Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors (9 page)

A MAN TRAPPED IN GLASS

On Monday morning, Charlie expected to see Billy Raven on the school bus, but there was no sign of him.

Charlie finally caught up with Billy in assembly. The small boy appeared to be exhausted. There were dark shadows under his eyes, and his face wore a hungry, pinched look.

"How are things at home, Billy?" Charlie whispered as the orchestra tuned up.

"Fine," said Billy. "It's great. Really."

"I waited for you. I thought your parents would bring you to the Pets' Café."

"No. I . . . you see . . . we were busy" Billy said solemnly

A hundred blue-caped children launched into the first hymn, and Charlie gave up temporarily but after the first break, he found Billy in the blue coatroom.

"Billy . . ." Charlie began.

Billy cried, "Stop!"

Charlie stared at Billy in surprise. "OK."

"Please don't ask me about my home or my parents or anything like that, because I won't tell you." Lowering his voice, he added, "I can't."

For a moment, Charlie was at a loss. The de Greys had obviously threatened Billy, and Charlie didn't want to make trouble for him. "OK. Maybe you can tell me if you stole my wand?"

Billy's pale face turned scarlet. "I . . ." He struggled with his answer. At last, he said quietly, "I'm sorry, Charlie. Really sorry."

"I suppose you gave it to Manfred."

Silently Billy nodded.

"Let me guess. He threatened you in some way Maybe he said you wouldn't go to a new home after all."

Billy gave another mute nod.

Charlie sighed. "I wish you hadn't done that, Billy, but I suppose I can't blame you." He left the coat-room and hurried on to his classroom. The sound of laughter echoed toward him as he approached Tantalus Ebony's room. When he walked in, he found hall the class in fits of giggles.

Tantalus Ebony sat behind his desk with his chin resting on his chest. His purple hood was pulled over his head, his eyes were closed, and he was snoring very loudly.

Charlie took his place next to Fidelio, who was sprawled across his desk, shaking with helpless laughter. Charlie couldn't stop himself from giggling, although he kept an eye on the teacher.

Suddenly Mr. Ebony's head shot up and he bellowed, "Quiet!" His voice sounded completely different. Last week, he had a high-pitched whine, but now his voice sounded as though it were rumbling up from a deep cavern. It was such a shock, the whole class immediately fell silent.

Mr. Ebony looked a bit shaken by the deep voice that had come booming out of him. “Ahem," he said, clearing his throat. "Hmmm! Hmmm!"

It was difficult to keep a straight face while the extraordinary teacher worked his way through a series of coughs, wheezes, whistles, and puffs, but none of the children in the classroom allowed a glimmer of a smile to cross his or her face. They feared detention.

At last, the teacher found a suitable voice for his lesson, and in a pleasant but commanding tone, he announced, "Medieval history Open your books to page forty-three. The Plantagenets."

For forty minutes, the class listened to Tantalus Ebony's description of the reign of Henry II and the murder of Thomas a Becket. It was the most interesting lesson Charlie had ever had. The lesson had almost reached its end when, to their surprise, Mr. Ebony asked, "And where was the Red King when these battles, murders, and intrigues were taking place?"

No one knew what to say.

Mr. Ebony looked directly at Emma Tolly and said, "You should know, Emma the Endowed, should you not? You who have the king's blood in your veins, the king's gift in your fingers"— he leaned over the desk and whispered hoarsely — "in your wings."

Everyone looked at Emma, who stammered, "I . . . don't know, sir."

"He was right here, you silly girl. Living very comfortably in that old ruin you can see at the edge of the grounds. Who would have thought a gloomy old castle like that could have been a nice family home? But it was. The king and queen and their ten children lived there happily until one day the queen died — hey-ho, it happens. So the king went off to mope in the woods, deserting his children, even the baby." Mr. Ebony shook his head. He had an odd, satisfied grin on his face now. "Of course, there were plenty of servants to look after them, but it's not the same, is it? Not the same as having a mommy and daddy, is it, Emma?"

"No, sir." Emma looked close to tears.

Charlie wondered why Tantalus Ebony had picked on Emma. There were two other endowed children in t he room: he and Gabriel, who was sitting at the back, nervously pulling at his hair. Without thinking, Charlie asked, "Are you endowed, sir?"

Ignoring the question, Mr. Ebony turned his gray-brown gaze on Charlie and asked, "How's the wildlife on Filbert Street, Mr. Bone?"

Charlie was completely dumbfounded. "What?" he croaked.

"The wildlife, Charlie. Come on. Seen any unusual butterflies lately? Any moths? And how about a horse?"

Charlie's mouth dropped open but not a sound came out. "No," Charlie mumbled.

"No, what?"

"No, sir," said Charlie.

"Stupid boy I meant which. No moths or no horse."

Charlie's mind raced. Was it a trick question? Before Charlie could make up his mind, Fidelio said, “H e hasn’t seen either of them."

“And who asked you, insolent boy?" yelled the teacher. All at once, his mood changed. Locking his fingers together, he stretched out his arms, turning his palms toward the class. A horrible crunch of bones could be heard, and Mr. Ebony said cheerily, "Class dismissed."

Hardly believing his luck, Charlie gathered his books and made for the door. As he left the room, he heard Mr. Ebony whistling a familiar tune.

"Is that man weird or what?" said Fidelio.

"It's like he's two different people," said Charlie.

"Three," put in Gabriel, who had just caught up with them. "When he's teaching piano, he's completely different — calm and serious and his playing is fantastic."

Emma and Olivia were walking ahead of the boys, but just before they reached the hall, Olivia turned to Emma and shouted, "Oh, shut up! I don't want to talk about it," and she ran across the hall to the drama coatroom.

"What's up with her?" asked Fidelio.

Emma hung back until the boys reached her. "I suppose everybody knows by now that she failed her audition. It'll be all over the school."

"I'd forgotten about it," Gabriel admitted.

"Poor thing," said Fidelio. "She must feel awful."

Charlie confessed that he'd seen Olivia since the audition. He told the others about the woman in Angel Flowers, who seemed to know Olivia and him.

Asa Pike, who was prowling around the hall, called, "You bunch, stop lurking in corners. You're supposed to be getting ready for lunch."

Observing the rule of silence, the four children walked into the hall and went to their respective coatrooms.

Billy Raven was standing at the back of the lunch line when Charlie and his friends walked into the cafeteria. "Can I sit at your table?" he asked Charlie.

"I suppose." Charlie grinned. Billy looked so nervous, it was impossible to remain angry with him.

Today, it was tomato soup and rolls. While the others hungrily spooned up the soup, Billy just sat staring at it.

"Not well, Billy?" asked Fidelio.

"Oh, yes, I'm very well," gushed Billy "My parents are great. They give me wonderful things to eat. I had such a gigantic breakfast, I just can't eat any more."

The others stared at him, surprised by his enthusiastic speech. But after that, Billy said nothing until the end of the meal. They were piling up their plates, ready to take them to the counter, when Billy asked shyly "Gabriel, could you tell me about something? It's a thing that's been worn by someone, but it's not a usual kind of thing."

"Show it to me outside," said Gabriel, interested by an object that wasn't usual.

The object turned out to be a button. Billy pulled it out of his pocket, muttering, "It's not as if I'm telling you anything, is it? I mean I'm not talking about home, am I?"

'"Course not," said Gabriel, taking the button.

The four boys were sitting on the grass at the edge of the grounds, with the red walls of the ruined castle behind them.

"Where did you find it, Billy? And what's so unusual about it?" asked Fidelio.

"Can’t say." Billy clamped his mouth shut.

The button was quite ordinary It was large and black, the sort of button that might come from a suit or a coat.

"I need to know a bit more about it," said Gabriel. "Did you find it in your new home? In a wardrobe? On t he floor? Do you know who wore the clothes it ca me from?"

Billy gave two nods and then shook his head twice.

"OK, so we're a bit closer." Gabriel turned the button over. "I guess I'll have to work with what I've got." He placed the button in different positions down the middle of his body and then on each side. It’s difficult," he said. "You see, I can't actually put it on, so I don't think it's going to work . . . ugh!" Gabriel's long thin body jerked backward, and he looked down at the button, which he held over the left pocket of his shirt. A quiet, rhythmic beating could be heard when he pressed the button closer to his heart.

Billy gazed with round eyes at Gabriel's face, as the older boy uttered a series of shocked gasps.

"It's amazing." Gabriel closed his eyes, and the other three listened in absolute silence as he said, "There's glass everywhere. Walls of glass. No, it's mirrors . . . mirrors with . . . with a dark man looking into them. And there's music, piano music, but I can't see a piano. I think the man is trapped . . . inside the mirrors."

All at once, the silence was broken by an inhuman scream. Hoofbeats thundered around the circle of boys, and they cowered down, bowing their heads, terrified they'd be crushed by angry hooves. Only Fidelio remained upright, completely unaware of the sounds that were frightening his friends.

Gabriel, his face drained of color, flung the button into the long grass by the ruin, and the invisible animal seemed to follow it. Charlie looked up quickly and an image flashed across his vision: a white horse with a flying tail. And then it was gone. Whether it went into the ruin or just vanished into thin an, he couldn't be sure.

"What's going on?" asked Fidelio.

Before anyone could reply Billy Raven groaned and clutched his stomach. Doubled up in agony he rolled over and lay moaning in the grass.

"What's up, Billy?" Charlie gingerly touched his shoulder.

"I didn't tell," moaned Billy "I didn't tell about the Passing House . . . ow . . . ooo . . . did I? The button wasn't telling, was it? 1 didn't break my oath. I didn't. Mmmm . . . aaah . . . I think I'm dying."

Charlie rushed over to Miss Chrystal, who was on break duty "It's Billy Raven," he cried, grabbing her arm. "He says he's dying."

Miss Chrystal sprinted across the grounds faster than Charlie would have thought possible. Bending over Billy she said, "Oh, poor boy What is it, love? Your tum? Oh, dear, dear. Can you get up, Billy?"

By now, Billy was in so much pain he couldn't speak. Helped by the other boys, Miss Chrystal managed to get Billy to his feet, but he was still doubled up in pain. Very carefully they helped support him across the grounds and into the hall.

Mr. Weedon, sitting by the door, looked up from his newspaper and asked, "What's wrong with the kid?"

"He's not at all well, Mr. Weedon," said Miss Chrystal. "Can you help me get him to the infirmary?"

"No problem," grunted the janitor. He swung Billy off his feet and carted him off.

That evening, Charlie asked the matron if he could visit Billy

"Out of the question," said Lucretia Yewbeam. "He's far too ill."

"But what is it?" asked Charlie. "Did he eat something?"

The matron gave him a cold smile. "He's not strong. Things can get him down. Now, go to bed and don't interfere."

Charlie wasn't going to give up that easily The next day while he was in the lunch line, he leaned over t he counter and asked Cook if she'd seen Billy

"Took the poor boy some broth, Charlie. But he couldn't eat it," she replied.

"What's wrong with him, Cook?"

"No idea. He wouldn't say a word. Just lay there, looking terrified."

"Well, I know where he lives now. Cook. Somewhere called the Passing House."

"The Passing House?" Cook's eyebrows arched, but before she could say any more, Gwyneth Howells, standing behind Charlie, gave his ankle a kick.

"Get a move on," Gwyneth whined. "I want my fries."

Charlie was obliged to move on.

No one saw Billy for the rest of the week, and Charlie had a sickening feeling that he'd been taken back to the unpleasant parents who had no love for him. And what did he mean about breaking his oath.' Did the de Greys have some mysterious hold over Billy? Were they aware of everything he said and did ?

Charlie resolved to find out more about the black button. During every break for the rest of the week, he walked down to the long grass surrounding the castle. Fidelio joined him whenever he could get away from his music practice, and sometimes Gabriel came to help, kicking the grass from side to side and mumbling, "I'd rather we didn't find it, actually It's trouble — really it is." And he would look over his shoulder, half expecting a wild stallion to leap out of nowhere and crush him to death.

One afternoon, when Charlie was searching alone, he sensed someone watching him, and looking up, he saw Olivia, her gaze fixed on the ground by his feet.

"What are you doing?" she asked sullenly She looked even worse than usual. Her hair was greasy her shirt was dirty and the white sneakers she'd taken to wearing were now a grayish brown.

"Liv, why don't you do your hair anymore?" asked Charlie. “You know, like you used to. All those great colors."

“It's none of your business," Olivia retorted, "I asked you what you were doing."

Charlie sighed. "Looking for a button," he said. "Want to help?"

Olivia began to push at the undergrowth with the toe of her sneaker. "Why do you want it? Can't you get another one?"