Read Charlie Bone And The Red Knight (Children Of The Red King, Book 8) for Free Online

proved useful. It's quite incredible what you can turn up these days."
    Tancred and Emma stared at Paton, uncomprehending.
    On the other side of the fireplace, Miss Ingledew pulled herself from the depths of a battered armchair and gave a light, ringing laugh. "Paton," she cried, "they haven't a clue what you're talking about."
    Paton cleared his throat. "I'll explain," he said. And he told them of his search for a certain pearl-inlaid box that Billy Raven's father, Rufus, had entrusted to Lyell Bone. Soon after this, Rufus and his wife were both dead, victims of a supposed traffic accident, and Lyell began ten long years of spellbound forgetfulness, a trancelike state brought about by Manfred Bloor's dreadful hypnotic power.
    Paton's deep voice shook with emotion when he spoke of Lyell and Rufus, but his tone became firmer when he described his growing suspicion that Billy Raven was closely connected to these vile crimes. Why, for instance, did Ezekiel Bloor keep the orphan Billy almost a prisoner in the school? And then allow him to be dragged into the past by the enchanter of Badlock?
    "I don't have an answer, either," said Paton, looking at the bemused expressions around him.
    "So how do you know about the box?" Tancred ventured.
    "Ah, the box. I was coming to that." Paton stood up and began to pace the room. "My suspicions led me to search for any of Billy's remaining relatives. I discovered the aunt who cared for him after his parents' deaths, but she would tell me nothing. It was only by chance that she mentioned a certain Timothy Raven, Billy's great-uncle. I could see that she instantly regretted it, and she wouldn't tell me where he lived. I had to discover that for myself. I now know that she was on Ezekiel's payroll. She didn't even tell me that her own mother was still alive. It was Timothy who told me that. I found him in Aberdeen. He was ailing when I met him and has since died, but he was able to give me an old address of Billy's great-grandmother. And I found her."
    Paton's audience waited breathlessly for his next revelation. He smiled at them with satisfaction and announced, "Her name is Sally Raven and she lives in a nursing home on the northeast coast. It seems she had become estranged from her daughter and knew nothing of Billy's fate after his parents had died. But she told me about the box, Maybelle's box, she called it, with its beautiful pattern of inlaid mother-of-pearl. It was given to her by her husband's aunt Evangeline, and Sally gave it to her grandson, Rufus, on his wedding day."
    Emma uttered a quiet, "Ahh!" She had been thinking of weddings lately. She looked at her aunt, who smiled.
    "The key was lost," Paton continued rather hurriedly. "And there was no way of opening the box. It was just a very beautiful object, Sally said. But in her heart she knew it contained something special because there were others, on the Bloor side of the family, who desperately wanted it."
    "The Bloors?" said Tancred and Emma.
    "Just so," replied Paton. He turned to Miss Ingledew. "Shall we show them?"
    "I think we had better." Miss Ingledew went to her desk and unlocked a small drawer at the top. She withdrew a folded piece of paper and carried it over to Tancred. "Open it out," she said.
    Tancred unfolded the paper on his knees, where Emma could see it.
    "Wow!" Emma exclaimed.
    "Sally Raven is an extraordinary woman," Paton told them. "She has a case full of photos, letters, and cards from her family and her husband's. She was able to help me draw up a family tree that goes right back to Septimus Bloor, old Ezekiel's great-grandfather."
    "So Billy is related to Ezekiel?" said Tancred, with a frown.
    "Distantly," Paton agreed. "Billy is descended from Maybelle, who married a Raven. Ezekiel is descended from Maybelle's brother, Bertram, who inherited Septimus's fabulous wealth. But Sally believes that Septimus left his fortune to Maybelle and her heirs. And his original and true will is hidden in that beautiful