Read Midnight for Charlie Bone (Children Of The Red King, Book 1) for Free Online

you."
                "But I don't know where it belongs," said Charlie, beginning to panic. Mr. Onimous was slipping away without helping at all.
                "Use your head, Charlie. That's an enlargement, isn't it? Find the original and you'll find a name and address."
                "Will I?"
                "Without a doubt." Mr. Onimous smoothed the pile on his coat, turned up his collar, and made for the front door.
                Charlie stood up, uncertainly questions bubbling in his head. By the time he reached the open door, all that could be seen of his visitor was a small disappearing figure, followed by a flash of hot colors, like the bright tail of a comet. Charlie closed the door and ran upstairs. Seizing the orange envelope, he shook it fiercely and out fell a small photograph - the original of the enlargement downstairs. He turned it over and there, sure enough, was a name and an address, written in bold, flowing letters: Miss Julia Ingledew, Number Three Cathedral Close.
                Where was Cathedral Close, and how was he to get there? He would have to leave the house before Maisie and his mother got home. They would never agree to his roaming off on his own, to a place he didn't know And if he didn't act now, he might not get back in time for Benjamin's party But he'd have to leave a message, or his mother would worry As far as he could remember, Charlie had never been inside his uncle's room before. A DO NOT DISTURB sign hung permanently on the door. Recently Charlie had begun to wonder what Paton did inside all day Sometimes a soft tapping could be heard. Usually there was silence.
                Today Charlie would have to ignore the sign.
                He knocked on the door, hesitantly at first, and then more vigorously.
                "What?" said an angry voice.
                "Uncle Paton, can I come in?" asked Charlie.
                "Why?" asked Paton.
                "Because I have to find somewhere, and I want you to explain to Mom." There was a deep sigh. Charlie didn't dare open the door until his uncle said coldly. “Come in, then, if you must."
                Charlie turned the doorknob and peered inside. He was surprised by what he saw His uncle's room was overflowing with paper. It hung from shelves, dripped from piles on the windowsill, covered Paton's desk, and lapped like a tide around his ankles. Where was the bed? Under a blanket of books, Charlie guessed. Books lined the walls, from floor to ceiling, they even climbed around the desk in teetering towers.
                "Well?" asked Paton, glancing up from a mound of paper.
                "Please can you tell me where Cathedral Close is?" Charlie asked nervously.
                "Where do you think? Beside the cathedral, of course." Paton was a different person in daylight - chilly and forbidding.
                "Oh," said Charlie, feeling foolish. "Well, I'm going there now But could you tell Mom? She'll want to know, and..."
                "Yes, yes," murmured Paton, and with a vague wave, he motioned Charlie away.
                "Thanks," said Charlie, closing the door as quietly as he could. He went to his room hurriedly pulled on his jacket, and tucked the pictures in their orange envelope, into his pocket. Then he left the house. From his bedroom window, Benjamin saw Charlie walking past with a determined expression.
                Benjamin opened his window and called, "Where are you going?" Charlie looked up. "To the cathedral," he said.
                "Can me and Runner Bean come?" asked Benjamin.
                "No," said Charlie. "I'm going to get your present, and it's got to be a surprise."
                Benjamin closed the window He wondered what sort of present Charlie could buy in a cathedral. A pen with the