herself between the wall and the stove, she gave a mighty push with her large bottom. The stove moved back another foot at least, giving the blacksmith enough room to swing her hammer against the chimney. Crack! One blow was enough to shatter the bricks above the hole. Enveloped in a cloud of black dust, Mrs. Kettle took another swing, and then another. At the third blow, a pile of bricks tumbled out of the chimney, burying Mrs. Kettle up to her knees. 314 "Aha!" the blacksmith cried triumphantly. "Charlie, it's your turn. You saw where Fero- mel put the precious object." Kicking the fallen bricks out of her way, she moved from behind the stove and pointed to the large hole she had made. "What do you think, my dear?" 409/506 Charlie didn't know what to think. He tried to imagine the dark room where he had helped Feromel to hide the sword hilt. Could this really be the very same chimney? "Go on, Charlie!" Tancred's enthusiasm blew little clouds of dust into the air, and Charlie began to cough. "Cool it, Tancred!" Mrs. Kettle said reprov- ingly. "Here, Charlie, put these on." She handed him a pair of oversized gloves. Charlie cautiously pulled them on. His move- ments were slow and almost reluctant, for he was filled with misgiving. Perhaps such a precious object should never be found, and certainly not by someone like himself, 315 a boy who had never proved himself worthy to touch such a great king's possession. "What's holding you back, Charlie?" Mrs. Kettle asked gently. 410/506 "The gloves are too big," he muttered. "Take them off, then. There's no fire in the chimney today." Mrs. Kettle laughed and Tancred joined in. Their laughter seemed out of place on such a solemn occasion. Charlie removed the right glove and laid it on the stove. He pushed several bricks aside with his feet and then knelt before the wide hole in the chimney. He could see the bricks at the back, patched with tar and soot. He leaned forward and ran his gloved hand over the surface of the wall. One of the bricks wobbled slightly beneath his fingers. Charlie told himself he hadn't noticed it. He was thinking of the stolen cloak. If the Red Knight was a thief, should he be given a ma- gic sword? "I'm not sure if this is the right place," he said. 316 411/506 "It must be. Feromel lived here. The house was hardly altered." Mrs. Kettle gave Charlie a long hard look. "Are you sure, my dear? Try again." Once more Charlie ran his hand over the wall. The loose brick made a light, grating noise, but he took no notice. "What was that?" Tancred exclaimed. "I heard something." He knelt beside Charlie. "Sounded like something kind of wobbling." "It was just loose mortar," Charlie insisted. Tancred wasn't convinced. Putting his head and shoulders right into the chimney, he felt the wall with both hands. "Here it is!" He pulled the loose brick away and brought it into the light. "Well!" Mrs. Kettle clapped her big hands against her cheeks. "I can hardly believe it. What's in there, Charlie? What's behind the brick? Go on, FEEL, my dear." 412/506 Charlie put his right hand into the cavity. His fingers closed on a hard object wrapped in cloth. For a moment he hesitated and then slowly he pulled the bundle 317 out of the wall. Beneath a film of dust, a dull red cloth could be seen. Charlie found he could hardly breathe. The only sound in the room seemed to come from his racing heart. He handed the bundle to Mrs. Kettle. "Oh, Charlie!" She gasped. "Shall I?" "Of course," said Tancred impatiently. "Open the cloth. Let's see it." For a moment, Mrs. Kettle was too overcome to move. She gazed reverently at the dusty bundle and then very slowly unwrapped it. In the bright light of the kettle room, the sword hilt looked even more magnificent than Charlie remembered it. Speechless with awe, they all gazed at the golden patterns, 413/506 the shining birds, and sapphire-studded leopards. "That is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my entire life," said Tancred. "Not only beautiful, but invincible," said Mrs. Kettle. Lowering her voice so they could hardly hear her, she added, "And magical." 318 "Supposing it doesn't fit your sword?" asked Tancred, who could be surprisingly practical at times. Mrs. Kettle threw back her shoulders. "Fol- low me!" she commanded. The boys followed her through the metal door into the room she called her smith. Ly- ing on a rough worktable was a long metal box. Mrs. Kettle raised the lid and they be- held the gleaming sword. Even though it was unfinished, a shiver of dread ran down Charlie's spine; it looked so very dangerous. 414/506 The sword tapered to a treacherous point, but the top ended in a narrow strip of metal about six inches long. "No handle," Tancred observed. "I mean, no hilt." Once again, Mrs. Kettle unwrapped the dusty bundle. She gazed solemnly at the magnifi- cent sword hilt and then very carefully lifted it closer to her face. Peering beneath the two winged leopards, she happily exclaimed, "There!" and turned the end of the sword hilt toward the boys. 319 They saw a dark space in the center, a nar- row cavity made to fit something very like the top of the sword. "Charlie," said Mrs. Kettle, "lift the sword." Charlie rubbed his sooty hands on his trousers and then gently lifted the narrow strip of metal at the top of the sword. 415/506 "Good. Hold it steady," commanded Mrs. Kettle. She smiled at them, but Charlie could tell that she was nervous and only half-believed the hilt would fit the sword. "Higher, Charlie," she said, her voice trembling slightly. Charlie lifted the sword another few inches, and Mrs. Kettle slowly eased the hilt over the top. It slid into place so smoothly it seemed as if an irresistible force were drawing the winged leopards down onto the shining blade. "Made for each other." Tancred sighed. Almost as he spoke, a great wind rushed across the floor of the smith, and a long sigh came from somewhere deep within the an- cient walls. 320 416/506 Charlie looked at Tancred. "Wasn't me," said Tancred, anxiously looking around the room. "It was Feromel," said Mrs. Kettle, and a tear shone in her eye. "Thank you, Charlie. He is at peace." She laid the now complete sword back in its box and closed the lid. "I didn't do anything, really," said Charlie, a little embarrassed. "It just happened." "You did a great deal, and now you must run along." She glanced at the window. "It's get- ting dark and they may be lurking about already." "Who?" asked Tancred, raising his shoulders nervously. "Manfred and his cronies, whatever or who- ever they are." Mrs. Kettle's face was grim as she led the boys back through the ocean of kettles. And when Tancred and Charlie stepped into the dusky street, a low whisper followed them through the closing door. 417/506 "Don't do anything foolish until the Red Knight has his sword." 321 "And how will we know that?" asked Tancred as the two boys hurried down the badly lit street. "Perhaps she'll get a message to us." Both boys speeded up. They felt that eyes were watching through cracks in the darkened windows. But when they passed the fish shop, Tancred stopped again and stared up at the window above the sign. "Dagbert's not there," he said. "I can't smell fish." Charlie walked on to the Stone Shop. He squinted into the shadows beyond the win- dow. The stone man was there: the very same figure that had stormed into Feromel's house and crushed the life out of him. Charlie stepped back from the blank stare of 418/506 [...]... tomorrow, Charlie. " Charlie grinned to himself He sprinted happily around the corner and into Cathedral Close There was a light on in the bookstore Charlie knocked and two seconds later Emma opened the door "Where've you been?" she said Your uncle's here." 420/506 Charlie bounced down into the shop It felt so good to be surrounded by soft lights and thousands of books, to be enveloped in warmth, and to... Dr Saltweather ordered, this time in a calm, clear voice The two children turned meekly away and ran down the stairs "How did you do that?" asked Cook incredulously "I'm not called Saltweather for nothing," the doctor replied with a smile "Well!" She took a deep breath and stared at the music teacher's weathered face and crown of foamy white hair "Are you are you one of us, then?" Dr Saltweather closed... said Billy under his breath, and he set off up the stairs Blessed couldn't open doors, and he seldom bothered to close them; this led Billy to ignore all the doors on the second and third floors Only the bathrooms were accessible to Blessed and he was not in any of them As Billy trudged up one of the many staircases, he became aware that he was approaching the attics, and his heart sank Mr Ezekiel...4 19/ 506 the protruding stone eyes "Let's get away from here," he murmured huskily "You're on," said Tancred, running up to Charlie and then overtaking him When they got to the end of Piminy Street, Charlie decided to take a chance and visit Ingledew's bookstore It was closer than Filbert Street and, with any luck, Uncle Paton would be there 322 Tancred scooted off through the dark, calling,... go before supper And then what? Bed, he supposed Billy went to his dormitory and began to read The Children of the New Forest for the fifth time He had just got to the part where the children' s 422/506 family home is burnt down, when he heard something scratching the door "Blessed!" Billy jumped up and ran to open the door He was so pleased to see the old dog he went down on his knees and hugged him... see another part of the shroud creep up and bury him again But eventually the doctor gathered up the last strands and held the dreadful gray thing in his hands "This, I believe, is what they call a shriveling shroud," he said gravely "It shrivels the thoughts, rather than solid matter." "It's been knitted," Cook observed "On very large needles." 441/506 "A talent Dorcas has inherited from one of her... in the attics He would bribe Billy with chocolate and promise that soon nice, kind parents 328 would come and adopt him They never came And the cocoa and promises had stopped when Billy made friends with Charlie Bone 427/506 Billy reached the top of the staircase and sniffed the air It was muggy and stale Gaslights in iron brackets sent weak flickering beams down a narrow hall "I'm not going down there,"... Blessed "Hide -and- seek," said Blessed It was better than sitting alone in the dormitory Blessed chose to hide first They began in the hall Billy closed his eyes while he counted to a hundred He could hear Blessed's claws pattering up the main staircase On the landing Billy was certain the claws turned left, and then they faded into the huge silence that filled the building 426/506 "One hundred," said... himself to the floor and put one eye to a large crack What he saw made him gasp with horror Directly below him Manfred Bloor lay on a red velvet sofa His head was propped on a 428/506 silk cushion, and his face was covered in orange bugs Stifling another 3 29 gasp, Billy stared at the tiny moving creatures Behind their writhing, Manfred's pale face was changing If Billy could believe his eyes, Manfred's... in the distance Cook got out of bed, put on her slippers, and opened her bedroom door The whine continued, low and urgent Cook pressed a switch and soft light illuminated a cozy sitting room Snug armchairs with plump cushions were gathered around a small stove The walls were hung with bright pictures, and gold-patterned china twinkled reassuringly from the shelves of an old oak dresser Cook crossed the . like the top of the sword. " ;Charlie, " said Mrs. Kettle, "lift the sword." Charlie rubbed his sooty hands on his trousers and then gently lifted the narrow strip of metal at the. gently. 410/506 " ;The gloves are too big," he muttered. "Take them off, then. There's no fire in the chimney today." Mrs. Kettle laughed and Tancred joined in. Their laughter seemed out of. hesitated and then slowly he pulled the bundle 317 out of the wall. Beneath a film of dust, a dull red cloth could be seen. Charlie found he could hardly breathe. The only sound in the room seemed