Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors (18 page)

"One bad timing and one good thing, really," said Charlie without thinking.

Billy shot him an injured look. Albert said nothing. A few moments later, a girl in a very short black dress appeared with a tray of sandwiches, water, orange juice, and coffee. Uncle Paton returned from the phone booth, saying he had done his best to explain what had happened, but the police seemed to think it was a hoax.

"I don't know what else I can do," said Uncle Paton with an uneasy glance in Billy's direction. “s for Alice, how am I going to tell her? She'll be heartbroken."

"Like me," said Billy gazing at the ham sandwich he couldn't eat.

"Billy dear boy I don't know if this will help, but your guardian cared very very much for you. H e did what he did for a good reason. In fact, I believe he sacrificed himself for you. For seven long years, he longed to see you. He would not lightly have given up an opportunity to be with you."

In a weak voice, Billy said, "Oh."

* * *

Albert Tuccini remained quiet during the meal. There was a strange, faraway look in his eyes, and he seemed hardly aware of the others. When the sandwiches had been eaten (Charlie ate Billy's), Albert announced that he was going inside to find the men's restroom.

Several minutes passed. When a quarter of an hour had gone by and Albert still had not returned, Uncle Paton became anxious and Charlie was sent to look in the restroom. There was no one there.

Uncle Paton frowned when he heard the news. "No one? Are you sure?"

"More or less," said Charlie.

Paton stood up. "I'll have a look."

"Do you think you should? There are lots of lights in . . .," Charlie began.

But his uncle was already striding through the door of the café. Charlie prayed that he wouldn't have an accident. A few moments later, he heard a man's voice shout, "Sue, the lights have all gone out in the men's restroom. There's an awful mess in there. Glass everywhere."

Uncle Paton came hurrying out. He looked flushed. "Bother!" he muttered. "Still, I'm sure no one can point the finger at yours truly"

He had been followed by the purple-haired woman, who now looked extremely irritated. "Are you Mr. Paton Yewbeam?" she asked.

"Er, yes," Uncle Paton said nervously

"That guy left a note for you." She handed Paton a folded note and walked off grumbling that she had enough to do without having to carry notes and clean restrooms.

Uncle Paton unfolded the note. His expression became very grave as he read it. "I can't say I'm surprised. Poor man."

"What does it say?" begged Charlie.

His uncle read the note aloud.

"Dear Mr. Yewbeam
,

I have
so enjoyed knowing briefly you and Charlie and Billy.
But
now we
must part
company.
Do not look, for
me,
I
beg
you.
It
is better this way.
Maybe we will
meet again in
happier
times.

"Your humble friend,

Albert Tuccini (so-called)"

"Where will he go?" asked Charlie. "If he doesn't know who he is?"

Uncle Paton gave a shrug and tucked the note in his pocket. " I believe he is a gifted pianist, Charlie. We must hope that he can find a life for himself somewhere in this world."

They walked back to the car and began another long journey south, toward Filbert Street and Bloor's Academy

Christopher Crowquill's sudden and dreadful departure had put everything else out of Charlie's mind, but now the memory of his journey with Queen Berenice came flooding back and he couldn't imagine how he could have forgotten to tell his uncle.

"You didn't ask how we found the island," he said, leaning over Paton's seat.

"Your friend Tancred told me about the white horse, if that's what you mean," said Uncle Paton. "I couldn't get him off the phone. He told me everything: oaths and ogres, spirits and storms. That lad can go on, can't he? Not that I wasn't interested. You two have certainly been through the wringer these past few days."

"Wringer?" asked Billy

"Squeezed, mangled, wrung out," Uncle Paton explained.

"Mangled," said Billy quietly "Yes, I feel mangled."

"Boys, I should . . ." Uncle Paton hesitated, and then he said, "Never mind." Charlie wondered what his uncle had been going to say. His voice had held a note of warning, but perhaps he felt that they had been through enough today.

There was a long silence and then Charlie said, "The queen ran away when she saw the island. I wonder where she went."

At the mention of the queen, Billy sat up and a smile crossed his face. "She said she wouldn't abandon us. 1 think we'll see her again. In fact, I know we will. It's like she's a kind of parent."

Charlie was glad to hear Billy sounding so hopeful. He wished he kit the same.

A tiny point of glimmering light moved down his sleeve, and leaning forward, Charlie said, "Uncle Paton, I've found my wand. Or rather it found me. It's turned into a moth."

"I'll be darned. What's next?"

The moth's company was comforting to Charlie, who just then felt in great need of comfort. "You won't tell Mom what I thought, will you?" he asked his uncle. "About my dad?"

"No, Charlie. I'll keep that to myself."

LOSING THE BALANCE

It was dark when they arrived in the city Uncle Paton didn't drive straight to Filbert Street, as Charlie expected. He parked, instead, beside the familiar and very noisy building where Fidelio's family lived. Gunn House.

"What are we doing here?" asked Charlie.

Uncle Paton turned around in his seat. "It seemed the best solution," he said, looking at Billy

Billy had been silent for most of the journey He had even given up wondering where he would go or where he would be sale. Maybe he had expected to live at number nine, although with Grandma Bone around, it would have been impossible to hide him for long. Now, all at once, Billy grasped what Uncle Paton was saying.

"Do you mean that I'm to live here?" said Billy

"I can't think of anywhere better," said Paton. "As a matter of fact, Mr. and Mrs. Gunn have already approved the plan. You'll hardly be noticed in a house that holds seven children already. It was Mr. Crowquill's suggestion." Paton's voice softened. “And a very good one, too. You were never out of his thoughts, Billy."

It was then that Charlie guessed why Christopher Crowquill had saved Uncle Paton's life. Christopher was already ill, anyone could see that. He was an easy victim for the Bloors. Not so for Uncle Paton, who was endowed with a deadly talent. Christopher had saved the only person he knew who could protect Billy Raven.

Billy already looked happier. "Yes, it is a good idea. I've stayed with Fidelio before."

As soon as they got out of the car, the noise from Gunn House came surging toward them. Musical instruments of every description were being banged, blown, scraped, and pounded. Mr. Gunn's loud bass and Mrs. Gunn's powerful contralto competed with their children's instruments, and the whole building shook with sound.

"Good thing the house is detached," said Uncle Paton. He pressed a knob beside the front door.

Immediately a recorded voice boomed, " DOOR! DOOR! DOOR!" Obviously a bell would never have been heard above such a racket.

Fidelio's older brother, Felix, answered the door. "Charlie Bone!" he exclaimed. "Fidelio's been worried sick about you. Where've you been?"

"It's a long story:" Charlie stepped into the house, closely followed by Billy.

"Billy Raven! So you were 1 together all the time," said Felix, banging the door shut.

"Hold on," said Charlie. "My uncle is still outside. Do you mind turning off the lights?"

"Good grief! Mr. Yewbeam!" Felix hurriedly switched off the hall light. "Oh, parents! Lights!" he shouted. "Mr. Yewbeam's here!" He opened the front door and Uncle Paton stepped into the dark hall.

Mr. and Mrs. Gunn continued their duet in the kitchen, while Felix bellowed, "Lights, parents! Lights! Paton the power-booster is here."

Charlie couldn't see Uncle Paton's face, but he knew his uncle was blushing because of the way he cleared his throat.

Still singing, Mrs. Gunn poked her head out of the kitchen door. "What, what, what, what, what, what, what, what?" she trilled in the scale of C major.

"YEWBEAM, MA!" yelled Felix. "Mr. Yewbeam. Lights."

"Heavens!" sang Mrs. Gunn, turning off the kitchen light.

This brought a musical bellow from Mr. Gunn as he stumbled over the deaf cat, and a yell from the cat whose tail had been stepped on.

"So, Billy's been found," said Mrs. Gunn when she saw him cautiously entering the kitchen. "Welcome, Billy, you'll be safe here, my love. So many children, so much music. You'll be well hidden."

The three visitors sat at the kitchen table, and while they ate a selection of Mrs. Gunn's exotic sandwiches, Felix gave them the news from Bloor's Academy. Felix had recently obtained his music degree and was about to embark on a world tour with his group when he'd been summoned to Bloor's to fill in for a music teacher who'd mysteriously disappeared. "Name of Ebony," said Felix.

"We know.” said Charlie.

"Couldn't resist the offer," Felix added. "The pay's really good."

"I bet," said Uncle Paton. "So what's been going on?"

"What hasn't?" said Felix dramatically. "Gabriel Silk's in a coma. Left the school."

"What?" cried Charlie. "1 low did it happen?"

"Something about a cape," said Felix. "But your Other friend, the stormy one . . ."

"Tancred? What's happened to him?" Charlie dropped his sandwich and the cat pounced on it.

"Gone berserk," said Felix. "It keeps raining on his friends. Fidelio's been soaked several times, so's Lysander, and that girl Emma Tolly has had a really bad time. Her fingers were struck by lightning."

"Not her fingers!" Charlie could hardly believe it. What could possibly have happened to Tancred to make him torment his friends in this way? Charlie had been thinking about taking the rest of the week off from school, but that was out of the question now. He had to find out what was going on at Bloor's. Cook's words echoed in the back of his mind.
"I’m the lodestone,
Charlie. I
keep the balance.
Once that has gone, we’re
lost."

So, what had happened to Cook?

Three against six," Charlie said to himself. "Seven if you count Manfred."

"What's that, Charlie?" said Uncle Paton

Charlie looked up "I've got to get back to Bloor's.”

"Not tonight, dear boy," said his uncle. "The lights will be out. They probably won’t even open the door."

“Tomorrow, then," said Charlie. "As soon as possible. I'll walk it I have to."

"No need for that," said Felix. "I'll give you a lift."

When Charlie and Uncle Paton got up to leave, there was an unpleasant noise under the table and Mr. Gunn sang, "Pusskins has eaten a parsnip again!"

Charlie was relieved to see Billy join in the laughter. He was definitely in the right place — at least for no w.

As soon as Charlie walked into number nine and turned off the hall light, Grandma Bone shouted at him from the living room. "Don't bother to tell me where you've been. I know You stupid boy"

"Cut it out, Grizelda," growled Paton.

Charlie was grabbed by Maisie, who drew him into the candlelit kitchen clasped in a bear hug. His mother joined in the hug, and when Charlie had been almost suffocated, he was allowed to sit at the table and drink a mug of cocoa.

Naturally Amy and Maisie wanted to know everything that had happened, but Uncle Paton insisted that Charlie be allowed to go to bed while he told them about the Castle of Mirrors.

Charlie's eyes were closing as he climbed into bed. The last thing he saw before he fell asleep was the soft glow of the white moth as it settled on his bedside table.

* * *

Felix Gunn was as good as his word. He turned up in a small, ml her battered French car, just as Charlie had finished his breakfast.

"Who's that?" Grandma Bone demanded, as Felix whisked Charlie off to Bloor's.

"None of your business," said Maisie.

But, of course, Grandma Bone was bound to find out. Whether it was Felix's visit that drew her attention to the Gunns, Charlie would never know Perhaps the Bloors had never seriously considered the Gunn family as Charlie's allies, until Fidelio's brother arrived outside number nine. But once the Bloors began to take an interest in Gunn House, the consequences were disastrous.

Charlie could feel the tension in the air as soon as he walked into assembly Fidelio gave him the thumbs-up sign from the stage, but everyone else stared at him suspiciously He felt as though he'd grown horns. "And I've only been away for two days," he said to himself.

Charlie finally caught up with Fidelio during the first break.

"I don't know who's been spreading the rumors, but there have been some wild stories going around about you and Billy," said Fidelio, as they walked across the grass together. "People were saying that you'd been expelled."

"I'd better tell you the truth," said Charlie.

Fidelio suggested they keep walking as there were eavesdroppers everywhere. In a few minutes, they were joined by Lysander. Charlie had never seen him look so downhearted. It was he who had found Gabriel lying senseless under a blue cape.

"I was worried when he went up to the music room," Lysander told Charlie. "Especially when Fido had seen Dorcas Loom taking a cape into the tower. As soon as I found Gabriel, I told Dr. Saltweather. He called the ambulance."

"You told the right person," Fidelio said gravely. "If you'd told Matron, poor old Gabe might never have made it to the hospital."

It was a sobering thought.

"There was a kind of earthquake that night," Fidelio added as an afterthought. "A great rumble underground. But in the morning everything looked normal."

"Underground?" said Charlie, frowning.

"And now look at Tancred." Lysander pointed across the field. "Tanc red and that little squirt."

Charlie saw Tancred and Joshua sharing a joke with Dorcas Loom of all people. Joshua's sweater was plastered with dead leaves.

"But how . . .."began Charlie.

"Magnetism!" Lysander spoke through gritted teeth.

"Joshua?" Charlie was incredulous.

"You'd he surprised," Lysander said grimly "My mom knows all about it. You don't have to be strong or handsome or even clever. Some people have just got it. They can twist you around their little fingers."

"But Tancred," said Charlie in disbelief. "He was helping us. How could he turn — just like that? I mean, it didn't happen to you."

"I was prepared," said Lysander. "But magnetism is a powerful endowment. You must have felt it, Charlie. When Joshua smiles at you, there's a kind of tug that makes you want to be his friend, in spite of yourself."

"I have felt something," Charlie admitted. "But I won't let him get to me."

Lysander nodded in his wise and thoughtful way. "And nor will Emma."

"Emma's stronger than she looks," said Charlie. "But Tancred. How could Tancred let himself be so — so taken in?"

Lysander sighed. "Tancred's a good guy but he's just the tiniest bit vain. Joshua played on that. And now Tancred's putty in his hands."

"I can't believe it," said Charlie. On the other side of the grounds, someone screamed. One of the smaller new girls had been knocked over by a large log. Idith and Inez stood smirking, a few meters away

"It was them," said Lysander. "They're evil, those two."

Olivia and Emma had seen the boys and were just approaching them when a cloud burst right above the girls' heads. As they ran forward, the rain moved with them, and the three boys turned and raced for the trees. Charlie caught a glimpse of Tancred's smiling face and Joshua Tilpin rocking with laughter.

"He did it on purpose," cried Olivia as she bounded for cover. "Glad you're back, Charlie. Maybe you can do something about Tancred."

Charlie didn't know what he could do. He looked around the circle of faces. It was good to know there were a few friends whom he could still rely on. And then he noticed Emma's hands. The tip of each finger was bandaged. Only her thumbs had escaped the lightning or whatever it was that had injured her.

"Was that really Tancred?" Charlie stared at the bandages.

"I don't know," said Emma. "One minute I was standing by the log pile, talking to Liv and the next there was a clap of thunder, a flash, and everyone screamed and rushed indoors. I felt a kind of stinging in my fingers . . .."

"And I looked at her hands," said Olivia, pointing at Emma's fingers, "and they were bright red."

"They're better now." Emma waggled her fingers. “And I can't prove it was Tancred."

"It was him all right," Olivia insisted. "You've got to do something, Charlie!"

"Me?" said Charlie as everyone looked at him.

"You can begin by telling us where you've been," said Lysander.

"OK."

Charlie gave his friends a brief description of his ride on the shell beach and then the extraordinary Castle of Mirrors. There was a gasp of horror when he told them about Tantalus Ebony and Christopher Crowquill. No one knew what to say until Fidelio uttered a small grunt and said, "Just like that? It's too horrible.''

Charlie didn't tell them that he had believed Albert Tuccini to be his father. His disappointment was still too painful.

"It's horrible, all right," said l.ysander. "But only too possible. We all know Albert Tuccini, don't we? He came to give us a piano recital during spring semester. Don't you remember?"

It all came flooding back. "Of course," said Charlie slowly and sadly. "And the face at the window in my great-aunt's house, and the piano at the top, after the fire. It was Albert Tuccini all the time, not . . . not someone else."

"Those Yewbeam aunts of yours!" Lysander raised his big, brown eyes to the sky. "They're criminals, Charlie. They've been taking advantage of that poor pianist, pretending to help him but all the time making money from his concerts. What a bunch of horrors."

"You can say that again," said Charlie with a grimace.

Tancred's mischievous shower had stopped by the time break was over, and the five friends were able to run into school without getting any wetter.

Charlie decided that he must find Cook. Only she was wise enough to advise him now But when she didn't appear at lunchtime, Charlie was afraid that even Cook had fallen prey to the sinister forces that were creeping through Bloor's Academy

Snack time was Charlie's only chance to get into the kitchen, so while Fidelio kept watch, Charlie slipped around the counter and entered the noisy kitchen.

"What do you want, young man?" asked one of Cook's assistants, a thin young woman with a red face and fluffy hair.

"I'm looking for Cook," said Charlie.

"She's not been well, love. She went to lie down."

"Oh." Charlie wasn't sure what to do next. Cook's secret rooms lay behind an insignificant broom closet. None of the kitchen staff knew of their existence. Maybe Cook was upstairs in the chilly room where the Bloors thought she slept. Charlie had a strong feeling that she would have gone to her cozy underground apartment.

"Thanks," he said to the assistant. He made for the door into the cafeteria, but as soon as the woman's back was turned, he bent double and shuffled quickly behind one of the counters. He had to wait until another assistant moved toward the sinks; then he clashed to the broom closet, wrenched open the door, and leaped inside, closing the door behind him.