Read Charlie Bone and the Wilderness Wolf (Children of the Red King, Book 6) for Free Online

student.
    "You probably do the same to him," said Charlie.
    "Why?" Dagbert looked genuinely surprised.
    Charlie hurried on without answering. He wondered where Dagbert would be sleeping. Every bed in his own dormitory was occupied. So there was no danger of the new boy moving in. Or was there? Ahead of him, he could see Gabriel Silk standing in the hall. He looked distraught. Charlie called out to him, but he turned away and went through a door farther down the hallway.
    "What's going on?" Charlie walked into his dormitory, Dagbert dogging his steps.
    Fidelio was sitting on the bed next to Charlie's. "They've moved Gabriel," he said. "Poor old Gabe. It's not fair. They've put him in with Damian Smerk."
    Charlie gasped. "His worst enemy."
    Dagbert made his way over to the bed that had once been Gabriel's.
    "Now we know the reason for Gabriel's banishment," Fidelio muttered, turning his head in Dagbert's direction.
    Charlie lowered his voice. "I'm supposed to be looking after him. I guess that's why Matron put him in here."
    Other boys began to arrive. Three first years and five second years led by Bragger Braine and his devoted slave Rupe Small. Dagbert ignored them. This was surprising, considering that he had gone out of his way to make friends with most of the endowed. Perhaps he considered these ordinary boys not worth the effort, thought Charlie.
    Bragger Braine stopped at the end of Dagbert's bed and commanded the new boy to introduce himself. Dagbert continued to transfer clothes from his bag into the cabinet beside his bed.
    "I'm talking to you, boy," Bragger shouted, his wide puglike face reddening.
    "Answer!" squeaked Rupe Small.
    "Answer, answer, answer!" chanted the others.
    Charlie suddenly realized he would have to defend the new boy. "Leave him alone," he said.
    "Who asked you, Charlie Bone?" snarled the beefy second year.
    "I'm responsible for him," Charlie said in a reasonable tone. "His name is Dagbert Endless."
    "I suppose he's one of you peculiar 'endowed' people," Rupe piped up with a giggle.
    Charlie found Rupe even more annoying than Bragger. He had such a whiny, high-pitched voice. He followed Bragger's every move with his big doggy eyes, and never said a word unless he was quite sure that Bragger would approve.
    "They're not peculiar," Fidelio said evenly.
    "OK, so what do you do, new boy?" Bragger climbed onto the rail at the foot of Dagbert's bed. "Forgive me for saying so, but Endless isn't a name."
    All at once Dagbert straightened up. He fixed Bragger with his aquamarine eyes and said, "My name is as endless as the ocean and I drown people."
    Bragger's feet slipped off the rail and he landed on his back on the floor.
    Nobody laughed.

4
    THE HOWLING
     
    It was one of the other boys who passed on the news about Dagbert. It certainly wasn't Bragger. Falling on your back in terror is nothing to brag about.
    Word spread fast. Soon even the most clueless first years had heard the rumor: Dagbert Endless drowned people.
    But how? That was the question on everyone's mind. On bath night it was noticeable how shallow the bathwater was in every bath. Some of the children decided against bathing altogether and opted for a cold shower in the unheated changing rooms. In February. That's how worried they were.
    "What's the matter with you all?" grumbled the matron. "You usually complain that you can't get enough water. Now, all at once, you don't want any. You've barely got enough to clean your knees."
    People began to avoid Charlie because Dagbert was always at his side. In team games Charlie was always the last to be picked, as though the new boy was permanently attached to him, and if you got Charlie, you were saddled with Dagbert-the-drowner as well.
    There were exceptions, of course. You couldn't keep Joshua, Dorcas, and the twins away from Dagbert. So Charlie had to put up with their company as well. He found it exhausting, listening to them boasting about their peculiar talents. However, he did manage to