spider if it's on the end of a great leaping foot.'There were shouts of,'Don't be so picky!' 'It's a great idea!' 'Got abetter one?' 'It'll work!' and 'You haven't got to wear it,Tanc!'What about Ollie,then?' said Tancred. 'Where's he going to go when he's out? We won'tbe around to help him. We can't get out dressed as spiders.'Olivia said, 'We'vethought of that, Emma and me. He can go to the bookshop. It's easy to findbecause it's right beside the cathedral, and you can see that from anywhere inthe city'I've told my aunt ifsomeone rings her doorbell after hours, but there's no one there ..'Except a spider,'muttered Tancred.Anyway,' Emma went on.'She'll look after him until we can get him visible.'Charlie's mind was racing.His uncle would soon have to buy a new car. Suppose he bought a van?Mid-semester was coming up. Would a journey to Sparkling Castle be possible,for eight children and a dog?'I think we've gotenough sorted out to start our little operation,' said Lysander.'Let's begin on Monday night, with numbers one and two. The finding andtaming of the boa.'Charlie had a problem. How toget Billy up to the west wing attics without being seen?'Distraction,' saidTancred, who seemed to have recovered his composure. 'Leave it to us,Lysander and me. We can do it, can't we, Sander?'Lysander nodded.They left the Pets' Caf invery good spirits, each one of them eager to begin the week ahead. At thatmoment, none of the seven children wanted to consider the pitfalls of theirmission. They could only imagine the visible Ollie Sparks, reunited at lastwith his grieving parents.While the others went home tofeed their pets or work on the end-of-semester play Charlie took Runner Beanfor a walk. When he returned the dog to the Pets' Caf, Mr. Onimous popped outfrom behind the counter.'Something's goingon,' said the little man. 'If you need a hand, Charlie, you knowwhere to come.'Charlie thanked Mr. Onimousand ran back to Filbert Street, eager to see if his uncle's amazing recoveryhad lasted.It had.When Charlie looked into thekitchen he was astonished to see his mother and Paton having tea with GrandmaBone. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say dessert rather than tea. It wasa hot afternoon, and Paton had ordered several tubs of liqueur-laced ice creamfrom the same grand store that had provided his lunch.Charlie was invited to jointhem and he sat opposite Grandma Bone, who was guzzling a large bowl ofgreen-and-brown-striped ice cream, topped with almonds. She didn't so much asglance at Charlie but kept spooning the ice cream into her mouth at a rate oftwo spoonfuls a second, by Charlie's reckoning.'Chocolate, cherry rum,and walnut? Toffee, apple, brandy and almonds? Or coffee, orange, whiskey andpeanut?' Paton asked Charlie.Charlie chose the chocolateand began to dig in. It was the most delicious ice cream he'd ever tasted; hehoped Paton's recovery meant that more of the same would be arriving at numbernine every weekend.Grandma Bone's bowl was nowempty She stared at it rather sadly and wiped her mouth with the back of herhand. Charlie thought she looked tipsy When she got up, she swayed a little asshe moved to the sink. She had still not said a word or even looked in Charlie'sdirection. What had happened to her?Charlie's mother said,'That was just about the best thing I've ever tasted. Thank you,Paton.'You're verywelcome.' Paton winked at Charlie as Grandma Bone made slow and statelyprogress past the table and out of the room.'What's happened toGrandma?' Charlie whispered.His mother put a finger toher lips.Charlie grinned. It was onlythen that he noticed the wicker basket sitting just inside the door. It gavehim an idea. When his grandmother had finally tottered upstairs and closed herdoor, Charlie asked his uncle where the basket had come from.'It's a food hamper,Charlie,' said Paton. 'The store sent it around with my lunch.'Charlie went to investigate.The hamper hadn't been entirely emptied. There were still several jars of jam,a fruitcake, and two packages of cookies left inside. Charlie picked out a jarof Best Strawberry Conserve.'Wholestrawberries,' Charlie murmured. 'Uncle Paton, could I have thisjam?'Of course, Charlie. Ithink I can guess what it's for.'And the hamper,'said Charlie. 'Do you think you could get the store to send an even biggerone to Cook at Bloor's Academy? The very biggest they've got?'Charlie, whateverfor?' said his mother.'Charlie's got aplan,' said Paton. 'We'll just have to go along with it and not asktoo many questions, Amy'Mrs.Bone shook her head. 'I hope it won't stir things up again,' shesaid. 'Grandma Bone's settled down nicely this afternoon.'Toonicely,' Charlie muttered. And too quiet. Something's brewing, you cantell. I wonderwhat the aunts are up to.'THE NIGHT OF WIND AND SPIRITSOn MondayCharlie took the first available opportunity to speak to Cook. In the middleof lunch, he slipped into the kitchen on the pretext of fetching a mop for aspilled glass of water.Cook saw Charlie standing bythe door and came over. Anyone observing them would have wondered why theyappeared to be having such a deep discussion about mops. But the lunch ladieswere too busy to notice anything unusual. Charlie did most of the talking andCook nodded now and again, eventually patting Charlie on the shoulder with areassuring smile.Charlie said, 'Thanks,Cook!' and left the kitchen without a mop.Billy Raven was sittingbetween Gabriel and Fidelio at their table, and when Charlie joined them, he noticedthat Billy seemed very depressed. But then he hadn't looked happy sinceRembrandt had gone.It was Gabriel who brought upthe subject of the black rat. 'Would you like to see Rembrandtagain?' he asked BillyBilly gave a rueful nod.'He was my best friend. I could talk to him about practically anything. Hewas so clever. But how can I see him? They won't let me out of here.'Billy's ruby eyes filled with tears.'It could bearranged,' said Charlie. 'Cook says she would keep him for you, andyou could see him every weekend. But you'd have to promise never, ever to tellanyone where he was.'I wouldn't!' saidBilly crossing his heart. 'I swear!'If we arranged this foryou, you'd have to do something for us,' said Fidelio.'What would I have todo?' Billy immediately looked anxious.Charlie suggested theydiscuss things outside.Olivia and Emma were sittingunder a tree when they saw Charlie and his friends come through the gardendoor. The girls would have joined them, but they noticed Billy was with themand decided to stay where they were rather than intrude on what looked like atense situation.Billy was very pale; he keptshaking his head and nervously biting his nails. And then Gabriel saidsomething and Billy calmed down. He gave a resigned sort of smile, nodded, andhung his head.When the hunting hornsounded, the girls rushed over to Charlie just before he stepped into the hall.'What happened withBilly?' said Olivia.'He'll do it,'whispered Charlie. 'It'll be tonight. Don't leave the dormitory and keepan eye on Belle.'Emma quickly handed Charliethe spider. 'You'll need this,' she said.For the rest of the dayCharlie found it hard to concentrate on anything but the night ahead. He knewhe would have to wait until at least midnight before he and Billy could set offto find the blue boa. And what if Billy failed to communicate with the snake?What if it hugged them both into invisibility? What then?After homework, Charliecaught up with Tancred and Lysander before they went into their dormitory Are youon for tonight?' he asked them. 'Billy's agreed.'We'll do our bit,'said Tancred. 'What time?' 'Midnight.'I hope we don't scarethe kid,' said Lysander. 'The ancestors can look a bit awesome.'I'll tell Billy you'rein control,' said Charlie.'You wish.'Lysander gave a loud chuckle.Zelda Dobinski happened tobreeze past at that moment. She gave the trio a nasty look and sent one ofTancred's folders flying up to the ceiling. A cloud of loose paper flutteredout as the folder flopped back onto the floor.'She thinks she's soclever,' muttered Tancred, gathering up the paper.'Wait tilltonight,' Lysander said softly 'She's in for a shock.'What are you alldoing?' This time it was Belle creeping up on them.The boys stood aside and shemarched over the paper, deliberately stepping on every piece she could see.'Watch it!' criedTancred. 'That's my work.'So?' She glaredback at him with blazing cherry-colored eyes.'So, just watchit,' Tancred retorted, his yellow hair sparking.'Trouble?' said avoice, and Asa appeared, loping along in the gloom.'Nothing I can'thandle.' Belle gave Asa one of her brilliant smiles.Asa smirked with pleasure.'Pick up this stuff and get to your dormitories,' he told the boys.Belle tossed her blonde curlsand walked on, with Asa trotting in her shadow'I think they've guessed that something will behappening tonight,' Charlie whispered as he helped the others to gatherthe paper.'But they don't knowwhat it is,' Lysander reassured him. 'Good luck, Charlie!'Thanks!' Charliewalked on to his own dormitory. He foundBilly Raven sitting up in bed, looking horribly anxious.Are you OK, Billy?'Charlie asked.Billy shook his head.'I'm scared,' he whispered.'Don't be. We've got alot on our side. I'll wake you up when it's time.' Charlie went back tohis own bed and changed into his pajamas.In the bed next to him,Fidelio was lying on his side reading a music score in the same way that anyoneelse might read a book. 'Should I come with you tonight?' he askedCharlie.'No need,' Charliereplied. 'It'd be better if you stayed here to keep an eye onthings.'You're on.'Fidelio returned to his music score, humming softly as he scanned the notes.Gabriel came in just a fewminutes before lights out. He was flushed and breathless, either from runningor something that had taken him by surprise. He was carrying a rolled-up greencape.'Are you changing toart?' Charlie asked him, more as a joke than a serious question.Gabriel took it veryseriously He sat down heavily on the bed on Charlie's other side. 'I foundMr. Boldova's cape,' he said in a low voice. 'It was right at theback of the art closet. I've been looking for something that might give us aclue to his disappearance.'And did the cape . . . youknow?'It certainly did,'said Gabriel.Fidelio looked up.'What's going on?' he said.Gabriel glanced around thedormitory Boys were coming and going from the bathroom, some were reading inbed, others chatting or arguing. No one appeared to be interested in Gabrieland the green cape.'Mr. B's quiteclose,' he said softly 'He didn't go home. But he's kind of lost.It's the same feeling I got about your father, Charlie, but Mr. B's not quiteas bad. Maybe it's because he's endowed. He can still fight.'The mention of his fathercaught Charlie off guard. Finding his father had been the last thing on hismind. Now suddenly he found himself wondering if his own family would ever bewhole again. Where was Lyell Bone? Far, far away or closer than anyoneimagined? Close, yet lost.Concerned by Charlie's frown,Gabriel said, 'I'm coming with you tonight, Charlie.'There's no need,'Charlie said slowly'I'm coming,' saidGabriel firmly 'And I'm going to wear this.' He tucked the green capeunder his pillow. 'Mr. Boldova was a brave man. I think his cape will giveme an extra ounce of courage.'On dangerous occasions,dreamy slightly scatterbrained Gabriel became someone calm and strangelypowerful. Charlie was glad he would be with him on this risky boa hunt.The children of Bloor'sAcademy still talk about the night of wind and spirits. It will never beforgotten.On the stroke of midnight,that magical hour when Charlie always felt most alive and resolute, three boysleft their dormitory and began to make their way toward the west wing. Billywalked between Charlie and Gabriel, the latter wearing Mr. Boldova's greencape.A light breeze camewhispering in their wake. Gradually the breeze turned into a wind that sigheddown the dark passages, rattling doors and windows, lifting carpets, andtugging at the curtains. In the dormitories, children pulled the covers overtheir heads and tried not to hear the mysterious howling, creaking, andrattling that was going on outside their doors.Lucretia Yewbeam had beenalerted by her clairvoyant sister, Eustacia, that something odd would behappening at Bloor's Academy that night. As soon as she heard the unnaturalwind, Lucretia got out of bed, intending to put a stop to any 'nonsense.'But when she opened her door, the wind threw her back onto her bed with suchforce, she could only lie there, breathless and terrified.Others were also attemptingto leave their rooms. In vain. Manfred Bloor tugged at his door handle, yellingwith frustration while, on the other side, two brown hands held it firm.Old Ezekiel couldn't evenmanage to wheel himself to the door. An army of spears had invaded his room.They hung all around him, slicing the air with a violent hiss whenever he triedto move.On the floor below, Dr. Bloorwas already marching along his brightly lit and thickly carpeted corridor.Halfway down he was met by the wind, but this was not enough to deter a manlike Dr. Bloor. He battled on, grunting with fury until he came to a force toopowerful to overcome. First, the lights went out, and then three wraithlikeshapes loomed before him. Their faces were hidden in mist but the dark handsthat held their gleaming spears were clearly visible. And they made a strangesound, a distant rhythmic drumming.At the top of the westerntower, a man who rarely slept lifted his hands from the piano and laid them inhis lap. Mr. Pilgrim listened to the midnight chimes. There were other soundsin the air: distant drumbeats and a wind that moaned and sang. The musicteacher frowned, trying to remember what his life might once have been.Emma and Olivia hadn't closedtheir eyes all night. They'd been lying in bed, listening and watching. On thestroke of midnight Olivia saw a pale shape gliding toward the door. In a secondshe had jumped out of bed and raced toward the figure. It turned to face her,and in the dim light from the half-open door, Olivia saw an old and hideouswoman.'Get away from me,'snarled the woman.'No.' Oliviagrabbed a bony wrist.'Get off!' shriekedthe hag.'I know who you are, youold witch,' cried Olivia. 'Your name's Yolanda Yewbeam, and I'm notscared of you, not one bit.'Is that so?' Theold woman gave a throaty cackle, and every other girl in the dormitory but twoburrowed deeper under their covers.Olivia, still clinging to thehag, was dragged into the passage. As she kicked out desperately her leg wasclamped between jaws of iron. Olivia screamed as jagged teeth bit into herbone, and then she looked into the face of a beast so hideous and so terrifyingshe had to close her eyes. The scrawny wrist slipped from her grasp, andthrough half-closed eyes she saw the white-robed woman and the beast vanishinto the shadows.As she dragged herself backinto the dormitory Olivia almost fell over a body lying just inside the door.It was Emma, wrapped from head to foot in thick cord.'Em!' breathedOlivia. 'What happened?'I was coming tohelp.' Emma gave a gasp of pain. 'I thought that being a bird would . .'Olivia saw the feathers atthe tips of Emma's fingers, bound painfully tight with cord.'Oh, Em. Who did this toyou?' She began to tear at the cord.'I can't be sure, but Ithink it was Dorcas.'Olivia looked at the two rowsof beds. Every girl had her head under the covers. 'I'll get you out ofthis, Emma,' she said fiercely and finding a knot, she began to attack itwith her teeth.Emma gave a sigh of reliefand the soil black feathers at the tips of her fingers started to fade.Charlie, Gabriel, and Billyhad reached the dusty gaslit region where old Ezekiel had lived for a hundredyears. Billy was now shivering with fright. Gabriel and Charlie held his handsand led him toward the staircase where Charlie had seen the blue boa. Thesnake was still there, a silvery blue coil at the top of the steps, gleamingsoftly in the dim light.As the three boys mounted thestairs, the creature lifted its head, and they froze. Charlie's legs suddenlyfelt like lead. He couldn't move. Behind him he heard Billy's sharp intake ofbreath.'Talk to it, Billy,'Charlie whispered.Silence.'Billy?' saidGabriel.'I c . . . can't,'Billy mumbled. 'I don't know what to say.'Anything,' said Charliedesperately 'Say anything.'All at once, the boa gave aloud hiss. It swayed ominously and its head swung down toward Charlie, whostepped back, almost knocking Billy over.To Charlie's surprise, Billyechoed the snake's hiss, and the creature reared up with a loud chucklingsound. Almost as though he couldn't stop himself, Billy crept past Charlie andbegan to climb up to the boa.Charlie stepped down until hewas standing in the passage with Gabriel. Breathlessly they watched the smallboy creep closer and closer to the glimmery blue coils. The boa's chucklinggrew soft and intense, and Billy who seemed to have found the creature'slanguage, hummed and whistled in reply When he reached the top step he satcross-legged, gazing at the strange snake with its frill of feathers. And,although Charlie couldn't understand its speech, it seemed to him that thecreature had warmed to Billy and was trying to tell him a storyIn a quiet and hesitantvoice, Billy translated the snake's words.'It says .. it was born a thousand years ago. Once .. it lived with a king . . . who treatedit well. But one day the king went away . . . and his son . . . tortured it,until it hated . . . hated . . . hated . . . and killed. The king's daughterfound it. . . all curled up with fury . . . and . . . she . . . almost cured it. . . with kindness. But it couldn't forget its . . . yearning hug .. its hungry embrace .. so the princess . . . gave it the powerof. . . vanishment . . . not death.'Billy looked down at Charlieand Gabriel. 'It's a good snake, really' he told them. 'Sincethe princess died it hasn't spoken to anyone ever . . . until now . . . I thinkI've made it happy'Look out, Billy'said Charlie.The snake was gliding acrossto Billy and the white-haired boy turned back just as the boa slid on to hislap. Billy gasped as the creature wrapped itself around his waist. Graduallythe lower half of Billy's body began to disappear.'Oh, no!' criedCharlie. 'What have we done?'Shhhh!'hushed Gabriel. 'Listen.'Billy had begun to murmur andhum again. He uttered a series of short gurgling gasps as the boa encircledhis neck. It hung there, apparently listening to him, and slowly Billy's bodybecame visible again,'Wow! It can doit,' said Charlie. 'It really can.'Ask the boa if it can do thesame thing to another boy' said Gabriel. A boy that it hugged intovanishment.'Billy continued to hum andthe boa replied with more chuckling and hissing.'It says .. it will. . . ,' Billy told them,'if we promise . . not to putit in a jar. . . . For hundreds of years it was kept in blue liquid . . . withthe bones of a bird . . . until Mr. Ezekiel revived it. That's why it's gotfeathers. I told it that we'd never put it in a jar. That we'd take itsomewhere safe.' Billy glanced at Charlie. 'I hope that's true.'It is,' saidCharlie. 'I promise no one will harm it.'OK,' said Billy'Now what?'We take it to thekitchens,' said Charlie.Billy got to his feet andcautiously descended the rickety steps with the boa still happily wrapped aroundhis neck.'Hope we can get it offhim,' Gabriel whispered to Charlie as they made their way along thepassage. 'I wonderwhat it eats.'Who knows?'Charlie suddenly remembered another task. He took the jar of Best StrawberryConserve from the pocket of his pajamas and called softly 'Ollie Sparks,are you there? I brought you some jam.'But the building was stillunder the spell of wind and spirits. Charlie's words were drowned and there wasno replyAs they approached the mainhall, the whistling and sighing of the wind intensified. Now and again a paleshape would glide beside them, and a shining spear or a feathered arrow wouldsail over their heads.Billy quite undaunted by allthe supernatural activity led the way while the boa whispered into his ear. They came to the landing and,looking down into the long flagstoned hall, beheld the source of the magicalnight. Two figures whirled and spun across the floor They moved so fast theirgreen capes looked like the sparkling wings of a dragonfly It would have beenimpossible to tell them apart if it hadn't been for their heads one black,the other a flashing, flickering yellowBilly was about to lead theway down the main staircase when he gave a shriek of horror. A giant spiderhad dropped from the ceiling and now crouched on the steps in front of him.It was as big as Billy witheyes like red coals and eight legs covered in coarse black hair.'Keep calm,' saidGabriel. 'It's not what it seems.' He moved in front of the othersand began to walk down to the spider. The giant creature suddenly leaped ontothe banister and swung into the hall on a silver thread as thick as a fingerIt landed in front ofTancred, whose whirling body faltered and then stopped moving altogether. Hiscape drooped and his shoulders sagged. He stared at the spider, his face whitewith horror, and the wild wind that had filled the building died away'Don't stop,Tancred,' called Gabriel. 'It's her Yolanda. Don't be afraid. Shecan't hurt you.'But Tancred couldn't move.Yolanda had chosen her shape with insight and cunning. Tancred was paralyzedwith terror. So Gabriel had to face the spider himself. Wrapping brave Mr.Boldova's cape tightly around himself, he ran into the hall shouting,'Here, Yolanda. Here, old hag! What can you do to me, eh?'The spider turned her frontlegs reaching for Gabriel, her red eyes blazing. Gabriel leaped away but oneglance at that hypnotizing stare had already made him dizzy And then Billywalked past him, crying, 'You can't do it to me, Yolanda. I can't behypnotized, not by anything.' And the boa that was Billy's now; body andsoul, lunged at the spider with a hiss that swept through the hall, making thegreat creature shudder and shrivel.Tancred smiled and raised hisarms. With his green wings he stirred the air and the wind returned, sendingthe spider sliding across the floor.The little troop, with Billyat its head, continued its journey to the kitchens. But, just before they leftthe hall, a dreadful howl made them look back. The beast Charlie had seen inthe ruin stood at the top of the staircase. It was surrounded by tall, ghostlyfigures in pale robes. Their arms were covered in gleaming bracelets and thetips of the long spears reached over their heads.'The beast won't bemoving far tonight,' Charlie said grimlyThe three boys hurried downthe corridor of portraits, and Gabriel brought out his flashlight to lighttheir way Cook was waiting for them by the door of the blue cafeteria, with awicker hamper at her feet. Uncle Paton had kept his word. The hamper even hadwheels.'My oh my,' saidCook. 'You're a brave boy Billy Will your snake come into this basket, doyou think?'Billy whispered to the boa,but the creature still clung to him. He hummed and hissed in a soil, coaxingvoice, and gradually the snake loosened its grip. Billy lifted it from his neckand gently laid it in the basket. 'It will do what you want now,' hesaid.'Thank you, Billy.'Cook closed the lid and fastened it with a leather strap.'Everything is takenfrom me,' Billy murmured sadly 'Everything.' And his eyes filledwith tears.'Not always,' saidCook. 'You'll soon be seeing a friend of yours. Rembrandt's the name, ifI'm not mistaken.'Really?' Billywiped his nose and beamed with delight.And what news of OllieSparks? To my shame, I haven't been able to get any food to the poor mite. Thatman Weedon has been watching my every move.'We seem to have temporarily losthim,' Charlie confessed, 'but we'll find him, Cook. We won't giveup.' 'It had better be soon, Charlie.'Cook gave a sigh. 'Off you go now, you three. I'll take care ofthis.' She picked up the hamper and disappeared into the cafeteria.Accompanied by the singingwind and a host of darting spirits, the three boys hurried back upstairs. Theypassed Tancred and Lysander, still working their magic in the great hall, butthe spider and the beast had vanished. Gabriel and Billy were ahead of Charlie,and he had just turned into the passage that led to his dormitory when a handclutched his wrist. Charlie nearly jumped out of his skin.'It's me,' said avoice. 'Ollie Sparks.'Ollie?' Charliewhispered. 'I've got something for you.'Jam,' said Ollie.'I heard you.'Best StrawberryConserve,' said Charlie. 'Here.' He held out the jam.'Wow! My favorite.Thanks, Charlie.'It was hard to see what washappening, but Charlie felt the jar being tugged out of his hand and disappearing.'Ollie, I've got some good news,' he said. 'We've found a way to make you appear.But, somehow you'll have to get out of the building. Emma made this to coveryour toe. Here . . . it's a spider.'Ollie gave a low chuckle andthe spider was taken out of Charlie's hand. 'This'll be very useful, butI'm not going out while I'm still invisible. Where would I go?'Charlie gave him MissIngledew's address. 'It's close to the cathedral, and she'll look afteryou until. . well, until you'recured.'How will I becured?' asked Ollie suspiciously.Charlie realized he wouldhave to mention the boa. He described Billy's strange disappearing andreappearing act. 'It'll work, trust me,' said Charlie.'The boa?' squeakedOllie. 'No way It'll finish me off.'But you arefinished,' said Charlie, 'in a way. I mean, being invisible is apretty miserable existence, isn't it? Don't you want to go home to yourparents? Think about it. Don't you want your brother to see you as a real,whole boy?'There was a long silence,then a sigh, and Ollie's voice came floating out of the dark again.'Yes,' he said. 'Yes, I do.'Charlie felt guilty aboutmentioning Mr. Boldova or Samuel Sparks. For a moment he thought of tellingOllie the truth, that they didn't really know where his brother was. But whenhe spoke Ollie's name there was no reply and he realized the invisible boy musthave drifted awayI hopehe gets out, thought Charlie. Or it'll all be for nothing.Cook carried the hamper backto her secret room behind the kitchen. When she got there, she stood on achair and opened the skylight in her low-beamed ceiling.'Hm. It'll just aboutfit,' she said to herself. Three pairs of glowing eyeslooked down from the darkness above her.Ah, there you are,' shesaid. 'Good cats. I've got a package for you. Here it comes,' and shelifted the hamper up through the skylight.Any sleepless citizen,glancing through their window that starry morning, would have seen a strangesight indeed. Three large cats were running through the empty streets: oneyellow one orange, and one a wild copper-red. Their fur was touched with fierygold and their whiskers flashed like silver. Each cat held in its mouth the endof a leather strap and behind them they pulled a wheeled wicker basket. Whatcould it contain? A stolen baby? Priceless jewels? Or a feast for a party? Noone would have guessed the truth.The bright creatures ranthrough the town until they reached a green door at the end of a narrow alleyThe door opened and a very small man appeared.'Well done, mybeauties,' said Mr. Onimous. 'Now let's have a look at yourtreasure!'OLLIE AND THE BOATo make his escape from Bloor'sAcademy, Ollie chose a door that not many children knew about.Before the novelty of beinginvisible had worn off, Ollie had used the freedom it gave him to indulge hisinsatiable curiosity One night he had discovered the back door. But it waslocked, and even had it not been, he wouldn't have left the building. It wasdark for one thing, and for another, where would he have gone?This door was situated at theback of the green kitchen, where Mr. Weedon's wife, Bertha, held sway WhenBertha wasn't cooking, she would sit in a worn armchair, reading thrillers. Shewas especially fond of Agatha Christie's novels. But even when she appeared tobe totally engrossed in her book, Bertha Weedon would have half an eye on thedoor. She liked to know exactly who was coming in and going out.Outside the door there was asmall yard for trash-cans. The garbage collectors made a big fuss about thesecans, and why shouldn't they? To reach the street, they had to wheel the hugecans up a steep ramp and then through two tall iron-studded gates.All the deliveries came throughthese gates and down the ramp or by a set of stone steps favored by themailman, who had once slid from top to bottom down the ramp. (A moldy bananahad been blamed.)On Tuesday morning, Olliemade his way down to the green kitchen. Emma's spider fit his right toe perfectlyand he enjoyed watching it leap ahead of him whenever he put his right footforward.The academy was unusuallyquiet, and Ollie thought no one else was awake until he reached the greenkitchen. Mrs. Weedon stood by the back door while the fishmonger and hisassistant staggered through with large trays of frozen fish.'In there! Inthere!' shouted Mrs. Weedon, pointing to the huge freezer. And be quickabout it.'Ollie waited until the twomen were sliding their trays into the freezer, and then he took his chance. Ashe moved his right foot over the threshold, Mrs. Weedon spotted the spider and BANG she stepped on it.'OUCH!' squealed Ollie, and almostwithout thinking, he brought up his left foot and kicked Mrs. Weedon where ithurt most.YIKES!' yelled Mrs. Weedon.'What's going on?'said the fishmonger, whose name was Crabb.'Blasted spider it'sgetting away!' shrieked Mrs. Weedon. 'Get it quick I'm out ofbreath!'You're joking,'said Mr. Crabb genially'I am NOT!' cried the irate woman.'I'm injured.'No, I mean you'rejoking about the spider,' said Mr. Crabb.'I am NOT!' yelled Mrs. Weedon. 'GET IT!'What a littlespider?' said Mr Crabb incredulously'It's not LITTLE! It's got a mean kick,'screamed Mrs. Weedon.'I see,' said Mr.Crabb rather more seriously 'Come on, Brian. Let's get going.'The two fishmongers climbedthe stone steps a lit tie faster than usual, but not fast enough to see alarge spider leap through the iron gates and bounce its way up the street.Ollie hadn't been outside theacademy for more than a year. He couldn't help making a few little skips andjumps as he hurried through the city He was free. The sun was up and the domeof the huge cathedral shone in the early light.'I'm out!' sang Ollie.'Out forever. And soon I'll be me!'When he reached the cathedralhe gazed up at the ancient building, awed by its height and the crowds of stonecreatures that stared out from the great arched doorway'I'm free!' Ollieshouted.There was no one around, sohe danced over the cobbled square singing, 'Soon I'll be me, me, ME!'Sunlight showed him a smallwindow where large leather-bound books were displayed against a red velvetcurtain. 'Ingledew's,' said Ollie, reading the name above the door.He ran across and rang the bell.A woman looked out from asecond-floor window She stared at the space where Ollie stood. Even at thatdistance she could see the large black spider her niece had made just a fewdays ago.'Ollie?' she said.'Hello!' saidOllie. 'Yes. It's me.'Wait there. I'll bedown in a second,' said Miss Ingledew.A moment later the dooropened with a pleasant tinkling sound, and Miss Ingledew appeared in a bluebathrobe. She had a smiling, pretty face, and Ollie immediately felt at ease.'Come in, Ollie,'said Miss Ingledew, addressing the spider, for there was nothing else she couldsee.Ollie stepped down into theshop and gazed around at the shelves of books; they looked very interestingwith their rich, mellow covers and gold-tooled spines. 'What a greatplace!' he said.'Thank you,' saidMiss Ingledew She glanced anxiously around the room and found the spidercrouching by the counter. 'I expect you'd like some breakfast.'Would I!' sighedOllie. 'Have you got any jam?'Plenty Emma asked me toget some for you. But perhaps you'd like bacon and eggs as well.'Bacon and eggs!'Ollie cried gleefully 'I haven't had anything hot for more than ayear.'My goodness,' saidMiss Ingledew. 'We must correctthat at once.'And after breakfast canI be cured?' said Ollie. 'Can I see the blue boa, and will he make meappear again?'I think we'd betterleave that for tonight,' said Miss Ingledew. 'The city is verycrowded during the day and I wouldn't like you to be crushed or orlost.'Nor me,' saidOllie. 'OK. Tonight, then. Now could I please have some of that jam?'While Ollie was eating hisfirst hot meal for many a month, the children and staff at Bloor's Academy werejust waking up.As he made his way down tobreakfast, Charlie observed an air of embarrassment among the teachers whohurried past him. It was even more apparent in the dining hall, when the staffclimbed four steps and took their places around the High Table, in full view ofthe rest of the school.Dr. Bloor kept clearing his throat,as if he were about to make an announcement. But not a word passed his lips. Helooked pretty bad. His gray hair had a stiff surprised look, and his face wasvery pale, for him.The embarrassed, sheepishlook appeared to have spread through the school. It had been an extraordinarynight and yet no one wanted to discuss it. The truth was that most people wereeither ashamed of their cowardice or, like Dr. Bloor, humiliated by theirfailure to stop the invasion of such terrifying and unnatural activityThe strange atmosphere lastedall day Teachers couldn't look their pupils in the eye. Children glancedquickly at one another and then looked away Everyone moved very swiftly not inany way eager to get where they were going but rather to escape whatever mightbe behind them.Charlie guessed it was likehaving a bomb in the building. No one knew where it was or when it would gooff. Things finally came to a head in the King's room after dinner.Tancred was the spark, if youcan call it that. Although he was tired after such an energetic night, no onecould help noticing that he looked rather pleased with himself.Charlie had good reason tolook pleased, but he knew it would be dangerous to show it.The eleven endowed childrenwere sitting in their usual places around the table when Tancred's expressionbecame too much for Belle to bear.'Take that smirk offyour face, Tancred Torsson!' she said. 'You think your little breezesare so clever, but you're nothing, NOTHING!'Is that so?' saidTancred, his grin growing broader. 'Well, I honestly don't know why youbother to wear that pretty face anymore. We all know what you're really like,you old hag!'A shocked gasp of horrorrippled around the table, and Asa leaped up, snarling, 'Take that back,you brute!'Feeling brave now areyou, you mini-beast?' Tancred taunted.Asa was about to springacross the table when Manfred grabbed him by the back of his collar. 'Shutup, everyone!' he shouted. 'Torsson, apologize!'Me? Why should I?'She started it,'said Lysander in a reasonable tone.'You heard me,'growled Manfred. 'I mean it, Torsson. You're not too clever to bepunished, you know. APOLOGIZE!'Forget it!'Tancred tossed his shock of electrified hair. As far as wind was concerned, hehad kept things remarkably calm, but now not to be boring, he sent out some newweather. A few raindrops pattered onto the table, and everyone pulled theirbooks onto their laps.'Pitter patter,'sneered Zelda Dobinski.'It's pathetic. Call that rain?'Everyone wished she hadn'tsaid that. The nextminute the small black cloud that had been floating near the ceilingsuddenly burst and a torrent of water poured onto their heads. It filled theireyes, drenched their clothes, and soaked their books.'Stupid boy!' saidBelle in a deep and dreadful voice. 'Who do you think you are?'Half-blinded by the deluge,Charlie saw something he hoped never to see again. Belle's pretty featuresturned brown and doglike. Two ears sprouted from her head and two huge hairlesswings began to spread out from her shoulders. Belle was turning into a giantbat.The bat raised its nakedwings and, with a bloodcurdling screech, it launched itself at Tancred whocried, Yikes!' and dived beneaththe table. So did everyone else except Asa, who sat watching the bat with alook of rapt adoration.The grotesque creature beganto hover around the room, its wings catching at bookshelves and pictures. Theclock crashed to the floor, a whole row of books was sent flying, and then, asCharlie peered out from under the table, he saw the picture of the Red Kingswinging violently against the wall. Charlie leaped up and ran to catch thepainting as it fell.'LEAVE IT!' thundered the awful batvoice.But Charlie couldn't bear tolet the King fall. As he caught the heavy gold frame the bat made a dive towardhim.It was Dr. Bloor who,inadvertently saved Charlie. The door suddenly swung open in front of him andthe bat crashed into it. With a dreadful shriek, she dropped at theheadmaster's feet.'Good heavens . . .what. . . who?' stuttered Dr. Bloor.'Idiot!' screamedthe bat. 'Oh. Is it . . . ? I dohope I haven't . . .' 'I'm not done for, don'tyou worry' screeched the bat. 'You asked for my help, but you're notdoing much to help yourselves, are you? You're letting them getaway with it.'To Dr. Bloor's greatdiscomfort, the bat crawled up his cape until she reached his shoulder, andthen she launched herself through the door, screaming, 'Someone's in fora very nasty surprise.'When the bat had gone, theheadmaster shook his shoulders, straightened his cape, and addressed thechildren who were now crawling out from under the table. 'The noise fromthis room is intolerable. Manfred, can't you keep things under control?'Of course, sir,'said Manfred turning a fierce red. 'Circumstances exceptional, sir.'Good lord, you're allsoaked!' Dr. Bloor observed.'Torsson,' saidManfred.'Torsson, get a mop. Therest of you clean up this room. And BEQUIET!'When the headmaster swept outit was already eight o'clock, and the seniors had no intention of cleaning upthe mess. Billy was excused because he was beginning to fall asleep. And Dorcascomplained of a headache. The workforce dwindled to five.'It's always us, isn'tit?' said Emma, rolling up her sleeves.'I wonder who's in forthe nasty surprise,' muttered Charlie.'I bet it won't be longbefore we find out,' said Lysander.At half past eight, MissIngledew decided it was time to take Ollie to the Pets' Caf. The streets wouldbe empty and there would be no risk of him being walked into or knocked over.She had already made sure that all was ready at the caf.'Ready as they'll everbe, my dear,' said Mr. Onimous' soft voice over the phone.As Miss Ingledew locked theshop, she failed to notice a large bat hanging above the cathedral door.'I think it would bebest if you held my hand,' she told Ollie. 'Would you mind? I don'twant to lose you.'No, I don't mind,'said Ollie. 'You remind me of my mom a bit. It's been ages since I held herhand.'Miss Ingledew was a littledisconcerted to see her fingers disappear when Ollie's small hand clutchedhers. But she told herself that she must expect this sort of thing now that shewas part of Emma's strange world.They hurried up to the mainroad and then along to Frog Street, and although they didn't see the large batfluttering in the shadows behind them, both Ollie and Miss Ingledew felt theslight tingle that people get at the back of the neck when they sense that somethingis not quite right behind them.Several times, Miss Ingledewlooked over her shoulder, but it was a crafty bat and managed to disguiseitself as a garbage bag caught on a lamppost, a shop sign, and a grimywindowsill. Mind you, a few people did see an extraordinarily large bat glidingpast their windows. One man called the zoo and another the Pets' Rescue. Butthe size of bat they described was far too large to be believed. No suchcreature existed, they were told; it was probably a balloon, a kite, or, dareit be suggested, a result of bad eyesight.When Miss Ingledew and herinvisible companion reached the Pets' Caf, she rang the bell. The window wasdark, and for one minute Ollie's heart plummeted. And then the door opened andhe found himself looking at an extremely small man, and the man was looking himright in the eye. It was very comforting. Ollie had not been looked in the eyefor such a long time. It set him on the road to feeling whole again.'This is Ollie,'said Miss Ingledew holding up her disappeared fingers.'So it is,' saidMr. Onimous. 'I'm very pleased to meet you, Ollie. Come in, both!'Mr. Onimous led the waythrough the darkened caf to a cozy kitchen at the back, where Ollie wassurprised to see three bright cats sitting on a freezer, a yellow dog snoozingin a basket, and a very tall woman making pastry while a black rat watched fromher shoulder.Aha!' said the verytall woman, who had a very long nose. 'The vanished one! Welcome, OllieSparks. I'm Onoria, dear. Mrs. Onimous.' Her focus wandered a bit. She wasobviously not as good as her husband at guessing where invisible people mightbe. But then she was a long way up.Ollie couldn't help wonderinghow a man so small had chosen a woman so tall to be his wife. In ordinarycircumstances, Ollie would have asked. But these were not ordinarycircumstances and instead he said, 'Is it here the boa?'There it is,dear.' Mrs. Onimous pointed to a large hamper quite close to her feet.'I've been singing to it. The poor thing hasn't had an easy life.'I wonder,' MissIngledew said shyly 'would it be possible to have a cup of tea before we . . er . . . before it happens?'What am I thinkingof?' cried Mr. Onimous. 'Manners, Orvil, manners. Sit down, mydear.' He pulled out a chair and Miss Ingledew sat down gratefullyOllie said he would ratherstand for the 'cure.' He thought the snake would find it easier thatway 'Can I see it now?' he asked.Mrs. Onimous lifted the lidof the hamper and Ollie beheld the dreadful boa that had once hugged him intoinvisibility It was not quite as he remembered it. The brilliant sapphire skinhad faded, and now it was a soft, silvery blue. It appeared to have shrunk aswell, and something in its expression seemed to imply a gentler, friendlierdisposition.The snake's silvery headreared up suddenly and it chirped like a bird. Ollie stepped back.'It's a lovely creature,isn't it?' sighed Mrs. Onimous. 'Do you take milk and sugar,dears?'Miss Ingledew said,'Just milk, please,' and Ollie said, 'Nothing, thanks. I expectI'll be thirsty later.'While Miss Ingledew and theOnimouses sipped their tea, Ollie walked around the hamper. The snake followedhim with its little black eyes. Obviously it could see him. When Ollie stoodstill, the boa slid gracefully out of the hamper and began to wrap itselfaround his invisible ankles. Ollie held his breath.'Do you think it knowswhat to do?' whispered Mrs. Onimous.'Let's hope so,'said her husband. 'Are you ready Ollie?'Yes, I'm ready'said Ollie. 'I'm thinking about seeing my brother. I'm thinking aboutgoing home to Sparkling Castle. It sparkles because my brother and my fathercan draw light from stones, did you know that?'And what do you do,dear?' asked Mrs. Onimous. She thought of Ollie as a patient who must bedistracted while something painful was being done to them.'I just play theflute,' said Ollie, who, at present, wasn't feeling any pain at all.'I should love to hearyou play' said Mrs. Onimous.The boa was winding itselfaround and around in the air. As yet, nothing could be seen within its shiningcoils.'I'm going to close myeyes now,' said Ollie, 'in case it doesn't work. I don't want to bedisappointed, you see.'Of course not,'said the adults.Miss Ingledew put down hercup. She couldn't watch. It was all too much. The experiment wasn't working.Poor Ollie would be invisible forever, but she was already deciding what shewould do. She would take him back to the bookshop and call his parents. Afterall, an invisible boy was better than no boy at all. And then she saw the feet.First one, with a spider on its toe. Then the other. Bare, cold-looking feet,badly in need of socks and shoes.'Here come thelegs,' said Mr. Onimous softlyHe might just as well haveshouted because Runner Bean, disturbed by the impossible happenings, leaped upand began to bark.'Hush, there's a goodfellow,' said Mrs. Onimous.Runner Bean grunted and laydown, keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings as more and more of Ollie wasrevealed. The cats gave the impression that they'd seen all this before. Theyremained quiet but alert.'Oh, the poor boy lookat his pants,' said Mrs. Onimous, regarding the tattered bits of cloththat barely covered Ollie's knees.The snake climbed higher, andnow they could see a worn gray sweater, at least two sizes too small for itsowner: the person whose bony wrists extended well beyond the threadbaresleeves.'Bless me!'exclaimed Mr. Onimous as the boa's neck curled around a head of tangled brownhair. A face appeared between the long brown strands; it had two large blueeyes ringed with shadows, a neat mouth, and a pinched, inquisitive-lookingnose.'Oh!' sighed MissIngledew 'Ollie!'The snake encircled Ollie'shead until it looked like a shining turban and Ollie's eyebrows shot up insurprise and excitement. Am I back?' he asked. 'I feel as if I am.'You surely are,'said Mr. Onimous. 'You're well and truly visible, Ollie Sparks.Congratulations!'It seemed appropriate toclap, and so everybody did, including Ollie, but very lightly in case it frightenedthe boa.The snake looked a littleweary after its efforts; in fact, it closed its eyes and snuggled into acomfortable position on Ollie's head.Mrs. Onimous lifted thecreature off Ollie and laid it in the basket. 'We ought tocelebrate,' she said. 'Orvil, make another pot of tea. And I'll findsome cake.'After a very pleasant hour inwhich a great many decisions were made, Miss Ingledew left the Pets' Caf andhurried back to her bookshop. She knew Ollie was in good hands; he was alreadyhaving his first bath in more than a year. Mrs. Onimous had everything undercontrol. New clothes would be found for the poor boy His hair would be cut, andhe would be well fed and rested before his long journey home to SparklingCastle.Miss Ingledew was so pleasedwith the way things had turned out, she began to hum one of her favorite tunes.When she reached the intersection, she almost carried on down to FilbertStreet. She would have liked to share her news with Paton Yewbeam, but thiswasn't possible. Grandma Bone's accusation still rankled.'I am not astalker,' Miss Ingledew muttered under her breath. And I will not beregarded as a stalker.'She went on her way a littleslower now, and slightly subdued, quite unaware that the large bat was stillstalking her. Cloaked in darkness it fluttered behind her, down CathedralClose, and then it clung to a drainpipe and watched Miss Ingledew go into hershop and lock the door.The bat flew on, down toGreybank Crescent and into Darkly Wynd. It hovered and flapped over therooftops and popped into an open window at the top of the third numberthirteen.A few moments later YolandaYewbeam, a bat no longer, walked into her great-niece Venetia's basementworkshop. 'Wonderful,' she murmured as she feasted her eyes on thegarments spread across Venetia's long table. There were blue capes and greencapes, silk dresses, velvet coats and breeches, colored tights, necklaces,vests, frilled shirts, woolen shawls, and all manner of fancy belts and shoes.Venetia was busily sewingsequins around the hem of a long black skirt. Within her reach, at the edge ofthe table, there was a cluster of tins, jars, and boxes. Now and again Venetiawould dip her fingers into one of these containers and draw out a few grains ofcolored powder, a sprinkling of herbs, or a dab of Liquid. These she wouldsmear beneath the sequins before she sewed them on.'Have you done thecape?' asked Yolanda.'Not yet.' Venetialooked up and gave a little start.'I suppose you'd prefer me to be that prettylittle girl,' said Yolanda, whose age and nasty disposition showed all tooclearly tonight.'Not at all, Auntie. Yousurprised me, that's all.'I'm tired,' saidYolanda. 'I've been watching that interfering woman for hours. She hadthe boy I'm sure of it. She's cooked our goose. Grizelda's right, she'll haveto go. And so will her wretched little flying niece.'Have you fixed thebelt?'Our little friend,Dorcas, is taking care of it.'Good. Now sit down,Auntie. Take the weight off your feet.' Venetia drew out a chair.'I want to do thecape,' snapped Yolanda. She sat behind the sewing machine and pulled thegreen cape toward her. 'That blasted kid, that little beast thinks he'sso-o-o-o clever. Well, he's got another think coming.'Who, Auntie?'The Torsson boy Calledme a hag. A HAG!' screamedYolanda.A BELT OF BLACK JEWELSThegirl called Belle Dormer had vanished from Bloor's Academy. For most childrenthis was a great reliefBut Charlie knew he hadn'tseen the last of Yolanda Yewbeam. He'd discovered from Cook that Ollie'smeeting with the blue boa had been entirely successful. This was great news,but Ollie had been asking for his brother. And no one knew what had happened toSamuel Sparks.Charlie discussed his problemwith Fidelio, who was feeling rather left out of things since the night of windand spirits.'We can't do much aboutit till the weekend,' said Fidelio. 'And then Dad has booked me toplay the violin at my cousin's wedding. But I'll give it up to help you,Charlie. The others seem a bit preoccupied.'This was true. When Tancredand Lysander heard the good news about Ollie, they felt they had accomplishedall that was required of them.Gabriel had a lot of pianopractice to catch up with, and Billy couldn't really be expected to help. Hewandered around, dazed from his encounter with the boa and longing to bereunited with Rembrandt.But it was Emma who had comeoff worse. Dorcas had bound her hands with unusually powerful cord, and eversince that night, the fingers that had briefly turned to feathers achedcontinuously The pain was so bad Emma could barely hold her pen. But she hadpromised to make a very special belt for Olivia, and nothing would persuade herto abandon the task.Mrs. Marlowe, the dramateacher, had been so impressed by Olivia's acting in rehearsals that she haddecided to give her the role of leading princess. And Emma, excited by Olivia'sgood news, promised to make her friend the most beautiful costume ever.The long dress was finishedand hung on a rail at the back of the dressmaking class. It was made of redsilk with panels of shiny black. The sleeves were long and tight with cuffs ofsparkling black net, and the hem was encrusted with tiny black sequins.Everyone admired the dress, and Olivia made frequent visits to Emma's classjust to stand and gaze at her beautiful costume. All it needed was a belt.Emma was working on this nowbut she was afraid that the belt would never be completed. Today she hadstitched only two black beads in place, and already every joint in her fingerswas aching.'Shall I do abit for you?' asked Dorcas, who was sitting opposite Emma at one of thelarge worktables.'No thanks, I'llmanage,' said Emma. She put another shining circle of jet in place. Asmall wire hook was fixed to every piece and the hook was sewn onto the belt,so that each bead moved independently flashing and sparkling as it caught thelight. The effect was stunning: a belt of black jewels.Emma put up her hand.'Please, can I get a glass of water?' she asked Miss Singerlee, thedressmaking teacher.'Of course. Are you allright, Emma?' Miss Singerlee was concerned. Emma looked even paler thanusual, and her work was progressing so slowly'I'm OK. Justthirsty' said Emma. She left the classroom and began the long walk to thecoatrooms. When she'd had her drink, she leaned against the basins and massagedher aching fingers. Would she ever flyagain? she wondered.Emma wasn't sure how long shewas away from the class, but when she got back, she found that someone had sewna whole row of beads onto the belt.'Thought you needed somehelp,' said Dorcas.'Thanks.' Emmadidn't know whether to be grateful or suspicious. Dorcas had been unusuallyfriendly since Belle's departure.The bell rang, and Emmacarefully folded the belt and put it in her bag. She would have to work on itover the weekend, so she rolled a handful of beads in her handkerchief anddropped them into her bag with the belt.It was Friday and Emma waslooking forward to a nice long sleep in her own comfortable room above thebookshop.Charlie couldn't wait to seeOllie. In fact, everyone who had been involved in his rescue wanted to meethim. Even Tancred and Lysander were willing to risk bats and spiders (shouldthey appear) in order to get a glimpse of an invisible boy made visible.'The old bat's probablyflown off to Transylvania anyway' said Gabriel as they ran out to theschool buses.'Don't bet on it,'muttered Charlie.There was a surprise waitingfor Charlie at home. Maisie was back. She was having tea with Uncle Paton whenCharlie walked in.After a lot of hugging andtears (on Maisie's part) Charlie's favorite grandmother made him sit down andeat a plate of fish and chips while she told him something very interesting.'Listen to this, Charlie,' said his uncle solemnly 'It mightexplain a few things.'OK. Fire awayMaisie,' said Charlie.Maisie pulled her chaircloser to his. 'Well, Charlie, as you know I've been with my sister, Doris.'Is she better?'asked Charlie.'Much better, thank you,Charlie. She'squite a bit older than me and knows more about the family I'm not sure why shewaited until she was at death's door to tell me this, but. . .'At that point Charlie'smother walked inand another long hugging session took place.'Patience,Charlie,' said Uncle Paton. 'It's worth the wait.'It wasn't until Amy Bone hadher own plate of fish and chips that Maisie saw fit to continue with her story'Where was I?' sheasked. 'Your sister was atdeath's door,' said Charlie. 'So she was. Well, allof a sudden she says, 'Maisie,' she says, 'If I die, rescue my papers from the desk. Don't let them burn them.' 'Of course Iwon't,' I said,patting her poor white hand. And then she insists I get the papers and startsorting them right there and then. What a mess! She'd been hoarding uselessstuff for years. I'd got most of it spread out on the floor by her bed, when Ipicked up an old paper bag and out came this old roll of paper.' Maisiestopped and gazed at Charlie. 'It was a family tree, Charlie, and guesswhat it says?'Haven't a clue,'said Charlie.'Well, at the top of thetree there's this person with a strange, unpronounceable name. When I asked mysister about it, she said, 'Oh, him. He was a wizard, by all accounts. A Welshwizard. That's why he's got an unusual name.'A wizard?' saidCharlie, sitting up. 'Are you sure?'Positive,' saidMaisie, beaming. 'So the Joneses aren't nonentities after all. We're asspecial as the Yewbeams. So there!'Mrs. Bone thoughtfullystirred her tea. 'But that means Charlie has got it on both sides,' she said. 'Power or magic or whatever it is.'Exactly,' said UnclePaton, excitedly banging the table. 'You see, Charlie. The wand doesbelong to you, that's why it works for you and no one else. That wily oldsorcerer must have stolen it from your ancestor. I've had a look at the dates.Skarpo was a lot younger he could have been the wizard's apprentice maybehe stole it when the old man died.'Maybe that's why Skarpodidn't try to trick me this time. Because of the wand and my connection to thewizard.'He could have been alittle anxious about what you would do with that wand,' said Paton.Charlie scratched his thatchof hair. 'Wow!' he murmured. 'Wow! I've got a double dose.'He wasn't quite sure how he felt about it, but he was certainly flabbergasted.'Do you think Grandma Bone knows about this?'She might haveguessed,' said Uncle Paton. 'Eustacia's clairvoyant, don't forget.Perhaps she had an inkling.'Charlie stared at his fishand chips. 'Do you mind if we don't talk about this for a while?' hemurmured. 'I want to think about it.'Of course you do,love,' said Maisie. 'It's probably a bit of a shock, isn't it? ButI'll give you the family tree to look at. After all, you are the last of ourbranch of Joneses.'Charlie took the wrinkledroll of parchment up to bed with him. For a long time he stared at the strangenames, the dates, the births, and marriages, wondering if any of those otherancestors had the power. Had they used the wand, and if so, what for?It had been a busy week tosay the least. And now this. Charlie lay back and closed his eyes. Right now itwas all too much to take in.On Saturday morning, JuliaIngledew was about to open the bookshop when her eye fell on a beautifuljeweled belt. It was lying on her desk where Emma had left it the night before.Julia Ingledew was not a vainwoman, but she had an exceptionally small waist, and who could blame her forbeing proud of it? She picked up the belt, and the black jewels glittered inthe early light. It had been made for a child, but how would it look on her?Surely it would fit her to perfection.Julia wrapped the belt aroundher waist. It was tight but. . . she drew in her breath . . . yes, it fit. Sheclosed the clasp and went to the mirror. The belt looked wonderful against theemerald green of her dress. Julia gave a little twirl and the dazzling jewelsjingled mysteriously 'Oo!' she sighed. She had never felt morebeautiful.She took another deep breath for the belt was very tight but she couldn't seem to get enough air intoher lungs. She coughed rather violently Her head felt as though it were beingsqueezed in a vise. The feeling traveled down her spine and Julia staggeredfrom the pain, She attempted to loosen the belt, but the clasp wouldn't open.Julia's heart began to beat wildly 'Emma,' she moaned. 'Emma,help me!'Charlie was having breakfastwhen the doorbell rang. On and on and on. Someone had their fist on the bell orit was stuck.'Hold on!' calledCharlie, still chewing toast. 'I'm coming.'Help! Help!' crieda voice.Charlie opened the front doorand Emma almost fell into the hall. 'Oh, Charlie,' she cried.'Something awful's happened to my auntie.'What sort ofawful?' said Charlie, wiping his mouth.The landing above him was,all at once, crowded with grandmothers, both shouting, 'Has somethinghappened?' 'Who is it?' 'What's the fuss?'Do you want a glass ofwater?' Charlie asked Emma. The urgency of the situation hadn't quite sunkin.'No,' moaned Emma.'I want someone lo come Now I want someone to help. I've run to thedoctor's office, but I didn't know what to say and I don't think they took meseriously'What's going on?'said Uncle Paton's voice.'Oh, Mr. Yewbeam. It'smy auntie,' cried Emma. 'I think she's dying.'What?' In fourbounds, Uncle Paton had cleared the staircase. 'Let's go,' he said.'Oh, thank you!'Emma shot out of the door. By the time she reached the pavement, Uncle Patonwas already several strides ahead.Charlie stood and shook hishead. Things were moving too fast for him. But he was not too dazed to noticethe nasty smile on Grandma Bone's face just before she went back into her room.'I'm going to thebookshop,' Charlie told Maisie.'Good boy,' saidMaisie.Charlie leaped upstairs and gotthe wand from under his bed. He wasn't sure why it suddenly seemed soimportant, but since he'd learned its history he felt that perhaps it had apart to play in desperate situations.By the time he was on thefront step, Emma and his uncle had disappeared. Charlie raced up Filbert Streetand along the main road until he collided with three dachshunds, whose masterangrily told him to, 'Watch that stick!'The bookshop door was stillopen, banging ominously in the breeze. Charlie latched it carefully behind himand made sure the CLOSED signwas showing.He found Uncle Paton in MissIngledew's back room, giving her the kiss of life. Embarrassed to see his uncledoing what he was doing, Charlie looked at the ceiling.'Please, don't let herdie!' cried Emma. 'Oh, please.'Charlie moved closer. MissIngledew was lying on her sofa. Her face was a pale blue, her eyes open andstaring, her mouth gaping like a fish.Uncle Paton's kiss of lifeclearly hadn't worked and now he resorted to pressing his hands hard on MissIngledew's chest. 'Loosen that belt, Emma!' he said.'I can't,' wailedEmma. 'I've tried.'What?' Patonpulled at the clasp, and a blue spark shot across his fingers. 'Ouch! Whatthe heck?' He pulled again, with the same result. He seized the belt withboth hands and tried to tear it apart. 'It's impossible,' hemuttered. 'What's this thing made of? We need a knife a wire-cutter something that can cut through steel.'It won't be anyuse,' said Emma in a small, scared voice. 'I think it's beenbewitched. I left it, you see, to get some water. It's all my fault.'Paton stared at her, aghast.'This is how they punish people,' he said in a low voice. 'IfJulia . . .' He choked on his next words, and then, falling on his knees,he took Miss Ingledew's pale hand and pressed it to his lips. 'Oh, mydear,' he sighed. 'I'm so sorry'Charlie looked on in horror.He was shocked to see his uncle in such a state. Was he going to give up, justlike that? Was Miss Ingledew already dead? He couldn't believe it.He felt something move in hisright hand and his fingers tingled with warmth. Charlie looked at the wand. Whyhad he brought it here, if not to use it? 'I think I can help,' hesaid.Paton looked at him.'Can you, Charlie?'Yes,' said Charlieconfidently He walked up to Miss Ingledew's prostrate body and touched the jeweledbelt with the tip of his wand. There was a bright flash and, for a second, thewhole belt sparkled like a firework.'It's burning!'cried Emma.'No it's not,' saidCharlie firmly 'Torri!' hecommanded.The wand's silver tip glowedlike fire, and the belt flew apart, sending showers of shining jet across theroom.'Good Lord,Charlie,' said Paton in an awed voice. 'How did you know what tosay?'Charlie couldn't tell him.Perhaps the strange word had been waiting in his head for years, never givingitself away until nowThe next minute, MissIngledew gave a huge sigh and sat up. 'Goodness,' she said, 'Did I faint or something?'Oh, Auntie, I thoughtyou were dead!' cried Emma, flinging her arms around Miss Ingledew's neck.'Dead!' said MissIngledew, looking bemused.'Oh, my dear, dearJulia. I can't tell you . . .' Unable to say what he wanted to say Patonblew his nose very loudly'Paton, did you save mylife?' asked Miss Ingledew'I'm afraid not. Charliedid that.'Miss Ingledew looked at thewand resting in her lap. 'Really? Was it that bad then? Thank you,Charlie.'That's OK,' saidCharlie, withdrawing the wand. 'It wasn't just me, it was us. Me and thewand.'I see. Well, thank youboth.' Miss Ingledew gave Charlie one of her wonderful smiles.Are you feeling quitebetter, Julia?' said Paton, getting to his feet.'Quite,' said Juliabrightly 'I'm sorry to have been such trouble.'Never, Julia,'said Paton fiercely 'Never trouble. But if you're feeling quite better,there's something I've got to do.' He strode to the door, saying,'Look after your aunt, Emma. I'll be back later.'Charliebounded after his uncle, who was already halfway down Cathedral Close.'Where are you going, Uncle?' he called. 'You know verywell!' shouted Paton.Charlie did know. It wasbroad daylight, but Paton had thrown caution to the winds. Careless of shopwindows and taillights, his long legs carried him through the town like a darkwhirlwind. There was a small accident at the traffic lights, but luckily onlythe amber light shattered, and before anyone could think what had caused it,Paton was on his way again.Charlie caught sight of himturning into Greybank Crescent, but he was gone in a flash. Charlie didn't seehim again until he ran down Darkly Wynd, and there was his uncle outside thedoor of the third number thirteen. He didn't knock or ring the bell. Instead hebrought up his foot and kicked. The old wood splintered and cracked. Paton kickedagainand the whole door fell in.Charlie tore up the steps andthrough the open doorway His uncle was just descending the back stairs. Charliefollowed, down the stairs, across a narrow passage, and into Aunt Venetia'sworkroom.Yolanda was sitting behind asewing machine on the other side of a large table strewn with colored clothesand material. There was a length of green cloth under the needle.'Paton, we meet again atlast,' said the old woman. 'I hoped you'd come a-calling.'Paton stared at her, almostin disbelief. 'You hoped?' he said.'Of course. After yourgirlfriend's sad demise. She is dead, I trust? You don't have much luck withthe ladies, do you, Paton? First your mommy and now your lady friend. You'd bemuch better off working with us, you know'WHAT?' thundered Paton.'You heard me, and sodid that little wretch standing in your shadow.'Charlie clutched his wandtightly He wondered when he'd have to use it, but there was no need after all.He saw where Paton's furious gaze was directed and knew in a split secondbefore Yolanda did what was going to happen.There was a look of horrifiedsurprise on the ancient woman's face as she lifted her hands from the machine too late.The light on the sewingmachine exploded and the whole thing glowed white hot. With a dreadful shriek,the electrified woman behind it shot into the air. She spun like a top and astream of wraithlike creatures came spilling out of her. They floated acrossthe ceiling bats, birds, spiders, dogs, cats, fish, monsters and there waspretty Belle, waving long, stringy arms and disappearing.'What's happening?'cried a voice, and Venetia tore into the room. She took in the burning machine,the singed cloth, the scorched table. 'What have you done?' shescreamed at Paton. 'Where's my auntie?'Where do youthink?' he replied.'How could you?'she cried, backing away from him. 'How dare you? You fiend, you despicabletyrant. You . . . you stupid man!'I should have done it along time ago,' said Paton, wiping his hands clean of some imaginary dirt.By now an army of littleflames was licking at the garments on the table. Sparks caught on the velvetcurtains, and the room was filled with the dreadful acrid smell of burning.'Come on, Charlie. Let'sget out of here,' said Uncle Paton.They rushed up the stairs andout into the fresh air, coughing and choking on smoke. It wasn't long beforeVenetia followed them.The fire engine had a hardtime getting down narrow Darkly Wynd, but it managed eventually By then numberthirteen was blazing on two floors. A crowd had gathered to observe thegruesome spectacle. People muttered about faulty wiring and old wood. No onewas very surprised to see the old house burning.The four sisters stood apart,watching in grim silence. They wouldn't even look at their brother.The firemen had almost gotthe blaze under control when someone spotted a figure standing at a top floorwindow A small platform was raised and, amid cheers of 'Well done!'He's all right!' 'He's alive!' the window was broken andthe survivor stepped out onto the platform. It was Mr. Boldova.The Yewbeam sisters said theyoung man had been giving them some advice on costume design. 'He's anartist, you know, said Eustacia.Mr. Boldova was saved just intime. A few moments after his rescue, the roof of Venetia's house went up inflames, and the walls of the top floor fell away For a brief second, thegasping onlookers saw the dark outline of an upright piano, perched on thehighest point of the burning building. And then the instrument came tumblingdown, its scorched keys playing aneerie tune as it crashed onto the basement steps.'I remember now, said Mr.Boldova. 'Someone was playing a piano.'But there was no one left in the ruined building. The firemen made quitesure of that. So whoever had been playing the hidden piano had gotten out ofthe house before it was too late.'Strange,' said Mr. Boldova. 'I never saw the pianist, Ionly heard the notes. That's all. Just wonderful music.'Charlie thought of his father. Was it possible that he'd been kept upthere, in Venetia's loft, with only a piano for company? And if so, where washe now?Uncle Paton tapped Charlie on the shoulder. 'You've got something totell this gentleman, haven't you, Charlie?'Have I?' said Charlie dreamily 'Oh, yes. Of course.'And he told Mr. Boldova all about Ollie.'This is the best news I've ever had in my life!' said the artteacher. 'Can you take me to him? Now? Andplease, do you think you could call me Samuel? I'd rather leave the Boldovapart of my life behind.'Of course, Mr.Sparks,' said Charlie. 'Ollie's not far away And my uncle . . .'He looked around, but Paton had slipped away Charlie guessed he'd gone back toIngledew's bookshop.On Sunday seven friends withassorted pets met at the Pets' Caf. They all wanted to see the invisible boyWith new clothes, a bath, and a haircut, Ollie looked completely normal. It wasquite disappointing. But the disappointment didn't last long.'I want you all to cometo Sparkling Castle,' said Ollie. 'Samuel says it's mid-semestersoon, so you could come for a week. I haven't had a friend there for ages, andif it wasn't for you all, I wouldn't be here.'Who cared about learninglines, practicing scales, or painting scenery when a whole week could be spentin a castle?'It's not a realcastle,' said Ollie, 'but there's lots of room. And there aremountains and streams and forests and fields.' It sounded OK.Charlie got his wish. UnclePaton rented a van. He wasn't going to buy one, he said, because they weren'texactly his style. But for carrying eight children, an art teacher, a ladybookseller, and a dog it was obviously necessaryThey all met outside thebookshop on the following Saturday Just after dark, Uncle Paton rolled up in along silver van. Backpacks and sleeping bags were stowed in the back,sandwiches and drinks pushed under the seats, and everybody piled in.Miss Ingledew sat beside UnclePaton in the front. Charlie and Fidelio sat with the Sparks brothers in thenext row with Runner Bean spread across their knees. And the other fivesqueezed themselves into the back.As they left the city lightsbehind them and plunged into the dark lanes, Ollie said, 'Where's thatother boy? The one who made the boa change?'Charlie felt bad about Billy'They won't let him leave the academy' he said. 'But one daywe'll get him out. You know, Billy's probably braver than any of us.'There was a murmur ofagreement from the others, but before their mood became too somber, Gabrielsaid, 'Right now, Billy's OK, actually I managed to get Rembrandt into thekitchens. I bet they're having a great time together. Oh, and by the wayBlessed's got his tail back. Cook took him to see the boa!'Samuel Sparks said he wasglad to know that Rembrandt had someone to talk to. He had never been sure ifthe rat was happy 'I don't think he liked these,' said Samuel, and hetook two stones out of his pocket and let them sparkle across his palm.Animals don't likemagic,' said Gabriel, whereupon Runner Bean stood up on Charlie's kneesand gave a long howl. 'You see?' said Gabriel, and everyone laughed.It was a long journey andseveral times Charlie fell asleep. He would wake briefly when Runner Beanlicked his face or changed position. But the last time Charlie woke up, the carhad jerked violently to a halt. They had reached a fork in the road and,looking through the window Charlie saw a signpost. There were two names at thetop. The left sign read SPARKLE-STONES andthe right read YORWYNDE.'Yorwynde?' saidCharlie sleepily 'What does that mean?'It means that the roadleads to Yewbeam Castle,' said Uncle Paton solemnlyCharlie felt a cold tingle offear run down his spine. What hadYorath said to his uncle? 'If you harm mydear one, you'll pay for it with your life.' And Paton had harmed Yolanda.So what would Yorath do? Better not think about it yet, Charlie decided.Miss Ingledew put a hand onPaton's rigid fingers, and he turned to her with a smile. 'That's one roadwe won't be taking,' he said.The car lurched forward andfollowed the sign to Sparklestones. The road became steep and twisting, butthey hadn't gone far when Ollie cried, 'Look! We're home!'And there it was, standing ona sharp rise just ahead of them: Sparkling Castle. And it was sparkling. Inevery window of the strange, rambling, turreted house, there was a row offlashing, sparkling lights.A lost boy was coming homeand a father had recovered his sparkle.Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar/Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar_files/filelist.xml Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar/Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar_files/header.htmNimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar/Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar_files/image001.jpgNimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar/Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar_files/image002.jpgNimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar/Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar_files/image003.jpgNimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar/Nimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar_files/image004.jpgNimmo, Jenny - [Children of The Red King 03] - Charlie Bone and the Invisible Boy.rar/Cover.jpg