Charlie Bone and the Wilderness Wolf (Children of the Red King, Book 6) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Manfred Bloor."
    "What's wrong with Manfred?" asked Dagbert.
    Charlie didn't like the look that Dagbert shot at him. "Never mind." Quickly changing the subject, Charlie explained that they were in the blue coat-room of the music students. "Drama students wear purple capes - their coatroom door is under two masks - and crossed paintbrushes show where the art students go. They wear green. We have our own cafeterias, too. But we all work together, except when we do music, art, or drama."
    Children began to crowd around Dagbert. Where did he come from? Why was he here? Did he live in the city?
    Charlie noticed Billy Raven sitting in a corner. As soon as he saw Dagbert he gave Charlie one of his worried looks and ran out. Dagbert glanced at the small white-haired boy before talking to the others. He told none of them what he had told Charlie. He would only say that he lived above a fish shop.
    "I like fish, you see." He gave Charlie a private smile.
    "He's an odd fish," Fidelio Gunn whispered in Charlie's ear.
    Charlie grinned. Dagbert saw Fidelio's head close to Charlie's and the smile left his face. His eyes suddenly became so icy they sent a shiver down Charlie's spine.
    "It's English next," Charlie said. "We'd better get to Mr. Carp's room."
    "You should enjoy that, eh, Dagbert?" said Fidelio. "A carp is a very fine fish."
    Dagbert was not amused. "Show me the way," he commanded.
    They left the blue coatroom and made their way through groups of children in blue, green, or purple capes, all heading in different directions.
    Mr. Carp was stout and red-faced. He was always dressed very neatly in a striped vest and smart gray suit. He found Charlie Bone irritating, partly because of his messy hair and partly because his mind always seemed to be elsewhere. He didn't pay attention and sometimes gave silly answers that made the class laugh.
    "You, boy, sit there," he told Dagbert. "That's right, next to Charlie Bone. He is to be your monitor, I'm told. Though he needs one himself, if you ask me." Mr. Carp laughed at his own joke while the rest of the class remained silent.
    Dagbert took the desk next to Charlie. On the other side of Charlie, Fidelio raised an eyebrow. With a scraping of chairs the class sat down and a lesson on punctuation began.
    For the rest of the day Dagbert stuck to Charlie like a limpet. It wasn't Dagbert's fault, Charlie reasoned, but he was beginning to seriously affect Charlie's social life. His friends Emma and Olivia approached during break, but things took a bad turn when Olivia suggested that Dagbert smelled fishy. Charlie had assumed that the smell was wafting up from the kitchens but now he realized that Olivia was right.
    Dagbert's response caught Charlie off guard. "We think you stink of cheap perfume, don't we, Charlie?" He winked at Charlie, who opened his mouth to protest when Dagbert continued. "And we think you both look a mess. Those ridiculous hairdos, for one thing."
    "I... didn't... ," Charlie stuttered.
    Emma stared at him in dismay, while Olivia said, "I see. Well, we know where we stand, don't we?" She grabbed Emma's arm and dragged her away. They'd only gone a few steps when Olivia turned back and called, "I always knew you were a fraud, Charlie Bone. A fraud and a liar."
    Charlie would have run after the girls, but Olivia's hurtful words stopped him in his tracks. Had she always thought him a fraud? He watched the two girls walk across the grounds. In her purple cape, red coat, and black tights, Olivia looked anything but a mess. Her brown hair was streaked with black and gold and topped with a small black velvet beret. Charlie had been about to compliment her when Dagbert made his fatal remark. Even Emma looked elegant today, with her blond hair piled on top of her head.
    "Let them go," said Dagbert. "We know their type. Airheads."
    "Stop saying 'we, " Charlie said irritably. "We don't have the same opinions at all. And those girls aren't airheads."
    Dagbert ignored this. "You promised