So... Yeah finally back with a new chapter! Yay... the story actually went on hold for a while, didn't get many reviews for it, but I figured it's worth another shot.
Disclaimer: As always Charlie Bone belongs to Jenny Nimmo, and I'm not receiving any money for writing this it is purely a hobby...
Chapter Two:
Emma shuffled nervously from one foot to the another, and then finally deciding she had been standing in the doorway for long enough she crouched down and picked up the blonde haired boy off the ground and motioned for Charlie and Paton to follow her.
"I think you should come in then we'll sort this out" she said slowly.
Paton nodded and then paused mid step and wheeled round to face Emma abruptly.
"Are the other's parents here?" he asked, a frown on his face.
"Yes, they're in the kitchen just down the hall" she told him pointing down one of the many hallways. "Take the first right" she quickly added while he walked away, hands in pockets.
Charlie then turned frustrated to Emma and glowered.
"What, is going on here?" he asked impatiently, flinging his hands into the air stiffly.
Emma glanced away and carried on walking down the shadowed hall staring at the floor downcast. What was going on? Why wouldn't Emma just tell him? After all he was Tancred's friend too right; he deserved to know what was happening.
The boy Emma had called Tancred earlier popped his head up from Emma's shoulder and smiled wildly, he then skilfully freed himself from Emma's grasp and went gushing over to Charlie still grinning like a hyper Cheshire cat.
His arms flew up to Charlie as he demanded Charlie play with him. Charlie could only blink at the toddlers firm request, but he knelt down to his level anyway and peered at him closely.
Emma then came back over to them and sighed.
"Tancred, you've been playing all morning, you've already worn Lysander out to the point where I think he'll be sleeping for a couple of days at least" she told the hyper child.
He wasn't listening though in fact he was currently spinning around in circles laughing like a maniac. Charlie couldn't help it he burst out laughing, and Tancred stopped and looked at him curiously, then he grinned widely, liking the fact he'd made someone laugh at his antics.
Emma proceeded to slap her forehead, and grab both males dragging them though the house until they came to a large sitting room where Charlie found his other friends sitting down on matching sofas and armchair all wearing looks of complete boredom most likely from the wait.
Olivia seeing them looked up and glared at Charlie, causing him to back up slightly.
"What in lord's name took you so long?" she asked harshly. "We've been waiting hours, practically days for you to show up, I nearly called the police; I thought you were dead!" she rambled dramatically, now on her feet pacing around the grand room in circles of frustration.
The other's sighed and laughed at her merrily and the dread that he'd been feeling earlier lifted at the relaxed atmosphere.
But it didn't last long, as Olivia began to frown and looked back at the small boy who had answered the door to Charlie. Said boy had climbed onto one of the expensive looking cream coloured sofas and plopped himself next to Lysander, who was only too happy to entertain the small spiky haired boy.
"So what happened? Who is that kid?" Charlie asked, his voice only a whisper.
At once the once happy cheerful atmosphere that had managed to uncurl the knots in his stomach vanished and began to feel a sick dread whirl up again. Everyone's faces were grave and serious once more.
Emma gave a stiff sigh and turned to look at Charlie finally, her eyes watery, it did nothing to sooth Charlie's worry.
"The flames brought Tancred back, but there was a problem..." she explained hesitantly, everyone's eyes seemed to shift to the small boy once again, he had now dropped off to sleep and Lysander was running a hand through his hair making sure he stayed asleep, after all there was no point having him hear all that was being explained.
"Problem? What do you mean?" Charlie asked his voice slightly raised, he had already been responsible for the boy's death once, and then been told that everything was okay and that he was alive again, the thought of him dying a second time or something going wrong was enough to make him sick.
Lysander took over this time, he always had a habit of being second in command, next to Charlie of course, after all most of the groups problems seemed to revolve around him, something most of them had come to realise.
"Well, they brought him back just fine, but then when they did he came back like this" he told him, hand gesturing towards the small tot. "But the flames don't seem to know why, or how" his eyes saddened as he continued on. "They don't know if he's goanna stay like this or returned to normal, he might even end up having to just live like this and then age up like a normal child repeating his life all over again..."
"Oh god..." Charlie breathed mind sieving over the sudden information. "You mean they can't do anything then?" he asked, knowing that there just had to be something they could do, they were the Red Kings loyal cats after all.
Gabriel looked thoughtful for a moment glancing at the door.
"Well, their coming over in a bit, with Mr. Onimous of course, maybe they can tell us something then" that's Gabe, always trying to lighten the mood if he can. Though it didn't do much for Charlie this time.
A while after that had been said Paton came into the room, in all his knowledgeable glory. He walked over to the now de aged Tancred and scooped him up into his arms, allowing him to turn in his sleep as to get a little more comfortable. When he finally settled again he looked up to the other children and smiled.
"Mr. Onimous is here with the Flames" he informed them, taking his lead most likely expecting them to follow them, which they of coarse did.
The adults were in the kitchen, already waiting no doubt, not all of the parents were there though. Mr. And Mrs. Sage were present, as Mrs. Torsson had desperately needed the support. She had been crying for days and being the close friends that they were Lysander's mum had been there the whole time for her. Mr. Sage had simply accompanied his wife, knowing that the Torsson's had been having such a stressful time and because his wife was so close to Tancred's mother he had simple become good friends with Mr. Torsson anyway.
Miss Ingledew was present as she had took both Emma and Olivia to the Torssons house, Olivia's parents being busy with something or other. Gabriel's parents had also been busy and hence couldn't make it.
As soon as Paton had walked into the room with Tancred in his arms, Mrs. Torsson shot up and moved over to her son. Paton smiled sadly at the still distraught women and she took her son's sleeping form from him and went to sit back down again cradling him close to her.
Fidelio watched her with a sigh and Charlie couldn't help but smile slightly, it was well know that Fidelio had a small crush on the pretty woman. It was pretty hard not to. Mrs. Torsson waspretty after all, with her golden blonde hair that fell just past her shoulders and coffee brown eyes that were now shining with unshed tears. Her skin was a flawless pale peach; although her cheeks were slightly red from all the rubbing she had been doing trying to wipe her tears away. To top it all off she was always nice and friendly to boot, whenever they usually saw her she had a warm smile on her face, despite all the arguing she suffered through with her husband and Tancred always at each other's necks.
Mr. Onimous hated to break the moment up but having no choice he stood up from his chair in the corner and cleared his throat to gather their attention.
"I'm sorry to ask my dear" he said to Mrs. Torsson who looked up to him with soft eyes. "But I'm going to have to ask that you wake him up, as the Flames here are going to need him awake to assess him" he told her gesturing to the cats waiting patiently at his feet.
Mrs. Torsson looked down at the sleeping bundle in her arms and turned to Mrs. Sage desperately. The calm looking woman then took Tancred from her and woke him herself sensing her friend's distress in having to do it herself.
"Tancred honey" she called to him smiling at his sleeping face. "You've got to wake up now" after only a few calls Tancred scrunched up his face and wrinkled his nose slightly turning away from the calls, but woke up none the less and sat up wiping his eyes clumsily.
He allowed her to place him down on the floor and frowned at the cats, who were now in front of him circling him like wild animals, for a moment he glared at them not liking the fact that he was being circled. But after a while he shrunk back staring at them in fear, after all they were staring at him intently for only being cats, and he knew something was up with them he could feel that strange aura they were giving off.
"No!" he cried running back to his mother, or attempting to anyway, but since the cats were circling him in such a tight circle he couldn't reach her. "I don't like it!" he called again.
"Don't worry my lad" Mr. Onimous told him gently. "it will all be over in a minute and the others nearly laughed as he turned to him and folded his arms stubbornly, giving him a classic Tancred glare which on such a small boy looked more like a pout.
"Tell them to stop it" he ordered waving his arm at the cats.
"Tancred!" his mother gasped. She quickly looked up to Mr. Onimous with an apologetic look. "I'm sorry he was so spoilt at this age" she explained. "He got everything he wanted"
Mr. Torsson gave a low grunt and watched his son carefully.
"Still does, spoilt brat" he grunted out. "Get's a new phone every month and what does he do, goes and lobs it in the river in a fit of rage"
"Lance!" Tancred mother hissed. "Don't use such language around him and the others, and if you hadn't provoked him, he would have gone running off in the first place"
Mr. Torsson gave another frown at his wife and waved his arm in the air in the generally direction that his was in.
"He started it!" he thundered, the air outside the house crackling slightly.
"Stop it!"
Both adults turned to look at where the cry had come from only to find there son in tears standing there still surrounded by the cars, who were also watching them. Their son had his hands curled into fists clutching his top, small eyes wide with fear, and leaking with salty tears making train track down his pale cheeks.
"Now look what you've done" Mrs. Torsson wailed, as Lysander went to pick up his weeping best mate who immediately buried his head into his neck.
"Me!? You think this is my fault!"
"Yes!"
"Will you two calm down, your scaring him!" this voice came from a new source and they found Julia Ingledew glaring at both of them. "Arguing won't solve anything here; it will only make it worse"
Both fell silent and said nothing apparently realizing that her words were true but neither would state it out loud, and suddenly Charlie realized where Tancred got his stubbornness from.
"Thank you Julia" Mr. Onimous said with a smile. "Well the cats can't find any memories from 4 onwards inside of Tancred, and they cannot determine what seems to be wrong either..." he told them trailing off to find out what they would say about the situation.
"So what are you saying?" Mr. Sage asked, suddenly coming to life.
"Well first off Tancred probably has no memory what so ever of who you all are unless he knows you from when he was 4 years old or younger, and secondly I have no idea how to solve the situation at hand I'm afraid" he added.
Mrs. Torsson gave a sob as Mrs. Sage put her arms around her entangled friend whispering word of comfort to her, telling her that it would be okay and that they would figure out something eventually.
Mr. Sage turned to his own son solemnly.
"Lysander take Tancred somewhere else while we decide what to do, we don't want him seeing his mother in such a state and he doesn't need to know what's going on it would only confuse him" he explained as Lysander nodded.
"Why did this have to happen its not fair why is it always our children!" Mrs. Torsson wept.
"Why is mummy crying?" Tancred asked innocently as he was carried away down the halls away from the other adults.
Lysander sighed not having any idea what to say to him, the others looked blank as well until Fidelio had an idea strike him.
"Well you see urm, she's not feeling well at the moment" he explained with a shaking smile and Lysander wanted to face palm himself.
Tancred perked up all of a sudden and with bright eyes asked:
"Has she got a stomach ache?"
Why was it children always asked that one first?
"Yeah a really bad one, so urm, out parents came over to see if she's alright" he continued.
"Why were those cat thingy's walking round me then?" he asked with a frown at Fidelio.
The others then looked lost at what to say, however once again Fidelio came to the rescue with an answer.
"They were just saying hi"
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