Free Charlie Bone And The Red Knight (Children Of The Red King, Book 8) by Jenny Nimmo Page A

grounds.
    With Claerwen's light to guide him, Charlie began to walk back to the small door, hoping that no one else had found it. Turning a bend in the tunnel, he suddenly found himself caught in the light of a leaping flame.
    "Aha!" said a mocking voice. "What have we here? A boy with a box, no doubt."
    Charlie stood frozen to the spot. "I haven't got a box," he said, his voice husky with fear.
    "Oh, no? I think you have!" The leaping flame drew nearer, and Charlie could see the mover's sneering features in the flaring light of a long tarred stick.
    "What... what's that you're holding?" Charlie asked in a faint voice.
    "Fire! That's what it is," cackled the mover. "Amos Byrne has come to warm you up, Charlie Bone."

6
    CHARLIE ESCAPES

    Charlie realized that there was no chance of his returning the way he had come. Leaping away from the flames, he ran toward the castle entrance. Too bad if he was caught in the academy grounds; at least he wouldn't be burned to a cinder. He had no doubt that Amos Byrne was in deadly earnest.
    Charlie wished he had told someone where he was going. He could feel the heat of the flames on his back. The mover was gaining ground. He held the torch at arms' length and Charlie inhaled an acrid bitterness. His head felt as though it was on fire and, bringing his hand to the back of his neck, he found that his hair had been scorched by flying embers.
    Yelping with fear, Charlie rushed toward the distant light at the end of the tunnel. But a sudden ray of hope was immediately dashed when he realized that a ruined castle would be no protection from a villain with a fiery torch.
    Where can I go? Charlie's eyes were open, but his mind was closed to his surroundings, for he was desperately seeking a way of escape. He was never sure when the knight had appeared. Perhaps he had been there, at the end of the tunnel, all the time, sitting astride the white mare, his armor glimmering faintly in the dusk.
    Charlie almost stopped dead in his tracks. But he didn't. He found, to his surprise, that he was still running. Faster and faster. As he drew closer to the horse and its rider, the Red Knight suddenly lifted his sword and, again, Charlie was choked with fear and almost stopped. But a voice reached into his head, quiet and commanding.
    "Run, boy. RUN!"
    And Charlie ran. Losing his terror of the sword, he put on a burst of speed he didn't dream that he had. But Amos was not deterred by the sight of a gleaming sword. He had great confidence in the fire he carried. It was what he lived by, and it had never let him down. He kept up his pace and rushed at the horse, hoping to terrify the creature into throwing its rider.
    Charlie bounded past the mare and tore into the trees that grew inside the ruin. Flinging himself behind a broken wall, he lay, gasping for breath, while a stream of oaths filled the air.
    The white mare gave a high-pitched snort of fear, then came a scream that curdled Charlie's blood. There was a moment of utter silence, before hoofbeats could be heard receding slowly into the distance.
    It was several minutes before Charlie felt brave enough to raise his head above the wall. Darkness was falling fast, but he could just make out a dark figure lying close to the tree whose branches hung above the tunnel entrance.
    Amos Byrne lay motionless, one outstretched hand reaching for the long torch that lay just beyond him, its flame extinguished. Charlie was caught between a sigh of relief and a shudder of horror. Now he must find a way out of the ruin, and then out of the academy grounds. All at once, he felt deeply weary. The next few minutes were going to be very tricky.
    Charlie had often explored the ancient castle. He knew that if he continued along the hedged walkway behind him, he would eventually come to the glade where he had once seen the Red King, or rather, the enchanted tree that the Red King had become. But then where could he go? He had never approached the glade from the academy grounds.