Charlie Bone and The Blue Boa (Children Of The Red King, Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

found," he shouted. "See to it, Mr. Boldova."
    "Of course, Headmaster."
    As soon as they were out of earshot, Charlie whispered, "Thanks, sir. I guess we were heading for detention."
    "Keep walking," the art teacher said quietly
    But Emma couldn't remain silent any longer. "We found Ollie," she said softly
    Mr. Boldova almost tripped. He gripped the children's shoulders and said, "What? Tell me how — where?"
    As they hurried to their classrooms, Charlie and Emma took turns telling the teacher about poor Ollie and his invisibility
    "Ollie's going to try and get down to dinner tonight, sir," said Charlie. "So you might . . . well, he might be able to talk to you."
    "I can hardly believe it," murmured Mr. Boldova. "Invisible or not, Ollie's here, and he's alive. I thought they'd taken him to one of those awful castles of theirs. I've spent almost a year trying to find out which one."
    "Do they have many sir?" asked Charlie.
    “At least five," said Mr. Boldova. "This is so incredible. I will take Ollie home at the first opportunity We'll find a way to cure him when we get home."
    They had reached Madame Tessier and Mr. Pope, who stood fuming outside their classrooms. Mr. Boldova quickly explained that he had borrowed Emma and Charlie to search for his rat, Rembrandt, who had escaped from his cage. The two teachers grudgingly accepted his apologies and told the children to hurry along to lunch.
    "I'll see you two at dinnertime," said Mr. Boldova, giving the children a big smile. And he walked away whistling merrily
    Would Charlie's plan for Ollie work? He was sure it wouldn't be as easy as Mr. Boldova seemed to think.

CHAPTER 3
    RUNNER BEAN IS DISCOVERED
    On his way to the dining hall, Charlie had to pass the portraits. They hung on either side of the long, softly lit passage: haughty-looking women in lace and silk, men in dark robes or wearing velvet coats and white pants. You might think that Charlie would be curious to know what they had to say but to tell the truth, he was beginning to find their bad-tempered whispering, rude demands, and boring jokes rather tiring. He was also afraid that one of them might come leaping out at him. So he usually tried to avoid looking at them.
    Except for today Something had jogged his memory
    “Ah, there it is." He stopped before a portrait of a bold-looking woman in red velvet. She had dark ringlets, and a necklace of rose-colored jewels sparkled at her throat. SELENA SPARKS read a small bronze plaque at the bottom of the frame.
    "Selena Sparks," Charlie murmured.
    "What about her?" Fidelio said over Charlie's shoulder.
    "Shh!" hissed Charlie. He waited for a voice, but Selena had nothing to say to him. Perhaps she was shy "I knew I'd seen that name," Charlie muttered. “All these people are descended from the Red King. So maybe Ollie is, too."
    "Ollie who?" asked Fidelio. "I wish you'd talk sense, Charlie."
    "Emma and me . . . " Charlie began.
    He was interrupted by a shout from Manfred, the head boy "Move on, you two, you're cluttering up the passage."
    The boys hurried on, but Charlie, glancing back, saw Manfred stop and stare at Selena Sparks. Charlie hoped Manfred wouldn't guess why he was so interested in the portrait.
    As they took their places in the long underground dining hall, Charlie whispered, "Can you leave a gap, Fido? Someone might want to sit between us. Someone invisible who's hungrier than we are."
    "Really?" Fidelio raised his eyebrows. "It didn't take you long to get tangled up in something, did it?" He moved closer to his neighbor, leaving a small space between Charlie and himself.
    It happened to be one of the best meals Charlie had eaten at Bloor's: morsels of chicken and bacon floated in a creamy sauce, and he was tempted to eat every scrap, but he pushed a few pieces to the side of his plate, in case Ollie turned up.
    "He can have all of mine," said Fidelio, who was a vegetarian.
    "I'll have it," said his neighbor, a large boy called Morris who played the