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\00000001.jpgOLLIE SPARKS NEEDS THE HELP OFCHARLIE BONE!!A new semester is beginning at Bloor'sAcademy; and danger is lurking aroundevery corner. First Charlie's beloved UnclePaton disappears on a long and perilousjourney. Then Charlie and his friends makean astonishing discovery: an invisible boy;Ollie Sparks, has been imprisoned in the at-tic of the academyCharlie knows it's up to him to use his ex-traordinary gifts to help his uncle and Ollie.But lately his powers have been changing—and not for the better. Nothing is what itseems, and Charlie doesn't know if anyonecan be trusted — including himself . . .THE ENDOWED CHILDRENThe endowed are all descended from the tenchildren of the Red King, a magician-king

who left Africa in the twelfth century, accom-panied by three leopards.The Red King had already lived for severalcenturies, and he made a marvelous glasssphere, putting into it memories of his lifeand travels through the world. He used thesphere to twist through time, visiting thepast and the future.In any other hands, the Time Twister is dan-gerous and unpredictable.THE CHILDREN OF THE RED KING,CALLED THE ENDOWEDMANFRED BLOORHead boy of Bloor's Academy A hypnotist.He is descended from Borlath, eldest son ofthe Red King. Borlath was a brutal and sad-istic tyrant.CHARLIE BONECharlie can hear the voices of people in pho-tographs and paintings. He is descended

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from the Yewbeams, a family with many ma-gical endowments.ZELDA DOBINSKIDescended from a long line of Polish magi-cians. Zelda is telekinetic. She can move ob-jects with her mind.DORCAS LOOMAn endowed girl whose gift is, as yet,undiscovered.ASA PIKEA were-beast. He is descended from a tribewho lived in the northern forests and keptstrange beasts. Asa can change shape atdusk.BILLY RAVENBilly can communicate with animals. One ofhis ancestors conversed with ravens that saton a gibbet where dead men hung. For thistalent he was banished from his village.LYSANDER SAGE

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Descended from an African wise man. Hecan call up his spirit ancestors.GABRIEL SILKGabriel can feel scenes and emotionsthrough the clothes of others. He comes froma line of psychics.EMMA TOLLYEmma can fly. Her surname derives from theSpanish swordsman from Toledo whosedaughter married the Red King. He is there-fore an ancestor of all the endowed children.TANCRED TORSSONA storm-bringer His Scandinavian ancestorwas named after the thunder god, Thor. Tan-cred can bring wind, thunder, and lightning.PROLOGUEWhen the Red King left Africa , he took withhim a rare snake, a boa, given to him by atraveling wise man. The boa's skin was blackand silver and its eyes like beads of jet.

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Sometimes, the shining eyes would close, butthis was a deception. In the king's presencethe boa was eternally vigilant. No thief or as-sassin dared to pass it. The king, who couldspeak its language, regarded the boa as afriend, a guardian, and a wise counselor. Heloved the creature dearlyOne day while the king was absent on ahunting trip, his eldest son, Borlath, caughtthe boa in a net. Borlath had the crudestheart of any man living, and his greatestsport was to torture. Within a week he hadturned the wise and gentle boa into acreature that lived only to kill. It wouldsqueeze its victims into oblivion withinminutes.The king's daughter, Guanhamara, horrifiedby the boa's new and deadly nature, rescuedthe creature and cast a spell, hoping to cureit. Alas, Guanhamara's spell came too late

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and merely weakened the boa's fatal hug. Itsvictims did not die, but they becameinvisible.When Guanhamara died, the boa fell into adeep sleep. It shriveled into a thing that wasneither alive nor dead. Hoping one day toreawaken the creature, Guanhamara's sevendaughters (every one of them a witch) sealedthe boa in a jar of liquid made blue withherbs. They also put in a bird with delicate,shiny wings. But the embalmed creatureswere stolen by Borlath and passed downthrough his descendants, until Ezekiel Bloor,using a method recommended by his grand-father, managed to revive the boa, whoseskin had become a silvery blue. He was lesssuccessful with the bird.Ezekiel was now a hundred years old. He hadalways longed to become invisible but, as faras he knew the boa's hug was permanent,

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and he didn't dare to let the creature hughim. The old man still searched for a way toreverse invisibility while the boa lived in theshadowy attics of Bloor's Academy keepingits secret, until someone could bring it thecomfort of understanding — and listen to itsstorySOMEONE DANGEROUSAn owl swooped over the roof of numbernine Filbert Street . It hovered above a run-ning mouse and then perched on a branchbeside Charlie Bone's window The owlhooted, but Charlie slept on.Across the road, at number twelve, BenjaminBrown was already awake. He opened hiscurtains to look at the owl and saw three fig-ures emerge from the door of number nine.In the pale streetlight their faces were a blurof shadows, but Benjamin would have knownthem anywhere. They were Charlie Bone's

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great-aunts, Lucretia, Eustacia, and VenetiaYewbeam. As the three women tiptoed furt-ively down the steps, one of them suddenlylooked up at Benjamin. He shrank behindthe curtain and watched them hurry away upthe road. They wore black hooded coats andtheir heads tilted toward one another likeconspirators.It was half past four in the morning. Whywere the Yewbeam sisters out so early? Hadthey been in Charlie's house all night?They've been hatching some nastyplot, thought Benjamin.If only Charlie hadn't inherited such astrange talent. And if only his great-auntshadn't gotten to know about it, perhaps he'dhave been safe. But when your ancestor is amagician and a king, your relations arebound to expect something of you. "PoorCharlie," Benjamin murmured.

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Benjamin's big yellow dog, Runner Bean,whined sympathetically from the bed. Ben-jamin wondered if he'd guessed what was go-ing to happen to him. Probably. Mr. andMrs. Brown had spent the last two dayscleaning the house and packing. Dogs alwaysknow something is up when people startpacking."Breakfast, Benjamin!" Mrs. Brown calledfrom the kitchen.Mr. Brown could be heard singing in theshower.Benjamin and Runner Bean went down-stairs. Three bowls of oatmeal sat on the kit-chen table. Benjamin sat down. His motherwas frying sausages and tomatoes and hewas glad to see that she hadn't forgotten hisdog. Runner Bean's bowl was already full ofchopped sausage.

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Mr. Brown arrived still singing and still inhis bathrobe. Mrs. Brown was alreadydressed. She wore a neat gray suit and herstraight straw-colored hair was cut veryshort. She wore no jewelryBenjamin's parents were private detectivesand they tried to look as inconspicuous aspossible. Sometimes, they wore a false mus-tache or a wig to disguise themselves. It wasusually only Mr. Brown who wore the falsemustaches, but on one occasion (an occasionBenjamin would like to forget) Mrs. Brownhad also found it necessary to wear one.Benjamin's mother swapped his now emptybowl for a full plate and said, "You'd bettertake Runner across to Charlie as soon asyou've brushed your teeth. We'll be leavingin half an hour.""Yes, Mom." Benjamin gulped down the restof his breakfast and ran back upstairs. He

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didn't tell his mother that Charlie hadn't ac-tually agreed to look after Runner Bean.The Browns' bathroom overlooked FilbertStreet , and while Benjamin was brushing histeeth he saw a tall man in a long black coatwalk down the steps of number nine. Ben-jamin stopped brushing and stared. What onearth was going on in Charlie's house?The tall man was Paton Yewbeam, Charlie'sgreat-uncle. He was wearing dark glassesand he carried a white stick. Benjamin as-sumed the dark glasses had something to dowith Paton's unfortunate talent for explodinglights. Paton never appeared in daylight, ifhe could help it, but this was an extraordin-ary time to be going out, even for him. Hewalked up to a midnight-blue car, openedthe trunk, and carefully placed the wand (forthat's what it was) right at the back.

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Before Benjamin had even rinsed his tooth-brush, Charlie's uncle had driven off He wentin the opposite direction from his sisters,Benjamin noted. This wasn't surprising,since Paton and his sisters were swornenemies."You'd better go over to Charlie's," Mrs.Brown called from the kitchen. Benjaminpacked his pajamas and toothbrush andwent downstairs.Runner Bean's tail hung dejectedly His earswere down and his eyes rolled piteously Ben-jamin felt guilty "Come on, Runner." Hespoke with an exaggerated cheerfulness thatdidn't fool his dog for one minute.The boy and the dog left the house together.They were best friends and Runner Beanwouldn't have dreamed of disobeying Ben-jamin, but today he dragged his paws veryreluctantly up the steps of number nine.

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Benjamin rang the bell and Runner Beanhowled. It was the howl that woke Charlie.Everyone else in the house woke brieflythought they'd had a nightmare, and wentback to sleep.Charlie, recognizing the howl, staggereddownstairs to open the door. "What'shappened?" he asked, blinking at the street-lights. "It's still night, isn't it?""Sort of," said Benjamin. "I've got someamazing news. I'm going to Hong Kong ."Charlie rubbed his eyes. "What, now?""Yes."Charlie stared at his friend in bewildermentand then invited him in for a piece of toast.While the toast was browning, Charlie askedBenjamin if Runner Bean would be travelingto Hong Kong with him."Er — no," said Benjamin. "He'd have to bequarantined and he'd hate that."

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"So where's he going?" Charlie glanced atRunner Bean and the big dog gave him a for-lorn sort of smile."That's just it," Benjamin said, with a slightcough. "There's no one else but you, Charlie.""Me? 1 can't keep a dog here," said Charlie."Grandma Bone would kill it.""Don't say that." Benjamin looked anxiouslyat Runner Bean who was crawling under thetable. "Now look what you've done. He wasupset already"As Charlie began to splutter his protests,Benjamin quickly explained that the HongKong visit had been a complete surprise. AChinese billionaire had asked his parents totrace a priceless necklace that had beenstolen from his Hong Kong apartment. TheBrowns couldn't resist such a well-paid andchallenging case, but, since it might take sev-eral months, they did not want to leave

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Benjamin behind. Unfortunately this didn'tapply to Runner Bean.Charlie slumped at the kitchen table andscratched his head. His bushy hair was evenmore tangled than usual. "Oh," was all hecould say"Thanks, Charlie." Benjamin shoved a largepiece of toast into his mouth. "I'll let myselfout." At the kitchen door he looked backguiltily "I'm sorry I hope you'll be all right,Charlie." And then he was gone.Benjamin was so excited that he had forgot-ten to tell Charlie about his uncle and thewand or the visit of his three aunts.From the kitchen window, Charlie watchedhis friend dash across the street and jump in-to the Browns' large green car. Charlie liftedhis hand to wave, but the car drove off beforeBenjamin had seen him."Now what?" mumbled Charlie.

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As if in answer, Runner Bean growled frombeneath the table. Benjamin hadn't thoughtto leave any dog food for him, and Mr. andMrs. Brown were obviously far too busy tothink of such mundane items."Detectives!" he muttered.For five minutes Charlie struggled to thinkhow he was going to keep Runner Bean asecret from Grandma Bone. But thinking wasexhausting so early in the day Charlie laid hishead on the table and fell asleep.As luck would have it, Grandma Bone wasthe first person downstairs that morning."What's this?" Her shrill voice woke Charliewith a start. "Sleeping in the kitchen? You'relucky it's Saturday You'd have missed theschool bus.""Um." Charlie blinked up at the tall, stringywoman in her gray bathrobe. A snowy braidhung down her back and it swung from side

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to side as she began to march around the kit-chen, banging on the kettle, slamming thefridge door, and plunking hard butter on thecounter Suddenly she swiveled around andstared at Charlie. "I smell dog," she saidaccusinglyCharlie remembered Runner Bean. "D-dog?"he stammered. Luckily the heavy tableclothhung almost to the ground and his grand-mother couldn't see Runner Bean."Has that friend of yours been here? He al-ways smells of dog.""Benjamin? Er — yes," said Charlie. "Hecame to say good-bye. He's going to HongKong .""Good riddance," she grunted.When Grandma Bone went into the pantryCharlie grabbed Runner Bean's collar anddragged him upstairs.

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"I don't know what I'm going to do withyou," sighed Charlie. "I've got to go to schoolon Monday and I won't be back till Friday Ihave to sleep there, you know"Runner Bean jumped onto Charlie's bed,wagging his tail. He'd spent many happyhours in Charlie's bedroom.Charlie decided to ask his uncle Paton forhelp. Slipping out of his room, he crept alongthe landing until he came to his uncle's door.A DO NOT DISTURB sign hung just aboveCharlie's eye level. He knocked.There was no replyCharlie cautiously opened the door andlooked in. Paton wasn't there. It was unlikehim to leave the house in the morning.Charlie went over to a big desk covered withbooks and scraps of paper. On the tallest pileof books there was an envelope withCharlie's name on it.

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Charlie withdrew a sheet of paper from theenvelope and read his uncle's large scrawlyhandwriting.Charlie, dear boy,My sisters are up to no good. Heard themplotting in the early hours. Have decided togo and put a stop to things . If I don't,someone very dangerous will arrive.No time to explain. Will be back in afew days — I hope!Yours affectionately,Uncle P.P.S. Have taken wand."Oh, no," Charlie groaned. "When are thingsgoing to stop going wrong today?"Unfortunately they had only just begun.With a long sigh, Charlie left his uncle'sroom and walked straight into a pile oftowels.

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His other grandmother, Maisie Jones, whowas carrying the towels, staggered backwardand then sat down with a bang."Watch out, Charlie!" she shouted.Charlie pulled his rather overweight grand-mother to her feet and, while he helped gath-er up the towels, he told Maisie aboutPaton's note and the problem of RunnerBean."Don't worry Charlie," said Maisie. Her voicesank to a whisper as Grandma Bone came upthe stairs. "I'll look after the poor pooch. Asfor Uncle P — I'm sure it'll all turn out for thebest."Charlie went back to his room, dressedquickly and told Runner Bean that foodwould be coming, if not directly then as soonas Grandma Bone went out.This could be any time of day or not at all,but Runner Bean wasn't bothered. He curled

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up on the bed and closed his eyes. Charliewent downstairs.Maisie was filling the washing machine andAmy Bone, Charlie's mother, was gulpingdown her second cup of coffee. She toldCharlie to have a good day pecked him onthe cheek, and rushed off to the marketwhere she worked. Charlie thought shelooked too chic for a day of weighing veget-ables. Her golden-brown hair was tied backwith a velvet ribbon, and she was wearing abrand-new corn-colored coat. Charliewondered if she'd gotten a boyfriend. Hehoped not, for his vanished father's sake.Five minutes after his mother.had left,Grandma Bone came downstairs in a blackcoat, her white hair now bundled up under ablack hat. She told Charlie to brush his hairand then walked out with an odd smile onher pinched face.

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As soon as she'd gone, Charlie ran to thefridge and pulled out a bowl of leftovers: lastnight's lamb stew Maisie grinned and shookher head, but she let Charlie take some of itto Runner Bean in a saucer. "That dogshould be exercised before Grandma Bonecomes back," she called.Charlie took her advice. When Runner Beanhad wolfed down the stew, Charlie took himout into the back garden, where they had agreat game of hunt the slipper, a slipper thatCharlie despised because it had his nameembroidered in blue across the front.Runner Bean was just chewing up the last bitof slipper when Maisie flung open an up-stairs window and called, "Look out, Charlie.The Yewbeams are coming!""Stay here, Runner," Charlie commanded.“And be quiet, if you can."

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He leaped up the steps to the back door andran to the kitchen where he sat at the tableand picked up a magazine. The aunts' voicescould be heard as they climbed the frontsteps. A key turned in the lock and then theywere in the hall: Grandma Bone and herthree sisters, all talking at once.The great-aunts marched into the kitchen innew spring outfits. Lucretia and Eustacia hadexchanged their usual black suits for char-coal gray but in Aunt Venetia's case it waspurple. She also wore high-heeled purpleshoes with golden tassels dangling from thelaces. All three sisters had sinister smiles andthreatening looks in their dark eyes.Aunt Lucretia said, "So, here you are,Charlie!" She was the eldest, apart fromGrandma Bone, and a matron at Charlie'sschool."Yes, here I am," said Charlie nervously

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"Same hair, I see," said Aunt Eustacia, sittingopposite Charlie."Yes, same hair," said Charlie. "Same hair foryou too, 1 see.""Don't be smart." Eustacia patted her abund-ant gray hair. "Why haven't you brushed ittoday?""Haven't had time," said Charlie.He became aware that Grandma Bone wasstill talking to someone in the hall.Aunt Venetia suddenly said, "Tah dah!" andopened the kitchen door very wide, as if shewere expecting the Queen or a famous moviestar to walk in. But it was Grandma Bonewho appeared, followed by the prettiest girlCharlie had ever seen. She had golden curls,bright blue eyes, and lips like an angel."Hello, Charlie!" The girl held out her handin the manner of someone expecting a kiss

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on the fingers, preferably from a boy onbended knees. "I'm Belle."Charlie was too flustered to do anything.The girl smiled and sat beside him. "Oh, my"she said, "a ladies' magazine."Charlie realized, to his horror, that he washolding his mother's magazine. On the cover,a woman in pink underwear held a kitten.Charlie felt very hot. He knew his face mustbe bright red."Make us some coffee, Charlie," Aunt Lucre-tia said sharply “And then we'll be off."Charlie flung down, the magazine and ran tothe coffeemaker while Grandma Bone andthe aunts sat babbling at him. Belle would begoing to Charlie's school, Bloor's Academyand Charlie must tell her all about it.Charlie sighed. He wanted to visit his friend,Fidelio. Why did the aunts always have tospoil everything? For half an hour he

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listened to the chattering and giggling overthe coffee and buns. Belle didn't behavelike a child, thought Charlie. She lookedabout twelve, but she seemed very comfort-able with the aunts.When the last drop had been squeezed out ofthe coffeepot, the three Yewbeam sisters leftthe house, blowing kisses to Belle."Take care of her, Charlie," Aunt Venetiacalled.Charlie wondered how he was supposed todo that."Can I wash my hands, Grizel — er — Mrs.Bone?" Belle held up her sticky fingers."There's the sink." Charlie nodded to the kit-chen sink."Upstairs, dear," said Grandma Bone, with ascowl in Charlie's direction. "Bathroom'sfirst left. There's some nice lavender soapand a clean towel."

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"Thank you!" Belle skipped out.Charlie gaped. "What's wrong with the kit-chen?" he asked his grandmother."Belle has tender skin," said Grandma Bone."She can't use kitchen soap. I want you to setthe dining room table — for five. I presumeMaisie will be joining us.""The dining room?" said Charlie in disbelief."We only eat there on special occasions.""It's for Belle," snapped Grandma Bone.“A child?" Charlie was amazed."Belle is not just any child."So it seems, thought Charlie. He went to setthe dining room table while Grandma Boneshouted instructions up to Maisie. "We'd likea nice light soup today Maisie. And thensome cold ham and salad. Followed by yourlovely Bakewell tart.""Would we indeed, Your Highness?" Maisieshouted from somewhere upstairs. "Well,

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we'll have to wait, I'm afraid. Oops! Who onearth are you?"She had obviously bumped into Belle.Charlie closed the dining room door andwent to the window There was no sign ofRunner Bean in the garden. Charlie had vis-ions of a dog's lifeless body lying in a gutter.He ran to the back door, but just as he wasabout to open it, a singsong voice called,"Charleee!"Belle was standing in the hall, staring at him.Charlie could have sworn that her eyes hadbeen blue. Now they were green."Where are you going, Charlie?" she asked."Oh, I was just going into the garden for a . . .a . . .""Can I come with you?""No. That is, I've changed my mind.""Good. Come and talk to me."

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Was it possible? Belle's eyes were now agrayish brown. Charlie followed her into theliving room where she sat on the sofa, pat-ting a cushion beside her. Charlie perched atthe other end."Now, tell me all about Bloor's." Belle smiledinvitinglyCharlie cleared his throat. Where should hebegin? "Well, there are three sort of depart-ments. Music, art, and drama. I'm in music,so I have to wear a blue cape.""I shall be in art.""Then you'll wear green." Charlie glanced atthe girl. "Haven't my aunts told you all this?I mean, are you staying with them, or what?""I want to hear it from you," said Belle, ig-noring Charlie's question.Charlie continued. "Bloor's is a big graybuilding on the other side of the city It's veryvery old. There are three coatrooms, three

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assembly halls, and three cafeterias. You goup some steps between two towers, across acourtyard, up more steps, and into the mainhall. You have to be silent in the hall or you'llget detention. The music students gothrough a door under crossed trumpets; yourdoor is under the sign of a pencil andpaintbrush.""What's the sign for the drama students?""Two masks, one sad and one happy" Whydid Charlie get the impression that Belleknew all this? Her eyes were blue again. Itwas unnerving."There's another thing," 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 blue gaze on him."Oh, yes. And I'm endowed. But I prefer notto say how I'm told that you can hear voicesfrom photographs and even paintings."

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'Yes." Charlie could do more than hearvoices, but he wasn't going to give anythingaway to this strange girl. "Endowed childrenhave to do their homework in the King'sroom," he said. "There are twelve of us.Someone from art will show you where it is:Emma Tolly She's a friend of mine, and she'sendowed, too.""Emma? Ah, I've heard all about her." Belleinched her way up the sofa toward Charlie."Now tell me about you, Charlie. I believethat your father's dead.""He's not!" said Charlie fiercely "His carwent off a cliff, but they never found his bodyHe's just — lost.""Really? How did you find that out?"Without thinking, Charlie said, "My friendGabriel's got an amazing gift. He can feel thetruth in old clothes. I gave him my father'stie and Gabriel said that he wasn't dead."

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"Well, well." The girl gave Charlie a sweet,understanding smile, but the effect wasspoiled by the cold look in her eyes — now adark gray And, was it a trick of the light, ordid he glimpse a set of wrinkles just aboveher curved pink lips?Charlie slipped off the sofa. "I'd better helpmy other gran with lunch," he said.He found Maisie in the kitchen, throwingherbs into a saucepan. “All this fuss for achild," she muttered. "I've never heard ofsuch a thing.""Nor me," said Charlie. "She's a bit strange,isn't she?""She's downright peculiar. Belle indeed!""Belle means beautiful," said Charlie, re-membering his French. "And she is verypretty""Huh!" said Maisie.

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When the soup was ready Charlie helpedMaisie carry it into the chilly dining room.Grandma Bone was already sitting at thehead of the table with Belle on her right."Where's Paton?" asked Grandma Bone."He won't be coming," said Charlie.“And why not?""He doesn't eat with us, does he?" Charlie re-minded her."Today I want him here," said GrandmaBone."Well, you won't get him," said Maisie. "He'sgone away""Oh?" Grandma Bone stiffened. "And how doyou know that?" She glared, first at Maisieand then Charlie.Maisie looked at Charlie.Charlie said, "He left a note."“And what did it say?" demanded GrandmaBone.

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"I can't remember all of it," Charliemumbled."Let me see it!" She held out a bony hand."I tore it up," said Charlie.Grandma Bone's eyebrows plummeted in adark scowl. 'You shouldn't have done that. Iwant to know what's going on. I must knowwhat my brother said.""He said he'd gone to see my great-grandpa,your father, although you never go to seehim."His grandmother's tiny black eyes almostdisappeared into their wrinkled sockets."That's none of your business. Paton visitedour father last week. He only goes once amonth."Charlie only just stopped himself from men-tioning his own visit to his great-grandfath-er. Because of the family feud it had to re-main a secret. But Uncle Paton had never

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told him what caused the feud or why hemustn't talk about it. He'd have to tell anoth-er lie. "It was an emergency"This seemed to satisfy Grandma Bone, butBelle continued to stare at Charlie. Her eyeswere now dark green, and a chilling thoughtoccurred to him. Uncle Paton had gone tostop someone dangerous from arriving. Butperhaps that person was already here?THE INVISIBLE BOYT he rest of lunch was eaten in stony silence.Even Maisie seemed at a loss for words. Butjust as Charlie was clearing the plates, therewas a series of loud barks from the garden,and Runner Bean's head appeared at the bot-tom of the windowGrandma Bone, who had her back to thegarden, swung around just as the dogbobbed out of sight."What was that?" she said.

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"Obviously a dog, Grizelda," said Maisie. "Astray has probably jumped into the garden.""I'll go and shoo it out," Charlie offered.As he left the room he noticed that Bellelooked worried.Charlie ran to open the back door and Run-ner Bean came leaping in."Shhh!" said Charlie urgently "Not a sound!"He put a finger to his lips.Runner Bean appeared to understand thisand obediently followed Charlie up to hisroom."You've got to be quiet or it's curtains foryou." Charlie drew a finger across his throat.Runner Bean grunted and curled up on thebed."Did you catch it?" asked Belle when Charliereturned to the dining room."No, I just shooed it away" said Charlie.

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Belle stood up. "I want to go home now,” shesaid to Grandma Bone."Very well, dear." With surprising speed,Grandma Bone walked into the hall and puton her coat and hat.Charlie was amazed. His grandmother al-ways had a nap after lunch, even if it was justa short one. The golden-haired girl seemedto have some sort of power over her."Where is home, exactly?" he asked Belle."Don't you know where your great-auntslive?" she said.Charlie had to confess that he didn't. He'dnever been invited to their home and neverbeen told where it was."I expect you'll find out soon enough," saidBelle mysteriously."There's no need for him to know,” saidGrandma Bone, helping her into an elegantgreen jacket.

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" 'Bye, 'bye, then, Charlie!" said Belle. "I'll seeyou at Bloor's on Monday I'm going to be onthe green bus. Watch out for me.""I'll be on the blue bus. But I guess I'll seeyou some time."The strange girl smiled and tossed hergolden curls. Her eyes were blue again.When Belle and Grandma Bone had gone,Charlie went to help Maisie with the dishes."Where do the aunts live?" he asked Maisie."Some big house at the end of one of thosecreepy alleys," said Maisie. "Darkly Wynd, Ithink the road's called. Funny name. Maybeit's winding and twisty""I've never been there.""Nor me," said Maisie. “And I certainlywouldn't want to." She handed him a bowl ofleftovers. "Here, take this to Runner. I don'tknow how long we're going to be able to keep

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this up. Grandma Bone's bound to smell arat, you know""As long as it's not a dog," said Charlie, try-ing to make light of the problem.Maisie just shook her head.On Sunday Charlie managed to sneak Run-ner Bean in and out of the house beforeGrandma Bone woke up. They had a goodrace around the park, and then Charlie friedbacon and eggs for their breakfast. Apartfrom a brief run in the garden after dark,Runner Bean spent the rest of the day onCharlie's bed.On Monday morning, Charlie's motherpromised to take the dog for a walk when shegot back from work, and Maisie agreed tokeep him fed. But as Charlie got ready forschool he began to worry

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"You must keep quiet," he told Runner Bean."No barking, understand? I'll see you onFriday"With mournful eyes the big dog watchedCharlie close the door between them.As Charlie and his friend Fidelio walked upthe steps to Bloor's Academy Fidelio said,"There's a very pretty girl trying to get yourattention.""Oh." Charlie turned to see Belle looking upat him from the bottom of the steps."Hello, Belle. This is Fidelio," he said.Belle gave Fidelio a dazzling smile. "I seeyou're in music. Violin?" She nodded at thecase Fidelio was carrying.'Yes," murmured Fidelio. He seemed ratherlost for words, which was unusual for him."See you later." Belle skipped into the hall. "Iremember," she whispered. "No talking."And off she waltzed toward the pencil and

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paintbrush sign. Her green cape floatedaround her in a particularly stylish way asshe bobbed into the green coatroom."Wow!" said Fidelio as soon as they hadpassed under the two trumpets. "Who is she,Charlie?""I'm not sure," Charlie muttered. "She's stay-ing with my great-aunts. What color wouldyou say her eyes were?""Blue," said Fidelio. "Bright blue.""Well, the next time you see her, they'll prob-ably be green or brown," said Charlie."Really?" Fidelio looked interested. "I can'twait to see that."They went into assembly where Fideliojoined the school orchestra and Charlie tookhis place beside Billy Raven, the youngestchild at Bloor's. He was an albino, withsnow-white hair and spectacles that made

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his round red eyes look permanentlysurprised.After assembly Charlie had a trumpet lessonwith old Mr. Paltry He hadn't practiced overthe vacation and found himself out of breathand out of tune. Mr. Paltry rapped hisknuckles, shouting, "No, no, no! A flat, notsharp!" His squeaky voice almost deafenedCharlie, and when the bell rang, Charlie wasso eager to escape that he almost fell overOlivia Vertigo as he raced for the gardendoor.Today her hair was striped black and gold,her face was covered in white powder, andher eyes were ringed with black. She lookedmore like an exotic raccoon than anythingelse, though Charlie refrained from sayingso.

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Unfortunately Fidelio didn't. "Hi, Olivia! Areyou playing a raccoon this semester?" heasked as he strolled up."Who knows?" said Olivia. "Manfred's writ-ing the end-of-semester play — with Zelda'shelp, of course." She nodded at a group ofseniors on the other side of the playing field.Manfred, the head boy was talking earnestlyto Zelda Dobinski, a tall, skinny girl with alarge nose.Charlie noticed that Manfred's sidekick, AsaPike, was staring at Belle walking arm in armwith Dorcas Loom. Asa broke away from thegroup of seniors and walked across to thetwo girls. He had a crooked smile on his pale,weasely face and, as he approached the girls,he ran his fingers through his red hair, al-most as if he were trying to tidy himself up.

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Charlie grabbed Fidelio's arm. "Look!" hesaid. ”Asa's speaking to a junior. I bet that'snever happened before.""Except when he's been telling them off,"said Fidelio."That girl with Dorcas is really pretty"muttered Olivia."Her name's Belle," Charlie told her. "She'sliving with my great-aunts."Olivia whistled. "I can't imagine any childliving with them. By the way have you seenEmma?"The boys shook their heads, and Oliviasauntered off to look for her friend. Sheeventually found Emma sitting on a log bythe old castle walls. She was holding whatappeared to be a small, neatly written letter."What's up, Em?" said Olivia, perching be-side her.

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"I found this by Mr. Boldova's desk." Emmaheld up the letter "It must have fallen out ofhis pocket. I didn't mean to read it. I meantto give it back but then saw something and . .. well, look."Olivia took the letter and read,My dear Samuel,We have it on good authority that the shifteris heading your way. What form it will takeGod only knows. But it will recognize you, soget out of that place, Samuel, as soon as youcan. I have resigned myself to losing Ollie, al-though your mother still grieves. She can'tstop herself from buying the jam he so loved.We have a room full of the stuff now, and itbreaks my heart to see it. I know you feelyour brother's loss as deeply as we do, butyou must give up the search. We could notbear to lose you, too. Come home soon.Dad

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"What do you think?" said Emma."Interesting," said Olivia. "But I think youshould put the letter back on Mr. B's desk.It's none of our business who he is or whathe's up to.""But it is." Emma pushed her long blondehair out of her face. She was very agitated.Olivia knew her friend liked Mr. Boldova. Hewas young for a teacher, but he was good atart, and he seemed to be on the children'sside whenever there was trouble."You remember when Manfred locked me inthe attic? Well, someone let me out, andwhoever it was had a passion for jam. I heardManfred teasing him about it. I know thissounds peculiar but he, or she, seemed to beinvisible. And then there was this boy OllieSparks, who was lost in the attics ages ago.He got out eventually and everyone thoughthe'd gone home, but maybe he didn't. Maybe

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he was punished. Maybe he's still up there."She glanced up at the tiled roof of theacademy"Hm. So what do you want to do about it?"asked Olivia.Emma shook her head. "I don't know"A hunting horn sounded across the gardenand the two friends agreed to talk again atthe afternoon break.Emma's next lesson was French, but first sheran to the art room. It was empty and shewas just sneaking the letter onto Mr.Boldova's desk when he walked in."Emma?" He looked surprised. "Shouldn'tyou be in another lesson?""French, sir. But, it's just that I. . . well, I'mreally sorry but I read your letter and . . ."Suddenly Emma found herself telling Mr.Boldova about the invisible presence in theattic, the person who liked jam.

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Mr. Boldova listened intently and then he satat his desk and said, "Thank you, Emma.Thank you very much. Will you promise notto tell anyone else about this?""But I've already told Olivia Vertigo, and shemight tell some of our friends.""Can you trust them, Emma?""With my life," said Emma.Mr. Boldova smiled. He looked like a ratheroutdoor sort of person for an artist. His facewas tanned and his dark brown hair wasdrawn back in a ponytail, somewhat likeManfred Bloor's, only Manfred's hair wasblack and stringyEmma said, "What happened to Ollie, sir?We thought he'd gone home after he escapedfrom the attics.""I'm afraid not," sighed the teacher. "Ourparents live a long way from here. Dr. Blooragreed to put Ollie on a train in the company

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of the matron's sister, a Miss Yewbeam. Shetold us that Ollie went to get an orange juicefrom the station cafeteria and never cameback.""I bet he never even got as far as the train,"said Emma hotly "Those Yewbeams are evil.They're Charlie Bone's great-aunts, youknow and they make his life a misery""Ah, Charlie Bone," Mr. Boldova saidthoughtfully"I'd like to help Ollie," Emma went on. "Hehelped me, you see, and I could probablyfind the place where he's kept.""Better leave it to me, Emma. It could bedangerous.""Sounds like it could be dangerous for youtoo, sir.""I can take care of myself" Mr. Boldova saidcheerfully "Now run along to your Frenchlesson."

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Emma went, but she didn't hurry She hadtoo much on her mind. She was ten minuteslate for her French lesson, and MadameTessier was furious. She was an excitable wo-man and always hated the first day of thesemester. She missed the sunny French citywhere she had been born and complainedconstantly about the gloomy gray academywith its creaking floorboards, erratic heating,and poor lighting. She was only there be-cause Dr. Bloor had offered her a salary shecouldn't resist."Go! Go!" she shrieked at Emma. "You don'twant my lesson, you don't come in. It eez toolate. So allez — allez!" She waved her longfingers at Emma. "Get out!"Emma got out — quickly'You, too," came a husky whisper.Emma looked down the corridor and sawCharlie Bone standing outside the history

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room. He had just said that Napoleon wasthe emperor of Russia. Mr. Pope, the historyteacher, had screamed at Charlie, telling himhe was an ignoramus, and he didn't want tosee him in his class a minute longer."I didn't really hear the question." Charlie'sloud whisper echoed across to Emma. "I wasthinking about a dog."Emma glanced up and down the corridor.There was no one around. "What dog?" shewhispered.In as quiet a voice as he could manage,Charlie told Emma about Benjamin andRunner Bean. "Why were you sent out?" heasked."I was just late," said Emma. She recountedher conversation with Mr. Boldova.Charlie's eyes gleamed with interest. Yet an-other mention of someone dangerous on themove. Was it possible that they were one and

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the same? "So you think Ollie Sparks is in theattics?" He paused and looked thoughtfullyat the ceiling. "Let's go and look, shall we?"Emma was horrified. "What, now?""I can't think of a better time," said Charlie."We've got half an hour before the end of thelesson. Everyone else is in class, so who's go-ing to see us? I'm bored stiff hanging aroundout here."Before Emma could think of an excuse,Charlie had sprinted off toward a staircase atthe end of the corridor. Emma wished shehadn't told Charlie about the attics. He wasinclined to rush into things without thinkingthem through. But she felt she had no choicebut to followThey crept up one staircase after another.Once they bumped into Dr. Saltweather, whointerrupted his humming to ask where theywere going. "We've been sent to get books

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from the library" said Charlie. And Dr. Salt-weather waved them on, although they werenowhere near the library But Dr. Saltweatherwas oblivious to everything but his preciousmusic.They ran along dark passages and throughempty creaking rooms and, as they drewnear to the west wing of the building, Emmabecame increasingly nervous. She still hadnightmares about the night when her onlyescape was to become a bird and fly.Memory or instinct, led her to the cell-likeroom where Manfred Bloor had once im-prisoned her. Light from a tiny windowshowed dark walls patched with green slime,a narrow bed covered in filthy blankets, andblack, broken floorboards."What an awful place," Charlie murmured."Manfred locked me in," said Emma. "Butthen someone turned the key on the other

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side, and the door opened. I rushed to seewho it was but there was no one there. Man-fred caught me and brought me back, but —and this is the strange part — he said tosomeone, Any more trouble and you won'tget jam for a week.' That's why I thought itmight be Mr. Boldova's brother, Ollie. Be-cause he liked jam.""Perhaps he's been locked in some othergruesome room like this one." As Charlieturned to the door it suddenly slammed shut.Charlie lifted the latch and pulled. Nothinghappened. The door appeared to havejammed. "Must have been a draft," mutteredCharlie."There isn't any draft," said Emma."But what else could it have been? No onecame in. We'd have seen them.""Maybe they were invisible.""Hey!" called Charlie. "Is anyone there?"

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No reply"What on earth are we going to do?" criedEmma. She looked at her watch. "We've onlygot twenty minutes.""This is stupid." Charlie rattled the doorwhile Emma pulled the latch."It must be Ollie," said Emma. "Ollie! OllieSparks, are you there?"Silence."Ollie, we've come to help," Charlie ex-plained. "If you're there, open this door,please!"Emma and Charlie waited. There was a softcreak. A key turned in the lock. Charliepulled the door and it swung inward. Therewas no one in the passage outside.The two children stepped out. They squinteddown the shadowy passage, searching for adoor, a recess, any place where someonecould be hiding. Emma's foot touched an

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empty jar and it rolled away filling the pas-sage with a loud rumble. When the jar finallycame to rest, faint footfalls could be heardreceding into the distance."He's running away" Emma whispered.They chased the footfalls down the passage,up a rickety set of steps, and into a longroom with a narrow skylight. The floor waslittered with empty jam jars and comicbooks. At the far end of the room there was abed with a pillow and a patchwork cover. Anoil lamp sat on a small bedside table and ahuge cabinet stood just inside the door.There was nothing else in the room except aspindly chair and a battered desk that hadbeen placed beneath the skylight."Ollie," Emma said softly "Ollie Sparks, areyou here?""What if I am?" said a rather mournful voice."Why can't we see you?" asked Charlie.

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There was a pause before the voice replied,"'Cause I'm invisible, aren't I?""What happened to you?" asked Emma."The blue boa got me.""Boa?" said Charlie and Emma."Snake," went on the mournful voice. “Awfulthing. I saw it, see. No one's meant to see it.It's a secret. A secret weapon." There was acroaky laugh. "Once I'd seen it, they weren'tgoing to let me tell about it, so they broughtme back here, and it — well, I was like aguinea pig — they let the boa squeeze me,only I didn't die, I just got invisible.""Yikes!" gasped Charlie."It didn't get all of me." A breathless sort ofgiggle shivered on the air. "It missed my bigtoe."In horrified fascination, Charlie's eyes weredrawn toward the floor. Emma couldn't helpscreaming. She had already seen it: a small

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pink blob lying just a few steps away fromthem."Sorry" said the voice. "It used to have a bitof sock and shoe on it, but the shoe got toosmall, and the sock wore out. A toe's a bitdisgusting on its own, isn't it?""Not at all," said Charlie cheerfully"They tried to get all of me back," said thevoice. "They made me drink revolting po-tions and threw smelly liquid over me, andonce they covered my bed in spiderwebswhile I was asleep.""That is so gruesome," said Emma.Charlie said, "Ollie, why don't you escape?The door's not locked. You could easily runaway No one would see you.""You try it." The voice sounded very ag-grieved. "I came out once. People walked in-to me, knocked me down — some of themscreamed. 1 couldn't get out of the main

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doors; no one can. I didn't feel safe, so Icame back here.""It must be so horrible, all alone," saidEmma. "What do you eat?" She was actuallywondering how Ollie ate but was too polite toask."The food's mostly disgusting, but Manfredgives me nice jam. I suppose he does it tokeep me quiet. And, in case you're wonder-ing, I eat just like anyone else. Only you can'tsee the food once it's inside me."Emma hoped Ollie couldn't see her blush.Charlie had an idea. "If you come down tothe dining hall at dinnertime, we'd all be sit-ting still. No one would bump into you, and Icould make room for you between me andmy friend Fidelio. The food's not so bad onthe first day of school."Silence. Perhaps Ollie was thinking.

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Emma remembered the most importantthing of all. "Ollie, your brother's here," shesaid. "He's come to look for you.""What? Samuel? I can't believe it. Wow!"Suddenly the pink toe jumped into the airand there was a small thud as two feetlanded back on the floor."So, if you come down to dinner, you can seehim," said Charlie."Yes. Oh, yes ..." A pause. "But I won't knowthe time. I haven't got a watch."Charlie took off his watch and held it out."You can borrow this."It was disturbing to see a watch graduallydisappear into thin air."Don't worry it'll come back when I take itoff. Everything I wear becomes invisible," Ol-lie explained. "Everything I eat or hold or puton."

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Emma glanced at her own watch and cried,"We've only got five minutes. We'll nevermake it."She dashed out of the room and down thesteps while Charlie followed, calling, "SorryOllie. Got to get back to class. Hope to see —er — hear you later!"Emma and Charlie tore down the empty pas-sages, often taking the wrong turn or thewrong staircase but ending up, at last, on thelanding above the entrance hall. Their reliefwas short-lived. Approaching them from theother side of the landing was Dr. Bloor.The big man strode toward the children."Why aren't you two in class?" he boomed.Emma and Charlie froze. They couldn't thinkof an explanation.Dr. Bloor stared down at them with cold,pale eyes. Suspicion was written all over his

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big face with its dull, 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 been looking for these two," said the artteacher. "Did you find it?"Charlie swallowed. "Um ...""That rat's such a rascal." Mr. Boldovaturned to the headmaster. "I brought it alongfor the children to draw, but it keeps escap-ing. When I saw these two idling away Iasked them to look for it. Any luck, Charlie?""No, sir."“And now we're late for our next lesson,"said Emma meaningfully"Dear, oh dear," said Mr. Boldova. "I'd betterexplain to your teachers. All my fault. Comealong, kids. Sorry about this, Dr. Bloor."

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Mr. Boldova propelled the two children pastDr. Bloor toward the corridor that led to theclassrooms.Dr. Bloor swiveled around to watch them go."That rat must be found," he shouted. "See toit, Mr. Boldova.""Of course, Headmaster."As soon as they were out of earshot, Charliewhispered, "Thanks, sir. I guess we wereheading for detention.""Keep walking," the art teacher said quietlyBut Emma couldn't remain silent any longer."We found Ollie," she said softlyMr. Boldova almost tripped. He gripped thechildren's shoulders and said, "What? Tellme how — where?"As they hurried to their classrooms, Charlieand Emma took turns telling the teacherabout poor Ollie and his invisibility

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"Ollie's going to try and get down to dinnertonight, sir," said Charlie. "So you might . . .well, he might be able to talk to you.""I can hardly believe it," murmured Mr. Bol-dova. "Invisible or not, Ollie's here, and he'salive. I thought they'd taken him to one ofthose awful castles of theirs. I've spent al-most a year trying to find out which one.""Do they have many sir?" asked Charlie.“At least five," said Mr. Boldova. "This is soincredible. I will take Ollie home at the firstopportunity We'll find a way to cure himwhen we get home."They had reached Madame Tessier and Mr.Pope, who stood fuming outside theirclassrooms. Mr. Boldova quickly explainedthat he had borrowed Emma and Charlie tosearch for his rat, Rembrandt, who had es-caped from his cage. The two teachers

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grudgingly accepted his apologies and toldthe children to hurry along to lunch."I'll see you two at dinnertime," said Mr. Bol-dova, giving the children a big smile. And hewalked away whistling merrilyWould Charlie's plan for Ollie work? He wassure it wouldn't be as easy as Mr. Boldovaseemed to think.RUNNER BEAN IS DISCOVEREDOn his way to the dining hall, Charlie had topass the portraits. They hung on either sideof the long, softly lit passage: haughty-look-ing women in lace and silk, men in darkrobes or wearing velvet coats and whitepants. You might think that Charlie would becurious to know what they had to say but totell the truth, he was beginning to find theirbad-tempered whispering, rude demands,and boring jokes rather tiring. He was alsoafraid that one of them might come leaping

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out at him. So he usually tried to avoid look-ing at them.Except for today Something had jogged hismemory“Ah, there it is." He stopped before a portraitof a bold-looking woman in red velvet. Shehad dark ringlets, and a necklace of rose-colored jewels sparkled at her throat.SELENA SPARKS read a small bronzeplaque at the bottom of the frame."Selena Sparks," Charlie murmured."What about her?" Fidelio said over Charlie'sshoulder."Shh!" hissed Charlie. He waited for a voice,but Selena had nothing to say to him. Per-haps she was shy "I knew I'd seen thatname," Charlie muttered. “All these peopleare descended from the Red King. So maybeOllie is, too."

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"Ollie who?" asked Fidelio. "I wish you'd talksense, Charlie.""Emma and me . . ." Charlie began.He was interrupted by a shout from Man-fred, the head boy "Move on, you two, you'recluttering up the passage."The boys hurried on, but Charlie, glancingback, saw Manfred stop and stare at SelenaSparks. Charlie hoped Manfred wouldn'tguess why he was so interested in theportrait.As they took their places in the long under-ground dining hall, Charlie whispered, "Canyou leave a gap, Fido? Someone might wantto sit between us. Someone invisible who'shungrier than we are.""Really?" Fidelio raised his eyebrows. "Itdidn't take you long to get tangled up insomething, did it?" He moved closer to his

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neighbor, leaving a small space betweenCharlie and himself.It happened to be one of the best mealsCharlie had eaten at Bloor's: morsels ofchicken and bacon floated in a creamy sauce,and he was tempted to eat every scrap, buthe pushed a few pieces to the side of hisplate, in case Ollie turned up."He can have all of mine," said Fidelio, whowas a vegetarian."I'll have it," said his neighbor, a large boycalled Morris who played the bassoon."No, you won't," said Fidelio. "It's for Cook'sdog. He hasn't been well."Morris gave him a funny look, then ran histhumb around his own almost-empty plateand licked it. This was against the rules.Charlie wondered if Ollie had gotten lost. Hescanned the three long tables, looking forsigns of a disturbance. He couldn't see

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Emma, who sat somewhere at the art table.The drama table was in the middle, and itwas by far the noisiest, even though Manfredsat at the head. Apart from Asa and Zelda,who sat on either side of Manfred, everyonein drama faced away from the head of thetable. They perched rather crookedly on thebenches, with the shoulder nearest to Man-fred slightly raised. No one wanted to becaught by the head boy's hypnotizing starewhen they were halfway through a meal.Aside from these strange postures, Charliecouldn't detect anything out of the ordinaryamong the purple capes, so he turned his at-tention to the far end of the room, where theteachers sat at a table on a raised platform.From here they could keep an eye on thechildren below them."Who are you looking for?" Billy Ravenstared at Charlie through a fringe of thin

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white hair. He was sitting on the other sideof the table, a few places away from Charlie.His spectacles made his red eyes look far toolarge for his head."I'm not looking for anyone," said Charlie. "Ithought I saw a bat."This wasn't so unlikely Hundreds of batslived in the old building.As Billy looked away Charlie felt somethingpush against his side. Fidelio gave him a sur-prised look, and then a piece of chicken dis-appeared from the side of his plate."Thanks," came a disembodied whisper."Delicious."Several more pieces disappeared, and no oneseemed to notice, until Gwyneth Howells,sitting opposite Charlie, gulped, "Uh! Yourmeat just. . ." and the fork that was halfwayto her mouth dropped to the floor, ladenwith peas.

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Gwyneth bobbed under the table to retrieveher fork and let out an earsplitting scream.She came up for air, her round, brown eyespopping out of her head. "I saw... I saw. . . ,"she cried. "There's a . . . there's a . . . underthe table, there's a . . .""There's a what?" said her neighbor, RosieStubbs."There's a TOE!" cried Gwyneth, and shefainted backward over the bench, landing inan untidy heap on the floor.Several girls and even boys screamed and ahusky voice gasped, "Yikes" in Charlie's ear.His plate went flying and his glass rolled tothe floor, water spilling all over the table."I'd better get out of here," whispered thevoice, while Rosie Stubbs shouted,"Gwyneth's fainted."Dr. Bloor stared out from his seat at the headof the high table. Matron Yewbeam and Miss

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Chrystal came down the steps into the mainhall and ran up to Gwyneth. The matronshook Gwyneth's shoulder, but since thepoor girl was obviously unconscious, she lif-ted her up and, helped by Miss Chrystal, car-ried her out of the dining hall.Mr. Boldova had come to the edge of theplatform and Charlie caught his eye. The artteacher gave a slight shrug and Charlie shookhis head.Ollie had fled and Charlie knew it would behard to coax him back again. In fact, thistime he might even be locked in. From theend of the drama table, Manfred was watch-ing Charlie suspiciously He had seen himlooking at Selena Sparks, and he knew Ollie'stoe was still visible. Perhaps he had put twoand two together.After dinner Charlie gave Fidelio a better ex-planation about what had happened to Ollie

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Sparks. He spoke in an undertone as theyhurried up the long passage leading from thedining hall. This time he didn't even glanceat Selena, in case Manfred was watching."Here we go again," said Fidelio. “Anotherproblem for you, Charlie." They had reachedthe blue coat-room, and here the two friendsparted. Fidelio was taking books and pens tohis classroom, while Charlie had to carry hishomework upstairs to the King's room.How did he manage always to be late, evenwhen he thought he'd been hurrying? All theother endowed children had gotten to theroom before him. As Charlie boundedthrough the tall black doors, Manfred wasmaking an announcement."Two of the endowed have left the school."Manfred glared at Charlie as he dropped hisbooks on the round table. "Quiet, Bone!"

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“As I was saying, Beth and Bindi have left us,but we have a new member."It had been such an extraordinary dayCharlie had almost forgotten Belle. But hereshe was, sitting between Asa and Dorcas.Asa's weasely features were screwed into anodd smirk and his scraggly red hair stuck outin oily spikes. If it hadn't been for his yelloweyes, you would have found it hard to believehe could turn into a beast."Her name's Belle," Manfred continued."Belle what?" said Tancred, his pale hairbristling with electricity"It's not important." Manfred waved hishand."It is to me," Tancred persisted. "I like toknow a person's whole name."Charlie wished Tancred would look away be-fore Manfred did something nasty The head

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boy had an angry hypnotizing stare comingon.Tancred's friend, Lysander, gave him a warn-ing nudge. "Leave it, Tane."But Tancred was like a dog with a bone. "Myname's Torsson," he said, looking at Belle,"and what. . .""Donner," Belle said suddenly"Belledonner? That's deadly nightshade,"said Gabriel Silk. "It can kill you."“Actually that's belladonna," said Belle. "Insmall quantities it dilates the pupils. Eyes be-come shinier, more lustrous and beautiful."All at once, her own round blue eyes flashedwith purple lights.The effect was so startling that even Tancredwas speechless. All around the table, bookswere opened and pens clutched. Homeworkbegan in silence.

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Above the door the Red King stared out fromhis portrait. The cracked and ancient paint-ing always raised Charlie's spirits. But he'dnever managed to hear the King's voice. So-metimes he caught a low muttering, some-times a creak and the swish of a cloak, butthen a shadow would fall behind the King,like a dark stain on the canvas: a hooded fig-ure that chilled the blood just to look at it.And Charlie knew that the sinister shadowwas blocking his contact with the King.Eleven of us now, thought Charlie. Lastsemester there had been twelve endowedchildren. What would happen if there wereten, like the original ten children of the RedKing? Would the pattern be repeated, five onone side, five on the other? And this time,who would win?"Get on with your homework, Bone!"Manfred's voice made Charlie jump.

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"Yes, Manfred." Charlie looked down at hisopen book.After homework, Emma caught up withCharlie as he made his way to the dormitor-ies. "It was Ollie, wasn't it?" she said breath-lessly "The toe under the table?"Charlie nodded. "I don't think we'll be able toget him back again," he whispered. "He wasterrified. And I've got a nasty feeling Man-fred knows.""I'll tell Mr. Boldova," said Emma.As they approached Emma's dormitory theysaw two girls standing outside the door.Their heads were close together and theirfurtive giggling seemed to imply that theywere sharing an unpleasant secret."Belle and Dorcas," Emma observed. "It's asif Belle has put Dorcas under a spell. They goeverywhere together."

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"Good luck, Em," Charlie muttered as Emmaslipped into the dormitory"Trying to ignore me, Charlie Bone?" saidBelle as Charlie walked past."Not at all," Charlie called without lookingback. "I can see that you're busy""You ignore me at your peril, Charlie!"Was it Belle who had spoken? Charliecouldn't be sure. The voice belonged tosomeone much older, someone whom itwould be foolish to disobey .Charlie hurried on.Belle and Dorcas were seldom seen apartafter that day Charlie became convinced thatBelle wasn't what she pretended to be. Andthen there was Ollie Sparks. The summerterm was proving to be more than a littleinteresting.

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"You'd better watch it, Charlie," said Fidelioone day "If you go up in the attics again,you're bound to get detention.""Or worse," muttered Olivia. '"Hypnotized for life," said Emma meaning-fully "Like Manfred tried to do to me."They were sitting on a log pile in blazing sun-shine. It promised to be a brilliant summer,which was just as well because the schoolplay would be performed in the open air."What's Belle like as an artist?" Charlie askedEmma. "I mean, can she draw?"Emma shrugged. "Who knows? She makesthings. We've been asked to design clothesfor the play and the set."The hunting horn sounded and the four chil-dren slid off the logs and headed toward theacademy"I wish we could do something about Ollie,"said Emma as they reached the garden door.

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"Maybe if we got detention and stayed inschool till Saturday . . . What about you,Charlie?"Charlie was tempted but he had other re-sponsibilities. "Runner Bean," he said. "I'vegot to get home to look after him."It had just been decided that they would allmeet on Sunday to discuss Ollie's problem,when Fidelio suddenly announced, "I can't.I've got to play in a concert."Charlie was sorry to hear this. Fidelio wassuch a good person to have around in acrisis. He had excellent ideas, and he nevergave up. But Fidelio was also a brilliant mu-sician. Charlie was afraid he would be seeingless and less of his friend this semester.When Charlie got home on Friday evening,so many things went wrong he forgot allabout Ollie. He had expected to see his great-

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uncle, but Paton hadn't returned and therewas not even a word from him."I'm a bit concerned," said Maisie. "It's notlike Paton. And I'm afraid it gets worse,Charlie. I've got to leave here tomorrow""What!" Charlie was really worried. Hismother had to work on Saturday and thethought of spending a day alone withGrandma Bone was unpleasant to say theleast. "Where are you going? Can't I comewith you?""No chance, Charlie."Maisie's sister, Doris, had taken ill. Maisiewould have to go and look after her. Therewas no one else. But something would haveto be done about Runner Bean. WhileCharlie was at school, there'd be no one inthe house to feed him and look after him."You'd better take him for a run now,” saidMaisie. "I haven't had time. You can't keep

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him hidden much longer, Charlie; a livelydog like that is bound to be found out."As Charlie ran up to his room he could hearRunner Bean whining and scratching thedoor."Shhhh!" Charlie leaped into the room andslammed the door behind him.Runner Bean put his paws on Charlie'sshoulders and licked his face."Thanks, but yuck!" whispered Charlie.There was a creak on the landing and a voicecalled, "Is that you, Charlie, slammingdoors?""It's me, Grandma," Charlie sang out. "I'mchanging out of my school stuff."When Charlie put his head out of the door.Grandma Bone had gone back to her room."Come on, Runner," Charlie said softlyHe ran downstairs with the dog boundingbehind him. They left by the back door and

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slipped into the narrow street that led to thepark. An hour later, Charlie and the dog ar-rived back at number nine, exhausted andhungryHis mother was getting anxious and Charlieexplained that he didn't know the time be-cause he'd sort of lost his watch. Mrs. Bonesighed, "Honestly Charlie. I suppose you'dbetter wear mine until you find yours." Shehanded him her watch, which was fortu-nately not too feminine. "I'm just going tohelp Maisie with her packing," she said."Back in a minute."Charlie searched for the cans of dog foodMaisie had hidden. He'd just spotted a can ofBonio in the pantry when there was a loudscream and then a growl.Charlie looked around to see Grandma Bonerooted to the spot, just inside the door.

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"WHAT'S THAT DOING IN HERE?"she screeched, pointing at Runner Bean."It's Benjamin's dog," Charlie said nervously"You know, Runner Bean.""Of course, I know, but why isn't it in HongKong?"Before Charlie had time to answer, RunnerBean, snarling horribly rushed at GrandmaBone, who shrieked again."Get it out!" she shouted."Er . . ." Charlie played for time.Runner Bean bared his teeth and snapped atthe old lady's ankles."That's it!" yelled Grandma Bone. Shebacked out of the kitchen shouting, "I'm call-ing pest control — the dogs' home — the po-lice. They'll have to put that dog down. It'sdangerous.""Grandma, you can't," Charlie pleaded.

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But Grandma Bone was already on thephone, giving her address, telling someoneabout the killer that needed exterminating."They'll be around at half past six, and I'mnot coming downstairs until that wretchedBean has gone."Charlie was horrified. He didn't know whatto do. Maisie and Mrs. Bone came runningdown to see what all the fuss was about. Butthey didn't know what to do either. Maisiewas so worried about her sister, she said shecouldn't think straight."If only Uncle Paton were here," Charliewailed. "He'd know what to do."Charlie felt like taking Runner Bean andrushing over to Fidelio's or Emma's, or evenOlivia's place. But could they hide the bigdog, or would they want to, with RunnerBean looking so wild? He hated being

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shouted at; his eyes were rolling and lowgrowls kept coming from his throat."We'll explain to whoever comes that hemust on no account be put down," said Mrs.Bone. "We'll tell them that he's never bittenanyone, ever.""Perhaps he'll go to a nice dogs' home whereyou can visit him," Maisie said hopefully"He'd hate it," cried Charlie. He took a largedish of goose liver pate and ten slices ofhoney-roast ham out of the fridge andpoured them into the dog bowl that Maisiehad hidden under the sink."Grandma Bone's specials," said Maisie inhushed tones."I don't care," said Charlie. He kneeled be-side Runner Bean and stroked the dog's wiryhead.

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It was very satisfying to see hisgrandmother's favorite food being wolfeddown a shaggy throat.The time was twenty-five minutes past six.Charlie stood up. "I've made a decision. I'mgoing to ask Fidelio to hide Runner untilBenjamin comes back.""With all those noisy musicians?" said Mais-ie. "He wouldn't last a minute."And then someone rang the doorbell.SPARKLING STONES“Is that the dog people?" called GrandmaBone.Charlie's heart sank."Don't worry Charlie. We won't let them doanything nasty" said his motherGrandma Bone was already in the hall. Sheopened the front door and gave a yelp ofsurprise.

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Charlie ran into the hall. A small furry-look-ing man stood on the doorstep. Charlie re-cognized him immediately It was his friend,Mr. Onimous. Behind him stood three fierce-looking cats — the cause of Grandma Bone'syelp. She hated cats, particularly orange cats.These were orange-, yellow-, and copper-colored.“Are you the dog exterminator?" she saidsuspiciously "I've seen you before, and thesepeculiar cats." She took a step backward.The man held up a card. "Orvil Onimous,madam. Pest control.""You'd better come in and get the dog," saidGrandma Bone. "Charlie, if it's got a leash,fetch it."Charlie leaped back into the kitchen, fol-lowed by Mr. Onimous and the cats."It's OK," Charlie whispered to Maisie andhis mother. "Mr. Onimous has come."

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Maisie pulled the leash out of her apronpocket and handed it over. "You be good tothat dog," she insisted.Mr. Onimous winked.There was some good-natured growling andsniffing between cats and dog as Mr. Onim-ous clipped the leash to Runner Bean's col-lar, but the big dog seemed very happy to seethem all again."How did you know about Runner?" Charliewhispered."The cats," said Mr. Onimous. "They wantedto pay you a visit. I didn't know nothing till Igot here. Come and see us at the café,Charlie."Grandma Bone called, "Come on, come on!Get that dog out of here."Mr. Onimous led the cheerful dog away andRunner Bean looked back, just once, to giveCharlie an encouraging bark.

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"Cheerio, folks," said Mr. Onimous.Grandma Bone slammed the door. Luckily itwas Charlie who answered the bell when thereal pest controller turned up. "It's OK,"Charlie told the man, "we found the dog ahome."With one problem solved, Charlie had a goodnight's sleep; in fact he overslept. The nextthing he knew, Maisie was shaking himawake."I'm off now; Charlie. The taxi's waiting.Your mom's already gone to work, andGrandma Bone's off somewhere." She put ascrap of paper on Charlie's pillow "It's theYewbeams' address. In case you need them.After all, they are your aunties. I'm leavingyou on your own, love, but I've got nochoice."

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"I'll be OK," yawned Charlie. He couldn'timagine why he would need to call on theYewbeams.Maisie gave him a peck on the head, andthen she was gone.It seemed unnaturally quiet. Charlie couldn'tremember ever being completely alone in thehouse before. Uncle Paton had always beenthere. Always. What had become of him?After breakfast, Charlie stopped by the mar-ket to see his mother. She was weighingapples for an impatient-looking man andthere 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 to Emma's," Charliesaid cheerfullyEmma lived with her aunt, Julia Ingledew, ina bookshop behind the cathedral, but as

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Charlie began to make his way up the steeproad to Ingledew's, he found himself pullingMaisie's scrap of paper out of his pocket. Hisaunts had a very strange address: numberthirteen Darkly Wynd."Darkly Wynd," murmured Charlie. Was thata road, an alley or another town entirely?Charlie went into a newsstand. He bought apackage of peppermints and showed hisscrap of paper to the woman behind thecounter."Darkly Wynd? You're not going there, areyou?""I thought I might," said Charlie."Not a good idea. It's a nasty place. Not suit-able for young lads like you."Charlie was intrigued. "Why?""Very dark. No streetlights.""But it's daytime," Charlie pointed out.

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"Things have happened in that place, love.Better not go.""I've got relations there," said Charlie.The woman leaned over the counter, staringat Charlie. "What sort of relations?" sheasked.“Aunts. Great-aunts. I'm sure I'll be all right.Please tell me where it is."The woman sighed and said, "All right, butdon't say I didn't warn you. Turn right at thetop of this road, then go on till you get toGreybank Crescent. It's off theresomewhere.""Thanks." Charlie left the shop before thewoman could utter any more gloomywarnings.Greybank Crescent was what it sounded like,a crescent of tall, gray buildings facing asemicircle of dusty grass. A huge fir tree

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stood in the center, lending an air of shad-owy menace to the place.Exactly halfway around the crescent was agap in the terraced houses, and a faded signnailed to a side wall read DARKLY WYND. Charlie turned into a narrow, murky alleyOn either side, grimy windowless wallstowered up to the sky A damp wind swirledinto his face and it was hard to believe thatonly a moment ago he'd been standing insunlight.The alley broadened into a courtyard sur-rounded by gaunt, ancient-looking houses.Like giant walls they seemed to lean inward,blotting out the light. Above them hung thedarkest cloud Charlie had ever seen.He shivered and began to walk past thehouses, counting the numbers on the doors.Nearly every house appeared to be deserted.Windows had been boarded up, peeling

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doors nailed shut. Someone or somethinghad driven away all the former residents. Atnumber five a group of youths burst out ofthe door, fighting and screaming. Charliehurried on. At number nine, a rough-lookingman emerged from the basement. He bel-lowed at Charlie, who began to run. At num-ber eleven a trash can lid crashed to thepavement and a rat ran between Charlie'slegs.Darkly Wynd didn't lead anywhere. At theend of the courtyard a block of buildings,taller than the others, stood facing Charlie.They had strange turrets and iron-framedbalconies, tall arched windows with pedi-ments of gnomish faces and unlikely beasts.The first house was number thirteen.Charlie mounted the stone steps. On theblack door at the top a brass knocker, shapedlike a hand, hung above the number thirteen.

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Charlie didn't knock. Of course he didn't. In-stead he leaned over the railings and peeredinto a long window The room beyond wasfilled with dark, looming furniture. Helooked through the window on the other sideof the porch and saw portraits of grim andserious people, hanging three deep on everywall. The house was silent. It appeared to beemptyAs Charlie retraced his steps he noticed thatthe next house was also numbered thirteenand so was the next. "Poor mailman,"muttered Charlie. The second house was alsosilent and gloomy but from the third came awhirring, ticking sound.To get a better view, Charlie ran down thebasement steps and climbed onto a narrowledge beneath the long window Standing ontiptoe he could just see into the roombeyond.

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What he saw there was more interesting thanhe could have hoped for. A long oval table al-most filled the room. It was covered withscraps of cloth, sparkling sequins, feathers,buttons, tiny squares of mirror, velvet, leath-er, and bolts of cotton. A row of lights in bell-like brass shades hung over the table, illu-minating three figures. Belle sat at a sewingmachine, while Aunt Venetia and DorcasLoom stood side by side, watching her. AuntVenetia was holding a long hatpin with ablack beetle on the tip. Belle said somethingand Venetia stuck the hatpin into a piece ofred velvet. The velvet immediately became awrithing mass of shiny black beetles.Dorcas gasped — and so did Charlie.Belle looked at the window and her violentblue stare sent Charlie toppling back onto arow of trash cans. Looking down at him,from the front door, was Asa Pike.

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"Wh-what on earth are you doing here?"asked Charlie, picking himself up."I could ask you the same question." Asa,who usually went around wearing a tattereddisguise, looked extremely sharp. He wore aleather jacket, white shirt, blue-checked tie,and stone-colored trousers. As if this weren'tsurprising enough, he was carrying a bunchof tulips."My aunts live here," said Charlie."So why are you spying instead of going in?"asked Asa."Mind your own business."Asa shrugged and rang the doorbell, whileCharlie leaped up the basement steps. Whenhe reached the pavement, a sound fromabove made him glance up. A man lookedout from a high barred window; he had darkhair and a solemn face. Charlie felt sure he

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knew him. He got the impression that theman was a prisoner.Charlie ran on, down Darkly Wynd, trying toget the horrible picture of crawling beetlesout of his mind."Have you been to a horror movie?" saidEmma as Charlie leaped into Ingledew's."You look awful.""I've been somewhere horrible, all right,"said Charlie. He told Emma about the beetlesand Darkly Wynd.Emma's eyes widened and then she said, "Totell the truth, it doesn't surprise me. Yourgreat-aunts are so gruesome. My auntie'smaking sandwiches. Do you want some?"Charlie certainly did. Julia Ingledew madedelicious sandwiches with very exoticfillings. Today was no exception. Unfortu-nately Saturday was Ingledew's busiest dayso they all had to eat sitting behind the

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counter and Miss Ingledew kept jumping upto help the customers.A man with expensive taste in books andsuits, by the look of it, had just left the shopwith a rare book on fish. But Miss Ingledewdidn't look as happy as she should have, con-sidering the huge sum of money she'd beengiven. She nibbled a sandwich, cleared herthroat, and said, "Charlie, what's happenedto your uncle?""I don't know He's gone off somewhere."Miss Ingledew looked anxious. "It's just thathe usually comes to the shop at least twice aweek, and there's been no word."Charlie was pleased to see that she reddenedslightly It meant that his uncle's crush onMiss Ingledew wasn't entirely hopeless."He left a note saying the aunts were plot-ting," Charlie explained. “And he had to stopsomeone dangerous from arriving."

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"Wow!" exclaimed Emma. "I wonder if hesucceeded.""Me, too," said Charlie."I do hope he's all right," said Miss Ingledewanxiously "I don't know what I'd dowithout... I mean, he's so dependable, isn'the, Charlie?""Certainly is," agreed Charlie.Charlie got home in time for lunch, butwished he hadn't. Grandma Bone decided toput in an appearance, which meant that hehad to eat a disgusting vegetable pie insteadof his usual potato chips.There had been no word from Uncle Paton,but Grandma Bone didn't seem worried any-more. "I'm sure he's having a lovely vaca-tion," she said.This convinced Charlie that the opposite wastrue. He also had a sneaking suspicion thathis grandmother now knew where Paton had

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gone. Her smug expression could only meanone thing. His uncle was in danger.After a painful half hour, Grandma Bone leftCharlie and his mother to do the dishes.Charlie gave a sigh of relief. "Mom, I'm wor-ried about Uncle Paton. How can we find outwhere he's gone?""We can't, Charlie. Your uncle knows whathe's doing." She glanced at herself in themirror and brushed her shoulders."You haven't got another boyfriend, haveyou?" Charlie asked.His mother's answer wasn't very reassuring."What makes you think that?""Please don't forget Dad," said Charlie.She smiled pensively "Of course I won't,Charlie."On Sunday afternoon, Charlie went to thePets' Café as usual. It was a good place for

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friends to meet, as long as they didn't forgetto bring a pet.Today the manager, Norton Cross, letCharlie in without a pet. "Mr. Onimous toldme all about Runner Bean," said the bigman. "Your pet's waiting for you, Charlie."He pointed to a table where Gabriel sat, feed-ing dog biscuits to Runner Bean.The yellow dog gave a happy bark when hesaw Charlie and jumped up, almost knockingCharlie over. After making a big fuss overRunner, Charlie sat beside Gabriel, whoselap was covered with gerbils."I'm surprised Runner didn't eat those,"Charlie remarked."I don't think he eats things that move," saidGabriel.The Pets' Café door clanged open and threemore customers came in. Olivia and a whiterabbit, Emma carrying a strange-looking

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bird in a cage, and a surprising visitor: Mr.Boldova. He held up his black rat, Rem-brandt, and Norton Cross waved him intothe café.While the girls came over to Charlie's table,Mr. Boldova went to the counter."Mr. B came into the bookshop yesterday"Emma explained. "He wants to talk aboutOllie and the boa thing, Charlie. So I broughthim here."Mr. Boldova arrived at the table with a trayof cookies and orange juice. "My treat," hesaid. "Pass them around."The art teacher took a seat between the girlswhile the cookies were divided as fairly aspossible."Emma says you want to talk to me, sir," saidCharlie, biting into a giant cookie.Mr. Boldova lost his cheerful expression."Yes, Charlie. I'll come straight to the point.

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There's a new girl in art. Belle Donner. Ap-parently she's staying with your aunts. Doesthat mean she's related to you, Charlie?"Charlie choked on a crumb. "I hope not," hecroaked."Hey what's going on?" asked Olivia. "Isthere something we ought to know?""Yes, what do you know about Belle?" saidMr. Boldova."Nothing," said Charlie, "except her eyeskeep changing color and . . . and ... I saw ...""What?" said Olivia impatientlyCharlie told them about Darkly Wynd andthe beetles. "It was one of my aunts who didthe beetle thing, but I'm sure Belle hadsomething to do with it. She's got some sortof power over them.""It must be her.""Her who?" said Olivia.

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Mr. Boldova gave a grim smile. "Emma hasprobably told you by now that my youngerbrother, Ollie, was a pupil at Bloor's. Justover a year ago he disappeared. When I cameto Bloor's to try and discover what hadhappened to him, I had to take on a newidentity There are people in Bloor's whowould certainly want to get rid of me if theyknew who I was.""Get rid of you!" said Emma."I'm afraid so." Mr. Boldova took a thought-ful bite of his cookie. "One way or another.""About Belle . . ." Charlie prompted."Ah, Belle." Mr. Boldova wiped his mouth ona brown Pets' Café napkin and began. "Bey-ond the mountains in the northeast there's acastle. It was built in the twelfth century andonce it had another name. Now it's known asYewbeam Castle." He looked at Charlie.

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Charlie muttered, 'Yewbeam," but he didn'tinterrupt.Mr. Boldova continued. "For centuries thedescendants of the Red King have lived inYewbeam Castle. Most of the owners havebeen endowed. In the year 1900, a baby wasborn in the castle. She was named Yolanda.Her father was a shape-shifter, her mother ahypnotist. On her twenty-first birthdayYolanda inherited the castle, although . . ."Mr. Boldova glanced at the children's expect-ant faces.". . . although it cannot be said thather father was thoroughly dead.""Thoroughly dead,'" squeaked Olivia. "Whatdoes that mean?""It means that one can never be sure when ashape-shifter has ceased to exist. Yolanda isnow more than a hundred, and she can stilltake the shape of a twelve-year-old girl."

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'You mean," breathed Charlie, "that Yolandais — Belle?""I'm fairly certain," said Mr. Boldova. “AndI'm afraid that she's recognized me. Myhome isn't far from hers, and she has alwaysresented the people in Sparkling Castle.There used to be so much fun, so muchsparkle, but since Ollie went we don't enjoymaking things glitter anymore, my fatherand I. Yes, we both have the talent. Sadly Ol-lie doesn't. His gift is musical; he was alsoblessed with boundless curiosity and I wasalways afraid this would lead him intotrouble.""There's a portrait of Selena Sparks, sir. Wasshe a sparkler?" Charlie asked."Selena — ah, yes, a wonderful lady by all ac-counts. We're descended from her brother,who didn't have the gift. Selena never mar-ried. Having too much fun, no doubt."

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Charlie longed to ask how the sparklinghappened, but he thought that the timewasn't quite right. Olivia had no suchqualms."What do you do, sir?" she asked. "How doyou make things sparkle?""Never mind about that," said the teacher.And then, seeing the disappointed faces, hesaid, "Oh, well," and reached into his pocket.He brought out a fistful of small stones and,holding them over the table, he let the stonesroll gently in his open palm. Four heads bentcloser, and suddenly the stones began tosparkle. The children could feel the heatfrom the dazzling radiance the stones threwout, and Runner Bean, the rabbit, the parrot,and the gerbils all began squeaking andbarking in unison.The rat, Rembrandt, being used to suchspectacles, watched in silence.

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Mr. Boldova closed his fist and the sparkledied. Emma's bird immediately cried, "I'll bedarned.""They can be dangerous," said Mr. Boldova,slipping the stones into his pocket."How can you hold them, sir, when they're sohot?" asked Gabriel."To tell the truth, I've no idea," said theteacher.Mr. Onimous appeared beside the table,wanting to know what had been going on."Who's been upsetting my customers?" hesaid, meaning the animals.Mr. Boldova was about to confess when Mr.Onimous suddenly put a finger to his lips."No. Don't tell me. You're one of them, aren'tyou, sir?" He winked at Charlie and went on,"What do you think of old Runner Bean?Looks happy enough, doesn't he?"

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"He looks great, Mr. Onimous. How's he get-ting on with the cats?""No problems, Charlie. They're pals. Speak-ing of the flames, they've been showing a lotof interest in that school of yours just latelyIs everything OK there?"For a moment, Charlie hesitated, then, look-ing at Mr. Boldova, he said softly "No itisn't." He lowered his voice and told Mr. On-imous about Belle and invisible Ollie."Well, I'll be me!" murmured Mr. Onimous."No wonder the cats are curious."At that moment a group of very noisy cus-tomers arrived: four black dogs with squaremuzzles and dangerous eyes. The two youthswho accompanied them looked mild enough,but Charlie sensed something awkwardabout them. They were both overweight withsandy hair and pink, freckled faces. You

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could tell that they hadn't spent much timetraining their dogs."Rottweilers," muttered Gabriel. "You'd bet-ter watch Runner. They're nasty fighters."Mr. Onimous hopped away to attend to thebarking that had broken out, while RunnerBean began one of his low growls. He wouldhave liked to get closer to the rottweiler gangbut didn't dare chance it.The children finished their tea and, after sev-eral hugs, Charlie led Runner Bean to safetybehind the counter. "See you next week," hesaid to the yellow dog.As he walked toward the door the rottweilersmoved into his path. Their growls had amenacing edge, and for a moment Charliedidn't dare pass them."Sorry" One of the youths gave a reluctantgrin and pulled the rottweilers out of the way

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Gabriel already had the door open andCharlie sprinted through it, almost knockingover the girl standing outside: Dorcas Loom."Hi!" said Charlie. "What're you doing here?""I'm waiting for my brothers," said Dorcas."Haven't you got an animal?" asked Gabriel."Don't like them," said Dorcas.At that moment Mr. Boldova came throughthe door, followed by Emma and Olivia."Oh!" Dorcas' eyes grew very round. "Ima-gine seeing you here, sir."The art teacher gave a slight smile. "Hello,Dorcas."And then Dorcas caught sight of Emma'sbird. "How cute," she said, "What is it?"“A mynah. I wouldn't . . ." She was too late tostop Dorcas from poking her finger into thecage."Coochie! Coochie!" said Dorcas.

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The mynah pecked her finger and Dorcasgave an earsplitting shriek.One of the rottweiler youths stuck his headout of the door and said, "What's the matter,Dorcy? What happened?""Beastly rotten, vile, smelly bird bit me!"cried Dorcas."You shouldn't keep vicious pets," said theyouth, glaring at Emma.Mr. Boldova said, "Don't be ridiculous. I'dsay four rottweilers posed more of a threatthan a mere mynah."The youth raised his fist, thought better of it,and withdrew behind the door, saying, "We'llbe out in a sec, Dorc."Dorcas had by now calmed down a little, butwhen Emma apologized for her mynah's be-havior, Dorcas wouldn't even look at her." 'Bye, Dorcas," the others called as theywalked away

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Dorcas turned her back and sucked herfinger.When they reached the main street, Mr. Bol-dova said, "Now look. I don't want any of youto try and rescue Ollie again.""But . . ." Charlie began."No. It's too dangerous," Mr. Boldova saidforcefully "Believe me. I'm grateful for yourhelp, Charlie and Emma, but it's up to menow. OK?"The children grudgingly agreed and the artteacher walked off in the direction of Bloor'sAcademy Emma and Olivia took a street thatled to Ingledew's Bookshop, and Gabriel andCharlie headed up to the intersection.Before they parted, Charlie said, "Do youthink Dorcas was spying on us? She'schanged a lot lately Ever since I saw her inthe house in Darkly Wynd I've had this

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feeling that she's not what we all thought shewas.""She's certainly lost weight," said Gabriel."It's not just that," Charlie said with a grin."Well, she's endowed. But we don't knowhow — yet. As for spying, I thought BillyRaven was the spy We all know he's in leaguewith Manfred and that horrible old Mr.Ezekiel.""There's always room for another spy" saidCharlie thoughtfully “And Billy might not beany use to them, now that we all knowBesides, I feel kind of sorry for Billy being anorphan and having to live in that dark oldbuilding all the time. Never going home,ever. Imagine!""Can't," Gabriel admitted with a shiver. "Seeyou tomorrow, Charlie!"Gabriel loped away with a gerbil clinging to aclump of his floppy hair It looked so funny

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Charlie couldn't help smiling, but then histhoughts turned to Belle and his smile faded.THE SHAPE-SHIFTEROn Sundays, when most children werespending a comfortable night at home, BillyRaven roamed the dark passages and emptygrounds of Bloor's Academy The only otherchild in the building was Manfred Bloor, buthe was now eighteen, hardly a child, and onweekends he shut himself away in the westwing with his father and old Ezekiel, hisgreat-grandfather.Sometimes, if Billy gave Manfred an interest-ing piece of news, something about CharlieBone, for instance, Manfred would rewardhim with a bar of chocolate. And if he didwhat Mr. Ezekiel asked, the ancient manwould give Billy a late-night mug of cocoa.Today was Billy's eighth birthday but so farno one had remembered. Last year Cook had

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made him a cake, but the Bloors had let theday pass without so much as a "Happy birth-day Billy!"You might wonder how Billy knew it was hisbirthday; after all, no one had spoken of itsince he was a year old. Billy knew becausethe date was fixed firmly in his head. Heknew because the animals knew, and theyhad told him.Billy was a baby when his parents died. Hewas brought up by an aunt who was kind butstrict. When Billy was two, a beautiful cakehad 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 good measure.On May fourth, when Billy was three, the dogand the cat said, "Cake day Billy!" But nocake arrived. The same thing happened whenBilly was four and five. By this time, out ofthe aunt's hearing, Billy and the animals had

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been having long conversations. When Billyturned six, he said to the aunt, “Am I goingto get a cake today?"The aunt said, "Who told you that it was yourbirthday?""The dog and the cat," said BillyThe aunt gaped at him. At last she said, "Youcan talk to animals, then?""Oh, yes," said Billy thinking that this wassomething everyone could do. "I talk to thema lot."The aunt said no more, but the very nextweek, Billy was sent to Bloor's AcademyHe felt lonely in the dark, massive building.He kept getting lost, and he began to thinkthat people were trying to keep things fromhim. They didn't want him to know who hereally was. Cook was kind, though, and he of-ten talked to the dog, Blessed, an old fatcreature with a hairless tail.

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Blessed might have been ugly but Billy lovedhim all the same. The old dog always hadtime to listen to him.Last semester Billy had kicked Blessed, buthe hadn't meant to. It had just happened andBilly regretted it bitterly Blessed wouldn'tspeak to him, and there were only the miceand an occasional rat to talk to. Mice wereboring; they were only interested in food andbabies. Rats were better. Mr. Boldova had arat that told jokes. Its name was Rembrandt.Today Mr. Boldova had taken Rembrandt fora walk. Billy wondered where they had gone.Hoping for a treat of some kind he began tomake his way to the top of the west wing,where Mr. Ezekiel lived. The old man had ahuge, musty room crammed with ancientstuff: urns and pots, bones and swords, andjars full of dead things. Mr. Ezekiel was amagician but not a very good one.

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Billy had just reached the top of a ricketystaircase when he heard a scream. He peereddown the long gaslit passage that led to Mr.Ezekiel's room. Something was coming to-ward him: a short fat dog howling its headoff."Blessed!" Billy grunted in the dog's lan-guage. "What's the matter?""Tail! Tail!" cried Blessed. "Tail hurt!"The old dog rushed up to Billy "Can yousee?" he begged.Blessed used to have an ugly bald tail. Whathe had today was even worse. A tiny pinkstub stuck out from his bottom."Not much tail left, I'm afraid," said Billy"What happened?""Snake," said Blessed. "Blue snake. Blessedbit snake. Mr. Zeke said no. Snake squeezedtail. Blessed ran.""Looks like he bit it off," Billy observed.

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"No, no, no! Tail still there," whined Blessed."Squashed. Squeezed. Hurt.""Honestly it's not there," said Billy"Liar!" cried Blessed. "Tell Cook."

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Billy didn't like the sound of this blue snake.He decided to give Mr. Ezekiel a pass. Hewould go and look for Cook instead.Billy would never forget his eighth birthdayHe didn't get a card or a present. He didn'teven reach Cook in her kitchen. Somethinghappened on his way there. He was walkingacross the landing above the entrance hallwhen the new girl, Belle, appeared. She camefrom the small door that led to the musictower. Almost at the same time, Mr. Boldovawalked out of the green coatroom at the oth-er end of the hall.The girl and the art teacher stared at eachother for some time. All at once, Belle said,"Good evening, Samuel Sparks."The art teacher said, “And you are . . . ?""No prizes for guessing who I am," cackledBelle. Her voice was old and deep.

"Yolanda," the teacher whispered as if he wasafraid of the name."Yesssss!" The girl flung out her arms, and asshe did this a veil of gray like thin smoke,began to swirl around her body "Now you seeme, now you don't," she snickered."I can see you, unfortunately" muttered theart teacher."Sad Samuel. You've come to find your littlebrother, haven't you? Well, you never will."Belle was changing shape. White hairsdrizzled into the blonde curls, her pretty fea-tures stretched and sagged, and she wasgrowing taller and taller. Now she was an an-cient woman with yellow skin that hung infolds beneath her chin and a huge crag of anose.Billy didn't want to go on watching, but hecouldn't help himself. He sank to his kneesand peered between the oak railings.

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Mr. Boldova approached the hag. He pulledsomething out of his pocket and opened hisfist. A cluster of small stones lay in his palm;gradually they began to glow, and then fiercered sparks flew out of the teacher's hand.Billy gasped, his spectacles slid off his nose,and he only just managed to catch them. Thepeople below were too intent on each otherto notice him."Those won't help you, Mr. Sparks," sneeredYolanda. "Ollie was a wicked boy; he had tobe punished. And now I've got to punishyou.""We'll see about that!" Mr. Boldova raisedhis fist and flung the burning stones at theold woman. She screamed as her hair andbits of gray clothing began to smolder, andthen, in a deep, chilling voice, she said,"You've done it now!"

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She stared at the teacher. Stared and stared.He took a step toward her and faltered. Hetook another and stopped. His face waswhite and his eyes looked frightened andfaraway Desperately he felt in his pocket,searching for more sparkling stones, but hecouldn't withdraw his hand. He couldn'tmove. He seemed almost to have stoppedbreathing."That'll teach you," said Yolanda. She pattedher hair and the scorch marks on her dress,and then she turned on her heel and disap-peared through the door to the music tower,leaving Mr. Boldova as still and silent as astatue.Suddenly with a loud squeak, a black ratjumped out of Mr. Boldova's pocket and ranacross the hall. He began to leap up thestairs, and when he got to the top he cameracing up to Billy

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"Help!" squeaked the rat. "Help! Help!" Hegazed up at Billy imploringly "Help Rem-brandt," he wailed. "Help master.""I'll try," said Billy He picked up the rat andwalked slowly along the landing. The artmaster hadn't moved. Billy descended thewide staircase. The burning stones layscattered across the hall and Billy had to stepbetween them. The stones were losing theircolor now; some were already ash-gray likedead coals.Mr. Boldova didn't appear to see Billy Thewhite-haired boy moved closer and said,"Sir, your rat." He held Rembrandt out tohim."What?" Mr. Boldova stared at Rembrandt."What's that?""Your rat, sir," said Billy"I haven't got a rat."Rembrandt gave a squeak of distress.

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"Honestly it is yours, sir. It's calledRembrandt."Mr. Boldova began to move, but he clearlywasn't himself He turned and walked in theopposite direction. "Take it away!" heshouted. "Trash it!"If rats could pass out, Rembrandt wouldhave done just that. As it was, he went quitelimp. Billy tucked him under his sweater andran up to his dormitory"Gone," muttered the rat as Billy sank ontohis bed."What's gone?" said Billy "Do you mean Mr.B?""Dead," said Rembrandt. "Light gone out."Billy realized what the rat meant. "You meanhis real self, don't you? His soul?"Rembrandt sighed.Billy was so shaken by what he had seen, hecouldn't stop shivering. Belle wasn't a girl at

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all but an old, old woman. She had changedher shape, but she had also done somethingterrible to Mr. Boldova. Belle was a hypnot-ist, like Manfred Bloor."Two endowments," Billy murmured. He layback on his bed and closed his eyes. Hewished he could go home and talk tosomeone. But there was no home to go to.Mr. Ezekiel had promised he would be adop-ted, but the kind parents he mentioned hadnever turned up."Tell Cook," said a voice.Billy opened his eyes. The rat was sitting onhis chest, staring at him."Tell Cook," the rat repeated. "Cook knowsmany things."At the mention of Cook's name, Billy realizedhe was very hungry He slipped off the bedand, tucking Rembrandt under his sweater,

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he left the dormitory and made his waydownstairs.When he reached the hall, he found that thelights had come on and the burning embershad been removed. It was hard to believethat, only an hour ago, a battle of shiftingshapes and flying sparks had taken place.Billy hurried on toward the dining hall. Butas he passed the prefects' room, ManfredBloor emerged.“Ah, there you are, Billy" said the head boy"You look startled. Anything beenhappening?"Billy hesitated. He felt that Belle's shape-shifting was something he shouldn't haveseen. "N-no, Manfred.""Nothing to tell me, then?"Billy wanted to talk about Belle and Mr. Bol-dova, but he'd have to mention the rat. And

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he desperately wanted to keep him. Heshook his head. "No.""Nothing? No tidbits about Charlie Bone?"Manfred's coal-black eyes glittered.Billy couldn't be hypnotized. He had foundthis out soon after he had arrived at Bloor's.Manfred had tried to practice his horribleskills on him, but it had never worked. Per-haps it was because of his dark-red eyes."Nothing to report," he said.Manfred looked disappointed. "What's thatunder your sweater?""My gloves. I was feeling cold.""Aww!" said Manfred in a mocking voice."It's my birthday today" said Billy"Too bad. I haven't got anything for you.Now, if you'd got some news for me, well, Imight be able to find a bit of chocolate."Billy loved chocolate. And it was his birthdayAll he had to do was to tell Manfred what

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he'd seen and hand over the rat. But whatwould Manfred do to Rembrandt? Billy gavea small shudder and said, “As a matter of factI've had a very boring day""You're a hopeless case. Did you know that,Billy?" said Manfred scornfully"Sorry Manfred." Billy scuttled away fromthe head boy."I'm afraid I can't come to your birthdayparty" Manfred shouted after him."What birthday party?" Billy muttered as hesped past the portraits, past three cafeterias,and down and down into the undergrounddining hall.And there he found that someone had re-membered his birthday A large iced cake satat the end of the music table. It had Billy'sname on it, surrounded by eight flamingcandles.

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Billy gasped and took a seat beside the cake.Rembrandt poked his head out of the top ofBilly's sweater and said, "Oh, my! Cake andcandles." 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 largeslice of cake."You've brought a guest, I see." Cook noddedat Rembrandt. "Where did you find him?"Billy looked at Cook's kind, rosy face andsuddenly it all came pouring out: Blessed'stail, the flying sparks, shape-shifting Belle,and the horrible battle he'd just witnessed.Cook wiped her pink brow with the hem ofher apron and sat beside Billy. She lookedworried but not surprised."So it's her," she muttered. "I knew there wassomething not right about that girl. But

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whatever possessed Samuel Sparks to comehere?""He came to find his little brother," Billy toldCook."Ollie Sparks? Is he still here, then?" Cookseemed very surprised."Yes. That's what the old woman said. Andshe said no one would ever find him.""Oh, my goodness. Where've they hidden thepoor boy? I was always worried about him.What's he been eating? If only I'd known.""Do you think they're starving him?" saidBilly"Oh, I hope not, Billy Dear, oh dear. What'sto be done?" Cook got up and straightenedher apron. "I advise you not to eat all of thatcake, Billy When you and the rat have hadwhat you want, I'll come and put the restaway for next weekend."

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As Cook made her way toward the kitchen,Billy called out. "I know people think I'm aspy but I won't tell Manfred or Mr. Ezekielabout what I saw I promise."Cook turned and looked at Billy "I'm surethey know already As for you being a spy Idon't blame you, Billy One day you'll get theparents you want; if the Bloors don't see to it,then I will. But right now I'd better go andfind the poor dog that's lost its tail."As Cook hurried up the corridor of portraits,a cold draft rushed around her ankles. Thismeant that the main doors had been opened.She reached the hall in time to see a figureslip through the doors before Mr. Weedonslammed them shut."Who was that?" asked Cook."What's it to you?" said Weedon sourly

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Cook drew back her shoulders and said, "Iasked a civil question. The least you could dois to give me a civil answer.""Ooo!" mocked Weedon. "Hoity-toity!"“Are you going to tell me?" asked Cook."No." Weedon bolted the doors and walkedoff.Cook, who was extremely intuitive, knew an-other victim had been led into a trap. Andfrom what Billy had told her, she could guesswho that victim was.She was right.Mr. Boldova, carrying a suitcase, walkedacross the courtyard and under the archbetween the two towers of Bloor's AcademyHe descended the steps into the cobbledsquare, and there his gaze was drawn to thefountain of stone swans in the center. Thecascade of water glowed gold in the last raysof the sun.

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Mr. Boldova frowned. Why was he here?Where was he going? Who was he?A black car pulled up at the other end of thesquare. The driver, a gray-haired woman,beckoned to Mr. Boldova. He walked over toher."Can I give you a lift?" asked the woman."Er . . ." Mr. Boldova scratched his head. "Idon't know where I'm going.""I do," said the woman. "I'm clairvoyant.Jump in, Samuel.""I'm not sure . . .""Do hurry up. We haven't got all day havewe?" The woman's laughter was cold andshrill. "My name's Eustacia, by the way"Mr. Boldova passed a hand over his eyes.There didn't seem to be anywhere else to go.He walked around the car and got into thepassenger seat. There was something heought to do next, but what?

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"Forget the seat belt!" Eustacia gave anotherwild laugh, and the car roared off at analarming speed.At first break, on Monday morning, whenCharlie and Fidelio were hanging their capesin the blue coat-room, Billy Raven came inwith a bulge under his sweater. The bulgemoved and Charlie asked Billy what he washiding."Nothing," said Billy turning pink."Come on, Billy It can't be nothing," saidFidelio. "It squeaked."Billy was about to deny this when the head ofa black rat appeared at the top of his sweater."That's Rembrandt," said Charlie. "What areyou doing with him?"Billy pouted, and then he mumbled, "Mr.Boldova gave him to me.""I bet he didn't," said Charlie.

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Billy rushed out and ran along to the gardendoor, with Charlie and Fidelio in pursuit."It's OK, Billy" Charlie called out. "We're notaccusing you of anything. That rat's alwaysescaping."Billy didn't stop. He kept on running until hewas lost in a sea of bobbing figures. Out ofthat same sea, two girls came rushing towardthe boys."Something awful's happened," Emmapanted."What?" said the boys together.While Emma gulped for air, Olivia said, "Mr.Boldova's left the school.""He can't have," said Charlie. "He'd have toldus."Emma got her breath back. "Exactly So-mething awful's happened to him. I justknow it. And I've got a horrible feeling thosetwo are responsible." She looked over at

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Dorcas and Belle, who were sitting on thegrass, whispering to each other.Having missed the meeting in the Pets' Café,Fidelio hadn't a clue what they were talkingabout. So the four friends walked around thegrounds while Charlie filled Fidelio in. Theywere soon joined by Gabriel, who announcedthat he'd just seen Billy Raven feeding bits oftoast to a black rat. Could it be Rembrandt?"It could," said Charlie. "In fact it is. Andnow they say Mr. Boldova's left, but I thinksomething terrible has happened to him.""Something to do with her?" said Gabriel,eyeing pretty blonde Belle, who was nowcombing her curls.Olivia suddenly stopped dead in her tracks."If that girl's a shape-shifter, it's going to behard to know where she is. She could looklike anyone.""Or any thing," said Fidelio darkly

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This thought was so awful they all fell silent.On his way to homework that evening,Charlie caught up with Billy Raven, his armsfull of books."Have you got Rembrandt with you?" Charlieasked."No. I put him in the dormitory closet," Billysaid quietly"I think we'd better find a different place forhim," said Charlie. "Matron'll hear himscratching, and who knows what she woulddo if she found a rat in the dorm."Billy shuddered. "He's going to be such agood friend. Already he's told me a lot ofthings I didn't know""Has he told you why Mr. Boldova left?"asked Charlie.Billy's ruby eyes gazed over the top of hisspectacle frames. He shrugged.

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It occurred to Charlie that Billy might haveseen what happened to the art teacher. "Youknow something, Billy don't you?" he said.They had reached the tall black doors of theKing's room and, ignoring Charlie, Billypushed at the doors and rushed in. His booksspilled out of his arms and tumbled to thefloor."Calm down, Billy Raven!" Manfred shouted."What's the hurry?"From her seat between Asa and Dorcas, Bellesmiled at the albino. "Don't be mean, Man-fred. He's only small," she said.Manfred gave her a surprised look.As Charlie bent to help Billy retrieve hisbooks, he noticed that the small boy's handswere trembling. He was very frightened.Once, twelve endowed children had satevenly spaced at the round table. But gradu-ally their positions had changed. Now there

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were two distinct groups. Manfred, Asa,Zelda, Belle, and Dorcas sat on one side ofthe circle while Lysander, Tancred, Gabriel,Emma, and Charlie sat on the other. Billywas the odd one out."Sit next to me, Billy" Charlie said softlyBilly gave him a grateful smile and piled hisbooks next to Charlie's.After homework, Charlie kept close to Billyas they made their way to the dormitoryGabriel caught up with them and, always in-terested in animals, wanted to know whathad become of Rembrandt. When he heardthat the rat was shut in a closet, he suggestedthey take the rat to the art room, where Mr.Boldova had kept him in a large, airy cage."But could I visit him?" Billy asked. "I don'tbelong in art."

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"Of course you can," Gabriel assured him."Emma's always in the art room. Just askher.""OK." Billy rushed off and by the time theothers had reached the dormitory he waswaiting for them with Rembrandt under hiscape.The art room was on the same floor as theboys' dormitories. It was a vast space with ahigh ceiling and long windows facing northtoward the castle ruin. Easels stood in vari-ous positions all around the room, andcanvases were stacked three or four deepagainst the walls. Rembrandt's cage was in acorner beside the paint cabinet.There was no one in the art room exceptEmma. She was painting a large white birdflying through a forest. She left the picture toshow the boys where Mr. Boldova had kept

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Rembrandt's food, at the bottom of the paintcabinet.When the black rat had been made comfort-able with fresh water and plenty of grain,Emma secured the cage door."I can't stop thinking about Mr. B," she said."We all miss him in art. He seemed to be,you know, always on our side."Without any warning, tears began to gushdown Billy's cheeks. "I know, I know," hesobbed. "I saw""What did you see?" said Charlie.Billy ran his sleeve across his face and, in afrightened, choking voice, recounted the ter-rible events of his eighth birthday: Blessed'stail, the ancient woman who'd emerged fromBelle's body the flying coals, and the suddenand dreadful stillness that had fallen over theart teacher.

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"He didn't want Rembrandt," sobbed Billy"He seemed to have forgotten everything —even who he was.""Hypnotized," Charlie murmured.The others stared at him in horror, andEmma said, "There isn't much that Bellecan't do, is there? How are we going to helpOllie now?""Do you know where he is?" asked BillyCharlie couldn't decide whether to tell him.He was sorry for the small albino, but he hadbeen Manfred's spy It would be better not togive him too much information until theywere quite sure he could be trusted. The oth-ers had obviously come to the sameconclusion."No, we don't know where he is," said Gabri-el. "I think we'd better get back to our dorm-itories now, or Matron will be on thewarpath."

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Billy begged to be given a few more minuteswith Rembrandt, and the other three left himcrouching beside the cage, squeaking softlyat the black rat.Billy stayed talking to Rembrandt muchlonger than he had intended. When he finallyslipped out of the art room, Matron hadalready called lights out.He tore along the passage, clamping hisspectacles to his nose and tripping over hisown feet."Where've you been, Billy Raven?" Manfredstepped out of a doorway blocking his path.Billy was too scared to lie, but he decided totell a half-truth. "I've . . . I've been feedingMr. Boldova's rat," he said. "I found him inthe passage.""I don't think that's true, Billy" Manfred saidcoldly"It is, it is," said Billy desperately

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"I think you saw something, Billy I think yourescued that black rat when our dear depar-ted art teacher had a little accident.""No, no!"Manfred glowered down at Billy "What didyou see?""I didn't see anything," mumbled Billy look-ing away from Manfred's dreadful black eyes."Liar. You saw what happened to Mr. Bol-dova and you told Charlie Bone, didn't you?"Billy had a nasty feeling that if he told thetruth it would get Charlie into trouble. "No,"he said defiantly "I didn't see anything, and Ididn't tell Charlie anything."Manfred gave a sigh of irritation. "You prob-ably think I'm leaving Bloor's at the end ofthis semester, don't you?"Billy hadn't thought about it. He shook hishead.

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“All the seniors will be leaving. It's the sum-mer semester. We have exams to take. That'swhy I'm rather busy at the moment. But Iwon't be leaving. I'll be here, with time onmy hands to keep an eye on you.""I see," said Billy in a small voice."So, you'd better remember who you'reworking for, Billy Or you'll never get the nice,kind parents that you want."THE STARLINGBilly sat on the end of his bed. Everyone elsein the dormitory seemed to be asleep, butBilly had never felt more awake. Before hishorrible encounter with Manfred, he'd hadthe most amazing conversation withRembrandt.The black rat had talked of a house full ofsparkling light and laughter. A house ofbooks and music and pictures, where once afamily had been happy. There had been a boy

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called Oliver, a gifted flute player. He was ex-pected to develop an even greater gift, likehis father and his brother, who could turnstones into fire. But he was sent away toschool and never came home again.Billy remembered Ollie Sparks. He was inmusic and used to stay with a friend onweekends. Ollie had been a very nosy boyand this used to annoy people. He got intotrouble for going where he shouldn't.Rembrandt had told Billy that Ollie was stillin the academy. The rat had smelled him outand found him in one of the attics. But Olliecouldn't be seen, except for one toe. Therewas also a snake up in the old part of thebuilding, a dreadful blue thing. It was so an-cient Rembrandt's brain could hardly fathomit."Mind-boggling," Billy murmured."Billy are you all right?"

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Billy almost fell off the bed. He hadn't heardCharlie Bone creep up on him."I was just thinking about Rembrandt," Billywhispered. "He told me so much. I can'twork it all out.""Do you want to come and stay next week-end?" Charlie asked. "You could bring therat.""Could I?" said Billy "OK, thanks."Charlie tiptoed back to bed, while Billy creptunder his covers and had the best night'ssleep he'd had in ages.Over the next few days, Charlie was madeaware of just how seriously the academy tookits summer play Every break Olivia could beseen walking around the field learning herlines. Sometimes, Emma walked beside her,holding a folder that contained the scenesManfred had printed out.

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Fidelio spent more and more time in the mu-sic room, practicing the incidental music forthe play and Charlie found that his break-time companions were usually Gabriel Silkand Billy Raven. It soon became clear thatBilly had learned all there was to know aboutthe invisible boy from Rembrandt. But itseemed that he hadn't passed on the inform-ation to Manfred. Did this mean he couldnow be trusted? One day he even suggestedthat he should go and look for Ollie.“At night I'm allowed to visit Mr. Ezekiel,"said Billy "so if I'm caught Matron won't besurprised.""I don't like the sound of it, Billy" Charlieconfessed. "Matron's capable of giving you avery nasty punishment.""Besides, there's that boa thing lurkingaround," said Gabriel. "We don't want twoinvisible boys stuck in the attics."

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"The boa must have got Blessed's tail," saidBilly thoughtfully "Rembrandt says it's so oldhe can't fathom it.""Rats can't understand time," said GabrielknowledgeablyCharlie muttered, "I'm not sure I can."He was just going indoors at the end of breakwhen Olivia clutched his sleeve. "Wait aminute, Charlie," she hissed. "We've gotsomething to tell you."Charlie hung back as Billy and Gabriel wereswept away with a crowd of children surginginto the hall."What is it? I'll be late for my trumpetlesson.""I'm going out tonight, to look for that roomwhere we met Ollie," Emma said softly “AndI'll have to be alone.""You're going to fly?"

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Emma nodded. "I can look in from the out-side. Maybe fly in if there's a window open. Idon't think I can rescue him, yet. I just wanthim to know that we're still trying.""It'll be dark," said Charlie. "How are you go-ing to see?""It gets light ages before we're up," Oliviawhispered. "I think it's a brilliant idea. Butwe've got to make sure there's an open win-dow on our floor, so Emma can get back in.Can you do that, Charlie? Belle sleeps next tome. She's bound to close the dormitory win-dow if I open it. She watches me like ahawk." Olivia glanced at Emma. "Well, per-haps not a hawk. More of a viper — no of-fense to vipers."Charlie grinned. He lost his smile when Asalooked out at them and shouted, "What areyou three doing? You look like a mess. You'llbe late for your classes if you don't hurry up."

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The three friends leaped into the hall andseparated, each rushing to a different coat-room. Charlie managed to reach Mr. Paltry'swind room just before the old man turnedup, complaining about all the extra work hehad to do for the school play"You don't need to worry Charlie Bone," saidMr. Paltry "It'll take years for you to reachthe standard required for the school band."And he added in an undertone, "Probablynever will."Charlie just grinned. Trumpet playing wasn'tone of his priorities.Before dinner that night he met Gabriel andFidelio coming out of the music room. Whenhe told them of Emma's intended mission,they were eager to help. Fidelio suggestedthey leave as many windows open as pos-sible, but Charlie was worried this would betoo obvious. Matron Yewbeam and her

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assistants were bound to go around thebuilding checking all the windows."I just want you to cover for me when I leavethe dormitory" he told them. "Say I'm in thebathroom or something.""Matron never believes a word I say" Gabrielmuttered. "But we'll do our best."Charlie waited until he heard the cathedralclock strike midnight. The sound of thosetwelve chimes never failed to send a shiverdown his spine. It was on the stroke oftwelve, eight years ago, that his father, Lyell,had been put into a trance from which hecouldn't wake. Manfred Bloor was respons-ible. Even as a small boy he had tremendouspower. Lyell's car had been found at the bot-tom of a deep quarry and everyone believedthat he was dead, but Charlie knew that thiswasn't true. Grandma Bone had destroyedevery photo of his father and Charlie couldn't

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even remember what he looked like, but hewas determined that one day he would usehis endowment to find Lyell and wake him.In the meantime, he would do everything hecould to stop the Bloors from getting theirown way and ruining people's lives.Charlie got out of bed and crept to the door.It was pitch dark in the passage and he keptclose to the wall until he found the staircaseleading to the girls' dormitories.The old treads creaked under his feet eventhough he climbed on tiptoe. When hereached the top, Charlie gave a sigh of reliefand moved quickly to the faint patch of lightcoming from a small window He opened it,just wide enough to admit a small bird, andwas about to dash back to the stairs when ashadowy figure caught his eye. It came glid-ing out of the darkness on the other side of

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the window, and Charlie was too shocked tomove."What are you doing?"The voice belonged to one of the last peopleCharlie would have wanted to meet."Belle!" he said. "I couldn't sleep. ThoughtI'd take a walk.""On the girls' floor?" She moved closer andCharlie could see the glimmer of her horriblechanging eyes."Wasn't thinking," Charlie murmured."Tsk, tsk! The window's open. No wonder it'sso cold." Belle slammed the window shut andlatched it. "Better run back to bed beforeMatron finds you.""Er, yes." Charlie walked back to the stair-case. When he looked over his shoulder,Belle was still standing there. He would haveto find a less conspicuous window

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The art room, thought Charlie. If it was hardto find his way upstairs, it was even worsegetting back again. Charlie wished he had theflashlight Cook had given him last semester.Matron Yewbeam had confiscated it. Shewas probably keeping it in DarklyWynd, Charlie thought. No chance of get-ting it back from there.He found the right door, at last, and crept in-to the art room. If it hadn't been for palestarlight filtering through the long windows,Charlie would have crashed straight into agroup of easels. As it was, he just managed tostep around them and up to the windows.Here, he realized that only a small section, atthe top of each window, could be opened. Itwas impossible for Charlie to reach that high.In a far corner, a spiral staircase led down in-to the sculpture room. Hoping to find aneasier window there, Charlie made his way

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between easels and paint boxes and was justabout to descend when he heard a grindingnoise and then a squeak. He could just makeout Rembrandt's dark form, standing up atthe bars of his cage."It's OK, Rembrandt, it's only me." Charliewished he could speak the rat's language,like Billy But Rembrandt seemed reassuredby Charlie's voice and went back to some ser-ious nibbling.Charlie tiptoed down the cold spiral of ironsteps. As he reached the bottom he heardtapping and noticed a tiny light coming froma far corner. Someone else was in the sculp-ture room. Charlie froze. Mr. Mason, thesculpture teacher, was a strange man. Itwouldn't have surprised Charlie to find theteacher still working at midnight.

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A voice said, "Who's that?" And a beam oflight 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 sourceof light. He found Lysander sitting beside ablock of wood, while Tancred stood behindhim with a flashlight. They were both wear-ing green capes over their pajamas."What are you doing?" asked Charlie.Lysander explained that he was experiment-ing. "Gabriel passed on the word about OllieSparks," he said. "Thought if I could, kind ofcarve a likeness of Ollie, I might get the an-cestors to give the invisible boy a bit of body— you know?"Charlie didn't know He couldn't understandwhat Lysander was talking about. "Do youknow what Ollie looked like?"

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"Of course I do," said Lysander. "I rememberhim well. Nice kid, but nosy Too nosy 1 cansee him like it was yesterday""Sander can do that," said Tancred admir-ingly "He can remember details perfectlyHe'll carve that piece of wood until it's so realyou can see it breathing.""Really?" The block of wood was already tak-ing on the shape of a boy and yet Charliedidn't see how it could help Ollie. Lysander'sendowment was truly remarkable if he couldturn a block of wood into a living, breathingperson. But the real Ollie was trapped in theattics. How could having another Ollie helphim? "We don't need two Ollies," Charliesaid.Lysander explained that once his spirit an-cestors had seen a perfect likeness of Olliethey could give the invisible boy shape and

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substance; they could make him visibleagain.“Ah!" said Charlie. "That's amazing."“And now may we ask why you are here?"said Tancred."Emma's going out tonight," Charlie toldthem. “As a, you know — she's flying. She'sgoing to look for Ollie's room, so he knowswe're still trying to rescue him.""Better not tell him about 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. SoI'm trying to leave a window open." He toldthe others about Belle."Hm." Tancred looked at the windows. Theywere exactly the same as those in the artroom. Only the small sections at the topcould be opened, and at present these were

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securely fastened. "Mr. Mason sometimesopens them with a pole," he said. "But it'snot here."The tall, blond boy began to stride aroundthe room, and Charlie could feel a breezesweeping around his feet. Bits of wood andpaper, fragments of clay and small chiselsbegan to slither and shuffle across thefloorboards."Watch it, Tane!" said Lysander"OK. OK. I'm focused," said Tancred. "Herewe go!"Finding an empty space in the center of theroom, he spun around, his cape flying outlike a green wheel. Charlie watched, mes-merized by the swirling starlit dust motesuntil, all at once, Tancred's spinning shapecame to rest. He raised his arm, pointing tothe top of the window, and a bolt of pure, icywind left his fingers and soared upward.

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There was a sharp crack, and a pane of glassfell out. It dropped neatly into Tancred's up-held cape."What about that?" he said proudly"Perfection," said Lysander."Out of this world," breathed Charlie.Tancred hid the pane of glass among a stackof boards standing against the back wall."Mr. Mason will never notice," he said.Charlie looked up at the empty windowframe. "I wish we could watch her," he mur-mured. "I've never seen Emma fly or evenbecome a bird.""Some things are better done in secret,"Lysander said mysteriously "I think weshould pack up now and get back to bed, orwe'll never wake up in the morning."Tancred led the way with his flashlight, upthe iron spiral and through the art room.Charlie's dormitory was only halfway down

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the passage, but, with a whispered "goodnight," the two older boys crept down to adormitory at the far end.At that moment Emma was opening a win-dow in the corridor outside her dormitoryBefore she flew she had moments of terribleanxiety She was never sure if her arms wouldbecome wings or if the wings would lift heroff the ground. She had to close her eyestight and think of a bird and then believe inherself and in the ancestor who had passedon this strange gift.Tonight Emma had chosen the form of astarling. Hidden by a tall cupboard, shebegan to shrivel and dwindle, becomingsmaller and smaller, while shiny dappledfeathers covered her body She put the noteshe held into her mouth, and when the trans-formation was complete she lifted her wings.But as she flew out of the window, someone

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in a pale nightgown stepped toward her.Emma soared into the starlit sky and thewindow clanged shut behind her.She tried not to think about how she wouldget back but concentrated on finding the at-tic room where Ollie Sparks was imprisoned.Twice she flew around the huge, gaunt build-ing, perching every now and then on a win-dow ledge, a pediment, or a gutter. But theblack rooms behind the tiny attic windowsgave nothing away Not a light, or a shadow,no rumpled beds, jam jars, or pink toes couldbe seen.So Emma flew down to the floor beneath theattics, and here she did see something: a can-delit room where an old man, propped up bya mountain of cushions, sat in a four-posterbed. Emma had seen that dreadful, wizenedface before, when she too had been im-prisoned in the attics. Old Mr. Ezekiel now

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wore a red nightcap and a black velvet bedjacket covered in beads of shiny jet. Helaughed to himself as his bony fingertraveled over the page of a huge black book,and Emma quickly flew on.On the floor below she saw Lucretia Yew-beam, in a purple nightgown, brushing outthe long strands of her gray-white hair. Andfarther on, Emma found Manfred Bloor, in ablack robe, his dark hair released from itsponytail and hanging in thin cords aroundhis face. He had his back to the window, butEmma could see his reflection in the longmirror he was gazing into. And then he sawher.Manfred only saw a starling, sitting on theledge outside his window But he stared at thebird's reflection and then swung around.Emma flew off, her heart beating wildly Sheopened her beak and gave a shrill cry of

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alarm. And her note floated away on thewind.He knew it was me, thought Emma. He sawthe note. What will he do now?UNCLE PATON'S RETURNNext morning, Charlie thought he was thelast one down to breakfast, but just as he washurrying past the portraits, he heardsomeone shuffling behind him. He lookedaround to see Emma, pale-faced and sleepy-eyed. While Charlie waited for her to catchup, another figure appeared. It was Olivia.Who else would wear bright yellow shoeswith black socks? It was amazing the weirdclothes that drama children managed to getaway with.Olivia was rolling along in a strange lopsidedway She held up a foot in a yellow shoe."They're Mom's. Hope she won't have a fit."Emma regarded the shoe and yawned.

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"How did you get on last night?" Charlieasked her.Emma frowned. "Couldn't find Ollie's win-dow They all look the same. And I droppedthe note.""What note?" said Olivia. "You never saidanything about a note.""I was carrying one. To leave for Ollie. But allthe attic windows were shut.""Carrying it in your . . . ?" Charlie was aboutto say "beak" but couldn't quite manage it."Mouth," said Emma, giving him a funnylook.Charlie said quietly "Did you find the win-dow in the sculpture room?"Emma yawned again. "Eventually Thanks.""It was Tancred."They had reached the dining hall, and herethey had to part, each going to his or her owntable. Charlie noticed that Emma had to sit

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beside Belle. He was worried for his friend.Suppose someone had found the note she'dwritten? If the Bloors knew she was trying torescue Ollie, there was no knowing what theymight do. I'm glad she can fly, he thoughtto himself.Beside him, Fidelio polished off his lastspeck of oatmeal and said, "I'm sure thereare things going on that I ought to knowabout, Charlie. Music's taking over my life abit, but I still want to know what's happeningto you all.""Come to the Pets' Café on Sunday" saidCharlie. "We'll all be there. Maybe evenLysander and Tancred." He noticed Billystaring at him from the other side of thetable. “And Billy" he added."Billy?" Fidelio lowered h is voice. "Is thatwise?"

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Charlie shrugged. "I think he's changing hisspots, if you know what I mean.""Hm," said Fidelio.During the first break, while the others wererehearsing for the play Charlie helped Emmasearch for the note she'd dropped. He wasjust peering into the shrubbery beside thegarden door when Belle and Dorcas walkedup to him.Belle said, "I didn't know you were interestedin horticulture, Charlie.""Haughty what?" said Charlie."Never mind. What are you looking for?""Nothing." Charlie shoved his hands into hispockets and walked away from them. Helooked for Tancred and Lysander, but theywere nowhere to be seen. Perhaps Lysanderwas working on his carving. Billy was miss-ing too, but he had a rat to feed and comfort.

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A few minutes before the end of break,Charlie met Emma. She hadn't found thenote either."I think it must have blown into the court-yard," she said.This was bad news. It was impossible for anyof the children to go in there once the maindoors were shut on Monday morning."What did the note say?" asked Charlie.Emma bit her lip. '"Don't give up hope, Ollie.We haven't forgotten you. E.'""E? Just E?" said Charlie. "That's not sobad.""E is for Emma," Emma said gloomily"They'll know""We'll just have to hope they don't find it,"said Charlie.His next lesson was history and, as usual, hefound it very hard to concentrate. LuckilyMr. Pope didn't ask him any questions. He

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seemed to have given up on Charlie, whichwas just as well, because Charlie was wrest-ling with several other problems at once, andnone of them had anything to do withNapoleon.For one thing, who were they? The Bloorsobviously and Belle, of course. But Weedon,the gardener, was a nasty piece of work. Andthe matron, Charlie's great-aunt Lucretia,was definitely an enemy What about the restof the staff? It was very difficult to guess. Ifonly he had Uncle Paton to talk to, but therewas still no sign of him.Before Charlie knew it, the lesson was overand Mr. Pope was shouting, “Another lessonhas passed you by Charlie Bone. There'll be atest on Napoleon's campaigns first thing onMonday morning. If you don't get more thanseventy percent, you'll have detention."

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Charlie's jaw dropped. This meant a wholeweekend wasted on learning dates. Hegathered up his books and marched grimlyout of the history room.Other children were faced with the sameproblem. News of tests abounded. The staffhad apparently caught test fever. There werevery few happy faces at dinner that night."I don't think I'll be able to make it to thePets' Café this Sunday" said Gabriel, staringglumly into his soup."Nor me," said Charlie.Billy leaned across the table. "I can still comehome with you, can't I?" he begged.Charlie didn't have the heart to say no. "Ofcourse you can. You can test me on mydates."Billy beamed. "You're on."On Friday Charlie heard about Lysander'sprogress on the carving. He and Emma were

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caught up in the usual rush to the dormitor-ies to collect their bags. In spite of the loom-ing tests, a babble of excitement had brokenout. No one could remain despondent whenthere were two days and three nights of free-dom to look forward to. Steps were climbedtwo at a time, and dark passages rang withhurrying footsteps and happy laughter."I saw the carving last night," Emmawhispered to Charlie. "It's fantastic, like areal boy Lysander's just begun to paint it. Afew more days and it'll be ready""How's he kept it secret?" asked Charlie."He puts a sheet over it in the daytime. Mr.Mason never pays any attention to it. He'stoo busy doing his own sculpting.""Belle's in art," said Charlie anxiously"I don't need reminding. But, as far as Iknow, she hasn't seen the carving."

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They parted at the bottom of another stair-case and Charlie went to find BillyIt was true that Belle hadn't seen Lysander'scarving, but she'd been aware of it. She hadmerely been biding her time. As soon as allthe other children had climbed aboard theschool buses, Belle went into the sculptureroom. Mr. Mason was tapping away at achunk of stone by the window He didn't evensee Belle. She walked over to a white sheetthat covered something almost exactly hersize. Belle pulled off the sheet. A boy stoodbefore her Not exactly a boy but somethingso very like a boy it was hard to believe hewasn't real.The boy had brown hair and bright blue eyes.His mouth was quite small, and his nose wasthin and poky: an inquisitive nose. He waswearing a blue cape but, as far as Belle couldsee, the clothes under the cape were, as yet,

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unpainted. The shoes and pants were the col-or of light wood."So," murmured Belle. "That's their game."Charlie and Billy got off the blue bus at thetop of Filbert Street. Rembrandt had fallenasleep under Billy's sweater but he was obvi-ously having bad dreams. He kept twitchingand squeaking in his sleep. Billy reckonedthat the rat had been badly freaked by Mr.Boldova's rejection."You'll have to make up for it then," saidCharlie. "You're his best friend now"Billy looked surprised and pleased. "1 sup-pose I am.""I'm afraid Mom doesn't know you're com-ing," Charlie warned him. "She's out all dayon Saturday and she doesn't get home tillafter four.""I don't mind," said Billy happilyShe'll leave us plenty of food.'

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"Good. Can I give some to Rembrandt?""Of course. Don't let my grandma see him.She can't abide animals. She'd probably killhim.""Oh," said Billy nervouslyAbout twenty paces from home Charlie be-came aware of a car parked in the road out-side number nine. It's color might have beendescribed as black. But then again, it wasn'tquite black. It could have been midnightblue, but it was so streaked with mud andash and — was it rust? Or had the vehiclebeen engulfed in flames? The bumper wasbent and the windshield shattered."That looks like a car from hell," said Billy"Or a car that's been through hell," saidCharlie. "It belongs to my uncle Paton."The boys tore down Filbert Street. Whenthey reached number nine, Charlie bounded

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up the steps and let himself in. Billy followedcautiously"There's no one here," Charlie shouted fromthe kitchen.Billy watched Charlie cross the hall and be-gin to mount the stairs."Should I stay here?" he asked shyly"No. It's OK. Come on up." Charlie didn'twant to go into his uncle's room alone. TheDO NOT DISTURB sign lay on the floor,and the hook on the door was bent almostflat, as though someone had grasped it forsupport. The signs were so ominous thatCharlie didn't know what to do. Should heknock or walk in unannounced?"I'd knock," Billy advised.Charlie knocked. Once. Twice. Three times.No sound came from within the room.

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Charlie held his breath, opened the door, andwalked in. Billy took just one step inside andthen waited, his hand over the rat.The first thing Charlie saw was the wand, ly-ing on his uncle's desk. The once slim whitecane was almost unrecognizable, but Charlieknew it from its size and the dented silvertip. The rest was a charred and blackenedstick."What happened?" he murmured. Slowly heturned his gaze toward the bed, and therewas his uncle, a figure all in black, lyingstretched out on top of the covers, so tall thathis feet in ash-covered shoes hung over theend.Paton's face beneath streaks of soot wasdeathly white. But worst of all, to Charlie,was his uncle's hair. Once a luxurious black,it had turned ash gray"Is he dead?" Billy whispered.

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"No," said Charlie fiercely but to tell thetruth he wasn't sure. He touched his uncle'sshoulder. There was no response. "UnclePaton," he said softly and then more urgently"Please, Uncle Paton, wake up. If you can."A VISIT TO SKARPOPaton's eyes remained closed. His facelooked like carved ice. Not a muscletwitched. Charlie put his ear to his uncle'schest and caught the faint sound of aheartbeat."He's alive. But in a very deep sleep," saidCharlie. "We'll just have to wait until hewakes up."It was no ordinary sleep, and yet it didn'tseem like hypnotism. Paton must have beento Yewbeam Castle. But what terrible thinghad happened to him there? Uncle Patonwas the only person in the house who couldstand up to Grandma Bone, and Charlie

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shuddered to think what life would be like ifhis uncle never woke up."Let's get out of here," he said.Billy was standing very still beside the doorand Charlie noticed that Rembrandt's headwas poking out of the bottom of Billy'ssweater The rat's nose was twitching viol-ently. Suddenly he gave a loud squeak andleaped to the floor."Get him!" Charlie cried.Billy ran out and Charlie followed, closingPaton's door behind him. He could see Rem-brandt hurrying along, close to the wall. Billyhad almost reached him when a door openedbetween him and the rat.Grandma Bone came out of her room andstood facing Billy "Oh?" She raised a longblack eyebrow "Has Charlie brought home alittle friend?"Billy blinked up at her.

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Charlie said, "It's Billy Raven, Grandma.He's staying the weekend.""I'm not blind. I can see it's Billy Raven,"said his grandmother. "I'm glad you've cometo your senses, Charlie. Billy's a nice boy Agreat improvement on that smelly Benjamin,not to mention fiddling Fidelio and that dripGabriel."Charlie hated her talking about his friendslike that, but he was too worried about therat to argue. For some reason Rembrandthad stopped right behind his grandmotherand was now sitting up and watching them.Billy didn't know what to do. He stared atRembrandt with his mouth hanging open."Why are you looking at my shoes, littleboy?" said Grandma Bone. "Look me in theeye. I don't bite."Not yet, thought Charlie.

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As Billy tore his gaze away from the rat,Charlie was relieved to see it scamperdownstairs."Grandma . . ." Charlie began."What was that?" Grandma Bone leaned overthe banisters, but the rat had disappeared."Well now, Billy" she said. "The person whousually does the cooking in the house hasgone on vacation.""Hardly," said Charlie. "Grandma, do you . ..""Be quiet," she snapped. “As I said, wehaven't got a cook, but I'll do my best to findsome nice tidbits for you. Charlie should beon bread and water, since he stole my gooseliver pâté!"Charlie pointed to his uncle's door andshouted, “Grandma, do you realize UnclePaton's lying in there half-dead?"

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"I'm perfectly well aware of my brother'sstate," she said coldly "He deservedeverything he got. Meddling, that's what hewas doing. Well, he bit off more than hecould chew this time, didn't he? Met hismatch. Ha! Ha!" She gave a nasty snickerand swept downstairs. "I'm going to get someprunes," she called, and putting on her hatand coat, she left the house."I don't like prunes," said Billy with anervous frown."You won't have to eat them," said Charlie."Come on, let's find something better."Billy thought they should look for Rem-brandt first, but although they searchedevery room on the ground floor, the black ratcouldn't be found."He's probably curled up asleep somewhere,"said Charlie. "I'm going to put some potatoesin the oven."

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Before he could do this, his mother walked inwith an armful of carrots. She showed nosurprise on seeing a small white-haired boysitting at the kitchen table. She was used toBenjamin's visits and was glad that Charliewould have a friend around over the week-end. She had guessed that Paton had comehome because she'd heard strange noisesvery late the previous night, but she hadn'thad time to pop in and see him before sheleft for work."He's ill, Mom," said Charlie. "Really, reallyill. His hair's turned gray and he can'tspeak.""Oh, dear, perhaps I'd better go and see."Mrs. Bone ran upstairs.A few minutes later she came down lookingvery-worried. "I'll call the doctor. Does yourgrandmother know about Paton?"

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"She said he deserved it for meddling,"Charlie told her.Mrs. Bone shook her head. "That family" shemuttered.While Charlie got the dinner ready AmyBone called the doctor. She was on the phonefor quite some time, trying to describePaton's symptoms. It wasn't easy explainingthat someone had turned gray overnight."I don't think the doctor believed me," saidAmy replacing the receiver. "But he's comingaround in an hour, just to check."At that moment Grandma Bone came backwith her prunes. As soon as she heard that adoctor had been called, she went to thephone and canceled his visit."How could you do that?" said Amy "Patonneeds a doctor."

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"No he doesn't," Grandma Bone retorted."There's nothing a doctor can do. It's a wasteof his precious time.""Honestly! Your own brother," cried Amy"Suppose . . . suppose he dies? How wouldyou feel then?""We all die — in time," said Grandma Bone,rinsing her prunes.Watching the arguments in wide-eyed si-lence, Billy decided that family life wasn't allthat it was cracked up to be.Dinner was an uncomfortable affair. Refus-ing ham and potatoes, Grandma Boneworked her way through a bowl of prunes,making a horrible sucking noise in theprocess.After dinner, while Mrs. Bone made up a bedfor Billy the boys told her about Rembrandt."Oh, Charlie, not another animal," sighedMrs. Bone.

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"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 tofind him first.""I should think not," said his mother with agrin. "I'll do my best, but don't blame me if Iscream when I see him." She left the bed-room saying, "Rats. Whatever's next?"Billy wanted to continue the search for Rem-brandt, but Charlie was afraid GrandmaBone would become suspicious. Besides,Uncle Paton, who could always be relied onin a crisis, was now lying in some terriblestupor, unable to tell anyone what hadhappened to him. Perhaps he would never bequite himself again."Your uncle breaks lightbulbs, doesn't he?"said Billy.

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"He's a power-booster," said Charlie. "So-mething happens when he looks at a light; itjust kind of explodes. That's why he doesn'tgo out until after midnight. Someone mightsee one of his 'accidents.'""There was a light on in his room," said Billy"What?" Charlie hadn't noticed. He had tofind out if it was true.When he looked into his uncle's room, thereit was — a bright light hanging from the ceil-ing, right above his uncle's desk."It's gone, Charlie," came a faint voice fromthe bed.Paton's dark eyes were now open. He wasgazing at the light with an expression ofhorror."Uncle, you're awake!" cried Charlie."If you can call it that," croaked Paton."Charlie, I'm cleaned out, whipped. He'sstronger than anyone could imagine."

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"Who?" said Charlie.Paton closed his eyes again. "Your grand-mother put the light on to test me. Shewanted to make sure I'd lost the power. Well— I have.""But who did this to you?" Charlie asked.Paton's gray head tossed from side to side. "Ithought he was dead — gone. But he neverwill be.""Who?" begged Charlie."I can't say his name. Perhaps, tomorrow . .." Paton turned his face to the wall.Charlie realized that he couldn't press hisuncle any further. He was about to leave theroom when the wand caught his eye, and thebeginning of an idea crept into his mind. Hepicked up the ruined wand and slipped backto his room.Billy was sitting on Charlie's bed, lookingvery despondent.

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"Don't worry about Rembrandt," saidCharlie. "He's a clever rat, and you're hisfriend. He'll turn up soon, I bet." He saw thatBilly wasn't really listening to him; he wasgazing at Charlie's hands with an expressionof awe.When Charlie looked down he saw that theburned wand was changing. He could feel itmoving gently under his fingers, as slipperyas silk and warm as sunlight. The silver tipbegan to sparkle and the blackened woodgradually faded until it was a pure white."How did that happen?" breathed Billy.Charlie shook his head. "Don't know" He satbeside Billy and ran his fingers over thesmooth white wood."It's a wand, isn't it?" said Billy. "It was allblack and broken and now it's like brand-new Is it your uncle's?"

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"No," said Charlie slowly. "I borrowed itfrom a person who had stolen it fromsomeone else.""Looks like it really wanted to be with you,"observed Billy "Like it belonged to you.""It can't," said Charlie. "It's impossible. I'mnot a wizard or a sorcerer.""But you're endowed, like me.""Not in that way" Charlie muttered. He de-cided to tell Billy the truth about the wand.Reaching under the bed, Charlie pulled out asmall painting. It showed a man in a longblack robe with silver black hair and a beardthe same color. He was standing in a room litby candles in a tall iron stand. With a pieceof chalk he was drawing a star on a stonewall already covered in strange symbols."You brought that picture to school lastsemester, didn't you?" said Billy

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"Yes. The man's a sorcerer called Skarpo. Istole the wand from him."Billy's jaw dropped. He turned to Charlie andgave him one of his long dark-red stares."You . . . ?" he said huskily"I went into the picture," said Charlie. "I'dnever done that before, I'd only heardvoices." He caught a sudden glint in thesorcerer's eye and quickly turned the paint-ing over "I mustn't look at him too long orhe'll drag me in again."Billy shook his head in wonder. "How didyou get out?""That was a bit tricky Lysander helped me."Charlie glanced at Billy wondering again ifhe could really trust him. He decided hewould have to chance it. "The thing is, Billy Ithought I might go in again. That sorcerer isvery powerful. He had loads of stuff in his

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room, did you notice? Herbs and feathersand things.""He had a dagger; I saw that."Charlie held the painting up to Billy "Whatelse do you see?""Bowls and books and jars of colored water,and big candles and signs on the wall, oh,and a mouse looking out of his pocket, andloads of junk on the table.""He might have a cure for my uncle," saidCharlie. "If I give him back the wand, maybehe'll give me something in return. And Icould ask him about Ollie. He may know acure for invisibility""Lysander's not here today" said Billy dubi-ously "Suppose you can't get out?""That's where you come in, Billy Just clingon to my arm, will you? And if I'm acting abit funny give me a tug. I don't go right in,you see, it's just my mind. But he can see my

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face, and he'll probably see the wand. I won'tgo in as far as I did last time. I'll keep to theedge and just talk to him."Charlie propped the painting against his bed-side lamp, then he got up and held the wandin front of him. “Are you ready?"Billy slid off the bed and clutched Charlie'sarm. "Ready"Charlie looked at the sorcerer. It didn't takelong for Skarpo to see him. "You're back,"said a husky singsong voice.Charlie felt himself sliding forward, througha drifting white mist. All he could see was thesorcerer's bony face, and he quickly loweredhis eyes to avoid Skarpo's magnetic yellowgaze. A rich smell of burning herbs filled hisnostrils and he sneezed violently"Stop that!" said the voice.

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"S-s-achoo — sorry Couldn't help it," saidCharlie. He looked past the dark robed figureand scanned the objects on the table."What do you want this time, you thief?" saidSkarpo."I've brought back your wand," said Charlie.“And I was just wondering . . .""What?" Skarpo seemed to be looking at thewand. "Take it away" he said in a low voice."But I thought you wanted it," said Charlie."You were so angry when I took it. I cameback to exchange it for — well, just a bit ofadvice, really you being so experienced inmagic and everything. I thought you mightbe able to help me.""It's not mine, boy I see that now" The sor-cerer seemed unable to drag his eyes awayfrom the wand. "Well, I never. It was yoursall along."

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"I don't understand," said Charlie. "It's notmine. But anyway the thing is, my uncle'svery ill, so ill he's lost the power he used tohave. It was him who first told me about you,actually so have you got anything for en-dowed people that have sort of becomeunendowed?""I'd have to see your uncle." Skarpo took astep toward Charlie."You can't do that." Charlie took a stepbackward.Skarpo moved closer. "I'll have to, my weefellow How can I help a man I don't see?Besides, I've a mind to peek into yourcentury""That's impossible," said Charlie firmly "Youbelong in your picture.""I'll hitch a ride with you.” The sorcerer'spale hand stretched out toward Charlie, andCharlie felt something tug his sweater. He

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stepped backward very fast, saying, "No! No!No! I'm going now. Now! Now!" And againhe stepped back. This time he tripped andfound himself falling. It was like tumblingthrough air, down, down, and down.Charlie had to close his eyes against the hor-rible pitching and tossing that was happen-ing to his body And then the back of his headhit something hard, with a loud bang.Charlie opened his eyes. He was lying on hisbedroom floor, not quite on the floor but onsomething small and bumpy.A muffled voice beneath him said, "Charlie,you're squashing me."Charlie rolled over and found Billy stretchedout beside him. His glasses had fallen off andhis eyes were wide with fright."Sorry" said Charlie. "What happened?""Wee-i-erd," said Billy sitting up. He foundhis spectacles and put them on. "I held on to

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you, like you said, but you kept moving back-ward and saying, 'Now! Now!' and then youtripped over my foot and we both fell down. Icouldn't see anything because you were ontop of me, but there was an almighty windand someone stepped on my hand, and thedoor blew open."At that moment the front door slammed. Theboys were silent, waiting to hear footsteps inthe hall. There were none. Charlie got up andlooked out of the window There were severalpeople in the street and a few passing cars.And then, in the distance, he saw a darkshadow traveling very fast against the even-ing light.Charlie felt slightly queasy Whether it wasfrom banging his head, or the feeling thatsomehow things had gone a little bit wrong,he wasn't sure.

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"What happened in there?" asked Billypointing at the picture.Charlie noticed that the sorcerer was still inthe painting. That was reassuring. He laid itfacedown on the bedside table. "He wantedto 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 into their pajamas,and Billy took his wash kit to the bathroom.In a few minutes he was back, with tooth-paste around his mouth and a black rat in hishands. "Look what I've found!" he cried."Rembrandt! Where was he?""In the bathroom, under the bath." Billy putRembrandt on Charlie's bed. "It's so good tosee you, Rem!"

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"I don't think I want Rem in my bed to-night," said Charlie, and he ran down to thekitchen to look for a box.Unfortunately Grandma Bone was in the kit-chen, slurping up another bowl of prunes."What are you looking for?" she demandedas Charlie rummaged around in the pantry“A box," he said."What for? (Slurp.)""To put something in." Charlie emerged witha box in his hands and six cookies in hisbathrobe pocket."What sort of thing? Drat!" Grandma Bonemissed her mouth and a prune fell on to thetablecloth."Whoops!" said Charlie."What are you putting in that box?""A monster with six eyes,, four tails, and badbreath," said Charlie, running out of theroom.

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"Don't be insolent," screeched GrandmaBone. She came into the hall and was aboutto shout something else when she suddenlychanged her mind and said sweetly, "Saygood night to that little boy for me."Charlie was so unnerved by her tone he al-most dropped the box. Did his grandmotherthink she could use Billy against him?"Phew, Grandma certainly likes you," hesaid, handing Billy the box. "This is for Rem-brandt. And I've got some cookies for hisdinner. Billy? Billy!"Billy's white eyebrows were drawn togetherin an odd frown."What's up?" said Charlie."I've been talking to Rembrandt," Billy saidin a puzzled voice."He gave you some bad news by the look ofit," Charlie remarked.

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"He said there was a bad smell in thebathroom.""There's always a bad smell," said Charlie."It's Grandma.""No, Charlie. This is different," Billy saidgravely "Rembrandt says it smells of bad ma-gic and things that should be dead."Charlie resisted the temptation to say "Like Isaid," and marched along to the bathroom,followed by Billy who was still clutchingRembrandt."Can't smell a thing," said Charlie, openingthe door."Look!" Billy whispered. "Under the sink."Charlie looked. Sitting under the sink was abrown mouse. It began to squeak, almosthysterically and while it squeaked, Rem-brandt joined in, squealing even louder thanthe mouse.

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Billy began to translate Rembrandt's shrillwords, if they could be called words. "Hesays . . . the mouse is very scared . . . becauseit doesn't know. . . where it is ... or how it gothere. Rembrandt says its smell is from a longtime ago, so long it's messing up his brain.""A long time ago?" Charlie looked at Billywho returned his gaze with a mixture of dis-belief and bewilderment."Skarpo had a mouse in his pocket," Charliesaid slowly"So, where's Skarpo?" Billy whispered.A VERY OLD MOUSEWhen the squeaking had finally died down,Billy said, "Should we let it go or try andkeep it?"Charlie took a step toward the mouse andthat decided the matter. The little creaturedarted under the bath, and when Charlie

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tried to crawl after it, the mouse leapedthrough a hole in the floor."That's it, then." Charlie stood up and dustedhimself off."What are we going to do about the sorcer-er?" said Billy"There's nothing we can do. We'll just haveto wait."Charlie was awake for most of that night.Billy grunted and chattered in his sleep whilethe rat made a peculiar twittering sound.Now and again Charlie would shout, "Shutup, both of you!" but his visitors slept on.Very early next morning Charlie tiptoeddownstairs for a bowl of cereal. The houseand the street outside were eerily quiet. AndRembrandt was right, there was a verystrange smell around the place. Was thathow bad magic smelled? Charlie wondered if

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the mouse had brought bad luck as well asbad magic into the house.When he'd finished his cereal, Charlie took acup of tea and a cookie up to his uncle'sroom. Paton was sitting propped up against amound of cushions and pillows. He stilllooked deathly white but a bit of life ap-peared to have seeped back into his grayhair."Morning, dear boy" Paton's voice was veryfaint."You're looking a bit better, Uncle," saidCharlie. "Your hair — it was all grayyesterday"“Ash," Paton said hoarsely He touched histhroat. "Can't talk much."Charlie noticed that the light was still on. Itflickered now and again, but there were noneof the bright explosions that Paton usuallymanaged to generate.

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"Maybe it's a good thing that you've lost your. . ." Charlie hesitated. "Well, I mean, nowthat lights don't explode all around you."."It crossed my mind," Paton whispered, "butonly for a moment. I've realized that it's nev-er a good thing to lose your talent; you lose abit of yourself along with it.""I suppose so," said Charlie solemnly "UnclePaton, what happened to you?"Paton closed his eyes. "Can't talk now,Charlie. If you see Miss Ingledew tell her . . .tell her . . .""Yes," said Charlie eagerly "Tell her what?""Tell her I wish —" Paton shook his head."No, I'm afraid it's too late.""Too late!" cried Charlie. His uncle's expres-sion scared him. "What do you mean, toolate?""Never mind. I'd like to be alone nowCharlie."

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Whatever it was that had happened to hisuncle, Charlie was afraid that the effectsmight be permanent, or fatal. He quietlyclosed the door and went back to his room.Billy was sitting on the edge of Charlie's bedwith Rembrandt on his knee. "I thought itwas all a bad dream," he said, rubbing hiseyes. "But it really happened, didn't it? Themouse and the sorcerer."" 'Fraid so," said Charlie."What do you think Skarpo will do, if he'shere — somewhere?""We'll just have to wait and see. Billy youwon't tell anyone about this, will you?"Billy shook his head. "I won't tell aboutSkarpo, but I think they already know aboutyou going into pictures and that. I heardthem talking once, about the painting, oldMr. Ezekiel and Matron. They said, 'Do you

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think Charlie will go in?' I didn't understandwhat they were talking about then."Charlie perched beside the small albino. "Iknow you couldn't help being a spy" he said,"but it's time you chose sides, Billy I've got toknow if I can trust you."Billy hung his head. "Mr. Ezekiel said he'dfound some really kind people who wantedto be my parents, but it was a lie. I'll nevertrust him again.""The Bloors lie about everything," saidCharlie. "But when this is all over, I'm suresomeone will find some parents for you.""Cook said she would, but when all what'sover?"Charlie wasn't sure, himself Perhaps hemeant when Ollie Sparks had been rescued,and Belle, or Yolanda, had disappeared.When Uncle Paton was himself again, andLyell, Charlie's father, had been found. Or

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perhaps he meant the struggle between thosewho ruined lives if they didn't get what theywanted and others who couldn't help tryingto stop them. "The children of the Red King,"Charlie murmured. "It's a battle between allof us. I meant when that was over."Billy looked dubious. "Perhaps it will neverbe over. Or maybe it will be a long, long time.I think I could wait quite a long time. Maybea year. But I don't want to be grown-up be-fore I get parents. I wish I could remembermy real parents. I wish I knew how theyreally died. No one would ever explain it tome."Charlie thought of his own father. Everyonepretended that he was dead. But Charlieknew it was a lie. At least Billy had a photo.Charlie didn't even have that. "You showedme a photo of your parents once," he said."They looked nice."

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"Yes," said Billy sadly"Come on, let's get dressed," said Charlie ona brighter note.They found Mrs. Bone in the kitchen, cook-ing two large breakfasts. "I'm sorry I've gotto leave you on your own," she said, "butthere's plenty of food in the fridge and I'll beback before lunch. Thank goodness Paton isbetter." Charlie wasn't so sure about Paton."We're not exactly on our own," said Charlieas a door slammed upstairs. Grandma Bonewas on the move.Amy glanced up at the ceiling and said, "Youknow what I mean. Enjoy your breakfasts.'Bye now." And she was off.By the time Grandma Bone came marchinginto the kitchen, Charlie and Billy had eatentheir breakfast, and Billy had managed toslip some toast and bacon into his pocket.

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“A bit of starving wouldn't hurt you," shesaid, glaring at Charlie, "after eatingeverything in sight."Charlie almost told her that Runner Beanhad eaten the pâté, but he thought better ofit. He wanted a peaceful weekend."Sorry," he mumbled. "I made a mistake.We're going to the park now, Grandma." Hetook his plate to the sink, but when heturned around his grandmother gave himone of her mean smiles."No, you're not," she said. "Someone veryimportant is coming to visit us.""Who?" asked Charlie."That's for me to know" she retorted. "Cleanyourselves up and look nice, they'll be here inhalf an hour."Billy scuttled nervously to the sink with hisplate."Wash it up, dear," said Grandma Bone.

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Charlie waited while Billy dutifully cleanedhis plate and put it in the rack.Back in the bedroom, Billy fed the hungry ratand then began to grunt to it. Rembrandtsqueaked back."He says the mouse ought to go home," Billytold Charlie. "It's not good for him here.""It's not good for us either," 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't want togo in again. I don't trust Skarpo. He mightmake it impossible for me to get out.""If he's still in there," said Billy"He must be," said Charlie desperately. "Imean if he was out, we'd know by now He'sdangerous. He only deals in destruction. Hetold me once that he liked to maim, poison,burn, shrink, and drive people mad."

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Billy's mouth had fallen open. He uttered asoft "Oooo" of horror.The two boys waited anxiously for their im-portant visitor to arrive. Occasionally theylooked down into the street, but no onegrand or imposing walked up to the door. Noflashy or expensive car stopped close byAnd then Billy suddenly shivered and said,"There it is. It's him."Charlie saw a black car with smoked-glasswindows gliding to a halt in front of thehouse. He recognized the car immediately Ithad come once before, when Billy had stayedwith him. Charlie had never seen the passen-ger. When he had gone to look in the car, along cane had whipped through the opendoor and whacked him on the knees —something he wasn't likely to forget.A powerful-looking man in a black suit gotout of the driver's seat and walked around to

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the passenger door. A black chauffeur's hathid the cropped head, but Charlie knew thebroad nose, red face, and small slanting eyes.It was Weedon, the gardener and handyman.Weedon opened the passenger door verywide and then leaned into the car. After amoment of maneuvering, he stood up with aweird bundle in his arms. Most of it wascovered by a woolen blanket, but Charliecould see a hideously wizened face under ablack skullcap and two scrawny legs in whitesocks with red velvet slippers on the feet."Is that who I think it is?" said CharlieBilly nodded miserably "Mr. Ezekiel. He'scome for me.""Maybe not. Let's wait and see." As Charliesaid this a third person got out of the car,slammed all the open doors, and followedWeedon and his bundle.

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"I should have known she'd come, too," saidCharlie as he watched his great-aunt Lucretiamount the steps."Charlie! Billy! You're wanted," shoutedGrandma Bone.Billy put Rembrandt in his box and followedCharlie downstairs. Grandma Bone was wait-ing for them outside the living room door."Come in, boys. Come in," she said, smilingas though they'd won tickets to a soccermatch.Charlie went in first and found himself fa-cing the oldest-looking man he'd ever seen.He was sitting in the biggest armchair, stillwrapped in his woolen blanket. His face wasso withered it looked like a skull, and his thinwhite hair hung to his shoulders in waxystrands. His mouth had all but disappearedbeneath a long, knobbly nose, but his blackeyes glittered with a frightening intensity

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"Charlie Bone — at last." The old man heldout a stringy mottled hand.Charlie looked at the hand, wondering if itate things. He decided he'd better shake itbut, before he knew it, his fingers were beingpulverized by something that felt like anutcracker. He retrieved his hand with agasp of pain, and Mr. Weedon, who was sit-ting in an upright chair beside the old man,gave a malicious grin."We know Billy," said Ezekiel. "In fact, weknow each other very well, don't we, Billy?"He picked up a cane propped against hischair and tapped the floor by Billy's feet.Billy gave a silent nod."Sit down, boys!" Ezekiel's voice soundedrather like a rusty saw.Charlie and Billy made for the nearest chairand shared it, both perching on the edge.Grandma Bone sat beside Lucretia on the

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sofa, and Lucretia said, "Well, isn't thisnice?"Charlie thought, Hardly."Now." Ezekiel rubbed his hands together."To begin with, I'm very pleased to see youtwo boys have made friends. We've all got towork together, haven't we? The more of usthe better. Isn't that so?"Charlie said, "It depends."Ezekiel frowned, and Grandma Bone and hersister muttered, "Insolence! Behaveyourself.""You're not going to be like your father, areyou?" said Ezekiel, raising his voice and glar-ing at Charlie. "I expect you've noticed I can'twalk. Do you know who's responsible? Yourfather, darn him. He did this to me. He de-served to die."

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Charlie gritted his teeth. He was so angry hewas afraid he might do something violent.Instead he muttered, "He isn't dead.""What?" cried the old man. "What did yousay?""I said my father isn't dead!" Charlieshouted.The old man's black eyes flashed. He staredat Charlie for several seconds and then hegave a shrill cackle. "Prove it," he snickered.Charlie said nothing."No, you can't, can you?" said Ezekiel. Hewas suddenly overcome by a bout of cough-ing, and Grandma Bone rushed out to fetchhim a cup of tea. While she was gone, AuntLucretia snarled, "You're a very stupid boyCharlie Bone. Why can't you see sense? Whycan't you do the right thing?"Charlie remained silent and Billy squashedhimself farther back into the chair.

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Grandma Bone returned with three cups oftea and a plate of cookies. She handed the teaand cookies to Ezekiel, Lucretia, and Mr.Weedon, but when Charlie put a hand to-ward the plate, Lucretia gave him a hardslap."Ouch!" Charlie withdrew his stinging hand.Ezekiel said, “Aw, we mustn't hit Charlie. Wewant him on our side, don't we?""I sometimes wonder if he's worth thetrouble," sniffed Grandma Bone.Charlie couldn't stop himself. "If you wantme on your side, you've got a funny way ofgoing about it."Grandma Bone raised her eyebrows. Ezekielslurped his tea. Lucretia stirred hers. At lastthe old man said, "We never meant to do youany harm, Charlie. Not permanent harm. Wejust had to teach you a lesson, now andagain. You have to be shown the way"

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"And what way is that?" asked Charlie.Ezekiel shook his head. "I want us all to beon the same side, Charlie. Think how power-ful we could be. All you bright, gifted chil-dren — children of the Red King. Think whatyou could do. Billy understands, don't you,Billy?"Billy squirmed in his seat."Billy's a good boy" said Grandma Bone."Billy does what he's told. He doesn't breakthe rules.""Rules," said Charlie. "My father broke yourrules and you did something horrible to him.And my uncle Paton went where you didn'twant him to go, and now he's all — ruined.That's not fair!"Mr. Weedon leaned forward. “All's fair inlove and war," he announced in a command-ing voice.

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The other three adults looked at him in sur-prise, and Charlie had an odd feeling that, ofall the people in the room, Mr. Weedon wasthe one he should fear most.Ezekiel gave an exasperated sigh. "I'm tiredof this. I don't like arguing with little boys.Just behave yourself Charlie Bone. You knowwhat I can do to people who don't."Charlie was trying to think of a clever replywhen a mouse suddenly appeared on themantelpiece. Everyone watched it scuttlingaround the candlesticks and china orna-ments. And then it stood on its hind legs be-side the clock and began to squeak.Grandma Bone and Aunt Lucretia hadalready begun to shriek when Ezekielshouted, "What's it saying, Billy? Tell us.""It says it's lost," said Billy although themouse was actually saying, "I'm going out

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of my mind with worry. Where am I? Idon't understand how I got here!"Billy was about to say something reassuringto the little creature when Mr. Weedonbrought his hat down, bang, over themouse. "Got the little creep," he said.Billy and Charlie watched in dismay as thebig man turned his hat over and put his handon top of the mouse. But then he gave agrunt of fury and dropped both hat andmouse. "He bit me!" he yelled.Charlie whispered to Billy "With any luckhe'll get the plague."The mouse leaped out of the hat and racedunder the sofa."Get me out of here!" shrieked Ezekiel."Weedon, leave the darn mouse. Billy fetchyour bag, you're coming home with me!"

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"But I'm staying with Charlie," said Billy "forthe weekend. I don't want to go back toBloor's.""Don't argue," shouted Ezekiel. "He's a badinfluence. Go and get your stuff"Billy wriggled out of the chair and left theroom with a look of despair."It's not fair," said Charlie. "Billy's aloneevery weekend.""Not fair! Not fair!" mimicked GrandmaBone. "Nothing's fair with you, is it?""No." Charlie was so disgusted with every-one, he walked out of the room, growlingsoftly “And it's not fair to keep invisible boyslocked up.""What did you say you insolent boy?" hisgrandmother shouted.Billy came downstairs with his bag and Rem-brandt in the box. Charlie was about to ad-vise him to hide the box when Mr. Weedon

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burst out of the living room carrying the oldman."What's in there?" said Ezekiel, tapping thebox with his cane.“A — a rat!" said Billy too frightened to lie."What? Get rid of it.""But it's a friend," said Billy faintly"It's not coming into my house," declaredEzekiel."But it belonged to Mr. Boldova," said Billymaking things worse for himself. “And nowthat he's gone, there's no one else to lookafter it."Grandma Bone and Aunt Lucretia had comeinto the hall and both began shouting atonce, "In the house? A rat?" "Someone killit!"Billy's eyes began to fill with tears. "You c-can't . . ." he sobbed.

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"I'll look after it," cried Charlie, seizing thebox. "Don't worry Billy""You will not!" roared Grandma Bone. "Iwon't have it in the house. Weedon, bang iton the head!"But Weedon had his hands full with Ezekieland before anyone else could make a move,Charlie had opened the front door." 'Bye, Billy" he shouted, as he raced downthe steps. "I'm taking Rembrandt somewherewhere he'll be safe.""Come back!" called Grandma Bone."That boy's out of control," bellowed AuntLucretia."Not for long!" said Ezekiel.Charlie didn't hear this. He ran up FilbertStreet and on into the city stopping only onceto look into the box. Rembrandt stared outfearfully his nose twitching at least a hun-dred times a second.

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"Sorry Rem," Charlie panted. "I hate to dothis to you, but you didn't stand a chanceback there." He raced up Frog Street andsped down the alley to the Pets' Café."Hello, Charlie. You look winded," said Nor-ton, the bouncer, as Charlie leaped throughthe door."I've got to see Mr. Onimous," said Charlie."Is he around?" He held up the box. "Rat," hesaid. "In a bit of trouble.""Orvil's in the kitchen," said Norton. "Just goaround the counter."Leaping over a birdcage and two dachsunds,Charlie hastily made his way around thecounter and through the door at the back.Mr. and Mrs. Onimous were having a cup oftea at the long kitchen table. Several largesaucepans were bubbling away on the stove,and they both looked very flushed.

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"Well, if it isn't Charlie," 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 a bit of a rush," saidCharlie.There was a joyful bark and Runner Beanerupted from under the table. Charlie put hisbox on the table and allowed his face to belicked while he rubbed the big dog's roughhair. When he looked around Rembrandtwas sitting beside Mrs. OnimOus' cup of tea."Well, this is a nice surprise," she said. “Avery pretty rat indeed."Runner Bean growled and Charlie asked himif he would please be quiet because the ratwas already in quite a state."I brought him here because Grandma Bonewould have killed him," Charlie explained. "Ithought he'd be safe with you. Can you lookafter him, Mrs. Onimous, please?"

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"You'd better tell us what all this is about,young Charlie," said Mr. Onimous.“And have some cake while you do it," saidMrs. Onimous. "Sit down, Charlie, and makeyourself at home."Charlie hadn't intended to stay He was wor-ried that his mother would get home fromwork and find Grandma Bone in a fury Butthe smell of freshly baked cakes, and the On-imouses' welcoming smiles, were too hard toresist. So he sat between them at the tableand munched his way through an enormousslice of chocolate cake, while he told hisfriends everything, about Ollie Sparks, theblue boa, and the terrible loneliness of Ollie'sinvisibility. And then the final dreadful scenewith Ezekiel and poor Billy"Billy wanted to keep the rat," said Charlie,feeding Rembrandt a crumb. "It's a friend,you see. It can understand what Billy says.

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But that revolting old man said he couldn'thave it, and Grandma Bone told Mr. Weedonto bang it on the head.""The poor, dear creature." Mrs. Onimousclutched her chest. "Come to me, my love!"Rembrandt leaped over a plate and landed inMrs. Onimous' lap. Obviously Billy wasn'tthe only person he could understand."You say your uncle has a mystery illness,"said Mr. Onimous, who had great respect forPaton Yewbeam. “And you have no idea whatcaused this strange affliction?"“All I know is that he met someone in Yew-beam Castle," said Charlie. “And this persondid something to him."The Onimouses stared at Charlie, equallyhorrified."That's a terrible place," said Mr. Onimous atlast."Have you been there?" asked Charlie.

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"Never." Mr. Onimous shook his head. "Wildhorses couldn't drag me there. It's an evilplace, Charlie. Your uncle was lucky to getout alive.""But maybe he won't stay alive," said Charliefearfully"We must live in hope, dear," said Mrs. On-imous, Who looked anything but hopeful.THE WANDOn his way home, Charlie called in at thebookshop. Emma was on duty at the counter,while her aunt wrapped books in the backroom."Tell Miss Ingledew that my 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'mafraid he might not get better — ever."

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"Why?" asked Emma with a worried frown."How did it happen? Is it a mystery bug orsomething?""Can't really say Got to go now Em. Therewas a bit of trouble before I left." Charliehurried off leaving Emma looking baffled.There was a not-quite-peaceful silence insidenumber nine.Billy had obviously been taken back toBloor's and there was no sign of GrandmaBone. It was lunchtime so Charlie began tohelp himself from the fridge: cheese, cucum-ber, salami, and peanut butter all sand-wiched between two thick slices of bread. Hewas about to sit at the table when he re-membered his uncle. He made anotheridentical sandwich and put them both on atray with a glass of water.Paton called, "Come in! Come in!" immedi-ately after Charlie knocked.

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"Praise be, refreshments," said Uncle Patonwhen he saw the tray He heaved himself upon his pillows and patted the bed.Charlie put the tray in front of his uncle. Hewas glad to see that Paton had managed tochange into his pajamas. Hopefully thismeant that he'd had a bath, though there wasstill a funny smell in the room."Scorched socks!" said Paton, who had no-ticed Charlie's discreet sniff."Uncle, what happened?" asked Charlie."Can you talk about it now?"Paton took a long drink of water, cleared histhroat rather loudly and said, "Ahem. You'llhave to know something of our past, Charlie.It all began when I was seven. You'll remem-ber I discovered my gift on my seventhbirthday"

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Charlie nodded. "The lights exploded and allthe other children went home, and you ateall their ice cream and were sick.""Good memory," Paton remarked. "Well,shortly after this we all went to visit mygreat-aunt, Yolanda, at Yewbeam Castle."Charlie waited breathlessly while his unclemassaged his throat."My mother was French," Paton went on. "Avery beautiful woman. She'd been an actress,but when she married my father she foundthat she loved children. So she had five andgave up the stage. She was very proud of mygift. There'd been a few 'unusual talents' inher own family"She told Yolanda about me on our very firstnight there. We were having dinner in a long,dark room on the ground floor. There wereeight of us, and Lyell, your father, who wastwo. His own father, a pilot, had already

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been killed — crashed his plane in the desert.Well, my mother said, 'Guess what, AuntYolanda, Paton is endowed.' I can seeYolanda's face now The way her eyes lit up."Paton bit into his sandwich.“And then my sister, Venetia, who wastwelve, said, 'Like me. And like Eustacia,she's a clairvoyant. But Lucretia and Grizeldaaren't endowed, poor things.' The two eldestwere very put out, as you can imagine, butthen Grizelda said, 'Who knows? Baby Lyellmay have a gift one day'"Yolanda gazed around at us. She looked sohungry A real predator." Paton paused andtook another bite of his sandwich. "This isuncommonly good, Charlie," he said. "What'sin it?""I've forgotten. Please go on, Uncle Paton,"begged Charlie.

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His uncle looked suddenly very grave. "Yew-beam Castle is a terrible place. It's built of arock that seems to attract the night. It's asooty gray inside and out. And they stillhaven't put in electricity The stairs are nar-row; steep, and dark. On our second day mymother fell and broke her neck." Paton gavea frown of pain and touched his throat again."We were all in the garden, if you can call itthat. It's just a field of wild grass that growsright up to the castle walls. I heard my moth-er cry out, but my father reached her first — Iwas just two steps behind him. She was lyingat the bottom of a treacherous stairway lead-ing out of the hall. I heard her say 'Don't lether . . .' And then she was gone." Patonpulled a handkerchief from under his pillowand vigorously blew his nose."Yolanda pushed her, didn't she?" Charliesaid grimly

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Paton gave a huge sigh. "I'm sure she did.But who could prove it? Besides, my sisterswere already under her spell. They wouldn'thear a word against her. In fact, theywouldn't even leave the castle after my moth-er died. Yolanda tried to keep me, too. Shebegged and wheedled, she screamed andthrew things. She turned into a wild dog, abat, a serpent — she's a shape-shifter, youknow. She tried to hypnotize my father, buthe escaped with me and he never let me outof his sight until he was sure I could takecare of myself.""You went to Yewbeam Castle to stop Yolan-da from coming here, didn't you?" saidCharlie.Paton nodded. "I heard my sisters plottingthe night before I left. So I decided to payYolanda a visit. But I was too late. She wasn'tthere —"

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"Uncle Paton," Charlie interrupted, "she'shere.""What?" Paton sagged against the pillows. "Iwas afraid of that. Is she . . . ? What shapehas she taken?""She's a girl, quite a pretty one. But her eyeskeep changing, as if they can't rememberwhat color they're supposed to be. I knewright away there was something wrong. She'sliving with the aunts in Darkly Wynd. Butwhy has she come here, Uncle, after all thistime?""I only caught snatches of my sisters' conver-sation," said Paton. "I was in the kitchenhaving a midnight snack when they arrived. Idon't care for their chatter, so I hid in thepantry Very undignified, but luckily theyonly had a cup of tea. They discussedYolandaand then moved off, into the living room.From what I could gather, Yolanda was

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called in to help the old man — Ezekiel — insome nefarious plan to disappear."Charlie gasped. "The boa!" he exclaimed."Ezekiel's got a blue boa that can makethings invisible. He's done it to a boy namedOllie Sparks."“Ah, well, it seems it's just a one-way ticketat the moment. You can go, but you can'tcome back, if you take my meaning. Ezekielwants it both ways, naturally But as he's anincompetent magician, he can't do it.""So he's practicing on Ollie," Charlie mur-mured. "He's kept in the attics.""Dear lord, whatever next?" sighed Paton.Charlie was still desperate to know about hisuncle's visit to the castle. "Uncle, whathappened?" he said gently "Why have youlost your power?"Paton closed his eyes. His face had a closedlook, shuttered and blank. It seemed that he

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couldn't speak of his ordeal just yet. It hadbeen too terrible.The doorbell rang.Grandma Bone must have been in the houseall the time, because the front door openedand Charlie could hear her voice."You're not welcome here. Please leave!"Charlie opened the window and looked downat the steps. "It's Miss Ingledew,” he told hisuncle. “And Emma. Hi, Emma!" he called."Julia?" Patron's eyes flew open. "She wantsto see me then!""Hi!" said Emma, waving a bunch of roses atCharlie.Miss Ingledew looked up. "Hello, Charlie,I've come to —"She was cut short by Grandma Bone, whostepped out of the house and growled, "Iasked you to leave."

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"But I've come to see Mr. Yewbeam. I heardhe wasn't well." Miss Ingledew held up a yel-low paper bag. "We've brought flowers andbananas, they're so good for . . .""We've got our own bananas!" barkedGrandma Bone, advancing on her unwel-come visitors. "Mr. Yewbeam is far too ill tohave company.""He's not!" cried Charlie."Be quiet!" Grandma Bone glared up atCharlie, while Emma and Miss Ingledewwere forced to step down on to thepavement.

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"Really Mrs. Bone," said Julia. "I'm sure itwouldn't do Paton any harm to see me. I'mconcerned about him. Don't youunderstand?"Paton's face turned from white to pink, thenback to white again as he struggled out ofbed. "Julia," he said breathlessly "Don't lether go, Charlie!""Stop stalking my brother." Grandma Bonefollowed Miss Ingledew down the steps.'You're not welcome here.""I am not stalking him. I have never stalkedanyone in my life." Clearly upset byGrandma Bone's insinuation, Miss Ingledewthrew back her head of magnificent chestnuthair and marched away up the street. Emmawaved bleakly at Charlie and ran after her."Has she gone?" croaked Paton." 'Fraid so, Uncle," said Charlie. "I thinkGrandma Bone offended her."

Paton put his head in his hands. "I'm lost,"he moaned. "I might as well be dead.""Don't say that!" Charlie couldn't bear to seehis normally vigorous uncle in such a pitifulstate. "I'll try and get her back," he said.Grandma Bone met Charlie in the hall."Where do you think you're going?" she said."Out," said Charlie."Oh, no, you're not. You've got work to do.Studying, I believe. You've got tests comingup on Monday Lots of them. Get upstairsand take out your books. Right now!"Charlie almost exploded with indignation."How could you do that to Uncle Paton?" hedemanded. "He really wanted to see MissIngledew""That woman's no good for him," saidGrandma Bone. "Now if you don't get towork this minute, I'll tell them to give youdetention next Saturday In fact, after your

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disgraceful behavior this morning, I'll be sur-prised if you don't get it, anyway""I. . . You're just a . . ." Charlie struggled tocontain-himself and then rushed to his roombefore he said something so rude his grand-mother would make sure he had detentionfor years to come.For several hours Charlie wrestled with his-tory dates, geographical locations, Englishgrammar, and French verbs. He began to geta headache and found he was forgettingthings more than remembering them. Occa-sionally he looked out of his window; longingto see Benjamin and Runner Bean racingacross the street. But no friendly face ap-peared, and nothing interesting occurred tobreak the monotony of Charlie's awful after-noon . . . until he noticed the wand.It was lying under his bed, caught in a thinbeam of sunlight. Charlie picked it up. The

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wand felt warm and silky It was very com-forting to hold, almost like tasting somethingexceptionally delicious or lying on a bed offeathers.Charlie had an idea. Skarpo had stolen thewand from a Welsh wizard so, reaching forthe Welsh dictionary his uncle had givenhim, 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 wandin his lap, he stared at a column of Frenchverbs and their English equivalents. "Helpivee," he said. "Helpi vee! Helpi vee!"For a few moments nothing happened, andthen Charlie had the strangest sensation. Itwas as if the word "look" was whispered intohis brain. He tightened his grip on the wandand looked at the words in front of him. Afew minutes later he tested himself

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Miraculously he had learned every verb andits meaning.Charlie was so excited he dashed into hisuncle's room without knocking.Paton's eyes were closed, but his face wasdistorted by a terrible frown. Charlie had for-gotten Miss Ingledew's unfortunate visit."I'm sorry to disturb you, Uncle," Charliesaid in a quietly urgent voice, "but somethingamazing has happened.""What?" Paton said wearily"You know you took the wand when youwent to Yewbeam Castle and it got all burnedby something. Well, it got better, somehowIt's as good as new; and I just tried using it tomemorize my French, and — it's amazing —it worked!"Paton's eyes opened. He looked at Charliewith interest, and then his gaze was drawn to

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the wand. "Curious," he murmured. "Verycurious."Charlie said, "I know this sounds silly but doyou think the wand might really be mine?""How could that be possible, dear boy? Yougot it from an ancient painting.""Yes, but . . ." Charlie was reluctant to tell hisuncle that Skarpo had refused to take thewand back. Paton had warned him, morethan once, not to go into the painting again.Paton was now staring at Charlie's feet, andCharlie had a horrible feeling he knew ex-actly what his uncle was looking at. He hadforgotten to shut the door and somethinghad crept into the room. Yes, there it was,right beside his left foot. It began to squeak."That is a very singular mouse," Paton ob-served. "I've always known we had mice inthe house, but that one looks abnormally old.I can't say why."

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“Actually it is," Charlie confessed.Paton eyed his great-nephew suspiciously"Explain!"Charlie explained, as best he could, how hehad taken a step, just a fraction of a stepreally into the painting of Skarpo. "I did it foryou, Uncle," he said. "I thought he mighthave something to cure you. That's when hesaid the wand belonged to me. He wanted tomeet you, but I wouldn't let him. As you see,I got out all right, but the mouse that was inhis pocket came with me.""What!" Paton's head dropped back onto thepillows. "Then the sorcerer's out, too!""Maybe not," said Charlie hopefully "I meanhe'd have done some damage by now,wouldn't he?""If the mouse is out, then he is out, you stu-pid boy" Paton snapped."But he's still in the picture."

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"That's just his image, Charlie. The essenceof the man, the living, breathing being, withall its mischief, magic, and mayhem isOUT!"After a moment of humble silence, Charliesaid, "What should I do with the mouse,then?"The mouse ran under the bed."It hardly matters," Paton muttered. "Whathave you done, Charlie? I thought that lifecouldn't get worse, but now here I am, donefor, and that person is on the loose." Heclosed his eyes.Charlie would have liked to bring up the sub-ject of the wand again, but clearly his unclewould rather he left the room."Sorry," Charlie murmured. He tiptoed outand closed the door on his uncle and, pre-sumably the mouse.

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Amy Bone had just come back from workand Charlie could hear her setting the tablefor dinner. He ran down to the kitchen."Where's Billy?" asked Mrs. Bone.Charlie told her about Ezekiel's visit."That poor boy" said his mother. "He mustbe so lonely Something should be done aboutit. I'm sure someone would adopt him, heseems like such a nice little fellow""The Bloors will never let him go," saidCharlie. "They like to own people.""That they do," his mother said quietly "Takeyour uncle some tea, will you, Charlie?""Um ... I don't think that would be a goodidea," said Charlie."Why ever not?""Him and me . . . well, I think he's a bit angrywith me."One of the many good things about AmyBone, from Charlie's point of view, was that

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she never reproached him for any quarrelshe might have had with other members ofthe family.“Ah well," she sighed. "I'll do it then." Sheput some tea and cookies on a tray and tookit upstairs. In a few minutes she came backlooking very worried."I'm really concerned about your uncle," shetold Charlie. "He's just lying there, lookinggray and ill, and so melancholy Whatever isthe matter with him?""He went to Yewbeam Castle," Charlie said.His mother gasped. "Where that awfulYolanda lives? Has she done this to Paton?""No, Mom. It was something else. He won'tsay what. Yolanda's here. She's staying withthe aunts, only she isn't old. She looks myage. She came here once when you were out.Her name's Belle."

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Mrs. Bone clapped a hand over her forehead."Stay out of her way Charlie. She tried tokeep your father up there, you know Whenhe was young. Luckily it turned out that Lyellwasn't endowed, so she lost interest in him.""Maybe not so lucky," said Charlie. "If Dadhad been endowed, he might have been ableto save himself.""Who knows?" Mrs. Bone looked thoughtful."I wish you weren't part of that awful family""Well, I am," said Charlie. “And I don't care.If they try to mess with me, they'll regret it."His mother gave him an encouraging smile.On Sunday Charlie decided to visit the Pets'Café. With the wand's help he had managedto finish all his studying."Runner Bean's waiting for you!" said Nor-ton, the bouncer, as Charlie stepped into thecafé. "Going to take him for a run, then?"

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Charlie felt guilty He'd almost forgottenabout Runner Bean. "The park's a bit faraway" he said."Take him to the park," said Norton. "He'sreally missed you, he has."Charlie was about to go around the counterwhen he noticed Lysander and Olivia sittingat a table in the corner. As soon as she sawCharlie, Olivia jumped out of her seat andwaved frantically at him. She looked surpris-ingly normal. Her hair was mouse-brownand her face free of any makeup ordecoration.Charlie made his way over to their table. Ittook him some time because a gang of lop-eared rabbits kept bouncing around his feet."No warpaint today then?" he said, leapingover Olivia's white rabbit and grabbing achair.

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"I'm preparing my face for the end-of-semester play," said Olivia. "I thought if Ilooked normal for a while, my transforma-tion would be all the more dramatic.""I can't wait," said Charlie. "I didn't thinkany of you were coming here today.""I got bored," said Olivia, "but I thinkSander's here for another reason."Charlie noticed that the normally cheerfulAfrican boy looked extremely agitated. Hekept darting wild, anxious glances aroundthe room, and his gray parrot, Homer,fluttered from his head to his shoulder andback again every time he moved."Where's Tancred?" Charlie asked Lysander."His dad made him stay in to study I've donemy work. I just had to come out.""What's the trouble?"Lysander shook his head. "My ancestors areangry" he muttered. "I couldn't sleep. All

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night I heard their drums in my head, theirloud voices, their furious wailing."All at once, Homer cried, "Catastrophe!Catastrophe!""He knows when things are wrong," saidLysander. "He feels their rage through me.""Why don't they tell you what's upsettingthem?" asked Olivia.Lysander frowned at her. "I have to find outmyself," he said.Lysander's spirit ancestors were very power-ful. They were more than ghosts. Charlie hadseen their strong brown hands, their spearsand shields. More than once, they hadhelped to save him. If they were angry then itwas for a very good reason."Let's go for a walk," Charlie suggested, hop-ing fresh air would clear Lysander's head."Good idea!" said Olivia, scooping up herrabbit.

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Charlie was about to go fetch Runner Beanwhen Mr. Onimous appeared with the dog.Runner Bean rushed up to Charlie, while catsand rabbits scattered in all directions."Oh, he has missed you, Charlie," said Mr.Onimous as the big dog leaped up and beganlicking Charlie's face and hair.“And is the rat OK?" asked Charlie."Right as rain," said the little man. "Verypopular with Mrs. Onimous. And the flamesadore him.""How unusual," Olivia remarked. "I meancats liking a rat.""They're unusual, miss," said Mr. Onimoussolemnly "Off you go now Charlie, give thatdog a nice long run. My legs can't keep upwith him."The three friends left the café and headed to-ward the park at the edge of the city Oliviacarried her rabbit in a basket, but Lysander's

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parrot traveled on his shoulder, its head bob-bing up and down in rhythm with itsmaster's stride.When they reached the park, Charlie letRunner Bean off the leash and he tore acrossthe grass, barking joyfully Homer the parrotleft Lysander's shoulder and flew over the bigdog's head, crying, "What a to-do. Dogahoy!""Ship ahoy if you don't mind," called Olivia."He's confused," said Lysander."I'd say he's gone off the deep end," saidOlivia, giggling."It's not a joke," barked Lysander. "He getsmuddled when he's upset. Like me. I'mmuddled.""Sorr-e-e-e!" said Olivia.Charlie glanced at her. She might almosthave been laughing at Lysander. It was allvery well for her, Charlie thought. Olivia

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could be a good friend when she chose to be,but she didn't really understand what it waslike to be endowed, what a burden and apuzzle it could be."Cool it," he said.Olivia raised her eyebrows, but she seemedto understand the warning look in Charlie'seyes."I don't think I'll go to school tomorrow"Lysander murmured."Why?" asked Charlie."Don't really know I think there's trouble forme there." Lysander's voice had sunk so lowthey could hardly hear him."But you've got to," Charlie said desperately"What about the carving? What about OllieSparks?""Why do you care so much?" said Lysander,surprised by Charlie's vehemence.

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"I just do," said Charlie. "I can't help it. I feelbad about Ollie because I haven't tried torescue him again. There's been so much elsegoing on. But think how awful it must be forhim. Alone in those dark attics, not knowingif he'll ever get out. We've got to rescue himsoon, Sander. We've just got to. Please sayyou'll come to school on Monday Please!""I'll think about it," said Lysander. Hewhistled to his parrot, and the gray birdwheeled around and flew back to perch onhis shoulder."See you," said Lysander. He turned andstrode away across the park.The parrot looked back at Charlie and Oliviaand called, "Watch it!"BULL, BELLS, AND GOLDEN BATSAs he made his way up the steep hill to hishome, Lysander began to feel breathless.This had never happened before. He was a

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strong boy tall for his age, a great runner andchampion hurdler.It was the drums that took away his breath.That's what it was. Their angry beats echoedin his head like distant thunder, making himshudder."Trouble!" called Homer from his master'sshoulder."Yeah, trouble," Lysander agreed.He had just climbed the steepest part of thehill road, a long curving ascent that ended ina welcome stretch of even ground. Here hestopped and looked out across the city Thecathedral, with its great domed roof dwarfedall the other buildings in the city Only theshadowy mansion to the north was anywherenear as tall."Bloor's," Lysander muttered.Beyond the gray roof of the academy and justat the edge of the woods that covered the

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castle ruin, there issued a thin plume ofsmoke.When he saw it, Lysander's eyes began tosmart, his skin burned, his throat felt rawTearing at his collar, he ran the last fewmeters home. He reached a pair of tall irongates and, pulling one open, he tore up thepath to an imposing white house, set behindlawns as green and smooth as billiard tables.Mrs. Jessamine Sage was watching a quizshow on TV when her son went pounding upto his room. Mrs. Sage knew her son'strouble immediately She could hear thedrums accompanying his footsteps. It wasfrom her that Lysander had inherited hispower. At certain times, she too heard thedrums speak and the ancestors clamoring forattention.Mrs. Sage eased herself up from her comfort-able chair. She was a well-rounded woman of

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considerable strength, but she'd been feelingheavy and listless of late. She didn't needdrums to tell her that another baby was onits way There were other very obvious signs.The beautiful and stately woman climbed thestairs to the first floor. Behind the two doorson either side of her son's room, her daugh-ters, aged ten and fourteen, were playingloud, unmelodic music: guitars and voices. Itwas all squeaky shouting and rap, rap, rap.Not a drumbeat between them."Hortense! Alexandra! Reduce!" barked Mrs.Sage in such a commanding tone that bothgirls immediately obeyed.When Mrs. Sage opened her son's door shewas met by another barrage of sound, thisone so tumultuous it almost knocked herback onto the landing.

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"Lysander! Calm!" called Mrs. Sage acrossthe room. She never used two words, or evenfive for that matter, where one would do.Lysander was lying on his bed with his eyesshut tight and his hands over his ears. Evenso, he heard his mother's powerful voice. Heopened his eyes."Think of a tree," sang Mrs. Sage."Roots, leaves, branches."Holding, lifting . . ."Sky . . ."Think of the King."Lysander removed his hands from his ears."There," said his mother, lowering herselfonto the bed. "Better?"It worked every time. As soon as Lysanderthought of a tree, as soon as he saw, in hismind's eye, the mysterious painting in theKing's room, he felt calmer. He sat up andrubbed his eyes. The drumbeats were still

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there, in his head, but now quiet enough forhim to think."Tell," said his mother."Trouble!" cried Homer from his perch bythe window"She didn't ask you," said Lysander with arueful grin. "There is trouble, though," hetold his mother. "I don't know what. But it'sat Bloor's. I saw smoke and I felt my skinburn. The ancestors are angry Mom.""They always have a reason," said Mrs. Sage."I don't want to go to school on Monday Idon't want to face whatever it is. I never feltlike this before.""You must face it." Mrs. Sage patted herson's hand. "You must go to school.""That's what Charlie Bone said.""Charlie?""Yes. You know the kid with rough hair. Hisuncle had a party last semester, remember?

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He's smaller than most of us, but he pusheshis way into trouble and somehow we findourselves following; Tancred, me, and Gabri-el. He's doing it again, trying to rescue a boyfrom invisibility""Invisibility?" Mrs. Sage frowned."I'm making a carving," Lysander went on."It's really good, Mom. The best I've everdone. I thought the ancestors would be ableto bring the boy back. But the drums say no,I've done the wrong thing."Mrs. Sage stood up. "Not you, Lysander.Someone else has done wrong. Go to schooland put it right." She swept out of her son'sroom, her long, flowered skirt whisperingaround her ankles like the sea."What a picnic!" shrieked Homer"For you, maybe," said Mrs. Sage, closing thedoor.• • •

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On Monday morning, the reason forLysander's terrible foreboding soon becameclear.After their history test, Charlie and Fidelio,emerging into the garden, saw a group oftheir friends clustered around the remains ofa fire. Weedon was always burning garbageon the grounds, so this wasn't too unusual —it was the attitude of the group that alertedCharlie. Lysander was standing in stony dis-belief while Tancred's stiff yellow hairsparked with electricity.Olivia, standing next to Lysander, caughtCharlie's eye and gestured wildly Charlie andFidelio rushed over to them.Amid a pile of scorched twigs and burned pa-per, two blue eyes stared out at them. Theeyes were all that remained of Lysander'sbeautiful carving."How could they?" whispered Emma.

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Lysander was shuddering. He held his armsstiffly at his sides and his hands wereclenched. He seemed unable to speak.Chartie noticed a group of seniors watchingthem. Asa Pike had a satisfied smile on hisface, while Zelda Dobinski's long featureswere twisted in a horrible smirk. Manfred,however, was staring straight at Lysander, asif he was outraged at the African boy's cleverattempt to rescue Ollie."No one else knew . . ." Lysander muttered."Who would . . . ?""Obviously someone in art," said Olivia.Silence fell over the little group and then, al-most as one, they looked over to the walls ofthe ruin, where Belle and Dorcas were stand-ing watching them."But why?" said Lysander.

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"Because your carving was too good," saidOlivia grimly “And because someone doesn'twant us to rescue Ollie Sparks.""Don't give up, Sander," said Charlie."You don't know what it's like for him," saidTancred. "He can feel the injury can't you,Sander? It's like he put a bit of his own heartinto that piece of wood. Do you know whatthat's like, Charlie?""No," said Charlie in a small voice. "I'msorry.""What's that?" said Fidelio, rubbing his head."I can hear drums.""What do you expect?" said Tancred, almostangrily "Come on, Sander, let's get out ofhere." He grabbed his friend's arm andsteered him away from the fire. Lysanderseemed hardly aware of his surroundings. Heallowed Tancred to lead him back toward theschool, but not before Charlie too heard the

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faint throb of a drum, almost like a heart-beat, following Lysander across the grass."I didn't ask him to do it," Charlie mur-mured, gazing at the accusing blue eyes. "Hewanted to. It was his idea.""It wasn't your fault," Fidelio said cheerfully"Sander will get over it. We'll just have tothink of something else.""It's so awful," murmured Emma. "I feel likeI'm looking at a real boy or what was a realboy""Let's get away from here," said Olivia, glan-cing at Belle and Dorcas. "We don't wantthem to enjoy our misery for too long, dowe?"As they turned away from the fire, Gabrielcame leaping up to them. "I've had a reallyweird piano lesson," he panted. "It went onfor ages and . . ." He stopped in mid-

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sentence. "Oh, no," he said, staring at theblue eyes. "Is that. . . ?""Lysander's carving," said Charlie. “Andwe've got a good idea who did it."In an effort to cheer them up, Olivia an-nounced that she'd brought a Frisbee toschool. "Let's have a game," she suggested.While they tossed the red Frisbee from oneto the other, Gabriel told them about hisstrange piano lesson.Mr. Pilgrim, the piano teacher, was an oddperson at the best of times. A tall, dark, mor-ose man, he was seldom seen outside themusic room at the top of the west tower. Hehardly ever spoke, and it was so difficult toget any advice from him that he had lostmost of his students. During Gabriel's exten-ded piano lesson, however, Mr. Pilgrim hadsaid quite a lot — for him.

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"So come on, tell us what he said." Olivialeaped for the Frisbee, losing a yellow shoemid-leap."It was weird," said Gabriel. "He said, 'I don'tknow how he got up here, but I couldn't helphim.' So I said, 'Who, Mr. Pilgrim?' And hesaid, 'It's all too much, he can't take it in —lights, traffic, plastic things. He doesn't likethem; they confuse him. He'll do away withthem, and who can blame him . . .?' and thenMr. P looked very hard at me, and said, 'Ican't see how he'll do it, though, can you?'"I said . . ." Gabriel caught the Frisbee andyelped with pain. "Ouch! That was a hardone, Charlie!""Come on, come on," cried Olivia. "So whatdid you say?""I just said, 'No, sir' I mean, what else could Isay?"

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"You could have said, 'Do what?'" saidFidelio.A nasty thought suddenly occurred toCharlie. He stood stock-still with the Frisbeeclutched in both hands."Come on! Come on! Throw it, Charlie!"called the others."Hold on," said Charlie. "Did Mr. P describethis mysterious visitor?"Gabriel shook his head. "I couldn't get aname out of him either. He just said, 'He can,you know He's quite exceptional. Look whathe did to the music!' So I looked, and do youknow, all the notes on one of the musicsheets had turned to gold. It was Beethoven'sSonata Number Twenty-seven, as a matter offact. And then I noticed that the bats in thecorner — Mr. Pilgrim's always had bats in hisroom, but he doesn't mind, nor do I, they'rejust like flying gerbils really . . ."

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"So what had happened to the bats?" askedFidelio impatiently"They were gold, too," said Gabriel."Oh." Charlie felt queasyEmma looked at him. "What is it, Charlie?""Er, nothing," Charlie mumbled."So were the spiders," Gabriel went onblithely "and their webs. They looked reallypretty like Christmas decorations."Charlie was glad to hear the hunting horn.He was beginning to wonder when the nextnasty surprise would hit him. For once, all hewanted to do was to bury himself in a com-plicated math test."I've got a feeling you know who it is," saidFidelio, racing Charlie across the grass. "Mr.P's visitor, I mean.""Shhhh!" hissed Charlie."Tell us, Charlie, go on!" cried Olivia.

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They piled into the hall, where Charlie wasgrateful for the rule of silence. He walked offto the math room with Fidelio in tow, whilethe girls went to their coatrooms and Gabrieldragged himself up the stairs to a dreadedtheory test.Charlie might have longed to bury himself infractions, but he found he couldn't. Histhoughts kept returning to Mr. Pilgrim'smysterious visitor. Who else would turnspiders into gold? Who else would be con-fused by lights and traffic? At the end of thetest, Charlie knew he'd done badly Hewished he'd put the wand to work on math-ematics instead of French.There was more bad news waiting for him inthe cafeteria. One of the lunch ladies was inquite a state, having only that morning wit-nessed a large bull charging out of the

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butcher's, where before there had only beentwo large sides of beef hanging at the back."Beef one minute, bull the next," Mrs. Gillkept muttering as she handed out plates ofshepherd's pie. "What's happening to theworld?""What indeed, Mrs. Gill?" said Fidelio, withhis usual charming smile."I don't think you believed her, did you?"whispered Charlie as they made their way toa table."Well, did you?" said Fidelio. "Poor oldthing, she's a real fruitcake!"“Actually I did believe her," said Charlie.At that moment, Gabriel joined them, saying,"Have you heard what Mrs. Gill's been . . . ?""Yes, we have," said Fidelio. “And Charlie be-lieves her, because he knows why or who orwhat. . . Well, why Charlie?"

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“You know that painting?" Charlie said. "Theone I brought to school last semester?"Fidelio and Gabriel, with forks halfway totheir mouths, stared at Charlie."You mean the one with the sorcerer?" askedGabriel in a squeaky whisper.Charlie looked around the cafeteria. No onewas paying them any attention, and the noiseof scraping knives and forks and chatteringvoices was so loud, not a soul beyond theirtable could have heard him. All the same,Charlie lowered his voice as he told his twofriends about his visit to Skarpo, and the es-caped mouse.'You mean, you think he got out, too?" saidFidelio."Must have," said Charlie. "At first I thoughtit was impossible, because he was still in thepainting. But my uncle says that's only hisimage, not his essence. I'd convinced myself

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that Skarpo couldn't get out because I des-perately didn't want to believe it."You mean the golden bats and the bull andstuff are him . . . ?" said Fidelio."Must be," said Charlie. “And I've got a hor-rible feeling he's only just begun. It could getworse."************************************It did.The pupils in Bloor's Academy were about togo out for their afternoon break when acloud passed over the sun. And then another,and another. The sky was filled with a luridpurple glow It darkened to deep indigo,which gradually turned black. Pitch black.A crowd of children gathered around thegarden door, reluctant to be the first to stepinto the eerie darkness.

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"For goodness' sake, you ninnies," sneeredZelda Dobinski. "Get out! Go on! You're notafraid of a few clouds, are you?"To show her contempt for the younger chil-dren, she pushed through the crowd andtook several steps into the dark garden.A toad fell on her head. And then another.When the first toad plunked onto Zelda'shead, she opened her mouth. When thesecond one came, she gave a loud shriek andleaped back into the crowd.Then it began to rain frogs.Some of the children screamed and retreatedinto the hall. Others put out their hands tocatch the frogs, but the slimy creatures werefalling with such force, there were cries of"Ouch!" "Help!" "Ow!" and hands werequickly withdrawn.

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In the distance, they could hear police sirens,ambulances, and fire engines wailing aroundthe cityStanding at the back of the crowd, Charlie'sheart sank. Where was Skarpo? How onearth could he be caught and taken back towhere he belonged?It was obviously too dangerous to play out-side in complete darkness. The lights cameon in the building, and the children weresent back to their classrooms. In Charlie'scase, this was Mr. Carp's English room. Mr.Carp was broad and red-faced. He kept aslim, wicked-looking cane propped besidehis desk and had been known, accidentally ofcourse, to flick children on the ears when hewas irritated. Charlie had become rathergood at ducking these attacks, but he couldtell from the malicious gleam in Mr. Carp'ssmall eyes that he was determined to get

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Charlie one day Charlie thought it might betodayFrom the desk beside Charlie's, Fideliowhispered, "What's he going to do next,Charlie? Got any ideas?"Charlie shook his head.In a high-pitched screech, Mr. Carp cried,"You've got half an hour to study yourWordsworth before the test."Mindful of their ears, twenty children got outtheir Wordsworths and silently bent theirheads.Outside, the dark clouds lifted and the suncame out. Mr. Weedon and several seniorscould soon be observed collecting frogs innets, boxes, and bags. Charlie wondered iffrogs had fallen all over the city, or hadBloor's been singled out for the favor?Through the window, he saw Manfred

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wiping his slimy hands on his pants, and hesmiled to himself. His smile didn't last long.Nobody thought it unusual when the cathed-ral bells began to ring. But when the bells infive smaller chuches joined in, people beganto worry: Soon the sound of pealing bells re-sounded throughout the city And they didn'tstop. On and on and on they went. Priestsand bell ringers rushed into the churches tofind the bell ropes mysteriously rising andfalling, all by themselves.Fidelio looked at Charlie. Charlie rolled hiseyes and shrugged. And then one of the girlsin the front row put up her hand. When Mr.Carp, who had his hands over his ears, tookno notice, the girl — Rosie Stubbs — shouted,"Excuse me, sir, but there's an elephant inthe garden."Everyone turned to look. There was.

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Mr. Carp, a livid glow spreading over hischeeks, lifted his cane. Rosie put her handsover her ears.The noise from the bells increased."SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP ALL OFYOU!" screeched Mr. Carp, although theclass was completely silent. "I can't standthis. Who is doing it? They should be shot!"Everyone gasped.Remembering himself, Mr. Carp shouted,"Put away your books. It's no good. We can'tcontinue. Class dismissed."The class gratefully slipped their books intotheir desks and filed out of the classroom in-to the hall. Other classrooms were emptying.Harassed-looking teachers were rushingdown the hall to the staff room, black capesflapping, papers flying, books tumbling outof their arms.

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The children who had gathered in the hall,finding it almost impossible to observe therule of silence, whispered and muttered theirway down to the cafeterias where an earlylunch was hoped for.Charlie and Fidelio had just managed to graba cookie and a glass of orange juice whenBilly Raven rushed up to Charlie, saying,"You're wanted in Dr. Bloor's study""Me?" said Charlie, turning pale.“All of us. You too, Gabriel."“All of us?" said Gabriel. "That's unusual.What on earth's going on?"A SORCERER ON THE LOOSECharlie had never been to Dr. Bloor's studyNervous as he was, he couldn't help feelingcurious."I've been there," said Gabriel as the twoboys followed Billy up to the hall. "It waswhen I first came here. I had to go and

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explain about my clothes problem. It's thesort of room that makes you feel as thoughyou've done something wrong; I don't knowwhy"Manfred and Zelda were waiting for them inthe hall, and gradually the other endowedchildren began to arrive: Dorcas and Belle,with Asa close behind, wearing a silly smile;Tancred, whose hair was crackling withnervous electricity and Emma with a pencilbehind her ear."Take that out!" barked Zelda. "Tidy youselfup, girl. What do you think you look like?"Emma seemed bewildered, until Charliepointed to the pencil, which she pulled outand stuck in her pocket, smoothing herblonde hair as best she could."Ah, here comes the great sculptor!" Man-fred announced as Lysander slouched

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gloomily into the hall. "Cheer up, boy!What's the trouble, eh?""You know very well," Lysander said grimly.Dorcas giggled, and Belle's awful eyes turnedfrom blue, through gray to violet. Manfredlook momentarily uneasy and then said,"Billy lead the way You know where it is.""Yes, Manfred." Billy crossed the hall to thedoor into the west wing. The old doorcreaked open, and Charlie, close behind Billyfound himself in the dark, musty passagethat led to the music tower.They reached the round room at the base ofthe tower and were about to ascend the stair-case up to the first floor when they saw Mr.Pilgrim sitting on the second step."Excuse me, sir," said Billy but Mr. Pilgrimdidn't move. He appeared not to have heardBilly

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"We've got to go to Dr. Bloor's study sir,"said Charlie.Mr. Pilgrim stared at Charlie with a puzzledexpression. "So many bells," he said. "Whyso many? Who died? Was it — me?"Charlie was about to reply when Manfredsuddenly pushed past him and, glaring downat the music teacher, said, "Please move, Mr.Pilgrim. Now We're in a hurry!"Mr. Pilgrim pushed a thick lock of black hairaway 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 onan intense, chilling look as he stared at Mr.Pilgrim.Charlie glanced at Manfred's coal-black eyesand remembered how it felt to be hypnot-ized. He longed to warn Mr. Pilgrim, to makehim fight that horrible disabling stare. It was

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possible to resist Manfred's power. Charlie,himself, had done it once.But it seemed that Mr. Pilgrim had neitherthe strength, nor the will, to oppose Man-fred. With a groan of dismay the musicteacher stood and whirled away up the nar-row, curving steps. His footsteps could beheard clattering to the top of the tower asManfred led the way to the first floor.They went through a low door and into athickly carpeted corridor, where Manfredstopped outside another door, this onepaneled in dark oak. He knocked twice, and adeep voice said, "Enter."Manfred opened the door and herded theothers into the room.Behind a large, highly polished desk sat Dr.Bloor, his broad, grayish face illuminated bya green desk lamp. The curtains behind himhad been drawn against the sunlight, and the

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book-lined room was plunged in gloomyshadows. Dr. Bloor beckoned, and the chil-dren shuffled forward until they stood in arow before his desk.The headmaster scanned their faces withsteely gray eyes, and then his gaze came torest on Charlie. "I want to know who is re-sponsible," he demanded in a cold voice.Charlie's legs felt weak. He hated the way Dr.Bloor could do this to him. He knew theheadmaster wasn't endowed, but he gave theimpression that he had enormous power,that he could do anything he wanted, andthat his will was so strong he could overcomeanything, or anyone."Children of the Red King," Dr. Bloorsneered. "Look at you! Freaks! That's whatyou are."

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Manfred shifted uncomfortably and Charliewondered how it felt to have your father call-ing 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 thebells and the frogs et cetera? Because it cer-tainly wasn't me. I got one on the head. Actu-ally it was a toad and there were two."Charlie knew he was in serious trouble buthe still had an urge to giggle."I didn't think it was you, Zelda," the head-master said coldly "I'm well aware that thatkind of thing is quite beyond you."Zelda reddened. She glared down at the lineof younger children and said, "I think it'sTancred, sir."

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"I do storms," Tancred retorted angrily"Weather.""Wind can make bells ring, skies darken,frogs rain," said Manfred."Not elephants!" cried Tancred, whose haircrackled violently His green cape lifted and ablast of cold air blew a pile of papers off thedesk."CONTROL YOURSELF!" roared Dr. Bloor.Tancred gritted his teeth, and Dorcas Loombegan to gather the papers, putting them,one by one, onto the desk."I know who is capable and who is not," saidDr. Bloor. "But I want a confession. Do youunderstand my position?" He got up andbegan to pace behind his desk. "The peopleof this city know that I harbor children withunusual, and in some cases" — he glanced atAsa Pike — "undesirable talents. They toler-ate you because they respect me. We are the

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oldest family in this city We can trace our an-cestry back for nearly a thousand years." Hegestured toward the bookcases. "These wallshave witnessed alchemy, hypnotism, divina-tion, metamorphosis, magic of unimaginablesplendor, shape-shifting, and even" — hecoughed and lowered his voice —"apparitions."All at once Dr. Bloor stopped pacing andswung around to face his victims. "But never,never, never" — he raised his voice — "NEVER have the events in this building im-pinged upon the city Never have the citizenshad to suffer for our — peculiarities. Butnow," he banged his fist on the desk andbellowed, "all at once day has turned tonight, bulls have run rampant, bells havegone berserk. Can you imagine what it's likeout there, in the city?" He flung a hand to-ward the window "The danger, the chaos.

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There have been more traffic accidents in tenminutes than in a whole year. The mayor wason the phone to me immediately Oh, heknows very well where the trouble is comingfrom.""I think we know too, sir," said a voice.Everyone turned to look at Belle. She gave awide smile and her eyes changed to a bril-liant emerald green. She said, "It's CharlieBone. Isn't it, Charlie?"Charlie's mouth went dry He felt slightlyqueasy "I don't know,” he mumbled."Liar," said Manfred."Coward," hissed Zelda.Asa gave an unpleasant snort."You can go," said Dr. Bloor, dismissingthem all with a wave of his hand.Surprised by the sudden turn of events, theeleven children turned to the door, but

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before Charlie could reach it, the headmasteradded, "Not you, Charlie Bone."Gabriel threw Charlie a look of sympathy asManfred pushed him through the door afterthe others. And then Charlie was alone withDr. Bloor. The headmaster paced again, fi-nally sinking into his large leather chair andclasping his hands together on a sheaf of pa-pers lying on the desk. He gave a sigh of ex-asperation and declared, 'You are very stu-pid, Charlie Bone. I had my doubts, butwhen I saw you all, standing there, it didn'ttake me long to identify the culprit. I gaveyou a chance to confess.You should havetaken it."“Yes, well. . . but I didn't . . ." began Charlie.“You idiot!" roared Dr. Bloor. "Do you think Idon't know what you can do? I'm well awareof the painting you can — enter. I knowabout the 'person' whom you have so

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carelessly let out. Who else could cause thismayhem? There's obviously a sorcerer on theloose, and I want to know what you intend todo about it!""Um — find him?" Charlie suggested.“And how are you going to do that?""Er — look for him?" said Charlie."Oh, brilliant!" said Dr. Bloor sarcastically"Well done!" He raised his voice. "If thisnonsense hasn't stopped by nine o'clock to-morrow, then it will be very much the worsefor you.""In what way sir?" asked Charlie, clearing histhroat."I'll let you know'' said the headmaster. 'Yourfamous relations assured me that you wouldbe an asset to this school, but so far you'vebeen nothing but trouble. They're very disap-pointed and I'm sure they'll approve of any

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punishment I choose — even if they have tolose you forever."Charlie shuddered. He thought of his father,permanently lost, unreachable, unknown."Yes, sir," he said. "Can I go now and startlooking?"'You'd better. You haven't got long," camethe grim replyCharlie whisked himself through the door asspeedily as he could. Once in the corridor,however, he decided not to return the way hehad come but to walk farther into the Bloors'intriguing quarters. Eventually he hoped, hewould find a staircase leading to the attics.For that was surely where Skarpo must behiding, among the cobwebs and eerie, emptyrooms.Charlie trod softly over the rich carpeting inthe corridor. He passed dark oak-paneleddoors, portraits in gilt frames (these he

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avoided looking at), shelves crammed withdusty books, a collection of small skeletonsin a glass case, and the head of a bear moun-ted on a wooden shield. "Gruesome," Charliemuttered and hastened on, beneath thestuffed birds and bunches of dried herbs sus-pended from hooks in the ceiling.He reached the end of the corridor andclimbed a narrow stairway to the secondfloor. Here, a brief glimpse showed him ashadowy passage where, in the distance,something horrible like a coffin stood up-right against the wall.Charlie hurried up the next staircase, thisone uncarpeted and creaky At the top hefound himself entering the airless, gaslit pas-sage that he and Emma had passed throughon their way to find Ollie. The steps to the at-tic were halfway down, he remembered.

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A sound drifted toward him: music. Not Mr.Pilgrim's fine piano-playing but a brassband, accompanied by a harsh, quaveringvoice. Charlie stopped and listened. Therewas no mistaking the voice. Old Ezekiel obvi-ously lived in this gloomy region of thehouse.Charlie cautiously crept forward until hereached the stairs that led to the attic. Hehad climbed several steps when somethingmade him glance upward. There, at the top,something gleamed: a coil of thick, silvery-blue rope. But, of course, it wasn't rope.Charlie could now make out a faint patternof scales.Sensing Charlie's presence, a head liftedfrom the coil, a flattish triangle with blackeyes and strange markings across the top.Strangest of all were the thin blue featherssprouting from its neck. All at once a hiss,

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like a gas explosion, erupted from thecreature's wide mouth.Charlie backed away missed his footing, andtumbled down into the passage, landing onall fours. As the hissing snake began to glidedown the steps, Charlie picked himself upand tore to the end of the passage. He hadjust begun to descend to the second floorwhen Ezekiel's shrill voice called, "Who'sthere? Who's upset my treasure? You'd bet-ter watch out, whoever you are, or you'll beDUST!""Dust?" Charlie murmured under his breathas he leaped down spirally steps and creak-ing stairways. "Nothingness, more like. Zero.Zilch. No more Charlie."He had just reached the landing above theentrance hall when he ran straight into Mr.Weedon.

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"What are you doing in the west wing?"grunted the handyman. "It's out-of-bounds.""I was given permission," Charlie panted.Mr. Weedon raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Andwho gave you permission?""Dr. Bloor," said Charlie. After all, Dr. Bloorhad commanded him to find Skarpo. "I'mlooking for someone. I suppose you haven'tseen him? He's got kind of silvery hair and abeard and he's wearing a dark robe and alittle cap on . . .""It's you. Of course. You little squirt. You'reresponsible for all the mess outside that I'vegot to clear up. Not to mention the elephant.Darn near killed me when I tried to move it.""What happened to it?" asked Charlie, whocouldn't help being curious."Vanished, didn't it — but its dung didn'tvanish — nor its blasted footprints on my

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lawn. If I do see that wretched sorcerer, I'lldarn 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, myfoot." And he marched off toward the westwing, leaving Charlie anxious and relieved allat the same time.Below him, the hall began to fill with chil-dren heading for the garden door. The after-noon break had begun and Charlie decidedto continue his search outside."What happened to you?" said Fidelio asCharlie ran up to his friends.Charlie explained. "I've got to find the sor-cerer before nine o'clock tomorrow or I'mdead meat. Worse than dead meat — I'm . .."He ran his hand across his throat.Fidelio and Gabriel offered to help."The woods," suggested Gabriel.

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They waded through the thick undergrowthbeneath the trees that surrounded thegrounds. But the deeper they went, theharder it was to know if the dark forms slid-ing around the tree trunks were solid ormerely shadows of moving branches. Somany resembled a tall man in a long robe.When the hunting horn called them in forthe last lesson, Charlie wasn't sure what todo. Dr. Bloor had given him a task. He wouldhave to risk getting detention from the otherteachers if he was to continue his search forSkarpo.He decided to inspect the dormitories. Therewere twenty-five of these, scattered overthree floors, and Charlie had only searchedten before the dinner bell rang. What shouldhe do now? Surely he wasn't expected tomiss his dinner. He began the long journeyfrom the third floor down to the dining hall.

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As he approached the hall he could hearraised voices. He was very late and hoped hehadn't missed the first course. When heopened the door and stepped inside, thenoise was deafening. And then someoneshouted, "There he is! It's all his fault."Charlie ducked his head, hoping to look in-conspicuous. But everyone was watching himnow Someone had spread the news. CharlieBone was responsible for frog rain, for dark-ness, mad bulls, golden bats, and vanishingelephants. Worst of all, he was responsiblefor tonight's dinner.As Charlie slid onto the bench beside Fidelio,he saw a heap of cabbage and a slice of stale-looking bread on his plate. Everyone else hada similar meal."What's this?" Charlie murmured to Fidelio."Trouble in the kitchens," Fidelio explainedin a low voice. "We were going to have

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scrambled eggs, but one of Cook's assistantsfound the pantry full of chickens instead ofeggs. You can hear them if you listen."Charlie could, indeed, hear clucking from be-hind the door into the kitchen. His heartsank.After watching Charlie take his place, therest of the table began to chew their breadand cabbage. There were mutters of disgustand sounds of Uurgh!" "Yuk!" "Blurgh!" allaround Charlie, but Billy Raven, sitting op-posite, whispered, “Actually I don't mindcabbage."And then, from the drama table, DamianSmerk piped, "This food is disgusting. I'dlike to stuff my foot down Charlie Bone'sthroat.""Shut up, fatso," came Olivia's voice. "It's nothis fault.""It is, you wet cabbage . . ."

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The rest of Damian's rude remark wasdrowned by Dorcas Loom's shout of "CharlieBone should be made to eat slugs for the restof his life." She followed this with a loudgiggle, and several of her cronies at the arttable joined in.In Charlie's defense, Tancred made a remarkthat Charlie couldn't quite hear, but it wasevidently so rude that it caused loud gasps ofhorror and astonishment.Dr. Bloor stood up and glared down theroom. He was about to speak when Tancred'sanger got the better of him. Plates and dishesbegan to slide across the tables as a violentwind rushed around the dining hall.Dinners crashed to the floor and members ofthe staff leaped to their feet in dismay"Enough!" roared Dr. Bloor. "TancredTorsson, CONTROL yourself!"

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The headmaster stood at the edge of the dais,his hands behind his back, glowering at Tan-cred while the stormy boy calmed down andthe dinner tables gradually returned to nor-mal. "Now, go get a dustpan and a cloth," Dr.Bloor shouted at Tancred. "You can clean upthe mess you've caused.""Yes, sir.” Tancred slouched out of the hall,only just managing to keep his green capeunder control.Charlie felt guilty It was all his fault. Tancredwas paying for his terrible carelessness inletting the sorcerer out. He was almost re-lieved when Dr. Bloor said, "Charlie Bone,stand up."Charlie stood, knees shaking slightly handsclinging to the table."You know where you should be, don't you?"said the headmaster in a steely voice."Um, I'm not sure, sir," said Charlie.

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"Searching, boy Searching!""I have been, sir. I can't find — it — er, him.""I'm sure there's one place where you haven'tlooked, isn't there?" He waited for an an-swer, but when Charlie failed to give himone, he repeated, "ISN'T THERE?"In a small shred of a voice, Charlie croaked,"Yes, sir.""And where is that?""The ruin, sir."Every knife and fork was still. Every mouthwas motionless. Every eye was on Charlie,and every person in the room felt glad to bethemselves and not Charlie Bone."Then you'd better get out there, hadn'tyou?" Dr. Bloor's voice was now a menacinghiss.'Yes, sir." Charlie took one look at his pile ofcabbage and left the dining hall.

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The bright, sunny day had turned dull anddamp, and Charlie shivered as he ran towardthe castle ruin. It was one thing to go into thecastle with a friend, in daylight. It was quiteanother to go alone when dusk wasapproaching.The tall red walls were half-buried in thewoods, and when Charlie stepped throughthe great arched entrance, he paused to catchhis breath and to make a decision. He was ina paved courtyard facing five stone arches,each one a different entrance into the castle.Which one to choose? Charlie eventuallymade for the middle arch because he knewwhere it led.He stepped into a dark passage where smallcreatures scurried around his feet and wet,slimy things moved under his fingers as heput out a hand to steady himself. At last heemerged into the light, and crossing yet

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another courtyard, he descended a flight ofstone steps into a glade ringed by brokenstatues. In the center of the glade stood alarge stone tomb and, climbing onto itsmossy lid, Charlie stood up and listened.He hoped that from this position he wouldhear any unusual creaks or rustles that mightgive away Skarpo's position. But it was hope-less. Sounds came from all directions: thestirring of leaves and rubble, the sighing ofthe wind, and the continuous patter andscrabble of tiny feet.Charlie jumped down from the tomb andwalked through the ring of statues to a gap inthe wall behind them. He waded throughbrambles and nettles, he stumbled overfallen walls, and tumbled down hidden steps,and then he began to call. "Skarpo! Skarpo!Are you there? Please, please tell me. I'll doanything for you if you help me now" Charlie

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realized this was a bit rash, but he wasdesperate.Shadows moved across the walls, trees mur-mured, and birds scattered, shrieking intothe wind.Charlie looked at his watch. Nine o'clock.Homework was over. His friends would allbe in bed. Dr. Bloor hadn't told him when tocome back. Was he expected to stay in theruin all night?"No way," Charlie muttered to himself Heknew what sometimes stalked the ruins afterdark: a boy who wasn't a boy Asa Pike onfour feet, furred and fanged, his eyes glowinga wild yellow, his spiteful snicker turned to asnarl. A running, hunting, deadly beast.Charlie began to retrace his steps. Plungingthrough the undergrowth he reached the ringof statues quicker than he had hoped. Hewas about to cross the glade when he saw a

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movement on the courtyard above him.Charlie shrank into the bushes behind astatue. In the dying rays of the sun he sawsomething that made his flesh creep. A wo-man was standing at the top of the steps, anancient woman in a long white dress, gray-faced, her flesh lined like a spider's web, herwhite hair hanging in thin strands over herbony shoulders."Yolanda," breathed Charlie. "Belle."He wished he hadn't seen her. And he wishedhe hadn't seen the gray beast crouching inher shadowThe woman's eyes narrowed; she seemed tobe looking straight at Charlie, and then shewalked away As she moved, the beast fol-lowed, close at her heels, like a dog. Only itwasn't dog, or a wolf, or a hyena. It was agray thing with a crooked back; a long,

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drooping tail; yellow eyes; and a snout like aboar.Charlie closed his eyes and held his breath.They're the same, he thought. Asa andBelle. Both shape-shifters. No wonder Asacan't keep away from her.It was dark when he felt safe enough to comeout of his hiding place. Even so, he creptevery inch of the way But once he was bey-ond the castle walls, he tore across the grassand flung himself through the garden door,tumbling onto the flagstones of the hall, as ifhe'd been poleaxed.The building was silent. Charlie draggedhimself up to his dormitory and fell onto hisbed."Any luck?" Fidelio whispered sleepily"No," murmured Charlie. He thought, dis-mally of the punishment awaiting him. Therewas no question, now, that he would be

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punished. How could he possibly find Skarpobefore nine o'clock? He thought he was tooworried to sleep, but exhaustion overcamehim as soon as he closed his eyes.When he woke up, he thought he'd been hav-ing a nightmare. It was still dark and, at theother end of the dormitory Billy Ravenseemed to be muttering to himself. Therewas an awful smell in the room.Damian Smerk moaned, "Billy Raven, getthat lousy dog out of here. It stinks to highheaven."More muttering. A pattering of claws acrossthe floor, and then the door banged shut.Charlie closed his eyes again, but all at oncea voice beside his ear whispered, "Charlie?Charlie, are you awake?""Uh?" grunted Charlie."It's me, Billy Blessed was here. He saysCook wants to see you. Now It's very urgent."

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THE FLAMES AND A JOURNEYAt the back of the blue kitchen, there was abroom closet. The contents of this closet —mops, dustpans, brushes, and dusters — hida low door with a handle that looked like asmall wooden peg. A duster hung on it per-manently as a disguise. If the handle wasturned, however, the door opened into asoftly lit corridor.When Cook came to Bloor's Academy shehad been given a cold room in the east wing,but she had no intention of staying there.The Bloors had no idea of her true identity;they never imagined that Cook knew moreabout the ancient building than they didthemselves. She had very soon moved into asecret underground apartment they knewnothing about.How could the Bloors have guessed thatCook had arrived with the sole purpose of

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helping the children of the Red King? Beingendowed herself (another thing the Bloorshad no inkling of) Cook had always had apowerful urge to protect children who mightsuffer for their talents. And she had a strongsuspicion that of all the endowed children atBloor's Academy it was Charlie Bone, withhis eager and often clumsy attempts to helppeople, who was most in need of her watch-ful eye.Charlie had a tendency to rush at thingswithout thinking them through, and now hehad made his most foolish move yet. WithCook's help he would have to put it right.Blessed led Charlie as far as the kitchen butwould go no farther. He lay in front of thedoor, with his head resting on his paws. Ob-viously he was in the habit of guardingCook's quarters at night.

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Charlie made his way over to the broomcloset. He had been to Cook's undergroundrooms twice before but, as far as he knew,Gabriel was the only other person in theschool who knew about them, and he hadbeen sworn to secrecyCharlie clambered over bottles of polish,cans, brooms, and piles of rags. He turnedthe handle in the small door and it creakedopen. Charlie stepped into the corridor be-hind it and ran toward a flight of steps. Heentered another closet and knocked on apanel at the back."Is that you, Charlie Bone?" came Cook'svoice."Yes," said Charlie softly“You'd better come in, then."Charlie stepped into a low-ceilinged roomwith worn, comfortable armchairs anddarkly glinting wooden furniture. In winter

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Cook's stove glowed with bright coals, buttoday the fire was out and the room had anindoor, summer stuffiness.One of the armchairs had been turned to facethe cold stove and, in the lamplight, Charliecould see a long black shoe and the hem of adark robe. Someone else was in the room.Cook put a finger to her lips. "Shhh!"Charlie tiptoed around the chair and almostjumped out of his skin. There, fast asleep,was Skarpo the sorcerer."How did he get here?" whispered Charlie."I might ask you the same thing. What haveyou done, Charlie Bone?""It's not my fault, honestly I didn't think itwas possible. You see . . ." Charlie felt slightlyembarrassed. "I went into this paintingwhere he was. And he must have come outwith me. But I didn't see him."

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"Tsk! Tsk!" Cook shook her head. "The poorman was in a terrible state when I foundhim. He was crouching in my broom closet,weeping, begging me to let him go home. Hecan't stand it here — the noise, the lights, somany people. He's terrified.""He's done some pretty terrifying thingshimself," said Charlie, forgetting to whisper.Skarpo's eyes suddenly flew open. 'You!" hecried, glaring at Charlie."Yes, me," said Charlie.The sorcerer uttered a string of words thatwere quite unintelligible to Charlie. "What'she talking about?" he asked Cook.Cook gave a grim smile. "He speaks in an an-cient jargon, but luckily we come from thesame part of the world, so I can just under-stand him. The poor man is asking you totake him home."

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"How can I do that?" said Charlie. "Thepainting's at home, and I won't get out ofhere till Friday"Skarpo, who'd been watching Charlie's lips,turned to Cook with a frown. In a strangesingsong voice, Cook explained Charlie'sproblem.Skarpo groaned."I'm already in trouble over this," saidCharlie. "Dr. Bloor guessed it was my fault —all the bells and the frogs and chickens andstuff. I'm dead meat if it doesn't stop. Soyou'd better quit putting spells on things or Iwon't be around to help you."Skarpo scowled and muttered something."I think he understands," said Cook. Sheheaved a sigh. "I suppose I'd better keep himhere until Friday although I can tell you, Idon't enjoy sharing my quarters with a sor-cerer. Imagine! His father sailed over from

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Italy with Rizzio, who was Mary Queen ofScots' great chum.""Wasn't he murdered?" said Charlie."Horribly," said Cook in an undertone."You'd better pop back to bed now, Charlie,or you'll never wake up in the morning."Charlie was about to leave when a problemoccurred to him. "How's he going to get outof here without being seen?""The same way he got in," said Cook mysteri-ously "Good night, Charlie."Charlie didn't trust Skarpo. Next morning hewaited for something awful to happen. Butno more elephants or frogs arrived. The skywas clear and blue, the sausages remainedsausages, and nothing happened to the even-ing meat loaf."Too bad," muttered Fidelio, the vegetarian.All through supper, Charlie could feel Dr.Bloor's cold eyes on him, and he had a

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feeling that the headmaster was almost dis-appointed. He had probably enjoyed think-ing up some awful punishment for Charlie.In the King's room after supper, there was anatmosphere you could cut with a knife, asGrandma Bone would have put it. Charlieheard Zelda whisper, "Bone's MayhemMonday" and Asa gave one of his horriblesnorts.It was a very uncomfortable hour, withLysander's drums still throbbing in the back-ground and Tancred's angry breeze blowingpaper off the table. Just to put him in hisplace, Zelda started moving books and pensout of their owners' reach. Worst of all wasManfred's hypnotizing stare, which seemedto be constantly aimed at Charlie.Belle was watching Charlie, too. But her facewore a spiteful, bitter look. What was sheup to? Charlie wondered.

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He told no one of his nighttime visit to Cook,but when he, Gabriel, and Fidelio were ontheir way to bed, Fidelio said, "Come on,Charlie, what's happened? Did you find theold fellow?""Yes," said Charlie. He looked over hisshoulder. There was no one within earshot sohe described his meeting with the sorcerer.His friends stood motionless in the passageand listened with rapt attention."So that's why the bats aren't gold anymore,"murmured Gabriel.Matron came striding toward them, shout-ing, "Why are you three lurking there? Bed.Come on, now" She clapped her handsaggressivelyTo Charlie's great relief, the rest of the weekpassed without any more unpleasant or ma-gical incidents. People stopped giving himfunny looks and whispering behind his back,

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and by Friday afternoon most of the schoolwas so occupied with the end-of-semesterplay they had forgotten about Charlie Bone'sMayhem Monday.Charlie had often wished he could take partin the play All his friends were involved; ifthey weren't acting, they were paintingscenery making costumes, or playing an in-strument. Even Billy Raven had been ropedin to play an elfish drummer. But Charliewas considered useless when it came toentertainment.Today, however, Charlie was glad to get outof school while so many of the others had tostay behind for rehearsals. But as the schoolbus approached Filbert Street, his stomachbegan to lurch uncomfortably If Skarpo hadmanaged to get into the house withoutGrandma Bone seeing him, where would hebe? And what would he be doing?

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Charlie got off the bus and walked veryslowly down Filbert Steet. He was thinking ofa bargain he wanted to make with Skarpo.He would agree to take him back into thepainting only if he could advise Charlie howto make Ollie Sparks visible again. Surely asorcerer would know how to do that?Charlie climbed the steps of number nineand was about to let himself in when thedoor suddenly opened and there stoodSkarpo."AAAH!" shrieked Charlie.The sorcerer gave a black-toothed smile, andCharlie quickly looked around to see if any-one was watching. But no one in the streetpaid any attention. They were used to thestrange goings-on at number nine.The sorcerer said something that soundedlike "Whisht!" and pulled Charlie over thethreshold.

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"Has anyone seen you?" Charlie whispered."A woman? An old woman?""Nae woman," said Skarpo. He grabbedCharlie's arm and dragged him into the kit-chen where the painting sat propped againsta bowl of fruit on the table. Skarpo nodded atthe painting, and said, "Now!""Not here," said Charlie. "Someone mightcome in. Upstairs." He pointed at the ceiling.Skarpo grabbed the painting and shovedCharlie through the door. He was gabblingaway but Charlie could hardly recognize asingle word. Still muttering, the sorcererpushed him up the stairs and along the land-ing to his bedroom. Once inside, Skarpo saton the bed with the painting on his knee, fa-cing Charlie.It was rather odd seeing him sitting therewith his silver-black beard bobbing up and

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down as he spoke, while the painted Skarpostood perfectly still in a candlelit room."Now!" thundered Skarpo. "We go!"“Actually it's not going to work like that,"said Charlie. "You've got to do something forme first.""Ach!" Skarpo flung down the painting.“And you'd better not break that or you'llnever get back."The sorcerer glowered at Charlie.Choosing his words very carefully Charlie ex-plained Ollie's predicament.Skarpo frowned. "What the snake hath done,the snake must undo."There was no mistaking his words this time,but just to make sure, Charlie asked, "Thesnake? The snake must do it?"“Aye, aye. The snake," said Skarpo. Hebeckoned Charlie. "Thou maun tak me awafrae here."

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"Hold on," said Charlie. "There's anotherthing . . .""Nae mooa!" shouted Skarpo.Charlie stood his ground. "Yes, more. Yousaid you could help my uncle if you saw him.Well, he's in the room next door.""Ach!" grumbled Skarpo, but without moreado he jumped up and walked out of theroom."Wait!" cried Charlie, fearing Skarpo wouldmeet Grandma Bone. But the sorcerer hadalready marched through Paton's door.Charlie found him noisily examining the ob-jects on the bedside table while Paton gapedat him from the bed.Without moving his lips, Paton muttered,"Charlie, is this who I think it is?""Er — yes," said Charlie. "He might be able tohelp you."

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“And how's he going to do that?" Patonnervously inquired.All at once, Skarpo reached into his volumin-ous robes and brought out a chain. Hesmiled at Paton and twirled the chain in theair."Ye gods! You are not going to chain me tothe bed!" yelled Paton.Skarpo's smile grew wider. He put the chainback and brought out a small silver bell,which he rang just above Paton's feet. Ittinkled pleasantly as the sorcerer began tochant."What's that? My death knell?" groanedPaton."I don't think so, Uncle," said Charlie. "Youknow, it's funny but when I was in the paint-ing I knew what he was talking about, butnow I can hardly understand a thing hesays."

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"Nor can I. I imagine that when you 'go in,'as you put it, you acclimatize to where you'vegone; bound to happen, when you thinkabout it.""I see," said Charlie thoughtfullySkarpo was now walking around the room,ringing his bell and chanting in a deep sing-song voice. All at once, he came to rest be-side Paton and commanded, "Show thytongue!"Paton scowled up at him and obliged.The sorcerer recoiled, saying, "Wha hastthou been?""If you mean what I think you mean, I'vebeen to Yewbeam Castle," said Paton."God's teeth!" the sorcerer exclaimed. “Adritful family — rogues, scoundrels, murder-ers. Woe to yee!""Woe indeed," Paton murmured.

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"Vervain!" said the sorcerer. "The sacredherb. Bathe, wash thy heed, drink, take it onthy breath."At that moment the door handle turned, andbefore Charlie could stop him, Skarpo sprangto open it. The door swung open revealingGrandma Bone. For a brief second, shestared wordlessly at the sorcerer, and thenshe closed her eyes and slowly sank to theground.“A swoon!" Skarpo declared."What's happening?" asked Paton, whocouldn't see beyond the door."Grandma Bone," said Charlie. "She's fain-ted. Seeing Skarpo in the flesh must havebeen a shock!""Put her on her bed," said Paton. "She'llthink she's had a nightmare."Skarpo was one step ahead of them. He hadalready thrown Grandma Bone over his

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shoulder and, while Charlie led the way hecarried the unconscious woman to her room,where he flung her on the bed."Watch it!" said Charlie. "Old bones, youknow."Skarpo gave a loud cackle and then deman-ded, "Now Tak me hame!""OK," said Charlie.When they were back in his bedroom,however, he began to have doubts. "You willlet me come out again, won't you?" he askedthe sorcerer. "I don't want to be stuck withyou forever.""Nae moor do I," said the sorcerer. "I willgive thee a poosh.""Right," said Charlie doubtfully.He put the painting against his bedside lightand stared into the painted eyes of the sor-cerer. Nothing happened. But then, howcould it? Charlie realized that the real Skarpo

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was here, beside him, clinging to his arm.Beyond those painted eyes there was no soul,no will to draw him into the painting."I think you'll have to want me to go in,"Charlie said.“Aye." Two bony hands sank into Charlie'sshoulder blades. He took a step nearer thepainting, and then another."Poosh, thou wretch, thou mean beastie,"said a voice behind Charlie's ear."Do you mind, I'm trying to hel —" Charliesuddenly found himself flying forward. Itwas the oddest sensation, for the hands athis back seemed to reach right through hisbody so that they were pulling as well aspushing. Charlie was traveling so fast, hecouldn't get his breath. He began to choke onthe clouds of dust that streamed into hisface. He closed his eyes and sneezedviolently

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The familiar mixture of candle wax and de-cay filled Charlie's nostrils. He wiped hiseyes and saw, far ahead, the flicker of candle-light. Closer now, and there was thesorcerer's room, the long table, the symbolson the wall, the skull on the floor. And in thecenter, Skarpo himself with a blank stare inhis dark yellow eyes.Expecting to fall into the sorcerer's room,Charlie was surprised to find it suddenly re-ceding. He reached out, trying to grab theman in the painting, but his hands metempty air. He thrust his feet forward in aneffort to touch the ground, but with a sicken-ing jolt, he was turned upside down andbowled backward.He landed with a painful thud, facedown onthe floor of his own room. Beside him, thesorcerer was kneeling on all fours, with his

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outer black robe right over his head. Frombeneath this came a muffled moan."What happened?" gasped Charlie.The sorcerer pulled his robe away from hisface and sat back. He shook his head for awhile, and then said, "Moosie!""What?" Rather unsteadily Charlie got to hisfeet. "What do you mean? We were almostthere. What happened?""Nae moosie," said Skarpo, pointing angrilyat Charlie. "Thou hast stolen the moos.""Moos?" For a moment Charlie stared stu-pidly at the sorcerer, trying to make sense ofhis speech, and then at last, it came to him."Oh, the mouse. Of course, you can't get backwithout your mouse. I suppose things haveto be exactly the same as they were when youcame out."“Aye," groaned Skarpo.

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"The last time I saw it was in my uncle'sroom. Won't be a sec."Skarpo leaped to his feet, anxious not to letCharlie out of his sight. They burst intoPaton's room, both talking at once about thelost mouse and the unsuccessful traveling."Do be quiet," groaned Paton. "My head issplitting. Why is that man still here?"Charlie explained. "We have to find themouse or he won't be able to get back.""Ridiculous," said Paton. "That mouse is longgone. You won't find it in here. It's some-where under the floorboards. There areprobably enough crumbs down there to keepit going for months."Skarpo dropped into a chair, put his head inhis hands, and began to rock back and forth,wailing like a siren."For pity's sake." Paton clamped his handsover his ears. "Charlie, find my phone."

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Paton had bought himself a mail-order cellphone, which he used primarily for orderingbooks, although, now and again, ill-fittinggarments would arrive, only to be hastilysent back.Charlie eventually found his uncle's phoneburied under a mound of paper on the desk."What are you going to do?" he asked, hand-ing 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 kill it," said Charlie.His uncle took no notice. “Ah, Mr. Onim-ous," he said. "Paton Yewbeam here. Wehave a problem, Charlie and I, and ah —someone else. I should be very grateful if youcould bring the famous flames to see us. Ifthey are available, of course." He paused,while a light, musical voice came leaking out

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of the phone. "They are? Splendid." Patonglanced at the sorcerer. "Speed would be ap-preciated. Thank you!"Skarpo had stopped wailing and was nowwatching Paton with interest. "Thy fingershath a magic touch," he said, wagging hisown finger at the cell phone."Yes, you could say that," Paton agreed,avoiding Charlie's eye. "Now then, Mr. —Skarpo? Patience is required. Very soon agood friend of ours will arrive — with help.In the meantime, I would be very obliged ifyou would keep quiet. As you are aware, I amnone too well, and any more noise might fin-ish me off Thank you!"The sorcerer listened attentively to Paton'sspeech. He was obviously impressed. Nowand again he hummed under his breath, butapart from that the room was so quiet you

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could hear a clock Paton had mislaid tickingfrom the inside of a cupboard.The house was quiet too, until Amy Bonecame home from work. Charlie went down tothe kitchen to let his mother know what wasgoing on. He spoke so fast it all came out inrather a muddled rush, but Mrs. Bone soongot the gist of what Charlie was trying to sayShe dropped her shopping bag and sat down,saying, "How amazing, Charlie. Do you meanto say a medieval sorcerer is actually — in theflesh — sitting in Paton's room?""I think he's probably more Tudor than me-dieval," said Charlie. "His father hadsomething to do with Mary Queen of Scots.""I can't get over it. I mean, I'd no idea yourtalent would lead to this. Does your grand-mother know?""Yes. But she fainted when she saw him.""I'm not surprised."

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The bell rang and Charlie ran to open thedoor."Here we are, Charlie. At your service." Mr.Onimous leaped into the hall, followed bythe three cats. “Afternoon, ma'am," he said,when Amy Bone popped her head around thedoor."I'll leave you to it," she said, retreating intothe kitchen.The presence of the cats always made Charliefeel unaccountably happy It was like watch-ing the sun come out after a gray rainy dayThey paced around his legs, rubbing theirheads against his knees and filling the hallwith their loud purring, while Charlie ex-plained the situation to Mr. Onimous. "UnclePaton thought the flames would find themouse," said Charlie. "But surely they'll killit, won't they?"

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"Of course they won't. Not if they knowwhat's wanted," said Mr. Onimous. "Upstairswith you, my beauties!"The cats bounded up the stairs, Aries lead-ing, with orange Leo close behind, and yel-low Sagittarius bringing up the rear like abolt of brilliant light.Unfortunately Grandma Bone chose thatmoment to open her door. "Cats!" shescreamed.Aries spat at her, Leo hissed, and Sagittariusgrowled.Grandma Bone stepped back into her roomand slammed the door. "I'm not coming outuntil those creatures have left the house,"she shouted."That's fine by me," muttered Charlie.He led Mr. Onimous and the cats intoPaton's bedroom, where Mr. Onimous bentover the invalid's bed and said, "I heard

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olyour affliction, Mr. Yewbeam. Rest assuredwe'll do all we can to help.""Thank you, Orvil," said Paton, "but it is thatman whose needs are most pressing." Hepointed at Skarpo.Mr. Onimous gave a little jump. He hadn'tnoticed the sorcerer, hunched in an armchairbeyond Paton's desk. "Mercy! Forgive me,sir. What an honor. Orvil Onimous." He heldout a pawlike hand.The sorcerer allowed his own hand to beshaken, but he seemed hardly aware of Mr.Onimous. His gaze was fixed on the threebright cats. "Beautiful beasties," he mur-mured. “Ancient creatures. Leopards, nodoubt. Thine, sir?""They belong to no one," said Mr. Onimous."Though, once, they were the King's. I'mspeaking of the Red King, of course."

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"The Red King. Aye." Skarpo nodded, hiseyes still on the cats, watching themhungrily."You can't take them back with you," saidCharlie sternly.Skarpo's beard quivered. "I am not a thief,boy."“Actually . . ." Charlie just stopped himselffrom mentioning the stolen wand. The situ-ation was delicate enough."Where's this painting then, Charlie?" askedMr. Onimous.Charlie fetched the painting from his room,and Mr. Onimous, putting a finger on thepainted mouse, said, "See that, flames? Thatmouse there, peeking out of a pocket?"The cats watched Mr. Onimous' finger, andthen turned their earnest gaze towardSkarpo. Their bright eyes traveled from hisface to a dark pleat on the side of his robe,

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where there was, now, no mouse. Their quickunderstanding was astonishing. In a secondthey had darted around the room, under thebed, and out of the door.Charlie looked into the passage to see whatthe cats would do. The house was filled withgolden light, and a soft pattering, a gentlescratching, a mewing, and a purring could beheard. Clever paws turned handles, openedcabinets, lifted carpets, papers, curtains, cov-ers; pulled out drawers, boxes, shoes, cloth-ing. And then the trio stopped and sniffedand listened.Charlie held his breath and listened withthem. Not for long. There was a suddenthump, a squeak, and a yowl. And then upthe stairs they came, Sagittarius first, hold-ing a mouse in his jaws.

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The flames ran into Paton's room and Sagit-tarius, meowing loudly laid the terrified butunharmed mouse in the sorcerer's lap."Moosie!" cried Skarpo, grabbing the mouse." 'Tis well done, brave creature." He strokedthe yellow cat's head. "I thank thee." Puttingthe mouse in his pocket, he stood up andmade a little bow to Paton and Mr. Onimous."Gentlemen, fare thee well!" Then hepropped the painting against a stack of bookson Paton's desk and turned Charlie to face it."Now!" he commanded."OK." Charlie looked at his uncle and Mr.Onimous. "Could you help me back — if I getstuck?""The flames will keep you safe," said Mr. On-imous. And the cats moved closer to Charlieas the whole uncomfortable business of be-ing pushed and pulled began all over again.

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But this time, while Charlie traveled, he felt acomforting warmth enfolding him, and as hewatched the blank eyes of the sorcerer, hekept glimpsing flashes of red and gold besidehim. When the sorcerer's eyes began to glowwith life, Charlie knew he had succeeded inbringing him home. Now he must retreat be-fore Skarpo started playing tricks.However, it seemed that Skarpo had no in-tention of tricking Charlie. "Go now, CharlieBone," he said, waving his hand. “And mindthe herb for thine visual's affliction."What happened next was certainly notSkarpo's fault. Behind the sorcerer's tablethere was a window, and Charlie's gaze wasdrawn to a stretch of glittering sea beyond.Before he could tug himself away he foundhimself flying through the windowAs he sailed over the moonlit water, Charliesensed again the warm presence of bright

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creatures, and he wasn't afraid. The darkmass of a forest loomed in the distance, andhe felt breathless with anticipation as hedrew closer. Now he was floating above thetrees to a place where the topmost leaveswere touched with firelight.He looked down into a glade where a manstood tending a fire. The man wore a redcloak and his skin was the color of warm,brown earth. Charlie felt him to be the sad-dest man in the world.Sparks from the fire began to float up to thesky and when the man followed them withhis eyes, he saw Charlie. Sadness left theman's face and he gave a sudden, joyfulsmile. In a deep, melodious voice, he calledthree names and three creatures stepped outof the shadows. The firelight danced on theirpale, spotted coats, and they looked up atCharlie with eyes of gold.

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THE GARDEN IN DARKLY WYND“Flames," Charlie murmured."Are you back, Charlie?" asked a voice.A silvery mist surrounded Charlie and whenhe blinked, he found himself caught in thegaze of six golden eyes. "Oh," he said.The loud purring that had filled his earsbegan to fade, and he bent to stroke the threebright heads."That was quite something, Charlie. I won'tforget it for the rest of my life."The mist receded, and Charlie could see Mr.Onimous in the chair that Skarpo had re-cently vacated."What happened?" asked Charlie."There you were, and there was the sorcer-er," said Mr. Onimous leaning forward ex-citedly “And the sorcerer — well, he wentright through you. He faded first, like, until

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he was just a bit of shadow, and then he van-ished. Phew!"“And what happened to me?""You? You just stayed where you were,Charlie. Standing like a stone and staring atthat picture. But the cats, now that's a differ-ent story Never stopped moving. Around andaround your legs they went, purring andsinging like I never heard before.""I think they came with me," said Charlie."Came with my mind, I mean, when Itraveled.""Did they now? Well, I wouldn't put it pastthem."Charlie didn't mention his encounter withthe leopards and the man in the red cloak. Itwas so intimate and precious he didn't havethe words for it. Instead he turned to hisuncle and found he was asleep.

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"Didn't Uncle Paton see what happened?" heasked."Poor man, he dropped off before the sorcer-er had left us," said Mr. Onimous. "Youruncle is a very sick man, Charlie. It's atragedy to see such a bold and clever personbrought to this.""I want to help him," said Charlie, "and I'mgoing to. Skarpo says he has to bathe insomething called vervain. Where do youthink I can find it?""Hm." Mr. Onimous rubbed his furry chinwith his forefinger. "I'll ask around, Charlie.Better be off now Good luck!"In his usual speedy way Mr. Onimous leapedfrom the chair and was out of the room anddown the stairs before Charlie could think ofanother question.

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"'Bye, Mrs. Bones both," he called as he leftthe house with the bright cats bounding be-hind him."Have they gone?" shouted Grandma Bone."Yes, Grandma," said Charlie with a sigh.She appeared in her doorway “All gone?" shesaid. 'You know who I mean?""Yes, he's gone, too.""Praise be!" She went back into her room,slamming the door behind her.Charlie joined his mother for tea, butthroughout the meal he kept thinking of hisjourney beyond the sorcerer's window I'veseen the Red King, he thought. And hehas seen me. I've seen the leopardsand the forest where they lived. AndCharlie became more and more convincedthat Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius had takenhim to that distant forest. But why? Andhow?

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"Penny for your thoughts, Charlie," said hismother.Charlie hesitated. "I was just wonderingwhere I could get vervain.""Vervain? It's a weed, or an herb, but I'venever seen it. What do you want it for,Charlie?""To help Uncle Paton.""Oh." His mother raised her eyebrows butsaid no more.Later that evening, Charlie took a tray of din-ner to his uncle's room. But Paton wouldn'ttouch it. The room was in darkness soCharlie lit a candle that stood on Paton'sdesk. "Please try and eat," he begged. "Ithought you were getting better."Paton turned his head away "Sorry Charlie. Ithink I'm done for. It's in my head, mybones, my guts. He's finished me off."

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"But what did he do?" cried Charlie. “Andwho is he?"His uncle wouldn't say In a soft, raggedvoice, he asked, "Has Julia been here again?""Don't think so," said Charlie."Oh," said Paton sadly"She might have come while I was at school,"Charlie suggested, regretting his thoughtless-ness. "In fact, I expect she did. But GrandmaBone probably wouldn't let her in.""No," sighed Paton. "She's forgotten me."Charlie couldn't think what to say Hewondered if he should tell his uncle that he'dseen the Red King. Perhaps it would cheerhim up. But he still couldn't find the wordsto talk about it. "You could try vervain," hesaid. "I think the sorcerer really meant tohelp you.""Vervain," muttered Paton. "The sacredherb."

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"Do you know where it grows?""In Eustacia's garden probably She growseverything you ever heard of But I advise younot to go there, Charlie. It's a dangerousplace.""I'm not afraid," said Charlie. "I've beenthere before."His uncle groaned, "No, Charlie," and thenhe fell into another agitated sleep, mutteringand mumbling, with his eyes closed, hismouth twisting, and his teeth grinding.Charlie's mind was made up. Somehow hewould find a way into Eustacia's garden. Butfirst he had to know what vervain lookedlike. He didn't want to pick something dan-gerous and deadly and he was sure Eustaciawould have plenty of those sorts of plantsaround.On Saturday morning, after his mother hadleft for the market, Charlie went to see Miss

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Ingledew There was a surprising buzz ofactivity in the bookshop. It was usually aquiet place, but today Charlie found Olivia,Tancred, and Lysander prancing around be-hind the counter in strange featheredheadgear.Emma and Tancred had been asked todesign hats for the play and Tancred hadbrought Lysander along to cheer him up. Itcertainly seemed to have worked. The eeriebeat of drums could no longer be heard fol-lowing Lysander, and he even managed tolaugh when Tancred sent his yellow-feathered hat flying up to the ceiling."You look serious, Charlie,"Tancred re-marked. "Don't worry, we haven't forgottenOllie. We're working on a plan, but the playkind of got in the way""What exactly is the play about?" askedCharlie, puzzled by the gaudy hats.

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"It's a kind of mixture of The Tinderboxand The Twelve Dancing Princesses,"said Olivia. "I'm one of the princesses.""So, who's got the biggest part?""They haven't decided," said Olivia. "Man-fred wants Lydia Pieman to be the lead. Iguess he's got a thing for her. Zelda's in-sanely jealous."Emma's aunt appeared and asked the chil-dren if they would please try on their hats inthe back room. "I wouldn't like customers tothink this place had turned into a clothesshop," she said with a smile.Charlie explained that he hadn't come to tryon hats, but he had a rather urgent mission."It's for my uncle," he said."I see." Miss Ingledew tried not to look inter-ested, but Charlie could see that she was."Your grandmother believes I was stalking

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Paton, and I'd like to make it quite clear thatI 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't realize. Poor Paton. Imust. . . I'm so sorry" Miss Ingledew seemedsuddenly very agitated."I sort of heard that a plant called vervainmight cure him," said Charlie.Miss Ingledew frowned. "Where did you hearthat?""I bet it was the sorcerer," said Olivia."Was it?" asked Emma. "Was it, Charlie?""Tell us," urged Tancred, "or I'll blow yourshirt off."Charlie clutched his belt. "Yes, it was," he ad-mitted with a grin.

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"I don't know what you're talking about,"said Emma's aunt. “And I'm not sure I wantto.""The thing is, I don't know what vervainlooks like," said Charlie. “And I thoughtthere might be a picture of it in one of youramazing books."At that moment two customers came into theshop, and Miss Ingledew told the children tosearch the books in the back room. "Lookunder 'H,'" she said. "Herb toHorticulture."It was Lysander who found it, partly becausehe was the tallest and all the "H"s were onthe top shelf "Here it is," he said, laying theopen book on a table and pointing to a pho-tograph. Vervain appeared to be a bushyplant with yellowy-green leaves and tinymauve flowers at the tip of each shoot. "It

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says people used to believe it curedeverything, even witchcraft.""The sacred herb,'" Olivia read over hisshoulder, " 'said by the Romans to cure theplague and to avert sorcery and witchcraft.'"“And I know where to find it," murmuredCharlie, gazing at the picture."WHERE?" Four pairs of eyes were trainedon Charlie."In my great-aunt's garden," he said. "InDarkly Wynd.""We'll come with you," said Olivia."There's no need —" Charlie began."Of course there's a need. We're coming,"Lysander insisted. "I've got to do somethingthat works or I'll blow my top."Charlie had to agree that it would be good tohave company in Darkly Wynd, though heworried that five children might attract too

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much attention in such a quiet and gloomyplace."You're stuck with us," said Tancred.The five friends left the bookshop, tellingMiss Ingledew they were off to find vervain.She gave a cautious nod but was so involvedwith an elderly couple searching for a cook-book that she failed to ask the children anymore questions. When her customers hadgone, however, she found the book the chil-dren had been looking at and brought it intothe shop. Placing it on her counter, she stud-ied the picture of the leafy plant with its tinymauve flowers. “A sacred herb," she mur-mured "sorcery . . . witchcraft. . ."The door opened with a loud tinkle, and twogirls stepped down into the shop."Can I help you?" asked Miss Ingledew

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"We don't want a book," said the ratherpretty blonde girl. "We're looking for ourfriends.""We thought we saw. them come out of yourshop," said the other girl, who was shorterand plumper than her companion."Oh, you mean Emma, my niece," said MissIngledewHer two visitors had by now reached thecounter, and the blonde girl turned aroundthe open book to read it. "Vervain. Howinteresting.""Yes." Emma's aunt closed the book."So, could you tell us where Emma and theothers have gone?" asked the plump girl."I've no idea.""Aww! We were going to meet up," said thegirl."What a pity," said Mss Ingledew She hadthe distinct impression that the girls were

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lying. She disliked them, especially the prettyone. Her eyes kept changing color; it wasmost unnerving."Oh, well," sighed the blonde girl. "We'll seeif we can catch up with them." She gave abroad smile, showing immaculate whiteteeth."Good-bye!" Miss Ingledew put the book un-der her arm and watched the girls leave theshop.“And what were they up to?" she muttered.Charlie and his friends had just reachedGreybank Crescent when a figure emergedfrom a dark alley leading off the crescent.“Aunt Venetia!" Charlie whispered to theothers. "Quick! Before she sees us."They leaped over the road and hid behindthe large fir tree in the center of the crescent,while Venetia Yewbeam walked on towardthe main road. She carried a large leather

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shopping bag with a gold "Y" printed on theside. As she drew closer, Charlie pulled theothers farther back under the tree. His great-aunt stopped and, for a moment, Charliethought she was going to cross the road andinvestigate. After a few seconds, however,Venetia walked on.When his aunt had turned the corner intothe main road, Charlie led the others over tothe gloomy alley named Darkly Wynd."What a gruesome place," said Olivia. "Whowould want to live here?""My great-aunts," said Charlie.They walked past the derelict houses whererats scuttled out of trashcans and trampsgrumbled from damp basement steps, andthen they were facing the three thirteens."Which one?" said Lysander.

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"Well, Venetia lives in the last one, so if itgoes by age, Eustacia must be in the middle,"said Charlie."Do you think she's at home?" asked Olivia."Don't know," said Charlie. "But I'm not go-ing to knock on the door and ask.""So how do we get into the garden?" saidEmma.Charlie hadn't thought about that. LuckilyTancred had. "Over here," he called, beckon-ing them from a small iron-barred gate. Bey-ond the gate, a narrow passage ran betweennumber twelve and number thirteen. Obvi-ously a way to the gardens at the back.The gate gave a loud squeal as they hurriedthrough, and Charlie glanced nervously atthe side of number thirteen. But there wasonly one window, high in the wall, and thathad a curtain drawn across it.

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At the back of the houses, yards and gardenswere clearly defined by high gray stone walls.An alley ran between the gardens of DarklyWynd and those of the houses in the cres-cent. But, unlike the others, there were nogates in the walls of the number thirteens."You'll just have to climb over," Lysandertold Charlie. "You can stand on my back.""We'll keep watch," said Emma."I'm going with Charlie," said Tancred."No, me!" cried Olivia. "PLEASE!""Shhh!" hissed Charlie. "You can both come."As soon as he'd climbed onto Lysander'sback and looked over the wall, he realized hewould need two more pairs of eyes to helphim search. The garden was a mass of plants.Herbs, flowers, shrubs, and weeds crowdedtogether between the walls: a veritable carpetof vegetation.

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"Wow!" said Olivia when she saw the garden."Where do we start?"They decided to keep in a line, working theirway from the wall to the house. Charlie couldsee it wouldn't be easy The plants were sotightly packed it was difficult not to step onthem. Olivia, in her clumpy mauve shoes,made more of a mess than the boys. She kepttripping and crashing into the tallest andmost delicate-looking blooms. Charlie triednot to look at her and kept his eyes trainedon the plants in front of him.Now and then, one of them would call softly"I see it," and then, "No, that's not it."They had almost reached the house whenCharlie heard something drop onto the wallbetween Eustacia's garden and the yard nextdoor. He jumped over the last clump ofplants to see what it was.

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A smooth gray pebble sat on top of the wall.It looked strangely familiar. And then itcame to Charlie. "Mr. Boldova," he mur-mured. "The sparks!" But had the stonecome from Eustacia's house, or Venetia'snext door?"Have you found it, Charlie?" Tancred calledin a harsh whisper."No, I..."There was a loud whistle from the wall andLysander called, "Watch out, Charlie.Something's happening inside."Charlie looked up at the gaunt, soot-stainedbuilding. He could hear voices. A top windowclanged shut, and then they all heard foot-steps running down a staircase."Let's get out," said Olivia."But I haven't found the vervain," saidCharlie.

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"Forget it," said Tancred. "Come on, we'll tryanother day"But there might not be another day Charliewouldn't give up. He whirled around, screw-ing up his eyes and staring at the plants,while the others raced for the wall."Look out!" yelled Tancred as the back dooropened.And then Charlie saw it, almost at his feet.There was no time to tear off a sprig; he bentdown and yanked the plant right out of theground, roots and all."What do you think you're doing?" screechedGreat-aunt Eustacia from the doorwayShe ran down the steps as Charlie boundedover the garden, trampling plants as he went.Olivia was already scrambling onto the wallwhen there was a loud crack under Charlie'sright foot, and before he could stop himselfhe was sliding through the earth.

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"Eeec-er-ooo-ow!" yelled Charlie, trying tocling to a spindly shrub. It was no use; hewas tumbling deeper and deeper into a darkpit."You didn't see my trap, did you, you stupidboy?" cackled Eustacia."Charlie, where are you?" called Olivia."Help!" Charlie clawed at the sides of the pit,but the black earth was slimy with slugs androtting weeds.Of all the great-aunts, Eustacia had the worstlaugh. It crackled with spite. "Ha! Ha! Ha!"She stood right above Charlie, and he had anasty view of brown tights and blackunderwear.He closed his eyes and murmured feebly"Help!""It's too late for help," sneered Eustacia."You're caught like a rat in a trap, CharlieBone. Now, what shall I do with you?"

Charlie looked up. "Old women can't do thisto children," he said defiantly"Can't? But I just have," snickered his great-aunt. "And if you . . ." All at once, in mid-sen-tence, Eustacia flew into the air. It was quiteastonishing. As Charlie squinted up at thelarge figure in the sky it disappeared in acloud of leaves. He could hear a wind roaringabove him now, gathering twigs, earth,stalks, and plants in a great whirlwind."Tancred," breathed Charlie as four handsstretched down toward him."Climb up, Charlie," came Tancred's voice,though Charlie couldn't see him through theflying debris."Tancred's fixed the old bat," said Olivia, "socome on up."But Charlie couldn't even touch the wavinghands. "I can't! I can't!" he cried.

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Two more hands appeared: strong brownhands that could stretch farther down intothe pit. "Get a move on, Charlie," saidLysander's voice. "Push it, man. Come out ofthere!"This time Charlie clamped the vervainbetween his teeth and leaped as he reachedfor the brown hands. They caught him andslowly he began to climb.Tancred and Olivia grabbed one arm whileLysander pulled the other, and graduallyCharlie was dragged toward the mouth of thepit. He could hear a muffled screaming in thedistance, and when he crawled out into thewind, he saw what must have been his great-aunt, covered in greenery fighting the galethat roared through her garden."Stop!" shrieked the green mound as Charlieand the others raced for the wall.

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Lysander gave Charlie a shove from behind,and they all fell into the alley overcome withhelpless laughter."What happened?" asked Emma, who wastoo small to see over the wall."Tancred did his thing, and now Charlie'saunt looks like a compost heap!" said Olivia."She'll take it out on you, Charlie," saidEmma, too worried to see the funny side.Preferring not to think about this, Charlietook the vervain from his mouth, spat outmud, and dusted himself off as they all beganto run down the narrow passage into DarklyWynd. When they got there, Emma, the onlyone to have thought ahead, took a plastic bagfrom her pocket and held it out to Charlie."What would we do without you?" saidCharlie, dropping the muddy vervain into thebag.

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"It's got roots," Emma observed. "You couldplant it again.""I'll have to find out if it works first," saidCharlie.They hurried down Darkly Wynd and out in-to the sunshine of Greybank Crescent. Thechange in temperature was dramatic. Behindthem lay a place the sun had never touched.An empty forgotten place of cold stone andgloomy shadows. They all gave an involun-tary shiver and turned their faces up to thesun.And then Tancred said, "By the way Charlie,what were you looking at when your auntcame through the door?"Charlie had almost forgotten the pebble. Hepulled it out of his pocket. "This," he said.They looked at the smooth gray stone lyingin Charlie's palm."Looks familiar," said Lysander.

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"I'm sure it belonged to Mr. Boldova," saidCharlie. "The stones that sparkled in hishand looked just like this.""You're right," said Olivia. "But how did it getinto your aunt's garden?""It was dropped from a window" saidCharlie. "I think she stole it."Everyone agreed that this was a possibilityAnd yet who had dropped the pebble? Andwhy? It was a puzzle."There are too many puzzles," said Lysander."We'll meet up tomorrow, right? And discussthe Ollie problem.""What about Charlie's uncle?" said Emma."Suppose the vervain doesn't work?""I'll come whatever," said Charlie.When they reached the main road, the fivefriends parted, and Charlie ran home withthe prized vervain. He could hardly wait tosee if it worked. First he would chop some

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into tea leaves and take his uncle a cup ofvervain tea. He leaped up the steps of num-ber nine, opened the door — and walkedstraight into Grandma Bone."What's that you've got?" she said, eyeing theplastic bag."Nothing — er, some fruit from Mom'sshop," said Charlie."Liar! I know what you've been doing. Eusta-cia called me. You're a thief!""No." Charlie backed out of the open door."Give me that bag!" she demanded."No!" yelled Charlie.Grandma Bone made a grab for the bag but,at that N very moment, a large yellow dogbounded up the steps and leaped onCharlie's grandmother, knocking her backinto the house."Runner!" cried Charlie. He ran down thesteps with Runner Bean at his heels, while

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Grandma Bone roared from the house,"Stop! Come here! You wait, Charlie Bone!You won't get away with this."Charlie raced up the street, panting,"Runner, where did you come from? Yousaved my life!" And then he saw Fidelio,speeding toward him."Hi, Charlie!" called Fidelio. "Runner gotaway from me. I guess he couldn't wait to seeyou."The two boys met halfway up Filbert Street,and Fidelio explained that he had gone to thePets' Café hoping to find Charlie, but insteadhe had run into Norton Cross, who insistedhe take Runner Bean for a walk."I forgot," said Charlie. "In fact, I keep for-getting. I'm sorry Runner." He patted thedog's shaggy head."So where were you? And what's going on?"asked Fidelio.

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Charlie described his visit to Darkly Wyndand the reason for stealing his great-aunt'svervain."Wish I'd been there," said Fidelio, a littleaggrieved at being left out of things. "You'dbetter come home with me while yourgrandma cools down."Charlie thought this was a very good idea.Runner Bean didn't, but he was so pleased tosee Charlie, he was prepared to put up with aplace he considered to be the noisiest in theworld.Fidelio's seven brothers and sisters all playeddifferent musical instruments, and at anyone time at least five of them would be prac-ticing. Add to this the rich bass and shrillsoprano of Mr. and Mrs. Gunn, and you hada sound resembling the work of the mostdaring experimental composer.

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"Let's go to the top," shouted Fidelio as soonas they got inside. "It's a bit quieter upthere."Runner Bean dragged himself up the stairsbehind the boys, flinching every time hepassed a room where a drum, or a trumpet, ahorn or a cello, was being beaten, blown, orscraped.At the top of the house, there was a shady at-tic where the Gunns kept their broken in-struments. The two boys made themselvescomfortable on a large crate, and Charliegave Fidelio a more detailed account of hisdealings with Skarpo. But he found that hewasn't yet ready to tell even his best friendabout his mysterious journey over the sea.Fidelio listened thoughtfully to Charlie'sstory and then he said, "You'd better stay outof your grandma's way today And let's putthat plant in water before it dies."

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Down they went again, passing children withfreckled faces and brown curly hair who allpatted Runner Bean and greeted Charlie likea long-lost brother. Into the kitchen, where asinging Mrs. Gunn was making banana sand-wiches and real lemonade."That looks like a powerful weed!" she ex-claimed when Charlie drew the vervain outof its bag. "Do you want me to put it in apot?"“Actually Mom, Charlie needs to hide it fromhis grandma," said Fidelio. "So it wouldn't beany good in a pot. And it's not a weed, it's aspecial herb."“Aha!" sang Mrs. Gunn. "We can still plantthe roots. I'll snip off some leaves and youcan hide them under your T-shirt when yougo, Charlie. The rest of the plant will be herewhen you need it."

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Charlie handed over the vervain, acceptedtwo banana sandwiches (one for himself andone for Runner Bean), and then he andFidelio took the yellow dog for a run in thepark.At four o'clock, after several more sand-wiches (Stilton cheese and peanut butter,and egg and blackcurrant), Charlie left GunnHouse and took Runner Bean back to thePets' Café. He promised Norton he wouldcall again the next day but he was anxious togel home before his mother ran into an angryGrandma Bone.When Charlie reached number nine,however, Grandma Bone had left the house,and his mother was about to take UnclePaton a cup of tea."Can I do it?" begged Charlie. He pulled thesprigs of vervain from under his T-shirt and

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put them on the table. "I want Uncle Patonto try some of this."Mrs. Bone frowned. "Where did you get it,Charlie?""From Aunt Eustacia," he confessed. “Actu-ally I stole it, and there may be a bit oftrouble."His mother gave him one of her anxioussmiles. "There's bound to be," she said. "Let'shope it works before your grandmothercomes back." She snipped off a few leaves,put them in a teacup, and filled it up withboiling water.Charlie watched the water turn bright green.It looked dangerous. Was Skarpo trickingthem?"I hope it doesn't do more harm than good,"said Mrs. Bone. "It looks very powerful.""It may be Uncle Paton's last chance, Mom,"said Charlie desperately.

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He waited until the vervain tea had cooledand then took it up to his uncle, with the restof the herb tucked under his arm.Paton was lying in semidarkness. The cur-tains were closed, and from the thin lighttrickling into the room you would never haveguessed that outside was a bright summerafternoon.Charlie put the tea on his uncle's bedsidetable and whispered, "Uncle Paton, I'vebrought you a drink."Paton groaned."Please take a sip. It'll make you feel better."Paton raised himself on one elbow"Here." Charlie held out the cup.Paton's eyes were still half-closed and hishand trembled when he grasped the cup.Charlie watched intently as his uncle raisedthe tea to his lips."Go on," said Charlie. "Drink it."

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“Anyone would think you were trying topoison me." Paton made a funny chokingnoise that was probably a laugh."I'm trying to help you," Charlie whisperedearnestlyHis uncle opened his eyes properly andlooked at Charlie. "Very well," he said andtook a sip. "Ugh! What is this?""Vervain," said Charlie. "You remember thesorcerer said it would cure you. And I'vebrought the rest." He laid the leafy stems onhis uncle's bed."Looks like a weed," Paton observed. "I canguess where you've been, Charlie." He gave areal chuckle and took another sip, and thenanother.Charlie waited while his uncle drained thecup.

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"Not bad," said Paton. "Not bad at all. Blessyou, Charlie." He lay back on the pillows andclosed his eyes.Charlie took the empty cup from his uncle'shands and tiptoed out of the room."Did it work?" asked Mrs. Bone whenCharlie^came back into the kitchen."I don't know, Mom. But he looked kind ofpeaceful. It'll probably take awhile."They found themselves talking softly andmoving as quietly as they could. TV was outof the question. It seemed as though the airin the house had become charged with mys-terious and delicate spirits that could be dis-turbed by the slightest breath of wind, the ti-niest sound.It grew dark, but Grandma Bone didn't comehome. Charlie imagined that a meeting wastaking place in Darkly Wynd. They would beplotting to put him in his place, once and for

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all. He glanced at his mother, reading at thekitchen table, and hoped that whatevermight be coming his way wouldn't hurt heras well.Suddenly Mrs. Bone looked up from herbook. "Did you hear that?"Charlie did hear it. Upstairs a door wasopening. The floorboards creaked. A mo-ment later the sound of running water couldbe heard. A bath was filling up.When the tap stopped running, the silencewas so profound that Charlie could hear thebeat of his own heart. And then a strangeperfume stole through the house, a perfumelaced with magic.LYSANDER'S PLANCharlie opened his eyes and looked at thekitchen clock. It was midnight. His motherwas washing-~a~ saucepan in the sink.

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"I've only just woken up," she said, puttingtwo mugs of cocoa on the table. "I don'tknow what came over us, Charlie.""Uncle Paton had a bath," Charlie muttered."I remember hearing the water running, andthen I fell asleep.""Me, too," said Mrs. Bone. "Your grandmoth-er is still out. Let's get to bed before shecomes home."They drank their cocoa and slipped upstairs.As Charlie passed his uncle's door hestopped and listened. Not a sound camefrom Paton's room. Not even a snore. Charliecrept into his own room with a worriedfrown.Just as he was getting into bed, he heard acar pull up outside. A door slammed andGrandma Bone called out, "Good night, Eus-tacia. I'll fix the little brute, don't you worry."

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Charlie pulled the covers over his head andtried not to think about meeting GrandmaBone in the morning.He woke up very early tiptoed down to thekitchen, and ate a bowl of cereal. He thoughtof leaving his mother a note explaining he'dbe out for the day though he hadn't decidedwhere he would go. Anything would be betterthan facing Grandma Bone.But it was already too late for a note. Too lateto run out of the house. Charlie froze as apair of large feet thumped down the stairs.They crossed the hall and the kitchen dooropened."Caught you!" Grandma Bone stood on thethreshold in her evil-looking gray bathrobe."'Morning, Grandma," said Charlie as casu-ally as he could."I suppose you thought you'd get away beforeI woke up."

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"N-no.""Don't lie. You're in big trouble, CharlieBone." His grandmother marched into thekitchen and glared down at Charlie. "Whatwere you doing in my sister's garden? No,don't bother to answer. You were stealing.And those friends of yours were no better.Eustacia's in a terrible state. She almost hada heart attack.""Sorry," mumbled Charlie."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 de-cided what to do with you.""Not go out?" asked Charlie. "Not even toschool?""NO. Not for a month at least."This normally wouldn't have worriedCharlie. But under the circumstances, he hadto go to school. There was a blue boa to be

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tamed, there was Ollie Sparks to rescue."But. . ." he said.“And that confounded woman's in it, too,"growled Grandma Bone. "A book was seenlying on her counter, with a picture of theherb you stole, openly displayed."Charlie couldn't be sure, but he thought heheard the faint tinkle of broken glass whilehis grandmother was shouting. He was justwondering who had seen the book atIngledew's and passed on the informationwhen his grandmother suddenly thumpedthe table and shouted, "WE WONT HAVEIT! THIS CONTINUAL MEDDLING, THISDISOBEDIENCE, THIS, THIS . . . WHYCAN'T YOU TOE THE LINE?"Charlie was about to give a feeble answerwhen a voice from the doorway said, "Aha!"There stood Uncle Paton, in a shirt so whiteit was almost blinding. His hair was two

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shades blacker than it had ever been, and helooked at least three inches taller. So tall, infact, that he had to duck his head to get un-der the doorframe.Grandma Bone looked as if she'd seen aghost. 'You're better," she croaked.“Aren't you pleased?" said Paton.Grandma Bone nervously licked her lips."But. . . but. . .""Thought he'd done me in, didn't you?" saidPaton advancing on his sister. "Thought he'dturned me into a flabby fluttering, half-bakedyes-man?""I don't know what you're talking about," shesaid."Of course you do!" Paton thundered. "Youset it up. You planned it all. You brought thatevil, shape-shifting hag into our midst. Whatwere you up to, EH?"

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"Stop it!" cried Grandma Bone. "I — I couldask you to leave this house!""And I could ask you to do the same thing,"roared Paton, towering over her.Charlie watched in fascination as his grand-mother gave a strangled gasp and ran out ofthe kitchen with both hands over her heart.Paton gave Charlie a beaming smile andbegan to make himself a cup of coffee."It worked!" said Charlie. "The vervain. Itreally worked!""Something worked. I feel as bright as a but-ton,” said Paton, who looked nothing like abutton"I was afraid Skarpo might have tricked us,”said Charlie. "But maybe I should trust himnow. Wow, Uncle Paton! It's great to see youwell again ""It feels great, Charlie. Thank you." Patonmade a little bow and brought his cup to the

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table. "So. are you going to tell me howthings stand at Bloor’s Academy?"Charlie did his best to bring his uncle up todate with everything that had been going onwhile he lay on his sickbed. He was just de-scribing events in Eustacia's garden whensomeone stumped downstairs and walkedout of the house, slamming the front doorbehind them.Through the window they saw GrandmaBone marching up the street in her newstraw hat — black with purple cherries on it."She's off to Darkly Wynd, no doubt," saidPaton. "To hatch another plot. I bet my re-covery will give them a nasty shock, espe-cially that hag Yolanda." He chuckled."Uncle Paton, do you think you could talkabout what happened in the castle now?"Charlie asked tentatively

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Paton scratched his chin and said, "Yes,Charlie. It's about time." He drained his cupand set it back on the table. For a moment hestared into space, and then he began, "Ima-gine tine castle as I described it, darkwithout and dark within. I arrived at dawnbut there's never a sunrise at YewbeamCastle. The sky turns a dull yellow and nobirds sing. The wind shrieks over the stones.There are no trees, no leaves or flowers, onlythe dead grass."The road ends at a narrow footbridge, so Ileft the car and walked the half-mile to thecastle. Thirteen steps carved into the rocklead up to a door that is never locked. Afterall, who would want to enter a place likethat?" Paton paused and hunched hisshoulders.“And then?" said Charlie.

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"It all came back to me, Charlie: my mother'shorrible fall, and my father rushing awaywith me. I almost turned and ran, but I hadto find out if Yolanda had left and why shewas coming south after all these years. Icalled, but there was no reply. The placeseemed deserted. And then it began. Firstlaughter like I had never heard. More likehowling, it was. And then a roar, and thescreams of a thousand animals that youcould never name. And out of this awfulnoise a voice called, 'What do you want,Paton Yewbeam?'"I stood my ground, but I can tell you,Charlie, my stomach was churning. And Isaid, is that Yolanda's voice?' 'No,' came thereply Yolanda's had an invitation shecouldn't refuse.' And then the awful laughcame again.

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"I ran for the door but something pushed meback. I brought out the wand and tried tostrike the invisible thing in front of me, butthe wand hissed like a thing on fire andburned my hand. After that . . ." Paton sighedand shook his head. "I don't know how long Iwas there. I lay on the stone floor, blind andnever knowing if I was awake or dreaming.My body was either burning or freezing. So-metimes, I would see him but he neverlooked the same. One minute he'd be a child,then an old man. One day there'd be a greatblack dog beside me, then a bear. There'd bea raven tearing my head, a wolf gnawing mybones. But every time, as soon as he'd gone,I'd crawl a little closer to the door."Eventually I reached it. I pulled myself upby the great iron handle, turned it, and fellthrough the door. I stumbled down the thir-teen steps, and then I ran. Don't ask me how

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I could feel him behind me, burning myneck, scorching my shoes. I got to the carand tumbled in. The nightmare had only be-gun. He jumped on the roof and smashed thewindshield with his fists. I don't know whatshape he was — a monster, by the sound ofit. He rolled off and ran in front of me, hurl-ing rocks at the headlights. He threw flamesat the tires and the way ahead was lit by athousand sparks."We reached another bridge, and when Idrove over it, he fell away Perhaps his powercouldn't survive beyond the borders of hisland. But I heard him call after me, and I'llnever forget that awful, wailing voice." Patonshivered and closed his eyes.Charlie waited expectantly but then he couldwait no longer and begged, "What did hesay?"

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Paton gave a droll smile. "He said, 'If youharm my dear one, you'll pay for it with yourlife.'"“And who is he?""Oh, didn't I say?" Paton grimaced. "He'sYolanda's father, Yorath, a shape-shifter soold he can't keep his own shape but has toborrow from other — beings." Paton lookedat the burn marks on his right hand and re-peated, "Yes, other beings.""Wow, Uncle Paton," Charlie said gravely"It's amazing that you didn't end up dead."Paton nodded. “Amazing indeed. I don'tknow what kept me alive, Charlie, unless itwas the memory of my mother and . . . and acertain other person." He cleared his throat."Yolanda may have come to help Ezekiel, butnow that she knows what you can do, she'llwant to take you back, you know""To Yewbeam Castle?" squeaked Charlie.

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"We won't let it happen," said Paton firmly"And now, on a brighter note, you've gotthings to do, Charlie, plans to make for res-cuing the invisible boy If you ask me, BillyRaven is the key""Billy how?""He can talk to creatures, can't he? Get himto talk to that boa. It can't be all bad."Charlie sat thinking about this while hisuncle went to the stove and made himself anenormous breakfast, to make up for all thedays he'd been without. A little later Mrs.Bone came downstairs from her room on thetop floor. She'd heard none of the shoutingand slamming that had gone on earlier andwas so astonished to see Paton up and aboutand better than ever, she almost fainted.Grabbing a chair, Amy Bone sat down heav-ily and muttered, "That strange gentlemanfrom the painting can't have been so bad

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after all. Oh, Paton, I'm so glad you're well.We'll all sleep easier in our beds now thatyou're back in form."Charlie wondered why Skarpo had stoppedbeing a bad-tempered trickster and decidedto be helpful. Was it when he saw the wandin Charlie's hands? And if so, why?At one o'clock Charlie politely declinedPaton's offer of a special lunch, ordered byphone from the grandest store in town, andset off for the Pets' Café. He had too much onhis mind to enjoy a rich meal. Orange juiceand cookies would do nicelyAll his friends were there, sitting around thelargest table in the room, with birds, gerbils,rabbits, and Fidelio's deaf cat sitting onshoulders, heads, and laps. Runner Beangreeted Charlie in the usual rough, wet man-ner, pawing, licking, and barking, until

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Charlie bought him a large cookie and threwit under the table."Is everyone ready?" said Lysander ratherseverely "We've got urgent matters to dis-cuss. Tancred and I have made a list, andwe'd like some input from the rest of you."He placed a sheet of lined paper in themiddle of the table. It read:Everyone stared at the list, written inLysander's admirable calligraphy Theypassed the paper around the table until theyhad all read it thoroughly When this hadbeen done, their faces looked either doubtfulor downright gloomy"It's not that bad," said Charlie. "For onething, I know where the boa is, and I can findit again.""But how do we tame it?" asked Emma."Billy," said Charlie. "He can talk toanimals."

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"So how do we persuade Billy to do that?"asked Olivia. "I mean, would you like to havea conversation with an oversized, invisible-making snake?""I trust Billy now," said Charlie. "I reallythink he wants to help us.""Rembrandt," Gabriel said thoughtfully"We'll tell Billy if he helps us, he can haveRembrandt. He'd do anything to see that ratagain; he loves it.""Good idea, Gabriel," said Lysander, "butwith Weedon and Manfred on the lookout —not to mention that awful Belle — where onearth is Billy going to keep the rat?"Charlie thought of Cook. "I know some-where," he said, but when they all looked athim for more information, he said, "Trustme.""OK," said Lysander. "Now we have to find away of getting the boa out of the academy"

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"I've got an idea," said Charlie. "I'm workingon it."His friends stared at him with questionsforming on their lips, but Charlie addedquickly "I can't tell you anything yet, but Iknow I'll be able to work it out." Once again,he was thinking of Cook."Now we come to Ollie." Tancred pointed tonumber five on the sheet.“Actually I've thought of that," said Emma.Reddening slightly as everyone turned tolook at her, she put an enormous spider onthe table.There were several loud gasps, and a wildblast of air blew the paper off the table asTancred yelled, "Yikes! How's that going tohelp?""Give her a chance," said Olivia, retrievingthe paper.

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"It's not real," said Emma, slipping her fingerinto the spider's body "It's like a finger pup-pet, only Ollie can put it on his toe. Then hecan walk through the main doors wheneverone of the staff goes out, and they'll just see aspider instead of a toe.""Brilliant!" said everyone except Tancred,who obviously had a thing about spiders. "Aleaping spider," he muttered. "I mean, it'shardly going to walk like a real spider if it'son 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'llwork!" 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? Wewon't be around to help him. We can't getout dressed as spiders."

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Olivia said, "We've thought of that, Emmaand me. He can go to the bookshop. It's easyto find because it's right beside the cathedral,and you can see that from anywhere in thecity""I've told my aunt if someone rings her door-bell after hours, but there's no one there ...""Except a spider," muttered Tancred.“Anyway," Emma went on. "She'll look afterhim until we can get him — visible."Charlie's mind was racing. His uncle wouldsoon have to buy a new car. Suppose hebought a van? Mid-semester was coming up.Would a journey to Sparkling Castle be pos-sible, for eight children — and a dog?"I think we've got enough sorted out to startour little operation," said Lysander. "Let'sbegin on Monday night, with numbers oneand two. The finding and taming of the boa."

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Charlie had a problem. How to get Billy up tothe west wing attics without being seen?"Distraction," said Tancred, who seemed tohave recovered his composure. "Leave it tous, 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 weekahead. At that moment, none of the sevenchildren wanted to consider the pitfalls oftheir mission. They could only imagine thevisible Ollie Sparks, reunited at last with hisgrieving parents.While the others went home to feed theirpets or work on the end-of-semester playCharlie took Runner Bean for a walk. Whenhe returned the dog to the Pets' Café, Mr.Onimous popped out from behind thecounter.

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"Something's going on," said the little man."If you need a hand, Charlie, you knowwhere to come."Charlie thanked Mr. Onimous and ran backto Filbert Street, eager to see if his uncle'samazing recovery had lasted.It had.When Charlie looked into the kitchen he wasastonished to see his mother and Paton hav-ing tea with Grandma Bone. Perhaps itwould be more accurate to say dessert ratherthan tea. It was a hot afternoon, and Patonhad ordered several tubs of liqueur-laced icecream from the same grand store that hadprovided his lunch.Charlie was invited to join them and he satopposite Grandma Bone, who was guzzling alarge bowl of green-and-brown-striped icecream, topped with almonds. She didn't somuch as glance at Charlie but kept spooning

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the ice cream into her mouth at a rate of twospoonfuls a second, by Charlie's reckoning."Chocolate, cherry rum, and walnut? Toffee,apple, brandy and almonds? Or coffee, or-ange, whiskey and peanut?" Paton askedCharlie.Charlie chose the chocolate and began to digin. It was the most delicious ice cream he'dever tasted; he hoped Paton's recovery meantthat more of the same would be arriving atnumber nine every weekend.Grandma Bone's bowl was now empty Shestared at it rather sadly and wiped her mouthwith the back of her hand. Charlie thoughtshe looked tipsy When she got up, sheswayed a little as she moved to the sink. Shehad still not said a word or even looked inCharlie's direction. What had happened toher?

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Charlie's mother said, "That was just aboutthe best thing I've ever tasted. Thank you,Paton.""You're very welcome." Paton winked atCharlie as Grandma Bone made slow andstately progress past the table and out of theroom."What's happened to Grandma?" Charliewhispered.His mother put a finger to her lips.Charlie grinned. It was only then that he no-ticed the wicker basket sitting just inside thedoor. It gave him an idea. When his grand-mother had finally tottered upstairs andclosed her door, Charlie asked his unclewhere 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 hamperhadn't been entirely emptied. There were

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still several jars of jam, a fruitcake, and twopackages of cookies left inside. Charliepicked 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 whatit's for.""And the hamper," said Charlie. "Do youthink you could get the store to send an evenbigger one to Cook at Bloor's Academy? Thevery biggest they've got?""Charlie, whatever for?" said his mother."Charlie's got a plan," said Paton. "We'll justhave to go along with it and not ask too manyquestions, Amy"Mrs. Bone shook her head. "I hope it won'tstir things up again," she said. "GrandmaBone's settled down nicely this afternoon."

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"Too nicely," Charlie muttered. “And tooquiet. Something's brewing, you can tell. Iwonder what the aunts are up to."THE NIGHT OF WIND AND SPIRITSOn Monday Charlie took the first availableopportunity to speak to Cook. In the middleof lunch, he slipped into the kitchen on thepretext of fetching a mop for a spilled glassof water.Cook saw Charlie standing by the door andcame over. Anyone observing them wouldhave wondered why they appeared to be hav-ing such a deep discussion about mops. Butthe lunch ladies were too busy to notice any-thing unusual. Charlie did most of the talk-ing and Cook nodded now and again, eventu-ally patting Charlie on the shoulder with areassuring smile.Charlie said, "Thanks, Cook!" and left thekitchen — without a mop.

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Billy Raven was sitting between Gabriel andFidelio at their table, and when Charliejoined them, he noticed that Billy seemedvery depressed. But then he hadn't lookedhappy since Rembrandt had gone.It was Gabriel who brought up the subject ofthe black rat. "Would you like to see Rem-brandt again?" he asked BillyBilly gave a rueful nod. "He was my bestfriend. I could talk to him about practicallyanything. He was so clever. But how can I seehim? They won't let me out of here." Billy'sruby eyes filled with tears."It could be arranged," said Charlie. "Cooksays she would keep him for you, and youcould see him every weekend. But you'd haveto promise never, ever to tell anyone wherehe was.""I wouldn't!" said Billy crossing his heart. "Iswear!"

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"If we arranged this for you, you'd have to dosomething for us," said Fidelio."What would I have to do?" Billy immedi-ately looked anxious.Charlie suggested they discuss thingsoutside.Olivia and Emma were sitting under a treewhen they saw Charlie and his friends comethrough the garden door. The girls wouldhave joined them, but they noticed Billy waswith them and decided to stay where theywere rather than intrude on what looked likea tense situation.Billy was very pale; he kept shaking his headand nervously biting his nails. And then Gab-riel said something and Billy calmed down.He gave a resigned sort of smile, nodded,and hung his head.

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When the hunting horn sounded, the girlsrushed over to Charlie just before he steppedinto the hall."What happened with Billy?" said Olivia."He'll do it," whispered Charlie. "It'll be to-night. Don't leave the dormitory and keep aneye on Belle."Emma quickly handed Charlie the spider."You'll need this," she said.For the rest of the day Charlie found it hardto concentrate on anything but the nightahead. He knew he would have to wait untilat least midnight before he and Billy couldset off to find the blue boa. And what if Billyfailed to communicate with the snake? Whatif it hugged them both into invisibility? Whatthen?After homework, Charlie caught up withTancred and Lysander before they went into

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their dormitory “Are you on for tonight?" heasked them. "Billy's agreed.""We'll do our bit," said Tancred. "Whattime?""Midnight.""I hope we don't scare the kid," saidLysander. "The ancestors can look a bitawesome.""I'll tell Billy you're in control," said Charlie."You wish." Lysander gave a loud chuckle.Zelda Dobinski happened to breeze past atthat moment. She gave the trio a nasty lookand sent one of Tancred's folders flying up tothe ceiling. A cloud of loose paper flutteredout as the folder flopped back onto the floor."She thinks she's so clever," muttered Tan-cred, gathering up the paper."Wait till tonight," Lysander said softly"She's in for a shock."

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"What are you all doing?" This time it wasBelle creeping up on them.The boys stood aside and she marched overthe paper, deliberately stepping on everypiece she could see."Watch it!" cried Tancred. "That's my work.""So?" She glared back at him with blazingcherry-colored eyes."So, just watch it," Tancred retorted, his yel-low hair sparking."Trouble?" said a voice, and Asa appeared,loping along in the gloom."Nothing I can't handle." Belle gave Asa oneof her brilliant smiles.Asa smirked with pleasure. "Pick up thisstuff and get to your dormitories," he told theboys.Belle tossed her blonde curls and walked on,with Asa trotting in her shadow

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"I think they've guessed that something willbe happening tonight," Charlie whispered ashe helped the others to gather the paper."But they don't know what it is," Lysanderreassured him. "Good luck, Charlie!""Thanks!" Charlie walked on to his owndormitory. He found Billy Raven sitting upin bed, looking horribly anxious.“Are you OK, Billy?" Charlie asked.Billy shook his head. "I'm scared," hewhispered."Don't be. We've got a lot on our side. I'llwake you up when it's time." Charlie wentback to his own bed and changed into hispajamas.In the bed next to him, Fidelio was lying onhis side reading a music score in the sameway that anyone else might read a book."Should I come with you tonight?" he askedCharlie.

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"No need," Charlie replied. "It'd be better ifyou stayed here to keep an eye on things.""You're on." Fidelio returned to his musicscore, humming softly as he scanned thenotes.Gabriel came in just a few minutes beforelights out. He was flushed and breathless,either from running or something that hadtaken him by surprise. He was carrying arolled-up green cape."Are you changing to art?" Charlie askedhim, more as a joke than a serious question.Gabriel took it very seriously He sat downheavily on the bed on Charlie's other side. "Ifound Mr. Boldova's cape," he said in a lowvoice. "It was right at the back of the artcloset. I've been looking for something thatmight give us a clue to his disappearance."“And did the cape . . . you know?""It certainly did," said Gabriel.

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Fidelio looked up. "What's going on?" hesaid.Gabriel glanced around the dormitory Boyswere coming and going from the bathroom,some were reading in bed, others chatting orarguing. No one appeared to be interested inGabriel and the green cape."Mr. B's quite close," he said softly "Hedidn't go home. But he's kind of — lost. It'sthe same feeling I got about your father,Charlie, but Mr. B's not quite as bad. Maybeit's because he's endowed. He can still fight."The mention of his father caught Charlie offguard. Finding his father had been the lastthing on his mind. Now suddenly he foundhimself wondering if his own family wouldever be whole again. Where was Lyell Bone?Far, far away or closer than anyone ima-gined? Close, yet lost.

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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'mgoing to wear this." He tucked the green capeunder his pillow. "Mr. Boldova was a braveman. I think his cape will give me an extraounce of courage."On dangerous occasions, dreamy slightlyscatterbrained Gabriel became someonecalm and strangely powerful. Charlie wasglad he would be with him on this risky boahunt.The children of Bloor's Academy still talkabout the night of wind and spirits. It willnever be forgotten.On the stroke of midnight, that magical hourwhen Charlie always felt most alive and res-olute, three boys left their dormitory andbegan to make their way toward the west

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wing. Billy walked between Charlie and Gab-riel, the latter wearing Mr. Boldova's greencape.A light breeze came whispering in theirwake. Gradually the breeze turned into awind that sighed down the dark passages,rattling doors and windows, lifting carpets,and tugging at the curtains. In the dormitor-ies, children pulled the covers over theirheads and tried not to hear the mysterioushowling, creaking, and rattling that was go-ing on outside their doors.Lucretia Yewbeam had been alerted by herclairvoyant sister, Eustacia, that somethingodd would be happening at Bloor's Academythat night. As soon as she heard the unnatur-al wind, Lucretia got out of bed, intending toput a stop to any "nonsense." But when sheopened her door, the wind threw her back

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onto her bed with such force, she could onlylie there, breathless and terrified.Others were also attempting to leave theirrooms. In vain. Manfred Bloor tugged at hisdoor handle, yelling with frustration while,on the other side, two brown hands held itfirm.Old Ezekiel couldn't even manage to wheelhimself to the door. An army of spears hadinvaded his room. They hung all around him,slicing the air with a violent hiss wheneverhe tried to move.On the floor below, Dr. Bloor was alreadymarching along his brightly lit and thicklycarpeted corridor. Halfway down he was metby the wind, but this was not enough to detera man like Dr. Bloor. He battled on, gruntingwith fury until he came to a force too power-ful to overcome. First, the lights went out,and then three wraithlike shapes loomed

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before him. Their faces were hidden in mistbut the dark hands that held their gleamingspears were clearly visible. And they made astrange sound, a distant rhythmicdrumming.At the top of the western tower, a man whorarely slept lifted his hands from the pianoand laid them in his lap. Mr. Pilgrim listenedto the midnight chimes. There were othersounds in the air: distant drumbeats and awind that moaned and sang. The musicteacher frowned, trying to remember whathis life might once have been.Emma and Olivia hadn't closed their eyes allnight. They'd been lying in bed, listening andwatching. On the stroke of midnight Oliviasaw a pale shape gliding toward the door. Ina second she had jumped out of bed andraced toward the figure. It turned to face her,

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and in the dim light from the half-open door,Olivia saw an old and hideous woman."Get away from me," snarled the woman."No." Olivia grabbed a bony wrist."Get off!" shrieked the hag."I know who you are, you old witch," criedOlivia. "Your name's Yolanda Yewbeam, andI'm not scared of you, not one bit.""Is that so?" The old woman gave a throatycackle, and every other girl in the dormitorybut two burrowed deeper under their covers.Olivia, still clinging to the hag, was draggedinto the passage. As she kicked out desper-ately her leg was clamped between jaws ofiron. Olivia screamed as jagged teeth bit intoher bone, and then she looked into the faceof a beast so hideous and so terrifying shehad to close her eyes. The scrawny wristslipped from her grasp, and through half-

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closed eyes she saw the white-robed womanand the beast vanish into the shadows.As she dragged herself back into the dormit-ory Olivia almost fell over a body lying justinside the door. It was Emma, wrapped fromhead to foot in thick cord."Em!" breathed Olivia. "What happened?""I was coming to help." Emma gave a gasp ofpain. "I thought that being a bird would . . ."Olivia saw the feathers at the tips of Emma'sfingers, bound painfully tight with cord."Oh, Em. Who did this to you?" She began totear at the cord."I can't be sure, but I think it was Dorcas."Olivia looked at the two rows of beds. Everygirl had her head under the covers. "I'll getyou out of this, Emma," she said fiercely andfinding a knot, she began to attack it with herteeth.

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Emma gave a sigh of relief and the soil blackfeathers at the tips of her fingers started tofade.Charlie, Gabriel, and Billy had reached thedusty gaslit region where old Ezekiel hadlived for a hundred years. Billy was now shiv-ering with fright. Gabriel and Charlie heldhis hands and led him toward the staircasewhere Charlie had seen the blue boa. Thesnake was still there, a silvery blue coil at thetop of the steps, gleaming softly in the dimlight.As the three boys mounted the stairs, thecreature lifted its head, and they froze.Charlie's legs suddenly felt like lead. Hecouldn't move. Behind him he heard Billy'ssharp intake of breath."Talk to it, Billy," Charlie whispered.Silence."Billy?" said Gabriel.

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"I c . . . can't," Billy mumbled. "I don't knowwhat to say."“Anything," said Charlie desperately "Sayanything."All at once, the boa gave a loud hiss. Itswayed ominously and its head swung downtoward Charlie, who stepped back, almostknocking Billy over.To Charlie's surprise, Billy echoed thesnake's hiss, and the creature reared up witha loud chuckling sound. Almost as though hecouldn't stop himself, Billy crept past Charlieand began to climb up to the boa.Charlie stepped down until he was standingin the passage with Gabriel. Breathlesslythey watched the small boy creep closer andcloser to the glimmery blue coils. The boa'schuckling grew soft and intense, and Billywho seemed to have found the creature's lan-guage, hummed and whistled in reply When

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he reached the top step he sat cross-legged,gazing at the strange snake with its frill offeathers. And, although Charlie couldn't un-derstand its speech, it seemed to him thatthe creature had warmed to Billy and wastrying to tell him a storyIn a quiet and hesitant voice, Billy translatedthe snake's words."It says ... it was born a thousand years ago.Once ... it lived with a king . . . who treated itwell. But one day the king went away . . . andhis 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. Butit couldn't forget its . . . yearning hug ... itshungry embrace ... so the princess . . . gave itthe power of. . . vanishment . . . not death."Billy looked down at Charlie and Gabriel."It's a good snake, really" he told them.

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"Since the princess died it hasn't spoken toanyone ever . . . until now . . . I think I'vemade it happy""Look out, Billy" said Charlie.The snake was gliding across to Billy and thewhite-haired boy turned back just as the boaslid on to his lap. Billy gasped as the creaturewrapped itself around his waist. Graduallythe lower half of Billy's body began todisappear."Oh, no!" cried Charlie. "What have wedone?""Shhhh!" hushed Gabriel. "Listen."Billy had begun to murmur and hum again.He uttered a series of short gurgling gasps asthe boa encircled his neck. It hung there, ap-parently listening to him, and slowly Billy'sbody became visible again,"Wow! It can do it," said Charlie. "It reallycan."

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“Ask the boa if it can do the same thing toanother boy" said Gabriel. “A boy that ithugged into vanishment."Billy continued to hum and the boa repliedwith more chuckling and hissing."It says ... it will. . . ," Billy told them, "if wepromise .. . not to put it in a jar. . . . For hun-dreds of years it was kept in blue liquid . . .with the bones of a bird . . . until Mr. Ezekielrevived it. That's why it's got feathers. I toldit that we'd never put it in a jar. That we'dtake it somewhere safe." Billy glanced atCharlie. "I hope that's true.""It is," said Charlie. "I promise no one willharm it.""OK," said Billy "Now what?""We take it to the kitchens," said Charlie.Billy got to his feet and cautiously descendedthe rickety steps with the boa still happilywrapped around his neck.

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"Hope we can get it off him," Gabrielwhispered to Charlie as they made their wayalong the passage. "I wonder what it eats.""Who knows?" Charlie suddenly re-membered another task. He took the jar ofBest Strawberry Conserve from the pocket ofhis pajamas and called softly "Ollie Sparks,are you there? I brought you some jam."But the building was still under the spell ofwind and spirits. Charlie's words weredrowned and there was no replyAs they approached the main hall, the whist-ling and sighing of the wind intensified. Nowand again a pale shape would glide besidethem, and a shining spear or a feathered ar-row would sail over their heads.Billy quite undaunted by all the supernaturalactivity led the way while the boa whisperedinto his ear.

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They came to the landing and, looking downinto the long flagstoned hall, beheld thesource of the magical night. Two figureswhirled and spun across the floor Theymoved so fast their green capes looked likethe sparkling wings of a dragonfly It wouldhave been impossible to tell them apart if ithadn't been for their heads — one black, theother a flashing, flickering yellowBilly was about to lead the way down themain staircase when he gave a shriek of hor-ror. A giant spider had dropped from theceiling and now crouched on the steps infront of him.It was as big as Billy with eyes like red coalsand eight legs covered in coarse black hair."Keep calm," said Gabriel. "It's not what itseems." He moved in front of the others andbegan to walk down to the spider. The giantcreature suddenly leaped onto the banister

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and swung into the hall on a silver thread asthick as a fingerIt landed in front of Tancred, whose whirlingbody faltered and then stopped moving alto-gether. His cape drooped and his shoulderssagged. He stared at the spider, his facewhite with horror, and the wild wind thathad filled the building died away"Don't stop, Tancred," called Gabriel. "It'sher — Yolanda. Don't be afraid. She can'thurt you."But Tancred couldn't move. Yolanda hadchosen her shape with insight and cunning.Tancred was paralyzed with terror. So Gabri-el had to face the spider himself. Wrappingbrave Mr. Boldova's cape tightly around him-self, he ran into the hall shouting, "Here,Yolanda. Here, old hag! What can you do tome, eh?"

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The spider turned her front legs reaching forGabriel, her red eyes blazing. Gabriel leapedaway but one glance at that hypnotizing starehad already made him dizzy And then Billywalked past him, crying, "You can't do it tome, Yolanda. I can't be hypnotized, not byanything." And the boa that was Billy's now;body and soul, lunged at the spider with ahiss that swept through the hall, making thegreat creature shudder and shrivel.Tancred smiled and raised his arms. With hisgreen wings he stirred the air and the windreturned, sending the spider sliding acrossthe floor.The little troop, with Billy at its head, contin-ued its journey to the kitchens. But, just be-fore they left the hall, a dreadful howl madethem look back. The beast Charlie had seenin the ruin stood at the top of the staircase. Itwas surrounded by tall, ghostly figures in

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pale robes. Their arms were covered ingleaming bracelets and the tips of the longspears reached over their heads."The beast won't be moving far tonight,"Charlie said grimlyThe three boys hurried down the corridor ofportraits, and Gabriel brought out his flash-light to light their way Cook was waiting forthem by the door of the blue cafeteria, with awicker hamper at her feet. Uncle Paton hadkept his word. The hamper even had wheels."My oh my," said Cook. "You're a brave boyBilly Will your snake come into this basket,do you think?"Billy whispered to the boa, but the creaturestill clung to him. He hummed and hissed ina soil, coaxing voice, and gradually the snakeloosened its grip. Billy lifted it from his neckand gently laid it in the basket. "It will dowhat you want now," he said.

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"Thank you, Billy." Cook closed the lid andfastened it with a leather strap."Everything is taken from me," Billy mur-mured sadly "Everything." And his eyes filledwith tears."Not always," said Cook. "You'll soon be see-ing a friend of yours. Rembrandt's the name,if I'm not mistaken.""Really?" Billy wiped his nose and beamedwith delight.“And what news of Ollie Sparks? To myshame, I haven't been able to get any food tothe poor mite. That man Weedon has beenwatching my every move.""We seem to have temporarily lost him,"Charlie confessed, "but we'll find him, Cook.We won't give up.""It had better be soon, Charlie." Cook gave asigh. "Off you go now, you three. I'll take care

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of this." She picked up the hamper and dis-appeared into the cafeteria.Accompanied by the singing wind and a hostof darting spirits, the three boys hurried backupstairs. They passed Tancred and Lysander,still working their magic in the great hall, butthe spider and the beast had vanished. Gab-riel and Billy were ahead of Charlie, and hehad just turned into the passage that led tohis dormitory when a hand clutched hiswrist. Charlie nearly jumped out of his skin."It's me," said a voice. "Ollie Sparks.""Ollie?" Charlie whispered. "I've gotsomething for you.""Jam," said Ollie. "I heard you.""Best Strawberry Conserve," said Charlie."Here." He held out the jam."Wow! My favorite. Thanks, Charlie."It was hard to see what was happening, butCharlie felt the jar being tugged out of his

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hand — and disappearing. "Ollie, I've gotsome good news," he said. "We've found away to make you appear. But, somehowyou'll have to get out of the building. Emmamade this to cover your toe. Here . . . it's aspider."Ollie gave a low chuckle and the spider wastaken out of Charlie's hand. "This'll be veryuseful, but I'm not going out while I'm stillinvisible. Where would I go?"Charlie gave him Miss Ingledew's address."It's close to the cathedral, and she'll lookafter you until.. . well, until you're cured.""How will I be cured?" asked Olliesuspiciously.Charlie realized he would have to mentionthe boa. He described Billy's strange disap-pearing and reappearing act. "It'll work, trustme," said Charlie.

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"The boa?" squeaked Ollie. "No way It'll fin-ish me off.""But you are finished," said Charlie, "in away. I mean, being invisible is a prettymiserable existence, isn't it? Don't you wantto go home to your parents? Think about it.Don't you want your brother to see you as areal, whole boy?"There was a long silence, then a sigh, andOllie's voice came floating out of the darkagain. "Yes," he said. "Yes, I do."Charlie felt guilty about mentioning Mr. Bol-dova — or Samuel Sparks. For a moment hethought of telling Ollie the truth, that theydidn't really know where his brother was.But when he spoke Ollie's name there was noreply and he realized the invisible boy musthave drifted awayI hope he gets out, thought Charlie. Or it'llall be for nothing.

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Cook carried the hamper back to her secretroom behind the kitchen. When she gotthere, she stood on a chair and opened theskylight in her low-beamed ceiling."Hm. It'll just about fit," she said to herself.Three pairs of glowing eyes looked downfrom the darkness above her.“Ah, there you are," she said. "Good cats. I'vegot a package for you. Here it comes," andshe lifted the hamper up through theskylight.Any sleepless citizen, glancing through theirwindow that starry morning, would haveseen a strange sight indeed. Three large catswere running through the empty streets: oneyellow one orange, and one a wild copper-red. Their fur was touched with fiery goldand their whiskers flashed like silver. Eachcat held in its mouth the end of a leatherstrap and behind them they pulled a wheeled

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wicker basket. What could it contain? Astolen baby? Priceless jewels? Or a feast for aparty? No one would have guessed the truth.The bright creatures ran through the townuntil they reached a green door at the end ofa narrow alley The door opened and a verysmall man appeared."Well done, my beauties," said Mr. Onimous."Now let's have a look at your treasure!"OLLIE AND THE BOATo make his escape from Bloor's Academy,Ollie chose a door that not many childrenknew about.Before the novelty of being invisible hadworn off, Ollie had used the freedom it gavehim to indulge his insatiable curiosity Onenight he had discovered the back door. But itwas locked, and even had it not been, hewouldn't have left the building. It was dark

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for one thing, and for another, where wouldhe have gone?This door was situated at the back of thegreen kitchen, where Mr. Weedon's wife,Bertha, held sway When Bertha wasn't cook-ing, she would sit in a worn armchair, read-ing thrillers. She was especially fond ofAgatha Christie's novels. But even when sheappeared to be totally engrossed in her book,Bertha Weedon would have half an eye onthe door. She liked to know exactly who wascoming in and going out.Outside the door there was a small yard fortrash-cans. The garbage collectors made abig fuss about these cans, and why shouldn'tthey? To reach the street, they had to wheelthe huge cans up a steep ramp and thenthrough two tall iron-studded gates.All the deliveries came through these gatesand down the ramp or by a set of stone steps

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favored by the mailman, who had once slidfrom top to bottom down the ramp. (A moldybanana had been blamed.)On Tuesday morning, Ollie made his waydown to the green kitchen. Emma's spider fithis right toe perfectly and he enjoyed watch-ing it leap ahead of him whenever he put hisright foot forward.The academy was unusually quiet, and Olliethought no one else was awake — until hereached the green kitchen. Mrs. Weedonstood by the back door while the fishmongerand his assistant staggered through withlarge trays of frozen fish."In there! In there!" shouted Mrs. Weedon,pointing to the huge freezer. “And be quickabout it."Ollie waited until the two men were slidingtheir trays into the freezer, and then he tookhis chance. As he moved his right foot over

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the threshold, Mrs. Weedon spotted thespider and — BANG — she stepped on it."OUCH!" squealed Ollie, and almost withoutthinking, he brought up his left foot andkicked Mrs. Weedon where it hurt most.”YIKES!" yelled Mrs. Weedon."What's going on?" said the fishmonger,whose name was Crabb."Blasted spider — it's getting away!" shriekedMrs. Weedon. "Get it — quick — I'm out ofbreath!""You're joking," said Mr. Crabb genially"I am NOT!" cried the irate woman. "I'minjured.""No, I mean you're joking about the spider,"said Mr. Crabb."I am NOT!" yelled Mrs. Weedon. "GET IT!""What — a little spider?" said Mr Crabbincredulously

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"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 climbed the stone stepsa lit— tie faster than usual, but not fastenough to see a large spider leap through theiron gates and bounce its way up the street.Ollie hadn't been outside the academy formore than a year. He couldn't help making afew little skips and jumps as he hurriedthrough the city He was free. The sun was upand the dome of the huge cathedral shone inthe early light."I'm out!" sang Ollie. "Out forever. And soonI'll be me!"When he reached the cathedral he gazed upat the ancient building, awed by its heightand the crowds of stone creatures that staredout from the great arched doorway

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"I'm free!" Ollie shouted.There was no one around, so he danced overthe cobbled square singing, "Soon I'll be me,me, ME!"Sunlight showed him a small window wherelarge leather-bound books were displayedagainst a red velvet curtain. "Ingledew's,"said Ollie, reading the name above the door.He ran across and rang the bell.A woman looked out from a second-floorwindow She stared at the space where Olliestood. Even at that distance she could see thelarge black spider her niece had made just afew days ago."Ollie?" she said."Hello!" said Ollie. "Yes. It's me.""Wait there. I'll be down in a second," saidMiss Ingledew.A moment later the door opened with apleasant tinkling sound, and Miss Ingledew

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appeared in a blue bathrobe. She had a smil-ing, pretty face, and Ollie immediately felt atease."Come in, Ollie," said Miss Ingledew, ad-dressing the spider, for there was nothingelse she could see.Ollie stepped down into the shop and gazedaround at the shelves of books; they lookedvery interesting with their rich, mellow cov-ers and gold-tooled spines. "What a greatplace!" he said."Thank you," said Miss Ingledew She glancedanxiously around the room and found thespider crouching by the counter. "I expectyou'd like some breakfast.""Would I!" sighed Ollie. "Have you got anyjam?""Plenty Emma asked me to get some for you.But perhaps you'd like bacon and eggs aswell."

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"Bacon and eggs!" Ollie cried gleefully "Ihaven't had anything hot for more than ayear.""My goodness," said Miss Ingledew. "Wemust correct that at once.""And after breakfast can I be cured?" said Ol-lie. "Can I see the blue boa, and will he makeme appear again?""I think we'd better leave that for tonight,"said Miss Ingledew. "The city is verycrowded during the day and I wouldn't likeyou to be crushed or — or lost.""Nor me," said Ollie. "OK. Tonight, then.Now could I please have some of that jam?"While Ollie was eating his first hot meal formany a month, the children and staff atBloor's Academy were just waking up.As he made his way down to breakfast,Charlie observed an air of embarrassmentamong the teachers who hurried past him. It

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was even more apparent in the dining hall,when the staff climbed four steps and tooktheir places around the High Table, in fullview of the rest of the school.Dr. Bloor kept clearing his throat, as if hewere about to make an announcement. Butnot a word passed his lips. He looked prettybad. His gray hair had a stiff surprised look,and his face was very pale, for him.The embarrassed, sheepish look appeared tohave spread through the school. It had beenan extraordinary night and yet no onewanted to discuss it. The truth was that mostpeople were either ashamed of their cow-ardice or, like Dr. Bloor, humiliated by theirfailure to stop the invasion of such terrifyingand unnatural activityThe strange atmosphere lasted all day Teach-ers couldn't look their pupils in the eye. Chil-dren glanced quickly at one another and then

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looked away Everyone moved very swiftlynot in any way eager to get where they weregoing but rather to escape whatever might bebehind them.Charlie guessed it was like having a bomb inthe building. No one knew where it was orwhen it would go off. Things finally came to ahead in the King's room after dinner.Tancred was the spark, if you can call it that.Although he was tired after such an energeticnight, no one could help noticing that helooked rather pleased with himself.Charlie had good reason to look pleased, buthe knew it would be dangerous to show it.The eleven endowed children were sitting intheir usual places around the table whenTancred's expression became too much forBelle to bear."Take that smirk off your face, TancredTorsson!" she said. "You think your little

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breezes are so clever, but you're nothing,NOTHING!""Is that so?" said Tancred, his grin growingbroader. "Well, I honestly don't know whyyou bother to wear that pretty face anymore.We all know what you're really like, you oldhag!"A shocked gasp of horror rippled around thetable, and Asa leaped up, snarling, "Take thatback, you brute!""Feeling brave now are you, you mini-beast?"Tancred taunted.Asa was about to spring across the tablewhen Manfred grabbed him by the back ofhis collar. "Shut up, everyone!" he shouted."Torsson, apologize!""Me? Why should I?""She started it," said Lysander in a reason-able tone.

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"You heard me," growled Manfred. "I meanit, Torsson. You're not too clever to be pun-ished, you know. APOLOGIZE!""Forget it!" Tancred tossed his shock of elec-trified hair. As far as wind was concerned, hehad kept things remarkably calm, but nownot to be boring, he sent out some newweather. A few raindrops pattered onto thetable, and everyone pulled their books ontotheir laps."Pitter patter," sneered Zelda Dobinski. "It'spathetic. Call that rain?"Everyone wished she hadn't said that. Thenext minute the small black cloud that hadbeen floating near the ceiling suddenly burstand a torrent of water poured onto theirheads. It filled their eyes, drenched theirclothes, and soaked their books."Stupid boy!" said Belle in a deep and dread-ful voice. "Who do you think you are?"

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Half-blinded by the deluge, Charlie sawsomething he hoped never to see again.Belle's pretty features turned brown anddoglike. Two ears sprouted from her headand two huge hairless wings began to spreadout from her shoulders. Belle was turning in-to a giant bat.The bat raised its naked wings and, with abloodcurdling screech, it launched itself atTancred who cried, “Yikes!" and dived be-neath the table. So did everyone else — ex-cept Asa, who sat watching the bat with alook of rapt adoration.The grotesque creature began to hoveraround the room, its wings catching at book-shelves and pictures. The clock crashed tothe floor, a whole row of books was sent fly-ing, and then, as Charlie peered out from un-der the table, he saw the picture of the RedKing swinging violently against the wall.

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Charlie leaped up and ran to catch the paint-ing as it fell."LEAVE IT!" thundered the awful bat voice.But Charlie couldn't bear to let the King fall.As he caught the heavy gold frame the batmade a dive toward him.It was Dr. Bloor who, inadvertently savedCharlie. The door suddenly swung open infront of him and the bat crashed into it. Witha dreadful shriek, she dropped at theheadmaster's feet."Good heavens . . . what. . . who?" stutteredDr. Bloor."Idiot!" screamed the bat."Oh. Is it . . . ? I do hope I haven't . . .""I'm not done for, don't you worry"screeched the bat. "You asked for my help,but you're not doing much to helpyourselves, are you? You're letting them getaway with it."

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To Dr. Bloor's great discomfort, the batcrawled up his cape until she reached hisshoulder, and then she launched herselfthrough the door, screaming, "Someone's infor a very nasty surprise."When the bat had gone, the headmastershook his shoulders, straightened his cape,and addressed the children who were nowcrawling out from under the table. "Thenoise from this room is intolerable. Manfred,can't you keep things under control?""Of course, sir," said Manfred turning afierce red. "Circumstances exceptional, sir.""Good lord, you're all soaked!" Dr. Bloorobserved."Torsson," said Manfred."Torsson, get a mop. The rest of you clean upthis room. And BE QUIET!"When the headmaster swept out it wasalready eight o'clock, and the seniors had no

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intention of cleaning up the mess. Billy wasexcused because he was beginning to fallasleep. And Dorcas complained of a head-ache. The workforce dwindled to five."It's always us, isn't it?" said Emma, rollingup her sleeves."I wonder who's in for the nasty surprise,"muttered Charlie."I bet it won't be long before we find out,"said Lysander.At half past eight, Miss Ingledew decided itwas time to take Ollie to the Pets' Café. Thestreets would be empty and there would beno risk of him being walked into or knockedover. She had already made sure that all wasready at the café."Ready as they'll ever be, my dear," said Mr.Onimous' soft voice over the phone.

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As Miss Ingledew locked the shop, she failedto notice a large bat hanging above thecathedral door."I think it would be best if you held myhand," she told Ollie. "Would you mind? Idon't want to lose you.""No, I don't mind," said Ollie. "You remindme of my mom a bit. It's been ages since Iheld her hand."Miss Ingledew was a little disconcerted tosee her fingers disappear when Ollie's smallhand clutched hers. But she told herself thatshe must expect this sort of thing now thatshe was part of Emma's strange world.They hurried up to the main road and thenalong to Frog Street, and although theydidn't see the large bat fluttering in the shad-ows behind them, both Ollie and Miss Ingle-dew felt the slight tingle that people get at

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the back of the neck when they sense thatsomething is not quite right behind them.Several times, Miss Ingledew looked over hershoulder, but it was a crafty bat and man-aged to disguise itself as a garbage bagcaught on a lamppost, a shop sign, and agrimy windowsill. Mind you, a few peopledid see an extraordinarily large bat glidingpast their windows. One man called the zooand another the Pets' Rescue. But the size ofbat they described was far too large to be be-lieved. No such creature existed, they weretold; it was probably a balloon, a kite, or,dare it be suggested, a result of bad eyesight.When Miss Ingledew and her invisible com-panion reached the Pets' Café, she rang thebell. The window was dark, and for oneminute Ollie's heart plummeted. And thenthe door opened and he found himself look-ing at an extremely small man, and the man

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was looking him right in the eye. It was verycomforting. Ollie had not been looked in theeye for such a long time. It set him on theroad to feeling whole again."This is Ollie," said Miss Ingledew holdingup her disappeared fingers."So it is," said Mr. Onimous. "I'm verypleased to meet you, Ollie. Come in, both!"Mr. Onimous led the way through thedarkened café to a cozy kitchen at the back,where Ollie was surprised to see three brightcats sitting on a freezer, a yellow dog snooz-ing in a basket, and a very tall woman mak-ing pastry while a black rat watched from hershoulder.“Aha!" said the very tall woman, who had avery long nose. "The vanished one! Welcome,Ollie Sparks. I'm Onoria, dear. Mrs. Onim-ous." Her focus wandered a bit. She was ob-viously not as good as her husband at

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guessing where invisible people might be.But then she was a long way up.Ollie couldn't help wondering how a man sosmall had chosen a woman so tall to be hiswife. In ordinary circumstances, Ollie wouldhave asked. But these were not ordinary cir-cumstances and instead he said, "Is it here —the boa?""There it is, dear." Mrs. Onimous pointed toa large hamper quite close to her feet. "I'vebeen singing to it. The poor thing hasn't hadan easy life.""I wonder," Miss Ingledew said shyly "wouldit be possible to have a cup of tea before we .. . er . . . before it happens?""What am I thinking of?" cried Mr. Onimous."Manners, Orvil, manners. Sit down, mydear." He pulled out a chair and Miss Ingle-dew sat down gratefully

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Ollie said he would rather stand for the"cure." He thought the snake would find iteasier that way "Can I see it now?" he asked.Mrs. Onimous lifted the lid of the hamperand Ollie beheld the dreadful boa that hadonce hugged him into invisibility It was notquite as he remembered it. The brilliant sap-phire skin had faded, and now it was a soft,silvery blue. It appeared to have shrunk aswell, and something in its expression seemedto imply a gentler, friendlier disposition.The snake's silvery head reared up suddenlyand 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," andOllie said, "Nothing, thanks. I expect I'll bethirsty later."

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While Miss Ingledew and the Onimousessipped their tea, Ollie walked around thehamper. The snake followed him with itslittle black eyes. Obviously it could see him.When Ollie stood still, the boa slid gracefullyout of the hamper and began to wrap itselfaround his invisible ankles. Ollie held hisbreath."Do you think it knows what to do?"whispered Mrs. Onimous."Let's hope so," said her husband. "Are youready Ollie?""Yes, I'm ready" said Ollie. "I'm thinkingabout seeing my brother. I'm thinking aboutgoing home to Sparkling Castle. It sparklesbecause my brother and my father can drawlight from stones, did you know that?"“And what do you do, dear?" asked Mrs. On-imous. She thought of Ollie as a patient who

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must be distracted while something painfulwas being done to them."I just play the flute," said Ollie, who, atpresent, wasn't feeling any pain at all."I should love to hear you play" said Mrs.Onimous.The boa was winding itself around andaround in the air. As yet, nothing could beseen within its shining coils."I'm going to close my eyes 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 her cup. Shecouldn't watch. It was all too much. The ex-periment wasn't working. Poor Ollie wouldbe invisible forever, but she was already de-ciding what she would do. She would takehim back to the bookshop and call his par-ents. After all, an invisible boy was better

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than no boy at all. And then she saw the feet.First one, with a spider on its toe. Then theother. Bare, cold-looking feet, badly in needof socks and shoes."Here come the legs," said Mr. OnimoussoftlyHe might just as well have shouted becauseRunner Bean, disturbed by the impossiblehappenings, leaped up and began to bark."Hush, there's a good fellow," said Mrs.Onimous.Runner Bean grunted and lay down, keepinga watchful eye on the proceedings as moreand more of Ollie was revealed. The cats gavethe impression that they'd seen all this be-fore. They remained quiet but alert."Oh, the poor boy look at his pants," saidMrs. Onimous, regarding the tattered bits ofcloth that barely covered Ollie's knees.

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The snake climbed higher, and now theycould see a worn gray sweater, at least twosizes too small for its owner: the personwhose bony wrists extended well beyond thethreadbare sleeves."Bless me!" exclaimed Mr. Onimous as theboa's neck curled around a head of tangledbrown hair. A face appeared between thelong brown strands; it had two large blueeyes ringed with shadows, a neat mouth, anda pinched, inquisitive-looking nose."Oh!" sighed Miss Ingledew "Ollie!"The snake encircled Ollie's head until itlooked like a shining turban and Ollie's eye-brows shot up in surprise and excitement.“Am I back?" he asked. "I feel as if I am.""You surely are," said Mr. Onimous. "You'rewell and truly visible, Ollie Sparks.Congratulations!"

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It seemed appropriate to clap, and so every-body did, including Ollie, but very lightly incase it frightened the boa.The snake looked a little weary after its ef-forts; in fact, it closed its eyes and snuggledinto a comfortable position on Ollie's head.Mrs. Onimous lifted the creature off Ollieand laid it in the basket. "We ought to celeb-rate," she said. "Orvil, make another pot oftea. And I'll find some cake."After a very pleasant hour in which a greatmany decisions were made, Miss Ingledewleft the Pets' Café and hurried back to herbookshop. She knew Ollie was in goodhands; he was already having his first bath inmore than a year. Mrs. Onimous hadeverything under control. New clothes wouldbe found for the poor boy His hair would becut, and he would be well fed and rested

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before his long journey home to SparklingCastle.Miss Ingledew was so pleased with the waythings had turned out, she began to hum oneof her favorite tunes. When she reached theintersection, she almost carried on down toFilbert Street. She would have liked to shareher news with Paton Yewbeam, but thiswasn't possible. Grandma Bone's accusationstill rankled."I am not a stalker," Miss Ingledew mutteredunder her breath. “And I will not be regardedas a stalker."She went on her way a little slower now, andslightly subdued, quite unaware that thelarge bat was still stalking her. Cloaked indarkness it fluttered behind her, downCathedral Close, and then it clung to a drain-pipe and watched Miss Ingledew go into hershop and lock the door.

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The bat flew on, down to Greybank Crescentand into Darkly Wynd. It hovered andflapped over the rooftops and popped into anopen window at the top of the third numberthirteen.A few moments later Yolanda Yewbeam, abat no longer, walked into her great-nieceVenetia's basement workshop. "Wonderful,"she murmured as she feasted her eyes on thegarments spread across Venetia's long table.There were blue capes and green capes, silkdresses, velvet coats and breeches, coloredtights, necklaces, vests, frilled shirts, woolenshawls, and all manner of fancy belts andshoes.Venetia was busily sewing sequins aroundthe hem of a long black skirt. Within herreach, at the edge of the table, there was acluster of tins, jars, and boxes. Now andagain Venetia would dip her fingers into one

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of these containers and draw out a few grainsof colored powder, a sprinkling of herbs, or adab of Liquid. These she would smear be-neath the sequins before she sewed them on."Have you done the cape?" asked Yolanda."Not yet." Venetia looked up and gave a littlestart."I suppose you'd prefer me to be that prettylittle girl," said Yolanda, whose age and nastydisposition showed all too clearly tonight."Not at all, Auntie. You surprised me, that'sall.""I'm tired," said Yolanda. "I've been watchingthat interfering woman for hours. She hadthe boy I'm sure of it. She's cooked ourgoose. Grizelda's right, she'll have to go. Andso will her wretched little flying niece.""Have you fixed the belt?""Our little friend, Dorcas, is taking care of it."

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"Good. Now sit down, Auntie. Take theweight off your feet." Venetia drew out achair."I want to do the cape," snapped Yolanda.She sat behind the sewing machine andpulled the green cape toward her. "That blas-ted kid, that little beast — thinks he's so-o-o-o clever. Well, he's got another thinkcoming.""Who, Auntie?""The Torsson boy Called me a hag. A HAG!"screamed Yolanda.A BELT OF BLACK JEWELST he girl called Belle Dormer had vanishedfrom Bloor's Academy. For most childrenthis was a great reliefBut Charlie knew he hadn't seen the last ofYolanda Yewbeam. He'd discovered fromCook that Ollie's meeting with the blue boahad been entirely successful. This was great

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news, but Ollie had been asking for hisbrother. And no one knew what hadhappened to Samuel Sparks.Charlie discussed his problem with Fidelio,who was feeling rather left out of things sincethe night of wind and spirits."We can't do much about it till the weekend,"said Fidelio. "And then Dad has booked meto play the violin at my cousin's wedding. ButI'll give it up to help you, Charlie. The othersseem a bit preoccupied."This was true. When Tancred and Lysanderheard the good news about Ollie, they feltthey had accomplished all that was requiredof them.Gabriel had a lot of piano practice to catchup with, and Billy couldn't really be expectedto help. He wandered around, dazed from hisencounter with the boa and longing to be re-united with Rembrandt.

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But it was Emma who had come off worse.Dorcas had bound her hands with unusuallypowerful cord, and ever since that night, thefingers that had briefly turned to feathersached continuously The pain was so badEmma could barely hold her pen. But shehad promised to make a very special belt forOlivia, and nothing would persuade her toabandon the task.Mrs. Marlowe, the drama teacher, had beenso impressed by Olivia's acting in rehearsalsthat she had decided to give her the role ofleading princess. And Emma, excited byOlivia's good news, promised to make herfriend the most beautiful costume ever.The long dress was finished and hung on arail at the back of the dressmaking class. Itwas made of red silk with panels of shinyblack. The sleeves were long and tight withcuffs of sparkling black net, and the hem was

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encrusted with tiny black sequins. Everyoneadmired the dress, and Olivia made frequentvisits to Emma's class just to stand and gazeat her beautiful costume. All it needed was abelt.Emma was working on this now but she wasafraid that the belt would never be com-pleted. Today she had stitched only twoblack beads in place, and already every jointin her fingers was aching."Shall I do a bit for you?" asked Dorcas, whowas sitting opposite Emma at one of thelarge worktables."No thanks, I'll manage," said Emma. Sheput another shining circle of jet in place. Asmall wire hook was fixed to every piece andthe hook was sewn onto the belt, so that eachbead moved independently flashing andsparkling as it caught the light. The effectwas stunning: a belt of black jewels.

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Emma put up her hand. "Please, can I get aglass of water?" she asked Miss Singerlee,the dressmaking teacher."Of course. Are you all right, Emma?" MissSingerlee was concerned. Emma looked evenpaler than usual, and her work was progress-ing so slowly"I'm OK. Just thirsty" said Emma. She leftthe classroom and began the long walk to thecoatrooms. When she'd had her drink, sheleaned against the basins and massaged heraching fingers. Would she ever fly again?she wondered.Emma wasn't sure how long she was awayfrom the class, but when she got back, shefound that someone had sewn a whole row ofbeads onto the belt."Thought you needed some help," saidDorcas.

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"Thanks." Emma didn't know whether to begrateful or suspicious. Dorcas had been un-usually friendly since Belle's departure.The bell rang, and Emma carefully folded thebelt and put it in her bag. She would have towork on it over the weekend, so she rolled ahandful of beads in her handkerchief anddropped them into her bag with the belt.It was Friday and Emma was looking for-ward to a nice long sleep in her own comfort-able room above the bookshop.Charlie couldn't wait to see Ollie. In fact,everyone who had been involved in his res-cue wanted to meet him. Even Tancred andLysander were willing to risk bats andspiders (should they appear) in order to get aglimpse of an invisible boy made visible."The old bat's probably flown off toTransylvania anyway" said Gabriel as theyran out to the school buses.

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"Don't bet on it," muttered Charlie.There was a surprise waiting for Charlie athome. Maisie was back. She was having teawith Uncle Paton when Charlie walked in.After a lot of hugging and tears (on Maisie'spart) Charlie's favorite grandmother madehim sit down and eat a plate of fish and chipswhile she told him something veryinteresting."Listen to this, Charlie," said his uncle sol-emnly "It might explain a few things.""OK. Fire away Maisie," said Charlie.Maisie pulled her chair closer to his. "Well,Charlie, as you know I've been with my sis-ter, Doris.""Is she better?" asked Charlie."Much better, thank you, Charlie. She's quitea bit older than me and knows more aboutthe family I'm not sure why she waited until

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she was at death's door to tell me this, but. .."At that point Charlie's mother walked in andanother long hugging session took place."Patience, Charlie," said Uncle Paton. "It'sworth the wait."It wasn't until Amy Bone had her own plateof fish and chips that Maisie saw fit to con-tinue with her story"Where was I?" she asked."Your sister was at death's door," saidCharlie."So she was. Well, all of a sudden she says,'Maisie,' she says, 'If I die, rescue my papersfrom the desk. Don't let them burn them.' 'Ofcourse I won't,' I said, patting her poor whitehand. And then she insists I get the papersand start sorting them right there and then.What a mess! She'd been hoarding uselessstuff for years. I'd got most of it spread out

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on the floor by her bed, when I picked up anold paper bag and out came this old roll ofpaper." Maisie stopped and gazed at Charlie."It was a family tree, Charlie, and guess whatit says?""Haven't a clue," said Charlie."Well, at the top of the tree there's this per-son with a strange, unpronounceable name.When I asked my sister about it, she said,'Oh, him. He was a wizard, by all accounts. AWelsh wizard. That's why he's got an unusualname.'"“A wizard?" said Charlie, sitting up. "Are yousure?""Positive," said Maisie, beaming. "So theJoneses aren't nonentities after all. We're asspecial as the Yewbeams. So there!"Mrs. Bone thoughtfully stirred her tea. "Butthat means Charlie has got it on both sides,"

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she said. "Power — or magic — or whatever itis.""Exactly," said Uncle Paton, excitedlybanging the table. "You see, Charlie. Thewand does belong to you, that's why it worksfor you and no one else. That wily old sorcer-er must have stolen it from your ancestor.I've had a look at the dates. Skarpo was a lotyounger — he could have been the wizard'sapprentice — maybe he stole it when the oldman died.""Maybe that's why Skarpo didn't try to trickme this time. Because of the wand and myconnection to the wizard.""He could have been a little anxious aboutwhat you would do with that wand," saidPaton.Charlie scratched his thatch of hair. "Wow!"he murmured. "Wow! I've got a doubledose." He wasn't quite sure how he felt about

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it, but he was certainly flabbergasted. "Doyou think Grandma Bone knows about this?""She might have guessed," said Uncle Paton."Eustacia's clairvoyant, don't forget. Perhapsshe had an inkling."Charlie stared at his fish and chips. "Do youmind if we don't talk about this for a while?"he murmured. "I want to think about it.""Of course you do, love," said Maisie. "It'sprobably a bit of a shock, isn't it? But I'll giveyou the family tree to look at. After all, youare the last of our branch of Joneses."Charlie took the wrinkled roll of parchmentup to bed with him. For a long time he staredat the strange names, the dates, the births,and marriages, wondering if any of thoseother ancestors had the power. Had theyused the wand, and if so, what for?It had been a busy week to say the least. Andnow this. Charlie lay back and closed his

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eyes. Right now it was all too much to takein.On Saturday morning, Julia Ingledew wasabout to open the bookshop when her eye fellon a beautiful jeweled belt. It was lying onher desk where Emma had left it the nightbefore.Julia Ingledew was not a vain woman, butshe had an exceptionally small waist, andwho could blame her for being proud of it?She picked up the belt, and the black jewelsglittered in the early light. It had been madefor a child, but how would it look on her?Surely it would fit her to perfection.Julia wrapped the belt around her waist. Itwas tight but. . . she drew in her breath . . .yes, it fit. She closed the clasp and went tothe mirror. The belt looked wonderfulagainst the emerald green of her dress. Juliagave a little twirl and the dazzling jewels

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jingled mysteriously "Oo!" she sighed. Shehad never felt more beautiful.She took another deep breath — for the beltwas very tight — but she couldn't seem to getenough air into her lungs. She coughedrather violently Her head felt as though itwere being squeezed in a vise. The feelingtraveled down her spine and Julia staggeredfrom the pain, She attempted to loosen thebelt, but the clasp wouldn't open. Julia'sheart began to beat wildly "Emma," shemoaned. "Emma, help me!"Charlie was having breakfast when the door-bell rang. On and on and on. Someone hadtheir fist on the bell or it was stuck."Hold on!" called Charlie, still chewing toast."I'm coming.""Help! Help!" cried a voice.Charlie opened the front door and Emma al-most fell into the hall. "Oh, Charlie," she

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cried. "Something awful's happened to myauntie.""What sort of awful?" said Charlie, wipinghis mouth.The landing above him was, all at once,crowded with grandmothers, both shouting,"Has something happened?" "Who is it?""What's the fuss?""Do you want a glass of water?" Charlieasked Emma. The urgency of the situationhadn't quite sunk in."No," moaned Emma. "I want someone locome Now I want someone to help. I've runto the doctor's office, but I didn't know whatto say and I don't think they took meseriously""What's going on?" said Uncle Paton's voice."Oh, Mr. Yewbeam. It's my auntie," criedEmma. "I think she's dying."

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"What?" In four bounds, Uncle Paton hadcleared the staircase. "Let's go," he said."Oh, thank you!" Emma shot out of the door.By the time she reached the pavement, UnclePaton was already several strides ahead.Charlie stood and shook his head. Thingswere moving too fast for him. But he was nottoo dazed to notice the nasty smile onGrandma Bone's face just before she wentback into her room."I'm going to the bookshop," Charlie toldMaisie."Good boy," said Maisie.Charlie leaped upstairs and got the wandfrom under his bed. He wasn't sure why itsuddenly seemed so important, but sincehe'd learned its history he felt that perhaps ithad a part to play in desperate situations.By the time he was on the front step, Emmaand his uncle had disappeared. Charlie raced

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up Filbert Street and along the main roaduntil he collided with three dachshunds,whose master angrily told him to, "Watchthat stick!"The bookshop door was still open, bangingominously in the breeze. Charlie latched itcarefully behind him and made sure theCLOSED sign was showing.He found Uncle Paton in Miss Ingledew'sback room, giving her the kiss of life. Embar-rassed to see his uncle doing — what he wasdoing, Charlie looked at the ceiling."Please, don't let her die!" cried Emma. "Oh,please."Charlie moved closer. Miss Ingledew was ly-ing on her sofa. Her face was a pale blue, hereyes open and staring, her mouth gaping likea fish.Uncle Paton's kiss of life clearly hadn'tworked and now he resorted to pressing his

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hands hard on Miss Ingledew's chest."Loosen that belt, Emma!" he said."I can't," wailed Emma. "I've tried.""What?" Paton pulled at the clasp, and a bluespark shot across his fingers. "Ouch! Whatthe heck?" He pulled again, with the sameresult. He seized the belt with both handsand tried to tear it apart. "It's impossible," hemuttered. "What's this thing made of? Weneed a knife — a wire-cutter — somethingthat can cut through steel.""It won't be any use," said Emma in a small,scared voice. "I think it's been bewitched. Ileft it, you see, to get some water. It's all myfault."Paton stared at her, aghast. "This is how theypunish people," he said in a low voice. "IfJulia . . ." He choked on his next words, andthen, falling on his knees, he took Miss

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Ingledew's pale hand and pressed it to hislips. "Oh, my dear," he sighed. "I'm so sorry"Charlie looked on in horror. He was shockedto see his uncle in such a state. Was he goingto give up, just like that? Was Miss Ingledewalready dead? He couldn't believe it.He felt something move in his right handand his fingers tingled with warmth. Charlielooked at the wand. Why had he brought ithere, if not to use it? "I think I can help," hesaid.Paton looked at him. "Can you, Charlie?"“Yes," said Charlie confidently He walked upto Miss Ingledew's prostrate body andtouched the jeweled belt with the tip of hiswand. There was a bright flash and, for asecond, the whole belt sparkled like afirework."It's burning!" cried Emma.

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"No it's not," said Charlie firmly "Torri!" hecommanded.The wand's silver tip glowed like fire, and thebelt flew apart, sending showers of shiningjet across the room."Good Lord, Charlie," said Paton in an awedvoice. "How did you know what to say?"Charlie couldn't tell him. Perhaps the strangeword had been waiting in his head for years,never giving itself away until nowThe next minute, Miss Ingledew gave a hugesigh and sat up. "Goodness," she said, "Did Ifaint or something?""Oh, Auntie, I thought you were dead!" criedEmma, flinging her arms around MissIngledew's neck."Dead!" said Miss Ingledew, lookingbemused.

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"Oh, my dear, dear Julia. I can't tell you . . ."Unable to say what he wanted to say Patonblew his nose very loudly"Paton, did you save my life?" asked MissIngledew"I'm afraid not. Charlie did that."Miss Ingledew looked at the wand resting inher lap. "Really? Was it that bad then? Thankyou, Charlie.""That's OK," said Charlie, withdrawing thewand. "It wasn't just me, it was — us. Me andthe wand.""I see. Well, thank you both." Miss Ingledewgave Charlie one of her wonderful smiles.“Are you feeling quite better, Julia?" saidPaton, getting to his feet."Quite," said Julia brightly "I'm sorry to havebeen such trouble.""Never, Julia," said Paton fiercely "Nevertrouble. But if you're feeling quite better,

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there's something I've got to do." He strodeto the door, saying, "Look after your aunt,Emma. I'll be back later."Charlie bounded after his uncle, who wasalready halfway down Cathedral Close."Where are you going, Uncle?" he called."You know very well!" shouted Paton.Charlie did know. It was broad daylight, butPaton had thrown caution to the winds.Careless of shop windows and taillights, hislong legs carried him through the town like adark whirlwind. There was a small accidentat the traffic lights, but luckily only the am-ber light shattered, and before anyone couldthink what had caused it, Paton was on hisway again.Charlie caught sight of him turning intoGreybank Crescent, but he was gone in aflash. Charlie didn't see him again until heran down Darkly Wynd, and there was his

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uncle outside the door of the third numberthirteen. He didn't knock or ring the bell. In-stead he brought up his foot and kicked. Theold wood splintered and cracked. Patonkicked again and the whole door fell in.Charlie tore up the steps and through theopen doorway His uncle was just descendingthe back stairs. Charlie followed, down thestairs, across a narrow passage, and intoAunt Venetia's workroom.Yolanda was sitting behind a sewing ma-chine on the other side of a large tablestrewn with colored clothes and material.There was a length of green cloth under theneedle."Paton, we meet again at last," said the oldwoman. "I hoped you'd come a-calling."Paton stared at her, almost in disbelief. "Youhoped?" he said.

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"Of course. After your girlfriend's sad de-mise. She is dead, I trust? You don't havemuch luck with the ladies, do you, Paton?First your mommy and now your lady friend.You'd be much better off working with us,you know""WHAT?" thundered Paton."You heard me, and so did that little wretchstanding in your shadow."Charlie clutched his wand tightly Hewondered when he'd have to use it, but therewas no need after all. He saw where Paton'sfurious gaze was directed and knew in a splitsecond before Yolanda did what was going tohappen.There was a look of horrified surprise on theancient woman's face as she lifted her handsfrom the machine — too late.The light on the sewing machine explodedand the whole thing glowed white hot. With

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a dreadful shriek, the electrified woman be-hind it shot into the air. She spun like a topand a stream of wraithlike creatures camespilling out of her. They floated across theceiling — bats, birds, spiders, dogs, cats, fish,monsters — and there was pretty Belle, wav-ing long, stringy arms — and disappearing."What's happening?" cried a voice, andVenetia tore into the room. She took in theburning machine, the singed cloth, thescorched table. "What have you done?" shescreamed at Paton. "Where's my auntie?""Where do you think?" he replied."How could you?" she cried, backing awayfrom him. "How dare you? You fiend, youdespicable tyrant. You . . . you stupid man!""I should have done it a long time ago," saidPaton, wiping his hands clean of some ima-ginary dirt.

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By now an army of little flames was licking atthe garments on the table. Sparks caught onthe velvet curtains, and the room was filledwith the dreadful acrid smell of burning."Come on, Charlie. Let's get out of here," saidUncle Paton.They rushed up the stairs and out into thefresh air, coughing and choking on smoke. Itwasn't long before Venetia followed them.The fire engine had a hard time getting downnarrow Darkly Wynd, but it managed even-tually By then number thirteen was blazingon two floors. A crowd had gathered to ob-serve the gruesome spectacle. Peoplemuttered about faulty wiring and old wood.No one was very surprised to see the oldhouse burning.The four sisters stood apart, watching ingrim silence. They wouldn't even look attheir brother.

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The firemen had almost got the blaze undercontrol when someone spotted a figurestanding at a top floor window A small plat-form was raised and, amid cheers of "Welldone!" "He's all right!" "He's alive!" the win-dow was broken and the survivor steppedout onto the platform. It was Mr. Boldova.The Yewbeam sisters said the young manhad been giving them some advice on cos-tume design. "He's an artist, you know,” saidEustacia.Mr. Boldova was saved just in time. A fewmoments after his rescue, the roof ofVenetia's house went up in flames, and thewalls of the top floor fell away For a briefsecond, the gasping onlookers saw the darkoutline of an upright piano, perched on thehighest point of the burning building. Andthen the instrument came tumbling down, its

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scorched keys playing an eerie tune as itcrashed onto the basement steps."I remember now,” said Mr. Boldova."Someone was playing a piano."But there was no one left in the ruined build-ing. The firemen made quite sure of that. Sowhoever had been playing the hidden pianohad gotten out of the house before it was toolate."Strange," said Mr. Boldova. "I never saw thepianist, I only heard the notes. That's all.Just wonderful music."Charlie thought of his father. Was it possiblethat he'd been kept up there, in Venetia 'sloft, with only a piano for company? And ifso, where was he now?Uncle Paton tapped Charlie on the shoulder."You've got something to tell this gentleman,haven't you, Charlie?"

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"Have I?" said Charlie dreamily "Oh, yes. Ofcourse." And he told Mr. Boldova all aboutOllie."This is the best news I've ever had in mylife!" said the art teacher. "Can you take meto him? Now? And please, do you think youcould call me Samuel? I'd rather leave theBoldova part of my life behind.""Of course, Mr. Sparks," said Charlie. "Ollie'snot far away And my uncle . . ." He lookedaround, but Paton had slipped away Charlieguessed he'd gone back to Ingledew'sbookshop.On Sunday seven friends with assorted petsmet at the Pets' Café. They all wanted to seethe invisible boy With new clothes, a bath,and a haircut, Ollie looked completely nor-mal. It was quite disappointing. But the dis-appointment didn't last long.

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"I want you all to come to Sparkling Castle ,"said Ollie. "Samuel says it's mid-semestersoon, so you could come for a week. I haven'thad a friend there for ages, and if it wasn'tfor you all, I wouldn't be here."Who cared about learning lines, practicingscales, or painting scenery when a wholeweek could be spent in a castle?"It's not a real castle," said Ollie, "but there'slots of room. And there are mountains andstreams and forests and fields."It sounded OK.Charlie got his wish. Uncle Paton rented avan. He wasn't going to buy one, he said, be-cause they weren't exactly his style. But forcarrying eight children, an art teacher, a ladybookseller, and a dog — it was obviouslynecessaryThey all met outside the bookshop on the fol-lowing Saturday Just after dark, Uncle Paton

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rolled up in a long silver van. Backpacks andsleeping bags were stowed in the back, sand-wiches and drinks pushed under the seats,and everybody piled in.Miss Ingledew sat beside Uncle Paton in thefront. Charlie and Fidelio sat with the Sparksbrothers in the next row with Runner Beanspread across their knees. And the other fivesqueezed themselves into the back.As they left the city lights behind them andplunged into the dark lanes, Ollie said,"Where's that other boy? The one who madethe boa change?"Charlie felt bad about Billy "They won't lethim leave the academy" he said. "But oneday we'll get him out. You know, Billy's prob-ably braver than any of us."There was a murmur of agreement from theothers, but before their mood became toosomber, Gabriel said, "Right now, Billy's OK,

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actually I managed to get Rembrandt intothe kitchens. I bet they're having a great timetogether. Oh, and by the way Blessed's gothis tail back. Cook took him to see the boa!"Samuel Sparks said he was glad to know thatRembrandt had someone to talk to. He hadnever been sure if the rat was happy "I don'tthink he liked these," said Samuel, and hetook two stones out of his pocket and letthem sparkle across his palm.“Animals don't like magic," said Gabriel,whereupon Runner Bean stood up onCharlie's knees and gave a long howl. "Yousee?" said Gabriel, and everyone laughed.It was a long journey and several timesCharlie fell asleep. He would wake brieflywhen Runner Bean licked his face orchanged position. But the last time Charliewoke up, the car had jerked violently to ahalt. They had reached a fork in the road

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and, looking through the window Charliesaw a signpost. There were two names at thetop. The left sign read SPARKLE-STONESand the right read YORWYNDE ."Yorwynde?" said Charlie sleepily "Whatdoes that mean?""It means that the road leads to YewbeamCastle ," said Uncle Paton solemnlyCharlie felt a cold tingle of fear run down hisspine. What hadYorath said to his uncle? "Ifyou harm my dear one, you'll pay for it withyour life." And Paton had harmed Yolanda.So what would Yorath do? Better not thinkabout it yet, Charlie decided.Miss Ingledew put a hand on Paton's rigidfingers, and he turned to her with a smile."That's one road we won't be taking," hesaid.The car lurched forward and followed thesign to Sparklestones. The road became

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steep and twisting, but they hadn't gone farwhen Ollie cried, "Look! We're home!"And there it was, standing on a sharp risejust ahead of them: Sparkling Castle. And itwas sparkling. In every window of thestrange, rambling, turreted house, there wasa row of flashing, sparkling lights.A lost boy was coming home and a father hadrecovered his sparkle.

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