Charlie Bone and the Hidden King (Children of the Red King) by Nimmo Jenny

Author:Nimmo, Jenny [Nimmo, Jenny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781780312064
Publisher: Egmont UK
Published: 2012-02-24T06:00:00+00:00

The shocking truth

The only sound in the room came from footsteps that began near the door. Sharp and light, they were made by a woman wearing very high heels.

Charlie was so shocked, he began to feel sick. Billy’s face, in the gloom, looked grey with fear. If this could happen, anything was possible.

The footsteps reached the platform and Dr Bloor found his voice at last. ‘Miss Chrystal, please step up and tell us how all this came about.’

‘Thank you.’ There were four light footfalls on the steps up to the top table.

‘Someone give her a seat,’ said Ezekiel.

‘I prefer to stand,’ said Miss Chrystal.

‘Are you going to tell us your . . . your history, my dear,’ asked Dr Bloor, ‘and how you released the count? We are all eager to know the details.’

Jolted out of their dumbfounded silence, the audience loudly agreed.

‘Of course.’ Miss Chrystal’s voice was still light and musical, but all the sweetness had gone out of it. Now there was a coldness behind her words; a hard and brittle note that made Charlie shiver.

‘Fourteen years ago I was the happiest girl in the world. I was in love and I thought the man I loved returned my feelings. But he rejected me and married another. My heart was broken. I thought I would die. Eventually, I married a man called Matthew Tilpin. We had a son, Joshua.’

At this point Charlie almost spluttered out loud. Billy carefully laid a hand over Charlie’s open mouth.

‘Not long after Joshua was born,’ went on Miss Chrystal, ‘my husband left us. He said he was afraid of our baby. Things stuck to Joshua, you see. Dust, fluff, insects, bits of paper, and when you touched his tiny hands they clung. It was difficult to draw away. Matthew said that if he stayed, one day the baby would make him do something terrible. He could already feel Joshua bending his will.

‘My mother had often told me that we were descended from the Red King,’ Miss Chrystal continued, ‘and I had some success with magic when I was a child. But it is useless in affairs of the heart, so I rather gave it up. And then, last Christmas, my great-uncle died and left me a chest full of papers. Some had been in the family for nine hundred years. A lot of it was impossible to read. Much was useless scribbling, but I did discover that we were descended from Lilith, the Red King’s eldest daughter, and her husband, Count Harken Badlock.’

The hundred heads all gasped at once, but Miss Chrystal ploughed on, almost without taking breath, ‘Among the papers was a map, in perfect condition, but very, very small. You wouldn’t believe how small it was – is. It must have been overlooked for generations. I have no idea who made it – perhaps the count drew it himself. I must ask him.’ She gave a small laugh. ‘It told me where I could find the Mirror of Amoret. The mirror that would bring the count back into the world.

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