Read Online Midnight for Charlie Bone (Children Of The Red King, Book 1) by Jenny Nimmo - Free Book Online Page B

just in time to see a bright flash disappear behind a tree.
                "The flames," breathed Charlie.
                "Flames? What flames?" asked Benjamin.
                Charlie told him about Mr. Onimous and his cats.
                "Oh, cats," said Benjamin. "No wonder Runner's in such a state." Charlie would always wonder if what happened next had anything to do with Mr. Onimous' three flames. For it was the cats that caused them to run to the back door. And if they hadn't they would never have heard the faint tapping that came from behind another door, a door right beside them.
                "What's in there?" asked Charlie.
                "The cellar," said Benjamin. "It's dangerous. The steps are rotten. We never go in there."
                "Somebody does." Charlie opened the door. At his feet there was a very small amount of floor and then a dark nothingness. Charlie cautiously stepped through the door and looked down. He could just make out a rickety-looking stepladder leading down into the darkness. A faint tap came from the bottom of the steps and then it stopped.
                "There's a light," said Benjamin, pressing a switch inside the door. A lightbulb, hanging from the ceiling of the cellar, lit a dusty almost bare room. And now Charlie could see how precarious the steps were. Some were cracked and others had completely fallen away.
                "Dad keeps saying he's going to fix them, but he never has time," said Benjamin.
                "I'm going down," Charlie announced. He could see the bright silver case laying beside the last step.
                "Don't," said Benjamin. "You'll have a terrible accident and it'll be my fault."
                "No, it won't." Charlie began to descend. "I've got to open that case."
                "Why?" wailed Benjamin. Runner Bean gave an accompanying howl.
                "I want to know what's in it before I get to the academy Whoops!" Charlie's foot slipped. He turned to cling to one of the stronger steps and continued the rest of the way holding on to the sides of the ladder, while his feet found the steps that could still bear his weight. In this way with a few cracks and slithers, he managed to reach the cellar floor.
                "Bring the case up here," said Benjamin, kneeling as close as he dared. Charlie was already trying to fit the first key into the lock. "I think I'll do it down here," he said. "You never know what might come out of it." The first key didn't fit, neither did the second. No sound came from the case and Charlie began to wonder if the strange tapping hadn't been the water pipes or even a rat under the floorboards. He tried the third key but had no luck with that either.
                Miss Ingledew had given Charlie ten keys and, as he tried the fifth, he had a feeling that none of them would fit the silver case. Some of them were too large even to go into the lock. With a sigh, Charlie pulled out the sixth key.
                "No luck?" asked Benjamin.
                "Zilch," said Charlie. "It's freezing down here. I think I'll..." He was interrupted by a loud rap on the front door. Runner Bean barked and Benjamin stood up. "What shall I do?" he said in a panicky voice.
                "Better see who's there before your parents wake up," Charlie advised.
                “And shut the cellar door, in case whoever it is comes into the house." Charlie didn't mention the light, but in his anxiety Benjamin thoughtlessly turned it off before he closed the cellar door.
                "Hey!" Charlie whispered as loud as a whisper could get. Benjamin had gone. Charlie was alone in the dark. He could see neither the case nor the keys. He could feel them, though, and as he ran his hand over the rippled surface of the case, he noticed that there was a small