A/N: okay, I have a CB site for ya'll to look at.
I have been going nonstop with making that site for three days. Be proud of me. There's the story on there as well as pictures I have done. Enjoy yourself or I'll come after you with a bananna and whack you with it.
And to someone, who I've forgotten who they are, who asked if they could use MY idea for a ball at the school, you've got the wrong person. There's another that has a story called Charlie Bone and the Hypnotist's Daughter that has a school ball in it. Go ask them. ;;
As for the little song in this, I'm gonna see if I can't post myself singing it for ya'll to hear. It won't be that good, as I can't get a good cooperation between speaker and microphone to be able to sing on key. I wrote the thing before I even went searching for a good tune! I'm so strange. Anyway, I'm gonna see if I can't put up the song on my CB site eventually.
and MS Word hates me. It took out the link when I put it into a txt file.
Chapter Eight
Friday came and Charlie watched as the other boys got ready to go home for the weekend. Only Billy Raven was not getting ready, as he had to stay there. "At least I won't be all alone in here for the night," he said with a faint smile. His big red eyes were magnified by his glasses.
Charlie nodded and smiled as well. "Sorry about all that."
Billy shrugged. "At least I have Rembrandt."
"Let's just hope Cook can keep the Bloors away from Rembrandt. Otherwise—"
"Otherwise, Rembrandt would be rat stew," said Fidelio. Billy looked very sad at that.
In the King's room, it was nearly silent. Morgan, Charlie and Billy sat around the table doing their homework as Manfred and Asa wrote on sheets of paper. It took Charlie a moment to realize that they were passing each other notes, doing it in such a fashion as to not look like they were breaking their own rules.
Charlie nudged Morgan and pointed his pencil to Asa and Manfred. She squinted as she looked down the table. She moved her pencil on her paper in mimicking moves in an attempt to see if she couldn't write out the same thing they were writing. She sagged slightly when she saw it only made circles on her paper.
"Do your homework, MacGregor," said Manfred in a stern tone.
"I am, in case you didn't notice," she said indignantly.
Asa gave a horrible snort. Manfred glared at her, fixing her with a very unreadable expression. Charlie knew that look. He nudged Morgan again and she nearly fell out of her seat. She shook her head and rubbed a temple.
Charlie wrote 'Never look at his eyes!' on a sheet of paper and showed it to her. She grunted and nodded. Billy looked apprehensively to Charlie and Morgan and then down the table to Manfred and Asa.
When time to leave came, Charlie walked out with Billy and tugged on Morgan's cloak for her to come along to, however someone else pulled her back. "MacGregor, we need to have a little talk."
Charlie looked back to see Asa and Manfred holding Morgan back. They pulled her into the King's room and Charlie walked back to the door. Billy came up behind him, listening at the door as well. "I hope she'll be all right," Billy whispered.
There wasn't much happening inside that he could hear, but he did hear a bit of muttering. It was Morgan muttering her ABCs backwards. Charlie furrowed his eyebrows as he heard her.
"Z y x w… v u t…."
"Stop fighting me, MacGregor!" snarled Manfred.
"S r…q…p o n m l…" She sounded strained, as though it was taking everything she had to do even that small task.
There was a slight animalistic growl that Charlie knew was Asa. Charlie tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Morgan!" he called out.
"K…j…" Her voice was quavering now.
"STOP FIGHTING ME!" growled Manfred.
There was another growl and a yelp of pain from Asa. "Gah!" Charlie kicked the door and finally managed to open it. He ran inside. What he saw, he wouldn't have believed. Asa was holding onto his arms as he landed on the floor, pain shooting up his arms. Manfred was in a fierce staring contest with Morgan and she looked like she might lose it.
Manfred growled as he released Morgan and glared at Charlie. "OUT! OUT, ALL OF YOU!"
Charlie grabbed Morgan and pulled her out of the room, Asa panting on the ground watching her leave. Billy came up in front of them as Charlie came around the corner. "Are you all right, Morgan?" he asked. Charlie looked to Billy and then to Morgan, hoping that she wasn't hypnotized or had any other problems. Paton would be furious with him if she got hurt and he didn't want to think of what Mr. MacGregor would do to him.
Morgan was panting, sweat on her flushed face. She nodded and looked to Billy and Charlie as she pulled herself into a straighter position. "Thanks."
Charlie smirked. Then, he looked to the door to the King's Room. "What happened in there? What were you doing to Asa and why was Manfred trying to hypnotize you?"
Morgan wiped her face on her sleeve before she looked to the King's Room. "Asa was trying to frighten me by turning into a beast and so I—I didn't know what else to do. I just held onto him as hard as I could. I didn't care what part of him, so long as I had a hold on him. Manfred—He said he wanted me quiet and to make sure I'd stay that way—"
She stopped and Charlie looked to Billy. Charlie pulled Morgan along the corridor until they reached the staircase that led up to the Junior Girls' dorm. Then, Charlie walked with Billy back to the boys' dorm.
Charlie sat on his bed and stared out the window. Billy sat on his bed staring over at Charlie. "Charlie…"
Charlie looked over, but then they both stopped as both heard the faint sound of a girl singing. It was severely off key, but she was singing no less. It was definitely not Morgan, since the girls' dorm was farther away than this. It sounded as though it was coming from directly above them.
Charlie got to his feet and moved around the near empty dorm room. "Where is that coming from?"
Billy looked up. "That's the girl that stays here too."
Charlie looked to Billy. "She's here all the time, like you?"
Billy nodded. "Since the second part of term started. Not the night before, but after that."
Charlie looked to the ceiling and listened. "What is she singing? It sounds almost familiar."
Billy shrugged. "I don't know. It's… not all that good, her singing, but it's at least better than complete silence."
Charlie nodded and went to his bed. He got dressed in his pajamas as The Matron, Aunt Lucretia, came around and turned off the lights. "Go to sleep!" she called before she could be heard going down the stairs.
Charlie lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The singing had stopped. He was happy for that. It wasn't so much that is was bad as it was now very stuck in his mind and he couldn't jog it.
"Whisper in the woods, he comes down the trail—always searching, always waiting—red and gold the leaves are, the wind singing through the leaves—red, the tree bleeds—for those he left behind."
He heard it starting up again. It didn't even rhyme like a normal song, but it was poetic no less. He sat up and looked to the ceiling. He wondered, silently, where she could be located that was above the boys dorm.
"Five took the castle, five left behind—the story lives on, the story never ends—in the woods you see him, in the woods you feel him—red and gold the leaves are, the wind singing through the leaves—red, the tree bleeds—for those he left behind."
Charlie attempted putting a pillow over his head to block it out. This worked; either that or she'd stopped singing again. Either way, he finally managed to get to sleep.
Morning came and he had breakfast with Billy and Morgan. Billy looked despondently at the food. Charlie knew what was wrong. "I'll see you on Monday, you know."
When time to leave came, Charlie told Billy to see if he couldn't talk to the girl above the boys' dorm. Then, Charlie came out to see Morgan waiting for him. "Oi! My dad asked if you would like a lift home!"
Charlie blinked for a moment and saw Mr. MacGregor grinning as he walked down the path toward them. Charlie nodded and walked with Morgan and Mr. MacGregor to his car.
It wasn't so bad, but Charlie was surprised that Mr. MacGregor had on some of the latest music on the speakers. Morgan was giggling and singing along in the front seat. Mr. MacGregor grinned and winked at Charlie from the windshield mirror.
At Filbert street, Charlie was let off in front of his house and he got inside, just in time to meet Grandma Bone. "Got in trouble again, did you? You keep this up, Charlie and you'll see what becomes of those that don't follow the rules."
Charlie grumbled and went up to his room.
Sunday came quickly. The phone rang and Charlie raced down the steps to get to it, but it was answered by Grandma Bone. "Hello? Who is this. What do you want."
They weren't even questions, more like demands. Charlie came into view and Grandma Bone narrowed her eyes at him. She handed the phone over and stalked off up the stairs to her room, slamming the door and knocking the picture of her family off the wall.
Charlie groaned and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"Charlie! It's Fidelio! My mum said everyone could come over. I'll see if I can't get a lift from her to your house and back."
Charlie smiled. They were going to help Emma. "So when are you coming?" Charlie asked.
"In a little bit. Not long. My mum has been having fun taking care of that plant."
Charlie looked up to the stairwell. He hoped Grandma Bone wasn't trying to listen in on one of the other phones. "So I'll see you when you get here." Then, he hung up.
Charlie went up the stairs to Uncle Paton's room, knocking on the door. "Come in."
Charlie walked in and around the mess as usual, sticking his hands in his pockets after he closed the door. "What is it, Charlie?"
Paton was reading and taking notes as usual. "Can you tell me if there were any songs or….poetry… about the Red King?"
Paton looked up, eyebrows furrowed. "Songs? Not that I know of. There probably are, but I wouldn't know. Why do you ask, Charlie?"
Charlie sat down after clearing himself a spot. "Well, there was someone singing above the junior boys' dorm and I thought I recognized it, but I can't place it."
Paton raised his eyebrows. "I'll look into it then. There are many things about the Red King in stories and books, but I've never heard a song about him. I wouldn't put it past minstrels to write something, though."
Charlie nodded. He could just barely remember some of the song. "It said something about red leaves and bleeding."
Paton smirked. "Then, it's probably something off the radio."
Charlie shook his head. "I—I just can't remember it all."
They sat in silence for a moment as Charlie tried to come up with the song. "Can you hum it?" asked Paton.
Charlie looked to Paton for a moment and then nodded slightly. "Some of it. I can't remember the entire tune either."
Charlie thought for a moment then started humming bits of what he could remember. It was pretty horrible. Charlie could feel his ears getting red. Paton sat back and narrowed his eyes. "I've never…heard that before. And you say this was being sung over the boys' dorm?"
Charlie nodded. Paton looked to the book in front of him, dark eyes staring at the paper. "I'll look into it. In the mean time, see if you can't remember all of that tune. It might help."
Charlie nodded and walked out of Paton's room and down the stairs to wait for Fidelio. He heard something click in Grandma Bone's room and stopped mid step on the stairs. When he heard nothing more, he went back down the stairs and into the kitchen where Maisie was reading the paper.
I have been going nonstop with making that site for three days. Be proud of me. There's the story on there as well as pictures I have done. Enjoy yourself or I'll come after you with a bananna and whack you with it.
And to someone, who I've forgotten who they are, who asked if they could use MY idea for a ball at the school, you've got the wrong person. There's another that has a story called Charlie Bone and the Hypnotist's Daughter that has a school ball in it. Go ask them. ;;
As for the little song in this, I'm gonna see if I can't post myself singing it for ya'll to hear. It won't be that good, as I can't get a good cooperation between speaker and microphone to be able to sing on key. I wrote the thing before I even went searching for a good tune! I'm so strange. Anyway, I'm gonna see if I can't put up the song on my CB site eventually.
and MS Word hates me. It took out the link when I put it into a txt file.
Chapter Eight
Friday came and Charlie watched as the other boys got ready to go home for the weekend. Only Billy Raven was not getting ready, as he had to stay there. "At least I won't be all alone in here for the night," he said with a faint smile. His big red eyes were magnified by his glasses.
Charlie nodded and smiled as well. "Sorry about all that."
Billy shrugged. "At least I have Rembrandt."
"Let's just hope Cook can keep the Bloors away from Rembrandt. Otherwise—"
"Otherwise, Rembrandt would be rat stew," said Fidelio. Billy looked very sad at that.
In the King's room, it was nearly silent. Morgan, Charlie and Billy sat around the table doing their homework as Manfred and Asa wrote on sheets of paper. It took Charlie a moment to realize that they were passing each other notes, doing it in such a fashion as to not look like they were breaking their own rules.
Charlie nudged Morgan and pointed his pencil to Asa and Manfred. She squinted as she looked down the table. She moved her pencil on her paper in mimicking moves in an attempt to see if she couldn't write out the same thing they were writing. She sagged slightly when she saw it only made circles on her paper.
"Do your homework, MacGregor," said Manfred in a stern tone.
"I am, in case you didn't notice," she said indignantly.
Asa gave a horrible snort. Manfred glared at her, fixing her with a very unreadable expression. Charlie knew that look. He nudged Morgan again and she nearly fell out of her seat. She shook her head and rubbed a temple.
Charlie wrote 'Never look at his eyes!' on a sheet of paper and showed it to her. She grunted and nodded. Billy looked apprehensively to Charlie and Morgan and then down the table to Manfred and Asa.
When time to leave came, Charlie walked out with Billy and tugged on Morgan's cloak for her to come along to, however someone else pulled her back. "MacGregor, we need to have a little talk."
Charlie looked back to see Asa and Manfred holding Morgan back. They pulled her into the King's room and Charlie walked back to the door. Billy came up behind him, listening at the door as well. "I hope she'll be all right," Billy whispered.
There wasn't much happening inside that he could hear, but he did hear a bit of muttering. It was Morgan muttering her ABCs backwards. Charlie furrowed his eyebrows as he heard her.
"Z y x w… v u t…."
"Stop fighting me, MacGregor!" snarled Manfred.
"S r…q…p o n m l…" She sounded strained, as though it was taking everything she had to do even that small task.
There was a slight animalistic growl that Charlie knew was Asa. Charlie tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Morgan!" he called out.
"K…j…" Her voice was quavering now.
"STOP FIGHTING ME!" growled Manfred.
There was another growl and a yelp of pain from Asa. "Gah!" Charlie kicked the door and finally managed to open it. He ran inside. What he saw, he wouldn't have believed. Asa was holding onto his arms as he landed on the floor, pain shooting up his arms. Manfred was in a fierce staring contest with Morgan and she looked like she might lose it.
Manfred growled as he released Morgan and glared at Charlie. "OUT! OUT, ALL OF YOU!"
Charlie grabbed Morgan and pulled her out of the room, Asa panting on the ground watching her leave. Billy came up in front of them as Charlie came around the corner. "Are you all right, Morgan?" he asked. Charlie looked to Billy and then to Morgan, hoping that she wasn't hypnotized or had any other problems. Paton would be furious with him if she got hurt and he didn't want to think of what Mr. MacGregor would do to him.
Morgan was panting, sweat on her flushed face. She nodded and looked to Billy and Charlie as she pulled herself into a straighter position. "Thanks."
Charlie smirked. Then, he looked to the door to the King's Room. "What happened in there? What were you doing to Asa and why was Manfred trying to hypnotize you?"
Morgan wiped her face on her sleeve before she looked to the King's Room. "Asa was trying to frighten me by turning into a beast and so I—I didn't know what else to do. I just held onto him as hard as I could. I didn't care what part of him, so long as I had a hold on him. Manfred—He said he wanted me quiet and to make sure I'd stay that way—"
She stopped and Charlie looked to Billy. Charlie pulled Morgan along the corridor until they reached the staircase that led up to the Junior Girls' dorm. Then, Charlie walked with Billy back to the boys' dorm.
Charlie sat on his bed and stared out the window. Billy sat on his bed staring over at Charlie. "Charlie…"
Charlie looked over, but then they both stopped as both heard the faint sound of a girl singing. It was severely off key, but she was singing no less. It was definitely not Morgan, since the girls' dorm was farther away than this. It sounded as though it was coming from directly above them.
Charlie got to his feet and moved around the near empty dorm room. "Where is that coming from?"
Billy looked up. "That's the girl that stays here too."
Charlie looked to Billy. "She's here all the time, like you?"
Billy nodded. "Since the second part of term started. Not the night before, but after that."
Charlie looked to the ceiling and listened. "What is she singing? It sounds almost familiar."
Billy shrugged. "I don't know. It's… not all that good, her singing, but it's at least better than complete silence."
Charlie nodded and went to his bed. He got dressed in his pajamas as The Matron, Aunt Lucretia, came around and turned off the lights. "Go to sleep!" she called before she could be heard going down the stairs.
Charlie lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. The singing had stopped. He was happy for that. It wasn't so much that is was bad as it was now very stuck in his mind and he couldn't jog it.
"Whisper in the woods, he comes down the trail—always searching, always waiting—red and gold the leaves are, the wind singing through the leaves—red, the tree bleeds—for those he left behind."
He heard it starting up again. It didn't even rhyme like a normal song, but it was poetic no less. He sat up and looked to the ceiling. He wondered, silently, where she could be located that was above the boys dorm.
"Five took the castle, five left behind—the story lives on, the story never ends—in the woods you see him, in the woods you feel him—red and gold the leaves are, the wind singing through the leaves—red, the tree bleeds—for those he left behind."
Charlie attempted putting a pillow over his head to block it out. This worked; either that or she'd stopped singing again. Either way, he finally managed to get to sleep.
Morning came and he had breakfast with Billy and Morgan. Billy looked despondently at the food. Charlie knew what was wrong. "I'll see you on Monday, you know."
When time to leave came, Charlie told Billy to see if he couldn't talk to the girl above the boys' dorm. Then, Charlie came out to see Morgan waiting for him. "Oi! My dad asked if you would like a lift home!"
Charlie blinked for a moment and saw Mr. MacGregor grinning as he walked down the path toward them. Charlie nodded and walked with Morgan and Mr. MacGregor to his car.
It wasn't so bad, but Charlie was surprised that Mr. MacGregor had on some of the latest music on the speakers. Morgan was giggling and singing along in the front seat. Mr. MacGregor grinned and winked at Charlie from the windshield mirror.
At Filbert street, Charlie was let off in front of his house and he got inside, just in time to meet Grandma Bone. "Got in trouble again, did you? You keep this up, Charlie and you'll see what becomes of those that don't follow the rules."
Charlie grumbled and went up to his room.
Sunday came quickly. The phone rang and Charlie raced down the steps to get to it, but it was answered by Grandma Bone. "Hello? Who is this. What do you want."
They weren't even questions, more like demands. Charlie came into view and Grandma Bone narrowed her eyes at him. She handed the phone over and stalked off up the stairs to her room, slamming the door and knocking the picture of her family off the wall.
Charlie groaned and put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"Charlie! It's Fidelio! My mum said everyone could come over. I'll see if I can't get a lift from her to your house and back."
Charlie smiled. They were going to help Emma. "So when are you coming?" Charlie asked.
"In a little bit. Not long. My mum has been having fun taking care of that plant."
Charlie looked up to the stairwell. He hoped Grandma Bone wasn't trying to listen in on one of the other phones. "So I'll see you when you get here." Then, he hung up.
Charlie went up the stairs to Uncle Paton's room, knocking on the door. "Come in."
Charlie walked in and around the mess as usual, sticking his hands in his pockets after he closed the door. "What is it, Charlie?"
Paton was reading and taking notes as usual. "Can you tell me if there were any songs or….poetry… about the Red King?"
Paton looked up, eyebrows furrowed. "Songs? Not that I know of. There probably are, but I wouldn't know. Why do you ask, Charlie?"
Charlie sat down after clearing himself a spot. "Well, there was someone singing above the junior boys' dorm and I thought I recognized it, but I can't place it."
Paton raised his eyebrows. "I'll look into it then. There are many things about the Red King in stories and books, but I've never heard a song about him. I wouldn't put it past minstrels to write something, though."
Charlie nodded. He could just barely remember some of the song. "It said something about red leaves and bleeding."
Paton smirked. "Then, it's probably something off the radio."
Charlie shook his head. "I—I just can't remember it all."
They sat in silence for a moment as Charlie tried to come up with the song. "Can you hum it?" asked Paton.
Charlie looked to Paton for a moment and then nodded slightly. "Some of it. I can't remember the entire tune either."
Charlie thought for a moment then started humming bits of what he could remember. It was pretty horrible. Charlie could feel his ears getting red. Paton sat back and narrowed his eyes. "I've never…heard that before. And you say this was being sung over the boys' dorm?"
Charlie nodded. Paton looked to the book in front of him, dark eyes staring at the paper. "I'll look into it. In the mean time, see if you can't remember all of that tune. It might help."
Charlie nodded and walked out of Paton's room and down the stairs to wait for Fidelio. He heard something click in Grandma Bone's room and stopped mid step on the stairs. When he heard nothing more, he went back down the stairs and into the kitchen where Maisie was reading the paper.