Charlie Bone and the Time Twister (Children of the Red King, Book 2) by Jenny Nimmo Read Free Book Online Page B

younger boy had called him over.
    "Well, come on, share your secret, Charlie Bone!" Manfred's black eyes glittered dangerously.
    Charlie immediately lowered his head. He knew he could fight Manfred's hypnotizing stare, but he didn't want to get into trouble with the head boy before Henry had been rescued.
    Fidelio said quickly "We were just discussing Olivia Vertigo's hair."
    "Oh?" Manfred raised a thin black eyebrow.
    "Yes, we thought blue looked very nice on her," said Charlie, "but we didn't like to say it out loud, in case 1 she heard us."
    “As if," said Manfred scathingly "It's not exactly quiet in here, is it? Personally I think Olivia Vertigo's hair looks ghastly"
    He shouted this last remark and, hearing her name mentioned, Olivia looked over from the table behind him. When she saw Charlie's serious face, she-grimaced and returned to her attack on the lumpy oatmeal.
    Manfred drifted away and began to shout at a small girl who was wearing her cape inside out.
    "Phew!" muttered Charlie. "Let's talk at break."
    "Good idea," agreed Fidelio.
    By the time the two boys had managed to call Olivia away from her friends, break was almost over. Olivia came bouncing across the snowy ground in bright pink lace-up boots studded with sequins.
    "The snow's taking all the paint off," she complained, holding out her left foot. The toe of her boot was a nasty gray color.
    "Olivia, we need a favor," said Charlie, coming straight to the point.
    "Oh?" Olivia put her foot back into the snow "What sort of favor?"
    Charlie knew it was no good trying to get Olivia to do something without a proper explanation. She would have to know all about Henry Yewbeam before she agreed to help. So, as quickly as he could, Charlie told her everything.
    Olivia's mouth dropped open and her large gray eyes grew even wider.
    " D'you mean that he got himself sort of whizzed out of the past to here and now?"
    "Yes." Charlie looked over his shoulder. He thought he saw Billy Raven hovering behind a group of music students. "But we want to keep it a secret until we know how to help him. I've got to get him some food."
     “And we thought Charlie could sneak my sausages up the tower at lunch break," said Fidelio, " if you could keep Manfred and Asa in your cafeteria for a few extra minutes."
    "No problem," said Olivia. "Leave it to me."
    A long blast from the hunting horn sent children racing in from the field, and Olivia ran off to join her friends.
    "We'll just have to trust her," said Charlie. "She's usually reliable."
    Each department had its own cafeteria, and the drama cafeteria was always the noisiest and most undisciplined. Manfred had done his best to stop them from wearing fancy shoes and long skirts but the drama teachers were very lax with the rules. They seldom complained about their pupils' choice of clothing, in fact they rather encouraged hats with ears, unusual footwear, and colored face paint. Mrs. Marlowe, head of the drama department, considered clothes a means of self-expression, the more unusual the better. All this infuriated Manfred, but there was little he could do about it, so he took it out on the children in the music and art departments.
    Today the drama cafeteria was a mess. Someone's jacket was molting and white fur lay all over the floor. Someone else's hat was shedding feathers and these had floated into the gravy boat. Glitter had stuck to some of the chairs, and the tables were littered with paint flakes, tinsel, and bits of false hair.
    "It's disgusting," grumbled Manfred, staring at a sequin in his custard. "Why can't people be more conventional?" For himself he favored plain black with occasionally a purple shirt to match his cape. Even the ribbon on his ponytail was black.
    Asa Pike gave a nervous snigger. The mustache he was fond of wearing had just dropped onto his plate. "Oops," he said. "Forgot I was wearing it."
    Manfred shot his companion a look of contempt. "There are times, Asa, when I would enjoy giving you a good