A/N: once again, I don't own Charlie Bone or any of Jenny Nimmo's characters. I own Ada, Corazon and Morgan, namely because they are people I know… and the latter is me. ; Mary Sueish, but she's cute. Lol

Chapter Seventeen

Charlie watched as his friends ran out to the busses that Friday. He had detention because he messed up his English homework. He'd accidentally written everything in Welsh.

He sighed and lay back on his bed. Billy Raven walked over and smiled at him, those big red eyes looking happy for once. "The Bloors said I was going to be adopted soon. After school ends, I'll be with a new family and then I won't have to stay here."

Charlie smiled. "That's good. Hopefully, you'll get a good family."

Billy nodded excitedly and walked out the door. Charlie got to his feet and headed toward the door. When he had found out he had detention, he had given everyone the address and the names of Ada's parents, so that they could find them without him there. He hoped that on Sunday, when he got home, Fidelio would phone him and tell him they had found Ada's parents and found out that they were worried about their daughter not coming home with the other children.

He grinned to himself. Maybe the Bloors hadn't made a mess of her parents. That was a good thought. He heard the bells from the church and looked out a window in the hallway.

He needed to find his father and fast before the Bloors did something bad to him.

Morgan was carrying books from one shelf to another in the library. They were heavy, but they were in the wrong place and she was through with them. She had pulled her hair into pigtails, the heat of the sun coming in through the windows in the library.

"Well, at least no one's bothering me now," she mumbled to herself.

"Talking to yourself, MacGregor? Maybe we should tell the nurse." Morgan nearly dropped the books in her arms. She looked over at Asa as he walked into the library, grinning at her in his usual manner.

She glared at him and walked to the shelf where one of the books belonged. "Come to bother me some more, Pike?"

"Nothing more than I usually do," he said as he came closer.

A strange shiver went up her spine as she put the book away. "Leave me alone," she said in a warning tone.

Asa ran a hand through his spiked red hair. "I rather enjoy taunting you. You're very amusing."

Morgan stiffened and turned slowly, growling faintly. "Go away, Asa Pike, or I'll shove this book up your ass!"

"Temper, temper, Morgan MacGregor. You're beginning to sound like your dad every day now," Asa sniggered.

Morgan gave him a withering look before putting walking to the shelf opposite her to put the other book away. Asa stood directly in front of her and advanced on her, making her walk backward into the bookcase. He leaned down slightly and grinned at her. "Now, tell me, why is it you always stare at me in the King's Room? Why is it you can not control that freakish power of yours when it comes to me?"

Morgan blushed bright pink and held the book tight against her chest. "Leave me alone, Asa."

Asa leaned a little closer down, yellow eyes boring into hers. "Now, I've asked this question to myself over and over again, why does Morgan MacGregor act so strangely around me. I've always come up with several answers." He leaned down a little more. "Most of which were you trying to throw me off your friends by making me focus on you."

"It's nothing I can control, damn it. I'm not acting strangely around you," she grunted. She didn't like how close he was getting to her.

His face was in hers, very close indeed. "I came up with one answer that intrigues me."

"And what is that?" she challenged, getting very irritated at him.

"Morgan? Morgan, it's time to eat." Billy Raven walked in just then, giving Morgan a chance to shove Asa away from her, dropping the book in her arms on his foot. Asa gave a yelp of pain and hopped on his good foot while growling obscenities at her. Morgan grabbed Billy's hand and pulled him away from the library and down the hallway.

In the King's room that night, Charlie sat with Billy down the table from Asa and Morgan. Manfred was in his normal spot, glaring at Charlie every now and then. Morgan shot Asa nervous glances as she tried to concentrate on her homework, but Asa's glare could be seen every time she looked up.

Charlie motioned his head toward Asa amd Morgan with a questioning look at Billy. He'd seen Morgan come into the dining hall with Billy in tow earlier; he hoped the boy could tell him what was going on. Billy shot Manfred a nervous look and scribbled something on his paper, shoving it at Charlie quickly.

'Morgan dropped a book on his feet' the note said. Charlie had to bite his lip in order to keep from laughing.

"I'm bored!" said Asa loudly.

"Be quiet, Pike," said Manfred without looking at him.

Morgan looked up at Manfred and then at Asa, blinking. "What, you don't have anything to do?"

"Nope, nothing. What about you, MacGregor?" Asa grinned maliciously at her.

Morgan let out a yelp of pain. Asa had kicked her shin. Manfred glared at the both of them. "I said be quiet, BOTH of you, before spend the entire summer break here."

Morgan glared at Asa and kicked him squarely on the knee. He gritted his teeth and a low growl came from his throat, yellow wolf-like eyes glaring at her. She narrowed hers before going back to her homework.

Something flew into Charlie's hair. He blinked and lifted out a paper airplane. He looked at it carefully for a moment before opening the piece of paper. 'When we get out of here, I want permission to personally turn Pike into ground meat if he shows up while we're trying to find Ada's home,' said the note.

Morgan was glaring at Charlie in such a manner that he didn't need to write anything. He was glad to just nod at her. She seemed to be a bit happier as she grinned horribly at Asa and then went back to her work.

Billy shoved another note to Charlie. Charlie looked at it and nearly fell out of his chair when he did. It said, 'I think they're made for each other.'

Charlie wrote back to Billy, getting the note back with another note. 'Because they're both scary,' it said. Charlie laughed just as Manfred yelled at him. "I said QUIET!" Then, they all went quiet.

Charlie ran home from the bus stop. He ran up to his room to put his trunk away and ran downstairs to use the phone. Grandma Bone glared at him from her room. "Do you NEED to stomp everywhere?" she growled.

"Sorry!" he said breathlessly as he picked up the phone.

"Who are you going to call this late at night?" she snapped.

Charlie didn't answer. He punched in Fidelio's number and held the phone to his ear. "Gunn Residence, Hello?" said a female voice on the other end.

"Mrs. Gunn? Is Fidelio over there?" Charlie asked quickly in as quiet a voice as he could manage.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Charlie. He is staying over at Miss Vertigo's home."

Charlie frowned faintly. "All right. Thank you, Mrs. Gunn. Good-bye." Then, he hung up the phone.

He walked into the kitchen and sat down, suddenly very tired. Maisie came over and sat down with him, smiling brightly at her grandson. Charlie told her about finding information on Ada and the fights between Asa and Morgan, as well as their plan to find Ada's home so they could get her away from Bloors Academy while he ate dinner.

"My, how exciting," said Maisie with a smile, "It's just like being in a cinema." She brushed her hand against his wiry, unruly hair and smiled warmly at Charlie. "Just be careful, Charlie. You're getting more and more under their skin. I don't want to lose my favorite grandson."

Charlie smiled and yawned, taking his dishes to the sink before going up stairs. He laid down on his bed and instantly fell asleep, once again, in his uniform.

"Charlie! Your friends are here to pick you up!" called Charlie's mother. She picked up her purse and smiled weakly at Emma, Olivia and Fidelio. "I'm sorry; I can't entertain you right now. I have to get to work." Then, she ran out the door.

Charlie jogged down the stairs two at a time and jumped onto the floor excitedly. Emma was thanking his Grandma Jones for the sandwiches when he waved good bye and pulled them out of the house. Fidelio's father was in his car, waving at them to get into the car.

When they reached Fidelio's home, they walked up to the attic to eat their sandwiches. "What has anyone found out? Has anyone found out where she lives?" said Charlie, panting from running up the stairs the way he did.

"Charlie, calm down, or you'll choke on your lunch," said Emma.

Fidelio gave a weak smile. "We haven't found anything. I can't quite figure out where this address is."

Charlie looked at the address again and then looked at the map that was on the floor beside them. Olivia crawled over to help him, looking in another area of the map. Suddenly, she sat up waving them all over. "I found it! I found it!"

Charlie crawled over and looked at it. "Where were all of you searching?"

Fidelio frowned. "No where near there."

Emma nodded. "I would never think to look there."

Charlie nodded to them and looked down at where Olivia's finger was placed. It was very close to Darkly Wynd, which meant very close to where his horrible aunts lived.

They walked out of the house after thanking Mrs. Gunn for her courtesy, and then walked into town. Charlie had a horrible feeling in his stomach as he walked with his friends closer to an area of town that looked as scary as his three aunts.

However, when they turned a onto the street they needed to get to Ada's home, everything went from dark and gray to pleasant and well kept homes. Gardens could be seen on the front lawns as well as people tending them. Charlie looked to the piece of paper again. "Rose Street—that's what it says there," said Charlie.

They walked up to the door of a house that had the same number as on his paper and knocked. There was a sudden chill in the air as the door opened. A short, thin woman with short brown hair looked down at Charlie and his friends. She looked haunted. "Oui?" she said, her gaze seemed as though she was looking straight through them.

"Er—ma'am, we came to ask you about Ada," said Charlie.

A look of sadness washed over the woman's features. She nodded and waved them inside the house. There was a dog barking in the backyard, a very large golden retriever. She sat down at the dining room table and offered them a seat at the table as well. "What are you coming here to ask about her for?" she said in a saddened tone.

Charlie furrowed his eyebrows at her. "We wanted to ask why Ada hasn't been coming home."

"You went to school with her?"

Charlie looked to his friend and his frown deepened. "We go to school with her, yes."

"Oh—oh dear—I'm afraid she's very ill. You can't be still going to school with her. She's been in a mental hospital for a long while now." She looked almost as though she was going to cry, her glasses looking watery along with her dark eyes.

Olivia was about to speak, but Fidelio stepped on her foot and covered her mouth. Charlie raised an eyebrow at Mrs. Isidore. "I think you've been lied to, ma'am. She's been at school with us this entire time."

Mrs. Isidore glared at Charlie and slapped him. "Don't you dare say such a thing! I saw her just yesterday! She was—" She stopped and choked into a Kleenex, trembling. "She was wandering around the courtyard... mumbling things to herself. Just like before she went to school. We brought her here because we thought Bloors would help her, but they said they couldn't do anything for her."

Charlie rubbed his cheek. She had to have been duped by some sort of charade. It was the only explanation. He knew Ada wasn't at some mental hospital, insane and mumbling to herself, though he knew she did say weird things out of the blue.

"Please… please leave," Mrs. Isidore said softly. "Please leave."

Charlie and the others walked out the door, saying good bye to Mrs. Isidore before walking back toward Fidelio's home. Charlie frowned as he marched in front of them. "Charlie, what do you think we should do?" asked Olivia.

"We need to get Ada out of their grasp, get her someplace where someone can take care of her while we get the Isidore's to her," said Fidelio, frowning in thought.

Charlie stopped and a smile came to his face. "Olivia, you're her friend, right?"

"As much as I can be," she said, though she grinned. "A sleep over it is!"

Charlie laughed. Emma giggled and nodded. "And I'll come to make sure it doesn't seem too suspicious."

"A sleep over! A sleep over!" sang Olivia as she bounced on her heels. They all laughed as they walked back to Fidelio's home. It was a good day after all.