Midnight for Charlie Bone (Children Of The Red King, Book 1) by Jenny Nimmo Page A

through the icy streets, Charlie began to murmur about driving through a forest and a blue car tumbling into a quarry Benjamin thought Charlie was sleepwalking or had gone crazy Nothing Charlie said made any sense until he suddenly stopped and, grabbing Benjamin's arm, he said, "That's what happened to my father, Ben. He drove into a quarry."
                "Really?" said Benjamin. "I always wondered. In fact, sometimes I thought your father had just run away."
                "No," said Charlie gravely. “He was murdered." Benjamin didn't know what to say to this. Charlie's life had become, not only pretty complicated, but dangerous as well. They had reached Charlie's house by now, and Benjamin decided it would be best to let his friend have a rest. Besides, he could hear Runner Bean barking. He hoped he hadn't been barking for a whole hour.
                "Let's talk about the case tomorrow,” said Benjamin. "I'll come by when you have your music lesson."
                "Music lesson?" Charlie looked puzzled.
                "Fidelio Gunn," Benjamin said kindly.
                "Hmm.?The color had begun to come back into Charlie's pale face. "Oh, yes. See you tomorrow, Ben."
                Charlie dragged himself up the steps of number nine. It was quiet in the house. The smell of Maisie's cooking drifted into the hall, but instead of making Charlie feel hungry it just gave him a stomachache.
                He went upstairs and lay on his bed. This must be what people felt like after an operation, Charlie thought, as if they were not quite connected to the real world.
                Manfred Bloor had known who he was. But how? Charlie remembered the photograph. When he had looked at it and heard those voices, Aries the cat had peeked out and seen him. Somehow a connection had been made, even though eight years had passed. Could it be that when he saw Manfred in the newspaper, Manfred had seen him, too, and known who he was? Charlie decided to try an experiment. Somewhere he had a photograph of Benjamin; it had been taken on the same day as the photo of smiling Runner Bean. Chafie rummaged in a drawer and pulled out Benjamin's startled face. The camera flash had taken him by surprise. Charlie stared at his friend's face. For a moment Benjamin just stared back, and then a voice said, Charlie, I don't like having my photo taken.
                In the background a dog barked and then Charlie's own voice could be heard, saying, Smile, Benjamin. Go on. You look great. Really!
                That was it. No more voices. Just the sound of a dog panting heavily and then a long, doggish yawn.
                At number twelve, Benjamin had just opened a large container of strawberry yogurt. He was about to plunge his spoon in when Charlie's face appeared floating among the strawberries. It turned Benjamin's stomach over. He put the container back in the fridge.
                "It's gone bad," he told Runner Bean. "We'll have cheese instead" Runner Bean was glad to hear this. He wagged his tail happily Charlie's mom woke him up for his lunch, but after that he fell asleep again. At teatime Maisie asked him if he felt ill, because he looked very peculiar and he hadn't touched his sandwich.
                "Not ill," said Charlie. "I think I've been hypnotized." Maisie and his mother laughed.
                "Grandma Bone's on the warpath," said Maisie. "She wanted to see you about some questions, but then she got a phone call and took off to visit theYewbeams."
                After tea, Charlie fell asleep again. He didn't wake up until he heard his uncle creaking downstairs at midnight.
                Charlie tiptoed down to the kitchen. His head felt much clearer and he was really hungry He found his uncle sitting at the kitchen table eating cold chicken, green beans, and salad. There was