"Who is there?" whispered Otus.
Charlie looked at the sleeping figure. A bunch of keys lay on his lap. Which one opened the cell? Charlie would have to choose quickly. He tiptoed closer to the sleeping guard.
And then he saw the huge, lumpy thumb. Snatching up the keys, Charlie tried to push the first one into the lock on the cell door. It didn't fit.
The giant watched the floating keys in astonishment. "Who is it?" he asked again.
377378"Me, Charlie, your descendant," Charlie whispered. "I'm going to take you to your wife."
"Amoret?" The giant shook his head. "You lie. She is dead."
The rattle of iron in the lock must have woken the troll, for all at once he opened his eyes and stared at the keys. Leaping up, he shouted, "What is this, giant? Are you trying to use magic?"
The giant backed away, still shaking his head, and Oddthumb seized the keys. He stared at them suspiciously. Charlie made a grab for them, but Oddthumb lifted his great fist and brought it smashing into Charlie's stomach. He reeled back with a groan.
"There you are," said the troll. "You scoundrel. You won't get the better of Oddthumb with invisibility, I can tell you."
What made the boa act then, Charlie would never know. Maybe Claerwen had a word in his ear, for suddenly the big snake made himself visible. From Charlie's shoulder he lunged at Oddthumb, hissing like a steaming kettle. The troll, his eyes starting from379his head, flung up his hands and the keys went flying through the air.
A dreadful sound came gurgling out of Oddthumb and he ran up the steps, stumbling and moaning in terror.
Charlie quickly scooped up the keys. The second one fit the lock and the cell door swung open with a screech.
"We'd better hurry," Charlie told the giant, "or Oddthumb will be back with reinforcements."
"It is you, Charlie Bone," said the giant. "I know your voice. But what are we going to do? How can I ever escape this place?"
"First of all, the boa will make you invisible," said Charlie. "And then... then we'll find your wife before she dies and you will be together."
The blue boa needed no instruction this time. He seemed to know instinctively what he should do. Otus watched himself disappear in horror and fascination. It was only when Charlie began to direct his moth that he realized they would have to return the380way they had come - through the painting of Badlock.
The boa looped himself around the giant's shoulders and Charlie held tight to his ancestor's arm. Claerwen spread her silver wings and, alighting on Charlie's head, proceeded to take them through time.381CHAPTER 19
LYSANDER TO THE RESCUE
As usual, Charlie had given no thought to the flight ahead. Traveling with an invisible giant was not as easy as he would have wished. Otus might have been brave but a journey to meet a wife he believed to be dead was a little daunting. If he had known he would be flying through nine hundred years, instead of twenty, he probably wouldn't have agreed to come at all. As it was, he kept calling out to Charlie for reassurance. The tumbling and whirling aspect of their journey was very uncomfortable for a giant.
"Are we there?" Otus would cry. "My legs are floating over my head. Woe, Charlie.
Bring us to earth."
"Hush, Otus," Charlie would reply, as though he were speaking to a child.
"When will we arrive? Will we be too late to see382Amoret?" The giant's voice quavered as a violent gust of time spun into a fast descent.
"I think we're here," said Charlie as his feet scraped the ground.
When the giant touched down a second later, there was an earth-shuddering crash.
"Woe!" yelled Otus as his invisible feet plunged through the floorboards.
A long shriek followed the crash and a voice cried, "He's here! He's here!"
"Where? Where?" called other voices.
Charlie found himself on the stage of the Old Chapel, looking out at a crowd of angry, aggressive-looking people. Mrs. Tilpin thrust her face very close to his. "You're there, aren't you?" She tried to poke him in the chest, but Charlie stepped sideways, just in time.
"Where am I?" roared the giant. "My feet are gone."
"They're stuck in the floorboards," Charlie whispered. "Pull them out, Otus."383There was a sound of cracking, splintering wood as Otus heaved his big feet up through the floorboards. "OW!" he bellowed.
"There're two!" A woman at the front of the crowd pointed at Charlie. Her bright red ringlets looked very odd framing such an old, wrinkled face. "I can see them. One is a giant."
"A giant?" screamed Mrs. Tilpin, stepping back.
"Dolores has the second sight," said a burly fellow in a black woolen ski mask.
Standing just behind the wooly-masked man, Charlie caught sight of someone he recognized, but events were moving too fast for him to put a name to the man.
"Where's my wife?" the giant called plaintively. "Where's Amoret?"
"Amoret?" Mrs. Tilpin turned to the crowd. "Friends, this giant is the shadow's prisoner."
The crowd surged forward and began to climb onto the stage. Charlie grabbed the giant's hand and tugged him to the green curtains at the back.384"There! There!" shouted Dolores, her black-gloved finger following Charlie as he pulled the giant toward the door at the side of the stage.
The crowd closed in. Coarse, deep-throated oaths filled the air as a dozen tall figures surrounded Charlie and the giant.
"There be monsters in your world, Charlie boy," said the giant, "but they shall not have us." And he thrust out his big foot, pushing two of the men to the ground.
The others stepped back, staring in horror at the giant's shoulders, for the blue boa had made himself visible. He was thrusting his head out at the crowd, his open mouth revealing dreadful shining fangs.
"Dolores, do something!" screamed Mrs. Tilpin.
As Dolores reached into her pockets, Charlie heard drumbeats. They grew louder and louder until the sound filled the chapel. The crowd looked around, trying to see where the drumming was coming from. But nothing could distract Dolores. Raising385a small silver catapult, she shot a stone straight at the giant's forehead. He crashed to the floor with a groan.
"Oh, Otus, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I brought you here," cried Charlie, falling to his knees beside the giant. The distressed boa wrapped himself around Charlie as though to comfort him. Too late, Charlie realized that he was becoming visible. He waited for Mrs. Tilpin's sharp fingers to grab him by the neck. But nothing touched him.
Charlie looked up. The crowd was backing away, men and women falling over one another in their haste to leave the stage. Even Mrs. Tilpin was moving down the steps.
Her eyes were fixed on the wall behind Charlie, her face contorted with fear. Following her gaze, Charlie looked behind him and saw a line of ghostly forms, half hidden in a swirling mist. Their faces were undefined, but their brown arms were all too clear. Each one held a long, gleaming spear.386"Lysander!" said Charlie.
"You bet!" Lysander came striding through the stage door. He swept his arm in an arc above his head and pointed at the crowd.
Lysander's spirit ancestors, their weapons held aloft, advanced on Mrs. Tilpin and her sinister followers. Many of them held their hands over their ears, the drumbeats were now so loud. They jostled and moaned as they pushed their way to the door that opened onto Piminy Street. And then they were through, and above the drumming, their heavy feet could be heard pounding down the street.
The still-invisible giant groaned.
"Whatever was that?" Lysander stared at the floor.
"A giant," said Charlie. "And he's alive. Thanks, Sander. Thank you, thank you. You saved our lives."
"A giant," said Lysander. "I expected Billy."
"Billy," sighed Charlie. "He wouldn't come."
Lysander stared at Charlie in disbelief, and then, studying the floor where the groaning was coming from,387he said, "We'd better get that giant out of here. I'm sure they'll be able to see him, even if I can't." He beckoned his spirit ancestors.