Charlie Bone and the Wilderness Wolf (Children of the Red King, Book 6) (11 page)

"And then the hunters came," said Benjamin.

"Yes, and then the hunters came." Her voice was so faint they could barely hear it.

Charlie hesitated before saying, "So it was the hunters who killed your husband?"

The woman began to shake. She twittered like a bird, whimpered, covered her face with long-fingered, hairy hands. "They killed him. They killed him. He was trying to lead them away from our boy. There was a shot and he fell. I dragged him into the shadows, covered him with branches and leaves so they wouldn't see him. But the man who shot him saw him fall, saw the ground all bloody where my poor husband dropped. He thought he'd crawled away to die. So they left."

"And they didn't find Asa," said Olivia.

"Not the hunters, no. But when I went to tell our boy his father was... dead" - she closed her eyes and screwed up her face - "Asa was gone. His cave was empty, the barred gate unlocked. They've moved him deeper underground, I know it, so his howling can't be heard."

"Who's 'they, Mrs. Pike?" asked Olivia. "It is Mrs. Pike, isn't it?"

The woman looked up. "Yes, that is my name."

"The Bloors took Asa, didn't they?" said Charlie.

"Them. Yes," she said sullenly.

The children looked at one another. They had come to rescue Asa but found instead his mother, who seemed to need their help as much as Asa.

"I think we should take you somewhere, Mrs. Pike," said Charlie, "somewhere safe, in case the hunters come back. Where's your home?"

"Far, far." Mrs. Pike began to sway back and forth. "Can't go back, not with my boy here, somewhere."

Olivia stood up. "Mrs. Pike, you can't stay in the wilderness. You'll freeze to death. And, like Charlie said, the hunters might come back." Now that the woman had a name, Olivia spoke just as she might to a friend.

Mrs. Pike responded with a rueful smile. "I can't walk. I fell when I was moving my husband. My ankle was badly twisted."

"Worse and worse," muttered Benjamin.

Runner Bean whined in sympathy. He had remained on the other side of the glade, not sure what to make of things.

Charlie had been thinking. There was only one place where they could take Mrs. Pike - the Pets' Cafe. "I know someone who will take care of you," he said. "His name is Mr. Onimous. I'm going to pull you up now. Olivia, go around the other side of Mrs. Pike and help."

Mrs. Pike didn't object when they heaved her onto her one good leg, but she groaned horribly when they dragged her away from the grave.

They decided not to return by the stone bridge. By now it would be too busy. They would have to use the slightly dangerous iron bridge. None of them was very heavy, and if they were careful, they should be able to get safely across. The Pets' Cafe wasn't far from the bridge, and with luck they should reach it before anyone noticed the odd-looking person hobbling between them.

They found the narrow path again, and soon, as the trees began to thin, they saw two rough wooden fence posts ahead of them. Charlie knew they had reached Bartholomew Bloor's cottage. The sanctuary.

Supporting Mrs. Pike, they shuffled into a yard that had once been full of animals. It was utterly deserted.

"What is this place?" Olivia asked.

"My friend Naren lived here," said Charlie. "Her father is Dr. Bloor's father, but he isn't like the other Bloors. He hates them. He felt safer away from the city, but still near to the Red King's castle. He wanted it to be a secret place. He must have left with his family as soon as he heard hunters in the wilderness."

"I knew them," rasped Mrs. Pike. "They were good to us. Go and see, boy. See if they've really gone." She pulled away from Charlie and leaned against the top bar of the fence.

Charlie ran to the cottage and looked in the window. The table was there and two chairs, but everything else had gone: the photographs on the wall, the lamps, the kettle, the pots and pans, the china ornaments, and the mementos that Bartholomew had collected on his many travels. All gone.

"No one there," said Charlie, walking back to the little group.

Mrs. Pike began to moan. "Not gone, not gone. What will become of them? It was a good place and they were kind."

All at once Charlie understood why Mrs. Pike was so concerned for Bartholomew and his family. "You lived here, didn't you?" he said.

Mrs. Pike nodded. "In a barn, for a while." She made a funny little noise at the back of her throat, her head fell forward, and she began to slide to the ground.

Olivia caught her, just in time. "She's fainted. Take her arm, someone. This isn't going to be easy."

Easy it certainly wasn't. How they managed to haul, lift, and drag Mrs. Pike as far as the bridge, Charlie would never know. The poor woman would regain consciousness, hop a little way, then slump into their arms like a dead thing. When they finally reached the bridge, Charlie ached all over, and he could see that the others were in the same state. Their troubles had hardly begun.

"That's not safe," Olivia declared, staring at the thin band of wrought iron disappearing into the mist.

"It's OK, Liv. I've crossed it several times," said Charlie. "So's Benjamin - and Runner Bean."

"You're crazy," said Olivia.

"It's the only way," Benjamin pointed out.

"What about her?" Olivia looked at Mrs. Pike, slumped against Charlie's shoulder.

As if in answer, a wave of fog came swirling toward them over the river. Now they could hardly see more than a few inches in front of them. Olivia shined her flashlight into the advancing fog. It hardly penetrated at all. "Useless," she said.

"We'll feel our way," Charlie said heartily. Someone had to be positive, after all. "Come on. Benjamin, you go first with one hand on the railing, and one hand holding the back of my jacket, to guide me. I'll walk backward and I'll haul Mrs. Pike along, while Olivia follows, making sure that Mrs. Pike's feet don't fall over the side ..."

"And take us all with her," Olivia said grimly.

No one could think of a better plan, and so they began the perilous trek across the river. They had only gone a few meters when Benjamin cried out, "The railing's gone ... I can't see ... I can't see anything. The fog's too thick - and - and something's happening."

Charlie grabbed the last bit of railing before the link was broken. A roaring, rushing sound filled his ears and, to his horror, he felt water washing over his feet. This
can't be happening,
he thought.
The river was at least thirty feet below the bridge. How can it rise this far?
He thought of Dagbert's endowment.

Olivia's feeble croak came drifting toward Charlie. "My feet are soaked. Is the river tidal? I mean, do you think there's a special time of year when it rises?"

Charlie wondered if now was the time to tell a lie. He knew the river wasn't tidal, but he had to keep up their spirits. "Could be," he said. "We'll have to crawl. Safer that way."

"But we'll get wetter. We'll drown," wailed Benjamin.

"I don't know where the next bit of railing is, or even if there is one, I... oh!"

A radiant light suddenly illuminated the area all around them.

"It's your moth!" cried Benjamin. "Look, Charlie! Over your head -"

Charlie looked up. There, fluttering in the air above him, was the white moth, her silvery wings throwing out brilliant shafts of light.

"Thank you!" breathed Charlie. "What would I do without you, Claerwen the moth!"

"I can see the railing," Benjamin shouted. "Yes. I've got it. Come on, Charlie."

By now, all three children were on their knees. It was just as well. Driven by the swirling river, the bridge began to heave from side to side. Charlie felt himself sliding toward the water. With one hand, he clung tight to Mrs. Pike; with the other, he clutched the edge of the bridge.

Frozen with terror, Benjamin couldn't move another inch. "We're going to drown!" he cried.

"We will if you don't keep going," yelled Olivia.

Behind her, Charlie could just make out the dark shape of a very wet Runner Bean; he was crawling slowly toward them on his belly. The bridge suddenly tilted violently. Everyone screamed as they slid across the bridge, clinging to whatever they could find. There was a howl of fear, and when Charlie looked over Mrs. Pike's sprawled body he could see Olivia, one arm thrown around a railing, the other wrapped tightly around Mrs. Pike's feet. Beyond Olivia, the bridge was empty.

"Was that Runner howling?" shouted Benjamin. "Is he OK?"

"Keep going, Ben," Charlie grunted.

"I can't, I can't. I'll fall in."

We'll all fall in,
thought Charlie,
and that will be the end of us.
He imagined Runner Bean struggling against the vicious current. He wouldn't be able to struggle for long.

Slowly, the bridge swung back until it was straight again. They waited for the next heave. It never came.

All at once the iron beneath them felt firm and steady. When Charlie stood up, his feet held to the bridge as though it had an almost magnetic force. And yet he could move quite safely.

"Can you feel that?" he called to Benjamin.

"Yes. Yes. I feel safe now," said Benjamin. "And I can see the other side, where your moth is flying."

"Wow!" Olivia stood with legs wide apart. "It's amazing. And look, Mrs. Pike's feet aren't sliding about anymore."

"Let's get going!" Charlie glanced unhappily at the empty bridge behind Olivia. He felt sick with apprehension. There was now a very good chance that they would survive, but what would Benjamin do when he discovered that Runner Bean had fallen into the river?

The wilderness was still shrouded in thick fog, but the mist was rolling back from the water, and Charlie could just make out the far end of the bridge. He half closed his eyes, squinting into the distance. Could he believe what he was seeing?

"What are you staring at, Charlie?" asked Olivia.

"There's someone at the end of the bridge," Charlie said softly.

"Where?" Olivia swung around. "Oh,
wow!

"I'm not seeing things, then?"

"No, Charlie," Olivia said in awe. "I can see him, too."

The figure itself was indistinct. It appeared to be dressed in dull gray, but there was nothing obscure about the red cloak, or the shining silver helmet with its brilliant scarlet crest.

"A knight," Charlie murmured.

Benjamin looked back. He was too late to see the knight, for he had vanished into the mist. All Benjamin could see was an empty bridge.

"Where's Runner? HE'S GONE!" cried Benjamin. He pounded over the bridge, leaped onto dry land, and rushed along the bank beside the swirling river.

11

MERROMALS

All
the excitement had roused Mrs. Pike. Heaving herself upright, she asked, "What's going on?"

"Benjamin's dog fell into the river, Mrs. Pike," Olivia told her. "And now Ben's rushed off to find him."

"In that?" Mrs. Pike stared at the foam spilling across the water. "He'll drown, poor boy."

"He's very sensible," Olivia assured her. "And at least we're safe. Look, just a little way now, and we're there."

Charlie thought,
Benjamin's not safe.
But Asa's mother seemed to need his help more than anyone else just then.

Mrs. Pike managed to hop the rest of the way over the bridge, but needed Charlie's arm to steady herself on the steps up to the road.

"Charlie Bone, there's a light on your head," Mrs. Pike observed when they got to the top.

"Oh, yes. She's my wand," said Charlie, "or rather she WAS my wand. Her light helped us to get across the bridge."

"A wand ..." Mrs. Pike spoke in a faraway sort of voice. "How very useful."

A narrow lane bordered by tall hedges led into the town. Once on High Street there would be only a short way to go before they reached the Pets' Cafe.

The town was not busy that morning. It was misty and cold, and no one paid much attention to two children and a hopping person whose face was hidden by a large hood. Mrs. Pike couldn't move as fast as Charlie would have liked, but at last they turned into the cobblestoned alley called Frog Street.

Standing at the very end of Frog Street, the Pets' Cafe had an ancient look about it. Who could tell how long it had been there, for it was built into the thick city wall, and that was nine hundred years old. Above the window there was a sign decorated with whiskers, paws, tails, and wings. No one was allowed to enter without a pet. Luckily, Charlie knew the owners well.

It was now ten o'clock. The cafe opened at half past ten.

Charlie rang the bell. There was, of course, no answer. The owners, Mr. and Mrs. Onimous, didn't like people arriving early. They wouldn't open the door on principle.

Charlie banged on the window and shouted, "Help! Mr. Onimous, come quickly. PLEASE!"

Mrs. Pike gave a small moan and sank to the ground.

"Mr. Onimous, come quickly!" cried Charlie again. "There's been an accident."

The door opened very suddenly and a large man wearing a yellow sweater stood glaring down at them. "You know we don't open until half past ten," he bellowed.

Norton Cross was the doorman, or bouncer, as Charlie liked to call him. It was Norton's duty to prevent anyone without a pet from entering the premises.

"This is an emergency, Mr. Cross!" wailed Olivia.

Norton folded his arms across his chest. "Where are your pets?"

Charlie had no answer.

"I suppose you call a moth a pet," said Norton.

"Ummm... ," Charlie began.

"There's one on your head," said Norton.

"Ah, yes. My pet," Charlie agreed.

"And yours?" Norton asked Olivia.

"You're wasting time," Olivia said angrily. "I haven't actually got..."

At this point there was a moan from the ground. Mrs. Pike raised herself on all fours and crawled forward. She looked up at Norton. He stared back, lost for words.

"You'd better come in," he said at last.

Olivia and Charlie helped Mrs. Pike to her feet and heaved her into the cafe. Breathing heavily, she allowed herself to be steered through the cafe, around the counter, and into the kitchen.

"Visitors," Norton announced as he held back the curtain behind the counter.

The Onimouses' cozy kitchen never failed to lift Charlie's spirits. It was here that the three famous cats resided, when they were not out on an important errand of their own. Not for nothing were they called the Flames. Today, all three were asleep on top of a cupboard, their thick bright tails hanging over the side like upside-down question marks. One was yellow, one orange, and the third a coppery red.

Mr. Onimous could almost have been an animal himself. Very small, round, and hairy, with sharp bright teeth and long pointed nails, he reminded Charlie of a cuddly kind of rodent. As for his wife, Onoria, she was in every way the exact opposite of her husband. She was six feet tall with thin, wispy hair and the longest nose you're ever likely to see on a human being.

When a not-quite-human-looking person hobbled into their kitchen, the Onimouses didn't blink an eye. To them, she was just another poor creature, obviously in need of their help.

"Sit down, my dear." Mrs. Onimous pulled out a chair for their visitor.

Mrs. Pike sank into it with a sigh and laid her head on the table.

"What troubles have we here?" asked Mr. Onimous.

Olivia said, "This is Mrs. Pike. She's twisted her ankle. But we need to use your phone, Mr. Onimous. It's urgent. Runner Bean may have drowned and Benjamin's gone looking for him."

"The river has risen," Charlie added. "It's as high as the bridge. Benjamin could drown, too! And I think maybe I should go back and look for him."

"You just wait here, Charlie Bone. Heaven, help us!" Mrs. Onimous ran to the telephone in the cafe.

Charlie and Olivia could hear her gabbing away in a rather high voice, while they stood waiting uneasily on either side of Mrs. Pike.

In less than a minute, Mrs. Onimous was back. She looked annoyed. "The police say they've had no reports of a high river. In fact, Officer Singh says he noticed it was particularly low when he came across the bridge this morning. And if a boy is looking for his dog, that's his business. His parents must report him missing if anything is to be done about it."

"The river WAS up," Olivia said angrily. "It washed right over my feet. My boots are still wet. I saw it... unless..."

"Dagbert-the-drowner," Charlie said quietly.

Olivia stared at him.
Dagbert,
she mouthed.

"Kids, take off your shoes and put them by the stove," said Mr. Onimous, "and then sit down and tell me about this poor lady." He nodded at Mrs. Pike.

Charlie and Olivia pulled off their wet shoes and socks and placed them by the stove. But when Charlie sat down he found he was incapable of giving the Onimouses a clear explanation about what had happened. He was too concerned about Benjamin. So it was Olivia who launched into a lengthy account of Asa's imprisonment, the hunting party, and the shooting of Mr. Pike.

"Murder!" cried Mrs. Onimous. "Just because people are" - she glanced at Mrs. Pike's coarse, reddish-colored hair - "outsiders, it's no excuse. Whatever we are, whoever we are, murder is murder."

"I agree," said Olivia. "But I don't think Mrs. Pike wants to bring an action, or whatever you call it. I don't think she wants to be seen, if you get me."

Mr. Onimous gently touched Mrs. Pike's shoulder. "You're with friends now, dear. We'll do what we can for you. There's a nice cozy room above the cafe. You can stay as long as you like. We'll find that son of yours, if he's still..."

Mrs. Onimous looked hard at her husband and vigorously shook her head.

"I expect they've hidden him somewhere dark and..." Mr. Onimous frowned and put his hand over his mouth, as though struck by a sudden thought. "By golly... I wonder?"

"Do you think you know where he is?" asked Charlie.

"Tell us," cried Olivia.

"Can't, kids. Got to ponder it a bit." Mr. Onimous sat down and stroked his furry chin.

His words had had an effect on Mrs. Pike. She lifted her head and gazed around at them, her yellow eyes full of hope. "He can be saved, my Asa?"

"He can, my dear," Mr. Onimous said confidently. "Now, can you tell us a little about yourself, and how you came to this city? Forgive me, but it seems that you are very much a stranger here."

"I am." Mrs. Pike clasped her hands together and said, "I would like some water, please."

"What am I thinking of?" Mrs. Onimous leaped to put the kettle on. "You shall have herbal tea, my dear, a good restorative drink. And seedcake perhaps, with juicy raisins and revitalizing spices."

"I thoroughly recommend it," said Mr. Onimous, fetching a glass from the cupboard. "But first some water."

"And frozen peas for the ankle?" Olivia suggested.

"Frozen peas it is. I see you know a thing or two, Olivia." Mr. Onimous set a glass of water before Mrs. Pike and then delved into the freezer for a bag of peas.

While Mrs. Pike was being attended to, Charlie stood up. Benjamin was still very much on his mind. Someone should be looking for him. But when Charlie made for the door, Mrs. Pike began to speak, and her soft, husky voice drew him back. Before he knew it, he was sitting down again and listening to an incredible story.

Words poured out of Mrs. Pike as though she'd been holding them back for years, waiting for the time when she could talk about her family, and the extraordinary place that she'd come from. "We live in what you might call enchanted places, forests moving with the secret currents in the air. They say that Cafall the Changer began it all. He was one of the Red King's sons. A wicked one. But Cafall was changeable, you see. All of a sudden goodness would come over him. It was in one of these righteous moods that he took flight from the castle. Evil was growing there, and he could take no more. So he sailed away and found, by chance, the land of the Merromals. Merromals are people like me." Mrs. Pike's heavy brow lifted slightly and she gave a wry smile. "Not all Merromals look like me and Mr. Pike. A mutual attraction drew us together.

"Well, Cafall took a Merromal wife, and they had a son, and that's when the changing began. Their child was a boy by day and a beast at dusk. And so it went on, through the generations."

Mrs. Pike took several noisy sips of herbal tea. It was obvious that she had more to say and her rapt audience remained silent, waiting for her to continue. Charlie politely dropped his gaze when her huge teeth bit into the seedcake, but Olivia couldn't stop her nose from wrinkling.

"It's very gratifying to be so carefully listened to." Mrs. Pike brushed a few crumbs from her chin and continued. "I will tell you about my family."

"Please." Mr. Onimous nodded eagerly.

"We brought our son to this kingdom fifteen years ago. Merromals don't travel well, but we, Mr. Pike and I, decided that we must see more of the great world that we all live in. I expect you're wondering how we came by our education. ..." She looked around the table, but no one would admit that such an idea had crossed their minds. Mrs. Pike smiled. "Well, I'll tell you. It was books. Cafall took his father's great book of legends when he left the castle. Since then we have collected more legends, more words. We have printers, yes, really. We have libraries, many of them. When Merromals travel, they always come home with more books, more subjects, more words, more ideas. We are a very educated people, although sometimes our children find schoolwork hard. It was like this for Asa."

Charlie remembered that Asa had failed his last exams. He waited for Mrs. Pike to continue, but she was intent on eating at that moment. She had stuffed the rest of the cake into her mouth and was chewing heartily.

"More cake, Mrs. Pike?" Mrs. Onimous hastily cut extra slices and pushed the plate across the table. "Come on, Charlie, Olivia, eat up. There's plenty more."

Charlie was glad that Mrs. Onimous had been the first to speak, and by doing so broke the spell. He took a slice of cake, waited for Mrs. Pike to swallow, and then asked, "Why did you send Asa to Bloor's Academy, Mrs. Pike?"

She looked at him in surprise. "Where else would he go? It's where the Red King lived, where other endowed children go. Not that you'd call Asa's affliction an endowment, exactly. But we felt he would fit in, and he did, for a while. Manfred Bloor took him under his wing, and life was quite good for Asa... and then ..." Her voice trailed away.

"And then he changed sides," Olivia put in. "He helped Charlie to get his father back."

"The Bloors will never forgive Asa, will they?" Charlie said sadly.

Mrs. Pike patted Charlie's hand. "He did the right thing. It's not your fault, Charlie Bone. We were proud of our Asa for helping you against the Bloors. But we didn't expect their wrath to be so terrible. If Manfred hadn't been injured like that..." She glanced up at the three cats.

"I know," said Mr. Onimous, following her gaze. "It's hard to believe they could do that to a person."

"They were leopards once," Charlie said defensively. "What do you expect?"

Everyone looked up at the three bright tails, and Leo, the orange cat, woke up, almost as though he felt their eyes on him. He stretched and yawned, and then regarded the scene below with haughty golden eyes.

"I can't feel sorry for Manfred," said Charlie. "He put my father in a trance so deep, he would never have woken up if it hadn't been for the cats."

"We know, dear," said Mrs. Onimous.

There was a question that Charlie had been wanting to ask Mrs. Pike. Now seemed the right time. "Were you in our empty house, Mrs. Pike, a week ago? I thought I saw you in the street outside, when my uncle, er, when the streetlight kind of exploded."

Mrs. Pike turned to look at Charlie. She seemed a little fearful. Her mouth twitched and her hands began to tremble. "In your house?" she whispered.

"The place that used to be our house," Charlie amended. "I don't live there at the moment, but when my parents come back from their vacation, and the builders have repaired it... oh, please. I'm sorry."

Charlie couldn't continue because Mrs. Pike appeared to be very distressed. She had covered her face with her hands and was shaking quite violently.

Mrs. Onimous put an arm around the troubled woman. "There, there, dear. Charlie meant no harm, I'm sure."

"I'm really sorry," Charlie said in an undertone. "I didn't mean to upset anyone."

Mr. Onimous took a handful of tissues from a box on the dresser and offered them to Mrs. Pike. She grabbed the tissues, dabbed her eyes, rubbed her cheeks, and loudly blew her nose. When all this was done, she stopped shaking, squared her shoulders, and said in a firm voice, "I can't deny it. You deserve the truth, Charlie Bone."