A loud bark broke into Charlie's thoughts. He raised his head. The dog must have been at the front of the house, but its bark came ringing down the hall.
Charlie didn't know that Benjamin had lifted the flap on the letterbox, and Runner Bean was barking right through it.
Charlie's eyes flew open. Manfred had straightened up, but Eustacia sat in a confused silence, gazing at the table.
"Snap out of it, Stace!" Grandma Bone clicked her fingers close to Eustacia's nose, and Eustacia frowned up at her. "Well done, we got what we wanted."
"There's more," mumbled Eustacia.
"And there's a stupid dog at the door," shouted Venetia. "We'll have to deal with it." She rushed out, followed by Lucretia and Grandma Bone.
"I think Eric's already dealing with it," Manfred said easily.
Charlie leaped up and ran blindly toward the front door. He had to blink several times before he could focus properly, but when the hypnotic haze had lifted he saw that Eric was standing in the open doorway with Venetia at his side.
There was a loud thump and then another. Someone screamed and a dog howled.
When Charlie had pushed his way past Venetia, he saw Benjamin, Runner Bean, and Olivia trying to dodge the stone gargoyles that came flying at them from the wall. Eric was enjoying himself. He gave a little jump for joy every time a gargoyle came loose and crashed onto the pavement.
"That's enough, Eric," said Venetia. "You'll ruin the house."
"Charlie, get out of there!" cried Olivia.
Charlie was already bounding down the steps. "Run, Liv! I'm right behind you!" he shouted.
A stone gargoyle came flying after him and caught his heel. Runner Bean bounced around him, barking furiously.
"Eric, enough!" Venetia commanded.
"Let's get out of here!" yelled Benjamin. "Runner! Here, boy! Quick!"
The four children raced away from the three number thirteens.
If they had all kept running they would have escaped with a few bruises, but then something happened. And for one of them, nothing would ever be quite the same again.
Olivia suddenly turned around. She picked up the headless body of a broken gargoyle and was about to throw it back at Eric when, horribly, it stretched out a puny arm and grabbed her wrist. Olivia let out a shriek that brought the boys to a skidding halt. They ran to help her, tugging at the squirming stone body, pulling its legs and trying to pry the rigid fingers away from Olivia's wrist. Eric began to laugh.
All four sisters had now crowded onto the top step behind Eric. Venetia was laughing. Eustacia and Lucretia joined her and then, in spite of herself, Grandma Bone gave in to a bout of loud, undignified giggling. Olivia glared up at Eric and the four women. She wondered what would frighten them. What would wipe the silly grins off their faces and stop their spiteful giggling.
She imagined a tall skeleton in a black hat and cloak, wielding a six-foot saber.
And there he was! Standing in front of the steps, his saber lifted to strike.
Laughter turned to screams of horror. Eric and the sisters disappeared, slamming the door behind them.
"Oh, Liv! Why did you do that?" asked Charlie.
"I couldn't help it," Olivia replied as the headless gargoyle relaxed its grip and dropped to the ground. "Anyway, it did the trick. Eric obviously loses concentration when he's scared."
"It was pretty impressive—that thing!" Benjamin was disappointed to see the skeleton slowly fading. He gave Runner Bean a reassuring pat, as the dog's legs were still trembling. "It was only an illusion, Runner."
They hurried out of Darkly Wynd, Charlie throwing worried looks in Olivia's direction. She had betrayed herself. The Bloors had no idea that she was endowed, but as soon as the Yewbeam sisters had recovered from their shock, they would know. And they would certainly pass on the news.
Olivia ignored Charlie for a while. She deliberately refused to meet his eye, but at last she cried, "Stop looking at me like that, Charlie. We rescued you!"
"But you gave yourself away, Liv!" said Charlie. "My grandma and her sisters will know you conjured up that skeleton and they'll tell everyone. And then what?"
"Then what?" Olivia mimicked Charlie. "We'll see, won't we?" She rubbed her wrist where the gargoyle had left ugly marks on her skin.
"Sorry," said Charlie, feeling guilty. "And thank you for rescuing me. How did that happen, anyway?"
Benjamin explained that he had gone to number nine and found Maisie in a "bit of a state," as he put it. She'd found the note from Grandma Bone, but she didn't like to think of Charlie in one of the Darkly Wynd houses. So Benjamin had offered to come and find Charlie. "With Runner Bean, of course," Benjamin added. "I wouldn't have come without him. And then I met Olivia on her way to the bookstore, and she said she'd come, too. Safety in numbers kind of thing."
"Thanks," said Charlie. "Sorry I barked at you, Liv."
"I should think so!" She tossed her bleached hair and grinned.
"Manfred was there," Charlie said quietly. "He hypnotized me."
Olivia and Benjamin stopped. They stared at Charlie until he felt quite uncomfortable.
"The trouble is, I don't know if I told them anything I shouldn't have. I tried not to, but I can't remember." He stroked Runner Bean's shaggy head.
"Runner Bean woke me up."
They had reached the top of Filbert Street, and Charlie was relieved to see Uncle Paton's camper van parked outside number nine.
Olivia, Benjamin, and Runner Bean followed Charlie into the house, where they found Maisie and Uncle Paton enjoying a candlelit meal of salmon pie and chips. There was plenty for all, and while everyone dug in, Charlie recounted his day, reliving his escape from Amos Byrne with such dramatic gestures he twice sent the pepper pot flying off the table.
"Good grief!" cried Maisie. "Your hair's all singed, Charlie. I thought I could smell burning. You mustn't run off without telling me where you're going. You could have been ... oh, I can't bear to think of it."
Uncle Paton nodded. Although his expression was very grave, and although he made all the right exclamations of horror and concern, Charlie sensed that something else was troubling his uncle. He did not seem to be wholly engaged with the conversation around the table. His gaze kept drifting away from them.
"Uncle Paton, where have you been?" asked Charlie.
His uncle regarded him thoughtfully. It was as though he'd had to drag his mind back from somewhere far away.
"Where I have been doesn't matter, for now," he said. "But tell me, did my sisters question you about the Red Knight?"
Charlie's mind had cleared a little. The troubling hypnotic haze was lifting.
"Yes, they did ask about the knight, and although I didn't put it into words, I remember thinking that he might be Bartholomew Bloor."
"Bartholomew?" Uncle Paton looked incredulous.
"Wow! That's fascinating." Olivia cupped her chin in her hands. She wore an interesting pair of mittens threaded with gold and silver ribbons. "I hope you didn't tell them about Tancred," she said.
Charlie shook his head. "Don't think so. No. They didn't get around to asking about Tancred."
"Phew! That's good." Olivia raised her head and clasped her mittened hands together. "He's still safe, then."
"Yes. But you're not, Liv," said Charlie.
8. THE SEA GLOBE
The huge Sea Globe now stood in the center of the ballroom. The white covering had been removed, but the globe was enclosed in a large glass box.
Behind the glass, blue-green water could be seen rippling over the surface of a glowing sphere. It was the world, mapped out in oceans and continents. The land appeared a dull brown color, while the water glowed with countless shades of blue and green, gray and silver.
The ballroom lights were out, but the chandelier above the globe reflected the sea green radiance of the waves, and beams of brilliant light spilled out into the room. All that could be heard was the faint swish of waves and the low murmur of the world's vast oceans.