Midnight for Charlie Bone (Children Of The Red King, Book 1) (22 page)

            Charlie sat up. "You mean after everything we've done, Miss Ingledew can't get Emma back for good?"

            "Seems not," said Fidelio. "Unless the papers are found."

            "What papers?" said Charlie.

            "You know the stuff that proves who you are. Your birth certificate, adoption papers - stuff like that."

            Charlie groaned. "They've got them, haven't they? The Bloors. I bet they've hidden them somewhere."

            "Must have," agreed Fidelio. "Next thing we've got to do is find them." Charlie had horrible visions of being caught climbing into dark attics and getting detention for years and years. "That's not going to be easy,” he muttered.

            As it happened, Fidelio and Charlie didn't have to do anything. Someone else did it for them. In a very dramatic way.

            The explosions began half an hour before lights out. The first one was hardly noticed. The lantern above the main doors gave a little pop and a few pieces of glass fell out. The next one was louder. A pane in one of the windows in the west wing cracked and smashed onto the cobblestones in the courtyard.

            Children leaped out of bed, or ran from bathrooms, dropping towels and toothbrushes in the rush to see what was going on.

            Charlie opened the window in his dormitory and twelve heads poked out over the sill. Beneath them, the boys saw a tall man in a long, dark coat. He wore black gloves and a white scarf and his abundant black hair glistened like polished stone.

            "Wow!"

            "Who is he?"

            "What's he doing?"

            Whispers ran around Charlie's head, and he saw  that other windows had opened and children were peering down into the courtyard.

            "He's my uncle," said Charlie, with a slightly proud smile.

            "Your uncle?"

            "What does he want?"

            "Did he smash that window?"

            "How did he do it?"

            "He doesn't look like someone who breaks windows." The whispers grew louder and Matron could be heard marching down corridors shouting, "Shut those windows! Get into bed! Lights out!

            Lights out!"

            Some of the children scuttled back to bed, but others still watched the man in the courtyard. He was turning in slow circles now, and staring up at the children. When he saw Charlie, he grinned. Charlie held his breath. He could feel the strange humming that always preceded his uncle's lightbulb accidents.

            "Bloor!" Paton suddenly shouted. "You know what I'm here for. Let me in."

            The bronze-studded doors remained closed. The whispers died. Everyone waited to see what would happen.

            "Very well," roared Paton. He had his back to the children now and was facing the Bloors' private rooms in the west wing.

            There was a bang, and the panes of a lighted window flew out into the air. Another followed and then another. Each time the explosion was louder, and the flying glass hit the ground with greater force. Charlie was amazed. He hadn't realized how powerful his uncle's talent could become when he really wanted to use it.

            "Yewbeam!" a voice bellowed. "Stop it, or I'll call the police."

            "Oh, I don't think so," Paton shouted back. "There are things going on here that you wouldn't want them to know. Now give me Emma Tolly's papers before I break every light in the building." Charlie saw a window in the west wing close quickly.

            The room beyond it was in darkness, but a second later another window shattered. And now Paton turned his attention to the east wing, where some of the teachers, unaware that electric lights were the cause of the explosions, were still busily tidying up the classrooms. BANG. BANG. BANG!. Three windows in the science lab blew out. But this time the situation was more serious. Something in the lab had caught on fire. Black smoke and the stink of burning chemicals drifted up to the watching children.

            "Stop it!" cried Dr. Bloor. "Paton, I implore you!"

            "Give me the papers," Paton demanded.

            Silence.

            And then a shower of jewel-like colors burst over the glass already littering the ground. Someone had forgotten to turn off the lights in the chapel, and the beautiful stained-glass windows were now only a memory.

            "All right!" screamed a voice.

            In the silence that followed, a cloud of paper floated gently from an upstairs window Slowly it spun and hovered, before falling to earth like playful, giant snowflakes. As he ran to catch the falling papers, Paton began to chuckle. The chuckle became a full-throated laugh, and then a resounding roar, a great big Ha! Ha! Ha! of triumph.

            The watching children couldn't stop themselves from joining in, and soon the courtyard of Bloor's Academy was so filled with laughter, the echo could still be heard at Christmas.

CHAPTER 21

THE LONGEST NIGHT OF THE YEAR

            The newspapers reported the breaking window incident as MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSIONS IN AN ANCIENT SCHOOL. No one would have believed the truth, even if they'd been told.

            Paton took Emma Tolly's papers to Miss Ingledew and when it was proved, beyond a doubt, that Emilia Moon was really Emma Tolly the Moons gave her up. They were mildly fond of Emma, but it was the money they would miss, more than the child. Dr. Bloor had paid them well to look after her. It was quite clear that Dr. Tolly's signature on the adoption papers had been forged, but Miss Ingledew let that pass. She just wanted Emma, and Emma wanted nothing more than to live with her aunt forever, in the wonderful house of books.

            On the morning after the explosions, the courtyard of Bloor's Academy was a sight to behold. Glass littered the ground. Large gleaming panes, diamond-bright spears, and glinting fragments of color were all covered with a fine silvery dust that flashed and blazed in the morning sunlight.

            The workmen who came to clean up the mess could hardly believe their eyes. They gazed at the old stone walls and the dark, gaping windows, and scratched their heads. Whatever had been going on in Bloor's Academy?

            "I wouldn't like my boy to go to this school," said one.

            "Nor me," said another.

            "Creepy place," said a third.

            At number nine Filbert Street, Maisie was busy making Christmas cakes. The war between Uncle Paton and his sisters was over. For the moment. Paton had won a battle, but Charlie knew there'd be another. Paton had lifted his head at last, and theYewbeam sisters were worried. Sooner or later they would try to even the score.

            For a whole weekend, the rocker by the stove remained empty Not once did Charlie see Grandma Bone. But he could feel her, seething, sulking, and brooding in her room. He didn't care. He felt quite safe. He had good friends and an uncle who wouldn't stand for any wickedness. He thought he might even buy Grandma Bone a pair of socks for Christmas. She certainly needed them.

            When his mother suggested it might be better if Charlie didn't go back to Bloor's (all those bruises gave her a shock), Charlie found himself disagreeing.

            "Mom, I have to go back," he said, "to keep the balance." She looked puzzled.

            "It's difficult to explain," said Charlie. "I know there are some really bad things going on at Bloor's, but there are good things, too. And I think I might be needed, to kind of help out."

            "I see," she said.

            At that moment, his mother looked so wistful Charlie longed to tell her that, one day she might see his father. But he held his tongue. It was too early to raise her hopes. Instead he asked her what she wanted for Christmas.

            "Oh, I forgot," she exclaimed. "Miss Ingledew is having a party and we're all invited. It's a welcome home for Emma. Isn't that great?" She was all smiles again.

            The rest of the semester passed in a flash of feverish activity There were plays to rehearse, exhibitions to put up, songs to practice, and concerts to arrange. Wherever you went, you couldn't get away from the humming, jangling, and thumping of music.

            It took Manfred and Zelda a week to recover from whatever it was that Tancred and Lysander had done to them. The surly pair were still not themselves. Manfred kept his sinister gaze on the floor, and Zelda had such bad headaches she couldn't even play push the pencil box. Asa was his old self however. There wasn't a hint of anything wolfish about him, except, perhaps, his eyes.

            On the last day of the semester, the drama department put on a production of Snow White. Maisie and Charlie's mother were in the audience, but Uncle Paton stayed away He felt he might not be welcome. Charlie agreed.

            Olivia played the wicked stepmother. She was superb. No one would have guessed that she was only eleven. When she came on stage for the final curtain, the applause was deafening.

            Charlie found her surrounded by admirers when he went to say good-bye. But Olivia caught sight of him, hovering at the edge of the crowd, and called out, "See you at the party Charlie!"

            Miss Ingledew's party took place on the longest night of the year -three days before Christmas. Charlie and his family were the last to arrive, because Maisie had changed her clothes five times before deciding to wear a mauve satin dress with frills. Grandma Bone, who was still sulking, hadn't been invited.

            It was surprising how many people Miss Ingledew had managed to fit into her small living room. Fidelio had come with his large father, and Olivia with her film-star mother. Benjamin had brought Runner Bean, now completely recovered, and both his parents. Mr. Onimous had been followed by the three flames. The cats had refused to stay behind once they'd sniffed a party in the air. And, after all, they had played a large part in Emma's rescue.

            Bottles and glasses and a great many dishes of delicious-looking food had been placed on the shop counter. Uncle Paton helped himself to a whole plateful as he passed, and there was a certain gleam in his eye when he said, "Julia, my dear, what a wonderful cook you are."

            "Oh, they're just snacks," said Miss Ingledew, blushing slightly Her cozy living room was lit by an enormous number of candles; tall, short, wide, and thin, they danced and flickered from every surface. Charlie noticed that all the lightbulbs had been removed. Miss Ingledew wasn't taking any chances.

            After a while the children decided to have their own party in the shop, because there were so many talkative and over-merry adults in the living room. But shortly before midnight, Miss Ingledew called them all back in. She wanted to make a little speech.

            It didn't last long. With tears in her eyes, she thanked everyone who had helped find her dear sister Nancy's daughter. "It was the happiest day of my life when Mr. Yewbeam - er - Paton, brought Emma to my door," she said. And then she had to sit down and blow her nose because the tears had turned into a flood.

            There were murmurs of sympathy and congratulations, and Emma ran to hug her, but any awkwardness was relieved by Mr. Onimous, who looked extremely smart in a fake-fur vest. He leaped onto a chair and said how pleased he was to have started the search for Emma. And how proud he was of his three cats.

            At this point a small disagreement broke out between Runner Bean and the flames. But it was mostly a matter of low-key growling and griping and soon settled by a word from Mr. Onimous.

            Emma Tolly made the last speech of the night. She looked completely different from Emilia Moon. Her blonde hair had been tied in a bouncing ponytail and her cheeks were flushed with excitement. It was almost as if pale Emilia hadn't been a real person at all, but a sad figure borrowed from a fairy tale.

            "I'm so happy,” she began. "I still can't really believe I'm here. I have to keep pinching myself. Before I say anything else I just want to let everyone know that I'll be going back to Bloor's Academy next semester." Miss Ingledew looked up with a start. She began to rise, saying, "No..

            ."but Paton gently restrained her.

            "I'm sorry Auntie," Emma went on. "I know I said I wouldn't, but I've changed my mind. It's a good school, after all, and I've got a really great art teacher. And Fidelio and Olivia are still there, and Charlie, of course. They're not scared of anything, besides..." she frowned, almost to herself "there are things... other children, I mean, who might need me. So I'm going back." She gave a bright smile. "And now I'd like to thank everyone who helped me find out who I really was, especially Charlie, who started it all."

            "To Charlie," said Miss Ingledew, holding up her glass for a refill.

            "To Charlie!" Everyone cheered and raised their glasses, and somewhere a clock began to chime.

            It took Charlie several minutes to realize that the whole room was looking at him. His thoughts had been far away with someone else who had fallen asleep at twelve o'clock.

            TO BE CONTINUED...