by Jenny Nimmo
“Wow, Uncle Paton,” Charlie said gravely. “It’s amazing that you didn’t end up dead.”
Paton nodded. “Amazing indeed. I don’t know what kept me alive, Charlie, unless it was the memory of my mother and … and a certain other person.” He cleared his throat. “Yolanda may have come to help Ezekiel, but now that she knows what you can do, she’ll want to take you back, you know.”
“To Yewbeam Castle?” squeaked Charlie.
“We won’t let it happen,” said Paton firmly. “And now, on a brighter note, you’ve got things to do, Charlie, plans to make for rescuing the invisible boy. If you ask me, Billy Raven is the key.”
“Billy, how?”
“He can talk to creatures, can’t he? Get him to talk to that boa. It can’t be all bad.”
Charlie sat thinking about this 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 came downstairs from her room on the top floor. She’d heard none of the shouting and slamming that had gone on earlier and was so astonished to see Paton up and about and better than ever, she almost fainted.
Grabbing a chair, Amy Bone sat down heavily and muttered, “That strange gentleman from the painting can’t have been so bad after all. Oh, Paton, I’m so glad you’re well. We’ll all sleep easier in our beds now that you’re back in form.”
Charlie wondered why Skarpo had stopped being a bad-tempered trickster and decided to be helpful. Was it when he saw the wand in Charlie’s hands? And if so, why?
At one o’clock Charlie politely declined Paton’s offer of a special lunch, ordered by phone from the grandest store in town, and set off for the Pets’ Café. He had too much on his mind to enjoy a rich meal. Orange juice and cookies would do nicely.
All his friends were there, sitting around the largest table in the room, with birds, gerbils, rabbits, and Fidelio’s deaf cat sitting on shoulders, heads, and laps. Runner Bean greeted Charlie in the usual rough, wet manner, pawing, licking, and barking, until Charlie bought him a large cookie and threw it under the table.
“Is everyone ready?” said Lysander rather severely. “We’ve got urgent matters to discuss. Tancred and I have made a list, and we’d like some input from the rest of you.” He placed a sheet of lined paper in the middle of the table. It read:
1. The Blue Boa to be found.
2. The Blue Boa to be tamed.
3. The Blue Boa to be taken out of Bloor’s Academy, to a place where it can cure Ollie.
4. Ollie Sparks to be found.
5. Ollie Sparks must leave Bloor’s Academy while still invisible. (Easier that way.)
6. The Blue Boa to make Ollie visible.
7. Ollie must be taken home to Sparkling Castle.
Everyone stared at the list, written in Lysander’s admirable calligraphy. They passed the paper around the table until they had all read it thoroughly. When this had been done, their faces looked either doubtful or downright gloomy.
“It’s not that bad,” said Charlie. “For one thing, I know where the boa is, and I can find it again.”
“But how do we tame it?” asked Emma.
“Billy,” said Charlie. “He can talk to animals.”
“So how do we persuade Billy to do that?” asked Olivia. “I mean, would you like to have a conversation with an oversized, invisible-making snake?”
“I trust Billy now,” said Charlie. “I really think he wants to help us.”
“Rembrandt,” Gabriel said thoughtfully. “We’ll tell Billy if he helps us, he can have Rembrandt. He’d do anything to see that rat again; he loves it.”
“Good idea, Gabriel,” said Lysander, “but with Weedon and Manfred on the lookout — not to mention 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 looked at him for more information, he said, “Trust me.”
“OK,” said Lysander. “Now we have to find a way of getting the boa out of the academy.”
“I’ve got an idea,” said Charlie. “I’m working on it.”
His friends stared at him with questions forming on their lips, but Charlie added quickly, “I can’t tell you anything yet, but I know I’ll be able to work it out.” Once again, he was thinking of Cook.
“Now we come to Ollie.” Tancred pointed to number five on the sheet.
“Actually, I’ve thought of that,” said Emma. Reddening slightly as everyone turned to look at her, she put an enormous spider on the table.
There were several loud gasps, and a wild blast of air blew the paper off the table as Tancred yelled, “Yikes! How’s that going to help?”
“Give her a chance,” said Olivia, retrieving the paper.
“It’s not real,” said Emma, slipping her finger into the spider’s body. “It’s like a finger puppet, only Ollie can put it on his toe. Then he can walk through the main doors whenever one of the staff goes out, and they’ll just see a spider instead of a toe.”
“Brilliant!” said everyone except Tancred, who obviously had a thing about spiders. “A leaping spider,” he muttered. “I mean, it’s hardly going to walk like a 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 a better 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’t be around to help him. We can’t get out dressed as spiders.”
Olivia said, “We’ve thought of that, Emma and me. He can go to the bookshop. It’s easy to find because it’s right beside the cathedral, and you can see that from anywhere in the city.”
“I’ve told my aunt if someone 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 got enough sorted out to start our little operation,” said Lysander. “Let’s begin on Monday night, with numbers one and two. The finding and taming of the boa.”
Charlie had a problem. How to get Billy up to the west wing attics without being seen?
“Distraction,” said Tancred, 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’ Café in very good spirits, each one of them eager to begin the week ahead. At that moment, none of the seven children wanted to consider the pitfalls of their mission. They could only imagine the visible Ollie Sparks, reunited at last with his grieving parents.
While the others went home to feed their pets or work on the end-of-semester play, Charlie took Runner Bean for a walk. When he returned the dog to the Pets’ Café, Mr. Onimous popped out from behind the counter.
“Something’s going on,” said the little man. “If you need a hand, Charlie, you know where to come.”
Charlie thanked Mr. Onimous and ran back to Filbert Street, eager to see if his uncle’s amazing recovery had lasted.
It had.
When Charlie looked into the kitchen he was astonished to see his mother and Paton having tea with Grandma Bone. Perhaps it would be more accurate to say dessert rather than tea. It was a hot afternoon, and Paton had ordered several tubs of liqueur-laced ice cream from the same grand store that had provided his lunch.
Charlie was invited to join them and he sat opposite Grandma Bone, who was guzzling a large bowl of green-and-brown-striped ice cream, topped with almonds. She didn’t so much as glance at Charlie but kept spooning the ice cream into her mouth at a rate of two spoonf
uls a second, by Charlie’s reckoning.
“Chocolate, cherry, rum, and walnut? Toffee, apple, brandy, and almonds? Or coffee, orange, whiskey, and peanut?” Paton asked Charlie.
Charlie chose the chocolate and began to dig in. It was the most delicious ice cream he’d ever tasted; he hoped Paton’s recovery meant that more of the same would be arriving at number nine every weekend.
Grandma Bone’s bowl was now empty. She stared at it rather sadly and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Charlie thought she looked tipsy. When she got up, she swayed a little as she moved to the sink. She had still not said a word or even looked in Charlie’s direction. 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 very welcome.” Paton winked at Charlie as Grandma Bone made slow and stately progress past the table and out of the room.
“What’s happened to Grandma?” Charlie whispered.
His mother put a finger to her lips.
Charlie grinned. It was only then that he noticed the wicker basket sitting just inside the door. It gave him an idea. When his grandmother had finally tottered upstairs and closed her door, 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 jar of Best Strawberry Conserve.
“Whole strawberries,” Charlie murmured. “Uncle Paton, could I have this jam?”
“Of course, Charlie. I think I can guess what it’s for.”
“And the hamper,” said Charlie. “Do you think you could get the store to send an even bigger one to Cook at Bloor’s Academy? The very biggest they’ve got?”
“Charlie, whatever for?” said his mother.
“Charlie’s got a plan,” said Paton. “We’ll just have to go along with it and not ask too many questions, Amy.”
Mrs. Bone shook her head. “I hope it won’t stir things up again,” she said. “Grandma Bone’s settled down nicely this afternoon.”
“Too nicely,” Charlie muttered. “And too quiet. Something’s brewing, you can tell. I wonder what the aunts are up to.”
On Monday, Charlie took the first available opportunity to speak to Cook. In the middle of lunch, he slipped into the kitchen on the pretext of fetching a mop for a spilled glass of water.
Cook saw Charlie standing by the door and came over. Anyone observing them would have wondered why they appeared to be having such a deep discussion about mops. But the lunch ladies were too busy to notice anything unusual. Charlie did most of the talking and Cook nodded now and again, eventually patting Charlie on the shoulder with a reassuring smile.
Charlie said, “Thanks, Cook!” and left the kitchen — without a mop.
Billy Raven was sitting between Gabriel and Fidelio at their table, and when Charlie joined them, he noticed that Billy seemed very depressed. But then he hadn’t looked happy since Rembrandt had gone.
It was Gabriel who brought up the subject of the black rat. “Would you like to see Rembrandt again?” he asked Billy.
Billy gave a rueful nod. “He was my best friend. I could talk to him about practically anything. He was 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 be arranged,” said Charlie. “Cook says she would keep him for you, and you could see him every weekend. But you’d have to promise never, ever to tell anyone where he was.”
“I wouldn’t!” said Billy, crossing his heart. “I swear!”
“If we arranged this for you, you’d have to do something for us,” said Fidelio.
“What would I have to do?” Billy immediately looked anxious.
Charlie suggested they discuss things outside.
Olivia and Emma were sitting under a tree when they saw Charlie and his friends come through the garden door. The girls would have joined them, but they noticed Billy was with them and decided to stay where they were rather than intrude on what looked like a tense situation.
Billy was very pale; he kept shaking his head and nervously biting his nails. And then Gabriel said something and Billy calmed down. He gave a resigned sort of smile, nodded, and hung his head.
When the hunting horn sounded, the girls rushed over to Charlie just before he stepped into the hall.
“What happened with Billy?” said Olivia.
“He’ll do it,” whispered Charlie. “It’ll be tonight. Don’t leave the dormitory, and keep an eye on Belle.”
Emma quickly handed Charlie the spider. “You’ll need this,” she said.
For the rest of the day, Charlie found it hard to concentrate on anything but the night ahead. He knew he would have to wait until at least midnight before he and Billy could set off to 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, Charlie caught up with Tancred and Lysander before they went into their dormitory. “Are you on for tonight?” he asked them. “Billy’s agreed.”
“We’ll do our bit,” said Tancred. “What time?”
“Midnight.”
“I hope we don’t scare the kid,” said Lysander. “The ancestors can look a bit awesome.”
“I’ll tell Billy you’re in control,” said Charlie.
“You wish.” Lysander gave a loud chuckle.
Zelda Dobinski happened to breeze past at that moment. She gave the trio a nasty look and sent one of Tancred’s folders flying up to the ceiling. A cloud of loose paper fluttered out as the folder flopped back onto the floor.
“She thinks she’s so clever,” muttered Tancred, gathering up the paper.
“Wait till tonight,” Lysander said softly. “She’s in for a shock.”
“What are you all doing?” This time it was Belle creeping up on them.
The boys stood aside and she marched over the paper, deliberately stepping on every piece she could see.
“Watch it!” cried Tancred. “That’s my work.”
“So?” She glared back at him with blazing cherry-colored eyes.
“So, just watch it,” Tancred retorted, his yellow hair sparking.
“Trouble?” said a voice, and Asa appeared, loping along in the gloom.
“Nothing I can’t handle.” 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 curls and walked on, with Asa trotting in her shadow.
“I think they’ve guessed that something will be happening tonight,” Charlie whispered as he helped the others to gather the paper.
“But they don’t know what it is,” Lysander reassured him. “Good luck, Charlie!”
“Thanks!” Charlie walked on to his own dormitory. He found Billy 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 a lot on our side. I’ll wake you up when it’s time.” Charlie went back to his 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 anyone else might read a book. “Should I come with you tonight?” he asked Charlie.
“No need,” Charlie replied. “It’d be better if you stayed here to keep an eye on things.”
“You’re on.” Fidelio returned to his music score, humming softly as he scanned the notes.
Gabriel came in just a few minutes before lights out. He was flushed and breathless, either from running or something that had taken him by surprise. He was carrying a rolled-up green cape.
“Are
you changing to art?” Charlie asked him, more as a joke than a serious question.
Gabriel took it very seriously. He sat down heavily on the bed on Charlie’s other side. “I found Mr. Boldova’s cape,” he said in a low voice. “It was right at the back of the art closet. I’ve been looking for something that might give us a clue to his disappearance.”
“And did the cape … you know?”
“It certainly did,” said Gabriel.
Fidelio looked up. “What’s going on?” he said.
Gabriel glanced around the dormitory. Boys were coming and going from the bathroom, some were reading in bed, others chatting or arguing. No one appeared to be interested in Gabriel and the green cape.
“Mr. B’s quite close,” 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 quite as bad. Maybe it’s because he’s endowed. He can still fight.”
The mention of his father caught Charlie off guard. Finding his father had been the last thing on his mind. Now, suddenly, he found himself wondering if his own family would ever be whole again. Where was Lyell Bone? Far, far away, or closer than anyone imagined? 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,” said Gabriel firmly. “And I’m going to wear this.” He tucked the green cape under his pillow. “Mr. Boldova was a brave man. I think his cape will give me an extra ounce of courage.”
On dangerous occasions, dreamy, slightly scatterbrained Gabriel became someone calm and strangely powerful. Charlie was glad he would be with him on this risky boa hunt.
The children of Bloor’s Academy still talk about the night of wind and spirits. It will never be forgotten.
On the stroke of midnight, that magical hour when Charlie always felt most alive and resolute, three boys left their dormitory and began to make their way toward the west wing. Billy walked between Charlie and Gabriel, the latter wearing Mr. Boldova’s green cape.
