Charlie Bone and the Beast (The Children of the Red King, Book 6) Part 4 pps

"Oh, no, not Charlie Bone," said Olivia, andshe ran off in the direction of High Street.118 A STONE TROLL... "I mean you mustn't." "Dagbert lies all the time," said Billy.. He suddenly s

"All the same." Mrs Kettle drained her cup.The tea didn't appear to have had a bouncyeffect on her at all In fact, she looked quitedejected "Cook's such a good friend," she re-peated, shaking her head.

To cheer her up, Benjamin asked if she hadany electric kettles

Mrs Kettle looked quite indignant "Do youcall them kettles? I certainly don't A kettleboils when a hot stove tells it to, not when abutton is pressed."

Benjamin gave an apologetic smile "Sorry."Charlie decided it was time to leave Theyhad come for Rembrandt and they had gothim He stood up and thanked Mrs Kettlefor the tea

"You're very welcome, Charlie Bone," saidMrs Kettle "You'll come again, won't you?"Charlie said, "Yes, of course."

Mrs Kettle led the way back into the shopbut, just as he was about to pass through thearchway, Charlie stopped He felt something

to the left of him, tugging in an extraordinaryway He had to steady himself against thewall, and an odd tickle in his

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throat made him cough He turned his head,very slowly, and saw on a round shadowytable, a dark, lumpish thing Looking closer,

he saw that it was an ancient kettle,blackened by smoke

"I told you my best kettle was behind thescenes," Mrs Kettle said softly

"THAT'S your best kettle?" Charlie movedcloser to the blackened thing

"Oh, yes, by far." Mrs Kettle spoke so quietlyCharlie could barely hear her, and yet hesensed her excitement "It was made by myancestor Feromel more than five hundred

years ago Feromel was a blacksmith and amagician He made many magical iron pots.Goodness knows where they are now." Shecame and stood directly behind Charlie.

"You're a traveler, aren't you, Charlie? Iwondered if you would feel it."

"Feel it?" Charlie ran his hand over thecharred, rusty-looking handle The lid had around polished knob in the center Charliegently lifted it He gazed into a circle of darkliquid "It's full," he said

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"It's always full," said Mrs Kettle "Always Itcan't be emptied It can only boil dry But theday when that happens will be the end "Billy crept up to them "The end of what?"

"The world?" Charlie's gaze was held by thesmooth black water

"The end of a life," said Mrs Kettle "Put thelid back, Charlie, and take it with you."

"Me?" Charlie quickly replaced the lid "It'syours, Mrs Kettle I can't take it."

"Just for a while," she said gently You must,Charlie Feromel would want you to."

"But why?" Charlie stared at the round, blackthing, his hands at his sides, his fingerstwitching anxiously He didn't want the an-cient kettle with its ability to foretell a death.How many lives had been lost, he wondered,while it boiled away, merrily, in dark,smokey places, poisoning the air with its sin-ister steam

"It's not a bad thing, Charlie." Mrs Kettle ted her

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precious heirloom and held it out to Charlie.And then his tingling fingers had closedaround the handle

"I hope it will never boil dry for you,Charlie," said Mrs Kettle "These are

dangerous times for people like you, cially with that fish boy around, so it's bound

espe-to get warm It has no need of a sespe-tove It willsit wherever you want If there is a hint ofdanger in the air it will heat up The hotter itgets, the more you will need to look out foryourself." She smiled at everyone "Now getalong with you, my dears And I'll keep aneye on the fish shop."

They thanked Mrs Kettle for the tea and, afew moments later, Charlie found himselfwalking down Piminy Street with a blackkettle swinging from his hand

At the end of the street, they turned a cornerand ran straight into Emma and Olivia, withtwo very small children

"Oh, no, not Charlie Bone," said Olivia, andshe ran off in the direction of High Street.118

A STONE TROLL

lilivia was starting to annoy Charlie "Whydid she flounce off like that?" he said.

Emma gave him a sulky look "Why do youthink?"

Charlie was exasperated "She can't believe Isaid those things about her Dagbert made it

up He lied YOU didn't believe him, did you,Emma?"

"Well ," she said awkwardly "I always lieve it when people say I don't look nice,

be-or I'm stupid, be-or "

"You shouldn't, you stu -" Charlie stoppedhimself "I mean you mustn't."

"Dagbert lies all the time," said Billy

"He called Billy a freak," added Benjamin

"And Billy wasn't upset," said Charlie

"I was," muttered Billy

Charlie pretended he hadn't heard "And Ireally like the way you're doing your hair,Em."

Emma looked more cheerful She almostsmiled "I'll explain it all to Liv She's verysensitive about her appearance But, to tellthe truth, I think she enjoys a bit of drama.She'll soon get bored with being angry, andthen she'll act like it never happened."

"I hope it's soon," said Charlie

The small boy by Emma's side had been ing at the black kettle He suddenly said,

star-"What's that?"

"This?" Charlie swung the kettle sciously "It's just an old kettle I'mborrowing."

self-con-"Very, very, very old," the boy observed.Emma cried, "I'm sorry, I forgot! These areyour cousins, Charlie."

"You mean Great-aunt Venetia's children?"Charlie began to take an interest in the

waiflike pair "I'm Charlie." He grinned atthem "So - my great-aunt is your newmother."

"We know," said the girl "I'm Miranda andthis is Eric We're going to get our dog."

"You wouldn't come with us, would you,Charlie?" Emma smiled persuasively "Idon't like Darkly Wynd,

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and now Olivia's gone " She hugged herselfand shivered

"Of course we'll come," said Charlie

Darkly Wynd was not the sort of place peopleliked to visit on their own A dark, narrow al-ley led into a courtyard where tall, graybuildings gathered around a square of roughcobblestones Most of the houses wereboarded up, their doors nailed shut and theirwindows barred

At the end of the courtyard a block of ings stood facing the alley They had tallpointed turrets, iron-framed balconies, andlong windows, their pediments adorned withstrange stone figures: trolls, goblins,dwarves, demons, and unlikely beasts.

build-Aunt Venetia's house, on the right, had ashiny new roof; it looked a lot cleaner thanAunt Eustacia's house, in the middle, orLucretia's, on the left

"Great-aunt Venetia's had her house doneup," Charlie remarked "It looked awful afterthe fire."

"Fire?" Miranda's small face puckered withfear "How did it happen?"

Three sets of steps led up to three blackdoors, and a number thirteen, in polishedbronze, was fixed to the center of each door.

"Three thirteens," Billy whispered (It wasthe sort of place that made you speak verysoftly.) "Doesn't the mailman get confused?"

"Probably," said Charlie

A sudden, frantic whining came from insidethe third number thirteen, and Mirandacried, "It's Chattypatra! You can hear her."They ran across the courtyard and stopped atthe foot of the steps Runner Bean began tobark excitedly His tail wagged so fast youcould hardly see it

"Your uncle said the key was under the troll,"Emma told Charlie

"What troll?" And then Charlie saw it Asquat, evil-looking lump of stone standing in

a dark corner of the porch

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"We're coming, Chattypatra," called anda "We're coming."

Mir-The whining increased It grew into a stream

of delirious barks, while Runner Bean joined

in with his own special brand of yelping

"SHUT UP!" cried Charlie, glaring at the bigdog

Benjamin clamped his hand around RunnerBean's nose "You don't have to talk to himlike that," he said in an offended tone

"Sorry, but I just can't think." Charlie stared

at the troll

"What's there to think about? The key's der the troll." Emma began to mount thesteps

un-"No, Em." Charlie grabbed her arm "Takethis." He handed her the kettle

"Wow, it's heavy." She touched theblackened side "And it's warm."

"I know." Charlie had noticed the kettle ting warmer Did it have something to dowith Great-aunt Venetia's house? He climbedthe steps while the others remained on thesidewalk, watching him silently.

Charlie turned to the group behind him, alllooking up expectantly, except for Eric whowas gazing at the troll with an odd, distantexpression

Charlie took a breath, bent down veryquickly, and pushed the troll backward And

there was Great-aunt Venetia's front doorkey He picked it up and flourished it at theothers.

Everyone cried, "Hooray!" and rushed up thesteps

Charlie fitted the key into the lock, turned it,and the door swung open without so much as

a squeak, let alone the sinister creak that heexpected

A small, white dog shot out of the house andleaped into Miranda's arms

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"Oh, Chatty, Chatty!" Miranda's eyes were indanger of overflowing

Eric merely smiled in an offhand way

Runner Bean was beside himself with joy Hetore away from Benjamin and leaped at Mir-anda, nuzzling the dog in her arms.Chattypatra had no objection; in fact, she

nuzzled him back and yapped very sedatelyinto one of his ears.

"A marriage made in heaven." Benjaminsighed contentedly "I knew Runner wouldfind a girlfriend one day."

Miranda gave him a serious look

Charlie replaced the key and they left DarklyWynd as quickly as possible Charlie feltsorry for the two children who would have toreturn to the company of his awful aunt Eus-tacia later He wondered if he should askthem to stay at number nine, but somethingstopped him - perhaps it was the cool look inEric's eyes and the way the small boy keptglancing at the kettle

"Here!" Emma passed the kettle back toCharlie

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"That has to be the weirdest kettle ever It'sgone cold now."

Charlie's fingers closed over the freezinghandle He didn't mention the kettle'sstrange history.

The two groups of children parted when theyreached High Street Charlie, Benjamin, andBilly turned left toward Filbert Street, whilethe others headed back to the cathedral.Benjamin needed Charlie's help to drag Run-ner Bean away from his girlfriend, andChattypatra, now walking obediently besideMiranda, kept stopping to look wistfully inRunner Bean's direction

"It doesn't seem fair," said Billy "Those dogswould much rather be together than withus."

"Are you going to tell us what they were ing?" asked Charlie

say-Billy went pink "Oh, just love stuff."

Benjamin raised his eyebrows and looked athis dog "Like what?"

Billy cleared his throat "Like, er, you're thebest thing I've seen since breakfast."

thought-Charlie didn't ask what Chattypatra had said

He thought he'd probably be disappointed

He reckoned Billy was keeping a whole lot tohimself He would be too embarrassed to re-peat anything very lovey-dovey

They reached number nine and Benjaminwas invited in to lunch Billy looked anxious

As soon as they were inside he carried brandt up to Charlie's room He didn't wantRunner Bean chasing his rat all around thehouse

Rem-Maisie had prepared one of her usual, moth lunches "You got into number

mam-thirteen, then?" she said as the boys dug intotheir roast beef "Paton told me all about it."

"We found the dog and Runner fell for her."Benjamin glanced fondly at his dog, who wassitting

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in a corner not even touching the bone thatMaisie had put down for him

"He has got it badly," Maisie observed

"That's a real lovelorn look." She suddenlynoticed the black kettle on the floor besideCharlie's foot "And what's that, may I ask?"

"It's, um, a kettle," said Charlie "I got it atthe shop on Piminy Street."

"Whatever do you want an old thing like thatfor?" asked Maisie "Isn't my nice electrickettle good enough?"

"That one's special," said Billy

"Oh!" Understanding dawned in Maisie "Isuppose Mrs Kettle is one of those Red Kingpeople."

"Her ancestor was a kind of smith," Charlie told her "He made the kettleand - well, it might be helpful to me."

magician-black-"Hmph." Maisie was proud of Charlie's dowment, but there were times when sheconsidered it a terrible misfortune So often

en-it had led him into

It was uncanny how she always noticed thethings that Charlie didn't want her to.

"What's that?" she demanded

"Nothing, Grandma," said Charlie foolishly

"Don't be stupid I can see it isn't nothing.It's a filthy old kettle Take it out I don'twant it in my house."

Maisie pulled back a chair, saying, "Do youwant some lunch, Grizelda?"

Without raising her eyes from the kettle,Grandma Bone said, "I've had lunch, anddon't try and distract me."

Charlie was suddenly inspired "It's forschool,

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Grandma We were told to find ancient facts for history I feel rather proud ofmyself."

arti-Grandma Bone's face softened a little Schoolwork was a priority in her book She wasn't

entirely put off the scent, though "Why didyou say it was nothing if it's for school?"Charlie was stumped He looked at Billy andBenjamin, hoping for assistance They staredback, in helpless silence.

Charlie was saved by Runner Bean The bigdog hated Grandma Bone The very smell ofher was enough to bring a great, grumblinggrowl out of him

"I thought I told you not to bring that dog inhere." Grandma Bone turned her attention toBenjamin

"Yes, Mrs Bone," said Benjamin, almostinaudibly

Maisie couldn't stand having one of hermeals interrupted in this way "For goodness'sake, Grizelda." She banged down the emptychair "If you don't want to eat, leave us inpeace These boys are cold and hungry and I

won't have you putting them off their nicehot meal The dog's not doing any harm."130

"You watch it, Maisie Jones." Grandma Bonewas enjoying her very bad mood You couldtell by the nasty smile on her face "If youkeep defying me," she continued, "you'll beout on your ear This is my house and you'reonly here on sufferance."

A voice from behind her said, "OUR house,Grizelda."

Grandma Bone nearly jumped out of herskin She hadn't heard Uncle Paton creep upbehind her

"Stop talking nonsense and let us eat inpeace." Uncle Paton seized his sister'sshoulders

She wriggled out of his grasp, muttering der her breath, then rushed upstairs

un-Uncle Paton walked into the kitchen andtook his place at the end of the table "SorryI'm late," he said as though nothing at all hadhappened.

The boys felt like cheering, but restrainedthemselves in case Grandma Bone found anasty way to get back at them Benjaminalready had indigestion It was the onlydrawback to visiting Charlie, the gut-churn-ing scenes with Grandma Bone

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The rest of the meal passed very pleasantly

By the time they'd reached the plum ding, Charlie had told his uncle all about thevisit to Mrs Kettle and the rescue ofChattypatra

pud-"Let's have a look at this kettle," said UnclePaton, when the last bit of plum pudding hadgone

Charlie lifted the kettle onto the table

"Dirty thing," grumbled Maisie, stacking theempty plates.

Uncle Paton put on his glasses and pulled thekettle toward him He lifted the lid

"Mmmm." He sniffed the dark liquid

"Smells of nothing at all," he remarked, "butthis is certainly very, very old." He tappedthe side "Iron Yes Quite cold."

"That's because there's no danger," saidBilly

"I bet it was hot a moment ago," said jamin, looking at the spot where GrandmaBone had been standing

Ben-"She's not dangerous," said Charlie Ben-"She'sjust mean But something in Aunt Venetia'shouse was dangerous, unless " Hehesitated

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"Unless what, Charlie?" Uncle Paton lookedover the top of his half-moon glasses

"Nothing." Charlie didn't know how to plain the troll's blink After all, it could havebeen his imagination.

ex-Uncle Paton told him to keep the kettle in hisroom "Somewhere out of sight, if I were you,Charlie," his uncle added "You don't want tolose it."

Ordinarily, Charlie would have gone to thePets' Cafe on a Sunday afternoon But todaydidn't feel ordinary He didn't want to meet

up with Olivia again, and the word was outthat Tancred and Lysander would be withtheir girlfriends Somehow, Charlie didn'tsee the Pets' Cafe as a likely place to takeone's girlfriend The atmosphere was hardlywhat you would call romantic

So the boys watched TV in the kitchen, untilthe light left the sky, and a night full of starscovered the city

When Benjamin went home, Runner Beanstill had a yearning look in his big browneyes.

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"I'll have to take him back to seeChattypatra," Benjamin called across thestreet "Next weekend, maybe."

"Maybe," said Charlie He thought of the twosmall children in Darkly Wynd He hopedChattypatra would be allowed to sleep withthem

Charlie watched Benjamin go through hisfront door and turned to climb the steps ofnumber nine A movement down the streetcaught his eye Something bobbed behind atree, a low, shapeless thing He quicklystepped inside and closed the door

It was time for candles Maisie switched offthe kitchen lamp and Charlie turned out thelight in the hall Grandma Bone was the only