Free Charlie Bone and the Castle of Mirrors by Jenny Nimmo Page B

their inherited talents. Alas , the child who is my greatest concern is neither on one side nor the other. I a m Billy Raven’s guardian. When the boy 's father, Rufus Raven, and his pretty wife (they were both Ravens, you know , second cousins) realized that there was no escape from the Bloors and your malevolent (forgive the adjective) sisters, they begged me to become Billy 's guardian , to watch over him, to protect and guide him; in short, to save him from becoming like the Bloors. But when Billy was orphaned, he was sent to an aunt who had little interest in nurturing the essentially good heart that he was born with. Instead, she chose to ignore the boy until he revealed his endowment, and then it was off to Bloor's for poor Billy.
    "Mr. Yewbeam, you must be wondering why I have so seriously neglected my duty. Where has this would-be guardian been for six years? you must be asking yourself.
    "In prison, Mr. Yewbeam."
    At this point, there was a gasp from Miss Ingledew, who had just entered the room. "Prison?" she said. "Paton, you didn't tell me he'd been in prison!"
    “A detail I previously omitted for your peace of mind, Julia," said Paton.
    Miss Ingledew perched on the arm of the sofa. "Your uncle has only read half of this letter to me," she told Charlie. "I'd better hear the rest."
    Paton gave her a tender smile. "We shall benefit from your opinion, Julia."
    "Oh, please, go on," begged Charlie.
    "Where was I?" Paton ran his finger down the page in a maddeningly casual way
    "Prison!" cried Charlie. "He said he’d been in prison."
    "Ah, yes. Here we are." Paton jabbed the paper with his finger and continued.
    "In prison, Mr. Yewbeam.
    "Let me assure you — I was not guilty. I was tricked by that wretch Weedon, on his master's orders, of course. The dreadful brute tried to murder me (a blow to the head in the dark while I was putting the cat outside). But having failed, he framed me as an armed robber. Me, of all people! I am a printer. I deal in fine paper, precious inks, a pure line. I deal in words, engravings, letterheads, pamphlets, et cetera. Nevertheless, I was caught at the scene of a vicious robbery and eventually sent to prison. Last week I was released early —for good behavior.
    "My first thought was of Billy, and so I contacted a loyal friend at Bloor's Academy. To my horror, I discovered that Billy was to be adopted by Florence and Usher de Grey . I cannot stress how disastrous this would be for Billy.
    "Mr. Yewbeam, will you help me? Could you arrange for me to meet Billy, clandestinely? I know that your great-nephew, Charlie, has been a good friend to the boy, and perhaps he could be involved in the enterprise. Ultimately, We must get Billy away from the de Greys, but such a venture will have to be planned with the utmost care, the utmost secrecy.
    "I will contact you again soon, Mr. Yewbeam. In the meantime, I look forward to our future collaboration.
    "Yours, in hope,
    C. Crowquill"
    "Well!" exclaimed Miss Ingledew "How extraordinary"
    "It must have been Cook," said Charlie thoughtfully. "Cook is Mr. Crowquill's friend at the academy I bet. She told me she'd heard from one of Billy's relatives. And she said something about a Castle of Mirrors. Do you know where it is, Uncle P.? Billy's ancestor came from there, and it might be kind of important to him."
    "Never heard of it," said Uncle Paton. "Charlie, have you seen these de Grey people?"
    "Yes, I've seen them," said Charlie, "and I've, er, you know — heard their voices. Mr. de Grey said he didn't like children. So, obviously he didn't want to adopt Billy"
    "Is he with the de Greys now?" asked Miss Ingledew
    "They came to get him today" said Charlie. "But he's coming to my place on Sunday so we can go to the Pets' Café together. I'll tell him about Mr. Crowquill, shall I, Uncle P?"
    No." Uncle Paton held up his hand. "Not yet, Charlie. I shall have to give this meeting a great deal of thought. For now, it would be best if Billy didn't know