by Jenny Nimmo
It was some time before the headmaster spoke. The children looked up at him expectantly At last he said, "A word to those of the new children who are endowed. You know who you are, so I shall not mention you by name. You will do your homework in the King's room. Someone will show you the way Do you understand?"
Charlie heard three thin voices utter the words, "Yes, sir." He couldn't tell where they had come from, but they certainly didn't belong to anyone at the music table.
Dr. Bloor suddenly shouted, " DISPERSE!"
Children sprang into action like clockwork. Benches squeaked on the tiled floor, plates were collected into piles, glasses clinked, cutlery clanged, and then everyone made for the doors. As Charlie climbed up to the first floor, he was joined by Gabriel and Billy Emma Tolly was ahead of him, and Tancred and Lysander could just be seen flying up another flight to the second floor.
Emma waited for Charlie to catch up with her. "I found these on the floor of our coatroom," she said, holding out three crumpled sheets of paper. "I heard you were looking for them."
"My lines," cried Charlie, grabbing the paper. "Thanks, Em. But how did they get in the art coatroom?"
"Haven't a clue," said Emma.
Charlie shoved the pages into his bag. The sound of heavy footsteps behind him made him look back, and he saw Dorcas Loom trudging slowly up the stairs. She was a plump girl with fair curly hair and a healthy complexion. Dorcas was a fervent admirer of Char lie 's great-aunt Venetia, and with her endowment, she could make clothes that had a deadly magic.
"What are you staring at?" she said sullenly
"A cat may look at a queen," replied Charlie.
Dorcas gave a "Ha" of disgust, then continued to plod up the stairs.
Charlie and his friends stepped into the strange, circular King's room, with its round table and curving, book-lined walls.
Manfred was standing at the far side of the table, staring straight at the doors. Charlie's heart lurched, and then disappointment washed over him in a sickening wave as he saw a hunched figure sitting beside Manfred. It was Asa Pike, Manfred's devoted slave, the boy who could become a beast at dusk. He should have left school. Why was he still here? There were also three new children in the room. Joshua Tilpin was one of them.
"Come on, come on," ordered Manfred impatiently "Stop crowding in the door. I have an important announcement to make."
Charlie pulled himself together and walked around the table until he came to a place beside Tancred. From here, he could see the Red King's portrait: an old painting of a musty figure in a red cape and a slim gold crown. Gabriel, Billy and Emma followed Charlie, while Dorcas stomped in and closed the door with her foot.
"Show some respect for my father's house!" barked Manfred.
Dorcas scowled, but didn't dare to look Manfred in the eye. "Someone's sitting in my seat," she muttered.
"Don't be stupid, Dorc," said Manfred.
Asa snickered. “ ‘Dork.’ That's good."
Manfred ignored him. "Just sit anywhere, girl, and hurry up about it."
If Dorcas had wanted to sit on Manfred's other side, she was out of luck. Squeezed in between Manfred and Joshua Tilpin were two extraordinary-looking girls. They both had very shiny black hair, cut just below the ears, long bangs, and complexions that were so pale and smooth, they looked like porcelain.
Twins, obviously, thought Charlie. If they're real. For the girls' faces were so blank, and their bodies so still, they could have been dolls.
Dorcas shuffled around the table and put her books next to Joshua's. He gave her one of his beaming crooked-teeth smiles, and Dorcas actually smiled back.
"Now that we're all here," said Manfred, glancing at Dorcas, "I want to explain a few things. First of all, you probably didn't expect to see me again. Well, you're stuck with me." No one made a sound except Asa, who snorted. "I'm now a teaching assistant," Manfred went on importantly "My job description is to supervise your homework, monitor your progress, supervise during exams, and help with any personal or work-related problems." He paused to take a breath, and Charlie wondered who on earth would want to ask the ex-head boy for help.
"Now; for introductions." Manfred named everyone at the table until he came to the inscrutable girls beside him. “And these are the twins Inez and Idith Branko."
As soon as their names were mentioned, the twins bent their heads and stared at the books in front of them. With alarming speed, the books flew across the table. One pile landed in Charlie's lap and the other in Tancred's.
"Oh, no!" Tancred grunted. "Telekinesis." The sleeves of his cape ballooned out, his blond hair crackled, and a draft sent a shiver through the loose sheets of paper lying on the table.
"I see that your summer vacation didn't improve your self-control, Tancred," said Manfred in a mocking tone.
Tancred and Charlie stood up and handed the twins' books back across the table. The girls didn't say a word and their laces remained completely blank.
Charlie couldn't resist remarking, "It's polite to say thank you."
Idith and Inez remained silent, but one of them, who knows which, shot him a very nasty look.
"Try and be pleasant to the new girls, Bone," said Manfred. "The twins are related to Zelda Dobinski, who has left us. Apparently she is a mathematical genius, so she's off to a university at a very early age. Unfortunately Asa here is the opposite of a genius. He's still with us because he failed all his exams."
Frowning with embarrassment, Asa hunched even farther down in his seat, and Charlie felt a rare twinge of sympathy for him. To be ridiculed by someone he admired must have been very painful.
"Last, but not least, we have Joshua Tilpin," Manfred announced.
On hearing his name, Joshua leaped up and bowed. Anyone would have thought he was a prince. And yet he looked a mess. His green cape was covered in dust, there were leaves and grass in his hair, and a cobweb hung from one of his ears.
"Sit down, Joshua," said Manfred. "You're not a pop star."
Joshua beamed at him, and to everyone's amazement, Manfred smiled back. Getting a smile out of Manfred was like getting water out of a stone.
What next? thought Charlie. He was just about to start his homework when Manfred said, "Charlie Bone, you didn't bring me your lines."
"Oh, sorry Manfred. I've got them here." Charlie fumbled in his bag.
"I asked you to bring them to my office."
"But ... I don't know where it is," Charlie confessed.
Manfred sighed. He looked at the ceiling and declared, "I am behind words ... on the way to music . . . beneath a wing . . . and before trumpets, masks, and brushes." He paused for effect and brought his gaze back to Charlie. "Do I make myself clear?"
In any other circumstance, Charlie would have said, "Clear as mud," but as the situation was already pretty grim, he decided to say "Yes, Manfred."
"Good. Then bring your lines to my office before bedtime, or it's detention for you."
DETENTION FOR CHARLIE
Charlie was lucky to have a friend like Lysander Sage. Lysander always finished his homework early and today as soon as his work was done, he applied himself to Manfred's riddle.
As Charlie was leaving the King's room, Lysander grabbed his arm. "I think I know where Manfred's office is," he whispered. "Let's go and find our dorms and I'll explain."
Billy Raven had crept up on them. "Can I come with you?" he asked Charlie.
"Billy Raven, I want a word with you." Manfred stood outside the King's room, looking at the three boys.
Billy gave a resigned shrug and walked back to Manfred.
"Poor kid," Lysander said under hi
s breath. He began to explain how he had interpreted Manfred's riddle.
"I started at the end," he said, "Trumpets, masks, and brushes' must refer to the signs above our coat-rooms. So Manfred's office is ‘before' you get to them. If it's ‘on the way to music,’ then it must be somewhere down that long passageway to the Music Tower, and that's ‘beneath’ the west ‘wing' — get it?"
"Mm," said Charlie. "But what about the words, ‘behind words'?" he said.
"Words are in books," said Lysander. "I figure if you can find a bookcase in that passageway Manfred's office will be behind it. Bookcases are often used as doors to secret rooms."
"Wow! You've got it, Sander. I did see a bookcase down there. Brilliant! Thanks!"
"You're welcome. Hope it works."
They had reached the first dormitories and began to scan the lists of names tacked to each door. Lysander found that he was still sharing with Tancred, and to Charlie's relief he saw his own name on a list with Fidelio's. Billy's name was at the bottom.
Fidelio was already unpacking his bag. He'd saved a bed beside his for Charlie. The dormitory was almost exactly the same as last year's. Six narrow beds arranged on either side of a long bleak room, with a single dim lightbulb hanging in the center.
Charlie quickly shoved all his possessions in a bedside dresser and hung his cape on a hook. "I'm going to try and find Manfred's office," he told Fidelio. "Can you cover for me if the matron comes in?"
"I'll say you're in the bathroom," said Fidelio. "Good luck."
Charlie was halfway down the hallway when he met an excited Billy Raven coming the other way
"I'm being adopted. Manfred just told me."
"That's great!" cried Charlie.
The small boy touched his white hair. "I wonder why they want me. I mean, they could have chosen any boy Someone nicer-looking, someone different."
"Who are they?" asked Charlie, suddenly concerned for Billy
"They're called de Grey Mr. and Mrs. de Grey They're a bit older than I expected, actually Manfred showed me a photo. But he says they're nice and very kind. And they've got a lovely house. I'll have my own room with everything I could want, even a TV he says. Imagine, my own TV."
Charlie would have liked to see the de Greys' photo. He might have been able to learn a little more about them if he'd heard their voices. "Did Manfred give you the photo?" he asked.
Billy shook his head.
"Well, it's great news, Billy."
Charlie was about to continue on when Billy suddenly asked, "Did you bring your wand to school with you?"
"Yes, I —" Charlie stopped. "Why do you want to know?"
"I just thought, you know, it would be good if you had it with you — to protect you, kind of thing. Do you keep it in your bedside dresser?"
"No." Charlie kept his precious wand under his mattress, but he wasn't going to tell Billy He'd said enough already.
"No. It'd be too long for the dresser," said Billy. "Under the mattress, then?"
Charlie felt uncomfortable. Was Billy still spying for the Bloors? "I've got to run, Billy" he said quickly "Got to get my lines to Manfred's office. See you later."
Charlie hurried on. All the activity in the school had shifted to the dormitories, and the great flag-stoned hall echoed with Charlie's solitary footsteps. For the second time that day he opened the ancient door leading to the Music Tower. He stepped into the dark passageway and surveyed the rough stone walls. Halfway down, on his right, he saw a small recess. Charlie crept along in the gloom, until he came to a narrow set of shelves crammed with drab, serious-looking books.
"Hmmm. Are you a door, then?" Charlie pushed one side of the bookcase, then the other. Nothing moved. Perhaps it wasn't a door at all. One by one, Charlie began to remove the books, searching for a knob or a handle to open the supposed door. But there was nothing.
"What are you doing?"
Charlie almost jumped out of his skin. A figure in a purple cape came gliding toward him. "Why are you here?" asked Tantalus Ebony.
"I was looking for Manfred's office," stammered Charlie.
"I see." Mr. Ebony gave Charlie a look of such overwhelming hatred, Charlie had to step back, dizzy with shock. A suffocating brew of smells filled his nostrils: stale air, candle wax, rotting things, mildew, and soot.
"You do well to be afraid, Bone," said the teacher coldly "You're a troublesome little devil, aren't you?"
Before Charlie could reply the man's features seemed to dissolve, and an array of completely different expressions crossed his pale face. For a fraction of a second, Charlie felt that from behind the changing masks, someone gazed out at him with infinite tenderness. He was sure that he had imagined this, however, when the look of haughty indifference returned to the teacher's face.
"You wanted the office." Mr. Ebony pressed a knot in the wood at the top of the bookcase. Immediately it swung aside, revealing the dim interior of" a small office.
"Thank you." Nervously Charlie stepped inside.
"I'll leave you to it, then. Toodle-oo." The extraordinary teacher's voice changed completely He waved his long fingers and rushed away humming a slightly familiar tune.
Charlie looked around the room. It was very tidy A photograph of a younger-looking Dr. Bloor with a small boy and a dark-haired woman hung above the mantelpiece. Manfred and his parents. Beneath the window, there was a desk and an adjustable leather chair that faced the courtyard beyond. Charlie stepped up to the desk and put his lines on a stack of papers. He was about to turn away when something caught his eye. A small print of a horse lay beside the papers. Charlie picked it up. There were other pictures beneath, prints of horses' skeletons.
At this point, Charlie should have left the room, but he had noticed a packet of photographs at the end of the desk. Charlie was not the sort of boy to hold back when he saw something interesting. And he was always interested in photographs. As he carefully lifted the packet, he failed to hear the soft swish behind him.
The photos were disappointing. There were only two people in them: a man and a woman. They were both middle-aged and rather ordinary The man had thinning hair and wore glasses; the woman's face was round, her hair short and straight, and her teeth very long. In all the photographs, she was smiling. No, not smiling, Charlie decided. It seemed rather that she was holding something invisible between her teeth.
In most of the photographs, the couple sat side by side on a sofa, but there were two taken in a garden and two more in a kitchen. Charlie was scrutinizing the empty-looking kitchen when he suddenly heard the woman speak.
Smile, Usher. We want to put the boy at ease.
I don't like children. The man's tone was light, his voice slightly nasal. Never have.
It won't be for long.
How long?
Until he does what they want You'll have to use your talent — you know — to stop him from getting out.
Talent? said the man in a whiny voice. What use . . .
Charlie heard footsteps. He quickly put the photos back into the packet and placed it back down at the end of the desk. But when he went to the door, he found that it was stuck. There was no handle, no keyhole, no latch. He was caught.
Charlie banged on the door "Hi! Anyone there? It's me, Charlie Bone."
There was no answer.
Charlie banged again. "Hi, Mr. Ebony sir Are you there? Manfred?"
Charlie continued to knock and call for several minutes, and then he gave up.
It began to get dark. Charlie sat in the chair and thought about the photographs. All at once, it came to him. They were Billy Raven's new parents. Billy had alwa ys longed to have nice, kind parents and a real h
ome H ow could Charlie tell him the truth?
As he sat in the gloom, wrestling with his dilemma, the lights across the courtyard went out one by one until Charlie was left in complete darkness. He made his way around the room, fumbling for a light switch. There didn't seem to be one. He pushed at the door. He knocked and called but no one came. The cathedral clock struck nine. Charlie sat on the floor and dozed.
A sound from the courtyard woke him up. Clop! Clop! Clop! Charlie shook his sleepy head. Hooves. There was a horse in the courtyard. Charlie stood up. I le could just make out the window's pale rectangle of light, but it was impossible to see anything in the yard beyond.
The cathedral clock struck ten and the hoofbeats faded. Charlie was about to shout again when the door swung open and a fierce light beamed in his face.
"What the heck are you doing here?"
Charlie recognized Dr. Bloor's deep voice. "I came to give Manfred some lines, sir, and then the door closed."
"How did you get in?"
"Mr. Ebony let me in, sir."
"Did he, now?"
"Yes, sir." Charlie wished Dr. Bloor would shine the flashlight away from his eyes.
"Well, it's detention for you, Charlie Bone. You'll stay in school an extra night. Now get back to your dormitory"
Dr. Bloor hauled Charlie out of the room and gave him a push down the passageway Charlie had almost reached his dormitory when the matron loomed around a corner and grabbed his shoulder.
"Ouch!" cried Charlie. "If you were going to give me detention, don't bother. I've already got it."
Charlie could hear Lucretia Yewbeam grinding her teeth. "Be quiet, until you're spoken to. Where have you been?"
"Stuck in Manfred's office," said Charlie with a sigh. "He asked me to give him my lines."
"Lines? On the first day of the semester? You're hopeless. I can't believe we're related."
"Nor I," Charlie mumbled.
"What did you say?"
