Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors

  "Yes, of course. She's a very nice duck." Charlie couldn't think what else to say

  "No Olivia again," Fidelio observed. "What's the matter with her, Em?"

  Emma shrugged. "I don't know. She hardly talks to me now, and when she does, she's always in a bad mood."

  "She looks a mess," said Lysander. "

  And she used to look fantastic," Tancred added sadly

  Charlie thought it was about time he told them about Alice Angel and the flower store. "I think Olivia's endowed," he said. "But she won't admit it. She even heard the ghost horse, and as far as I know, only the endowed can hear it."

  Fidelio agreed. He had never seen, heard, or sensed the horse, even while the others were cowering away from it.

  Lysander demanded to know more about the ghost horse, so Charlie brought him up to date, adding the details of Ezekiel's horrible experiment.

  “A heart!" cried Tancred, when Charlie had finished. "That is so gross!"

  "There's more." Without mentioning Christopher Crowquill, Charlie went on to tell his friends about Billy Raven and the dreadful talents of his new parents.

  "So now you're going to risk your life, and maybe ours, trying to rescue Silly Billy is that it?" asked Tancred.

  "That's about it," said Charlie. "But Billy isn't silly He's just had a lot of bad luck."

  "I'll say," Gabriel muttered grimly.

  It seemed a good time to mention the button again. Charlie held it out to Gabriel and begged him to "visit" the world of mirrors just once more. "Maybe if you listen to the piano again, you'll recognize the music. Anything that could tell me a bit more about that place — and the man trapped there!"

  Gabriel took the button with a sigh and, once again, held it over his heart. He closed his eyes, and they all watched in silence as his brow furrowed and his long face took on a look of solemn concentration. Now and again, a shudder passed through his body and his mouth gave a small twitch. After five minutes had passed, Gabriel opened his eyes and dropped the button onto the table.

  "Rachmaninoff," he said. "Prelude in C. And it's a record — one of those old 78s that scratch."

  "And the man?" asked Charlie.

  "His face was all distorted. There were so many mirrors — details kept breaking up. Sorry Charlie."

  But Charlie wasn't too disappointed. He had the name of the music now It was something to go on.

  Chatter in the café sank to a whisper as Officer Singh and Officer Wood came out of the kitchen and left the café. A few moments later, Mr. Onimous appeared and announced that they were closing for the day Norton had to be taken to the hospital for stitches and a tetanus shot.

  When Charlie and his friends got up to leave, Mr. Onimous came over to their table. "Sorry, kids," he said. "We won't be open tomorrow. Norton's in a bad way and my poor wife has got the shakes. The police have warned us that our precious café might be closed down. Those Loom boys make trouble whenever they come here and people are complaining."

  "You should ban the dogs, Mr. Onimous," said Lysander. "My father would advise it."

  "Your father might be a judge, but he doesn't know anything about running pets' cafés," said Mr. Onimous gravely "I can't start banning clogs, young Lysander. Owners maybe, but not dogs." He leaned over the table and picked up the black rat. "I'd better take him back to the kitchen. He misses Billy something terrible, you know."

  "Billy's coming to visit him very soon." Charlie sounded more confident than he felt. "Thing is, Mr. Onimous, I need to find a place called the Passing House."

  "Whatever for?" Mr. Onimous asked, looking surprised.

  Charlie told him about Billy's adoption, and as he listened, Mr. Onimous' wise, whiskery face became furrowed with concern. "Grief! Grief! And more of it," he declared. "What's happened to the world when a boy can't lead a carefree life? The Passing House is in Crook's Passage, Charlie. Up by the cathedral in the old part of the city But look out! I wouldn't want to cross swords with those de Greys."

  "I'll take Runner," said Charlie, fastening the leash to Runner Bean's collar.

  "You're not going without me," said Fidelio.

  "And I'll be walking that way too." Emma tucked Nancy into a lidded basket.

  Gabriel, Tancred, and Lysander lived in the opposite direction, on a wooded hill called the Heights. But they all wanted to be contacted if help were needed. Tancred's blond hair was sizzling with electricity and little breezes kept whipping around their ankles as they walked up Frog Street.

  "I've got a nasty feeling about all this," Tancred said. "Storm's on standby Charlie."

  “And that goes for my ancestors," said Lysander.

  When they reached High Street, the three older boys turned right, while Charlie, Fidelio, and Emma took a left turn toward the cathedral. Once again, a heavy mist had begun to thread its way through the city. But this was not the gentle mist of yesterday. It was more like vapor that came from deep under the earth: Chilly and sinister, it thickened with every step that the three friends took closer to the cathedral.

  As they passed Ingledew's bookstore, Emma went in and put Nancy's basket by the counter. Her aunt was talking to a customer, so Emma gave a cheerful wave and said, "Back soon!" then hopped out again. At this point, Fidelio ran in and laid his elderly cat on top of the basket.

  "Won't be long," Fidelio told the bemused Miss Ingledew

  When Fidelio came out of the store, he noticed three bright creatures approaching through the mist. "Did you know the Flames were following us?" he asked Charlie.

  Charlie looked back at the three gleaming cats. "They must have a reason," he said. "They always do. Hi there, Aries! Hi, Sagittarius and Leo!"

  The cats replied to his greeting with deep, friendly meows. Runner Bean gave a warning bark but the cats didn't take offense. When the small party set off again, they followed at a discreet distance, respecting the big dog's instincts.

  Beyond the cathedral, the city became a maze of narrow passages and damp, shadowy steps. The street signs were cracked and faded, some of them almost illegible. To find Crook's Passage, Charlie had to take several steps into the darkest alley he'd yet come across.

  "It's here," he said in a low voice.

  "Gloomy place," Fidelio remarked, following cautiously

  "It smells awful." Emma wrinkled her nose.

  They began the steep ascent, stumbling over sudden steps as they peered into the dimness ahead. Runner Bean kept up a continual whine, which put everyone's nerves on edge. The cats bounded past the children and led the way their bright coats glowing in the mist.

  After walking under two rusty signs, Charlie eventually found the words " THE PASSING HOUSE " carved in stone above a tall oak door.

  "What are you going to say?" asked Emma as Charlie reached for the knocker, a large brass hand.

  "I'll say 'Where's Billy?' That should be enough," said Charlie.

  However, when the door finally opened after several knocks, Charlie's speech deserted him, for the man standing in the doorway gave him such a ferocious glare, it took his breath away

  "What do you want?" the man asked tersely.

  Charlie gulped and Fidelio said, "We'd like to see Billy sir."

  "Billy?" the man looked outraged. "Billy?"

  "He does live here, doesn't he?" asked Emma.

  "Go away," shouted the man. He began to close the door but Charlie put his foot on the threshold. At the same moment, Runner Bean saw a black cat dart across the hall behind the man. With a joyous bark, Runner Bean leaped after it, or rather he tried to, because something slammed into his nose and sent him howling backward.

  "What did you do to my dog?" cried Charlie.

  Usher de Grey kicked Charlie's foot away and slammed the door.

  "He's in there," whispered Emma. "I'm sure he is. Poor Billy."

  "He's in there, all right," said Charlie. "That was the man I saw at Bloor's, the man who doesn't like kids."

  "Now what?" asked Fidelio.

  Runner Bean's a
nguished howling made it difficult for Charlie to think. Banging your nose on something you can't see is very frightening for a dog, and Charlie didn't know how to describe a force field in animal language. Only Billy could do that.

  "I'll think of something." Charlie sounded as cheerful as he could.

  They were all reluctant to leave the Passing House while Billy was still trapped inside, but there was nothing else they could do. Another plan would have to be made.

  As Charlie stepped out of Crook's Passage, he looked back. The Flames hadn't moved. They were sitting in a row outside the door of the Passing House. Maybe they held the key to Billy's escape.

  Billy had been watching his TV when he heard the dog. At first, the sound was only a series of anguished howls, but then Billy began to recognize Runner Bean's voice and to understand his dog talk.

  "Ghost gate!" barked Runner Bean. "Ice wall! Fire wall! Hurting gate! Cat's trick! Pain! Charlie, help!"

  Billy jumped up and ran to the window All he could see through the thick mist was a gray stone wall. His window was locked and he had no means of opening it. He went into the passage outside his room and tiptoed onto the landing. Looking down into the hall, he arrived just in time to see Usher de Grey slam the front door. Billy ran back into the passageway and stood with his back pressed to the wall, hardly daring to breathe. Charlie was outside, but would his visit cause trouble? The thought of more pain made Billy close his eyes in dread.

  "Billy!" said a soft voice.

  Billy opened his eyes and saw the small black cat at his feet. "Friends," she said in the smallest of voices.

  Billy crept back to his room, followed by the cat. Without making a sound, he carefully closed the door.

  "Sorry for hurting dog," said the cat. "Clawdia had to show Billy's friend the danger. Had to show Usher's secret wall. Please tell dog Clawdia is sorry"

  "I'll tell him if I ever see him again," said Billy

  "My friends are here," the little cat went on. "They stay. They help Billy to leave. Tonight, Billy must be ready"

  "Tonight?" Billy shook his head fearfully And yet the longing to escape was so great, the thought of freedom was so intoxicating, that he began to laugh with excitement.

  "Shhh!" hushed the cat. "Not yet."

  "Where will I go?" asked Billy "If I leave here."

  "Friends show you."

  "Who are your friends?"

  "Cats, naturally Copper coat, orange coat, golden coat."

  "The Flames!" gasped Billy.

  "Flames, yes. Clawdia will go now."

  Billy opened the door, and the black cat stepped into the hallway "Don't forget," she said. "Tonight!"

  "How could I forget?" Billy whispered.

  BREAKING THE FORCE FIELD

  Billy always ate dinner alone in his room. When he finished, he would take his tray down to the kitchen, and there he would do all the dishes while the de Greys sat at the table, working on their accounts.

  On the night that Billy was hoping to escape, he noticed that Florence had a pile of forms before her. She leafed through the papers, licking her thumb and smiling with satisfaction.

  Oaths, thought Billy He realized that somehow he would have to destroy his own oaths if he were ever to truly escape from the de Greys. But where was the bag with the oaths kept? He would have to find out.

  Billy dried the last plate and put it in the china cabinet. "Good night, Mom! Good night, Dad," he said. (He found it impossible to call them by their first names, as they had demanded.) "Thank you for my nice dinner," he added.

  "What was it?" asked Florence, without looking up.

  “A sandwich," said Billy.

  “Anything in it?" asked Usher.

  Billy had to think hard about that one. "I think it was margarine," he said.

  "Has the pain gone, dear?" Florence gave him a cursory glance.

  "Yes, thank you, Mom."

  "Let's hope you don't get ill again," said Florence, checking off one of the papers.

  "Yes. Good night."

  Neither of the de Greys paid Billy any attention as he left the kitchen. He walked across the tiled hall, telling his feet to behave the way they normally did, but his head was in such turmoil, he couldn't even remember how he used to walk. Once he reached the stairs, he took the steps two at a time, eager to make preparations for the night ahead.

  The de Greys never looked in on Billy at night, but just in case, he wore his pajamas over his everyday clothes. Instead of getting into bed, he crept onto the landing and waited for Florence to leave the kitchen. At seven o'clock, she came out carrying the gray bag. Billy stepped into the shadows as she crossed the hall and went into a small office on the other side. She came back out without the bag.

  Billy tiptoed back to his room. Leaving the door slightly ajar, he took off his glasses, laid them on his bedside table, and then got into bed. It was the longest night he could remember. The cathedral clock struck twelve, then one and two and three. Having given up all hope of rescue, Billy fell into a fitful sleep.

  While Billy slept, the night clouds rolled away revealing a sky of soft, pearl gray The city was still swaddled in mist; only the roofs of the tallest buildings could be seen from above, their wet slate shining in the dawn light.

  * * *

  From the mass of yellow leaves that crowned an ash tree, a n orange cat emerged. With amazing agility it leaped onto a roof several feet away It was followed by a yellow cat and then another cat, the color of a dark flame. The three cats sped over the rooftops until they came to an open skylight. One after another, the cats dropped into an empty room at the top of the Passing House.

  Usher de Grey was so confident of his force field that he never bothered to lock any doors. The Flame cats had no trouble making their way down through the house, but they were aware that the place was laced with a dangerous magic. For them, however, breaking a force field was as easy as stepping through paper.

  The little black cat was waiting for her friends on the landing. "I will fetch the boy" she said.

  Billy woke up with a start when Clawdia jumped on his bed.

  "Time to go, Billy!" she whispered. He rubbed his eyes and put on his glasses. Then, slipping out of bed, he took off his pajamas. Suddenly the enormity of what he was about to do made him shiver with apprehension. He looked around the room, at the TV the computer, the books, and the games, all his if he stayed here forever. He was stepping into the unknown on the word of a small black cat. Could he trust her?

  When he saw the Flame cats Billy's nerves were soothed by their comforting purrs and warm colors. Now; he felt he could do anything.

  Florence and Usher de Grey slept very soundly proving that the old saying, "The wicked never sleep," can hardly be true. When Billy and the cats passed their bedroom, they dozed on, happily enjoying the sort of dreams that most people would consider nightmares.

  In the cats' extraordinary glow, Billy could actually see Usher's force field. Sparkling blue lines were strung across the hall like the threads of a giant cob web. The blue lines were especially thick where they covered the doors, and Billy's heart sank when he saw the door to the room where Florence had left the oaths.

  The cats leaped neatly down the stairs, and when they reached the first blue strand, they bounded through it, leaving the broken strings hanging limply in the air.

  "Come, Billy It's safe!" said Aries.

  Billy ran down into the hall and carefully followed the cats' passage through the force field. "Before I leave I must go into that room." He pointed to the office.

  The three cats turned their golden gaze toward the door. It was Sagittarius, the yellow cat, who moved first. Standing on his hind legs, he tore at the threads covering the office door. Billy reached for the handle and the door opened. The gray bag was standing on the floor, just inside. When Billy picked it up, he found that the clasp came undone as soon as he pressed it. Florence obviously relied on her husband's power to guard the collection of oaths.

  Billy
quickly searched through the papers in the bag, and finding the forms that he had signed, he pulled them out. He was tucking them down his sweater when he felt the cats' eyes upon him. He looked up, realizing what they wanted him to do.

  "I should take them all, shouldn't I?" he said. "So they will all be free."

  "Yes, Billy," the cats replied in unison. “All."

  "Make haste," added Leo. "Soon they will wake."

  As he ran from the room, Billy put his forms back in the gray bag, then tucked it under his arm. The Flames were already tearing at the threads that covered the front door. When they had broken every strand, Billy seized the handle. An eerie wail echoed through the house as he wrenched open the door, and the black cat called, "Fly my friends. He is waking."

  Billy lunged through the door with Usher's furious roar ringing in his ears. "The kid's out! Get up! Get up!"

  Racing over the rough stones of Crook's Passage, Billy was glad to have the Flames' luminous glow show him the way, but he was still terribly afraid. Where was he to go now? And how would he get there?

  Courage," said Leo, running beside him.

  Sagittarius, the brightest, bounded ahead, while Aries brought up the rear, turning his head every now and again to observe the dark alley behind them.

  Now they were out on the main road and running toward the cathedral. As they sped across the cobble-stoned square, the clock in the great dome chimed five o'clock, and a flock of jackdaws rose, chattering into the dawn sky Billy looked longingly at Ingledew's bookstore: He knew Emma Tolly lived there, but Leo warned, "Don't stop, Billy It's not safe yet."

  Down to High Street and through the city Billy's heart was beating wildly He began to think that if the oaths didn't kill him, then this journey surely would. The mutter of an engine could be heard coming closer, second by second. Without slowing his pace, Billy looked back and saw a gray car emerge from the mist behind him. The de Greys.

  "This way!" Sagittarius commanded, darting into an alley.

  How they reached the road to the Heights, Billy would never know. He had never been much of a runner, yet he hadn't stopped running since he left the Passing House. Had the cats lent him their strength as they guided him through the foggy streets?