CotRK 05 Charlie Bone and the Hidden King by Jenny Nimmo

Author:Jenny Nimmo [Nimmo, Jenny]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2009-10-28T05:00:00+00:00

They laughed at him.

And then the Branko twins appeared. Standing close together, they stared at the stones in the wall, stared and stared. A huge boulder dropped out and the whole wall shuddered.

Can they do that? thought Charlie. Can they bring down a wall that's lasted nine hundred years?

They could. Two huge stones tumbled from the top of the wall, and then one of the twins began to talk. They so rarely spoke it was quite a shock.

"What a tragic accident," said the black-haired, doll-faced girl. "Charlie Bone climbed an old wall, and down it came, rumble, tumble, with Charlie on top...."

"And then underneath," continued the other twin in a deeper, more sinister tone.

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With a jarring thud, another huge stone hit the hard earth, and this time the wall trembled so violently, Charlie fell to his knees. He clung to the mossy surface as it rocked and shook, trying to imagine what it would be like to be buried alive.

When the sound came Charlie thought it was from another part of the wall. But then it grew louder, an angry, swelling buzz.

The children on the ground were looking up. They began to back away. Some of them screamed. Following their gaze, Charlie saw a black cloud falling through the trees. The buzz became a roar and the whole crowd scattered, howling and screaming. Joshua Tilpin was the last to go. "You're going to be stung to death, Charlie Bone," he shouted as he ran off.

Bees? Swarming in winter? Who had sent them? The shadow? Charlie closed his eyes. Which was worse, he wondered, being stung to death or buried by a wall?

The buzzing stopped. Charlie kept his eyes closed, waiting for the tickle of bees' feet on his bare face and

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hands. Waiting for the first angry sting. Nothing happened. Charlie opened one eye. Nothing on the wall. Nothing in the air.

"Charlie!"

Charlie opened his other eye. He saw Emma and Olivia looking up at him from the base of the wall. They were both smiling.

"What on earth... ?" said Charlie.

"An illusion!" cried Olivia, leaping in the air. "It was a good one, wasn't it?"

"Certainly was." Charlie gingerly let himself down from the wall.

None of them noticed a woman approaching through the mist. She stopped a few yards away from them and hid behind a tree.

"We saw them following you," said Emma, "so we followed them, but we didn't know what to do. There were so many of them. Joshua's magnetism is definitely having an effect."

"And then I thought of bees." Olivia gave another joyful leap. "I'm so proud of myself."

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"You saved me!" Charlie gave her a hug. "Phew. I'm so glad to be..."

There was a sudden rustle in the trees behind them, and they all turned to see a figure making off, rather fast, into the mist. There was no mistaking the neat gray suit and short trim haircut.

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