The tall, wraithlike forms lowered their spears and rested them against glittering belts.
Charlie got to his feet as they came toward him. There were seven of them, their dark features appearing briefly and then receding into the mist that seemed to accompany them. They bent down and lifted the giant onto their shoulders, as easily as if he'd been an empty sack. At least Charlie assumed that's where the giant was, because his groaning voice was now coming from somewhere just above their heads.
Lysander led the way through the door and around the back of the chapel. Charlie came last with the blue boa hanging about his neck. He took a quick look into the chapel before he closed the door. The painting of Badlock was lying on its back, facing the ivy-clad ceiling. Charlie was tempted to destroy it, knowing what it could do. And then he remembered Billy.388Charlie slammed the door of the chapel and raced around into the
alley. He could hardly believe his eyes. Uncle Paton's camper van was parked in a space no camper van should occupy. Luckily, the back doors were right beside the opening in the chapel wall, and the ancestors had no trouble in depositing the giant on the floor.
When this was done, the tall figures slowly melted away. Lysander made a bow in their direction and closed the van doors.
"Uncle Paton, when did you get here?" Charlie clambered in beside his uncle, who shied away from the boa and started the engine.
"An hour ago," said Uncle Paton. "You don't need to tell me where you've been."
Lysander leaped in beside Charlie and said, "Let's go, Mr. Yewbeam."
They sped up to the top of the alley and turned onto a road that would eventually take them to Filbert Street.389"Is young Billy hurt?" asked Uncle Paton as he drove, rather too fast, along Park Road. "He's making a devil of a noise."
"It isn't Billy," said Charlie.
"No?" Uncle Paton glanced at Charlie. "Who then?"
Charlie hesitated and Lysander said, "Mr. Yewbeam, you have a very large man in the back of your van."
"WHAT?" Uncle Paton's foot slipped onto the brake and everyone lurched forward rather sickeningly.
A dreadful groan came from the back, and a melancholy voice called, "For pity's sake, what monstrous machine is eating me?"
"How large is this very large man?" asked Paton in a low voice. "Are we talking of giants?"
"He's not strictly a giant," said Charlie. "He's only about eight or nine feet tall."
Uncle Paton sighed. "May I ask why he is here?"390"He's from Badlock," Charlie told his uncle. "He's my ancestor, and yours. I HAD to rescue him, Uncle P."
"Of course you did," Uncle Paton said wearily. "And may I ask what you propose to do with such a very tall person, nine hundred years out of his own time?"
Charlie grimaced. He couldn't bring himself to tell his uncle that he planned to take Otus to the Castle of Mirrors. He knew it would sound ridiculous.
Lysander leaned forward and said quietly, "The giant is at present invisible, Mr.
Yewbeam."
"Oh, great." Paton glanced at the blue boa. "I suppose that makes everything all right, doesn't it?" He put his foot down hard on the accelerator and they whizzed up Filbert Street, coming to a screeching halt outside number nine.
Charlie wasn't quite sure what to do next. His uncle sat in the driving seat, scratching his head and looking stressed.391"I'll get the Browns." Charlie raced over to number twelve to explain the situation to the Browns.
Uncle Paton eventually roused himself and joined Lysander, who had opened the van doors. The giant had fallen silent.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown came running across the road followed by Benjamin, Charlie, and Runner Bean. They all crowded around the back of the camper van, Runner Bean barking with excitement.
"How interesting!" Mr. Brown peered into the van, accidentally resting his hand on one of the giant's feet. "Oops! There he is."
"Charlie, open the front door. Quickly," ordered Uncle Paton.
Charlie leaped up the steps and opened the door, calling, "Hi, Grandmas! We're just bringing in a carpet." When he looked around, Lysander, Uncle Paton, and the Browns were carrying the giant, wrapped in the van's carpet, toward the house.
With much huffing and puffing, the carpet was392lifted up the steps and into the hall, where it was lowered, rather fast, onto the floor. There was a bump and a voice from the floor cried, "Mercy! Let it end now, I beseech you."
Charlie quickly shut the front door and let the boa slide inside the carpet. Maisie appeared in the kitchen doorway and said, "There you are, Charlie. I see your uncle found you. I wondered what on earth had happened."
Charlie gave her a sheepish grin. "Sorry, Maisie. Got held up."
"That's a very shabby carpet," she said, and before anyone could stop her, she gave it a little kick.
The deep groan from the carpet sent her reeling back into the kitchen. "There's someone in there," she cried.
They all followed her into the kitchen. Charlie made her sit down and Uncle Paton put on the kettle. Runner Bean slid under the table and everyone gathered around Maisie. No one knew quite what to tell her, so Charlie sat beside his grandmother and393began at the beginning. When he had finished, Maisie took a very deep breath and said, "Well, you'd better do something about that poor man. Grandma Bone will be back from lunch in a minute."
It was decided that Charlie should talk to Otus. The giant would not be so alarmed if someone he knew explained things to him.
"It would be a great advantage if the fellow could be seen," said Mr. Brown.
"Not with my sister around," Paton told him.
They didn't realize that the blue boa had made his own decision until they opened the door. There stood the giant, every hair, every whisker completely visible. The boa had wrapped itself comfortably around his neck.
"Charlie," cried Otus. "What manner of place is this?"
Charlie was relieved to see Otus on his feet, but a little concerned about the huge bruise on the giant's forehead. "Shall we go upstairs?" he asked.394"I have things to tell you and we might not be safe here."
The giant gazed at the framed photos on the wall and at the hall light in its stained-glass shade hanging beside his head. "Yes, yes," he murmured. "It is very strange here, Charlie."
And then Runner Bean ran out of the kitchen wagging his tail and the giant beamed with pleasure. "We meet again, dog," he said, bending to pet Runner Bean. "Good dog. Best of all dogs."
Runner Bean licked the big hand and barked delightedly.
Mrs. Brown poked her head around the door and said, "We'll be going now, Charlie. I'm sure you've got a lot to take care of. It's been nice meeting you, Mr. Yewbeam."
The giant inclined his head.
"Nice to meet you," said Mr. Brown, tiptoeing, for some reason, toward the door. "Come on, Ben."395Benjamin stared up at the giant's smiling face. "Hi," he said.
"Hi!" the giant repeated.
"I'd better be going, too," said Lysander, holding his hand out to the giant. "It's been a pleasure to meet you, sir."
Otus solemnly took Lysander's hand. "You are a powerful boy," said the giant. "I know this. And I thank you."
When Lysander and the Browns had gone, Charlie led the giant upstairs. Uncle Paton suggested his room would be safer than Charlie's, as it was strictly out of bounds to Grandma Bone.
Otus ducked beneath the door frame and sank onto Uncle Paton's bed, which was covered in papers. Otus didn't seem to notice, nor did he pay any heed to the loud twangs the bed made, as though several springs had broken.
"You've made a mistake, haven't you, Charlie boy?" said the giant.396"Sorry." Charlie moved some of the papers and sat next to his ancestor.
"Shall I never see my wife?" asked the giant in a forlorn voice.
"I hope you will." Charlie smiled encouragingly. "The thing is, I had to come back here first because the painting of Badlock was here, and it's what I do: travel into paintings."