Jenny Nimmo - Charlie Bone and the Wilderness Wolf

‘Me? Oh, I play the trumpet,’ Charlie replied. He wondered why the boy had arrived so late in the school year. They were almost halfway through the second term.

‘I come from the North,’ Dagbert informed him. ‘The far, far North. I was in Loth’s Academy but they expelled me.’

Charlie was instantly intrigued. ‘What for?’

‘There was a drowning,’ the boy said airily. ‘Not my fault, of course, but you know what parents are. They wanted retribution and someone gave them my name.’ Dagbert lowered his voice. ‘He didn’t last long, I can assure you.’

‘Who?’

‘The snitcher.’

They had reached the hall and Charlie was so keen to hear the gruesome details of the drowning, he quite forgot the rules. ‘So what happened then?’

‘Silence in the hall, Charlie Bone,’ called one of the prefects, a cheerful girl who rarely gave detention.

‘This way,’ Charlie whispered, nudging Dagbert’s arm.

They walked to a door beneath a carving of crossed trumpets. Once through the door Charlie said, ‘I’m glad Fiona’s on duty and not Manfred Bloor.’

‘What’s wrong with Manfred?’ asked Dagbert.

Charlie didn’t like the look that Dagbert shot at him. ‘Never mind.’ Quickly changing the subject, Charlie explained that they were in the blue cloakroom. ‘Drama students wear purple capes, their cloakroom door is under two masks; crossed paintbrushes show where the Art students go. They wear green. We have our own canteens, too. But we all work together, except when we do music, art or drama.’

Children began to crowd round Dagbert. Where did he come from? Why was he here? Did he live in the city?

Charlie noticed Billy Raven sitting in a corner. As soon as he saw Dagbert he gave Charlie one of his worried looks and ran out. Dagbert glanced at the small albino before talking to the others. He told none of them what he had told Charlie. He would only say that he lived above a fish shop.

‘I like fish, you see.’ He gave Charlie a private smile.

‘He’s an odd fish,’ Fidelio whispered in Charlie’s ear.

Charlie grinned. Dagbert saw Fidelio’s head close to Charlie’s and the smile left his face. His eyes suddenly became so icy they sent a shiver down Charlie’s spine.

‘It’s English next,’ Charlie said. ‘We’d better get to Mr Carp’s room.’

‘You should enjoy that, eh, Dagbert?’ said Fidelio. ‘A carp is a very fine fish.’

Dagbert was not amused. ‘Show me the way,’ he commanded.

They left the blue cloakroom and made their way through groups of children in blue, green or purple capes, all heading in different directions.

Mr Carp was stout and red-faced. He was always dressed very neatly in a striped waistcoat and smart grey suit. He found Charlie Bone irritating, partly because of his messy hair, and partly because his mind always seemed to be elsewhere. He didn’t pay attention and sometimes gave silly answers that made the class laugh.

‘You boy, sit there,’ he told Dagbert. ‘That’s right, next to Charlie Bone. He is to be your monitor, I’m told. Though he needs one himself, if you ask me.’ Mr Carp laughed at his own joke while the rest of the class remained silent.

Dagbert took the desk next to Charlie. On the other side of Charlie, Fidelio raised an eyebrow. With a scraping of chairs the class sat down and a lesson on punctuation began.

For the rest of the day Dagbert stuck to Charlie like a limpet. It wasn’t Dagbert’s fault, Charlie reasoned, but he was beginning to affect Charlie’s social life badly. His friends Emma and Olivia approached during break but things took a bad turn when Olivia suggested that Dagbert smelt fishy. Charlie had assumed that the smell was wafting up from the kitchens but now he realised that Olivia was right.

Dagbert’s response caught Charlie off guard. ‘We think you stink of cheap perfume, don’t we, Charlie?’ He winked at Charlie, who opened his mouth to protest, when Dagbert continued, ‘and we think you both look a mess. Those ridiculous hairdos for one thing.’

‘I . . . didn’t . . .’ Charlie stuttered.

Emma stared at him in dismay, while Olivia said, ‘I see. Well, we know where we stand, don’t we?’ She grabbed Emma’s arm and dragged her away. They’d only gone a few steps when Olivia turned back and called, ‘I always knew you were a fraud, Charlie Bone. A fraud and a liar.’

Charlie would have run after the girls, but Olivia’s hurtful words stopped him in his tracks. Had she always thought him a fraud? He watched the two girls walk across the grounds. In her red coat and black tights, Olivia looked anything but a mess. Her brown hair was streaked with black and gold and topped with a small black velvet beret. Charlie had been about to compliment her when Dagbert made his fatal remark. Even Emma looked elegant today, with her blonde hair piled on top of her head.

‘Let them go,’ said Dagbert. ‘We know their sort. Airheads.’

‘Don’t keep saying “we”,’ Charlie said irritably. ‘We don’t have the same opinions at all. And those girls aren’t airheads.’

Dagbert ignored this. ‘You promised to show me the red castle. I can see the walls from here. Come on.’

At the far end of the grounds, the deep red walls of a castle could be glimpsed between the trees. Now a ruin, it was difficult to believe that the Red King had once held court there. At times, Charlie had found the ruin a refuge, but always there was a feeling of unease behind the great walls, a hint of the castle’s troubled past, when the king’s family had turned against each other.

‘You go ahead,’ Charlie told Dagbert. ‘I want to talk to someone.’ He had seen his friend Gabriel Silk wandering towards them.

As Gabriel got closer, Dagbert said loudly. ‘You’re right, Charlie. What a loser.’

It was unfortunate that Gabriel happened to be passing Bragger Braine, the worst bully in the second year. Bragger, and the group of boys surrounding him, took one look at Gabriel’s long, sad face and burst into malicious laughter.

‘Gabe!’ Charlie shouted.

But Gabriel had fled. Charlie scanned the grounds and eventually saw Gabriel running for the garden door.

‘Dagbert, why did you say that?’ Charlie demanded angrily. ‘Gabriel’s very sensitive. I don’t know how I’m going to explain things to him.’

‘I wouldn’t bother,’ Dagbert said casually. ‘Who wants a friend like that? He can’t even wear old clothes.’

‘He can’t help it. He gets all the feelings of the people who’ve worn the clothes before him.’ Charlie stamped his foot. ‘And if you want to see the ruin, go by yourself.’

Furious, Charlie stormed away from Dagbert and made for the school. The smell of fish suddenly became so overpowering he almost retched. It was a relief to get inside the hall and close the door against the choking odour. Charlie ran along to the blue cloakroom where Gabriel often took refuge when things weren’t going well. But instead of Gabriel, he found Billy Raven, huddled at the end of a bench.

‘Billy, have you seen Gabriel?’ Charlie asked.

Billy shook his head. He looked very troubled.

‘What is it?’ Charlie sat beside the smaller boy.

‘You need to know some things,’ said Billy, ‘about that boy, Dagbert. Blessed told me –’

‘There you are!’ Dagbert stood in the doorway, his face blank and the fish smell under control. It seemed to be something he could send out or stop at will. ‘You’ve got some freaky friends, Charlie Bone.’

‘Look,’ said Charlie, trying hard to keep his temper. ‘I don’t mind being your monitor but leave my friends alone or –’

‘Or what?’ Dagbert’s expression hardened.

Charlie couldn’t think of a reply.