I don't own Charlie Bone or any of those characters, they belong to Jenny Nimmo.

I had been waiting for at least ten minutes before I heard someone come through the panel and into the room. I glared when I saw who it was and turned away. "Are you mad?" He asked. I heard him walk toward me with slow deliberate steps. I rolled my eyes and snorted. "Mad doesn't really cover it," I snapped whipping around to face him. Jacob grinned a crooked smile and I realized I had given him the satisfaction of talking to him. "You are so dramatic Lou," Jacob said reaching out his hand to tuck a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I jerked away and bore my eyes into him.

"I am not in the least bit dramatic!" I said furiously. "Yeah you are," Jacob said as if it was obvious. "No, I'm not," I replied slowly, grinding my teeth together. "Lou you are the most dramatic person I've ever met! First of all I give you a peck on the forehead and you flip out as if I had shot someone. Second of all- " I opened my mouth to protest but he cut me off. "Second of all," he continued glaring at me. "I walk out on you without talking and you treat me like I'm dirt! I was trying to protect you. When I get mad, it's hard for me to control my endowment. I can turn into some pretty nasty things, things that could hurt you. Anyway I managed to find out what the Bloor's are going to do to you."

"You know what's the strangest thing about you?" I asked totally throwing him off track. He started bemused at me until I explained: "Every time I feel like I want to kill you, or hurt you I can't bring myself to do anything. Everytime I feel like I don't trust you, you say or do something that makes me trust you. It's bizarre." Jacob nodded probably thinking I belonged in some sort of mental hospital. "Anyway thanks for 'protecting' me." You could hear the quotation marks I was making around the word protecting. Jacob rolled his eyes but accepted it. "Don't you want to know what cruel and unual punishment the Bloor's are going do to you?" He asked. I nodded and he explained, "They are planning to lock you in some chamber deep in the ruin. Mr. Ezekiel promised Manfred that he could burn the truth out of you."

I think he expected me to look horrified or scared or something but I just shrugged and brushed it aside as Cook came striding into the room. I hadn't even heard the panel slide open. "What's all this nonsense about burning?" Cook asked not in the least bit surprised to see Jacob. "Just forms of torture," Jacob said as he casually leaned against the wall as if he owned the place. Cook nodded and sat down in a squishy armchair near the fireplace. "So where are we?" I asked getting a good look at the room. "It's where I sleep and live," Cook replied gesturing towards another armchair across from hers.

I went and sat down and fidgeted nervously. Cook looked like she wanted something I had and was unsure if I was going to give it up. "Um, do you want something?" I asked, not rudely, but not quite politely. Cook nodded and stuck her hand out. I squirmed a bit more. "Give it to her Lou," Jacob said from where he was positioned against the wall. I sighed because it was two against one. I fumbled in my shirt and brought out the warm object. "It's a medallion?" Jacob asked in confusion. Cook whistled low and softly. "That's not just any medallion," she said taking it from me. "It's the Red King's medallion."

Now it was my turn to look confused. "What are you talking about?" I asked. "The Red King's medallion is supposed to be legend," Jacob said, you could hear the doubt in his voice. "How do you know this is really it?" Cook heaved herself up and walked to the bookcase that spanned the length of the north wall. Muttering all of the titles to herself she softly murmured, "Aha," and pulled a book from the top shelf. Walking over to us she flipped through the dog - eared book occasionally stopping to read a sentence or two.

"Here!" She suddenly exclaimed, making me jump and Jacob smirk. I ignored him and leaned in to see what Cook had pointed out. It was a faded picture of the medalion and had a caption under it. The caption read:

The Red King's Medallion had supposedly been the Red King's himself.
Legend has it, that he had it buried in stone before he had transformed
into a tree. He had an intricate column of marble created and chiseled.
Then he put it in the heart of the marble. According to legend, the medallion
possesses magical qualities that only work for certain descendants of the
Red King. No one is sure why some descendants can work the medallion
while others can't. Only a select few throughout history have claimed to
have found the medallion and used it.

"Well isn't that interesting?" Jacob said as he finished reading over my shoulder. That was a bit uncomfortable, he kept sniffing me. At one point I actually growled at him. I physically created a noise like a dog. Cook kept shooting us strange looks. I ignored them and sat back in my chair to see what she had to say about the whole ordeal. "Now do you have a clearer idea of what the medallion is?" Cook asked. I nodded, "It's a bit vague though. Like what are the magical qualities it possesses?"

Cook shrugged, "How am I to know? Mr. Payton, Charlie Bone's uncle would be the one to ask."

"Who the heck is Mr. Payton?" I asked heatedly. "Everyone keeps talking about him and I have no clue who he is. The only thing I know about him is he's Charlie's uncle!"

"Yeah, and? What else is there to know about him? He's a man who happens to be writing about the Red King, end of story," Jacob said not in the least bit helpful. "Thanks, that clears things right up," I muttered. He gave me a nod and I rolled my eyes. "Perhaps you should pay him a visit," Cook suggested. I shrugged, "Yeah, but how?"

"Go home with Charlie today." Cook got up and started walking towards the exit. "I have detention," I answered back bitterly. "That's going to stop you?" Jacob asked with a sneer. "Yes it is. I'm in enough trouble already and I don't want to drown in it. I have to do my detention and suffer the consequences," I said stubbornly. "Besides, I don't want to get my family involved." That sickening feeling that they were going to get involved sooner or later crept upon me again and I shuddered then brushed the feeling aside.

Cook stared at me in disbelief and opened her mouth to say something, but something about the way I was walking or the steel glint in my eye, make her change her mind. I grabbed my medallion from her hands. Yes, I was already thinking of it as my medallion. I slid open the pannel and walked through the closet and checked to make sure the coast was clear, then I headed out.