Charlie Bone And The Red Knight (Children Of The Red King, Book 8) by Jenny Nimmo
Authors: Jenny Nimmo
Ads: Link
feet above him, then down through the Atlantic to Antarctica and up again through the Pacific.
"So much sea," he murmured and the smile that crept into his face made him appear almost amiable. If Lord Grimwald had a heart, then it was held in the glowing sphere before him. He loved it above everything else. Alone on his rocky island, with only the globe for company, he was happy. Sometimes the memory of his wife's gentle singing caused him to look down into the waves, where she had drowned in a net, crushed by a ton of fish. And then he would think of the gold charms she had made for their son, so that he should survive the curse that lay upon their family.
It was regrettable, Lord Grimwald reflected, that if he was to live on, he must destroy his only son, now that Dagbert was twelve years old. He had proved to be a talented drowner and would no doubt become a powerful Lord of the Oceans, if he survived.
The reason for the Grimwald family curse had been lost through time. But it was as strong as it had ever been.
When Lord Grimwald was twelve he had caused his own father's death, and for his father it had been the same. But, occasionally, a father had survived a son, and the present Lord of the Oceans didn't intend to die for a long time yet.
He'll hide those charms, that son of mine, but I will find them. Lord Grimwald laughed out loud. He had a plan that involved Mrs. Tilpin's son, Joshua. The Magnet. He hoped the boy was up to the task.
The Lord of the Oceans put a scaly hand against the glass, and a white plume of water rose beneath his fingers. When it fell back, bright circles rippled away from it across the ocean, like the ripples in a pond. Only these foamy circles would appear on the real ocean as a mountain of water. Lord Grimwald was so entranced by his work, he didn't hear Manfred come into the ballroom.
"So this is the Sea Globe!" said Manfred in an awestruck voice. "It is" -- he stretched out his hand -- "so vast!"
Lord Grimwald turned, almost guiltily, as though caught in the act of admiring himself in a mirror. "The Sea Globe, yes. I'm pleased that it has traveled so well, despite its size. Not a wave, not an ocean out of place."
Manfred leaned close to the glass. "It defies gravity," he said with a frown. "Why does the water not tumble to the ground? How can it possibly rise like that? The waves" -- he leaned even closer -- "some of them are rolling upward."
Lord Grimwald smiled with satisfaction. "It is what it is. And has always been so. I know nothing of its history. My father told me once that an ancestor in the distant past was endowed with magnetism. He attracted water, if you like. He gathered it into his arms, out of the Northern Sea, and lo and behold, a sphere of water grew out of his gatherings, dotted about with parcels of land."
"And it's with this globe that your family has been able to control the oceans?" Manfred's tone was tinged with doubt.
"For eight hundred years," Lord Grimwald replied. "It was encased in glass in the nineteenth century, to protect it from pollution, you understand."
Manfred nodded. "Naturally."
"Did you get anything out of the boy?" Lord Grimwald asked.
"Oh, a great deal," Manfred replied with a smile. "The boat was on his mind, and it has a name, Greywing. Eustacia saw it all, the sea, the night sky, and constellations upside down."
"Upside down?" The Lord of the Oceans rubbed his chin. "So they are in the southern hemisphere." He put his finger against the glass, and the waves beneath it sparkled with silver foam. "There are whales aplenty on the coasts of Australia. I'll wager our quarry is in this vicinity." He slid his finger up the eastern coast of Australia, and a line of white foam followed the course he took
Manfred watched the long, fishlike finger with a slight frown of distaste. "You've caused a few shipwrecks there, I imagine," he said.
"Mustn't let it run away with me." Lord Grimwald turned to Manfred. "Well, what else did this clairvoyant
"So much sea," he murmured and the smile that crept into his face made him appear almost amiable. If Lord Grimwald had a heart, then it was held in the glowing sphere before him. He loved it above everything else. Alone on his rocky island, with only the globe for company, he was happy. Sometimes the memory of his wife's gentle singing caused him to look down into the waves, where she had drowned in a net, crushed by a ton of fish. And then he would think of the gold charms she had made for their son, so that he should survive the curse that lay upon their family.
It was regrettable, Lord Grimwald reflected, that if he was to live on, he must destroy his only son, now that Dagbert was twelve years old. He had proved to be a talented drowner and would no doubt become a powerful Lord of the Oceans, if he survived.
The reason for the Grimwald family curse had been lost through time. But it was as strong as it had ever been.
When Lord Grimwald was twelve he had caused his own father's death, and for his father it had been the same. But, occasionally, a father had survived a son, and the present Lord of the Oceans didn't intend to die for a long time yet.
He'll hide those charms, that son of mine, but I will find them. Lord Grimwald laughed out loud. He had a plan that involved Mrs. Tilpin's son, Joshua. The Magnet. He hoped the boy was up to the task.
The Lord of the Oceans put a scaly hand against the glass, and a white plume of water rose beneath his fingers. When it fell back, bright circles rippled away from it across the ocean, like the ripples in a pond. Only these foamy circles would appear on the real ocean as a mountain of water. Lord Grimwald was so entranced by his work, he didn't hear Manfred come into the ballroom.
"So this is the Sea Globe!" said Manfred in an awestruck voice. "It is" -- he stretched out his hand -- "so vast!"
Lord Grimwald turned, almost guiltily, as though caught in the act of admiring himself in a mirror. "The Sea Globe, yes. I'm pleased that it has traveled so well, despite its size. Not a wave, not an ocean out of place."
Manfred leaned close to the glass. "It defies gravity," he said with a frown. "Why does the water not tumble to the ground? How can it possibly rise like that? The waves" -- he leaned even closer -- "some of them are rolling upward."
Lord Grimwald smiled with satisfaction. "It is what it is. And has always been so. I know nothing of its history. My father told me once that an ancestor in the distant past was endowed with magnetism. He attracted water, if you like. He gathered it into his arms, out of the Northern Sea, and lo and behold, a sphere of water grew out of his gatherings, dotted about with parcels of land."
"And it's with this globe that your family has been able to control the oceans?" Manfred's tone was tinged with doubt.
"For eight hundred years," Lord Grimwald replied. "It was encased in glass in the nineteenth century, to protect it from pollution, you understand."
Manfred nodded. "Naturally."
"Did you get anything out of the boy?" Lord Grimwald asked.
"Oh, a great deal," Manfred replied with a smile. "The boat was on his mind, and it has a name, Greywing. Eustacia saw it all, the sea, the night sky, and constellations upside down."
"Upside down?" The Lord of the Oceans rubbed his chin. "So they are in the southern hemisphere." He put his finger against the glass, and the waves beneath it sparkled with silver foam. "There are whales aplenty on the coasts of Australia. I'll wager our quarry is in this vicinity." He slid his finger up the eastern coast of Australia, and a line of white foam followed the course he took
Manfred watched the long, fishlike finger with a slight frown of distaste. "You've caused a few shipwrecks there, I imagine," he said.
"Mustn't let it run away with me." Lord Grimwald turned to Manfred. "Well, what else did this clairvoyant
Similar Books
