Charlie Bone and the Beast (The Children of the Red King, Book 6) Part 10 pps

"Yes, sir," they replied.

They hurried past Manfred, not daring to

look at one another, but when they reached

the end of the hall, Manfred called, "I'm

watching you, Charlie Bone, so don't get any

silly ideas."

"No, sir," Charlie mumbled.

There was a tense, stifling atmosphere in the

King's room that night. Joshua Tilpin looked

very much the worse for wear. His hair was

plastered with bits of paper, dust, cobwebs,

and pencil shavings. Torn plastic wrappers

stuck to his sleeves, and his hands were

covered in crumbs.

The twins, aware that Tancred was respons￾ible for their bruises, kept aiming books and

pencil cases in

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his direction, but their strength seemed to

have been depleted and Tancred easily re￾pulsed them with a few stiff breezes.

Dagbert watched everything with a calm, cal￾culating expression. Occasionally, he caught

Charlie's eye, and his face told Charlie

everything. Dagbert would do anything that

Manfred asked.

During two hours of homework, Emma was

the only one to smile. Tancred had invited

her to sit beside him and, blushing furiously,

Emma accepted. The smile came later. It was

only the ghost of a smile, but it lasted a long

time and it lifted Charlie's spirits

considerably.

After homework the children dispersed in si￾lence. Charlie didn't even glance at Tancred

and Lysander. He knew he must give no hint

of tonight's secret arrangement.

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In the dormitory Fidelio behaved as if noth￾ing unusual was about to take place, though

Billy wore a continual frown and seemed

very distracted.

When Charlie finally lay down in bed he felt

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as though a coiled spring, deep inside him,

might suddenly unravel. How could he pos￾sibly lie still until two o'clock? He wanted to

begin Asa's rescue right now, before he lost

his nerve.

Sometime between eleven o'clock and mid￾night, Charlie fell asleep, exhausted by his

own imagination. He had been picturing so

many different versions of Asa's rescue, his

mind had finally demanded a rest.

Charlie woke up to find someone gently

shaking his arm.

"Charlie. It's two o'clock," whispered Fidelio.

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Charlie sat up, rubbing his eyes. "I didn't

even hear my watch."

"I thought you might not. Charlie, Dagbert's

not in his bed. I don't know when he left the

room."

Charlie rolled out of bed. "Can't worry about

that now," he whispered. "I'd better wake

Billy." He pulled on his blue cape while he

found his shoes with his feet.

A gentle tap on the head brought Billy

scrambling out from under the covers.

"What?" he said.

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"Shhh!" Charlie put a hand over Billy's

mouth.

"No! No!" came Billy's muffled voice.

"Please, no."

"Shhh! Billy, it's only me, Charlie. It's time to

go."

"Where?"

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