Free Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo

wall of — nothing. It was impossible to reach the front door. He attempted to push his hands through the unseen barrier, but it was like pushing against a wall of iron.
    Billy retreated and sat on a chair beside the empty cabinet. He couldn't believe what was happening. He wondered if he waited a few minutes, the ghostly barrier would melt away
    As he gazed around the hall, he noticed that there were no coats hanging on the hall stand; there were no hats on the pegs, no walking sticks, umbrellas, boots, or bags tucked into the space beneath the pegs. It was almost as if no one lived in the Passing House. And then Billy became aware of something black at t he foot of the stand.
    He got up and went to take a look. It was a very small cat with a gray muzzle and a thin tail. At last, something that Billy could talk to. He knelt beside the little creature and said, "Hello! I'm Billy I've come to live here."
    "Welcome, Billy" said the cat in a frail voice. "I am Clawdia. For myself I am happy that you are here, but for you, I am very sorry"

ALICE ANGEL
    When Charlie left Darkly Wynd, he didn't go straight home but instead turned onto a road that led to Ingledew's bookstore.
    Ingledew's stood in a row of old, half-timber buildings that bordered the cathedral square. As Charlie walked over the ancient cobblestones toward the bookstore, he heard the sound of an organ being played deep inside the huge, domed building. His father had been the cathedral organist, until one day he had vanished from this very place. Maybe Charlie was standing exactly where his father had last been seen. Lyell Bone had tried to stop the Bloors from kidnapping Emma Tolly and for this he had been horribly punished: hypnotized, trapped, hidden, and lost to his wife and child. They said that Lyell was dead, but Charlie knew better.
    He gave a big shrug, told himself not to have too many gloomy thoughts, and marched over to the bookstore.
    Emma stood behind the counter, examining a pile of large leatherbound books. She looked up when the shop door tinkled and Charlie walked in.
    "Hi, Charlie. You got out of detention early"
    "They didn't want me around," said Charlie. "It's Billy's adoption day"
    "Oh, of course. Did you see his new parents?"
    "Yes, and I don't like the look of them. They don't really want Billy I saw some photos on Manfred's desk and . . . well . . . I'm worried, Em. I'm sure it's not normal, the way those people just turned up and took Billy away"
    "The Bloors do a lot of abnormal things," said Emma grimly "But they get away with it because they’re the oldest family in the city and everyone's scared of them, even the mayor and the councilors."
    They think Manfred and Ezekiel can do anything, but they're wrong," Charlie muttered. "By the way, someone stole my wand."
    "What?" Emma dropped a book. "Charlie, what are you going to do?"
    "I don't know yet. I shouldn't have taken it to school, but I thought 1 might need it to kind of help me learn things."
    "But still . . ." Emma shook her head. "Oh, Charlie, this is serious."
    "You're telling me, but it's mine, Em. Truly mine. It's got nothing to do with the Yewbeams or the Bloors, and it won't work for them."
    "But if they can't use the wand, they'll destroy it."
    "That's what I'm afraid of."
    Before Charlie could say any more, a very tall man with black hair and dark glasses walked through the curtained door behind the counter.
    “Ah, Charlie, I thought I heard your voice." He suddenly looked at the light hanging over the counter, said, "Oh, darn," and began to back out.
    Emma rushed to the light switch beside the curtain, but it was too late. There was a loud pop, and the lightbulb shattered, sending a shower of glass onto the antique books.
    "Oh, Paton, really!" came an exasperated female voice from behind the curtain.
    "Sorry Julia! Sorry!" said Paton Yewbeam. "How was I to know the light was on? The sun's shining in there."
    "I put it on to see the books better," Emma said plaintively